Heroes Gather in Zoltan

The next day, Tisse and Mister Crawly Wawly returned to the shop.

I had heard about what had happened in the bath from Rit.

"Thank you," I said as I bowed my head to Tisse and her pet spider, who were sitting

across from me.

"There's no need for that. Ruti is a friend."

"That's the part I'm grateful for. Thank you for being her friend."

Ruti had never kept close acquaintances. The Hero blessing granted her a skill that

gave everyone around her incredible courage. However, it also inspired awe that made

those in Ruti's presence feel like she was some far-off being.

Even her comrades had kept a line that they did not cross with Ruti. I was the only one

who had always stayed with her. When I had mistakenly thought Ares had stepped

into my place, I had been sad at the thought that I was no longer needed, but I had also

been happy that my sister had comrades she could speak more freely with. Sadly, that

had all been a misunderstanding.

Ruti did have proper friends now in Tisse and Mister Crawly Wawly. And I couldn't

have been happier about that.

"In truth, this is something that Ruti should be telling you herself, Gideon… No, I'll call

you Red, as well. However, the current situation makes it a bit difficult for her to be

able to do that," Tisse prefaced.

"I understand. It's fine."

Both Rit and I had already realized that something was going on with Ruti. She had

never been as expressive, smiling and crying and all that, as she had been lately. And

more than anything else, she would never have been able to say she was going to live

here in Zoltan with the impulses of her blessing eating at her.

"I trust the two of you, so I'll share everything I know."

Tisse carefully conveyed everything that she had seen and heard. I couldn't hide my

surprise that the effects of the incident here in Zoltan had reached Ruti so far away.

Zoltan was supposed to be a backwater far removed from the battle with the demon

lord's army.

"I never would have thought that contract demon would make a pact with Ruti."

Tisse did not know what the contract demon had talked with Ruti about, either. Ruti

had captured the creature and interrogated it by herself.

"That was how she learned the effects of Devil's Blessing and the recipe to prepare it."

"Red, can Ruti not just use that medicine you gave Ademi?" Rit asked.

"No, it wouldn't have any effect on her."

The medicine I had given Ademi to tamp down his blessing's impulses was considered

a poison. Ruti had Immunity to Poison, meaning it would have no effect.

The reason I had researched that medicine in the first place was that I had wanted to

find a way to free Ruti from the pressures of her blessing, at least temporarily.

"If she keeps using Devil's Blessing to suppress her own, what do you think will

happen?" Tisse asked, deep in thought.

If she just kept taking it, huh… The image of one of the people who had overdosed on

the Devil's Blessing morphed into Ruti in my head.

"I don't know the principle behind how the Devil's Blessing works, so I can't say for

sure, but I suspect that as long as the immunities from the Hero blessing remain, she

will be fine. But the drug is supposed to lower the user's innate blessing level."

"So the symptoms of overdosing will show up once she drops enough levels to lose her

immunity?" Tisse reasoned.

"That seems most likely."

I'd seen the symptoms of several dozen overdoses at Dr. Newman's clinic.

Devil's Blessing was incredibly addictive, and when it was taken in excessive

quantities, it could lead to intense headaches and cardiopulmonary arrest. But those

symptoms had only been observed in people with low levels.

In addition, overconsumption could also lead to abnormalities in body functions, like

a typical anesthetic. However, for people with a sufficiently high blessing level, the

medicine's physical properties were outstripped by the vitality and recovery effects

brought about by the blessing.

Things became complicated because Devil's Blessing also lowered the user's blessing

level, but even still, as the ax demon blessing grew in level, it became possible to

endure the symptoms of overdosing in the same way when that blessing became

sufficiently high, too. Other than the dependence and the murderous impulses

associated with the ax demon blessing gaining strength, it shouldn't cause Ruti any

physical problems…

"Wait a minute," I said.

"What is it?" Rit sounded uneasy when she saw my expression suddenly shift.

"I don't know all the details of preparation, but doesn't that drug require a demon's

heart?"

"That would be tough for most people to acquire, but it shouldn't be a problem for

Ruti."

She was more than strong enough to attack one of the demon lord's army's camps and

gather dozens of hearts. Zoltan was far from the war, however.

"The recipe Ruti is using doesn't require demon hearts," Tisse chimed in.

