67 – Patience-7

“I guess I can rest for a day or so.”

Farseer sighed in relief as he looked proudly at Celia, who was treating the princess.

“…tolerable.”

Eleanor couldn’t hide her anger.

“Oh, no! If it were anyone else, I would have told you to take it easy! If it wasn’t for Eleanor, I would have fed you with my own hands!”

“The saintess is right. Even if you can move forward with your guts, what she expects of you won’t be that much.”

There wouldn’t be many things to use the authority of as a princess, but there might be many things to use the skills of a swordsman. Treatment had to be completed as soon as possible. Eleanor agreed with her, but couldn’t admit it emotionally.

“Didn’t he also say that he could wait a day or so?”

“If time dragged on like this…”

“It’s him, not you, who wants to go back. It’s his decision to postpone it for a while. It’s not your fault, so focus on your treatment.”

“Eww…”

The situation was better than Nerwen, who was close to the tree and acted as a biocatalyst, but it was equally frustrating.

“Isn’t he still holding back?”

Eleanor suppressed her frustration and just lay on the bed with her mental strength.

Up until then, she hadn’t paid much attention, but he looked pretty nervous and desperate as he waited for his return.

And if it was an accident at the imperial palace that exploded at some point, I shouldn’t have put up with him any longer.

“Even if it’s a blessing, it’s not meaningful. At this level, it can be solved with just a little more money…”

Looking at his expression, which is still visible at a glance, it doesn’t seem like he’s given up on returning home.

No, on the contrary, I was more strongly possessed than before. Desperate enough to forget being angry with them for a moment.

At least to Eleanor, it seemed that way.

“You can’t advance by helping all the villages like this. At least it can’t be helped if it’s a matter of life and death, but if it’s delayed by the guardian spirits of the countryside…”

“That’s all we need to do is hurry.”

“…could you?”

“I don’t know. But if the elven elders lend their wisdom… Besides, Enerel gave me a map a while ago. Verification will take some time, but as long as everything goes well, I’ll be back soon.”

Even if it worked out, it might take years, it was so natural that there was no need to say it.

“Are the others okay?”

Celia lifted her head slightly and looked out the window.

Rather, they apologized with their bodies, they might be doing something comfortable.

It was painful to have to go on a trip again, but I didn’t go through something humiliating that I couldn’t bear, and I wasn’t having a journey that was too difficult to endure.

Those left behind will be working hard to close their void.

/////

“I’m really sorry about what happened earlier.”

“Oh, no! We’ll figure it out somehow…”

“Our wizard has restored consciousness. There will be no problems in the future.”

My expression was still hardened. However, fortunately, the villagers accepted the apology.

It was hard to understand why it had to be me who was apologizing when it was obviously Nerwen’s fault, but I had to put up with it.

You would have to stay in this village for a year, not a day, to see her voluntarily apologize to ‘a mere human’.

You just need to eat enough of it later. Even now, he would be clinging to the tree in that strange posture, so he must have been punished to some extent.

“ha…”

Still, I didn’t like this apple.

No, I didn’t like the apology, but I didn’t hate the situation where the case was resolved with an apology.

There is no need for people to die or to make sacrifices just because I stay here for one more day.

There is no need to leave behind people who will obviously die if left unattended, and there is no need to deceive them or take away what they hold dear.

There is no reason for them to threaten me with gnashing of teeth, or to appeal to me.

Literally, it was just a minor incident.

Little things that no one has to die for. peaceful daily life.

When I entered the inn, I felt like I would meet other colleagues. Wanting to put off seeing their faces for a while, I sat down on a nearby rock.

When I entered the hero’s party, the numerous monsters and the rugged mountain range were of course painful. However, even though it was an ordinary village, it was not something that could be happily put at ease.

There was a time when I couldn’t erase the traces of my little mistake.

The monsters that chased us attacked the village. We were able to avoid annihilation because we were staying that day, but most of the young men in the village died.

However, to simply say it was my fault, I had many excuses.

The journey of training and forced marches had already pushed me to the limit, and erasing the traces was definitely something that Nerwen had agreed to confirm in the end even if I did.

Even if an accident didn’t happen, there was no way that the small villages could withstand the demon king’s army, which was expanding its power moment by moment.

When I looked at the map and entered the village in front of me, there were times when only terribly burned corpses and ruins remained.

There were times when I had to turn a blind eye to the deaths of villagers in order to obtain a very important artifact, and there were times when I had to leave with regret because I couldn’t convince them why they had to evacuate.

But, now there is nothing.

An apology to the villagers is not an apology for life or battle, but an apology for minor misunderstandings and accidents.

Not long ago, there was no certainty that the fight was over. I couldn’t remember anything about my life in the imperial palace because I was blinded by the waiting, and there were many fights after that.

Rather, the number of times he directly cut down someone must have been greater than the time when he participated in the warriors’ party and did not pick up his sword.

But now, after having a trivial conversation with the village headman and a trivial apology, he could realize that the war was over.

So, the wait was not boring.

/////

Celia glanced at his face sideways, as if their eyes would disappear if they met.

Good looks. The black-haired man glared at her, sighing and swearing.

I couldn’t answer. Her hand wasn’t resting, and even now the healing spell was pouring into the princess.

When it first appeared, I didn’t even want to see it, but now I’m rather glad. It was fortunate that I was able to see him like this, no, I was able to see him without hurting him.

‘Maybe I liked it…’

During his adventures, he was always smiling, and even in the most difficult times, his expression hardened a little, but he did not resent anyone.

If that was all patience, his unpretentious feelings might have been more accurately revealed when he vented his anger in the imperial palace.

“Who’s here?”

“Uh, well, I mean… Why?”

Eleanor was lying and looking at the ceiling, so she couldn’t see where the man was sitting.

“Aren’t your eyes looking elsewhere? Oh, in case I shouldn’t be mentioning…”

“No. The Goddess… doesn’t meet easily. Maybe she was very disappointed in me.”

“That’s enough. Let’s finish here for today.”

“Oh, that’s fine!”

Eleanor’s gaze turned to him, but she didn’t see anything.

It was natural. Even if Celia was hiding something, there was no way she could see anything with the blindfold on.

If you still see his face, it’s just an illusion.

An illusion that cannot exist. An illusion created by her guilt or dirty desire.

A virtual savior who would rather criticize her more, let her emotions out, and make her forgive her sins.

When she first saw it, she mistook it for the real Enerel.

After a few apologies in the air, she took the easy way to distinguish between fiction and truth.

If you close your eyes, what you see is an illusion.

“Oh.”

When I inadvertently met his gaze, he disappeared like smoke.

“As expected, something… is that guardian spirit? It’s hard to conclude that it’s innocent enough to appear in the eyes of outsiders.”

“Because it’s not real. Just, just…”

Celia didn’t know how to explain this, so she just shook her head.

“My treatment is important, but the Saint’s health is more important than anything else. What Enerel needs is the Saint and the Wizard, not me.”

Eleanor was a resource that could be replaced. Unless something comes up to use the princess’s authority, even if her body recovers fully, she won’t be able to do anything Enerel can’t do.

It was different from a wizard who could support his return with his magical knowledge and wisdom, or a saint who could make even an incomplete ritual a success with that huge feeling of gratitude and love.

“I’m really fine.”

“Treating the eyes first…”

“I’m not wearing this because it hurts.”

To distinguish false images from false images, and to quickly notice false images when they appear.

She blocked her vision from seeing anything but the man’s illusion.