Chapter 71 – Friends, Allies, and Enemies (17)

Friends, Allies, and Enemies (17)

I headed straight for the World Tree.
I stuffed the newspaper into my pocket and ran.

My goal was to move without delay and meet Chloe. That was the purpose.
The newspaper… the content that had already been published couldn’t be changed.
So, in the next issue, we would somehow correct the content, even if it meant revealing that the hero had died, to spread the truth.
The latter method was a last resort. The main goal was to tell Chloe the truth. It would be better for her to correct the content directly than to cover it up with other controversies.

By now, I had secured evidence that Chloe would find convincing.
Records of Rapi colluding with the Demon King’s army, papers filled with various testimonies, and so on.
If one read them quietly, they would be able to grasp the myriad of evidence of Rapi’s betrayal.

It was a situation where meeting Chloe could solve everything.
There was no guarantee that it would be resolved well, but at least I was confident that I could prevent it from worsening any further.

“Wha…? Miss Chloe is…….”

Chloe was not at the World Tree when I arrived.

According to a red-haired elven woman I happened upon by chance, Chloe had been stripped of her guardian status due to some reason and had been demoted to a forest keeper on the outskirts, leaving Myluman a long time ago.
She had returned for some reason, but the explanation was cut off there.
An elf man in fine clothing came and said, ‘There’s no need to explain that much to an outsider,’ as he grabbed her by the head.

“Damn it…”

Chloe was demoted to a forest keeper?
What the hell did she do? Considering her personality, it’s not surprising.

Ah, now that I think about it, I seem to remember the newspaper mentioning ‘forest keeper Chloe.’ Could it be that I didn’t read it wrong? The newspaper definitely referred to Chloe’s acquaintance, the forest keeper, but I never imagined it was referring to Chloe herself….

Let’s stop thinking about that.
Recalling such things now won’t change anything.
Let’s think about how to find Chloe first.

I avoided the elf man who was trying to talk to me and headed outside. It seemed like he was about to follow, so I quickened my pace.

Now, how should I find Chloe?
A tavern, maybe… It’s unclear when she might return. She could enjoy a daytime drink or come at night to spend time with friends. But if I hang around the tavern all the time, I can’t help but be suspicious.
A man in a mask spending time in a tavern two days in a row…
That man who has attracted attention.
It’s dangerous.

Then, should I head straight to her residence?

Unfortunately, I don’t know the location.
In Myluman, only a very few know the path of the forest keepers, but ironically, I don’t know where the forest keepers live.
I couldn’t even get a sense of it.

Moreover, there’s no particular place I should go.
That’s why I headed to a familiar place.

“Are you here?”

A girl with somewhat awkward movements greeted me at the place, my lodging.

“I’m here.”

“You came… early.”

The lodging was as it always had been.
The familiar ceiling, the familiar wallpaper. And the two beds. It was always a dull sight.

The only difference might be that Valkvogel was awake.

Having someone else at home really does settle the mind.
It’s an unavoidable part of my nature.
I don’t want to come home to an empty house anymore.

I sat on the bed facing Valkvogel.
She was fiddling with her tail, resting it on her belly, and occasionally glancing over at me. It seemed she had something to say.
I also had words.
What had happened on the night she disappeared with Cecilia?
And why had she returned alone, and how had she acquired the healing medicine?

Roughly that much.

Valkvogel was still silent.
It felt like the day would end without a word, so I took the initiative.

“Hey.”

“But… that woman?”

Almost at the same time.
I feel like I’ve been losing my chance to speak a lot lately. Is it just me?

Anyway, Valkvogel tilted her head and pointed at me.
A woman? Which woman?
Nerati… she ran away after I beat her, so it couldn’t be her.
Maybe a ghost had climbed onto my shoulder.

I had been to the morgue in the basement, after all. It could be possible.
I’m not sure if ghosts exist in this world, but occasionally, shapeless monsters called wraiths appear and cause chaos in the villages. It’s a plausible story.

“What woman?”

Of course, the finger wasn’t pointing at me but towards the door.
So, it wasn’t a ghost.
The holy energy emanating from the original holy sword would force any wraith that approached to undergo an immediate purification process. They wouldn’t follow unless they wanted to die.

“That big, white… Ah, right. The saintess. She said she’d send the cure and me first, and that she’d follow after making something more. Didn’t you run into her on the way? Or did you meet and part ways?”

She spoke with a strangely excited face.

But the cure was made by Cecilia? I thought it was someone else… The dragon’s horn, Aeon’s magic power, and various other ingredients I couldn’t quite identify. Knowing Valkvogel as I do, she couldn’t have made the cure alone, so I had somewhat expected someone else’s help.
That it was Cecilia was a bit of a surprise.

