Episode 163
- Knock, knock, knock
"...Excuse me, Professor Isollet."
Two girls came to visit in front of Isollet's house.
- Creaaak...
"I-It seems to be open."
"...That seems to be the case."
They were Lulu, who for some reason had heavy dark circles under her eyes, and Aishi, who wore a pale expression.
"Um... Lady Aishi too... did you come to hear Professor Isollet's words as well?"
"Y-Yes."
Whether it was due to the difference in their social status, or because they had rarely exchanged words despite being in the same hero party, the two spoke in quite awkward tones.
"F-First, let's go inside."
"...That would be good."
Before an awkward atmosphere could settle in, they quickly stepped inside the house.
"Hmm... have you come?"
Then, Isollet, who had been slumped over until that moment, greeted them with a foolish smile.
"Frey is here, so go ahead and greet him."
"...What?"
Before long, Isollet who said that collapsed back onto the table.
""..........""
The two who looked at where Isollet was pointing fell into a long silence.
"Hero... I beg you..."
Rosewin, whose hair had become completely disheveled, was kneeling and begging while gazing at some sword scabbard.
"Please accept the flower... please perform a miracle... please..."
Without even noticing that two girls had newly appeared behind her.
"T-They said that if I go to the Hero with the flower after everything ends... a miracle would happen. Please, please..."
Rosewin continued speaking with a desperate voice.
"I've finally realized who I should have served... I've finally realized who the second-generation hero was, the one who saved my family and kept me alive..."
Rosewin, wearing an expression that somehow seemed to hold many stories, reached out her hand while trembling violently.
"The love letters you sent me every day... I'll write you that many in return. I can write as many as you want."
As she said, Rosewin had received love letters from Frey every day.
At first, she read a few to boost her self-esteem, but the content was so long-winded that her interest quickly cooled, and after that, she always threw them into the fireplace without even reading them.
And yet, she used to tell Frey with a grin that she read them well.
"I'll do anything for you. I'll follow whatever you want..."
Frey had always granted Rosewin's wishes.
Unlike Ruby, who started with trivial requests and gradually increased the intensity until she was making unreasonable demands later on.
He had granted whatever Rosewin wanted.
Only, in exchange, he asked for dinner.
"So please, please come back..."
Rosewin, thinking such thoughts, desperately prayed again and again for the miracle she had seen in the diary.
"I'll carefully preserve the flower, I'll have dinner with you too, I won't refuse to dance at balls anymore, now I'll smile while looking at you, so please..."
Without even knowing what the miracle mentioned in the diary was.
Rosewin was no longer in her right mind to think about such things.
"Just once, just once let me talk to you... I have things to say. Let me atone. Please appear again and punish me."
Rosewin, clutching the scabbard with her head bowed, wishes for a wish that can never be granted.
Even for just a moment, let a miracle manifest.
The man who was abandoned by her until the end but wanted her help until the very end—let him return to her side.
To judge her, who helped the Demon King and attacked the Hero.
"Please... just once..."
Like that, Rosewin continued rambling.
"...Ah."
Seeing the unwithered flower planted in the glittering soil inside the scabbard now withered and drooping, she finally realizes.
"Ah-uh."
That the object she is desperately praying to now is neither a resurrected Frey nor even Frey's corpse.
"Ah-uhh..."
It's merely a glittering trace left behind when Frey disappeared.
"........."
Rosewin, who realized that, quietly strokes the glittering soil contained in the scabbard.
- Shh...
Then, the glittering powder clings to her hand.
"Hero..."
Rosewin, who was blankly staring at the trace of the man who desperately wanted her help now clinging to her hand.
"I'm sorry..."
Unable to even finish her words, she bowed her head and fell into silence.
""........""
And for a while, silence flowed through the room.
"T-This is..."
Frey's diary that Rosewin had set down beside her.
"...A diary?"
Until Lulu, who had been assessing the situation with a pale expression until then, discovered it.
.
- Shh...
"...Ow."
Lulu, who cut her finger while turning the pages of the diary, falls back in surprise.
"Ah-uhh..."
For her, it's been quite a while since she's been injured.
The self-harm she used to do constantly had long since stopped.
"Hmm..."
In front of such Lulu, Aishi is looking down alternately at Rosewin's antidote notes and the diary with hollow eyes.
[Now that I mention it, Aishi's 'Frozen Heart Curse' was actually more of a blessing than a curse for me.
There's nothing better for killing unnecessary emotions.
If it weren't for her curse, I probably wouldn't have held on until now.]
"U-Um... Lady Aishi."
"...I'm sorry. I need to organize my thoughts right now."
Aishi, who had been reading through the diary's contents and suddenly stood up from her seat, carefully picks up the alcohol bottle on the table where Isollet is sitting.
"To think that what I did for my savior who saved my family and made the kingdom prosperous... was to cast a curse that freezes the heart and help kill emotions."
Before long, Aishi, who sat next to Isollet and started pouring strong alcohol into a glass.
"...Miss Lulu, did you know that?"
She started speaking with a gloomy expression.
"The Frozen Heart Curse not only freezes emotions but also freezes the heart itself."
"Y-Yes..."
"Thanks to that, when the curse worsens, just breathing in and out causes... considerable pain."
Aishi who said that empties her glass at once.
"...I wonder if Frey had already become numb to such pain."
"........"
"To receive that terrible curse countless times and... to the point of being happy that it helps kill emotions. It's hard for me to even imagine."
Before long, various emotions were showing on her face as she started pouring alcohol into the glass again.
"It must have been intentional, right? Provoking me at the slave market to make the curse transfer to him?"
All kinds of emotions were reflected.
