Chapter 213
Evade the Hero and Flee! 213 #26. Other’s Stories (2)
#2 Their circ.u.mstances: the circ.u.mstance of Wieref Lil Vereiden, a man who used to be a hero II
“There isn’t much difference.”
“Yes?”
I had to smile awkwardly at Ariel, who looked up at me with a smile.
“It’s nothing, Ariel.”
“Is it?”
I did not dare to tell the truth to her, who focused again on cooking. How could I say to her, who believed in the G.o.d of Battle, that what I did as a hero was the same as what I did in the evil organization? The only difference was that I received oracles instead of orders. However, I still had to do everything to follow them.
“The soup is finished.”
I had to sigh as Ariel handed me the soup.
“Why are you sighing?”
“It’s nothing.
Ariel seemed to think it was due to her cooking skills, and I changed the subject.
“Try some, sir.”
“Let me eat in peace.”
“Right!”
I had to sigh again, this time at the soup. It looked normal, but I would not be surprised if this soup tasted like poison. This is one of the reasons I had maintained a tough schedule to eat at restaurants, but today we had to camp.
“Please, give me grace…”
I closed my eyes, took a sip, and opened my eyes wide.
“It’s…tasty?”
“You didn’t trust me?”
I was astonished to find the soup delicious.
“I have been a priestess for over ten years!”
She tapped her ample chest, and I had to look elsewhere.
“Yes, it is.”
“Have more!”
I followed her words, and in such ways, we became closer. Other things also changed, but my life continued to surprise me.
“We need to hunt a dragon!”
“What?”
“There’s a request to hunt an evil one!”
Her usual smile sent a chill down my spine.
“Ariel, you said a dragon, right?”
“Yes! Lime, our party, will slay a dragon soon…”
Lime, an elf summoner, smiled at me.
“Thank you for everything, Wieref.”
She nodded before walking away.
“Lime?”
“Get off me, Beral. We end here.”
Lime glared at Beral, another one of our party.
“Like this?”
“The oracle said to hunt a dragon. How can that be possible?”
Beral had to nod, and Lime had been about to escape from this situation.
“You can’t!”
“Let go!”
“I can’t!”
Ariel grabbed Lime by the ankle.
“How can you expect me to hunt a dragon?!”
Ariel was not your usual priestess who acted as a healer. She had trained in the Temple of Battle and had high physical abilities. Lime could not move an inch.
“Wieref, do something.”
Beral, and the final member of my party, the mage Jeruel, pressured me to act.
“Stop!”
Ariel pressed down on Lime as she screamed, and I decided to take my chance to run away. I could walk silently thanks to my days in the organization and-
“Ariel, Wieref is running away!”
Lime pointed at me with a shout.
“What?”
Ariel, Beral, and Jerual looked at me in astonishment.
“How can we slay a dragon?”
I used magic now to run away with all my might.
“G.o.d sees all, especially you!”
I was caught in three days.
“d.a.m.n…”
“How can a hero run away?”
Ariel looked at me in a pout.
“How can the G.o.d of Battle ask me to slay a dragon?”
Ariel frowned as other members agreed with me.
“Our G.o.d does not order impossible things!”
“Yeah, but a dragon is a dragon.”
The other three nodded as Ariel grew teary.
“You really think it impossible?”
“Yes.”
While Ariel seemed despondent, some things were impossible. How can we slay a dragon?
There was a time I thought such things, but now I was feeling something else.
“Lime?”
“Don’t…make me..speak…”
Lime was gasping as she lay on the floor. Beral and Jerual were also almost dead.
“Ariel?”
“I have to heal Beral first, so please wait!”
I had no choice but to stab at an object on the ground with my held sword. While mine was one of the sharpest, there was not even a scratch. It may be natural.
“Dragon scales are sharp.”
I was stabbing at the red dragon’s corpse and was trying to refuse to understand reality.
“Amazing, what the G.o.d of Battle can do.”
Our party had battled the dragon after being dragged by Ariel to Mareid Kingdom, and had won.
“I told you to believe!”
Ariel smiled her signature smile as she came up to me. She had finished healing Beral and was now doing the same to me.
“Justice wins.”
Maybe it was because the fight was over or because I was healed. Or perhaps, her smile made me relax.
“I know, I know. Your words are divine.”
I laid down on the dragon’s corpse with a grunt. I did not know how we managed to slay a dragon, and if someone asked me to do this again, I would refuse. The dragon was that strong.
“Please marry me.”
The prize was also as valuable.
“What?”
Mareid’s princess came to propose to me.
“This is the greatest gift Mareid can give to our savior.”
While her words were formal, her eyes said otherwise. I knew what that stare meant as I looked at Ariel in such a way. I had heard she had been in danger of being kidnapped by the dragon, and I would look like a knight in shining armor.
However, my answer was decided.
“I apologize.”
“What?”
“I am grateful but am in love with someone else.”
She made me betray an organization I had stayed for more than half my life. I ran away from her to Ariel’s room provided in the palace and explained what had happened to me.
“You refused a princess’s proposal?”
She looked around despite there being no one else.
“Why?”
“I told her I loved someone else.”
I decided to play things straight.
“I refused a princess’s offer for you. How about it?”
She slowly grabbed my sleeve.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment.”
I had to hug her then, and we became lovers under our party members’ blessing until that day.