Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside - Volume 4 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ruti’s Selfishness

I had gone to this mountain to gather medicinal herbs so many times since coming to Zoltan that it was practically my backyard—I just came and went as I pleased. But this time, I headed to the settlement at the foot of the mountain first.

There were lodges there for adventurers, but the place was primarily used by loggers who supplied Zoltan with lumber, a crucial resource for a region smack in the middle of wetlands. With no time to spare, I passed out some quarter payril to the people who were gathered there to get some information—whether they had seen the drake, and where it had gone.

“It flew off that way,” said a boy who’d be off to fell trees himself in a year or so. The direction he pointed was not toward the mountain. Instead, he indicated that the dragon had gone toward the forest at the foot of the peak.

“Thank you,” I replied.

I slipped a silver into his hand and took off. According to Tisse, Ruti had left the airship in those woods.

The vessel had been locked so that no one other than Tisse would be able to pilot it, but the machine was still largely an unknown. It was possible the drake was part of an expedition sent out by the demon lord’s forces to release the lock and steal the vehicle.

“The airship is dark-continent technology anyway, so it would make sense for them to know more about it than Tisse.”

Now I had a choice to make. Was it best to get Ruti first or head to the forest? I was a little bit unsure but quickly decided that my first priority needed to be Ruti. Dealing with her issue was more important to me than the fate of any flying machine.

I set out for the ancient elf ruins on the mountain where the chimeras gathered.

“What do you think, Danan? With this fantastic airship, we can travel to the dark continent without any concern for the demon lord’s blockade. Victory is that much nearer now,” Ares boasted to Danan.

“It’s a wondrous find, but it doesn’t look like Ruti is around,” the well-built man replied.

“True. Still, the airship is a significant boon. I’ll raise a barrier that only we can approach. It would be a problem if this vessel was stolen. And with this, I’ll know if Ruti approaches it.”

Ares immediately set to preparing his spell. Despite being exhausted from continually using his magic for days on end, he had summoned a spirit drake and was now constructing a barrier large enough to encompass the entire airship.

Shisandan was genuinely impressed on that point. As expected of the Sage who’d traveled with the Hero, his magic power was beyond what even high-tier demons could muster.

But blessings don’t grant knowledge or wise judgment. That is the true tragedy of this man, mused the disguised Shisandan.

Despite arriving at the mountain before Red, Ares’s choice to stop for the airship meant he would reach the ruins second. That selection would prove decisive in what followed.

Heading up the peak, I entered the chimera territory. As usual, the monsters merely watched me from a distance while making a point of not getting in my way. I didn’t run into anyone else who had gotten mixed up with the chimeras like that rookie adventurer from last time, so I pushed on to the ruins.

Nature had reclaimed many of the half-destroyed structures, wrapping them in vines, roots, and moss. The buildings were made of an unknown smooth, hard substance that wasn’t iron or stone. I’d only ever seen it in ancient elf ruins. I’d investigated this site briefly before. Its defenses were still active, so I hadn’t ventured too deep into the place, but something told me it was far more heavily protected than the ruins in Central.

During my studies, I had read a large amount of literature regarding the ancient elves. The consensus among researchers was that the many ruins each had their own distinct purposes. In a certain sense, it was an obvious point.

I had seen it for myself in the structures near the capital, where the proof of the Hero had been sealed. I doubt either Ares or Ruti had noticed it then, but that hadn’t been a seal at all. The ruins had manufactured the proof of the Hero. The item that Ruti had left those ruins with had not been the one used by the Hero before her, nor was it an object from a forgotten era. It was an entirely new item that had been fabricated precisely where we’d found it, just like the one used by the Hero before Ruti had been.

There was no sign of the chimeras who typically wandered this area. Undoubtedly, Ruti had culled several of them, and they now gave this place a wide berth. Pressing onward, I came upon a door with a large hole blasted in it.

“If you had just operated the system properly, it would have opened…,” I muttered.

Ruti had punched her way in. From her perspective, that was probably the most efficient strategy. Still, I couldn’t help but chuckle at that sort of unsubtle method.

My little sister was by no means stupid. If she had seriously examined the door’s mechanism, she would have deduced how to work it. Sadly, she had a few lazy habits.

Past the new entrance the Hero had made, there was a dark shaft. An elevator should have been there waiting for me, but…

“There really isn’t anything here.”

Just as Tisse had said, Ruti had destroyed it. There was no choice but to jump down.

“All right… Acrobatics mastery: Slow Fall.”

I connected with my blessing and activated a skill. With it, so long as there was a wall within limb’s reach, I could use it to ease my descent and safely drop from any height. I’d used the same ability to escape Bighawk’s mansion.

No matter how hard I squinted, I saw only darkness below. I fished a light stick out of the pouch at my belt. The tool was a narrow, brass rod about thirty centimeters long. When I tapped the tip against the floor, there was a soft hum, and then the metal started to burn without any heat. It glowed as surely as any torch, illuminating the surroundings.

Light sticks were a cheap magic item that cost two payril and had a special spell cast on them. They were disposable illumination sources that shone for about ten hours after being ignited. Cheap as they were, though, they still cost about a hundred times more than a torch. The cost was worth it, however, as they were easy to light, wind and water couldn’t extinguish them, and they wouldn’t catch anything afire. Experienced adventurers kept a few of them around at all times.

I kicked the wall over and over to keep my descent slow. The glow of my light stick didn’t even come close to reaching the bottom of the shaft. It’s radius capped out at twenty meters. Beyond that, everything was dark.

Although I kept my fall slow and manageable, dropping into the shadows was still a nerve-racking maneuver. It felt like I had already descended several hundred meters. Finally, I caught sight of the elevator’s wreckage. Picking out a place where I could land, I kicked the wall to maneuver toward my targeted spot.

“Phew.”

Even with Slow Fall, leaping down from that high proved a little bit tiring. I had Resistance to Exhaustion, but things that wore at my nerves were still draining.

However, there would be time for rest later.

Light fixtures here and there around the underground structure still functioned, but for the most part, things were fairly dim. I slipped the light stick into my belt and pressed onward.

