Episode 038.
"Ahh, I'm telling you, I really saw it."
"No matter how you look at it, an apostle…."
"Hey now! Has this person lived their whole life being deceived?"
"It's too unbelievable a story."
"What about the rumor that Tanas is a Hero?"
"That one's believable. There's no one who fits the title of Hero as much as that friend."
The tale of the 'Apostle's Advent' and the wretched downfall of the Paladin Captain became a legend that shook all of Artem overnight, passed from mouth to mouth among the people.
But amidst that uproar, one young girl alone—
—with her face buried in a pillow, tossed and turned her entire body for a completely different reason.
In that place, the most confused girl in the world was waging a fierce battle with her blanket.
Before the muscle pain pressing down on her whole body, what struck her first was a strange sensation churning in her chest.
"......."
Prisia's face, revealed above the white blanket, burned as red as a ripe apple.
She buried her face in the pillow and floundered, letting out strange groans.
"Uuugh..."
Her face, burning red as an apple, twitched as if it would burst at any moment.
Prisia, rising on the bed, blankly touched her own lips.
Contrary to the memory hot enough to leave a burn, a cold sensation met her fingertips.
'I love you!'
The words she had shouted while hugging her Master tightly, and the moment she had stood on tiptoe to press her lips against his blunt ones.
"Kyaa! No... that can't be. I'm crazy... Prisia! Your delusions have finally crossed the line!"
Prisia buried her face in the blanket and rolled around the bed.
Even though she had done it herself, it didn't feel real.
Yes, could it be a dream?
Just as she was thinking that—
Click—
"You were severely depleted of mana, but you woke up earlier than I thought."
As the door opened, a familiar voice was heard.
Startled, Prisia quickly flipped the blanket over her head.
Her eyes, peeking through the gap in the blanket, chased after the man, Tanas.
The same indifferent voice as usual, the same blunt expression.
Not a single injured spot or wound—a perfectly ordinary Master.
The moment she saw him, Prisia pulled the blanket down to the tip of her nose and slightly averted her eyes.
Her Master was so neat and tidy that it was hard to believe he was someone who had been devoured by a monster and survived.
It was honestly unbelievable—he had faced a top-tier monster whose corrosive liquid rotted the ground and melted armor in a single splash.
'As expected, it was a dream. There's no way Master would be so unharmed...'
She shook her head slightly.
Along with relief, an unidentified reluctance rose from a corner of her heart.
It was clearly a relief, so why did her chest feel so cold?
"......."
Thinking about it, it was obvious.
If she had done such a thing to her Master in reality, he would have pinched her cheeks hard or ordered a hundredfold hellish training regimen—he wouldn't have embraced her gently.
It was a dream.
'It's a bit of a shame...'
But that regret soon transformed into a strange courage.
Because the strange lingering sensation in her chest didn't disappear even though she had concluded it was a dream.
Since she already knew her own heart anyway, couldn't she be a bit bolder?
"...Did I by any chance say anything nonsensical while I was asleep?"
"Not particularly. You just groaned a bit."
At Tanas's indifferent answer, Prisia breathed a sigh of relief.
What a relief!
Master doesn't know. That I pounced on him in my dream!
"Master, you smell good...."
Prisia reached out from under the blanket and tightly grasped Tanas's sleeve.
It was something she would normally have avoided out of embarrassment, but instead she rubbed her cheek against Tanas's arm and subtly pulled him toward the bed.
"...Prisia?"
"What?"
Tanas seemed bewildered by his disciple's bold attitude, but thinking of the fierce battle she must have gone through, he didn't push her away.
He soon sat in the chair beside the bed. Then he naturally took Prisia's wrist to check her physical condition.
Her shoulders flinched slightly at the warmth of his fingertips.
"...How is your body?"
"I'm fine, just... I think I had a rather long dream."
Prisia subtly gauged Tanas's reaction.
He quietly reached out and touched her forehead.
"No fever."
It was then.