"I occasionally mentioned it, didn't I? That my inner voice keeps tormenting me."
When Lulu quietly nodded at those words, Aishi continued speaking.
"The arrogant voice I heard inside me, the terrible voice that threw me into hell when I was young... and the voice that drove me to the brink of suicide."
Aishi's face as she spoke was full of regret.
"But I suspected that the owner of that voice was Frey."
"...What?"
"Every time Frey approached me, every time I talked with him... the voice stopped."
"Ah..."
"I thought it was because he was in a place where I could see him, so he couldn't speak."
Saying that, Aishi recalls the contents of the diary.
○○ Year ○○ Month ○○ Day
[Aishi seems to be having a hard time lately because of the voice.
It seems I'll have to stay by Aishi's side for a while.]
"Actually, it was because Frey's hero power weakened the curse."
Aishi, who said that while calmly emptying her glass.
"When meeting with me, Frey always suggested drinking alcohol."
"Alcohol...?"
"...Yes, not just any alcohol, but very strong alcohol."
She sets down the glass on the table with a clack.
"It was widely known that Frey was a heavy drinker, right? So every time he drank alcohol while telling pointless stories in front of me, I really couldn't stand looking at it."
Aishi who said that recalls the contents of the diary again.
○○ Year ○○ Month ○○ Day
[Today I drank alcohol while talking with Aishi.
Actually, I didn't plan to talk with her today, but she showed tears that she usually doesn't show, so I had no choice.
In this well-progressing round, I can't have her commit suicide like in the previous round.
Finding her as a cold corpse the day after talking with me is something I'm sick of now.]
The content that most disturbed her heart.
[So I decided to stay with her for as long a period as possible, but this is indeed no easy task.
When I'm by her side, the 'Frozen Heart Curse' becomes several times stronger.
Even for me, who has become insensitive to pain, if the heart area completely turns to ice... hell unfolds before my eyes with every breath.]
"But... it turns out there was another reason."
Aishi's words were true.
[That's why, when having long conversations with her, I always bring alcohol with an alcohol content of 70 degrees or higher.
Alcohol is the best for forgetting pain and warming the chest at the same time.
Of course, in my case, I have to separately cast a spell to get drunk on the alcohol I developed myself.
Still, alcohol is a hundred times more effective than painkillers that don't work well anymore.]
"He was drinking alcohol to endure the pain of his heart freezing more severely because of me. While forcing himself to drink, he was blocking my inner voice."
Aishi, who said that while pouring alcohol into her glass for the third time.
"If I had known that... I should have at least drank with him."
She sighed and downed the alcohol in one go.
"Actually, I know a thing or two about alcohol."
"...Ah."
"How about you, Miss Lulu?"
"I-I... can't drink at all."
When Lulu said that while glancing around, Aishi smiled sadly and started pouring alcohol into the glass again.
"People standing in front of me always show that reaction. Come to think of it, Frey was the only one who suggested drinking to me."
"........."
"If he hadn't had that destiny... maybe we could have been good drinking buddies."
With her face now red, Aishi continues her complaints.
"Is there anyone else in the world as pitiful as him? Honestly, I don't think so."
"U-Ugh."
"Even though we were in a position where we had to deceive and be deceived... it's true that I owe him, and it's true that I caused him trouble... and now I can't even repay him."
Aishi, who said that while bringing the glass to her lips.
"...Honestly, I didn't need time to organize my thoughts."
She stopped moving.
"I was afraid of what contents would come out if I turned more pages of that diary."
She spoke with a slightly trembling expression.
"...By any chance, there isn't a bigger secret, is there?"
At those words.
○○ Year ○○ Month ○○ Day
[It's really maddening.
This round is progressing historically well, so Ruby has started historically tormenting Aishi.
On the day I talked with her, I drove her away.
While outwardly pretending to comfort her.
Inside, through the curse I planted in her when she was young, she's whispering words too terrible to even mention.]
Lulu, who had been staring at the newly turned page of the diary with a stiff expression from earlier.
[If this happens, I have no choice but to increase the frequency of approaching her even more.
As a side effect, my heart will completely freeze and I'll have to live in pain for a while.
But it's better than doing a retry.]
"Um... Miss Lulu? What are you looking at so seriously?"
"Ah, ugh..."
W-Wait..."
"I-It's nothing...!"
When Aishi asked with a trembling voice, she hurriedly turned the page of the diary and answered, but.
"...Huh?"
Before long, she failed to control her expression and her mouth fell open.
○○ Year ○○ Month ○○ Day
[What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? What should I do? What should I do?
Because of the side effect of my heart freezing excessively, I made a mistake with Lulu.
This shouldn't happen...
Since I can't recruit Rosewin, the only thing I can call my support is Lulu.
If I don't hug her, I can't even sleep properly now.
I need to apologize. Apologize.
I can't mess everything up after coming this far.
I haven't even removed all the brands yet.
If I go to that route after coming this far...]
"...Huh?"
Lulu, who was turning pages written in a fierce handwriting unlike the usual gentle and indifferent style.
○○ Year ○○ Month ○○ Day
[Lost her.
I lost Lulu to Ruby.
I have to get her back.]
"........Ah."
She froze after discovering the words that began to repeat for several pages after that.
[Where did you go come back where did you go come back where did you go come back]
"......ugh."
"L-Lulu... why are you..."
While Aishi was asking questions while looking anxiously at Lulu who started trembling with a devastated expression.
"Right... Kania... you're going to gather the remaining three..."
Isollet, holding a communication crystal, was smiling.
"Right, good work..."
She was making a call.
"...Frey is waiting for you here too."