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Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? (LN) - Volume 12 - Chapter 1.17




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Yaana

 

There’s a reason it’s called falling in love. 

“I see. So the Demon Lord is saying she has no more use for me, then…” 

As I stare in shock at the queen taratect that suddenly appeared, I hear a quiet mutter come from Agner, the enemy commander we’ve been fighting. 

Agner is extremely powerful. 

He’s skilled enough to cross blades with Jeskan while still keeping up a hail of magic aimed at Hawkin and me in the back. 

That forces Hyrince to protect us, which leaves Jeskan on his own. 

Jeskan has managed to survive with help from my Healing Magic, but even if I can cure his wounds, I can’t restore his stamina. 

He’s slowly getting worn down, so Hawkin has been using various tools to try to keep Agner on his toes, but even that hasn’t been enough to tip things in our favor. 

We don’t have our main attacker, Julius, but it’s still four-on-one. Yet, somehow, we’re barely a match for him. 

In fact, he’s the one wearing us down. 

I’ve never fought anyone so strong before. 

I know some powerful people like Julius and his teacher, Elder Ronandt, but we’ve never been on opposing sides. 

This is the first time I’ve ever been in a fight to the death with someone like that. 

And it’s terrifying. 

Far worse than any fight with a monster. 

In those situations, I never lost heart because Julius was there. 

So if we held out long enough this time for Julius to come back, we could still win. 

That was the only thought that kept me going all this time. 

But now this… 

The queen taratect’s breath attack lands a direct hit on Fort Kusorion. 

Nothing remains in its wake. 

Nothing and no one… 

Not the sturdy outer wall, the fort itself behind it, the people who were defending it, or even the people who were attacking it… 

“This can’t be real…” 

My own voice sounds distant, as if it belongs to someone else. 

I’ve never seen anything like this before. 

Whether we’re fighting monsters or people, we always fight to win. 

No matter how hard the battle, we’ve always been able to see a path that leads to victory. 

But this time, I can’t even envision us defeating that thing. 

If the enemy is that much more overwhelmingly powerful, it’s not even a fight anymore. 

It’s a slaughter. 

Certainly, I’ve seen many a slaughter before. 

Namely, at the hands of Julius himself. 

Monsters and people alike have been slaughtered by the hero. 

They did everything they could to resist, of course. 

But some things just aren’t possible. 

There are opponents who simply can’t be defeated. 

And it’s all too painfully obvious that the queen taratect before my eyes is one such enemy who could never be defeated. 

What we’re doing is fighting, not wholesale destruction. 

But in the face of such destructive power that can blow away an entire fort, no amount of humans could ever make a difference. 

I can heal the injured, but I can’t revive someone who’s been obliterated without even leaving a trace. 

Jeskan is talented with a multitude of weapons, but given their size, he wouldn’t be able to leave anything more than a scratch on that giant creature. 

No matter how much money Hawkin spent on any number of items, he definitely couldn’t destroy a fort. 

And Hyrince’s shield would be annihilated along with Hyrince himself. 

So this is a legendary-class monster. 

So this is despair. 

I’m amazed I’m still standing. 

Suddenly, I notice the dull sound of metal clashing nearby. 

“Don’t just stand there spacing out!” 

Hyrince scolds me, and I feel like my eyes have suddenly been opened. 

I can’t believe I got scolded by him! 

“I am not spacing out!” 

“Get to work, then!” 

I snap at him automatically, but he yells back in a strained voice. 

His tone tells me that things are even worse than I realized. 

That instinctual thrum of danger immediately brings me back to my senses. 

Then I realize that right nearby, Hyrince is locked shield to sword with Agner. 

“Whaaa—?!” 

They’re still fighting in this situation?! 

What? Ah, oh dear! 

Jeskan is on the ground, covered in blood! 

Agner must have hit him while I was still in shock. 

“Boooss!” 

“Idiot! Stay back!” 

Hawkin starts to run toward Jeskan, but Agner’s eyes swivel over to him, away from Hyrince. 

If he jumps in now, he’ll be killed! 

“Hawkin, no!” 

Hawkin doesn’t heed our warnings and runs forward. 

Immediately, Agner leaps away from Hyrince and closes in on Hawkin. 