Here, the vines and other vegetation that covered the walls up above were nowhere to be found. Occasionally, I stumbled across the scattered wreckage of the ancient elf defenses that Ruti had presumably destroyed. Just carrying those back to the surface would earn more than I could make running my shop for a couple of centuries. There was no place in Zoltan that could afford to purchase such valuable items, though.

“From what Tisse said, they were producing the Devil’s Blessing in the living quarters in the southwest section.”

If Ruti was here, that would be the place. I pulled out a compass and checked my bearing before proceeding deeper into the ruins.

One had to wonder why the ancient elves had made such a giant building so deep underground.

As I walked, I noticed something that stood out from the various antiquities—a clay plaque on one wall.

“This isn’t ancient elf script. What is it? Wood elf?”

The previous demon lord had destroyed the wood elves. Gonz and other half-elves were said to be their descendants, having bred with humans to propagate. With their survival came the endurance of their culture. The wood elf language was still understood today.

“Hero Administration Bureau?”

What was that supposed to mean? That wood elves had gone into ancient elf ruins was a puzzle in its own right, but there being a clay sign with those words on it was a downright mystery.

“And this leads to the lodging quarters, right?”

Tisse had stated that there were beds in each room, which would mean that they were where the ancient elves had laid their heads at night. That’s what I assumed anyway. It should just be living quarters in this direction. So what was the point of going out of the way to put up that sign?

“…Later. Nothing’s going to come from thinking about it now.”

It was more important to meet up with Ruti first. I ignored the suspicion and curiosity welling up in the back of my mind and hurried onward.

All I had to go on about where Godwin was making the medicine was a verbal description from Tisse. Finding the place amid the uniform rows of chambers was going to be difficult.

“Is it this one?”

It had taken a little bit of time. Rit and Tisse were probably already starting to head up the mountain. I slid open the oddly heavy door that was so common in ancient elf ruins.

“Whoa there.”

A glass bottle came flying at me from inside. I leaped forward to dodge it. A second later, the object exploded with a plop. A green, adhesive goop splattered all around, but by that point, I was already pressing my sword to the Alchemist’s neck.

“Y-you’re that damn apothecary! Did you come to take me in?!”

“No, I didn’t come here to fight.”

“That’s rich comin’ from the guy holding a blade to my throat!”

“You threw a bomb at me. If I came here looking to fight, your head would already be rolling.”

Godwin was gripping another sticky bomb. After a short staring match, he slowly lowered his hands. Matching his movements, I carefully drew my sword away from his neck.

“Where is the woman who’s holding you here?”

“What, you’ve got business with her now? Just leave it be. You’re obviously a capable fighter, but you’ve got no chance against her.”

“I think you misunderstand. I’m an acquaintance of hers.”

Godwin looked surprised.

“Connections with Rit and with her, too? Who the hell are you?”

“I’m just an apothecary. So where is she?”

“Like I’d know. Probably skulking around the ruins somewhere.”

Having to search for Ruti somewhere in these ruins would be a burdensome task in its own right.

“…”

I could have just shouted her name, but I wanted to avoid that if possible. Ruti undoubtedly wasn’t expecting me to show up here. If she realized that I knew about the Devil’s Blessing and her breaking Godwin out of prison, she would likely be despondent. There was a chance she’d run, too. Handling this face-to-face was best. That way, I’d have the opportunity to explain myself and make it clear I wasn’t angry.

“Hey, Godwin.”

“What?”

“Call out for her.”

“M-me?”

“If you shout, she should be able to hear you with the skills she has.”

“Do it yourself. I damn sure don’t trust you. If you’re some Assassin and she thinks I betrayed her, what do you think happens to me?”

“Then just say I threatened to kill you if you didn’t do it.”

“Not happening. I don’t think you understand how terrifying that girl is.”

What a pain.

“Nothing I can do to convince you?” I pressed.

“Not a one.”

“Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance, then.” I grabbed Godwin’s left hand, the one holding the other bomb. It was dangerous, so I wrested it away and set it gently on the floor.

“Wh-what are you doing…?”

Godwin looked nervous as he tried to pull his hand free, but I wasn’t letting go.

“Don’t worry, this won’t cause permanent damage.”

“Wh-what do you mean…? Hey! Stop it!”

Realizing my intent, Godwin started frantically trying to pull away.

“Also, my Rit had a rough time because of you.”

“Th-that’s water under the bridge. We’re even after you damn near cut me in half!”

“No, that was remittance for Al.”

Rit had gotten into a dangerous spot with a bunch of stalker demons because of one of Godwin’s sticky bombs. This was just a little bit of payback for that.

“There.” I locked the joints on Godwin’s left arm and then pulled his arm just slightly in a direction it wasn’t supposed to bend.

“Gnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!” Unable to endure the pain, a scream welled up in the Alchemist’s throat and echoed around the ruins.

“Dammit…”

Godwin was sitting down, rubbing his arm. He stared hateful daggers at me, but I paid that no mind. I sharpened my focus, listening for the presence that was surely approaching.

Godwin was crucial for producing Devil’s Blessing. Ruti needed him. So if she’d heard that shout, then…

The door went flying through the air. A girl raced like lightning past it. Her sword thrust out from the blur—aimed straight for my neck. It was similar to the move I had pulled with Godwin before, but the speed and sharpness were of a wholly different level.

Thankfully, Ruti’s weapon stopped before it met my throat.

“Big Brother?!”

The emotion that crossed her face at that moment was something that my sister, the Hero, should never have been able to feel—fear. At least, that’s how it appeared to me.

Ruti and I moved to another room.

Godwin was agape, unable to believe his own ears. Still, his fear of Ruti remained strong. He just did as bade when she said he could rest for a little while.

“Big Brother…why are you here?”

The chamber we were in was apparently the one she was using as her bedroom. It was a slightly larger space about two corridors away from where I’d found Godwin.

While ancient elf craftsmen were far superior to present-day ones, the room’s furniture was already terribly disheveled. Ruti and Godwin had moved the trash out of their chambers and into another and were sleeping on simple folding cots. Godwin’s quarters had also been stocked with alchemical tools, food, and water. Enough to be able to get by.

