Chapter 53
There was no one among us to carry the Hero on their back, and carrying or supporting him in his current condition would have caused him unbearable pain, so I used magic. I lifted the Hero with wind magic and moved him all the way to the city.
It should have been impossible under normal circumstances, but the holy sword's power was holding him in place so he couldn't move, and the Hero had given me permission, making it possible. Of course, moving a person with wind magic for several hours consumed a considerable amount of mana.
By the time we arrived, I was quite exhausted.
Even though the Hero had lowered his magic resistance, he fundamentally possessed incredible stats that surpassed mine, so lifting his body with magic and moving him for several long hours had inevitably required an enormous amount of strength.
When we reached the inn, we took the Hero to a room and then went back outside.
It was because the Hero said he needed to confine himself to the room for everyone else's safety.
Since even having us beside him seemed to cause him pain, there was nothing we could do.
I wouldn't know, but since most of us shared a room with the Hero and slept together, I had never seen or sensed him pleasuring himself alone. He had been exposed to a poison with narcotic-level aphrodisiac effects without relieving his desires, despite being in a party made up entirely of incredibly beautiful women, so this was only natural.
“...”
I'd told the Hero that I would help him, but..
Simply leaving him alone in the room like that hardly seemed as though it would solve anything.
Since he was alone in the room, he might have released the holy sword's hold on himself, but imagining the Hero alone and pleasuring himself while soaked in the aphrodisiac made me feel terribly sorry for him. No, he was so pointlessly straight-laced that perhaps he was still enduring it.
If only I'd been a little more careful when using magic, this wouldn't have happened..
Even though the Hero had regressed, he hadn't known what kind of poison was in the swamp. I knew only that the poison here was either something with effects like an aphrodisiac or a truly vicious poison capable of killing someone; I hadn't known whether the swamp where that monster lived contained either of those kinds.
There were even poisons that were lethal by smell alone, and Cecilia had given us a miracle that blocked foreign substances other than air, so I couldn't make a judgment at all. Even if he was the Hero, it wouldn't have been strange if taking such a poison head-on had caused his body to melt away.
It was incredibly fortunate that the poison in that place had been that kind.
Even though he might have died, or might have had to endure pain severe enough to kill him, he had been the first to rush over and save me.
And yet.. I was hesitating to help the person who had risked his life to save me. I was the one turning my back on him after he had risked his life for me. I was hesitating even though I didn't have to risk my life to help him in return.
Why?
I felt ashamed of myself.
No, of course, I might have had to risk my life in another sense.
If I helped him, he might lose his reason completely and pounce on me. He wasn't in his usual state; he was in a condition where it wouldn't have been strange for him to lose his reason at any moment. On top of stepping forward for my sake, he had even used the holy sword to restrain his own body so we wouldn't be as frightened as possible.
If he was willing to do that to his own body with the holy sword, then even a Hero with incredible mental fortitude must have had trouble enduring it.
I wanted to help him.
I felt as though I had to help him.
I hesitated, then looked toward the room where the Hero was.
Even though it was the room right next door, for some reason I couldn't hear a single sound.
I kept wondering what was happening. I'd promised the Hero I would help him, and I was worried about him being alone. More than anything, that was why. When I stood up and tried to go to the room next door, Cecilia and Ruril saw me and blocked my path.
Ruril blocked the door, while Cecilia, who stood beside her, wrote something on a piece of paper and held it out to me.
- We don't know what will happen if you approach the Hero now.
“...”
I knew.
He might not even recognize me, and might pounce on me the moment he confirmed I was a woman. If I were in his place, I thought I might do the same without thinking about who she was.
I'd only smelled the aphrodisiac, yet I'd reached the point of wanting to do it regardless of whether the Hero was male or female.. And that had only been a fraction of what was covering his entire body—perhaps several times stronger, no, perhaps dozens or even hundreds of times stronger.
And all for my sake..
- Let me go.
Someday.. it was something I would have to accept.
I didn't want to be selfish and refuse simply because I hated the idea of being assaulted by a man while someone who had devoted himself to me so completely was suffering this badly.
I wanted to help him.
If he was the Hero, I could trust him.