“Guh?!” 

Hawkin has his knife ready, but if even Jeskan was barely able to keep up with Agner’s swordsmanship, there’s no way Hawkin will be able to block him. 

Hyrince chases after Agner, but he’s not going to catch up in time. 

It’s down to me! 

I weave Light Magic and shoot it toward Agner right away! 

But Agner apparently saw it coming, and he counters it with Dark Magic. 

The moment our spells are expended, Agner slashes down at Hawkin. 

“Gwah?!” 

The sword cuts clean through the knife and bites deep into Hawkin. 

The knife splits apart like a stick, and a wide gash opens up on Hawkin’s body. 

“Gotcha!” 

“Hngh?!” 

White smoke billows out of Hawkin’s gaping wound, straight toward Agner. 

Engulfed in the smoke, Agner closes his stinging eyes. 

There must’ve been blinding ash in Hawkin’s armor! 

As Agner stumbles back, Hyrince catches up to him and strikes him hard with his shield. 

Hyrince’s shield has high defense abilities, and it’s incredibly heavy, so it makes a good blunt weapon, too. 

And across from Hyrince, Jeskan has dragged himself to his feet, despite his wounds, and run over with his ax. 

This wasn’t planned, but since the blinding ash is working, it’s a perfectly timed pincer attack. 

Surely, even Agner won’t be able to dodge or defend against this! 

“Gaaah!” 

With a roar, Agner catches Hyrince’s shield with his bare hand and Jeskan’s with his sword. 

He blocked them both?! 

But…! 

“Ngh?!” 

My Light Magic lands a direct hit on his back. 

His posture crumbles, and Hyrince and Jeskan both attack again without missing a beat. 

This time for sure…! 

As soon as I think that, though, there’s a burst of darkness. 

Huh?! How is this possible?! 

Agner set off Dark Magic on the spot, sending himself as well as Hyrince and Jeskan flying. 

“Aaargh!” 

Hawkin was nearby, so he gets knocked back, too, rolling across the ground. 

It looks like Hyrince managed to block with his shield just in time, but Jeskan was already gravely wounded, so he’s crumpled on the ground after getting hit by the explosive force head-on. 

If I don’t heal him right away, his life will be in danger! 

And yet, Agner is still standing. 

He was in the very heart of the explosion, so he took the brunt of the impact, yet he hasn’t gone down. 

Agner sustained a fair amount of injuries himself in our fierce battle before the queen taratect appeared, and that’s on top of his self-destructive spell just now. 

He must be terribly wounded, too. I can see from here that he is bleeding in several places. 

And yet, his wide-open eyes, despite being bloodshot from the smoke, are just as full of the will to fight as ever. 

Hyrince immediately moves between Agner and me, sword and shield at the ready. 

I can’t heal Jeskan unless we get through Agner somehow. 

What should I do?! 

Then I see Hawkin moving out of the corner of my eye. 

He has a potion in his hand and is sneaking over to Jeskan so that Agner won’t see him. 

I don’t know if a potion will be enough to heal Jeskan’s wounds, but right now I have no choice but to trust Hawkin. 

All I can do is keep Agner’s attention over here. 

“Why…?” 

Without thinking, I speak in a quavering voice. 

But it’s not just an act; it’s how I really feel. 

I don’t understand why we have to do this right now! 

Doesn’t he see the enormous thing behind us?! 

“It is a hero’s job to defeat the Demon Lord, I’m told.” 

Agner suddenly smiles. 

“What?” 

“That is what the little hero proclaimed, at least.” 

I’m confused. Is he talking about Julius? 

Does that mean that even while he was fighting the four of us, Agner was monitoring Julius, too? 

What an incredibly powerful man. 

And how humiliating, too. 

That means that he considered this fight with us nothing more than the opening act before a showdown with the hero. 

He fully intended to defeat us and then fight Julius—and he was so confident it would play out that way that he’s been keeping an eye on Julius this whole time. 

During his battle with the four of us. 

What could possibly be more mortifying? 

“Well, there is your answer.” 

Heedless of my feelings, Agner continues, nodding toward the queen taratect. 

“It’s a statement from the Demon Lord. Go ahead and try, if you think you can. Heh…” 

He sounds amused, and yet somehow, his smile is a little sad. 