I had no clue about the principle behind how it worked, but the aqueducts in these ruins still functioned. Drinking water from an unknown source was cause for hesitation, but it could still be used for bathing. Outside each of their rooms was a laundry line. The simplicity of such a thing really struck a stark contrast with the ancient elves’ highly sophisticated culture.

“Brother?” Ruti asked, cocking her head to one side.

“Ah, sorry. It’s just been a while since I last saw a place like this. I’m still taking it all in, I guess,” I replied.

“I see.”

Clearly, I would have to be the one to broach the subject. “I heard the story from Tisse,” I began.

Ruti’s shoulders twitched. She looked down like she was trying to figure out how best to reply.

No doubt she assumed I was upset with her. Taking Devil’s Blessing and breaking a criminal out of prison were things that the Ruti who had lived as the Hero all her life would never have done. It was a complete and absolute rejection of the holy church’s teachings that one should live a life befitting their blessing.

“I’m sorry I was unable to help you for so long,” I said, lowering my head.

“Eh?”

“I never told anyone else, but I’d been researching a way to suppress your blessing’s impulses for a while.” I pulled a vial out of the pouch at my waist. It was the secret wild elf medicine that I had given to Ademi during the incident with Bighawk.

“This substance can quell a blessing’s urges, too. It temporarily lowers your level when imbibed. Sadly, it’s classified as a poison, so I don’t think it will work in your case.”

“Why?” Ruti asked, bewildered. “Why were you always trying to save the world? You were always striving to get stronger even when we were little. After joining the knights, you helped so many people. Then you joined me on my journey to defeat the demon lord. That hopeless quest, constantly fighting the demon lord’s armies, traveling all over with only a handful of people. It’s not like you were driven to help people like I was, but you still fought.”

“…Yeah, I never did fully explain myself to you.”

Ruti’s chosen quest—vanquishing the demon lord.

I had been there at the outset, when a raiding force attacked our hometown, and Ruti had tried to stand against all those orcs by herself. From there, many people had joined her group for a time, but from the very beginning up until the battle with Desmond of the Earth, I had always been at her side.

Through it all, I had been conflicted about whether to explain how I felt. And in the end, I never had. Even if my intentions were good, I couldn’t risk hurting Ruti. I was afraid that if Ruti knew my reason for fighting, she might feel responsible for my choices.

“Why did you want to defeat the demon lord, Big Brother?” She was looking straight at me, her pretty eyes filled with anxiety.

“I just wanted to protect you.”

Ruti’s eyes widened ever so slightly. Her gaze twitched faintly.

“That’s why you battled monsters when we were little?”

“I joined the Bahamut Knights for the same purpose. I wanted the strength to be able to protect you when you set out on your journey.”

“Why? Because I’m the Hero?”

“Don’t be silly. It’s because you’re important to me, Ruti. You were bound to leave home eventually. I wanted to prepare myself for whenever that day arrived. If you decide to quit being the Hero, I won’t mind, and I won’t blame you.”

Honestly, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little unsure. As someone who had traveled together with the Hero for so long, I had an intimate familiarity with the war’s progression.

Without Ruti, the demon lord’s forces would wreak significantly more havoc. It was entirely possible that Avalon would be destroyed. Such was the price of allowing Ruti to forgo her duty. Yet even if it came to that, I would remain her ally. That was the decision I had made.

“Are… Are you sure? I left all my comrades behind. I broke Godwin out of prison… I’m trying to quit being the Hero. After all that, you’re still going to forgive me?”

“Of course.”

“Can I be selfish? Is it really all right for me to do what I want to do instead of what the world or my blessing demands?”

Enjoying a slow life removed from the demands of the world was a luxury the Hero could never rightly be allowed. However, I would not cast aside Ruti’s right to choose.

“Live how you like. That’s what I do.”

Ruti slowly placed her hands on my cheeks. She stared into my eyes for a long moment and then pressed her forehead to my chest.

“I’m so selfish, Big Brother. I’m a failure as the Hero.” I couldn’t see Ruti’s face, but I could feel the warmth from her hands on my cheeks. “Please… Please don’t hate me.”

I put my hands on top of hers. “You’re my little sister, Ruti. I will always love you.”

“Thank you. I love you, too,” she responded softly.

The moment took me back to that storm that had hit our village when we were kids.

My name is Tisse. I’m Ruti the Hero’s friend. Rit and I finally reached the entrance to the ruins after Red had gone ahead of us.

“…I don’t like this…”

Just as we were about to enter, an intense look crossed Rit’s face.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I can sense someone on the mountain.”

“You can?”

Rit had the Spirit Scout blessing, so her perception was better in more natural environments. However, this was also a place where adventurers came to gather medicinal herbs and where people from the nearby settlement came to log or hunt.

“Normal folk wouldn’t venture this deep into the wilderness,” Rit stated.

“You’re saying this presence is close?”

I spun around. Two chimeras were lying where we had finished them off just a minute ago. If someone else was around, they would certainly have to be quite skilled.

“Probably. I can’t say for sure, though,” admitted Rit.

“I suppose it’s whoever summoned that spirit drake,” I replied.

“Yeah. What about footprints?”

Out in nature, Rit’s Spirit Scout blessing allowed her to sense something as vague as another’s whereabouts far off in the distance, but my Assassin blessing specialized in tracking skills. I was capable of recognizing characteristic footprints on stone pavement and picking people out of a crowd.

“There’s evidence of three going into the ruins: Ms. Ruti, Godwin, and then Red. The only new prints since the last time I was here are Ms. Ruti’s and Red’s. Previously, there were two sets from about a month earlier—Red’s and one other’s.”

“Someone else?” Rit inquired.

“Whoever it was appeared to have explored the upper level of the ruins once. They didn’t return after that single pass.”

As for Red’s first trip, it seemed he’d only taken a quick look around to gather what he could. The interior of the ruins was the correct dampness for mushrooms and moss to grow in abundance. Mister Crawly Wawly seemed to enjoy the humidity, too, because his jewellike black eyes were glimmering as he peeked out of my bag.

“So another adventurer in Zoltan was investigating this place,” deduced Rit. As we made our way into the ruins, she seemed to be pondering who that unknown other could have been.

When we reached Godwin’s room, he shrank back in fear at the sight of Rit.

“Don’t worry. I don’t hold a grudge against you, and I’m not here to get revenge or anything,” she assured.

