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Chapter 4 Part 2

Wait a second…

That means…

 

「The reason he kicked me out was…」

 

「Because he thought you were getting in the way of him trying to get closer to Emmy and Janet, might be the real reason.」

 

When Baa-san said that, it all suddenly made sense why they left me alone at the inn so unnaturally.

I was too shocked at the time to have the time to think something weird was going on, but… when I think about it again, it’s certainly strange that not even Janet stayed behind.

 

It’s only one of the possibilities… but it’s really a no-brainer of a reason.

Good grief, I can only be appalled at my own stupidity.

 

「Besides, you had the most wins against the others in the end when you were about to set out from the village, didn’t you Russell? Maybe that’s why Vince doesn’t like having you around. That child… he tends to have tantrums when he’s not number one after all.」

 

「….I’ve never heard of that.」

 

「That’s because it’s you, Russell. He would act haughty to other men who are weaker than him, and since he lost to you in a sword fight, he can’t act that way towards you. If he did act like that to you, Emmy and Janet might hate him more for it after all.」

 

So he’s been acting like that to others than me, huh.

I was above him in terms of our sword skill, so he never vented his anger to me. 

 

I see now. So you’re that kind of guy huh, Vince.

All of these are news to me, and I still can’t completely wrap my head around it, but… this is something that Jema Baa-san said, it would be different if someone else was making things up about it

 

Well, even so… I’m not sure if I can be helpful even if I stayed.

Even without all the circumstances that led to it, I would have to leave the party sooner or later.

 

「I don’t know how Emmy and Janet felt, but the fact that they didn’t stay behind means they probably chose Vince in the end.」

 

「That’s… right, yeah. Neither of them stayed to say anything to me in the end nor did they wait for me to wake up at the inn.」

 

I don’t know if I can go as far as to say that I was betrayed but…

Really, I’m starting to hate myself for my stupidity.

 

「Don’t be too hard on yourself, you’re a 【Saint】, someone who is supposedly so amazing that normally sisters like me and Frederica should kneel on the ground to be blessed by your presence, you know?」

 

「Stop that, please. Just imagining that strict Jema Baa-san would kneel in front of me like some sort of servant… it sends chills down my spine.」

 

I know she only meant it as a joke, but there’s a truth to what she said.

But I haven’t stooped so low that I take pleasure in making the people who have taken care of me grovel in the ground.

 

But thanks to her, I guess I feel much better.

It must be her own way to cheer me up. Something like this is what makes me think that she is really watching over me.

As expected of a grandma who took the role of a parent who nurtured me…… I’m still no match for her.

 

「——You damned beast! Let go of me!」

 

Suddenly, there was a shout coming from outside the orphanage. And not long after that, it was followed by a loud bang as if something was hitting the wall.

I turned to Jema Baa-san and shouted,「Stay behind me!」, and took a stance facing the door.

 

「Russell! There’s a weapon over there that we keep for times like these!」

 

I looked at the place she pointed at and found a long sword hanging on the wall, just out of reach of a child. Is it a weapon to scare people away from the orphanage?

Without hesitation, I take the sword and measure its weight.

 

Not bad.

 

It’s the first time I held a sword in a long time and the first time I’m going to use it since my practice with wooden swords.

Now that I think about it, why did stick to a staff just because I’m a healer?

 

That was… yes. Both the robe and the staff were recommended by Vince.

I see now, so that’s how it is.

After what Jema Baa-san told me, I guess he wanted to keep me at the rear, away from the frontline, so that I wouldn’t be as active as him as a swordsman.

 

Now is not the time to think about such a thing.

I need to prepare myself and open the door with my sword ready.

 

「This— shitty beast! …W-who are you??」

 

To my surprise, it was a woman outside.

I had never seen her face before in the village.

 

「Save the talk for later! This place is an orphanage, get inside!」

 

I told the woman briefly and slashed at the Dungeon Scarlet Bat, it was monsters as I expected.

However, it looks different from what I expected. The bat had many fresh cuts and seemed to be quite weak.

If that woman did it, then she must have been more skilled than she looked.

 

『Gyueeeeee!!』

 

Along with its deafening cry, I slashed at the base of its arm and slashed at its stomach with the energy after retracting the sword.

My opponent also managed to attack with its claws and grazed my cheek, but fortunately, the wound was shallow.

 

Once the bat fell on the ground, I went back and closed the door.

With that many wounds, it will weaken on its own and eventually die from bleeding.

 

I catch a breath and see the woman that we sheltered in the orphanage.

She is a beautiful woman with short silver hair that flutters down and unyielding scarlet eyes, and she doesn’t seem to live around here.

At the very least, with someone like Vince around, it will be impossible to not know that such a beautiful woman is around.

 

The woman looks at me with a somewhat dumbfounded look on her face.

 

「It probably won’t get up again, so it’s alright now.」

 

I told the woman briefly, but she kept looking at me without changing her expression.

 

「…..What is it? Is there something on my face?」

 

The woman walked up to me unsteadily without a word and feverish eyes.

Looking up close, she looks really beautiful.

Scarlet eyes so beautiful that I feel as if I would be sucked into them.

 

It’s only a day after two girls I grew up with, who were both beautiful and close to me, were deceived and taken away from me by my best friend.

And right now, appearing in front of me was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.

Just when I thought I had lost faith in the Goddess, I had a chance to have this fateful encounter.

 

I wonder what this fateful encounter would bring to me.

 

「Do you… believe in a Goddess?」

 

Wait, isn’t that a line a cultist used to invite others to their cult?