Wait. What? Devil's Blessing is a medicine that uses a demon's blessing to quell the

impulses of the imbiber's innate one, right?

"How would it suppress urges without the demon heart at the crux of it all?" I

questioned.

All three of us fell silent as we struggled to grasp the possibility of such a thing.

As adventurers, we all had a certain amount of knowledge regarding medicines. I was

the only one who made remedies, but Rit and Tisse still understood more than the

average apothecary. Without all that knowledge, the two likely would have fallen in

battle long before this point. Precisely because of that, they could recognize the

contradiction implicit in the medicine Ruti was taking.

"What does that mean? It was a demon that made that medicine. It went so far as to

kill fellow demons to create it. If it was possible to craft without resorting to such

methods, why even bother going through all that in the first place?" I wondered.

"It's unnatural. I'm sorry; I should have paid closer attention," Tisse apologized. It was

understandable that she hadn't noticed at the time, though. Up until she had arrived

in Zoltan, she'd thought the medicine was for defeating the demon lord. She'd had no

way of knowing that Ruti's goal was to suppress the Hero blessing's impulses with

Devil's Blessing.

"…Tisse, you're an assassin who joined the party because Ares hired you, right? Are

you sure you want to get involved in this?"

"Accompanying Ruti is in line with the contract."

Tisse did not seem to have any strong opinions about the possibility that Ruti might

abandon her quest to defeat the demon lord. Maybe it wasn't even that big a deal to

her because slaying the demon lord had never been her goal.

Regardless, what was important was that Tisse was a far better friend for Ruti than I

had first suspected. I could feel myself tearing up, but since we were in the middle of

discussing something this serious, I kept it to a silent feeling of gratitude.

"I think there's something fundamentally wrong with the idea of making a single

person shoulder the fate of a world with however many millions and tens of millions

of people living in it," Rit stated.

She had said almost the same thing when she had first met the Hero's party. It was

because she felt that way that she had refused our assistance and tried to protect

Loggervia herself.

"But just thinking that isn't enough." Rit's expression was clouded over.

In the end, it had been Ruti who had saved Loggervia. If the Hero hadn't been there,

Rit's kingdom would have suffered the same tragedy that had befallen the many other

cities occupied by the demon lord's forces.

"Whether Ruti decides to continue fighting the demon lord is something that she

should decide for herself."

"…You're right, Tisse. Discussions about the fate of the world can wait until after Ruti

figures out what she wants."

"Yeah. Everyone in the Hero's party joined of our own volition. The king gave neither

Ares nor I orders. I did it to fight alongside my sister, and Ares did it to restore his

family's honor. Theodora joined to save the world with her martial prowess, which is

why she had stepped down from her position as a spear-wielding instructor with the

temple knights. Danan came on to avenge his hometown after it was razed by demons.

Yarandrala joined out of a sense of righteousness. We all chose to be there, all except

Ruti. Her blessing forced her into all of this."

I recalled the faces of those I had battled beside.

There had been others, too, who had fought with the Hero's party for a time. Two

soldiers had accompanied us on their lord's orders, and a priest from the holy church

in the capital had traveled with us as an observer. None of them had remained for very

long, however. Whatever status or power the person giving the orders had, it was a

difficult thing to continue risking your life on the front lines of the battle against the

demon lord's forces rampaging across the continent for no reason other than you were

told to. Leaving became an even more enticing prospect when the adventure saddled

you with enough treasure to live a life of luxury countless times over.

"In that sense, I'm not a comrade. I'm merely accompanying her as part of a job request

taken by the Assassins Guild," Tisse said.

"That's not true at all," I cut in, stopping her there. "If you were only doing your job,

you wouldn't be here. You're here discussing how to save the Hero with us because

you want to, right?"

Mister Crawly Wawly's leg snapped up at that.

"Right, Mister Crawly Wawly isn't here because I commanded him, either." Tisse

nodded as she smiled at her spider.

"Saving the Hero… The truth is: I've looked for a way to do that before," I admitted,

earning serious looks from Rit and Tisse.

I had searched for a way to suppress blessing urges during the breaks in our journey.

The medicine I had given Ademi was one of the fruits of that effort, and the advice I

had given Al when he was worried about his blessing was another.

The trouble was, the Hero blessing granted the ultimate power in exchange for equally

overwhelming impulses. One time, when I had infiltrated a wild elf settlement, I had

gotten a chance to speak with an elder there. I asked her for help, and I still remember

very clearly what she said in reply.

