Chapter 21

What I remember is the voices boiling with joy.

"Knight Commander Wake has returned!" someone shouted.

With that voice, I let out a sigh of relief—then my memory cuts off.

When I woke up next, I was lying in bed.

Upon waking, I looked around as best I could, still a bit dazed. Then a familiar back came into view.

"Mr. Arnold...?"

"You're awake."

At the sound of my voice, he turned around—Arnold. He slowly approached my bedside.

From what I could tell, this wasn't my room. It was probably the castle's infirmary.

"When I returned, you had collapsed in the alchemy room. Though, to be honest, there was nothing wrong with your body; you were just sleeping."

With that explanation, my consciousness gradually became clearer.

Most likely, I had heard the voices of people boiling with excitement in the alchemy room, celebrating Wake's safe return and the end of the monster extermination. The tension must have snapped, and I couldn't resist the overwhelming fatigue and drowsiness, so I fainted.

I don't know how long I slept. But it was probably Arnold who, upon returning from the battlefield, found me sleeping in the alchemy room and carried me here.

Right, Arnold was sent to the front by Mr. Oliver—

I was startled. And without thinking, I sat up. The sudden movement caused a light dizziness, but I had no time to worry about it.

I had heard that Wake had returned—returning on his own feet, I assume—but was his injured right eye safe?

"Um, Wake!?"

"He lost the sight in his right eye but is alive. He needs absolute rest for a while, though."

He lost the sight in his right eye.

I sank back into the bed and muttered, "I see..."

—If I had advised him in advance, would Wake have lost the sight in his right eye?

I had a premonition that this might happen in this battle. But it was uncertain, and no one would have listened to a young girl's outlandish claims. And most of all—I hesitated to create a difference from "Last Brave" with my own hands.

What's the point of thinking about it now? I, Laura, am the difference, after all. But unlike me, a minor character, Wake is a main character. If his fate changes, the impact on the future could be much greater, I feared.

"You've worked hard."

"No, not at all..."

I shook my head.

I don't know if this path was the right one or the wrong one. But at least, I have taken another step closer to "Last Brave."

I glanced at Arnold. He was looking at the floor, but the air around him was calmer than usual. Or maybe Arnold was just tired. —He had probably fought the monsters directly on the front lines.

Why did he choose the path of an alchemist despite having such strong magic power?

The question swelled in my mind and finally burst.

"Mr. Arnold, can I ask you something?"

At my words, Arnold sat down in the chair by the bedside. His action suggested that I was allowed to ask.

"Why did you decide to become an alchemist? ...You have very strong magic power, don't you?"

For a moment, Arnold's movements stopped.

Why did you ask that, he seemed to wonder—perhaps he remembered being called by Mr. Oliver. Whether he was convinced or not, I don't know—but it was all just my imagination—Arnold nodded and then spoke.

"Even with magic power, I had no talent for healing magic. I was good at attack magic, though."

I couldn't help but look at him. Then I sat up again.

"...But, if so, why not perfect attack magic? ...No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked such a personal question."

I tried to back off but then thought better of it and closed my mouth. We weren't close enough for me to pry any further.

A moment of silence. Surprisingly, it was Arnold himself who broke the awkwardness.

"...I mentioned I have a sister, right?"

"Huh? Yes... Elvira, right?"

I was startled by the mention of a sister from Arnold.

Elvira Roco. Arnold's sister and a main character in "Last Brave." In a few years, she would also set out on a journey to save the world.

I stared at Arnold's face, waiting for his next words. His profile was somber.

"Elvira has self-destruction disease."

I gasped at his words.

—Self-destruction disease.

It's a disease unique to the fantasy world where a person's own magic power, for some reason, damages their body. The magic power not only damages the body's tissues but has also been known to cause parts of the body to spontaneously combust. In the end, all patients are burned to death from within, a very terrifying disease.

Moreover, it is an extremely rare disease, affecting only one in several million people—a so-called incurable disease.

I had only seen it a few times in literature and didn't know much about it. But I remembered the basic information—perhaps due to my unnatural memory—because the unique symptoms had shocked me deeply. And most of all, the disease did not appear in "Last Brave," and the terrifying nature of it was deeply etched in my memory.

—Elvira has self-destruction disease?

There shouldn't have been such a setting. There wasn't even a setting that she was sick.

I remembered that she had been described as having a small body that couldn't handle the vast amount of magic power she possessed from a young age, causing her to act recklessly and get into trouble.

"I wanted to cure her. But I had no talent for healing magic. That's why I chose the path of an alchemist. That's all there is to it."

"Is that so..."

But from Arnold's serious expression, I didn't think he was lying.

The unexpected difference from "Last Brave" made my mind more alert. I thought about why and arrived at a hypothesis.

The setting of Elvira having self-destruction disease might have been scrapped along with the character of Arnold.