“S-sorry ’bout that.”

Rit smirked a little bit at seeing Godwin tremble. She made a point of drawing her sword to relish his reaction. She could be a bit childish at times.

“Where is Ms. Ruhr?”

When in Godwin’s presence, I went by the alias Tifa, and Ms. Ruti went by Ruhr. My real name was not particularly problematic, but the moniker Ruti the Hero was known to just about everyone.

“She went off somewhere with that apothecary,” Godwin hastily explained.

“Is that so?”

If so, then following Red’s footsteps was the fastest way to find the two. Fortunately, their tracks were still fresh. Though without a high-level Tracking skill, it would be impossible to judge any tracks left on the strange material ancient elves made their floors from.

Rit turned around as we started to leave the room.

“What is it?” I asked.

She opened the item box at her waist and, after reciting the command word, pulled out a magic knife that emanated darkness, a chain mail tunic interwoven with sound-dampening fabric, a thunderstone that unleashed a flash of light when used, and a smoke wand that released a cloud of thick vapor when broken. She set them all on the floor.

“Rit?!” I exclaimed.

“I don’t have any particular attachment to your life, Godwin, but apparently, you’re a bit of a crucial person. There is a possibility that someone is going to break into these ruins. Someone who is at least as strong as I am. Maybe even more so. I doubt you can win against whoever it is, so use these to protect yourself if you need to.”

“A-against someone better than you?! Are you kidding?! Take me with you!”

“We’ve got our hands full with another matter. If it looks like we can come back for you, we will.” Then she took out a potion bottle—one that contained the spell Invisibility. “I’m leaving this here for you, too, but don’t get your hopes up. This almost certainly won’t work on whoever is nearby.”

Godwin was muttering complaints as he picked up the items she had placed on the floor. “I’m beggin’ ya here, don’t go dragging me into a fight between a bunch of damn heroes.”

“It’s better than getting executed at least, right?” Rit said with a shrug.

Godwin slumped in surrender at that, sitting on the floor. Seeing him like that was so pitiful I felt just a little bit of sympathy for him. Mister Crawly Wawly raised his right leg, too, urging the Alchemist to cheer up.

Had Ares not gone off to the airship, he would have discovered Red and been able to follow after him. Instead, he had been forced to rely on his magic to search around the mountain.

“It should be around here.” He was scratching at his arm in frustration, muttering to himself.

Ares’s spell used Albert’s blood like a compass that pointed toward Ruti. When poured on the disk he was holding, the red liquid would react to the magic of Albert’s contract and be pulled in Ruti’s direction. Unfortunately, the container was a flat surface, not a sphere. It could not point up or down.

Ruti was in the archaic compound that spread out deep beneath the mountain.

“Why?! Why can’t I find her?!” Ares cried, paying no heed to the blood flowing from his arm.

Shisandan was pondering what to do as he watched the Sage’s reaction. His impression of Danan, the man whose form the Asura demon was borrowing, was that he was not a particularly bright man. Shisandan had not been able to steal Danan’s memories, but when he had infiltrated Loggervia in the guise of Gaius, he had spoken with Danan several times. Ares hadn’t discovered him yet, so he had to be doing a convincing enough job of playing the part.

Shisandan suspected that Ruti had already entered the ancient elf ruins. The reason they could not find her was because she was underground. However, that wasn’t something an idiot like Danan would suggest.

Ares was a man with his back to the wall. It would even be fair to say he was unable to think clearly at present. At a fundamental level, Asura demons had entirely different values and philosophies from humans, elves, and even other demons. Shisandan had eaten many humans before and observed their memories, but even still, he could not comprehend humans’ thought processes.

When he hid himself among them, he would plumb the memories of whoever he was imitating, choose situations that seemed the most similar, and act based on those recollections. Unfortunately, he had not gained any memories from Danan this time. As such, he hadn’t spoken more than absolutely necessary, choosing to merely follow after Ares.

But at this rate, we won’t get anywhere.

Among the memories Shisandan had consumed, there was one from a man who had been desperate, like Ares was now. Shisandan decided he would use that as his model.

“Hey, I just remembered, but apparently, there were ancient elf ruins on this mountain.”

“And what of it?! Please spare me your prattle and just search for Ruti!” snapped Ares.

“No, I mean from what I heard, those ruins are underground.”

“…Why didn’t you say so sooner?!”

“Sorry, it totally slipped my mind.”

“Kh, this is why I can’t stand incompetents. Where is the site you speak of?!”

Did that go okay? I think I managed to fool him by acting like I thought that important tidbit was too trivial to bring up sooner.

Sensing no suspicion from Ares, Shisandan indulged in a bit of silent self-praise. It had been worth the wait to stand around first before bringing it up.

This one seems useful. I may not even need to deceive him for much longer. I might be able to draw him to my side.

If Shisandan revealed himself then and there, there was no chance he would be able to convince Ares to ally with him. After a rejection from the Hero and having his dream crushed, however? When all were to seem lost to Ares, and he discovered a way he might still achieve his aspirations, he’d surely take it. At that point, it wouldn’t matter that it involved dirtying his hands a bit, right?

It’s just a question of timing. As I am right now, I probably have no chance of winning against him.

For all Ares’s faults, his magical power was the real deal. If at all possible, Shisandan would prefer to put things into motion after acquiring the artifacts that lay sleeping somewhere in the ancient elf ruins.

Shisandan was walking out in front as he plotted how to approach the task. Pondering how best to trap his target was one of his favorite pastimes. In that regard, the time he had tricked Rit in Loggervia had been extraordinarily gratifying.

While careful not to let Ares see, Shisandan cracked a sinister grin as he silently laid out his moves.

At about the same time, Danan was still sprinting along the path, his face red from the exertion. While he was far swifter than the average person due to his skills, he was still only halfway to the mountain.

“Dammit! At this rate, it’ll all be over by the time I catch up!” he shouted as his legs pounded against the ground.

The merchants and other travelers he passed on the road ran screaming in the other direction, thinking he was a highway robber.

“Nrrrrrrrgggggh!!!” Danan psyched himself up, but no matter how much he tried, there was no dramatic increase in his speed. Just when he was starting to regret not having gotten a mount, he felt an oppressive presence above.