The queen taratect is a message from the Demon Lord, telling Julius to go ahead and try to win? 

That almost makes it sound like the queen taratect is the Demon Lord… 

“Are you saying that’s the Demon Lord?” 

“Surely not,” Agner replies dismissively. 

Of course it isn’t. 

A monster like that could never be the Demon Lord… 

“It’s just one of her spawn.” 

…Huh? 

“Naturally, the Demon Lord herself is far stronger.” 

……What? 

“Now then, hero. If you cannot even defeat that creature, then you are a far cry from challenging the Demon Lord.” 

Agner chuckles, just as a loud roar goes up in the direction he’s been looking. 

“Julius?!” 

That sound announced the start of the battle between the queen taratect and Julius. 

“That idiot!” 

Hyrince shouts in a panic. 

I can’t blame him. It’s too reckless to try and take on a monster like that, even for Julius! 

“So he intends to accept the challenge? I suppose that is the course of action befitting a hero. But I cannot say it is a wise decision.” 

Agner’s observation is exactly right. 

“But I must admit, I respect his determination.” 

For a moment, Agner wears a gentle smile unlike any expression I’ve seen on him thus far. 

Seconds later, though, that expression disappears, replaced with one of sympathy. 

“But he cannot defeat the Demon Lord. No one can.” 

His words almost sound like they’re based on experience. 

…I remember what he murmured earlier: “So the Demon Lord is saying she is through with me, then…” 

Could it be? 

“Have you challenged the Demon Lord before?” 

“The Demon Lord is the strongest of all demons. That is all there is to it.” 

Though he didn’t directly answer the question, his bitter smile seems like a confession that he was once defeated by the Demon Lord in the past. 

“So what did you mean when you said she ‘has no more use for you’?” 

I blurt out the question before I can stop myself. 

“Exactly what it sounds like. That thing appeared while we were still in the midst of battle. In other words, the Demon Lord has decided to bury you and me all at once.” 

I didn’t expect him to answer, but he readily explains his reasoning. 

Agner has been abandoned by the Demon Lord. 

“Then why are you still fighting?!” 

If his leader is casting him aside, why would he bother to keep fighting us? 

He no longer has any reason to do such a thing. 

“For the sake of the demon race, of course.” 

“But hasn’t the Demon Lord abandoned you?!” 

“Your point being?” 

“Huh?” 

I don’t understand Agner at all. 

“I have dedicated my life to the Demon Lord because I determined that was the only way to help demonkind. To throw me aside or destroy me is the Demon Lord’s prerogative. I cannot deny her that.” 

That way of thinking and that unshakable resolve make me shudder. 

We’re speaking the same language, but I still can’t comprehend his words. 

It’s impossible for me to imagine being so defeated that you’d allow your ruler to kill you. 

So that means Agner is willing to throw away his own life on this battlefield? 

“I was ordered to conquer Fort Kusorion and to defeat the hero. So I must not stop fighting until I accomplish those goals.” 

Agner raises his sword again. 

“Now, I believe I have let you buy more than enough time.” 

I gasp. 

Looking behind him, I see that Hawkin has reached Jeskan and used the potion on him. 

But Jeskan’s still not in any state to fight. 

“And I afforded myself enough time for my own wounds to heal, too.” 

That makes me realize that, just as we were trying to buy time, he was going along with it to earn himself a respite as well. 

He must have an HP Auto-Recovery skill or something that healed his wounds. 

It was a temporary truce on the basis that it was mutually beneficial for both parties. 

Now that his wounds have healed, Agner’s next move will be… 

“Hyrince!” 

“I know!” Hyrince breaks into a run at the same time as Agner starts moving. 

He’s going after Hawkin and Jeskan, who’s still on the ground! 

Agner runs toward the two of them, intending to take them out once and for all. 

Hawkin and Jeskan are across from Hyrince and me, with Agner between us. 

Which means that since Agner is running at them, his back is toward us. 

But… 

“I can’t catch up!” 

Hyrince isn’t fast enough to catch Agner. He’s not slow, of course, but his stats are geared toward defense. 

Besides, Agner has the tactical advantage in terms of basic abilities anyway. 