One of Elvira's past episodes might have included the setting of her having self-destruction disease. And as a means to solve that problem, her brother, Arnold, was born. He had to be an excellent magician and alchemist to solve his sister's problem.

However, for some reason, Elvira's setting was scrapped. As a result, Arnold, who was deeply involved with that scrapped setting, was also scrapped as a character due to capacity issues—

It was a hypothesis I quickly put together in my head, but it didn't seem impossible. However, if this hypothesis were correct, why do scrapped settings and characters exist in this world? That was the biggest mystery.

—Right, that's it. The person in this world who most contradicts "Last Brave" might not be me, Laura, but Arnold. Because he has an "original" version, the differences are more noticeable, but Arnold has no "original" version at all.

"I'm counting on you, too."

"Huh?"

"Developing a special medicine for self-destruction disease."

The words came rhythmically, unlike Arnold's usual manner.

—Developing a special medicine for self-destruction disease?

There is still no known cure for self-destruction disease. However, it is not a disease that immediately leads to death. If it develops in childhood, patients are expected to live for 10 to 20 years based on past cases. The longest-lived patient lived to be nearly 40.

It is a slow-progressing disease despite being a rare one. Initially, it causes small burns and organ inflammation similar to a cold, but it steadily progresses over a long period, eventually burning the body from the inside. Patients who die from self-destruction disease leave no bones behind.

—Yes, there should have been plenty of time. But if the patient is Elvira, it's a different story.

The deadline is less than three years.

My memory doesn't apply.

Elvira will set out on a journey with Lucash. I need to find a cure by then. The genius magician Elvira Roco, a companion of the hero, was not supposed to have self-destruction disease.

"I told you, I want to borrow your talent."

The determined expression of Arnold from that day came back to me.

I understood that this was what Arnold had meant. But at the same time, my heart began to beat faster.

—There is less than three years left. I need to somehow create a cure for Elvira's self-destruction disease by then.

A part of me whispered that it might be Arnold's mission as a character to create it. But that was just a hypothesis I had come up with.

If Elvira is still sick three years from now—there is a possibility that the fate of the world will change dramatically.

Perhaps self-destruction disease is the destiny given to Elvira in this world. It might be a necessary destiny for the future of this world. But—

If Elvira doesn't go on the journey to save the world because she is sick, the journey of the heroes I know will be very different. Even if she goes despite being sick, it will be the same.

When Lucash sets out on his journey, I want to minimize the differences from "Last Brave." That means ensuring the safety of Lucash and his companions and securing the future of this world. If we follow the path I know, no one will die, and the world will be saved from the threat of the demon king.

—It's not an exaggeration to say that the fate of the world rests on the shoulders of Arnold and me.

"I'll do my best."

The voice I managed to squeeze out was hoarse, overwhelmed by the sudden pressure.

Waves of anxiety washed over me.

A rare disease affecting one in several million people, with no established cure. There are very few patients, so the available data is often unclear. If it had appeared in "Last Brave," the cure might have been revealed in the game, but self-destruction disease does not appear in the story.

But I have to do it.

The anxiety made my chest feel tight. I pressed my hand to my chest, trying to get through it—

"So, how are your younger siblings doing?"

The sudden change in atmosphere and topic from Arnold made me tilt my head.

I was taken aback by the abrupt and forced change of subject. But I sensed that Arnold was trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere, so I decided to go along with it, even though I didn't quite understand.

Younger siblings? I'm an only child.

Just as I was about to say that—

"You mentioned it... about five years ago, right?"

—Good thing I didn't rush.

I managed to swallow the words that had almost slipped out.

That's right. When I first met Arnold, I had told a lie to try to get information about Elvira. I said, "I might have a sibling soon."

"Ah, yeah! That... it's an embarrassing story, but it was a misunderstanding—"

I stammered an excuse about overhearing my parents talking about a child being born next door and misunderstanding it. Arnold sighed in exasperation, but his expression was gentle—relatively speaking, of course—so I didn't think I had lost his trust.

After finishing the story, Arnold left the room. He told me to "get some more rest," so I lay back down.

Looking at the unfamiliar ceiling, I thought about Elvira.

—Self-destruction disease. A rare disease with no established cure.

The deadline is less than three years.

I clenched my fists under the blanket.

To avoid becoming a losing heroine, I left the village to become a royal alchemist. The goal I set that day is almost achieved. But today, I have a new goal.

—To find a way to cure Elvira's self-destruction disease.

This time, not for myself, but for Elvira. And for the future of this world.

To achieve this goal, I first need to get enough rest.

With that thought, I closed my eyes. Sleep quickly overtook me, and as my consciousness faded, the image that came to mind was Elvira's lively smile, which I had seen repeatedly in "Last Brave," and the hero's gentle smile in response.