“What?! Another spirit drake?!”

It was a giant one, catching the wind in its wings as it flew through the air above him. It looked different from the first drake.

“Huh, that looks like Theodora’s summons.”

Every part of the creature’s body, save its red wings, was covered in armor. Danan recalled that the spirit beasts Theodora summoned with her clerical arts had all sported the same sort of protective covering.

The Martial Artist knew next to nothing about magic, so he didn’t comprehend that the difference between this creature and the one he’d seen earlier was that this one had been conjured from clerical arts, while Ares’s mystical arts had summoned the other.

Theodora’s powers borrowed strength from the domain of Victy, guardian of martyrs, one of Almighty Demis’s three disciples. This limited Theodora in a way. She was only able to call upon spirit beasts whose attributes existed within Victy’s domain. Those creatures she did summon manifested under the influence of Victy.

Ares could use clerical arts as well, but they relied on borrowing power from Larael, the guardian of hope, another of the three disciples. Invocations made through Larael had the same restriction on attributes, so Ares generally used mystical arts to avoid those restrictions.

The clerical arts largely drew power from one of the three disciples, but those inclined toward evil could source it from Sannou, a legendary demon overlord said to have rebelled against Demis.

The spirit drake circled slowly over Danan’s head. After seemingly spotting him, it immediately began a descent.

“Huh?”

Danan started clenching his fist and stopped running, getting excited as he wondered whether it might attack or not. While he understood that it was a bad habit of his to forget everything going on around him whenever he sensed a strong enemy, that was just how he was.

Ares had snidely chided him for it many times. It had caused problems once or twice when Danan had first joined up with the Hero. Very soon after, however, it miraculously seemed to stop creating trouble. Thinking back on it now, Danan understood that it had been because Gideon had a full grasp on all his party members’ quirks and had worked to design the best deployments so that they could all fight at their best.

Things might have been different if he had just explained as much. No point thinking about that now, I guess. I’ve got a spirit drake right in front of me to deal with first.

When the drake was low enough that it’s head was clearly visible, it spread its wings wide and slowed its glide.

“Danan! It’s me!” an armored woman shouted as she leaned out from the drake’s back.

“Theodora?!”

As far as Danan knew, she should have been far away.

“This sure is convenient.”

This was the second time in Danan’s life that he had ridden on a spirit drake. The first had been when they had traveled to Gandor of the Wind’s hideout. They had been working together with the lightning dragons to break through Gandor’s wyvern knights, but Ares had insisted he fly a spirit drake so he could do as he pleased, and Danan had gone along to keep him safe.

Back then, there hadn’t been any time to comment about how nice riding was between all his complaints whenever Ares’s questionable steering got them into a dangerous situation.

“Why didn’t you use one of these fellas more often?” Danan asked Theodora, who was sitting in front of him with the drake’s reins in her hands.

“It stands out too much. There aren’t that many mages capable of summoning a spirit drake, and if the demon lord’s forces saw one, they would surely be on their guard.”

“Makes sense,” Danan accepted. Spotting such an unusual beast from the ground wasn’t too difficult. Gideon had run off precisely because he’d seen that spirit drake earlier.

“So who’s he?” With a finger, Danan indicated the man sitting behind him.

“My name is Albert, sir. It’s an honor to meet you. I’ve heard tales of your victories against the demon lord’s army, even way out in Zoltan. It’s a rather long story, but I’m an adventurer who is currently accompanying Theodora.” Albert introduced himself with a respectful bow.

Danan nodded before quickly losing interest. “Anyway, that was great timing. Now I can get to the mountain in no time.”

“Are you seriously not going to ask why I’m here? The timing doesn’t seem odd to you at all?” inquired Theodora.

“Not like I’d figure anything out even if I did think about things like that. The Hero’s somewhere on the mountain, and she needs us. That’s enough for me.”

“…You really are a simple man,” Theodora replied with a wry smile.

There was a trace of envy in her expression, but Danan was not the sort who’d notice that.

“I picked you up because I want you to be there for it, whatever result might come of the choices we make,” stated Theodora.

“?”

“It’s fine if you don’t get what I mean. Do as you please. I’ll act how I see fit, too.”

“Roger. I’m not sure I get it, but isn’t that obvious? We’ll both do what we want. That’s how it should be,” Danan responded with a hearty laugh.

Albert was dumbfounded. This was another entirely different sort of hero from Ares or Theodora.

Once Ruti had calmed down, we headed back out into the corridor.

“Red!”

No sooner had we stepped out than we saw Rit and Tisse running toward us.

“That was fast,” I remarked.

“We were in a bit of a hurry,” Rit said with a smile.

Ruti looked expressionless, but her cheeks were turning ever so slightly redder. It was what she did when she was feeling happy.

“Thank you,” Ruti murmured.

The four of us returned to Godwin’s room to get what information we could about Devil’s Blessing.

From what the contract demon had said, the principle behind the substance was that it used its core ingredient, an ax demon’s heart, to create a demon blessing that suppressed the user’s natural one. However…

“That was how the contract demon explained it to me, too,” Ruti added, before tilting her head. “But the Hero’s blessing treats the effects of a demon’s heart as a curse, eliminating it. So when I drank it, I did not develop an ax demon blessing.”

“Then how is your innate blessing being suppressed?” I inquired.

Ruti tilted her head. “The blessing I developed is one without a name.”

“Nameless?” I repeated, at a loss.

“Yes. When I connect with it, there aren’t any skills or impulses. It’s just there.”

What could that be? I’d done lots of research on blessings, so I felt confident that I knew more than most on the subject, but I’d never heard of this before. Was it really a blessing?

“My levels are definitely shifting to that nameless blessing, and the Hero’s urges are weakening.”

“If there aren’t any impulses, and if that blessing’s level gets higher than your natural one’s, does that mean there won’t be any murderous fits?” Rit asked, hopefulness apparent in her voice.

Ax demon blessings had caused the brutal attacks that had plagued Zoltan a while back. If this nameless thing in Ruti really didn’t have any compulsions, then there was no danger.

“A blessing with no name… On top of being a complete unknown, it’s like no other blessing in existence. Not knowing what it might be capable of is ominous in its own way,” I said.