As Tanas moved, his collar shifted slightly, and the area below his left clavicle came into Prisia's view.
"......!"
Her pupils dilated instantly.
Because among the roughly scratched and torn wounds, there was one distinctly alien mark.
It was neither a cut from a blade nor a gash torn by a monster. It was from long ago, as if burned by a red-hot lump of coal...
A burn scar in the shape of a crescent moon that had faded with time but would never disappear.
'Prisia, don't cry. Didn't you say you wanted to become a knight?'
Memories from over a decade ago crashed in like waves.
Memories of her only friend.
The mark left by a ball of fire that had fallen on the shoulder of the boy who saved her that day was now visible on the Master before her eyes.
"...Master."
Her voice trembled thinly, as if she were holding back tears.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing her trembling strangely, he sat back in the chair, and Prisia reflexively buried her face in his chest.
"This wound... what is this?"
He answered indifferently, adjusting his shirt collar.
"This? It's an old wound. It's been so long that I can't even remember where I got it."
"...A lie."
"What?"
"...It's nothing."
"How dull."
Prisia stared at Tanas.
Looking closely for a moment, he resembled her friend from memory strangely much.
"......!"
He resembled him. No, he was exactly the same!
If that child had grown up, he would definitely have this face, this voice...
How... how did I not know this?
"Ah."
The reason was simple.
Because the boy she remembered and her Master were so different in atmosphere.
'No way... it can't be? He's really my friend...?'
Perhaps having noticed her stealing glances—
"Rest a bit more. I was planning to leave for the subjugation immediately once you woke up, but it seems we should rest another day."
"......."
Tanas's worried voice pierced her ears.
As if trying to find the hidden essence within that voice,
Prisia stared at him intently.
'If Master is that child...'
She gulped.
"Prisia?"
Joy and possessiveness mixed together and exploded in her chest.
She was already half-certain.
"...It's nothing."
But just one last thing, just one more question.
"Master. I have something I'm curious about."
"What is it?"
"If it's not rude, I would like to know your age."
"Age? All of a sudden?"
Then Tanas reached out and touched her forehead again.
"...I'm perfectly fine...."
"Really? Then that's a relief."
"Um... I want to hear the answer...."
"......."
He looked at me for a moment and seemed to hesitate over something.
To think there's something he can't even tell me... Master, why are you like this...?
"Is it hard to say?"
Hiding my inner disappointment, I slightly turn my head.
"It should be fine if it's you."
"Wow!"
At those words, my mood cleared up as if it had never been clouded.
"Twenty."
"Huh?"
"I'm twenty."
"......!"
For a moment, it felt like my heart stopped.
Even his age was exactly the same!!
This could no longer be called a coincidence.
Tanas, the man I love, was actually the friend I had yearned for my whole life...
Meeting again like this must surely be fate.
"Hehe...."
Curiosity turned to certainty, and certainty ignited Prisia's obsession.
"Rest."
I tightly grasp the hand of Tanas, who rises from his seat.
"...I'm a bit scared, so if you could stay with me for just a moment...."
"......."
As he sat back in the chair, Prisia buried her face in Tanas's arm and grinned.
She made a decision.
That no matter what her Master's true identity was, she would never let him go now, even if he was a childhood friend who couldn't remember her....
***********
I let out a low sigh as I closed the door and came out.
"Hmm."
As far as I could see with the Authority of Recovery, there were no external wounds or mana damage.
It was just that today's Prisia's eyes were strangely unusual, perhaps due to lingering mental shock.
Rather than the usual gentle, docile feeling... how should I put it, one might say a hard-to-express obsessiveness was visible.
Anyway, I didn't bother pushing her away. At times like that, mental stability is the top priority.
I casually examined the wound on my chest. An old burn mark visible through the gaps in my shirt collar.
The shape was rather peculiar, but
it was probably a trace from when that woman Rulene had burned me with fire under the pretext of raising my magic defense.
Obvious, so obvious.
Using me as a living experiment instead of a sandbag—it still made me shudder to think about it.
