Volume 1 Chapter 73 The Days That Won't Return
Leanne stood in the mansion's garden, just staring at me.
"You were here?"
"...Yeah"
Her bright smile from the time in the village was nowhere to be seen, only a sense of emptiness that seemed to have no place to go.
"Ellis-san said, 'You should be able to escape. So, go.'"
"Ellis did?"
It seemed that Leanne didn't show up at the recent discussion because Ellis told her to run away.
Ellis had evaluated Leanne as "that girl doesn't have the courage," but maybe that was just a statement to avoid drawing attention to her escape.
Or perhaps, Ellis had predicted from the beginning that this would happen.
Fiione, who didn't know the circumstances at all, seemed to suspect that Leanne had run away, but it seems difficult to sneak out of Trasverum under the surveillance of the Clow Merchant Guild.
Also, the Wiol Merchant Guild, which had hired Allen and the others, was on the verge of collapse, and it's unlikely that Leanne would be able to find shelter there.
Maybe that's why. She didn't have anywhere else to go, so she could only wander around outside the mansion without running away.
When I looked at her face, memories of the days we spent together in the village suddenly came to mind.
We didn't have a mentor to teach us swordsmanship or magic. We were just ordinary kids from the village, so we spent our time reading books about adventurers that were in the village.
We read countless hero tales until we were sleepy.
We guessed which monsters corresponded to which rank, and we pretended that random junk was necessary tools for our adventures. We even went into the nearby forest with those items.
Those days now feel like they happened a long time ago.
"Enough, Leanne."
As soon as I said that, tears fell from her eyes.
"Sniff... sniff..."
I just watched my childhood friend cry.
I wonder what I would have done here if it was before our relationship got complicated. Even now, I don't really know.
"I'm... so sorry..."
The words of apology sounded broken and filled with regret.
They were probably meant for everything that had happened so far, including the moment we parted ways at the Voltana Adventurer's Guild.
Above all, I was worried about what she would say to me when we met. That's why I blurted out, "Enough," without thinking.
After a moment of silence, she slowly spoke.
"I-I... I wanted to... be a Hero."
──A Hero.
It's someone everyone looks up to.
Both Leanne and I have always wanted to be like that since we were little.
It's not just us, though. Anyone who wants to live as an adventurer must have dreamed about it at least once.
On the day we first visited the Adventurer's Guild together, Leanne found out through the Ability Appraisal that she had the power to become a Hero.
Just at that moment, Allen, who had already become a Hero, invited her to join his party.
Allen's invitation was more than enough reason for her to choose a different path than me, who was stuck at Level Cap 1. It was the obvious choice, really.
Even if she stayed with me, it was clear to anyone that there was no bright future ahead for her as an adventurer.
"At that time...I, I truly felt like...I was chosen, that's the only way I could think...that's why, Ark..."
"...I see."
Leanne's Level Cap is a rare 80 among adventurers, and she's blessed with three skills. It's the complete opposite of me, who could only despair at the appraisal results.
So, I could understand her perspective and how she thinks.
Allen, who kept saying similar things throughout, must have also believed that he was the chosen one. And then Leanne, who happened to appear at the guild, agreed with Allen.
...But in reality, Allen never considered Leanne as a friend, he only saw her as a mere tool. As a result, she was eventually used as a hostage to steal the Aquaflow Key from us.
"But as I watched Ark, I started to get more and more confused... I don't even know what I'm doing anymore, I just don't understand..."
The incident that started with the appearance of the Shadow Chimera in Voltana, and the events Leanne experienced in Trasverum, were definitely different from the adventurer life she had envisioned.
If Leanne had joined an S-Rank party like Ryuin and the others instead of Allen... I think things would have turned out better.
"And... I didn't understand how Ark became so strong."
"I don't level up, instead, my [Instant Death Magic] skill level increases. That's why I became strong like this."
When I explained this, Leanne's eyes widened even further.
"I see, I didn't know that... something like that..."
"During the Ability Appraisal, I didn't even know I had that ability myself. That's why I couldn't tell Leanne."
I told the truth as it is.
I knew it wouldn't make any difference to say it now.
But I felt like I should do the same as Leanne, who had opened up to me, so I decided to talk about it.
"I'm really... sorry, Ark..."
"No... it's all in the past now."
After a while, Leanne finally stopped crying and wiped away the tears that had collected in her eyes with her fingers.
"Leanne, I have one request. I want you to listen to me."
"What is it?"
"You shouldn't leave Trasverum for a while... is that okay with you?"
Leanne didn't say anything.
Maybe she doesn't understand why I asked her to do that.
Instead, she might even think I'm asking her to "quietly get caught like Allen and the others."
However, I didn't say anything because it would be pointless to frighten her if I talked about anything that was beyond speculation at this point.
Still, Leanne nodded.
"Ark...what are you going to do now?"
"I still have work to do. So I have to leave Trasverum soon. Once that's done, Leanne will be free too."
"Yeah...I see."
I didn't hear anything more than that.
Even without asking, she probably guessed that it was something related to the key.
"Are you done talking?"
Suddenly I hear a voice from behind and turn around.
Chester was standing there, and two men were standing behind him. All of them look like hired adventurers.
I thought it had appeared at just the right time.
"...Yeah. Please take care of her."
"I understand. Don't worry, we won't do anything harsh."
"Thank you."
Chester and the adventurers exchanged glances, then they stood on either side of Leanne to protect her.
Leanne followed without saying anything and began walking toward the main street.
I watched the scene until her figure became too small to see.
"As I thought, Ark-san is just as I expected."
"...What are you talking about?"
I retorted to Chester, who seemed to be saying things went as he expected.
He probably guessed what I had planned for Leanne's treatment.
"I don't intend to imprison her, and I will provide guards, so please don't worry. Well, there may be some inconvenience, though."
"I see."
Based on King Cretia's actions so far, it's clear that he wants to obtain three keys, but at the same time, he doesn't want their existence to be made public.
Mel says she wants to keep the Kingdom Knights out of exploration because she wants to save them. But if that's the case, she should encourage adventurers to conquer the three dungeons.
But, the king hasn't provided any such incentives. In fact, he's intentionally spreading misinformation even to members of the Knight Order like Iria.
His thoroughness in this regard almost seems like he's trying to hide that he's gathering the keys himself.
If we consider that,
Allen's party, which knows about the secret gathering of keys but now can't explore, is probably feeling quite frustrated. It's unlikely "the king can just leave them be".
If that's the case, leaving Leanne alone isn't a good idea either.
While life under surveillance by the Clow Merchant Guild might be inconvenient, it should be safe if entrusted to Chester.
However, this situation can't go on forever.
To fundamentally solve this problem, we need to gather all the keys and put an end to the series of incidents.
Chester probably said it like that because he thought the same way.
"Chester, I'm sorry for everything."
"No, no. Oh, that's right."
Suddenly, Chester seemed to remember something and clapped his hands.
"As for the carriage, we will have a skilled coachman from the merchant guild accompany you. But... he has a bit of a difficult personality. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, as long as he takes us to Metis, it's not a problem. Thank you."
I don't know what kind of person this coachman is, but if Chester is recommending him despite his personality issues, he must be very skilled.
It will take more days to travel to Metis, so having a skilled coachman with us is reassuring.
"Alright, once it's ready, I'll call out again."
As the conversation about the carriage came to an end, the two of us turned to head back into the mansion.
"Hmm?"
"Is something the matter?"
"No, it's nothing."
Standing in the garden, near the base of a particularly large tree, it felt like something familiar and whitish was moving.
It might have been a mistake.
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