Chapter 72 – Friends, Allies, and Enemies (18)

Friends, Allies, and Enemies (18)

As I was about to step outside to gather information about Chloe, a familiar woman appeared in front of the door, accompanied by a sense of déjà vu.
It was Cecilia. She had returned.
It seemed she hadn’t fled after all.
No matter how much I thought about it, there was no reason for her to come back.

At first, I was so dumbfounded that I wanted to ask her the whole story. But Cecilia kept handing me a strange liquid. She insisted that she wouldn’t answer any questions unless I drank it all.
Honestly, I didn’t want to drink it. If I had been blind, maybe, but now I could clearly see that horrendous green color…

But I didn’t have a choice.
Cecilia seemed determined to keep sitting in front of the entrance.

Finally, I sighed and picked up the bottle.
Only after checking for safety several times with Mind’s Eye did I dare to bring it to my lips. The visual was the worst. I took a sip, hoping that maybe it would taste better than it looked.
I regretted it.
The taste matched the bizarre color. It was as if rotten leaves and dirt were mixed together and snorted through the nose. The texture was also strange. It felt like crushing a sticky tomato—a terrible sensation.

It was worse than expected.
I felt my health deteriorate with just one sip.

The color was green, so could it be poison?
Could she have returned just for this moment?

I had that thought, but fortunately, I didn’t lose consciousness.

Still, it was impossible to get rid of the lingering disgust on my tongue.
I tried to look nonchalant as I turned to Cecilia.

“Ugh… I drank it all. Uh… Now come inside.”

Only then did Cecilia show a relieved expression and headed towards the bed inside.
Valkvogel glanced at her. Cecilia nodded in response to that look.
Something’s fishy. They’re not trying to set me up, are they?

I scratched my head and closed the door.

“So, we’re all here now. …So, let’s ask something. Cecilia, where have you been wandering off to? If you made the cure, you should have just come back. Where have you been until now?”

It couldn’t have been that she returned because she left something behind.
Then what happened that she came back on such a night?

I didn’t need a detailed explanation… just why she kept it a secret when she left the room, and why she came back now. I wanted to hear everything that happened in between, according to the five Ws and one H.

Cecilia nodded, stroking her chest as if to organize her thoughts.

“Where to start. Ah…! First, when I was staying at that previous inn…”

“I know all about that place, so skip it.”

“Then, after I met Chloe in the forest keeper’s passage…”

“That’s useless too, so skip it.”

“……Well.”

“You can skip all the middle parts since Valkvogel’s explanation is enough… No, actually, just tell me everything. That would be better.”

In fact, most of the background information Cecilia was about to provide had already been covered by Valkvogel. There was no real need to hear it again.

But since Valkvogel had been asleep, there was a chance that her information was incorrect. It probably wouldn’t make much of a difference, but still, it might be better to hear the correct story.
Interpreting an event from various perspectives is important.
Let’s call it cross-verification.

“Just start by explaining why you left the inn that night. From there, it should be straightforward.”

“Ah… That is…”

At first, it was a simple story.
The lifespan that was significantly shorter than what she had explained to me. She needed a dragon’s horn to heal it, and that’s why she left.

When I asked why she left without telling me, she hesitated before saying,

“…It seemed like you cared about Valkvogel. I thought you would oppose using the horn.”

It’s not like I particularly cared about her.
Was it because I kept carrying around someone unconscious that she misunderstood? It didn’t seem like I had treated her that intimately.

There was something suspicious.
Valkvogel gave Cecilia a puzzled look upon hearing her answer. Cecilia also looked uneasy, which could mean she was lying.

Well, it’s not particularly important, so let’s move on.

Next was something I hadn’t heard from Valkvogel.
She said she had been looking for someone to process the horn, but couldn’t find a craftsman before sunset. Since delaying the administration of the cure even slightly could increase the likelihood of death without proper recovery, she decided to make the medicine herself.

So she scraped and carved the horn, tinkering away to create the cure.
The result was a success.
The cure was complete.

But the process wasn’t over yet.
To stabilize the unstable cure and enhance its efficacy, additional drugs were needed.

However, it was too risky not to administer the cure immediately. So she sent Valkvogel to me first to use the medicine, while she intended to return after making the additional drugs.

But even obtaining the ingredients was a struggle. Just as she managed to gather the necessary herbs and was about to move, she collapsed, bleeding.

When she woke up, she was in an unfamiliar place.
It was where Chloe, the archer from the old hero party, was staying.

She didn’t have good feelings about me because of what she had heard, but still, she was grateful for being saved and intended to leave after expressing her thanks.
However, Chloe’s statement was shocking.
She had published a newspaper to expose the hero’s misdeeds and asked Cecilia for cooperation to provide additional testimony.

That bastard was behind the newspaper.

…Let’s move on for now.

Anyway, Cecilia knew the whole story, so she refused to cooperate.
And she leaked information about the truth.

When asked why she leaked the truth, considering Chloe’s personality, there could have been quite a dangerous situation. She answered that question like this.

“It seemed like a necessary step to open the letter…”

“I never told you about the conditions for opening the letter. How did you know about that?”
“Because of the goddess’s power… Maybe it’s something familiar to you.”
Yeah. Let’s go with that.

Afterward, Chloe naturally became furious.
She had gone to the trouble of saving her, and she had even explained her circumstances, so why would she speak like that?

She was practically chased out the door.
Before returning, she made that suspicious green liquid with the herbs she had gathered.
And that’s how she came back to the inn.

“You’ve been around a lot.”

Well, it’s a reasonable story.
Meeting Chloe was a surprise, but it doesn’t particularly matter.
What’s most important to me is the full story of the event. Now I can finally feel relieved.

