Chapter 153 – Liquidation (2)
19. Liquidation (2)
‘Wa-san, if you play pranks on Kaya, you’ll be screwed.’
The tree was shattered by Kaya’s mace. The tree wasn’t even that small… Anyway, one of the fragments that scattered as it was smashed grazed my cheek. I reflexively twisted his face and brushed against it, and if I didn’t react, it would have been a bit dangerous. Her cheeks were quite hot, but Kaya’s surprised face made her laugh.
Of course, the momentum of Kaya running towards me like a wild boar was not funny.
“Leader! Leader!!”
“Yes, Kaya. I asked where he was and he was sweating here…”
“Sorry, sorry! Go back to the inn right now… !”
“What is it that hurts like this? If this is enough, it will be better if you apply saliva. Ah. If Kaya applies it, will it heal faster?”
“Leader!”
“Are you okay. Really.”
It wasn’t a minor wound, but it wasn’t a very serious one either. I squeezed Kaya’s shoulders, who were restless at the sight of my scars. Then her gaze turned to mine.
“I found something to say.”
“After I go back, I treat the wounds of the colon…”
“I came all the way here on purpose because I wanted to talk to you alone. It’s quiet and just right.”
Moderately sat on the weeds. The blood flowing down his cheek bothered him, so he roughly wiped it off with his sleeve. Kaya freaked out and tried to clean it herself, but she didn’t have to get her hands and clothes dirty.
“Kaya.”
“Yes, chief.”
“Do you have any concerns?”
“I’m worried, there’s nothing like that.”
“But why are you doing this?”
“Yes?”
“Before going to the last dungeon, I hadn’t trained to this extent. Besides, considering that it is now a period of recovery and reorganization.”
“The monsters popping out of the dungeon are getting stronger, and the energy of the dungeon is getting darker and more lethal. Now that your body has been fully recovered, start training steadily from now on in preparation for the next time you go…”
“If it was the Kaya I knew, even if I came to visit her suddenly, she wouldn’t have been so taken aback. Enough to break a tree.”
“Leader.”
“If I really don’t have any worries, I’m sure I’ve been paying attention, but if there is… I wanted to tell you that if you are struggling alone, it is okay to share with me.”
Shay asked me not to mention him as much as possible, so that was the best I could say for now.
“I’m not saying you’re going to reveal all your secrets to me. Just… If it were me, I might be able to listen, and maybe even solve it.”
“…”
“Um, was it too much of an overindulgence?”
“No.”
Kaya shook her head. Her hair, tied in a ponytail for her training, swung. Unlike Shay’s hair, which fluttered around her wing bones, her short tail seemed to move because her hair was tied up around her shoulders. She was cute
“The captain’s words are pleasing. I can hear you… The large intestine is already a good listener. The captain has embraced my complaints and anxieties with affection and concern. To the extent that it is too much for me, who is lacking in many ways. However, this time… You may be able to talk to the captain, but it is absolutely impossible to solve it.”
“You mean there is something to worry about?”
“… Yes.”
Kaya pursed her lips. Shay’s intuition was right for her. On the other hand, it also means that I didn’t notice any of Kaya’s oddities in her, which made her feel a bit bitter… First, I focused on her mouth.
“Ha… I really didn’t want to tell you, but how did you find out? He is also the captain.”
“Ugh, uhm.”
“Still, the continued hiding may have reached its limit. So let me tell you.”
Kaya let out a deep sigh.
“I am… I envy Shay. No, I am jealous.”
“Shay.”
“Recently, I even feel an inferiority complex. An inferiority complex created anxiety, nervousness, and resentment.”
Kaya crushed a splinter of her tree with her mace head. Fragments crackled and cracked apart.
“If you listen to this to the end, the captain will look at me pathetically. You might despise it.”
“Am I you? No way.”
I replied immediately, but Kaya’s expression was bitter.
“As the captain knows, I am of mixed elf and human blood. Elves have a very long lifespan compared to humans, and I’m a half-blood, so maybe not as much as an elf, but compared to a pure human… You will live a very long time.”
“I guess so.”
“I think it was when I accepted Illumina in the past, but somehow there was a mention of my age. Do you remember?”
“Then.”
“I am… I ate salami for the 58th time this year.”
“Salami?”
“Ah. It’s a custom of the elves that I learned from my father when I was young, and I’m talking about the first food I picked myself at the beginning of the year. Whether it’s animal meat, fruit, vegetables, flower petals… You have to eat everything you collect and return to nature twice as much of what you ate. When a baby is unable to move on its own, a guardian does it for them, but… That is the number of times including that.”
“Ah. Then.”
“Yes. 58 this year… Years old.”
Kaya averted her gaze. No matter how much she is a half-elf, since she has lived all her life in human society, her concept of age will be similar to that of humans, and that is why the age difference between me and me will be of great concern.