We can see his unprotected back, but we can’t catch up. 

In that case…! 

I shoot a Light Magic spell at his back. 

We can’t catch up physically, but my magic can! 

And yet—Agner dodges to one side without even a backward glance. 

How does he keep doing that?! 

Does he have eyes in the back of his head?! 

Usually, magic is near impossible to avoid. 

Even a master of combat would have difficulty dodging something that moves faster than an arrow. 

But Agner does so with ease. 

It’s not humanly possible, though I suppose he’s not human. 

But he won’t be able to dodge this next blow, I’m sure! 

Hyrince swings his arm with all his might and hurls his shield. 

That shield is more than just plain defense: Sometimes it’s a blunt weapon, and at times like these, it becomes a heavy projectile. 

Of course, a shield bearer letting go of his shield is practically suicide, so Hyrince rarely resorts to it. 

That’s what makes it such an unexpected secret weapon. 

Just as Agner catches up to Hawkin, the shield flies straight toward his head! 

But right as it’s about to hit, he leans to the side and deftly avoids it. 

How?! 

By this point, I’m beginning to suspect Agner might really have a skill that allows him to see behind him. 

At the very least, it’d be best to assume that he has a skill that lets him keep track of everything going on around him. 

In other words, surprise attacks from behind won’t work. 

“Rrrgh?!” 

But even he wasn’t quite able to react in time to a surprise attack from the front. 

Hawkin’s knife plunges into Agner’s leg. 

He dodged my magic and Hyrince’s shield, but he couldn’t also avoid Hawkin’s knife on top of that. 

“Hawkin?!” 

But it comes at a price: Hawkin takes a direct hit from Agner’s sword. 

Blood flies everywhere. 

It’s not like last time, when he deliberately took a hit to release the blinding ash. 

This time, the sword cuts deep into Hawkin’s body. 

“…Well played, sir.” 

Hawkin collapses. 

“Dammit!” 

Hyrince charges at Agner, but he’s already raised his sword, ready to parry. 

Without his shield, I doubt Hyrince can keep Agner occupied for long. 

“Aaargh!” 

But to my surprise, Hyrince bears down on him and makes Agner stumble back. 

Still bleeding, Jeskan manages to drag himself to his feet and slash at the staggering Agner with his sword, too. 

“Guh?!” 

His movements clearly losing their polish, Agner suffers a hit from Jeskan’s flaming magic sword. 

But that seems to be the last of Jeskan’s strength; he collapses back onto the ground. 

“Heh! Not bad for a last-ditch effort, eh?” 

Even as he falls, Jeskan manages one last grin. 

Lying next to him on the ground, Hawkin wears a similar grin. 

When I see the knife still gripped in Hawkin’s hand, I realize why Agner’s movements have suddenly failed him. 

It’s a magic blade Julius received from Elder Ronandt, imbued with Paralysis and Lightning attributes. 

That must be what’s slowing Agner down. 

“Finish it now!” 

“You got it!” 

Jeskan shouts, and Hyrince calls out in response. 

His sword strikes Agner as the latter is still staggering from Jeskan’s attack. 

The blade pierces Agner’s chest. 

“Ngh! Don’t think you’ve won yet!” Agner bellows. 

He instantly mounts a counterattack. 

“Huh?!” 

Hyrince immediately blocks it with his gauntlet but lets go of his sword in the process. 

Agner jumps forward, and Hyrince steps back. 

Fortunately, Agner’s attack is slowed by the paralysis and his wounds, so it doesn’t look like there’s much strength left behind it. 

Hyrince seems unharmed. 

“Gah!” 

Agner coughs up blood, but he’s still standing. 

“How foolish…but I must…still fight…” 

He starts to steady himself again. 

What incredible persistence. 

What is driving him to go so far…? 

“For…the demon…race…” 

Agner raises his sword. 

Hyrince is unarmed, but he braces himself nonetheless. 

“……?” 

But several moments pass, and Agner still hasn’t moved. 

Hyrince walks up to him. 

“…He’s dead.” 

Agner ran out of strength and died while still standing on his feet. 

…What a terrifying foe he was. 

We’ve never faced such a strong opponent with an equally strong force of will. 

