Chapter 50
Chapter 50
I was the one in pain.
Yet somehow, Lily looked like the more desperate one.
She held out the bottle while on the verge of tears, like she was saying, "My world is going to fall apart today," and I couldn't bring myself to refuse.
...If she really meant it like that, it would be hard to accept too.
'Whatever. Screw it.'
I gave up halfway, snatched the bottle, and poured it into my mouth.
The moment I swallowed the smooth, refreshing liquid.
"......!"
A miracle happened.
A refreshing energy started in my stomach and spread throughout my whole body.
I could feel torn muscles being stitched back together in real time, and twisted organs settling back into place beneath my skin.
It was on a completely different level from the motion-sickness medicine Lucius had given me earlier.
How should I put it?
It felt like my body was being reborn.
The joints that had been screaming eased up, and the torn muscles all over my body quieted down.
My heart, which had been pounding like it might burst, also settled.
I stared blankly down at my palm.
"......Huh."
My body had healed completely.
Back to 100% HP.
"I'm glad......"
Lily let out a sigh of relief and sat down.
"I really thought something terrible was about to happen."
"That far?"
"......"
Lily looked at me in silence, tears welling in her eyes.
Was I that bad?
Anyway, I survived.
I shook the empty bottle and asked,
"What is this? Did you get it from Lucius? That guy's potions work like a charm."
"......!"
What?
Lily flinched and quickly looked away.
Her eyes wandered around, unable to settle anywhere.
Suspicious.
My instincts kicked in.
"Wait."
I grabbed Lily by both shoulders tightly.
"You didn't get this from Lucius, did you?"
Come to think of it, that made sense.
Lily didn't even know Lucius.
And I was the one who'd delivered the motion-sickness medicine earlier.
When we'd been touring the village, Lily had run off straight away to prepare the food, so they never even crossed paths.
"Then where did this come from......"
I cut myself off and stared at my hand in horror.
"......What the fuck."
Light was shining from my hand.
It wasn't just my hand.
Before I knew it, glittering golden motes of light were pouring out of my entire body.
Sssss.
Did she feed me some kind of concentrated radioactive sludge?
So I fucking mutated from radiation?
'No, there's no way, shit.'
This felt bad.
For some reason, it felt like I'd just eaten something I absolutely shouldn't have.
"Tell me now. What was that you just gave me?"
"Well......"
"You're not going to answer properly? I'm glowing right now! I turned into a human firefly!"
"......It's a potion."
"What? A potion?"
It definitely wasn't alchemist-made.
If it was giving off this holy light, there was only one answer.
"A temple potion?"
"......Yes."
"What temple is it from? It can't be some cheap one they sell at the temple shop, right?"
Lily bit her lip hard and confessed in a tiny voice,
"......It's a saint-grade potion."
"......Saint-grade?"
That felt way too ominous.
That meant saint-grade, right?
There was no way the temple would just casually use that kind of wording.
"Don't tell me, a highest-grade potion?"
"......Yes."
Fuck.
My jaw dropped.
"That's the kind of thing that'll definitely make you suffer if you drink it!!!"
I just chugged that down.
All I'd really known was that I'd vaguely heard somewhere that there was some amazing thing like that.
It was supposedly a miracle medicine packed with concentrated divine power that could save even someone on the verge of death.
The problem was its rarity.
"That legendary item that the pope and cardinals personally control, and only supply to the imperial family in very limited quantities?!"
"Yes......"
The thing so tightly tracked in the ledgers that if even one bottle went missing, the inquisitors would come after it with blazing eyes!
That's the one!
"Why the hell do you have that!"
She wasn't supposed to have this, was she?
Ah, fuck, I'm going crazy because I don't remember a damn thing about the original plot!
"Ah, around the time I entered the academy...... His Eminence gave me exactly one."
Lily mumbled, looking close to tears.
"He said I should never have to use it, but if there were ever a truly urgent situation, when my life was hanging by a thread, I should use it and come back alive......"
"......"
Crazy.