I could trust that the Hero wouldn't touch me until I gave him permission. Even if he did pounce on me, I had no intention of hating him. In that situation, whether I or the Hero was the one who took the poison, the outcome wouldn't have changed.
If I'd been the one covered in that poison, I would have had to show my naked body to the Hero, and I might have been unable to endure the desire boiling inside me and ruined the bed so badly that it could never be used again.
So.. I would have gone into the room alone, just like the Hero, and done it until I collapsed from exhaustion.
Since the Hero had taken the pain I should have endured in his place, I at least wanted to ease the pain he should originally have suffered.
Whether the Hero wanted me to or not.
- The Hero must be suffering. I want to help him.
“Th.. that may be true, but..”
Cecilia anxiously wrote more in response to my telepathy.
- If you approach the Hero now, you might die..!
“...”
If I truly felt I was about to die, I could use magic to escape.
Cecilia and Ruril probably didn't possess the power of magic, so it would be dangerous for them, but I did. Not just any magic, either—I was a mage known as the Child of the Stars, capable of activating magic through spoken words or even thought alone..
There was no need to worry.
My magic would still work as long as I could think—even while under a mental attack—and as long as I could envision precisely how to manifest it.
Of course, bringing the Hero here had consumed a lot of mana, but he was the Hero who had always looked out for me, so I thought he would be all right.
So..
- He saved me.. I want to save him in return.
I wished they'd open the way.
Cecilia looked at me with a hesitant expression in response to my telepathy, then sighed and gestured to Ruril.
“Are you sure..? You already look so frail..”
“This is the first time Lumia has ever been this stubborn.. She looks like she'll force her way through even if she has to use magic.”
After speaking briefly, Cecilia and Ruril eventually sighed and stepped aside. Cecilia finished writing the rest of her message and held it out to me.
- Send us telepathy if it looks like things are about to get dangerous.
Had they given way?
I nodded.
I left the room and stood in front of the door to the room next door. The Hero was beyond it. As expected, the door was locked so it couldn't be opened.
After roughly figuring out the structure of the doorknob, I used magic to form the shape of a key. Once I succeeded in opening the door, I was about to step inside when I remembered the hairpin stuck in my hair.
...
It'd be better to take it off, right.
If the Hero happened to use this hairpin for whatever he was doing, that would be an awful waste. I removed the hairpin, then stepped inside.
The room was dark.
“Lu.. mia..? Why did you come in..?!
“..!”
It was the Hero.
He asked me while trembling all over as though he were sick. I'd expected him to be masturbating, but he'd actually been holding everything in.
That was very like the Hero.
- Why didn't you relieve yourself, even alone..?
“... If I do it.. I feel like I won't be able to hold back anymore..”
I suppose.. doing it too much would hurt.
Would it only hurt? He might never be able to use it again. He didn't seem to have any intention of freeing his body from the holy sword's restraint, either..
I looked at the Hero with a determined expression and sent him a telepathic message.
- I'll do it for you.
The Hero froze completely on the spot when he heard my telepathy.
.
.
.
.
“Are you all right?”
Cecilia shook her head at Ruril's question.
Even so, she couldn't help it.
Lumia had seemed far too stubborn.
And.. there was one more thing.
“Did the Hero tell you how to defeat the Demon King?”
“... No?”
Ruril wore an expression that said this was the first she had heard of it.
Of course.
Ruril still hadn't received a complete explanation from the Hero. More precisely, the Hero had nearly forgotten to tell her.
Cecilia continued explaining.
“It’s.. for Lumia and the Hero to fall in love with each other.”
And become pregnant with the Hero’s child.
“Ah..”
Only then did Ruril seem to realize why Cecilia had let Lumia go.
Cecilia gave a small laugh.
There was no woman who wouldn't fear a man who was much stronger and who, if he put his mind to it, could reduce her resistance to nothing, especially when he looked as though he might lose his reason at any moment.
Those eyes looked as though she wouldn't care even if that happened to her.
“She'll probably be fine..”
Lumia was in love.
With the Hero.
Though she herself didn't seem to have noticed it..
Cecilia thought so with a smile.