You wish to suppress the impulses of the Hero? There is no way, save death.

To the best of my knowledge, restraining a blessing that powerful was impossible,

even for the wild elves, those said to have the most profound understanding of

blessings of anyone on Avalon.

"I'll make some fresh tea."

It was a problem with seemingly no way out. We were just going to have to take our

time talking it over. But while I hadn't been able to solve the problem by myself before,

this time I had Rit and Tisse and Mister Crawly Wawly. I believed that we would find a

way to save Ruti.

"I guess we don't have any choice but to ask that alchemist for more details."

All our conversation succeeded in doing was making it clear that Tisse, Rit, and I knew

too little about Devil's Blessing.

"Not that there's any saying how much Godwin understands about Devil's Blessing,

either."

Still, he was the man who'd been taught the recipe directly from a contract demon.

That had to make him the closest thing Zoltan had to an expert on the drug.

"Ummm…" Tisse raised her hand. She almost seemed a little bit scared. I wondered

what could trouble her so. "Regarding Ruti breaking Godwin out of prison, are you

upset with her about that?"

"Oh, that?"

Ahhh, yeah, I definitely look like that kind of person.

"First of all, hmmm, well, Ruti shared how she really feels, so I guess I should come

clean, too."

"Come clean?"

"I'm not the sort of guy who would go risking my life for some random person I don't

know and have never met."

"Huh? But you were in the Hero's party…"

"I only joined because Ruti was the Hero. I mean, if it was for a friend or the people in

this part of Zoltan, then yeah, I could fight, but beyond that, I don't really care enough

to be risking my life over it."

"That's surprising. I had heard stories about the second in command of the Bahamut

Knights fighting countless monsters and saving many people," Tisse said.

"That was because I kept asking for the sorts of missions where powerful monsters

were likely to appear to raise my level as much as possible for when Ruti would set

out on her journey. I focused on that, and before I knew it, I had risen through the

ranks."

"Is that so…"

If I didn't feel that way, I wouldn't have holed up here in Zoltan and set my sights on a

quiet life like this.

"Only a few prisoners and guards got hurt, right? I'm not going to say it was a good

thing, but I don't think berating you two over it is worthwhile, either."

Tisse seemed genuinely shocked to hear me say that so easily.

"And I'm the terrible princess who ran away from the castle to work as an adventurer

and bodyguard," Rit reminded with a wry chuckle.

Rit loved her homeland, but she didn't have an absolutist stance about following the

law by any means, either. As far as we were concerned, we didn't have anything to

scold Ruti for when it came to the prison break.

"In that case, please make that clear to Ruti if you get a chance. She is probably scared

of you finding out," requested Tisse.

"Got it."

Rit and I nodded with smiles. Ruti really had found herself a great friend.

"Back to the task at hand, Godwin's our best bet at determining a course of action. You

said he's in the elf ruins where I go to gather medicinal herbs, right?"

"Ruti destroyed the lift system, so you can't get down without dripping over one

hundred meters."

"A classic Ruti brute-force solution."

With that, there wouldn't be any other people getting in. Ruti had destroyed the

elevator, but I could use the Acrobatics mastery Slow Fall, and Rit could either make

do somehow with her spirit magic, or I could hold on to her while I descended. And

judging by the fact that Tisse wasn't saying anything, she probably had her own way

to get down, too.

"Looks like that won't be a problem for us."

"Yes."

Our plan was set. It was a perfect time to act since Ruti was in the ruins right now.

"Let's close up shop for the day and head there," I declared as I stood up.

"Ah, wait," Rit interjected, as if she suddenly remembered something.

"What is it?"

"Isn't today when that merchant ship comes? I was thinking of getting some alchemy

tools to analyze Devil's Blessing."

"Godwin mentioned not having the right tools as well," added Tisse. "We gathered all

those we could find in Zoltan, but the selection here wasn't particularly great."

"Even so, this is the last stop for the merchant ship. Do we really still think they have

what we need?"

Zoltan was in the middle of nowhere. The merchant ships coming from the west

turned around at Zoltan and began return routes. There wasn't much profit to be made

out here, so the only vessels that actually docked in town were smaller ones that were

cheaper to crew. There was no telling whether they would even have what we were

looking for.

