1041: Nadia and the Bringer of Hope

「Fran. Sorry for worrying you so much.」

「Auntie!」

Nadia sat up in her bed as she greeted Fran.

「Hey, I’m still recovering. Don’t shake me that hard.」

「I’m sorry.」

「Ahaha! Just kidding! Get over here.」

「Nn!」

Fran tightened the grip on her hug, but Nadia smiled without any issue. It seems she had mostly recovered physically speaking.

Her face still showed some exhaustion though.

「Looks like you’ve been through a lot.」

「Nn.」

Nadia stroked Fran’s hair with a gentle touch. Meanwhile, Fran let her do so without any worry.

After a few moments of tenderness, Nadia asked us a few questions. Though she heard the news about the giant antidemon’s appearance, she didn’t know the details.

「……Auntie. I need to tell you something.」

「What is it?」

「About the Silver Lady.」

「……Let’s hear it.」

I have no clue what Nadia thought of the Silver Lady. Their relations.h.i.+p was probably too complicated to describe easily.

That’s exactly why Fran felt it was necessary to tell Nadia about the Silver Lady’s last moments. To help her put her feelings into perspective.

「The Silver Lady combined with Master.」

「Huh?」

But Fran was still the same old Fran.

『Fran, she’ll get the wrong idea if you say it like that. Leave the explanation to me, especially since I know all the details.』

「Please do, Master.」

「Nn. Master.」

I explained how the Silver Lady came to the battlefield and a.s.similated into me. Also about her real name being the Bringer of Hope, and how she entrusted me with her power of her own volition.

Nadia’s expression upon hearing her name was indescribable. There was no anger or sadness, only anguish.

「……I see, so she was finally allowed to rest. I think that’s the best ending she could have hoped for.」

『Uh, I’m sorry.』

「Why are you apologizing, Master? I owe that woman a debt of grat.i.tude. When I think about she would continue transporting Overgrowth, hurting herself all the while, I can feel nothing but pity.」

The Bringer of Hope was designed to have a small amount of emotion. Meanwhile, she transported a sword that would surely kill its user one day. The events that followed were only natural. I know this for a fact because of absorbing her emotions.

Nadia sensed this too, which is why she was so concerned about her fate.

The Bringer of Hope had developed doubts about her mission. Were her actions truly bringing anyone hope? Wasn’t she simply plunging these wielders into the depths of despair?

Such doubts ate away at her constantly.

But the people she helped had a different view. The Silver Lady was truly bringing hope to Overgrowth’s previous users.

And in the end, she managed to entrust everything to me before vanis.h.i.+ng peacefully. It was a much better ending than Nadia had imagined.

She smiled in relief.

Nadia reached her hand out to me. Neither Fran nor I said anything as we watched. Nadia began stroking my guard, her touch filled with kindness and compa.s.sion.

「……Rest in peace, and thank you for everything.」

Though she faced me, her words were directed at someone else.

Nadia continued stroking me for a few moments, before quickly returning to her usual behavior. Her face seemed a little red, as if embarra.s.sed to be the cause of such a somber atmosphere.

「Enough of this depressing talk. Fran, tell me all about the adventures you’ve been on since then.」

「Nn! Okay!」

After Nadia’s request, Fran began explaining what happened after the defense of Castel, waving her arms along with the story.

Antidemons, dragonkin, divine swords, and the G.o.ds.

About the intertwined schemes of Georg, Meltritte, and many others in Sendia. How we were saved by the divine sword’s melody.

About our fierce battles with the giant antidemon at the center of the continent. The combined powers of several divine swords laid waste to the supergiant. And in the end, we saw divine punishment occur before our very eyes.

Looking back, so much stuff has happened in such a short time.

Nadia seemed most interested in the divine swords. She wielded a failed divine sword herself, after all.

She had all sorts of questions for us.

「Which sword did you want to know about?」

「Well, let’s see. I guess first has gotta be Ignis.」

「…? You’ve never seen Izario’s sword before?」

「Catching a glance of its normal form isn’t so special, but I’ve only seen its true form at a distance, and very few times. Pretty sure I saw it up close a long time ago, though I was really occupied at the time. All I remember is him turning everything into ash.」

Even if Izario stayed on the continent, he must not use his divine sword very often. Besides, he would generally stay alone to avoid hurting other people. Him using it in front of us was rather special.

「Ignis was super awesome! Everything was on fire!」

「Yeah, I know it has the power to control flames.」

「Nn! But everything was fire, even the sword! It felt so hot!」

「Oh, you mean the sword itself turns into flames?」

「Nn!」

Fran was more excited than usual, causing her vocabulary level to degrade a few years. She always seemed a bit young for her age due to her lack of social interaction, but now she felt even younger.

Still, Nadia continued listening to Fran’s story patiently, occasionally asking questions for clarification.

Of course, I could summarize everything concisely, but that would be tactless of me. Nadia was clearly enjoying her conversation with Fran. Urus.h.i.+ also read the mood and stayed sleeping in the shadows.

「Then Izario shouted h.e.l.lflame!」

「Wow.」

「And the big antidemon went boom!」