CH 79

“I’ve seen this damn human!”

“I found it!”

As expected, the main body reacted first and tried to attack me. I quickly shot a beam towards Gliw-gon’s neck.

Boom!! Aargh―

Blood poured out like a waterfall as its neck was severed. Gliw-gon, with its severed neck, staggered and then thudded to the side with a sound.

Gliw-gon’s mouth moved slowly.

“Ho…w… did… you… kill… me…”

If it’s asking how I have this much power, I should probably answer that I was just lucky to receive a large amount of power. The amount of power granted by power bestowal is random, after all.

But if it’s asking how I gathered the courage to think I could kill it alone…

“I thought this way. If you were truly a strong opponent, you wouldn’t have needed to use clones.”

If you’re strong, you should be able to face me directly without any problems. Seeing you use clone techniques against just me made me assume that the main body wasn’t particularly strong.

“From the beginning, you were unable to use your wings after being attacked by the Duke, and your overall movements became sluggish.”

That’s why I planned to kill you alone. I didn’t expect it to be so easy, but…

“S-rank monster, nothing special, huh? Let’s be honest. You’re not S-rank, but rather B-rank, right?”

Being completely helpless and unable to react, it’s just like that B-rank monster I saw earlier, the Heart Monkey.

“Uhh… ahh…”

Gliw-gon couldn’t say anything in response to my provocation and died. Just to be sure, I didn’t forget to confirm the kill.

Boom―!

After its heart exploded, I finally accepted that Gliw-gon was truly dead.

I felt a little disappointed. If I had known that I could easily kill Gliw-gon, I would have come here sooner, even just a day earlier.

* * *

May, avoiding Gliw-gon’s corpse and blood, went back into the cave. When she entered, Milo was struggling to get up.

“Don’t overexert yourself, Milo.”

May ran over to him and supported his body.

Upon closer inspection, the wounds were beyond imagination. It was as if his entire body had been tightly bound with ropes and rolled down from the top of a mountain. Large and small wounds covered his entire body.

“Gliw-gon, you damn bastard… I should have killed you more brutally…”

Even though I had no connection with Milo, it tore my heart apart just looking at it. I wonder what Heint would think if he saw it.

As May looked at Milo with worried eyes, his pale lips opened.

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t lie. Nothing is fine at all.”

“I’m okay now thanks to Lord who came to save me.”

“Lies…”

Even if she collapsed right now, it wouldn’t be surprising. That’s how precarious Milo looked.

“Let’s go for treatment.”

May shifted her gaze to Milo’s ankle bound by chains. The silvery energy emanating from her hands severed the chains. Clank-

“Oh my…”

May couldn’t hide her astonishment when she saw Milo’s freed ankle.

Blood and fluid trickled from torn and bruised flesh. The surrounding area was filled with purple and yellow bruises.

While unsure about other things, she knew that she needed to stop the bleeding here.

“What should I do… I need to stop the bleeding…”

Milo showed no interest in the condition of his ankle. He solely focused on the girl who had embraced him.

The fact that she had come to save him felt like a dream.

Milo recalled past events.

After being kidnapped by Gliogon, whenever Gliogon fell asleep, Milo secretly escaped from the mountains and desperately sought help from people.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, kid. Even if you were kidnapped by a demon, there’s nothing we can do to help you, kid.”

“Even if they did kidnap you, we have nothing to offer you, kid.”

Milo understood that they might not be able to help because Gliw-gon was strong. However, he found it difficult to understand the contempt directed towards him.

“Tsk tsk, this orphan couldn’t grow up properly under his parents’ care and has gone mad. How can you be here if you were kidnapped?”

“The little kid is lying.”

“Dear, let’s just go. He seems to have a problem with his head.”

After hearing those words, Milo no longer sought help from people. He built a wall around himself, both for demons and humans. He was determined to seek revenge and return home alone, no matter what.

One day, someone approached Milo and spoke to him first.

‘Milo…?’

A girl with platinum hair and eyes bluer than the sea. She called his name with a cheerful voice. Since being kidnapped, no one had called him by his name.

‘Are you Milo?’

As it had been a long time since someone recognized and called him, he wanted to answer that he was indeed Milo. However, he had already made plans for revenge, so he couldn’t respond in that way.