"Even so, the ships only come once or twice a month, so wouldn't it be better to at least

check today while we can?"

"Fair enough. In that case, I'll go check out the harbor. I can run faster than a horse or

a riding drake," I said.

"Very well. I have a note with the tools that Godwin said he needed." Tisse pulled a

memo and a bag of silver coins out of her item box. There were several expensive

tools—Arphilia filters and things like that—listed on the note. It would be hard to buy

all of that with the cash I had available, so I gratefully accepted the money from Tisse.

"All right, we're going to rent some riding drakes and head out," Rit declared.

"Got it. I'll be along right behind you," I replied.

We changed into travel gear, and when we left, I flipped the sign on the front door to

the side that read CLOSED FOR THE DAY.

The harbor district was on the west side of Zoltan, edged up against the river.

As the name on the map implied, you could find the docks there. That said, it wasn't

some great ocean-side pier, just a small jetty on the side of a river. This kept the large

ships from entering. It was mostly small sailing ships and galleys with shallow drafts.

Zoltan got its fair share of storms, and sailing up to the harbor in the summer was

dangerous. That was part of why Zoltan was so disconnected from the rest of the

world.

There were three new vessels in the harbor, an unusual sight out here.

"It's always just the one normally."

The ships that usually moored in Zoltan's harbor were rowboats that went upriver to

trade with the nearby villages, fishing boats, and the three caravel sailing ships that

could hold twenty people and made up the total of the Zoltan navy.

While every other country was using new model galleons or big, sturdy galleys, having

a trio of old caravels to guard against an attack by water seemed unreliable. Not that

there was anyone to be warring with out here.

Given that, though, it was not particularly difficult to tell when new ships had arrived.

In addition to a regular merchant ship, there were also two clippers in the harbor. One

was a small galley, and the other was a midsize sloop. The latter had laid up anchor in

the middle of the river, maybe concerned about its draft being too deep and running

aground. It was using boats to ferry back and forth into the harbor.

"That smaller ship is maybe a delivery for some rich person in the central district? And

the midsize one looks like it might be headed east beyond the Wall at the End of the

World?"

If so, then they were probably selling rare things in the harbor to earn some pocket

change. There was no saying whether they had alchemy tools, but it was worth

knowing for sure.

Getting a little bit excited, I started walking to the harbor marketplace.

"Two days late? That's sufficient, I suppose."

"Heh-heh, apologies, Chief."

It was a chartered ship to deliver items that had been requested as soon as possible.

Captain Blake of the light galley Goldenroad lowered his head apologetically.

But in his mind, he felt like spitting. There weren't storms on the seas around these

parts in winter, but the wind and waves were strong, making it incredibly difficult to

navigate. And sometimes, the breeze would just disappear all of a sudden, so even a

tried-and-true seaman like Blake couldn't always accurately estimate the time a ship

would make on those seas.

Damn landlubbers.

But not even the slightest trace of it showed in his expression. He just forced his

tanned face into a friendly grin and apologized. Blake was a sailor, but his blessing was

Court Bard.

Negotiations were right in his wheelhouse, whether he needed to soothe his clients,

anger them, or anything in between. Still, he did not feel like using any of his emotional

manipulation skills on the man before him. The young client stroked his chin as he

glanced through the registry with a smile pasted across his face.

"So then, can you show me the items?"

"Aye, aye."

Maybe it was the self-confidence that the powerful exuded, but Blake could tell that

the customer he was dealing with was strong. Simultaneously, though, there were

warning bells in the back of his mind saying this young man was not to be trusted.

"Your items have been offloaded into the warehouse next to the ship, Mr. Bui, so if you

will."

The man named Bui was holding the registry in his left hand as he stroked his chin

with his right. All of a sudden, a grim look crossed his face.

"Is something wrong?"

Bui was staring at someone who appeared to be an adventurer with a bronze sword

hanging at his waist. He looked like a normal, run-of-the-mill quest taker to Blake.

"Just a fellow I don't really enjoy dealing with. If possible, I'd prefer not to speak with

him," Bui replied with a shrug.

He lowered his voice as he started counting the items that had been delivered.

I've got the tools together to carry out the investigation… if only I could find someone of

sufficient ability to help…

Bui picked up the cutting-edge investigation gear he had requested as he pondered

what to do about a helper.

