Ex-Hero, Now Freeloader – Chapter 33
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Translator: Kobracon
33 – And They All Lived Happily Ever After…?
「Wh-wha-wha…」
Marie’s mouth flapped open and close when everyone appeared.
Then she said…
「I knew it! You’re surrounded by women…!」
「What, no. There are guys too, and white fox.」
I turn to look at Fripp and the white fox.
「I’m talking about how the ratio between male and female is too extreme…!」
Marie snapped back with that reflexively, but she soon comprehended the power of those here.
The true strength of someone can be measured by the flow or shape of their mana.
Thus, Marie seems to have noticed something.
That something being Eleanor, Lejie, Louto, and Vivi
「…Are you perhaps the Demons that Rainy rescued five years ago…?」
The four of them were surprised.
「I never thought you would’ve remembered.」
「I remember everyone who approaches my Rainy.」
Marie replied immediately to Eleanor’s words.
But after saying that, Marie cast her eyes downwards.
「I see… So, you all… If I consider the existence of these harlots who enticed Rainy with their womanly charms, they are all enamored with little bo-」
「S-Saint Marie! The War God Gladius has entrusted me with a message!」
The intelligence officer Vivi steps forward and interrupts Marie.
True enough, she has a piece of paper in her hand.
「From Gladius…?」
Marie looked puzzled.
If you ask me, I think Gladius predicted Marie’s rampage.
You need someone of another Savior level to stop her. He probably thought that giving up and letting her go wild would be better than using one Savior to stop another instead of letting the others get on with their missions.
So, he figured that the Demons who were monitoring him were related to me and handed them a letter.
Guess he really did find out where I am.
No matter how good the intelligence officers of this country may be, I didn’t think they could outwit that guy.
He only handed over information he didn’t mind giving, and probably deemed them useful enough to leave alone for times like this.
Then, he must’ve entrusted a letter to the fastest intelligence officer to be delivered while Marie and I were fighting.
「Mrgh. This is certainly his handwriting…」
With a bitter expression on her face, Marie takes the letter and scans its contents.
Curious about what it said, I asked Vivi about it and this is roughly what it said.
Rain’s absence is within expectations.
Also, of the several possible candidates, that land is the most convenient for us.
If we are to compel Rain to perform the Saviors’ mission, all the more reason to leave him there.
Acting alone is no problem for Rain as he is now. Shifting the focus of battle to mainly intercepting them may turn the situation around for Humanity.
Rain can eliminate the threat to Human Territory by slaughtering them on miasma soil.
Even an idiot like you should be able to understand once you see it firsthand.
If you get it, return to base immediately.
That’s pretty much it.
It would seem that the War God made a list of the people who would feel indebted to me in the past ten years.
Did he predict that those people would approach me under the pretense of providing safe haven when I acted alone?
Reuniting with Eleanor was a coincidence, but I guess he figured that someday that would’ve happened.
That the best outcome for Humanity would be me being picked up by the Demon King Army where Eleanor is.
And just as Gladius thought, I can keep beating up enemies while being in Demon Territory.
Not only that.
Guess the feeling I’ve had recently really wasn’t wrong.
It’s the miasma soil, it…
「N-no… I thought Gladius would come up with a brilliant plan to bring Rainy back, but when he didn’t, I thought him a heartless man, broke his spectacles and ran all the way here…」
She broke his glasses?
I bet he’s extremely furious with a blank look.
「And I even broke his spares, thinking it would buy me some time, so how…」
She broke his spares, too?
He’s definitely extremely furious with a blank look.
「The letter must have been prepared in advance. This means that man knew what you would do.」
Said Vivi.
The War God saw through the actions of the intelligence team too, but it’s better not to mention that.
Marie put the letter away in her robes and fixed her posture.
In this short span of time, she had already healed herself to normal.
「…I understood the truths of this letter through my battle with Rainy. I also understood that all of you get along well with Rainy judging from his condition and how willing you all were to jump to his aid despite who he was fighting. I am a Savior defeated and rightfully should have my head separated from my body. I know that I have no right to speak these words, but I shall say them nonetheless.」
Marie hugged me from the front.
Her soft mounds enveloped my head, but it didn’t hurt since they were soft.
「I don’t want to leave you…! We’ve been together since you were five years old…! Uu… For you to be stolen by a bunch of inexperienced women…!」
「Marie, you’re hurting me.」
『Let’s chop them off.』
Mika, you’re a little too hostile.
She’s probably still irritated about Marie saying she’ll break her.
I can also feel several murderous auras coming from behind me. Must be Eleanor and gang.
「I-I’ve got it…! Perhaps I could impose on that country as well…」
「Humanity will be in trouble without you around.」
The only people who can use the Saint’s healing are Marie and me. If we both leave, things will be bad over there.
「Gr… Y-you are right…! It is true that there are those who have cheated death due to my healing… This, too, is the mission. B-but…」
…Hm. If she wishes to negotiate, maybe this is an option?
「Hey, Marie…you have time off the mission, right? Why not ask the Sage to teleport you during your off days? That way, we can meet up, right? Then I can teleport you back.」
Because the Sage and I can use Teleportation.
「…!」
Marie’s body shook.
Everyone behind me, please stop saying「Whaaa?!」with such obvious disgust.
「You want to see big sis Marie too, don’t you Rainy..?!」
I feel like if I said「Not really.」, it would complicate things.
I remove myself from her binding embrace and force a smile.
「That’s right. Whaddya say, big sis?」
「Hau…」
Suddenly, Marie grabbed her chest and swayed back.
She acted as if her heart was pierced by an arrow. I got anxious.
But I quickly calmed down once I realized that this resembled what Eleanor would do.
I could feel a chill coming from behind me. I dared not look back.
「pant…pant… That was close. If it weren’t for the bond we shared for ten years, I would have fainted here and now… A-anyway. If you so insist, Rainy, I have no hesitation in doing so.」
「I’m glad.」
Gladius’s letter was effective too.
It was thanks to the information on it that I could persuade Marie, who prioritizes the mission.
But now we have to meet up every so often… Meh, whatever.
As long as it’s nothing to do with the Saviors, she’s the world’s best healer who can teach me all sorts of things.
「Alright, I’ll send you off now.」
「Yes.」
Saying that, she hugged me once again.
While it’s true that contact with the teleportation target makes it easier… Oh well.
「I thought you were still a child, but I see now that you’ve grown into a fine man.」
You still treat me like a kid, though.
「To Rainy’s new friends, would you sincerely look after this boy? I’m serious.」
That sounded slightly like a threat, but I concentrated on teleporting her after asking where her origin point was.
Activating Space-time magic, her figure disappeared.
I slowly turn toward everyone.
「Uhm… Thanks for coming, everyone. That made me so happy. Thanks to everyone, it’s resolved…!」
Everyone had a complicated expression on their face.
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I think this may be a new personal record for “shortest time to start hating a non-villain character”.