Chapter 23
No One Is Born a Hero (8)
“Yes.”
I let Ethan take the lead, shining the light ahead of him.
On the cave walls, strange damp-smelling organisms were clinging and wriggling in every corner.
Monsters that couldn’t escape the collapsing mimic’s debris were flailing about.
They were all slightly larger than ordinary monsters.
‘Still, it seems not many proper Gigantics have come through yet.’
The real ones that would appear later were incomparably larger than these. Like this cave.
‘…Could Ethan Behemoth handle them?’
As I glanced at Ethan while catching my breath, trying to match his stride, I saw his back as he walked briskly forward, unfazed by the horrific sights he was seeing for the first time.
Thanks to him forging an easy path to follow as he walked ahead, keeping up with him wasn’t too difficult, but the real ordeal was something else.
‘…Ugh.’
My clothes were damp with cold sweat running down my spine.
My hands were shaking uncontrollably now.
Returning to this place, my mind, remembering too vividly all that would happen next, shook my body.
This is why I wanted to resolve things quickly and leave.
While I can’t recall much from around the time of my first regression, which was too long ago now, there’s one scene I still remember.
When I was thrown into some cave in the ravine, hit by the shockwave of a writhing monster.
It felt like my whole body was breaking, and I couldn’t even open my eyes properly because of the blood covering my eyelids.
Despite being hazier than any other moment, this memory has remained for so long, not just because of the terrible pain.
That exact scene was the last moment when my life was mine alone.
Yes. It was in a cave just like this where I was cursed, robbing my life of its meaning.
Without any way of knowing how I was cursed, or who cursed me.
My body trembled, as if preparing for stress from events that hadn’t even happened yet.
The spine and ankle where I had been injured ached like phantom pain.
‘Of all times…’
Mimics have a habit of spitting out large foreign objects that are troublesome to digest, in order, after absorbing sufficient nutrients.
‘I was planning to pour all the elixir I received from Ethan Behemoth into the mimic’s mouth.’
Who knew Rimos Therion would outright collapse the mimic? And who knew I’d end up trapped with Ethan in the meantime?
‘…Haa.’
Now my body was visibly not moving well, to the point where it was hard to hide.
Even though Ethan was clearly being considerate in his own way, I was out of breath and exhausted after every few steps, making it hard to keep my balance.
That’s what trauma does. It keeps reminding you of things you should forget.
Even though enough time has passed to let go of such weakness.
“Edith Crowell.”
Finally noticing my increasingly labored breathing, Ethan, who had been walking ahead, stopped abruptly and turned around.
Startled by the unexpected movement, I stepped back slightly.
He approached closer by the same distance I had moved away.
“Are you not feeling well?”
“…No.”
Ethan silently reached out and touched my forehead. I closed my eyes tightly, feeling my hair, damp with cold sweat, being tidied to the side.
‘He noticed.’
It seems there was a limit to hiding my physical condition in the darkness.
Will he leave me behind? Tell me to follow later?
Considering Ethan Behemoth’s personality and the urgency of the situation, it wouldn’t be strange if he said such things.
‘If it were me, I’d leave myself behind.’
So even after his hand fell away, I just couldn’t open my eyes.
As I was swallowing down the nauseating feeling for a while with my eyes tightly shut, I heard unexpected words.
“Get on my back.”
When I opened my eyes, Ethan Behemoth was sitting in front of me with his back turned.
“…Pardon?”
“I have no intention of abandoning you just because you’ve become a burden.”
“Are you indirectly saying I’m a burden right now?”
“Somewhat.”
Normally, wouldn’t one say out of politeness that you’re not a burden?
But rather, this aspect of him eased the burden of relying on him.
“Hurry and get on. Who leaves their comrade behind?”
…Right. There’s a limit to stubbornly persisting.
My head was spinning from the mixture of fishy smells, stone odors, and sweet scents wafting around.
“Quickly.”
At Ethan Behemoth’s continued urging, I finally bit my lip hard, then carefully climbed onto his back.
Even through several layers of cloth, I could feel his taut muscles tensed in a state of alertness.
The warmth I felt as soon as I clung to him heated my body.