I don't remember, but the circumstances made it clear.
About eighty percent of the scars remaining on my body were carved under the guise of being training assistance by those women.
"......."
Anyway, Prisia would probably get up and dust herself off soon.
As I headed for the stairs, Gareth, who had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, tilted his head.
As if guarding that spot like a gatekeeper, and beside him, Ellen scampered over and grabbed my sleeve.
"Master! How is Prisia unni? Is she okay?"
"Don't worry. You should be able to see her again around tomorrow."
"Waaah! What a relief!"
Ellen spread both arms and hopped up and down joyfully. At that innocent appearance, Gareth also slightly raised the corners of his mouth.
Coming down the stairs to the first floor, Milene, holding a stack of documents, approached and spoke to me.
"Tanas, I think it'll be hard to acquire additional mages. They're such precious bodies that unless it's near the royal capital, the supply has dried up."
"It doesn't matter."
"The good news is that the vanguard is sufficient."
This is thanks to having sweet-talked the Holy Knights well.
In truth, the mages are just reserve forces for emergencies, like during the Invium monster incident. There are quite a few adventurers returning from missions as well, and with Prisia's flames and Gareth's crossbow, most ordinary goblins would be mowed down.
"Yo, Tanas!"
Gran approached from the opposite side, waving his hand.
"We can probably gather a few more mercenaries and rangers. Your reputation among the mercenaries is really good, you know. Everyone is eager to repay their debt to you."
"Good work."
"For something like this?"
It seemed the mercenary branch establishment I had requested from the Guild Master was finally bearing fruit, as the mercenaries around here were showing me favor too.
Needless to say about the Artem branch adventurers.
They moved like my hands and feet, taking care of bothersome miscellaneous tasks.
Calling them an army might be crude, but there are none better for information gathering and securing personnel.
As I was checking so that I could begin the scenario at any time,
"Milene, were you here?"
The Guild Master came running in person with an urgent voice. A letter stamped with a red seal caught my eye.
"Guild Master? What is it?"
When Milene asked curiously, the Guild Master looked at me and opened his mouth with a serious expression.
"Tanas, perfect timing. I have urgent news to tell you as well."
"What is it?"
A letter sent from the Royal Capital Adventurer's Guild, and there...
"The first is a full acquittal and proclamation of honor restoration for Tanas, the Hero of Recovery."
Milene, Gran, and several adventurers let out cheers.
"Ooh...!"
"Look here! That guy is my friend!"
"Wow!"
"Tanas! I'm proud of you!"
Everyone may not have said it, but they must have noticed.
From the moment that Paladin Captain bastard uttered words like 'Heretic Tanas' and 'Incompetent Hero,' it was only a matter of time before he was exposed.
"Congratulations! Sir Tanas, or should I call you Hero-nim now?"
Instead of answering the Guild Master's joke-like words, I shrugged my shoulders once.
"The second is news that the royal capital is recruiting a large-scale subjugation army. The destination is still a secret. It seems it's by divine revelation."
But the following news made me furrow my brows.
"Lastly... this is the most serious. It seems one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's Army appeared near the royal capital and ambushed a Hero party."
"...What?"
Four Heavenly Kings?
At this point in time?
That's an event that only happens in the Ersha Royal Capital Destruction scenario.
Bosses that appear to destroy the kingdom after the eastern and southern fronts completely collapse and Artem is reduced to ashes.
There was no way they should appear now, right after the prologue had just ended.
"How are the Four Heavenly Kings already...? Who was attacked?"
Even if just one of them dies, it's going to be a headache.
"It was the Hero of Recovery's party. It seems the Saintess Candidate Lady Seria and her companions returned in tatters. The whole kingdom is in a state of emergency. There's much talk that if the Heroes are defeated by a surprise attack from the Four Heavenly Kings, it's a crisis for the continent."
"Ah...."
Instantly, my head cleared.
I bit my lip tightly to hold back a sneer.
Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's Army?
Bullshit.