Every blessing had a role. Regardless of how powerful or weak a Divine Blessing was, its name, urges, and skills were a means for the bearer to interpret their assigned lot in life and gain the abilities necessary to fulfill that role.

So then, what could one divine from a blessing with no identifiable qualities?

“There’s a lot that’s still in the dark. I’d like to ask Godwin, since he’s an actual Alchemist,” I stated.

We continued to discuss it as we made our way back to Godwin’s room. As Ruti had blown the door off the wall, we could see the man before entering. He twitched when he heard our approach.

“D-don’t scare me like that.” Godwin breathed a sigh of relief after realizing we weren’t the enemy Rit had warned him of earlier.

“I know this is sudden, but I want to know everything you know about Devil’s Blessing,” I said.

Unraveling all this was doubtlessly going to be difficult, but we had to face the mystery of this demonic medicine head-on.

“Basically, Devil’s Blessing was created as a kind of stopper meant to limit the effects of its base—the substance that creates that nameless blessing. It achieves this by causing a demon blessing to develop instead of the nameless one and by transferring levels to it. With the unaltered, original drug, your innate blessing’s level won’t go down. Even if you didn’t have an immunity to curses, Devil’s Blessing was unnecessary.”

This was the hypothesis that Godwin presented to us when pressed for details about Devil’s Blessing. He had used one of his skills to analyze the medicine.

“So is the part about limiting urges something added later, too? Or was it part of the original compound?” I questioned.

“Hard to say. There’s a possibility the nameless blessing might limit the impulses of your natural one without decreasing its level. Still, the drug’s original purpose was to create that nameless blessing.”

“So then the part about it weakening your innate blessing to increase the efficiency of leveling that the demon told Ruhr about was not its original usage?” I queried.

“Yeah, and that bit about the levels in the new blessing returning after a week wasn’t an original part of how the substance worked, either.”

Things were just getting more and more baffling. The demons’ alterations seemed designed to destroy the original drug’s effects.

“What about the dependency and narcotic effects?” Ruti asked.

She was the one actually taking the medicine, so that was a critical point. While she could nullify adverse effects with her immunities, if her blessing level kept shifting, it was possible that she could lose such impunity.

“That’s just a problem with the ingredients. It uses dwarven blackfire peppers, which are quite addictive. They are banned here in Zoltan, so acquiring them actually proved to be the most challenging part of the whole process. There’s still a lot of them left in Bighawk’s hidden stockroom for now, though.”

“Is there any substitute for them?” I inquired.

“I’m just a washed-up Alchemist who wound up with the Thieves Guild. Don’t go askin’ me to figure out any modifications to the recipe.”

Godwin had been a key member of the Thieves Guild under Bighawk, but he was by no means exceptionally knowledgeable when it came to alchemy.

I glanced down at the notes the man had written from his analysis and considered the problem. Still, there just wasn’t enough there for me to make a definitive statement one way or the other about replacements for the dwarven blackfire peppers.

With Ruti’s Healing Hands, she could completely cure any addiction or overdose. And there were high-level healers in most large cities capable of magics that could heal the medicine’s damage. Such services demanded payment, of course, but such prices were little more than pocket change to someone of Ruti’s means.

I suppose we can ignore the dwarven blackfire peppers for now…though I’d like to remove them from the equation at some point.

“The murderous impulses started occurring when the demon’s blessing surpassed the innate blessing in level. What do you think will happen when this nameless blessing surpasses Ruhr’s innate blessing?” I asked.

“I can’t say for sure, but those violent urges came from the ax demon’s blessing. If a blessing that doesn’t have any impulses surpasses her innate one, then I’d assume nothing in particular would happen,” concluded Godwin.

He’s got the same assumption I have, I thought.

“So in sum, what are we looking at?” Tisse asked.

“Hmm. For the time being, it looks like the risk is minimal. We have to be careful about Ruhr’s level getting too low. Still, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about her getting violent.”

Ruti’s eyes widened a bit at that. She had probably been fretting over whether we would tell her not to take the substance anymore.

“From what I can tell, demons added all the dangerous parts after the fact. I want to investigate the recipe in more detail myself, but for the moment, I think it is okay to use it to suppress urges until we find another way,” I decided.

Never would I have guessed that my knowledge of medicine would wind up being such a boon for Ruti. I felt a small surge of pride when I saw that she seemed happy.

“As for other issues, there’s the problem of Zoltan being viewed as problematic after the incident with Devil’s Blessing. Forget dwarven blackfire peppers, just trying to get our hands on the other special ingredients will draw the attention of Zoltan’s authorities.”

“What about just growing the things we need here on the mountain?” Rit proposed.

“That’s easy enough in theory, but it’s pretty difficult to raise plants brought in from another climate. Though there’s no reason not to try, either,” I replied.

“Oh.”

“And I’ll look into the possibility of substituting some of the ingredients. It’s possible that the demons intentionally used certain additives to produce a more addictive medicine.”

Ruti had made it clear that the contract demon had been devout in its faith in Demis. While that seemed contrary to expectation, it made sense that demons who strictly adhered to what their blessings wanted would be faithful believers of Demis, too. Yet those loyalists had preserved the method of producing a medicine that created a new blessing, something that was unquestionably an act of rebellion against God.

The reason they had done so was likely because, in the form of Devil’s Blessing, the drug was a way to develop one’s innate blessing even further. Still, the demons recognized that this incredible medicine could also be used to resist Demis’s designs.

Perhaps that was why the altered recipe called for such rare and addictive ingredients—to prevent any unintended spread. Overdoses and addiction were a lethal problem for the average person.

“It’s still difficult to reconcile demons being such ardent believers…,” I muttered to myself.

When I found some time with Ruti, I wanted to discuss that point in more detail. Back then, in the Hero’s party, Ruti and I had spent many sleepless nights debating all sorts of things about the nature of the world. I looked forward to doing that again when we were back home in Zoltan.

That would be nice.

“What is it, Big Brother?” Noticing my gaze, Ruti tilted her head. I just smiled to let her know it was nothing problematic. “Okay,” she responded with a nod. It looked like her cheeks had reddened slightly.