“Put your arms around my neck. I’m going to move fast.”
“Okay. …Thank you.”
I focused my remaining mental energy on illuminating the path ahead of him with magic and buried my forehead completely against his back.
My dizziness was getting worse.
As he ran so quickly, my hair fluttered, cooling my damp nape.
‘…So determined…’
Riding on Ethan Behemoth’s back, such a thought flitted through my reverie.
His chest was broader and neck thicker than others his age, so I had to hug him tightly to wrap my arms around his neck.
It felt strange somehow that even though I was pressed so close to him like this, mentally I was still keeping my distance.
He, who clearly couldn’t know what I was thinking, muttered quietly.
“Being dishonest always causes problems.”
“…That’s true.”
Though it didn’t sound like he was talking to me, I felt strangely guilty.
Gurgle.
Just then, an ill-timed sound was heard.
Gurgle gurgle.
And twice at that.
“Is there anything to eat?”
After a brief silence, Ethan asked a question that could be seen as either sensible or not.
…Should I pretend I didn’t hear?
“Are you hungry?”
“No. Not me, I mean you, Edith.”
He definitely lacks tact.
Come to think of it, we hadn’t had a proper meal while riding horses all this time, so it was natural to be hungry.
We had been fasting since the incident occurred just as we were preparing to camp.
While my body was jostling as I rode on his back, I managed to deftly open the pouch that was safely attached to my belt.
‘Ugh.’
But the next step was the problem. I simply couldn’t rummage through the pouch.
I was afraid to let go of my hands from Ethan Behemoth’s back as he ran quickly through the rough cave.
If I fall off this time, he’ll really leave me behind.
In the end, I completely unfastened the pouch and handed it to Ethan Behemoth.
“Could you please take out any remaining food from inside?”
“You’re making good use of me.”
“You looked hungry. Eat some and give me some too.”
“I told you, it’s not me who’s hungry, it’s you.”
“Can’t you let anything go?”
“The same goes for you.”
I glared at the back of Ethan Behemoth’s head.
He never lets anything slide.
Ethan Behemoth finally took something out of the pouch I handed him, put some in his own mouth and held one out to me.
“Here.”
“Thank you.”
Squinting my eyes to examine what he was offering through my blurry vision, I saw it was some kind of cookie.
Did I put something like this in my pouch?
In truth, I couldn’t think properly. I was too exhausted to ponder anything.
In my dizziness, I quickly took the cookie Ethan offered and put it in my mouth. And the moment I took a bite.
I realized my grave mistake.
‘…Ugh, this.’
My brows furrowed.
‘It’s the Dean’s Confession Cookie.’
My cloudy mind was suddenly filled with a red warning signal.
Ethan Behemoth. There’s jerky all over the pouch, but you give me this cookie?
I had put it at the very bottom so I wouldn’t eat it even by mistake.
I suddenly became fully alert. A different kind of cold sweat ran down my spine.
“…Um.”
“Why are you calling?”
“…You ate the cookie, right?”
‘…Ethan. Did you eat the cookie?’
“Was I not supposed to eat it?”
“…No. That’s not it.”
I quickly denied it.
I don’t know how he would react if he realized the cookie was enchanted with a brainwashing spell.
For now, it seems he doesn’t know that fact.
Just looking at how he’s quietly chewing and eating the cookie without spitting it out…
“……”
I felt chills down to my bones.
While suppressing the magical power that felt like the taste of blood at the root of my tongue, I tightly closed my eyes.
Why couldn’t I remember this immediately?
Has my mind really gone loose?
I wanted to punch that mimic that messed up my mind by taking the shape of a cave.
‘…I shouldn’t say anything.’
If I just keep my mouth shut, it should be fine.
As long as I don’t engage him in conversation about this and that while Ethan is in an overly honest state, it should be okay.
He was originally an honest person, like a bomb that you never knew what he might say.
Besides, I wasn’t curious or wanting to know anything about Ethan Behemoth’s weaknesses.
If I hear it, I’ll have to take responsibility!
But you know how life is, things never really go the way you want them to.
“Edith.”
‘Damn it!’
In the end, Ethan Behemoth opened his mouth.
🥀
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