Several hours later, two men and a woman climbed out of a small boat and stretched

as they stepped onto dry land.

"What a shabby harbor," Ares muttered to himself as he looked around Zoltan's docks.

Usually, Ares would have been able to keep that much to himself, but he was currently

at his limit.

A sense of unease and irritation was consuming him. He needed to find the Hero, Ruti,

and be at her side when she defeated the demon lord. If he failed in that, what would

have been the point of his having continued to journey through all that blood and

mud?

Hearing his comment, Theodora furrowed her brow slightly. But if she started getting

into it with him over everything, they would not even manage to find lodging for the

day.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Albert was staggering along behind Theodora. Because he was an escaped prisoner in

Zoltan, Albert had wrapped bandages around his face to hide his identity. The bindings

were a magic item that made people unable to focus on whoever used them to conceal

themselves. Of course, to Ares and Theodora and other people at the level of the Hero's

party, a perceived disruption of that tier would have no effect. Still, Theodora expected

that no one living out in Zoltan would be able to see through it.

"Despite the facilities, it's quite lively."

"Because a merchant ship is moored. The market is probably open. The crew of the

vessel we took seemed to be planning on doing some trading while we are in the port,

too."

The Sylphid that Ares had paid so much to borrow was not usually provisioned with

anything more than food and water. However, the sailors would use their pay to buy

small but valuable items like precious metals and handicrafts in settlements they

visited and then sell them in other locations.

Anything bought in a backwater like Zoltan was unlikely to go for a high price, though.

"It's fortunate we didn't end up having to go around the Wall at the End of the World.

The Sylphid's sailors were not really interested in trying to cross that route," Theodora

said with a sigh.

Ares had gotten the crew of the Sylphid to agree to ferry him anywhere he wanted, but

the sailors had undoubtedly never imagined that Ares would insist on going around

the Wall at the End of the World.

There were no reliable stops for resupplying past Zoltan. It would have been rough

sailing for a single high-speed ship. They had already begun planning to borrow

several more boats and sail out at the head of a fleet if it had ended up coming to that.

But as they had approached Zoltan, they'd realized that the Hero was not actually on

the other side of the Wall at the End of the World but in Zoltan itself.

"Crossing those peaks would've been a simple matter for that airship, but by sea or by

land, it is quite difficult."

If trade had been possible with those beyond the Wall at the End of the World, Zoltan

would not still be such a Podunk.

As things currently stood, the only ways to trade with the eastern lands beyond the

mountainous barrier were to take the crown passage around the north side or the

dragon path through the mountains. Either option was incredibly harsh, and it was

estimated that over half of those who attempted one of the journeys lost their lives.

Despite Zoltan's harbor's size and appearance, it was still filled with the usual backand-forth from sailors shouting out to one another from time to time.

"I'm tellin' ya. This one-armed martial artist beat the crap outta them pirates!"

"Quit pullin' my leg! How could one son of a bitch take out five whole raider ships?"

"He just freakin' punched the boat, and it split in two!"

"Ga-ha-ha-ha! If you're gonna tell tall tales, at least make 'em more believable, ya

drunk louts!"

"The hell'd you say?!"

"Ain't no damn hundred-man pirate ship that'd break from a single punch!"

"I saw it with my own eyes! He smashed the entire goddamn ship to pieces!"

Ares's scowl deepened the more he heard the shouts from around the merchant ship.

"Let's hurry and get an inn. I would like to be done in this filthy little town as soon as

possible. The downtown is apparently at least marginally less dreadful, so let's look

for a place there."

"I'll be getting an inn here. You can gather information better in a port."

"Do as you please. We already know where Ruti is, though, so there's not much point

in asking around now." Ares squared his shoulders and left with a snort.

"He's normally not that harsh," Theodora said apologetically to Albert.

Ares had never possessed a kind personality, but he wasn't usually so short-tempered,

either.

"He's kept on the journey all this time because his family has lost all its prestige, land,

and wealth. His hope is to restore the Srowa name to its former status," Theodora

explained.

Albert shook his head to indicate he did not mind. "Is it really that difficult to restore

his family's honor?" he asked.

"Four generations ago, the head of the Srowa family led a rebellion. There was even

foreign intrigue with a country looking to annex some of the nation's territory. It was

high treason. The Srowa patriarch attempted to kill the king and claim the country for

himself while negotiating a deal to cede land to a foreign power. Most of the Srowa

family was executed. Ares's grandfather happened to have been studying at the estate

of a different family, which is how the lineage survived."