“You’ve had a hard time. But next time, tell me before you go wandering off. Even if you think I’ll refuse, let me know first. That way, at least I can have an idea of what to expect.”

There’s no guarantee that something like this won’t happen again, but I’d at least appreciate a heads-up.
Without it, it’s just betrayal.

As the story ends, sleepiness overwhelms me. After nearly two hours of talking, the fatigue is noticeable.
I should have just skipped over the part about Valkvogel.
What time is it now… Judging by my drooping eyelids, it must be midnight.
Let’s rest today and set out tomorrow. We can afford to take it a bit easy. After all, we’ve been working hard.

I’ll sleep soundly through the night and head out early tomorrow morning to find Chloe’s location…

“Wait, you stayed at Chloe’s house?”

Hold on.
I almost forgot about that.
Cecilia was with Chloe? Then why should I bother going through the trouble?

At the sound of my voice, Cecilia, who was tidying up the blankets, turned her head.

“Huh? Yes. It was probably Chloe’s house. It might not be, but… at least I think it was Chloe’s house. Clothes were strewn about everywhere.”

The place where Cecilia stayed was Chloe’s house.
Hmm.
This changes things.

“Do you remember the location?”

“I should be able to find my way back… If I walk around a bit, it should come to me. If not, Flan could read my memory to figure it out, no problem.”

“I’ll pass on that.”

I don’t want my memories read haphazardly.
And being read is twice as unpleasant.

Anyway, this is a tremendous advantage.
If Cecilia knows where Chloe lives, the rest is simple. I can just go there first thing tomorrow morning. No need to wander around at night.

So… let’s rest now.
Today has been quite eventful.
Meeting Valkvogel, fighting with Nerati, and Cecilia returning.

Thanks to her return, we’re one bed short, but that’s fine. I can lean against the wall. If need be, I can lie on the floor.

Valkvogel fell asleep during the part about Cecilia fainting.
She had been asleep continuously until yesterday. But is she still sleepy?

Cecilia, lying on the bed, glanced at me for a moment.
She must be wondering how she’s going to sleep now that only one bed is free. With everyone conscious, it’s a bit awkward to cuddle up and sleep together. I’d like to put Valkvogel on the floor, given my mood, but let’s be patient since I’m feeling good right now.

I walked quietly and leaned against the wall. I gestured to Cecilia to just lie down and closed my eyes.

I can sleep against the wall.
During my porter days, I always slept like this.
It’s not comfortable, but I’ve somewhat adapted to it.

I miss the trees of the Madaruk continent.
They were so comfortable that I think we used them exclusively for firewood in the barracks.

…Those were the good old days.

The night deepens.

* * *

The girl was furious.
She had been harshly spoken to by the friend she had saved with her kindness.
And it was by a friend she had trusted and relied on.

‘Back then, you hated the elders so much. You defended Troka, who killed Rapi, saying that. But think about it… After Troka killed Rapi, who benefited the most? Wasn’t it them? Could there be another reason why Troka killed Rapi? The chances that he killed Rapi just for his own position are slim. There’s no benefit to it.’

It’s a statement not worth verifying.
Troka killed Rapi.
He did it to solidify his own position. Afterwards, he tried to kill the remaining comrades, and indeed, several lost their lives at his hands. Friends who burned their lives in the Myluman skirmish. Troka, who even tried to take the few remaining friends she had. He is an unforgivable, utterly vile person.
She cannot tolerate defending him.
Even if it’s a friend, she feels like she needs to meet and release these pent-up emotions.

“…Right. Testimony.”

Since Cecilia won’t cooperate, she needs another testimony.
Someone who is somewhat related to Troka, regardless of whether it gets published in the newspaper.
She’s thought about it for a long time, but no answer has come.
Her mind is too cluttered.

Why did Cecilia defend Troka? Why did she, who had thoroughly ignored Troka in the hero party, speak from a different stance?
It’s not like she would assimilate her ideology just by being with Flan. Cecilia is a saint who believes in the goddess. It would make sense if she influenced Flan, but the opposite happening is unlikely.

Wait a minute, then what’s the reason for Flan and Cecilia traveling together? Is there some other trick at play?

And… did that bastard really kill Rapi…

Flan’s influence was there, too.
The will that he handed over from Troka. What on earth could be written in it?
She tried to open it right after receiving the letter, but it wouldn’t budge.
At first, she thought it was just a prank and ignored it, but now she thinks it might contain something important, something that can’t be opened by simple means.
But what kind of information is in there that it might not even be Troka’s letter in the first place?

Such thoughts had Chloe’s mind in an overheated state.

However, the mental clutter brought to mind a memory that wouldn’t have surfaced under normal circumstances.
It was a memory she had forgotten because it wasn’t particularly pleasant, but that was okay.
It seemed like it could be good information.

Rahi.
No surname. Just Rahi.
She heard she was there when Rapi died.
That means she’s the person most closely associated with the incident. Plus, she’s Rapi’s sister and Chloe has a personal connection with her.

She never uttered a word about the incident, but now might be the time…

Rapi’s death was treated as a mere accident.
Now that Chloe can restore her honor, perhaps she will reveal the truth.

The vile truth that Troka committed that day.

Yes, the letter must contain his guilt.
If it weren’t that kind of letter, Cecilia wouldn’t cooperate.
The reason Cecilia said that… maybe it was her way of telling Chloe to try a little harder!

In Chloe’s mind, Troka was the mastermind behind all the evil deeds.
And that was not going to change.

Before she knew it, her anger had subsided.
There was someone she needed to meet. There was no time to waste.
With that, she decided to head towards an old connection, carrying her unresolved emotions with her.

Her steps were light.