Chapter 57
A woman lay on the bed.
Her silver hair was cut short.
She had pale skin and delicate lashes.
Her nose was straight, and her lips were pink.
She was as beautiful as a doll.
After a brief hesitation, Aria spoke.
“The attackers didn't touch her, did they?”
“All they want is my life.”
It was a simple goal, and all the more brutal for it.
Why was this man being threatened with death?
Aria voiced the question that had been on her mind.
“The fact that they attacked you means they know your circumstances well. Why didn't they take her hostage?”
“He doesn't want her put in danger, either.”
Could this be a love affair?
Looking at the woman's appearance, Aria thought it was possible.
“I see. She really is beautiful as a sculpture.”
“She'd be horrified to hear that.”
“Why?”
“She's the sort of person who'd say, ‘What use is a beautiful knight?’”
Aria's black eyes narrowed.
“A knight?”
“Oh, did I not mention? She's a knight I personally dubbed.”
“………You didn't.”
So they weren't lovers after all.
She hid her embarrassment and changed the subject.
“Anyway, now that this place has been found, shouldn't we move?”
At the reasonable suggestion, the man bowed his head slightly in agreement.
“We should. But first, we need to treat her.”
The two of them looked toward the woman sleeping on the bed.
“I don't see any external injuries.”
The man replied as he smoothed the woman's bangs back from her forehead.
“I healed her with the potion I had on me.”
A potion.
It had the power to make a person's wounds heal rapidly.
Potions were precious items in this world.
Demand was high, but supply was low.
Their recipes were finicky, and they required nothing but valuable ingredients, making them difficult to produce commercially. Anyone who carried potions was quite well-off.
He spoke of knights, and his old-fashioned speech and ingrained manners…
Was he the son of a high-ranking noble?
It was a fairly accurate guess.
Aria turned to face the man.
“If it isn't a physical injury, then I assume it's some kind of curse.”
“You've guessed correctly.”
“Do you know anything about the curse she's under?”
“I only know that it's one of the ancient curses.”
An ancient curse.
It was a bizarre curse with a fatality rate of ninety percent when enacted.
That was why Aria could clearly sense the malign energy permeating the room.
She placed her hand on the sleeping woman's forehead.
As soon as she made contact, she found the resentment and rancor lodged deep within the sleeping woman's body.
It wailed and suffered.
It grew jealous, despaired, and sank into depression.
A vortex of emotions roared and screamed.
At its center, a murderous curse lay hidden, nestled like a shell.
It seemed difficult to deal with.
“If I meddle carelessly, the curse could strike me instead of being lifted.”
The curse hid behind a barrier of swirling emotions and slowly withered its victim to death.
At Aria's pessimistic assessment, the man gloomily wiped a hand over his face.
“……Is it that bad? Can you lift it?”
“There's a fifty-fifty chance.”
“That's a fifty percent chance, then.”
Aria shook her head at his words.
“It's only a fifty percent chance. If I fail, she'll definitely die.”
That was the nature of this curse from the start.
If she handled it wrong, the pouch containing the curse would tear, and the woman would never open her eyes again.
“………She'll die if we leave her like this, anyway.”
That was true.
Aria looked at the man with sympathy.
“Wouldn't it be better to entrust the curse removal to clergy officially recognized by the church, rather than to me?”
The man shook his head.
His gesture was firm.
“I can't do that. I can't trust them.”
“But you can trust me, even though we've just met?”
“I trust my ability to read people.”
It must have taken a great deal of courage for him to say that.
“If you're that overconfident, you'll get a nasty surprise someday.”
“But not today, surely?”
What was with this man's cheekiness?
Aria was about to glare at him, but stopped.
His eyes were earnest and desperate.
She wondered if she looked the same when she gazed at Ashtein.
Having someone place their hopes in you was a burden.
The coldness that followed when you failed to live up to those expectations would be unbearable.
That was why Ashtein was amazing.
You always managed it as if it were nothing.
That's why I'm proud of you.
Because you fulfill my expectations.
That's why I love you.
I love you more than anything.
I want to be by your side.
But you're so amazing that I sometimes wonder if someone like me deserves to be there.
I want to be able to stand proudly, too.
As a Saintess.
As your companion.
Aria sighed.
Too many distracting thoughts.
At this rate, she wouldn't succeed even if she could.
“Would you regret it if she died?”
“I would. But I don't think that would be your fault. I'm the one making this choice.”
That only makes it more of a burden.
She swallowed her words and drew holy power into her body.
She focused the holy power at her fingertips.
A radiant glow wound around her hand.
“All right. Let's give it a try.”
The man watched and murmured his admiration.
The glow was several times larger than that of an ordinary cleric.
For a wandering cleric, she had an incredible amount of divine power.
She was extraordinary, from her appearance on down.
‘Who is she?’
Should he look into it once this was over?
The thought went no further.
He couldn't show impure intentions toward someone helping him out of kindness.
Hadn't she been dragged into a complicated affair because of him?
Feeling a strange sense of responsibility, the man watched Aria.
Meanwhile, Aria's right hand touched the woman's forehead.
Thump!
The woman's body jerked violently.
The man started forward in alarm, but Aria cut him off sharply.
“Don't come closer. You'll interfere.”
The man bit his lip and stepped back.
His frustration was palpable even from here.
Aria interlaced her trembling fingers with her left hand to steady her right.
Then she poured in more power.
When two opposing forces met, resistance was inevitable.
Holy power and malign energy.
At first, the two forces seemed evenly matched, but the malign energy couldn't withstand the steadily growing holy power, and its momentum began to fade.
She suppressed it.
She held it down, but didn't let it burst.
