175 – theorem-9

Almost done. After hours of chase, I was able to deal with most of the monsters.

“Is this the last…”

The sound of footsteps that shook the ground like a huge earthquake had now been reduced to that of a cat running down the street.

As I squeezed my strength and increased my speed, several monsters came into view. They seemed to be running as hard as they could, but they seemed more tired than I was.

The monster that was running ahead collapsed at once. Due to the inertia of running away from me, I went a few more meters and rolled unsightly on the dirt floor.

“uh?”

However, I haven’t swung the sword yet. I might have stumbled somewhere, but after seeing his corpse, I dismissed that possibility.

The monsters that had fled before him fell one by one. I trudged forward.

The arrow stuck in the dead monster’s body had a very familiar look.

“Nerwen?”

I couldn’t feel her presence. Considering the skill of the elven archer, it wouldn’t be strange if he fired an arrow from a farther distance than I thought.

Still, she would have seen me. Whether you sense my presence or see it with your own two eyes, you will have noticed my presence.

Don’t you want to run into me?

After hesitating for a moment, I finally called out to her.

“Come out. Let’s see your face.”

There was silence for a moment. In the forest that became quiet without beasts or monsters, only the sound of the leaves swaying in the wind shimmered.

There was silence for a moment. As I waited longer, the sound of tiny footsteps came through the ground.

“Enerel…”

Her shy attitude was not like hers. The hand holding the bow was shaking.

“What are you doing here?”

“I just… heard rumors that the forest was being desecrated. I had no idea, just…”

I nodded.

“How are you?”

I, too, couldn’t understand why I was saying this.

Perhaps, the Farseer thing was left in my head. If all the other party members had the same ending as her, it wouldn’t be very pleasant.

“…”

she kept her mouth shut. Maybe, he doesn’t want to talk to me.

“What about Celia? Didn’t you go out together?”

There was silence again. She was choosing what to say with extreme caution.

“I broke up with the saintess. She found something to do for herself.”

“Well, that’s good.”

There was no way a person like Celia would live like that for the rest of her life. Even if she lost her divine power, her ability would not interfere with her ability to make a living.

To be honest, I couldn’t imagine Celia looking at a job advertisement. Even if it was less than Farseer, Celia could be considered a child in terms of appearance.

The last time I saw him, he had a decent face, so he might have calmed down completely.

“You? Is there anything you want to do?”

I felt like I could put my mind at ease about Celia. It was Eleanor, someone who was sure to be alive and well somewhere without me needing to worry.

However, Nerwen still looked uneasy.

“that…”

Her breathing was rough. When I looked closely, I could see that her eyes were also repeatedly closing and opening as if they were out of focus.

“It doesn’t look good.”

The first time I fell apart, she was following me with the momentum to almost kidnap me. Also, Nerwen’s condition did not improve at all compared to then.

I was just being patient. Even if she could somehow endure it when she was with me, it would have been difficult to endure if she was completely far away.

I took a few steps and stood in front of her. Her pupils twitched louder, and her snoring sounded a little harsher.

“Tell me if you don’t like it.”

I hugged Nerwen weakly and covered her face with my hand.

“Huh, huh, ugh…”

She sucked up the oxygen greedily. It’s like a climber climbing a mountain so high that you can’t breathe.

After a few minutes, I could feel her blushing.

“This, this… this.”

I just didn’t want to see him staring at me and sniffing the smell.

“You should do this too, shouldn’t you?”

“I heard that I was born like this from the beginning… What can I do?”

“Hmm…”

The elves didn’t seem to have a solution to this problem, so the only hope left…

none. Because I killed Farseer with my own hands.

“Aren’t you stalking these days?”

“I never… never did anything like that. It would be obvious, and it’s something you wouldn’t like.”

I carefully released her. Nerwen hesitated for a moment, then took a step away from me.

“Still, he… knew you were there when he entered the forest.”

“It doesn’t matter. Well, if you smelled it, you would.”

“More than that, the words…”

“word?”