‘Sorry, you must have mistaken someone.’

Upon saying that, the girl took a step back. Instead, she became interested in the seashell that was in Milo’s hand.

It was a pastel-colored seashell he had picked up without much thought while taking a break near the sea.

‘Wow, it’s beautiful.’

Beautiful. Milo, who had only heard negative words from people, felt his heart warm with just that one word.

Even though he knew that the word “beautiful” wasn’t directed towards him but towards the seashell.

Milo was grateful to the girl who had warmed his heart, so he gifted her the seashell. He wanted to give her not only the seashell but anything she desired.

If she wished for it, even his own heart.

‘Thank you. I’ll cherish it.’

The clear smile of the girl that he saw at that moment would never be forgotten. He thought of it every day. And every time, he felt a tinge of regret.

‘I should have asked for her name.’

He planned to ask her name when he finished his revenge.

What her name was.

What she liked.

If there was someone she liked.

And if there wasn’t, whether he could be the one she liked.

Of course, even if she liked someone else, he wouldn’t give up. But still.

Milo finished his reminiscing and reached for his cheek. His trembling hand touched it gently.

May’s gaze on his ankle shifted to his handsome face.

“Why? Does it hurt a lot?”

“It feels like a dream.”

Because you, whom I wanted to see so much, saved me.

***

“It feels like… a dream?”

Upon hearing those words, I became very worried about his condition.

“What should we do? You’ve lost too much blood and seem dizzy.”

“What? It’s not dizziness…”

“We need to stop the bleeding quickly!”

I urgently searched for something to stop the bleeding, but there was nothing suitable nearby, as expected.

“What should we do…”

Then I suddenly realized that I had bandages with me.

Oh right, I had those!

Without hesitation, I quickly began unbuttoning my shirt.

Milo’s eyes widened in surprise, then he tightly shut them.

“L-Lord, why are you suddenly… undressing?”

“I’m binding my chest with compression bandages. I’ve been presenting as male.”

“S-Surely, with that…”

I turned around and quickly removed the compression bandages and buttoned up my shirt again.

“It might be uncomfortable, but bear with it until we can properly treat it.”

I wrapped Milo’s ankle with the bandages.

“Lord… Is it… okay like this?”

Milo felt embarrassed because of the bandages that were wrapping his chest. His eyes were still closed.

“It’s for the sake of getting help from people. It’s fine because I have an illusion spell on myself. I wore the bandages just in case.”

I supported Milo so that he could stand up. He still hadn’t opened his eyes, and his ears were bright red.

“Are you going to keep your eyes closed? We should descend from the mountain now.”

Milo cautiously opened his eyes and looked straight ahead. He seemed awkward and couldn’t meet my gaze.

“Let’s go, Milo. If you’re in pain, let me know anytime.”

“…Yes.”

We stepped out of the cave and walked slowly.

“Ugh…”

The ground was filled with sharp objects, and it was difficult for Milo, who was barefoot, to walk.

“Milo, should we go down the river?”

“The river?”

I led Milo towards a nearby cliff.

Looking down from the edge of the cliff, there was a river flowing about 40 meters below.

“Ah… It’s higher than I thought…”

I hesitated and only looked down below. It was possible because I didn’t have acrophobia.

“I was planning to create a tube with magic and float down the water, but…”

Even for me, who didn’t have acrophobia, it seemed too high to jump down. It was like jumping from the 17th floor of an apartment building.

“What should we do…”

“I’m fine.”

Fortunately, Milo wasn’t afraid of jumping, but I was the problem.

Could I maintain my magic while falling?

If I couldn’t maintain my magic, I might fall and die.

“I’m worried since it’s my first time using magic like this…”

“You can do it. Otherwise, I’ll save you.”

“Well… Alright. Let’s give it a try. I managed to kill Gliogon, so I should be able to maintain a single tube, right?”

In order to quickly treat Milo, I made up my mind to jump.

Silver energy emanated from my hand and formed a sturdy raft. We sat on it, holding the handles tightly so as not to let go.

“Okay… Shall we go down?”

“Yes.”

I swallowed my saliva and tightly closed my eyes.

“Hold on tight!”

We jumped off the cliff together.