Like pressing down on a balloon filled to the brim with water.
If it burst, the curse's malice would churn the woman's insides.
Slowly, she reduced the curse, as if squeezing pus from a wound.
As its volume shrank, the swirling negative emotions leaked out and seeped into Aria.
Emotions that would plunge an ordinary person into depression in no time.
Aria endured them without a care.
She was used to feelings like these.
She had built up a resistance.
The enormous curse gradually grew smaller.
However, as its volume decreased, the curse compressed tightly and grew unstable.
If she touched it any further, it would burst.
Was this as far as she could go?
Aria lifted her hand from the woman's forehead.
This wasn't a curse she could lift all at once.
She would have to gradually reduce its size over time.
“……Is it over?”
At his question, Aria tried to answer, but her body swayed.
The man caught the unsteady Saintess.
“I'm sorry. I'm feeling dizzy.”
“You were at it for two whole hours. It's no wonder you're dizzy.”
“……Two hours?”
She'd thought only a few minutes had passed.
When had time flown by so quickly?
As Aria stared in bewilderment, the man asked anxiously.
“Is she all right?”
“Yes. She held on well.”
His face brightened.
“……What does that mean?”
“I haven't lifted the curse completely. It's an ancient curse, after all. But I've reduced its size and influence, so I think she should be able to regain consciousness at least……”
With a sudden lunge,
Aria found herself embraced by the unfamiliar man.
It was as if his joy and elation had reached her, too.
“Thank you. Truly, truly, truly, thank you! No matter how much I thank you, it won't be enough!”
Seeing him so happy made her feel proud.
It made all that effort worthwhile.
That said, though…
“P-please let go before you thank me! I-I understand, so p-please!”
After a brief struggle, Aria finally pulled away from the man, panting for breath.
He looked apologetic.
“I was so happy that I couldn't control myself.”
“I'm glad you realize that.”
Aria's hackles were up.
Unfazed by her chilly reaction, the man held out his hand.
“Now that I think about it, I haven't even told my benefactor my name.”
“Neither have I.”
“Shall we introduce ourselves, then?”
Aria stared blankly at his outstretched hand and said,
“I'm Aria Rameld.”
“Are you going to leave me hanging?”
The man waved his hand.
“……….”
A thousand thoughts ran through her mind.
It was the hand of a man other than Ashtein.
Would taking it be an act of betrayal?
It was one thing to shake hands at an official event, where it couldn't be avoided, but this was different, wasn't it?
Strictly speaking, even a handshake like this was physical contact.
After being embraced by another man, she was going to quibble over something like this?
That was all the more reason for her to be careful about her conduct.
She didn't want to give even the slightest opening for this kind of contact.
I'm yours alone, after all.
This body and this heart, all of me.
While Aria was caught in serious inner turmoil, the man took her hand without waiting.
“I'm Leon. And the woman lying there is Edelis.”
This was unfair.
She hadn't wanted to take his hand.
I'm sorry, Ashtein.
But I didn't do it on purpose.
Surely there are mitigating circumstances?
“Miss Rameld?”
“Let go of my hand.”
At her almost pathological insistence, Leon promptly let go.
“Are you perhaps allergic to men? If so, I apologize……”
“I already have someone.”
“………? Miss Rameld is certainly beautiful, but I had not the slightest improper intention.”
Leon spoke so politely that Aria came to her senses.
Only then did she realize what she'd done.
“……I-I'm sorry.”
He laughed heartily.
“You can be as rude as you like, Miss Rameld. You're my benefactor, after all!”
He seemed much brighter now.
Only then did Aria let out a sigh of relief.
“Then, may I go back now? It's late, and I must have worried them. I'll come by regularly to help lift her curse, so don't worry.”
“Do you have a place to stay? If possible, I'd like you to tell me where. I want to repay you.”
“I didn't do it expecting anything in return. You were so desperate that I was moved to help. You can think of it as a blessing bestowed by the Goddess of Erotic Love.”
“You're a cleric of the Erotic Cult?”
“Yes. Though I'm still lacking, I serve the Goddess of Erotic Love.”
Leon looked genuinely moved.
“You deserve to be repaid.”
“It's all right, Mr. Leon.”
Wait, Leon?
She'd heard that name somewhere before.
Aria's thoughts didn't continue for long.
Something unexpected happened.
KABOOM!
The wall of the building crumbled.
Leon drew his sword and knocked away the debris so it wouldn't hit Edelis or Aria.
No, he didn't need to knock it away.
Every fragment had stopped in midair.
“Is this the place?”
It was a young girl's voice, thick with irritation.
Then came a low, sardonic voice as cold as a frozen wasteland.
“It is. The holy sword was pointing here.”
Leon swallowed and looked at the intruders.
The thick dust made it hard to see their faces.
Had his pursuer sent these assassins as a backup?
He must have taken too long.
The girl spoke irritably.
“Ugh, all this dust.”
A gust of wind swept away the thick cloud of dust.
There was no way a gust this strong could blow through an inn.
It was artificial wind.
‘A mage for an opponent. This won't be easy.’
Leon tightened his grip on his sword.
He wanted to get at least Edelis and Miss Aria out of there.
“Don't even think about running. I'll teach you a painful lesson.”
The heavy, low voice reverberated through the space like an echo in a cave.
The immense killing intent in those words made him tense up instinctively.
That didn't mean he was going to stand there and take it.
“Try it if you can.”
Leon taunted the man.
“Gladly.”
And his opponent took the bait, eager for a fight.
Once they could see clearly, neither man could finish his sentence.
“Prince?”
“Hero?”
The two men already knew each other.