She hadn’t run away, but had gone to get me medicine…

Wait, then why hasn’t Cecilia come back?
There’s no reason for her to run away after going to the trouble of making a cure.

Unless this cure is actually a bomb set to go off in a few minutes, there’s no reason for her to hide. Or perhaps she gave me the cure as a parting gift and ran away, but why would she need to do that?

“What are you talking about?”

It was time for a detailed explanation.

*

It was only as the sun began to set that the story finally came to an end.
It was a long and lengthy tale.
Valkvogel’s voice, which I hadn’t heard in a while, was grating on my ears.

“So that’s what happened.”

“Hmm. Is that so. I see. That’s how it turned out.”

Valkvogel’s explanation was quite fragmented.
It couldn’t be helped since she wasn’t awake for much of the time, but even so, it wasn’t too difficult to interpret. I might not know about others, but I had grown accustomed to her way of speaking, so it was somewhat okay.

To summarize the story, Cecilia had intended to help me.
Where she had slipped off to, I didn’t know, but she hadn’t returned yet. She had made a cure to help me, she said. With it, I could hold on for a few more years. And lastly, she had left to create a drug to maximize the effects of the cure and hadn’t come back since.

The drug to maximize the effects was a bit suspicious.
There was a possibility that she had lied to Valkvogel.
Since she had cut off her horn, it was possible she had taken preemptive action, thinking she would surely die.

“So… what are we going to do now?”

“First, we find Chloe. As for Cecilia, well, there’s no real need to look for her. You might not have felt it since you were asleep, but we traveled together for quite some time. Most of the time, it was Cecilia who carried you. Say hello to her if you meet her later.”

“Do I just stay here?”

“Yeah, until we head to the Dragon Kingdom. I don’t plan to stay long… but yeah.”

Valkvogel nodded her head. She seemed indifferent to it all.

The plan for the future was all set.
Now all that was left was to execute it.
I wasn’t sure if it would go well.

But why had Valkvogel changed like this?
Cecilia had gone mad after seeing my memories and realizing the truth. And when she came to her senses, she tried to help me like a madwoman. She even forced herself to accompany me on my journey.
At first, I naturally thought it was an act.
An act to deceive me, to kill me at the optimal moment.

But Cecilia helped me.
Should I say she saved me?
It wouldn’t be wrong to say she paid off her debt.

But… Valkvogel feels different. It’s as if she’s wearing a mask. A mask to kill me.
It could just be a simple misunderstanding. And since she’s playing along with my words for now, I can ignore it.
But let’s not neglect to stay on guard.

And as for Cecilia, she’s free to go.
I had no intention of going after her, but it’s probably better not to chase her. It seems she had intended to leave after giving me the cure without a word. There’s no reason to keep the creation of the cure a secret. Who would refuse an offer to extend their life?
She wanted to escape, so she escaped.
That’s all there is to it.

She just wanted to seek ordinary freedom. Having lived a life oppressed as a saint, she must have longed for freedom.
Thinking this way,
By now, she might have fled back to some inn she stayed at before, or she could be lying low somewhere in Myluman. Let’s not create discord by going out of our way to find her.

“I’ll be out and back. Don’t wander around outside.”

“Are you gathering information? It’s night, though.”

“…I’m more accustomed to the night. You just sleep. Don’t stay up for no reason.”

During the day, a masked stranger attracts attention.
At night, a masked stranger is more likely to be feared. Besides, there are fewer people around, so the chances of being spotted are lower.

It might seem difficult to find the place where the forest keeper stays, but it could be surprisingly easy. If I can tail just one forest keeper, the rest should be a piece of cake.

Thinking about it, I should have attached something to Chloe when I first met her.
If I had known she was demoted to a forest keeper beforehand…

With such thoughts, I was seen off by Valkvogel.

And at the door.
Clunk, I grab the handle.

And turn it.

Thud,
I feel the dull sensation against the pushed front door.

“Huh?”

“Ah… Oh!”

There was a woman sitting in front of the front door.

A familiar reaction.

The woman’s identity was Chloe.

I thought.

Because the combination of her clothes was exactly the same.

The difference was… the overall balance, including her chest, seemed amplified.
And her clothes looked like they were about to burst.

It was Cecilia.

Even with her nose red and pinched, she handed me a bottle.
She looked somewhat haggard, with heavy dark circles under her eyes.
Her already pale face was drained of color, giving her a ghostly appearance.

“I thought you had left.”

“…Just be quiet, and take this.”

The liquid was green. It looked like the kind of color that would lead to bad things if consumed.

“What’s this? It looks ominous.”

Cecilia, whom I thought had fled, had returned.
And in Chloe’s clothes, no less.
With a strange liquid in hand.

What could it be?
This is…

For some reason, I felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

It’s not an unpleasant feeling.