Chapter 36

At that moment, what came to mind was the scene of my first encounter with Narzenia a few years ago. It was a memory of a battle with goblins that I thought I had forgotten.

It was a terribly blurry memory, like a noisy, blood-red recollection. Back then, I had recklessly charged at the goblins and lost easily. Or rather, I might have put up a good fight, considering that I managed to hold them off for several minutes, even though I had no significant skills or armor. The male guard, who was supposed to have a skill to enhance physical abilities, had fallen just a few minutes earlier. So, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I had done a decent job.

...But even if I had risked my life to stall the goblins, I couldn't hold them off long enough for help to arrive.

In the end, I collapsed on the ground, both physically and mentally exhausted. My ears were ringing, and the sensation of the dirt against my cheek felt distant. All I could feel was an overwhelming sense of inadequacy.

The reason I tried to protect the girl, I understood, was not something to be praised. But even so, I had risked my life to save her. Literally, I had given everything.

...But even then, I couldn't save anything.

With no one left to fight, the girl's death was almost certain. In that situation, where I had given everything, I was confronted with my own limits.

At that moment, my heart was completely broken.

I could hear the voices of the party members killed by the hobgoblins mocking and insulting me.

"You are a defective human."

"That's why you couldn't save anyone."

"Because of your powerlessness, we died."

"———!"

I let out a silent scream at the hallucination, pleading with the goblins for a peaceful death. I was certain that the girl I had tried to save was looking at me as if I were dust.

That was how others had always reacted to me.

"......kill me, please..."

So I moved my mouth, which could barely form words, and pleaded.

"..."

Then, as if in response to my plea, I sensed someone standing in front of me, and I laughed. I thought I would finally be freed.

"It's okay now."

"Huh?"

...But the next moment, the words that reached my ears made me realize that the one standing in front of me was not a goblin.

I forced my head, which wouldn't move freely, to turn, and managed to open my eyes. What I saw was the small back of the girl. In the red-tinted world, where my eyes were filled with blood, the girl stood there with her small arms outstretched, as if protecting me. Her whole body was shaking in front of the many goblins, as if she couldn't suppress her fear.

"I'll take care of the rest."

But even in that state, when she realized I was looking at her, she forced a smile on her tense face.

"With you and me, we won't lose to such goblins."

She said this with a desperate laugh, and her words were clearly distorted due to extreme fear.

—But her words, despite the ringing in my ears, were unusually clear.

The girl was still shaking, trembling uncontrollably. But in her eyes, directed at me, was a trust in me.

The moment I realized this, a warm feeling spread through my chest.

"《Heal》! 《Heal》! 《Heal》!"

The moment I understood this warmth, I instinctively cast 《Heal》 repeatedly.

"..."

I managed to stand up, but my body was far from fully recovered. My head was barely functioning due to overuse of 《Heal》, and my body was only slightly better off from the brink of death.

But at that point, I didn't care about any of that. The warmth in my chest had driven me to believe that I could easily buy time against the goblins. And for some reason, I didn't doubt this at all.

My body was in shambles, and I had no idea when help would arrive. Still, I was convinced that I could handle it.

"Ah..."

Buoyed by the burning warmth in my chest, I held the girl back and stepped forward.

"RAAAAAAAH!"

In the next moment, I let out a roar and, with a broken short sword and a firm belief in victory, I took a step forward toward the goblins in my blurred vision...

◇◆◇

"...How did I manage to do that?"

The limited memory that suddenly resurfaced in my mind made me smile wryly, and I couldn't help but comment on it. Because of the missing memory, I don't know how long it took for help to arrive or what state I was in at the end. Still, I understood that surviving that goblin horde with those injuries was a miracle that would never happen again.

"But why do I feel this way now?"

—Yet, even though I understood that it would never happen again, I was somehow convinced that I could recreate that miracle.

No, what I was about to do now was not just a miracle. Comparing the mutated hydra to the goblin horde, the threat level was incomparable. Even if we had become stronger, it was a negligible difference compared to the mutated hydra. If we were to defeat the hydra, it would require a phenomenon far beyond a miracle.

But even with that understanding, I was convinced that I could make it happen.

Narzenia, who was still trembling, looked at me. Yet, the trust in her eyes never wavered. For some reason, she was convinced that we could defeat the hydra.

The same warm feeling that I had felt back then was overflowing in my chest.

The fear of the hydra that had almost made me collapse was gone. The warmth that had spread from my chest had pushed out the fear, and I found myself speaking.

"Narzenia, can I say something a bit foolish?"

"Huh..."

Narzenia blinked a few times at my abstract words, but then she smiled as if she understood everything.

"Don't say that. I told you, with you and me, we'll be fine. There's no need to fear such a snake."

Her words made me realize that she understood everything, and I smiled in the same way as her.

I understood that the hydra was getting closer, as the ground shook and the air was filled with hostility.

"Shall we go?"

"Yes!"

But Narzenia and I turned to face the hydra as if welcoming the disaster. In the next moment, we ran toward the hydra together.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

The massive body and the roar that shook the air made me understand the hydra's power. But even with that understanding, my confidence in victory did not waver.

"I don't think I'm stronger than you."

I said this to the hydra, which was staring at me with twelve yellow eyes filled with hostility.

"But with Narzenia, I won't lose to the likes of you!"

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

The hydra roared in response to my roar.

And in the next moment, the battle began.