“Something’s coming,” Tisse suddenly whispered so that only those in the room would hear.

Save for Godwin, we all quickly drew our weapons and focused. Godwin scurried behind us when I gave the signal.

“I-I’m sure it will be fine with you guys here…,” he muttered nervously.

Ruti was not paying any attention to him as she slowly approached the doorway out to the corridor.

Using the Enhanced Detection skill that the Hero blessing provided, every one of Ruti’s senses became as perceptive as her vision, allowing her to discern the slightest vibrations, changes in heat, smells, and such. Tisse’s Assassin ability to sense presences covered a wider range, but Ruti’s skill was superior in close quarters since it allowed her to see through walls.

“It’s an iron snake,” Ruti whispered.

A small object flew out from the shadows at the entrance. But the moment it appeared, Ruti’s sword was already bearing down on it, splitting the iron snake before it had any chance to test its fangs.

“An iron snake? What’s one of those doing here?” Rit’s face was clouded.

Iron snakes were a type of golem created from a combination of magic and alchemy. The serpent-shaped metal constructs were about thirty centimeters long. While they weren’t very powerful, they were stealthy and able to slip into all sorts of openings, making the things quite versatile. On top of that, they had a mapping capability and the power to display what they observed to their controller. Iron snakes were perfectly suited to matters of espionage.

“It’s an entirely different kind of golem from the clockwork ones typically found in places like this. There’s no record of iron snakes in ancient elf ruins anywhere else,” I said.

“Someone else must be here. They’re concealing themself with magic, but I can just barely detect a faint presence when I focus on it,” Tisse stated. Mister Crawly Wawly popped his head out of her bag to try to convey something to her. “According to Mister Crawly Wawly, two humans have trod on the threads he laid out.” Her spider nodded, confirming what she said.

In the time he had been together with Tisse, Mister Crawly Wawly had raised his level, and apparently, he could discern the general size and shape of creatures who touched his silk from the vibrations transmitted through it.

“Two people, huh?” I whispered.

The one who’d summoned the spirit drake and some ally, maybe? It was hard to say whether they had spotted us below on the mountain path. Regardless, they were aware of the iron snake’s destruction.

“…Is it Shisandan?” Rit wondered quietly. Her expression was filled with a mix of unease and a dark anticipation.

“Hey, wouldn’t it be better if Ms. Ruhr was the one protecting me?” Godwin whined pitifully.

“You’re stuck with me, so just suck it up.”

Ruti and Rit stood at the head of the group with Tisse behind them, Godwin behind her, and I brought up the rear to protect the Alchemist if we were assailed from behind.

“But you’re the least reliable one of them.”

“Ever tactful, I see.”

“This is a life-or-death situation!”

Godwin was a high-level Alchemist—by Zoltan standard anyway. However, he couldn’t hold a candle to the class of opponents the Hero regularly engaged with, and he understood that as well as anyone else here. That was why we had taken this formation.

Ruti twitched in reaction to something behind us. I immediately drew one of the throwing knives I had borrowed from Rit and let it fly. The weapon caught another iron snake that had been sneaking toward us and destroyed it.

My sister and I did not need words to communicate. I was confident in my ability to act how she intended from a single glance alone. Countless battles together had forged our sibling bond into a kind of second-nature response.

It wouldn’t be hyperbole to say that the moment she noticed something with her extremely heightened perception, it was also shared with me.

“I know they aren’t exactly built to last, but still, one-shotting an iron golem with a throwing knife? Why the hell are you an apothecary? Did you screw something up and have to go into hiding or something?” Godwin quietly asked in awe when he saw the little golem’s shattered head.

Tisse used a skill, standing still and focusing as she searched for any more unwelcome guests. “The iron snakes have left this level,” she declared after a moment.

We had come across a total of four iron snakes and destroyed all of them. However, Tisse had sensed at least seven of the little things earlier. That meant at least three of them had been pulled away from this floor.

“What about the people?” I questioned.

“They’re still using a spell to hide, so I can’t pin down their locations, but I think one of them has moved below the surface,” the Assassin replied.

“Splitting up?” Rit seemed surprised. If this pair was hostile, them parting was a decision in our favor. “They must know we broke the iron snakes, right? Even if we assume these two are entirely unrelated to Shisandan or Devil’s Blessing stuff, they must recognize by now that there is a threat down here. So why split up?”

“It’s certainly odd. They may be using magic or a martial art that can throw off my perception, but…” Tisse trailed off.

The girl was one of the best Assassins around. Only a few could hope to disguise themselves from her senses. Was there anyone truly capable of disrupting her perception so thoroughly?

“Stay on guard. Be ready to react in case they somehow did manage to trick Tisse’s reading, but for now, let’s assume she’s correct,” I stated.

“Understood.” Ruti nodded at my proposal. No sooner had she done so than her mouth curved ever so slightly into a smile.

“Something up?” I inquired.

“The situation is what it is, but…I’m happy. It’s been so long since you’ve fired off directions like that…” Ruti was looking me straight in the eyes as she said that, but she quickly reverted to a serious expression and faced forward again.

Everyone, even Godwin, noticed the change.

“Something’s coming!” Rit called out sharply.

“Mister Crawly Wawly’s webs have all been torn apart! It’s a swarm of things no bigger than fingernails!”

“Ruti! Rit! Use Levitate!”

Ruti and Rit, the two who could use the spell, quickly cast it on everyone. Suddenly, we were all hovering slightly above the ground, waiting for the horde that had suddenly appeared.

“Is it spiders? Ants? It can’t be parasitic grubs, right?” Godwin listed the sorts of swarms adventurers often encountered. Disregarding such threats simply because they were insects or arachnids was foolhardy. You couldn’t defeat a horde of bugs with conventional weapons. Magic or fire were typically the best options. They could be truly dangerous, easily capable of taking down the unprepared. However, the little things that came skittering into sight weren’t ants or spiders.

“Eeeep!” Godwin screamed reflexively at the sight of them filling the floor. Rit gasped and shuddered, too.

“Plague Eyes…,” I muttered.

They were crying human eyes. Red, tentacle-like blood vessels extended from the backs of the things, and they used those to crawl along the floor. That alone would have been repulsive, but after moving around for a bit, the eyeballs would start to bubble and split apart. The frothing liquid from inside spawned more of their kind.