She inadvertently muttered that it was her 36 year difference, then she hurriedly shut her mouth as Kaya’s face grew depressed.
“Age doesn’t matter! Is not it? It’s enough if we love each other.”
“… I did not reveal my age to show off my age. Leader. Do you know how many years I have served Raella?”
“Uh, well…”
I had seen her past in a fantasy before, but I didn’t know her exact age. At what age she lost her parents, at what age she started wandering the streets, and at what age she was bullied, there was no way to know. Still, she guessed based on how young she was.
“About 40 years?”
“He is also the captain. Similar. It’s been about 39 years to be exact… Anyway, after seeing Shay, who handled Lady Justitia this time, I disrespectfully thought of this.
I am?”
Shay, who is now 22 years old, and even less than 10 years after becoming a crusader, has become the descendant of the goddess.
Wouldn’t it be possible for me too, having spent about twice as long as Shay’s life?
Knowing that her goddess-sama’s descent doesn’t happen that way, why do I have unreasonable feelings for Shay while congratulating her?
She got stronger
She got stronger in ways other than being able to get stronger with gold coins or hard work.
If so, I
How to become stronger
To not fall behind in that terrible dungeon, to stand by the captain… !
However, I can’t do anything with only my efforts for the goddess to descend.
Maybe I should pray to the goddess to see if this is possible for me… But why is there no response to this question…
“…”
Having listened to Kaya all along, I understood why she was so hesitant.
True beauty.
Because this wasn’t a problem I could solve.
She doesn’t hate Shay at all, but she is inspired by Shay’s legendary achievements.
She can’t show negative feelings toward Shay, her younger sister, whom she cherishes, but she can’t do anything with her own efforts. It was festering.
“I am a person with no big ambitions. There is no greed in eating, sleeping, or clothing. It’s not that I hate high quality and expensive things, but I don’t really care if it’s mediocre or low quality. Surviving itself is because I consider myself fortunate. It’s one of the few advantages I can point out… When it comes to the captain, the story changes.”
Fragments of trees that could not even be found now were scattered in the wind. Kaya’s mace head mashed up new fragments.
“I can’t stand being the weak point of the Warriors’ Corps. I want to be more active. I want to be praised by the captain and depended on by the captain. Successfully carrying out the captain’s orders is my first and greatest joy. I want to be of help to the captain, I want to keep the captain’s fate intact, and I must continue to become stronger in order to achieve the captain’s goal. It should be useful. No, it’s not about being useful, it’s about being indispensable. Wherever.”
“Kaya. I’ve said it many times before.”
“I have no intention of putting Shay down. That’s what I want to be as high as her. But I can’t see a way out. So even if you pray and pray and pray and train and train and train… Miscellaneous thoughts and negative emotions do not go away, and there is still no response from the goddess.”
“…”
“I’m a little relieved when I tell you everything. But it can also be frustrating. I’m afraid that the Goddess will think pathetically of me like this…”
The wound on his cheek had long since stopped bleeding. He stroked his cheek, feeling a tickling sensation. It was covered with wood powder.
“Certainly, that’s not something I can do about it.”
“Yes…”
“Thank you for telling me though. I didn’t know you were struggling like this. I’m sorry I didn’t notice.”
“No! No. I should have hidden it better, but it’s my fault that I got caught.”
“Why is it your fault? If a person… As a human being, I don’t think you can completely break away from those desires. It would be a problem if it harmed others, but you constantly tried to strictly control yourself. Thank you for being that kind of person, and thank you for confiding in me even now.”
“Leader…”
“It’s true that it’s something that can’t be done right now, but that doesn’t mean it’s concluded that the road is blocked at all, right?”
“Yes? Yes. Yes, but that’s only the will of the Goddess…”
“It was said to be a rare event in history. You have to be extremely diligent. Is not it?”
Did you say that love for a son-in-law is like a mother-in-law?
I thought that Raella-sama’s love for her daughter and son-in-law would never yield to Justitia-sama!
“Let’s pray together. If we can’t be together, Shay and Illumina are together. And do you know It could be that Raella-nim is holding back for a bigger gift. So let’s not suffer alone. Huh?”
Kaya nodded her head. Her face was brighter than before.
**
“I don’t think so.”
“Why? There was no problem Rather, it fit better than I thought and stayed for a long time.”
“It did. I really liked the fresh ground I stepped on after a long time and the blue sky looking up from below.”
“But why.”
“I know it because I tried it myself. Because of that strange aura, I was able to stay longer than expected.”
“Okay? If that’s the case, then I also wish my child Advent…”
“But, your child has so much energy. It is still growing.”
“What?”
“If you descend to that child, it is not simply that you descend longer than average…”
Justitia frowned.
“At that moment, I thought that I might not be able to get out of that child.”