She gave me that precious thing, that lifeline, to drink?
Just because I had a little muscle pain and an upset stomach?
"I'm so sorry......"
"Don't apologize!"
Ack.
In a panic, I opened my mouth and shoved my fingers deep into my throat.
Praying desperately for a gagging, retching sound to come out.
I had to throw it up.
If this gets digested, I'm screwed.
If the cardinal found out, he might brand me a heretic, saying, "How dare you waste the saint's life coin?" and burn me at the stake.
If it's that old bastard who doesn't even feed people while making temple idols, he'd absolutely do it.
But it was too late.
"Kek."
I couldn't even manage to gag.
Was it because my body had been so completely restored it was practically newborn-level healthy?
My stomach was calmly sucking down the holy energy.
"This is insane. How healthy do you have to be for even your Adam's apple to be in top shape? Hahaha!"
I'm screwed.
I really had eaten something that would leave nasty aftereffects.
No wonder it tasted so good.
*
I was staring blankly up at the sky when the hem of my clothes was tugged gently.
"What?"
"E-even so......"
Lily looked up at me with tears in her eyes.
"I'm glad it doesn't hurt anymore."
"Haa."
Only then did my sense of reality slowly return.
Right.
This was a kid who was so terrified of the cardinal's scrutiny; she couldn't have handed that over without some serious resolve.
A girl who valued her own life because of trauma from her past life had used her only lifeline on me.
Anyway, it was obvious I'd be in for severe aftereffects, but I'd accepted it and then done nothing but complain, so I had been overdoing it.
I scratched my head hard.
"I'm really grateful you took care of me. But you can't just give kindness like that so carelessly."
"......"
"Especially kindness you yourself can't take responsibility for. What if you get hurt later?"
"Yes. I'll keep that in mind."
Lily nodded.
But it felt like there was still something left unsaid, and it wasn't sitting right.
"If you've got something to say, just say it. Don't keep it bottled up."
"But......"
She lifted her head.
Her light green eyes stared at me without wavering.
"I didn't give it to you carelessly."
"Huh?"
"Lord Cassian...... you really did look terrible."
Huh.
Strange.
"The princess came earlier too... no, Her Highness came too, but she just left. I thought she was just going to sit and rest."
Ibelin just said, "Good work," and left.
If I had looked like I was about to die, with her personality she'd have at least said, "Oh my, what's with that awful state?"
But Lily's expression changed strangely.
"......You could tell from that look?"
"......?"
What?
Why is she acting like that?
Suddenly, the girl made a frightening expression.
It wasn't her usual gentle, puppy-like face, but something cold and relentless......
Like the gaze of some terrifying character from a tsundere or yandere type, one of those "-dere" characters?
"Her Highness the princess didn't realize? Even after seeing Lord Cassian like that?"
"Uh, well. I guess?"
"How could Her Highness be like that......"
Lily murmured softly.
Goosebumps erupted all over me.
That's fucking terrifying.
"N-now, stop thinking bad thoughts."
I hurriedly changed the subject.
At this rate, she looked like she might curse the princess or something.
"Anyway, it got resolved thanks to you in the end, so let's not dwell on unnecessary thoughts."
"......Yes. I understand."
Lily returned to her gentle, sheep-like expression again.
I feel like I just saw a terrifying side of her.
Why is nobody normal around here?
That's when it happened.
Rustle.
I turned toward the soft sound of feet brushing over dirt and saw a child approaching us.
It was a boy with bare feet caked in mud and a thoroughly ragged appearance.
'......What is it?'
Nobody had come down this road today.
And yet someone shows up right after I act the scariest?
"Ah."
Only then did I remember that there was a saint right beside me.
In this tiny village, word must have spread within an hour that Lily had gone straight to the village chief to ask about the water source, carried pots herself, and shown not even the slightest displeasure toward the poor.
I leaned toward Lily and whispered,
"Try treating him nicely so you don't scare the kid. Looks like he came over because he's curious about you."
"Not you, Lord Cassian?"