"…That's quite the past."

"You'd do best not to speak of it in front of Ares. He apparently can't forgive the fact

that he has suffered so much because of his lineage's history."

"I won't mention it," Albert said, nodding.

For the prideful Ares, it was a terrible legacy to bear. The subject was not one to be

broached lightly.

Albert tucked what he had heard deep in his heart as he led Theodora to an inn in the

harbor district.

After Bui had finished verifying his shipment, he'd left instructions for the various

tools to be delivered to the mansion he was renting.

At roughly the same time, Red was looking around the market stalls erected near the

merchant ship.

"Oh! They actually have it."

I paid in silver and collected several different tools.

They hadn't had everything, but I had at least been able to get the instruments for

precise measurements as well as filters and other alchemy tools. I now had all the

most important items on Tisse's list.

"Even just this much cost over a thousand payril, though."

During my tenure with the Bahamut Knights and the Hero's party, I wouldn't have

blinked at a bill like that, but it was quite a lot of money for me now. There weren't any

loans or tabs when dealing with the merchant ships, either. You had to pay the full

price up front.

Carefully packing away the things I had purchased, I stood and got ready to catch up

with Rit and Tisse.

"Gideon!"

Suddenly, I heard a booming shout. It was a voice I knew well. But why was he here?

A giant shadow leaped over the crowd's heads with a nimbleness belying its owner's

size. There was a "Thud!" as a huge man stood in my path.

"It really is you, Gideon! That's some shabby gear you've got there!" He grabbed my

shoulder without any consideration for my circumstances.

Why now of all times…?

"Cool it a bit there, Danan. We stand out here, so let's head someplace a little quieter.

I'm sure we've both got things to talk about."

Danan had lost his right arm from his elbow down since I had seen him last, but from

the way he grinned, it didn't appear that he minded at all.

"I'm so glad I could see you again, pal!"

It seemed like this was going to be a bit of a hassle. I would never have guessed I would

run into Danan again here and now.

It was probably a mistake, but seeing how happily Danan was beaming at meeting me

again, I couldn't bring myself to give him the cold shoulder.

"Yeah… I guess I'm glad, too."

Internally, I was at my wit's end about what to do… but I was also happy to see an old

comrade again.

The harbor district was hit by storms often. It also wasn't all that rare for a building to

be washed away in the customary annual flooding when the river rose. The people

who lived there had given up on winning against the weather. As a result, the harbor

district had developed a construction style that consisted of simple buildings that

were easy to rebuild when storms or floods destroyed them.

The place Danan and I shifted to was in a quiet part of the neighborhood without many

people around. It had been half demolished in a hurricane three years back. The walls

were a patchwork of old and new, and the wind could be heard whistling through

crevices.

The owner was a hunched old lady who took our orders with a friendly smile.

"Here's your fish soup."

"Thank you."

She set two big bowls of broth with pieces of fish meat floating in them on the counter,

and I carried them over to our table. It was a little late for lunch, so Danan and I were

the only customers in the shop.

"This looks delicious!" Danan declared as his eyes gleamed in anticipation.

"Don't you just say that for everything?"

I smiled, seeing him like that. That was Danan's go-to line whenever he had food in

front of him. Any halfway decent meal received his excited appraisal. I couldn't help

feeling nostalgic witnessing that habit of his again after so long.

"Nah, after you left, I haven't been able to say that nearly as much. The food we ate on

the road went to shit after that."

"Don't talk about shit when we're eating. Did you switch to a rotation for preparing

the meals?"

"No, Ares said he'd do it, so we left it to him."

"Ah, no wonder, then."

That sounded like Ares didn't know much about cooking. I guess he had said he'd do

the stuff I was taking care of when he pushed me out. But it was unreasonable for him

to do all that alone.

"Leaving the responsibility to just one guy who can't do it is a recipe for frustration.

You've got to trade it off some. Offer to share the load since it isn't easy or something.

If you do that, you can talk things through with everyone about how to improve. You

might even discover someone has a hidden talent."

"Sure, but the only thing we're good at is fighting," Danan said as he scratched his head.

"It's all because you up and disappeared out of nowhere."

Danan's arm became a blur. The next moment, his finger was right in front of my

forehead. I tilted my neck, just barely evading his flick.