Even in death, he’s still holding his sword at the ready… 

Wait, this is no time to be impressed! 

“Hawkin! Jeskan! Are you okay?!” 

I run over to the two of them on the ground and start using Healing Magic right away. 

“‘Okay’ might be a stretch, but I’m alive.” 

“Same here.” 

Jeskan and Hawkin respond weakly. 

But there are smiles on their faces. 

“Well, boss, did I come in handy?” 

“You sure did. We only won because of you.” 

Hawkin grins proudly at Jeskan’s words. 

It’s true; if it weren’t for him, we never would’ve beaten Agner. 

The blinding ash and the paralyzing knife. Those were two major openings Hawkin created for us at the risk of his own life. 

Those were the keys to our victory. 

I’m sure if we had fought him head-on without Hawkin, we would have lost. 

“But this is as far as we go.” 

Jeskan pulls himself up into a sitting position. 

“Little Miss, Hyrince, don’t worry about us. Just go.” 

Jeskan points toward the massive queen taratect. 

Julius is still fighting over there. 

“But what about your injuries?” 

“They’re a little better thanks to your Healing Magic. We’ve got potions, too, so we won’t die. But we won’t be back on the front lines anytime soon. Not me, and not Hawkin.” 

Of course not. 

Their wounds are anything but minor. 

In fact, if anything, those injuries are… 

“We’ll heal ourselves up with potions and get out of here so we don’t slow you down. Hyrince…you’ve got to go get Julius and bring him back.” 

“Right. I got it. Let’s go, Yaana.” 

“W-wait!” 

“Just go already!” 

“Yeah, don’t pay us any mind.” 

Jeskan shoos us onward with a flap of his hand, and Hawkin smiles and waves weakly, still prone on the ground. 

Hyrince grabs my hand and drags me away from them, interrupting my Healing Magic. 

“Wait! Hyrince, wait!” 

Ignoring my protests, Hyrince keeps moving. 

“But Jeskan and Hawkin are…!” 

“I know!!” 

Hyrince shouts so forcefully that I start to tremble. 

“…I know,” he repeats more quietly. “But I can’t just ignore their last wishes.” 

Ah… 

So Hyrince realizes it, too. 

Jeskan and Hawkin are fatally wounded… 

Those aren’t the kind of injuries you could heal with a potion. 

In fact, they are so serious that even my best Healing Magic might not be able to save them. 

As the saint, I’ve been focused on healing for so long that my health assessments on the battlefield are rarely wrong. 

Which means that if I used all my strength, I might still be able to save them. 

By sending Hyrince and me to Julius anyway, they’re telling us to save Julius instead of them. 

Jeskan and Hawkin are both prepared to die for this. 

“……Mmmph!” 

I can’t stop the tears from falling. 

Those two are our precious comrades, dependable guardians, and irreplaceable family. 

Though we are all equals in the hero’s party, they are the eldest, so they looked after us like father figures. 

Since I was raised in a church, they were the closest thing to parents I’ve ever known. 

And now part of my family is going to die. 

My body trembles uncontrollably, although it isn’t cold outside. 

I can’t keep my thoughts straight, and my vision grows hazy. 

For a moment, I can’t tell if this is a nightmare or reality. 

But there’s no point trying to avoid the truth. 

This is really happening. 

We’ve lost two of our beloved comrades. 

As the saint, I’ve encountered death many times before. 

I’ve had patients who died in spite of my healing. 

I’ve taken the lives of our enemies while serving in the hero’s party. 

But though they were physically close by, those people were still strangers to me. 

Somewhere deep down, a part of me believed that would never happen to us. 

As long as we had Julius, everything would be fine. 

I had entrusted my safety to that assumption. 

There had been very few fights that posed a serious threat to the hero Julius’s life, so I believed such a fight would never come. 

Julius himself was confident that day would come someday, which is why I desperately prayed that it wouldn’t. 

There were a few close calls, like the battles with the greater wyrm or the earth spirit, but we had never encountered a fight that spelled certain doom before. 

So I was sure this battle would be fine, too. 

At least, that was what I wanted to believe. 

But now, Jeskan and Hawkin… 

And at this very moment, Julius is fighting the queen taratect. 

It’s a legendary-class monster, the same danger level as the phoenix that once gravely injured Hyrince. 