"Why would he be interested in a scary-looking wizard uncle? Paving a road isn't exactly some hugely useful feat in a kid's eyes either."
"......"
Even Lily, who usually objected to my self-deprecation, was momentarily speechless this time.
Right. In a kid's eyes, a big sister busily hauling food around would probably look more angelic than playing in the dirt.
But then.
The direction of the boy's gaze slowly shifted.
"Um."
"......Yes?"
No matter how I looked at it, the boy was staring at me, not Lily.
Huh.
I pointed to my own chest with my index finger and asked,
"Me?"
"Yes."
That's unexpected.
"Uh. Why?"
The boy swallowed and asked cautiously,
"Are you...... by any chance an angel?"
"......What?"
*
Were my ears broken?
There was no way the kid was using those sparkling eyes to indirectly hurl a string of curses at me.
What the hell was that.
"An angel?"
"Yes!"
"Why don't I look like some evil mage or dark sorcerer to you? I just turned the ground upside down!"
"I saw it just now! Right after you did something amazing, you got sick all over, all weird! Then you drank what the saint gave you, and your whole body started shining, and now you're fine again!"
Ah.
Right.
I'm in firefly mode right now.
The boy pointed at the stream of light pouring out of my body and bounced up and down.
"Isn't it because you overdid it while performing a miracle? You were about to return to heaven, then came back to life, right?"
"......"
The boy's eyes were shining so brightly it was almost too much to handle.
'......Ah, shit.'
I had no idea what to say.
If I said the wrong thing, wouldn't I have to have a little chat with the inquisitors over blasphemy?
Hmm.
Luckily, the real saint who could prove my innocence was standing right next to me.
And Professor Wilhelm could testify that it was done out of goodwill, and the princess had even thanked me for it.
Fuck, I'm so damn glad the princess told me good job.
If she hadn't, I'd probably have been having nightmares about my neck getting cut off by a guillotine every night for a while.
'Come to think of it, aren't this kid's parents going to come get him?'
Usually, at a time like this, they'd swoop in with, "Hey! You can't talk to a nobleman like that!" and drag him away.
I glanced over at the boy's parents, and even they were staring at me with some strange, hopeful look.
So even the kid's parents had childlike wonder in that cesspit.
'Shit.'
Come to think of it.
If I were them, and it were the first time I'd ever seen a self-luminous human sparkling while spraying poop dust all over the place, I'd probably think, 'Is that an angel?'
Lies wouldn't work in this situation.
"I'm not an angel. I'm a mage."
"A mage!"
The boy's eyes grew even wider.
Far from disappointed, he looked even more delighted.
He took two more steps forward and asked, staring up at me from point-blank range,
"If I become a mage, can I perform miracles like you, angel?"
"I told you, I'm not an angel."
"You performed a miracle, so you're an angel."
He said it back in a way that was strangely hard to argue with.
Is this what they mean when they say ignorance and knowledge go hand in hand?
It felt like I was dealing with some kind of master who was good at riddles.
Anyway, the gist of the question was this:
'If I work hard too, can I become as amazing as you?'
In a typical biography or fairy tale, this would be where you'd say, "Of course! Dream big!"
"No."
"......Huh?"
"No. Even if you become a mage, you still won't be able to do this."
I cut that off at the root.
Lily, who was standing beside me, gasped, and when I turned to look at her, she was staring at me with a face that said, 'How could you say that?'
What.
What, should I say it's possible when it isn't?
"Why do you want to become a mage?"
"Because I want my mom and dad and little sibling to live well."
Seems like his parents aren't bad people.
Then advice like this should be fine.
"Then you don't have to become a mage."
"Why not?"
"Because there are things like that."
I won't tell you.
Lily looked even more flustered, but I casually ignored her.
Then what, was I supposed to tell the kid that living well and eating well were ultimately a matter of administration and economics, not magic or miracles or whatever?
"Let's go."
"Yes."
He really does answer obediently.
I wonder if they've finished digging the well by now.