"Looks like you haven't gotten too rusty," Danan observed with a grin as he pulled his

arm back.

That was no joke. A flick from those giant fingers would've been sore for three days.

I was lucky enough to evade it, but Danan's movements had gotten quite a bit sharper

since I'd last seen him. And that was him playing around. It was scary to imagine just

how much he had grown.

"You can count the number of people in this world who can dodge my flick on just two

hands."

"Nah, I can tell the difference in strength. You're strong, Danan."

Even when we were traveling together, he'd been more powerful than me, and that

gap had only widened with time. While I was taking it easy here in Zoltan, Danan had

been fighting on the front lines against the demon lord's army, surviving countless door-die situations.

A high level was my only redeeming quality, so once he had opened a gap with me in

level, too, I had no chance left of winning.

Danan seemed almost sad when he heard me say that.

"…That's not how it feels to me, Gideon. I think you're a man who's truly worthy of

respect."

Danan and I slurped the soup down without worrying about manners. It was simple

enough, just the fish and salt for flavor. There were chunks of potato and some cabbage

floating in it, too.

Although it contained nothing special, it still tasted good. With a low Cooking skill, it

was best to simply use the flavors of the ingredients themselves. The fish soup was a

good meal that stayed faithful to that principle.

The old lady who ran the store had apparently been a singer for the sailors in the past.

After retiring, she switched to an entirely different job and became the proprietress of

this tavern, coming up with all sorts of ideas and using her natural smile to keep the

pub running all these years despite not having skills suited to it.

"So why are you here?" Danan finally asked.

"…You heard from Ares, right? I ran away."

I had asked Ares to coordinate a story with me to avoid causing problems for the

Bahamut Knights, but Tisse and Ruti had told me that he'd spilled the beans the second

he'd been pressed on the matter. I'm sure Danan knew that much, too.

"Because Ares told you to leave?"

"That was part of it… but it was also because I had recognized it myself. I could feel it

acutely in the battle with Desmond of the Earth. I couldn't keep up with the fighting

any further beyond that."

"That's not true!" Danan slammed his fist down on the table. The soup sloshed, spilling

out a bit.

"I didn't fully understand it until after you'd left, but you're a strong guy, Gideon. I'm

not just talking about physical might, either. I mean the courage to make calm

judgments when fighting someone stronger than you and the knowledge to make the

most effective moves on a battlefield even without martial arts or magic. You are a

genuinely capable man, and you were crucial to our journey." Danan's eyes were

serious… but I had already made my decision, and I couldn't simply stay here

answering questions forever.

"I'm sorry, but I've already found my home here. I can't travel with you anymore."

"How are you going to protect that home if we don't defeat the demon lord?!"

"You have a point."

Danan immediately honed in on the problem. Albert's words ran through my mind.

Those with strength have a responsibility to wield it.

Was it a sin for me not to fight? Did we have a responsibility to battle if the Divine

Blessings we received at birth wished us to do so? Watching Ruti all her life had often

left me wondering that question.

That little girl had been forced at birth to bear the responsibility of saving the world.

If she said that she didn't want to fight, neither the people nor her blessing would ever

forgive her.

Did the person bearing the Hero blessing really have to sacrifice their life for the sake

of being the Hero?

No! Our blessings aren't supposed to govern us. We have our own dreams and our own

lives!

Wasn't it evident that I had the freedom to choose to live my life how I pleased? And

that Ruti would have the same? I wouldn't yield that one point. I'd even argue that to

God's face.

Danan and I stared each other down for a while, but in the end, Danan looked away

first.

"…Hah, well, I guess you stopped of your own will."

"Ares was the impetus, but I chose to quit."

There was a moment's silence between us. There were mixed emotions in our eyes as

we looked at each other.

"I don't understand it, but fine. I think I'll learn a little about what you've been up to

here and then decide on what I'll do next."

"I don't mind that… but there's one other problem."

"What's that?"

"Ruti's here, too."

"Huh?" Danan froze in shock. "Why's the Hero here?"

"…If you heard the reason, you might get mad at her."

"Me? Mad at her? There's no way."

Should I tell him the truth? I was sure I could talk my way around it and avoid

mentioning Ruti's problem, but…

"Danan, I'm going to tell you everything I know. You're Ruti's comrade. You deserve to

know the suffering she's endured."