Even Julius can’t defeat a monster like that. 

He’ll die. 

The image of Julius lying lifeless on the ground flashes across my mind. 

I’m scared. 

No, no, no, no! 

Julius can’t die! I’m scared! 

After losing Jeskan and Hawkin, I can’t possibly bear to lose Julius, too! 

I put more strength into my faltering footsteps and keep running as Hyrince pulls my hand along. 

This is no time to look away from reality. 

I have to do something. 

I have to save Julius. 

That’s the moment Julius comes into view. 

“…Ah?!” 

My breath catches in my throat. 

Julius is covered in wounds, his armor in tatters. 

But he’s still holding his sword at the ready, squaring off against the queen taratect. 

He’s alive. 

Part of me is relieved, but his dire state makes me worry that he won’t be for long. 

On the other hand, the queen taratect still looks completely healthy. 

I can’t spot a single serious scratch on it, and its massive form is just as terrifying as when it first appeared. 

As I look on, the queen taratect raises one of its front legs and brings it down toward Julius. 

“Julius?!” 

My cry is so completely drowned out by the ensuing boom that it doesn’t even reach my own ears. 

Just a single step. 

It pierces the very earth, sending up a cascade of dirt and dust. 

Julius tumbles across the ground. 

It wasn’t a direct hit—Julius dodged the queen taratect’s leg. 

But the shock waves alone are enough to send a human flying. 

A chill runs down my spine as Julius tumbles to a halt. 

I can’t help worrying that he might never get up again. 

Luckily, Julius stands right away, so my fears were for nothing this time. 

But if he keeps fighting that queen taratect, I can only assume that worry will become a reality sooner rather than later. 

This isn’t a fight—it’s a slaughter. 

Julius doesn’t have even the slightest chance of winning. The outcome was clear from the start. 

I have to find a way to change that. 

“Julius! Get back!” 

“?! Hyrince?! Yaana?!” 

Hyrince steps in front of Julius and readies his shield. 

Normally, taking shelter behind that shield is deeply reassuring, but against the queen taratect, it’s hardly any better than a thin wooden plank. 

I stand next to Julius and start healing him immediately. 

“You can’t be here! Both of you, get to safety right now!” 

“Idiot! You’re the one who needs to run! I’ll buy some time! Yaana, grab that idiot and get out of here!” 

“Ah! …All right!” 

I hesitate for a moment, but in the end, I agree to Hyrince’s command. 

He said he’ll buy time, but I don’t see how Hyrince could possibly slow down the queen taratect. 

But he’s still willingly putting his life on the line to give us a chance. 

I can’t afford to waste valuable seconds wondering whether it’s the right choice. 

We’re the hero’s party. 

Our top priority has to be the life of the hero, Julius. 

Even beyond that official sense of duty, though, all of us want Julius to live. 

Jeskan and Hawkin even sent us to save Julius at the cost of their own healing. 

I can’t let their sacrifice go to waste. 

And I have to do it for Hyrince, too, as he’s putting himself at risk right now to buy time. 

“Julius! Let’s go!” 

I grab Julius’s hand, but he doesn’t move. 

“I can’t run away now!” 

With that, he turns to face the queen taratect again. 

It’s impossible. And insane. 

Anyone can see that there’s no way to defeat that thing. 

It wouldn’t even be a fight. 

Why would you knowingly run toward your death? 

That would be the same as dying in vain. 

“Julius! You have to run!” 

“No! I’m the hero! I can’t run away!” 

“It’s because you’re the hero that you have to run! You’ve got to survive!” 

We don’t have time to waste on this. 

Even as that thought flashes across my mind, Hyrince disappears from before my eyes. 

Moments later, a gust of wind blasts toward us. 

I cover my face automatically. 

And when the wind dies down and I look forward again, the queen taratect is right in front of us. 

“Ah…” 

Where is Hyrince…? 

I don’t know what happened. 

But the queen taratect must have done something, probably swatted him away with its leg. 

Which might mean that Hyrince took the hit for us and got blown away. 

Is Hyrince all right? 

I’m worried about him, but first I have to do something about the situation at hand. 

Julius is still trying to press forward. 

