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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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Rain and her companions—well, just the two of them—arrived shortly after us.
Rain and the man with glasses…
Merton Jin, was it? glared at us.
To be precise, Rain was staring at Sola, who was clinging to me with her face buried in my neck, and me, who didn’t seem to mind.
Merton, however, was staring only at me.
As I recognized Rain’s face, unchanged from my memory, with those clear blue eyes, my hands trembled.
It was more than that, actually.
I couldn’t bring myself to look at her directly.
I couldn’t lift my head after the secret Rain had revealed that day.
The discrepancy between the proud Rain of my memories and the Rain who had confessed her secret created an awkwardness I couldn’t shake.
Still, my hands, as if compelled, twitched with the urge to scratch at my face.
Control yourself.
Don’t worry her.
I muttered to myself, avoiding Rain’s gaze.
“Excuse me?”
Merton was the first to break the silence.
He stomped towards me, jabbing a finger in my direction, his face a mask of displeasure.
“What do you think you’re doing, getting so close to Lady Sola? You might be feeling cocky because of her kindness, but know your place and keep your distance. Did you threaten her with that scarred face of yours, by any chance?”
“Hold on a minute…”
“Hey.”
Rain started to intervene, but Sola cut her off, her voice as cold as ice, a stark contrast to her usual fiery demeanor.
“…Excuse me?”
Merton seemed to shrink under her icy gaze.
“Read the room.”
“Eek…”
I couldn’t see Sola’s face, but it was definitely not a pleasant expression.
Merton let out a shaky breath, clenching his jaw before shooting me a venomous glare.
“Mr. Merton.”
“Yes, Hero.”
“…Behave yourself. You’re a member of the Seven Stars, too.”
“What? Uh… Um… Right. Right… I’m sorry.”
Merton mumbled an apology, glancing at me before bowing his head to Rain.
Was this the power of the original Hero?
Making him apologize without even getting angry?
Rain turned her gaze to me, giving a slight nod.
It was as if she was saying, It’s tough, isn’t it?
Her brow was still furrowed, though, a clear sign of her anger.
Then, those blue eyes focused on me.
They were piercing, seeing right through me.
My hands, which had been trembling, started to move, as if compelled by an invisible force.
I raised a hand towards my face.
Just as my nails, now long and sharp with gold tips, were about to dig into the skin around my eye, Odrox and his companions arrived, stopping me in my tracks.
“…Looks like not everyone’s here yet.”
He must have exerted himself, for the veins in his massive muscles were bulging, making him look even more intimidating than usual.
The tattoos that covered his upper body added to his fearsome aura.
Prometheus, standing beside him, was visibly trembling.
Clang!
Odrox casually dropped his massive greatsword—which he normally wielded with one hand—to the ground, the impact echoing through the clearing.
Suddenly, my dagger felt woefully inadequate.
“…You…”
He looked at me, a flicker of surprise crossing his face, before he stomped towards me.
Merton let out a strangled yelp and scrambled back, fear etched on his face.
Why are you hiding behind me, Merton?
You were just badmouthing me a minute ago.
“Al Sola, move aside.”
“Who are you to order me around?”
“…Please, Al Sola. Could you step aside for a moment?”
“No. Why should I?”
“…Move.”
Odrox drew his sword.
Hold on, why was he getting so worked up?
“Do you honestly think you can intimidate me?”
“We’ll see about that.”
“You’ve been slacking off in your hometown since you got married, haven’t you? I doubt you’ve gotten any stronger.”
“Our territory is vast, and there have been frequent monster attacks. I’ve fought countless battles, more than you could imagine, and accumulated my share of victories. It’s true that I slew a wyvern with my bare hands. But that’s not what I want to ask about, arrogant mage.”
Sola’s eye twitched at the words “arrogant mage.”
Seriously, we’ve been eating at the same table for years.
Why was the mood so tense?
“You were right there with him. Why are there so many scars on my comrade’s face? Think carefully before you answer. I won’t hesitate to strike down a comrade.”
He clenched and unclenched his fist as he spoke, his words laced with a threat.
Sola, as if waiting for this moment, slowly disentangled herself from my embrace and turned to face Odrox, her jaw set in a hard line.
Come to think of it, I had been unraveling my bandages.
It was no wonder Odrox reacted the way he did.
Seeing someone so focused on harming themselves would unnerve anyone.
“It has nothing to do with what happened inside the Labyrinth.”
I interjected, hoping to diffuse the situation—using polite speech, of course, since it wouldn’t be helpful to be disrespectful.
I pulled the discarded bandages out of my pocket.
At the same time, as if waiting for that exact moment, a searing pain shot through my body, something bubbling up from within.
Oh, this is bad.
Not good timing at all.
I thought calmly, even as I retched, something was forcing its way up my throat.
“Ugh…”
Thud!
Splat!
The peaceful clearing was shattered by the sound of my retching and something wet hitting the ground.
What emerged from my mouth was a lump of dark, clotted blood.
The faint scent of blood now mingled with the grassy fragrance of the entrance.
“…What…”
“Hey… Hey, hey… You…”
“…What is this…?”
“Huh? …Uh…?”
Everyone, even Rain, stared at me, their eyes wide with shock.
“Excuse me.”
Ignoring their reactions, I turned to Prometheus, who had been hiding behind me.
“Yes? Yes… uh…”
“Do you have a tissue?”
“That’s not the issue here… Look at the reactions of the original Hero and her companions…”
“If you have one, could I have a few?”
“Uh… Here…”
As expected of the Seven Stars.
Always prepared.
I bowed my head in thanks and took the tissues, wiping my mouth.
The blood that stained the tissues was more black than red.
Looks like the demon’s attack was more potent than I thought.
Even though it was a delayed reaction, the throbbing pain in my gut and the feeling of my insides being squeezed made me frown.
A wave of pure, white light washed over me.
Lian’s healing magic… but…
“S-Saint, this magic is…”
“…Isn’t that the one you can only use after ten days of receiving a divine message?”
As Len said, this healing magic was a high-level spell that required a significant investment of time and energy, even with holy power.
It was a spell reserved for severe injuries, like a severed limb, a last resort to be used only in dire situations.
Which meant it was overkill for my current condition.
The light faded, and with it, the throbbing pain in my gut and the lingering discomfort from the demon’s attack vanished.
I felt completely healed.
Well, it was effective, I’ll give her that.
Even if it was a bit much.
I quickly wrapped the bandages around my face, tying them securely.
With my vision obscured, I felt a strange sense of relief at not being able to see Rain clearly.
But the timing couldn’t have been worse.
Of all the times for that delayed reaction to kick in…
I touched the curse mark on my hand.
The spiderweb-like scar, which had been spreading like wildfire, seemed to have shrunk slightly.
“Uh… I…”
Lian was looking at me, at a loss for words.
It was pointless to tell them my name.
They wouldn’t recognize it.
I had made sure of that.
I had asked them to erase any memory of me, after all.
Even if they did remember, their reaction would be, Who’s that?
However, I would need to address their overly familiar behavior.
I had to make sure they wouldn’t blurt out something like, We know each other!
Otherwise, rumors would spread, and my peaceful life would be over.
And what good would it do for people to know that the man who cowered before a single demon was actually someone amazing?
I signaled to Lian that I was fine, hoping she would back off.
Well, maybe it was okay if they called me by my name.
As if reading my thoughts, Lian approached me, her shoulders trembling, and…
…No, she wasn’t going to call my name, was she?
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[Wait so does ron have a different name? sppoky]