"The Hero was suffering?"

Why had the Hero's party gotten so out of sorts after I left? When I'd first heard that

things had fallen apart, I couldn't understand it. The tasks I had done for the party

were just a collection of routine chores that didn't require any skills. To put it bluntly,

anyone could have accomplished them with some effort.

My absence was always going to cause a little difficulty, but I hadn't been doing

anything the other party members couldn't have taken care of if they'd spread the load

around.

However, Ares had tried to do it all himself, resulting in things falling apart. Everyone

had grown more and more dissatisfied, and the party had started to collapse.

So was Ares the root cause? He was undoubtedly part of it. If he had only asked for

some assistance, it wouldn't have ended up like this. Still, it was more than that. Ares

may have volunteered to take on all my responsibilities alone while not being able, but

no one else had offered to help.

I guess you could also assert that it was because our other companions had stopped

trusting Ares after he'd pushed me out. The reason Yarandrala and Danan had left was

that they didn't have faith in Ares.

"A true comrade, huh."

Ironically, what Ares had said to me back then was probably the root cause of the

party's collapse.

"You're a true comrade as far as I'm concerned," Danan said.

It was nice that he felt that way. I was glad, really. But that wasn't what I meant.

I explained to Danan about how Ruti was constantly tormented and pushed by the

Hero blessing. He listened as I outlined the way Ruti had lost so much of her humanity

to the immunities her blessing gave her. I also informed him of her using Devil's

Blessing to suppress urges and how she might walk away from being the Hero.

The comrades who had been together with Ruti for so long had not been able to

understand her anguish. Ruti was the Hero tasked with leading the party. She only

held that status because of her blessing. If everyone had followed the roles their

blessings gave them obediently, the party would have naturally come together. That

was probably what Ares had meant by a true comrade.

However, it hadn't worked out that smoothly because we weren't slaves to our

blessing.

"Suffering because of your blessing? I hadn't ever thought of it like that." My words

were a genuine surprise to Danan. "The Martial Artist blessing fits me like a glove. It's

fun to train myself, and I get excited about fighting powerful enemies. The feeling of

getting stronger is just satisfying beyond belief. I could endure any hardship for that

sensation… That's just the kind of guy I am."

"Yeah."

"…I don't get it. I just don't get it."

Danan was one of the people who couldn't comprehend the concept of suffering

because of one's blessing's urges. I had never met anyone as loved by their blessing as

Danan. The fact that he was more powerful than a Crusader and Sage despite the

Martial Artist blessing being rather plain was proof of that.

"I don't get it, but I do at least get that there are a lot of things I don't get! So all I can

do is just fight!"

"Look at this musclehead."

"All I can do is battle. If the Hero wants something, I'll fight for it! And if the Hero

decides to quit, I'll think about what to do when that time comes!"

Sheesh. Danan hasn't changed at all.

"With that settled, we don't have time to be screwing around here! Let's go, Gideon! If

the Hero is suffering, then it's our job to help her out!"

"Wait, wait, wait. We covered my stuff, but what about you?"

"We can walk and talk. There's nothing that special to say about me!"

I would have thought losing your right arm is a pretty big deal… but it was clear from

Danan's face that he was not in the mood to just sit around.

"Got it."

It had been a long time since I had seen that side of Danan—the loveable musclehead

who always acted before thinking. He was the sort of man who would never stop and

worry, no matter the situation. From time to time, that simplicity of his felt almost

blindingly radiant.

The door opened, and Red and Danan hurried outside.

"Is it okay not to follow them?"

Albert was sitting in a seat far away from them, bandages still wrapped around his

face. Theodora had her spear on her back as she stared down at her hands resting on

the table, speechless.

Theodora possessed the greatest clerical magic in the world. If she was serious about

it, then as long as neither of them bore any hostility, even Danan and Red would have

trouble noticing her and Albert through her concealment magic.

Milady is going to walk away from the quest to slay the demon lord?

Theodora was not capable of viewing things as straightforwardly as Danan. She was

lost in anxious thoughts about what to do next, not even aware of Albert nervously

peeking over at her.

On an emotional level, Theodora wanted to help Ruti and Gideon. If Ruti, of all people,

was in pain, then she wished to aid her!

Theodora had never regretted her inability to see the world as simplistically as Danan

as much as she did that day.