CH 135

Episode 135 – Survival Confirmation 

When I turned around, I saw Byrne lying on the ground in a large pool of blood, bleeding profusely. Lyra, Porta, and Nina had already arrived at Byrne’s side, and Nina was urgently using [Heal] on him. It was the first time I’d seen someone wounded so terribly right in front of my eyes, and I could feel my heart throbbing violently in my chest.

Pushing down the negative emotions that were starting to flood my mind, I rushed over to Byrne. He was lying face up with his eyes closed, and his face was drained of blood. Though I couldn’t see any visible wounds, there were signs of severe bleeding as evidenced by the blood that was dyeing his clothes.

My breathing had become more and more ragged at this sight as the worst case scenario began to flash through my mind, when Byrne’s eyes slowly opened.

“……..Yo, Lewin. What’s wrong…? You’re looking so… pale… You beat the Troll… didn’t you?” (Byrne)

I nearly spat out my heart in relief when I heard Byrne utter those words.

Thank goodness, Byrne isn’t dead… Thank goodness…

“……So, why are you looking so down? Looks like you won… no?” (Byrne)

“….Yeah, I won. But Byrne…. y-you…” (Lewin)

“….Byrne. It’s not life-threatening, but it’s still a serious injury, so please don’t talk too much… If you push yourself too far, you’ll really die, okay?” (Nina)

“Nina, don’t say such scary things. Geez… I get it, alright? I’ll be good and go to sleep now. Lewin, tell me how you defeated that Troll later, okay?” (Byrne)

After that, Byrne closed his eyes and fell asleep with a tranquil expression on his face. Seeing that Byrne was okay, the relief suddenly hit me all at once. The effects of the Strength Potion wore off, and I fell to the ground slowly.

“Lewin!! Are you okay?!” (Lyra)

“……Ah, yeah. Lyra, I’m fine! I’m not injured or anything, it’s just that I’m so tired that I can’t move anymore.” (Lewin)

“…For now, I’ll use [Heal] on you, so please hang in there!” (Nina)

Nina stepped away from Byrne, who was now sleeping peacefully, and cast [Heal] on me. A comfortable warmth resonated from the core of my body, slightly lifting my spirits. While I was basking in the heartening sensation of the [Heal], about to nod off, I heard a small pair of footsteps slowly approaching me.

I lifted my heavy eyelids to take a look at the person approaching me and saw the figure of the little girl who I rescued from the purple Troll.

“…..Onii-chan, thank you for saving me,” the little girl said with a shy smile. During the fight with the purple Troll, I had regretted starting the fight many times, but… when I saw this girl’s bashful, radiant smile, I couldn’t help but feel that it was a good thing that I was able to save her in the end.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” (Lewin)

“Nope! I do have a scrape on my knee, but it doesn’t hurt!” (Little Girl)

“I see. I’m glad. Hey… do you know where your mother is?” (Lewin)

“Yeah! But… she stayed in the house. She told me to run…” (Little Girl)

The little girl was smiling just a moment ago, but she quickly became teary-eyed when she said this.

Still in the house…?

If they let this little girl escape alone, their chances of survival would probably be slim to none. Just when the air became heavy with this implication, I heard a voice shouting someone’s name from afar.

“Monica! Monicaaa!! If you’re there, respond!!”

I could hear a woman shouting, almost on the verge of screaming, as it gradually got closer. The girl reacted strongly to this voice. The moment the voice rang out once more, the figure of someone riding on horseback came into view. A Knight of the Royal Order… And it was none other than Kirty.

“……Mama! Mama!!! I’m over here, I’m safe!” (Little Girl)

The little girl ran towards Kirty, who was approaching astride a horse. For a moment, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest when I thought that the little girl was calling Kirty her mother, but then I saw that there was another woman riding behind Kirty.

After Kirty stopped the horse and allowed the presumed little girl’s mother to step down, the little girl ran into her arms.

“…Thank goodness! I’m so glad you’re safe…!” (Monica’s Mother)

“I’m so glad you’re alive too, mama. Those people… they saved me.” (Monica)

Hearing the little girl’s words, her mother looked towards us and bowed deeply. When I saw the tears gathering in the mother’s eyes and the heartfelt expression on her face, I once again felt from the bottom of my heart that it was a good thing I was able to save the little girl.

While I was smiling at the heartwarming scene between parent and child, Kirty stepped out from behind the mother and walked up to me. Her face was covered with a helmet, but I could tell it was Kirty by the way she carried herself.

“….Lewin. Glad to see you’re okay.” (Kirty)

“That corpse… You defeated the enemy commander, Lewin?” (Kirty)

“So that Troll really was the commander after all? Was it… an Executive of the Demon King’s Army?” (Lewin)

Kirty was muttering quietly to herself as she examined the corpse of the purple Troll that was still writhing and wriggling around on the ground, trying to regenerate. I knew that it was overwhelmingly stronger than the rest of the monsters we fought today, but I didn’t expect it to actually be the commander of the monster army attacking this city.

“No, it’s not an Executive. Seeing as how this commander was acting alone… I get the feeling that this army was just sent here for fun. This Troll was, well, probably just a disposable piece.” (Kirty)

“This purple Troll was just a disposable piece?” (Lewin)

I couldn’t stop my mouth from hanging open at this shocking revelation.

A monster this strong is considered disposable?

As the sheer scale and strength of the Demon King’s Army dawned upon me, my mouth suddenly felt very dry.