“It’s a high-level mystic art, a combination of summoning magic and necromancy that uses the eyes of dead humans who bore intense grudges as a medium. The conjured things continue to create more of themselves,” I explained. The crying eyes filling the floor looked up at us, floating in the air. It was a scene that made even my hair stand on end. “They can’t be controlled and will keep increasing until the magic that first made them runs out. It’s meant to overrun anyone on the ground. That said, they’re still the result of a summoning spell, so whoever cast it will be aware if any eyes are killed. I’ve heard stories about some using that method to locate an enemy.”

“Attacking them will alert their master to us?” Tisse asked.

“Pretty much. Plague Eyes cover a wide area. No one would bother using them if they knew where their quarry was already. It’s fortunate that Levitate allows us to evade them,” I replied.

Conjuring such disgusting things was no small feat, but the method was not without its weaknesses. All we needed to do was keep floating in the air until its effect ran out.

“…Weren’t they trying to locate us using those iron snakes?” Rit asked.

“Perhaps the two of them are unable to share information for some reason?” proposed Tisse.

There was no denying that using Plague Eyes here was odd. But while I was grappling with the implications of that decision, Ruti just furrowed her brow impatiently.

“We’re not going to figure it out by guessing. We should just ask directly.”

“Huh?” I managed before Ruti signed something arcane with her left hand.

“Judgment Lightning.”

“Wha—?!”

An intense bolt struck the eyeball-flooded floor and raced through the corridor.

The spells afforded by the Divine Blessing of the Hero were cost inefficient but rivaled Archmage and Sage blessings in terms of immediate output. They wielded a power that made a mockery of all the magic swordsman-type blessings that struggled to balance bladework with spells.

Ruti’s temple twitched. “Someone blocked it,” she muttered, dropping to the ground with her sword drawn. She started running.

“Wait! Don’t go off alone! Rit, Tisse! Keep Godwin safe, but try to catch up as soon as you can!” I took off after Ruti without waiting for them to respond.

She hadn’t ever gone off on her own like this while I had been in the party.

Is this how she’s been fighting since I left?

“Ruti!” I called.

“Around that corner.”

Though I’d caught up to her, I didn’t even have time to get a warning out before she turned at an intersection. Naturally, I followed after, but seeing the figure standing there made me forget myself for a moment.

“Ruti! I finally found you!”

“Ares?!”

Standing there was Ares the Sage, the man who had driven me from my sister’s side. In his present state, he looked nothing like the man I had once known.

Ares’s handsome features had made him popular with women back in Central, but now his hair was a wild mess, and his cheeks were sunken. Formerly calm and discerning eyes were now wide and bloodshot, resembling the dead little things fading away in bubbling foam on the floor.

“Let’s go defeat the demon lord, Ruti. The Hero is the only one who can save the world. And I must be there at your side. The Hero and the Sage. We’ve nothing to fear from any demon lord with such Divine Blessings at our disposal.”

“A-Ares, what happened to you…?” I asked.

Keeping up appearances had been paramount to him. Even when we were on the road, he’d always taken care to maintain himself. It made how he looked now all the more shocking.

“Come, Ruti. Take my hand. You realized we don’t need anyone else, right? That’s why you left? I agree. Danan, Theodora, Yarandrala, Tisse, Gideon… They were all just getting in our way. Useless scoundrels who could do nothing more than complain. But we can defeat the demon lord together, just the two of us. A glorious future awaits.”

Ares did not respond to my words. His cheeks were twitching in a spastic smile as he extended his hand to Ruti.

“Ares.” Ruti’s voice was soft, and she was gazing at him almost piteously.

“Ruti…”

“I’m not going to travel with you anymore.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know what comes next, but my journey with you has reached its end. My time as the Hero is over. Now I’m only Ruti.”

What Ares needed, what he required, wasn’t Ruti. It was the Hero. That was why Ruti closed the book on her quest with Ares. It was a parting, but in her own way, my little sister was also drawing a line of sorts with a man she had known for very long.

Ares looked down, smile still pasted across his face. “You’re too kind. You feel a need to help a hopeless cause like Gideon. That’s why you’re choosing a man with a worthless blessing over me. Because you can’t bear to cast aside that hindrance, right?”

“You’ve got it wrong, Ares, Ruti is—”

“Silence!”

Ares moved his hand in a practiced motion.

“Ares?! What are yo—? Gh!!!” The next thing I knew, his Force Shot spell had sent me flying. I slammed into the wall behind me with a loud crash. The impact knocked the air from my lungs, and I couldn’t breathe for a moment. Unable to hold on, I dropped to one knee.

“There! Now it’s all fine, Ruti! Let us be off to vanquish the demon lord!” Ares faced Ruti with arms wide open, almost like he was sure that she would jump into his embrace. Ruti did leap forward, but not in the way Ares had hoped.

“Even now, you still don’t see me.”

“Huh?” Shocked, Ares looked down and discovered Ruti’s sword sticking out of his stomach. “Agh! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!”

Disbelief was plain on Ares’s face. His wide eyes looked down to gaze at the blood flowing from his gut. Ruti retracted her blade without any hesitation.

“I’m not kind at all.”

“Ugwahhhhhhhhhh! Wh-why? This is a misunderstanding! I’m Ares the Sage! Why did you stab me…?”

“I avoided piercing anything vital. Healing yourself with magic shouldn’t be too much trouble. This is my answer. I don’t feel conflicted about running you through for hurting someone important to me. If Big Brother had been seriously wounded, I would have killed you,” Ruti stated matter-of-factly. Then she turned her back on him and walked over to me. “Are you okay, Big Brother? Wait just a second, and I’ll heal you.”

“Ah, yeah, please.”

Thankfully, my injury wasn’t anything grievous. Force Shot was a spell better suited to knocking targets away than destroying them. With my high blessing level, it amounted to a few bruises and scrapes.

“R-Ruti…my wound is more serious… Healing…please…,” Ares pleaded as he clutched at his stomach. Yet Ruti did not even turn back to look at him.

“I’m not the Hero. And I’m never going to help you again.”

She left no room at all for misinterpretation, rejecting Ares altogether.