I use all my strength to pull on his hand, still gripped in mine. 

When I first met Julius, my initial feelings were of sympathy. 

Almost like I was recognizing someone of my own kind. 

As a candidate for sainthood, I underwent training at the church from a young age. 

Did I have promise from the beginning? It’s hard to say. 

I was somewhat talented, but there were plenty of other candidates who excelled more than I did. 

But since I was the same age as Julius, I was chosen as the saint over far more qualified candidates. 

I never thought I would be chosen, so at first I was thrilled by the unexpected boon. 

But I would soon learn what it meant to become the saint over my more talented seniors. 

That it meant standing above the other candidates who weren’t chosen. 

I had to live up to all their expectations. 

Soon I realized how much pressure that entailed. 

Like me, Julius is under the immense pressure that comes with being the hero, so I instinctively felt a kinship with him. 

But during the fight against the human-trafficking organization, I learned just how different it is to be chosen as the hero by the gods, as opposed to being chosen as the saint by other humans. 

Julius is a true hero. 

He despises evil, seeks justice, and presses onward down his thorny path without hesitation. 

And he’s not fighting because he feels he has no other choice, like me. He’s doing it because it’s what he wants to do. 

I became the saint because I followed the teachings I grew up with, while Julius became the hero because of who he already was. It may seem the same at a glance, but they could not be more different. 

So the next emotion I felt toward him was intense admiration. 

The admiration that a fake feels after laying eyes on the genuine article. 

If I was with Julius long enough, maybe my artificial sense of justice would become the real thing. 

That would make me happy. 

Although in truth, the days went by too quickly for me to think about such things. 

Spending every waking hour fighting at Julius’s side was exhausting and fulfilling. 

Because Julius always fights for what’s right. 

He’s always pursuing what he believes in. 

Although he might second-guess himself from time to time, Julius always does his absolute best to keep pushing forward with all his might. 

I was so busy trying to keep up with him that my head constantly felt like it was spinning. 

But staying by his side was also rewarding, because I knew I was doing it all for the people and for Julius. 

And somewhere along the way, that admiration became love. 

Even I’m not sure when exactly that happened. 

There was no dramatic moment where everything changed. I just realized one day that I was in love with Julius. 

I always wanted to be with him, to walk beside him. 

So I do realize, you know, that Julius doesn’t intend to marry anyone. 

He knows how I feel, and he won’t respond to my feelings. 

Isn’t that just awful? 

Leading me on with no intention of ever returning my feelings is downright cruel. 

But I can’t hate him for it, because I know he thinks it’s a kindness. 

Julius is always lamenting his own weakness. 

He thinks that if he was stronger, he might be able to save more people. 

And because of his so-called weakness, he says he’s bound to do something foolish and get himself killed someday. 

If Julius was to get married, then he would leave that person heartbroken and alone when that fated time came. 

That’s why he said he’d never get married. 

Which is typical of Julius, I think. 

No ordinary person would behave that way. 

After all, that way of thinking doesn’t leave any room for Julius’s own happiness. 

If you ask me, Julius is a true hero to a fault. 

The hero is humanity’s last hope. An agent of good to guide people to happiness. A warrior who keeps fighting for that cause no matter how much it hurts him. 

When does Julius himself get to be happy? Never. 

He’s self-sacrificial by nature. 

So he thinks he’s going to be the first of us to die. 

But…oh, Julius. 

Don’t you know? 

There are so many people who want you to live, who want you to be happy. 

Just like you wish for other people’s happiness, we’re always wishing for yours. 

Which is why I want you to live. 

I yank on Julius’s arm, pulling him behind me. 

At that moment, Julius’s face is full of shock. 

I wonder what my expression looks like right now. 

I know I’m no beauty, but I hope my face is glowing in my final moments, at least. 

I hope I’m wearing my best smile. 

The queen taratect’s giant leg bears down on us from above. 

Julius, please live. 

Be happy. 

Ah, but… 

Despite myself, there’s a part of me that hopes I’ll leave a mark on Julius’s heart forever. 

I’m a selfish woman, aren’t I? 

They call it falling in love because it brings your thoughts and wishes down to new lows. 

I’m still falling, lower and lower. 

But you know, I’ll never regret falling in love with you. 



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