While I paused to think about the meaning of Nerwen’s words, I heard the sound of horses hooves clattering.

“See you again.”

A beautiful white horse appeared, covered with white fur. A unicorn with a sacred and pure horn on its head.

“…what are you doing here?”

“I was hanging around, feeling like I wasn’t needed right now.”

Her horns were covered in monster blood. Feeling noble in such a dirty state was a mysterious feeling, as if hypnotized.

“If it’s a unicorn, it’s natural. To purify evil and annihilate unnatural things.”

The three of them met by chance. Nerwen looked at me with a slightly hazy and depressed look, as if he hadn’t forgotten my scent yet.

“But, that just…”

“I helped you for a while because you seemed to be having a hard time. What…”

I felt like I was going to die lonely and collapsed in an unknown place.

It might have been something I wouldn’t have bothered with before, but now it bothers me.

That they die, that they end their lives unhappily and disappear.

“I see… Yes, I see. They are not wrong.”

Nerwen let out a rough breath, a mix of gasps and laughter, like a madman.

“What are you talking about?”

“Ah… no. Just…”

She looked up at my face and paused in silence for a while.

“Okay. This forest has been roughly cleaned up, so we have to go back now.”

“Call me when you need my life, little man.

As if the monster’s blood on its horn and head was very uncomfortable, the unicorn immediately turned its head and ran somewhere.

“I’m thinking of going back to the capital…”

“I’ll wait here.”

Nerwen, who had barely calmed down, limped and leaned against a tree beside him.

“Is the forest good?”

Since he was an elf, it was natural for him to feel that way.

“That’s… no. There are people who need to go to the capital to see them, but…”

As if she was enduring something, she spoke with difficulty.

“It’s okay to follow me. Until we reach the capital.”

her eyes twitched It seemed that he was seriously considering my proposal.

was not readily understood. After all, she was addicted to me, and would have wanted to be close to me, even if it was just a few hours or even a few steps.

Blood flowed from Nerwen’s lips.

“Okay.”

“…Then, what.”

She, too, didn’t seem to have good feelings for me. Maybe, he resents me.

Aside from what she did to me, I didn’t feel like I was particularly ‘happy to be with’ Nerwen.

The truth that she was born to have a relationship with me was not to her liking. I said I’d do anything ‘for me’, but at least it didn’t have to be fun.

This may also be her decision. Just like a drug addict gritting their teeth and quitting drugs, they might be distancing themselves from me in front of them.

“okay.”

If so, there was no reason to drag her away. I put the holy sword into the scabbard and left the forest full of monster corpses.

/////

After washing her body, the unicorn came back and found Nerwen still sitting there.

“Why didn’t you follow me?”

Little by little, life returned to Nerwen’s eyes. The thought of getting up ran through her mind.

“Because I’ve decided.”

“…What?”

“The others were right. I… I think I realized it a little too late.”

Power went into her hand holding the bow. Her rough breathing came into order, and her dizzy eyes transformed into those of a hunter.

“Mr. Unicorn. It’s a bit surprising that you go out with Enerel separately… but you didn’t betray me, did you?”

“Such rude words. Didn’t I declare that I would give my life for him? There’s no way I’d break that.”

“To get him back… yes.”

“Then, someone who was not born here, being dragged by an unwanted force and suffering. This is something that should never happen.”

Nerwen jumped up.

“Follow me. There’s someone to guide you. Maybe… he’ll explain when you’ll need your blood.”

The unicorn pondered for a moment, but soon came to her side.

“Would you like to ride? First of all, you’re a virgin too, and there’s nothing I can’t do for you.”

Even if her eyes were revived, her body was still shaking. She wasn’t the type to be this exhausted against a few weak monsters, but she herself was shaken.

“…thank you.”

Nerwen, riding on top of a unicorn, ran like a shot and left the forest.

The forest was still full of his scent. A lingering feeling stirred her brain, begging her to stay here ‘just a little longer’.

Nerwen rejected it.