Clang-!
She was an incredibly fast woman.
So fast that even with the eyes and body of a hero, it was hard to keep up with her.
"Aswell..."
"·······Just wait a little."
Moreover, behind her was the faint scent of a drug that had spread through the air.
In a situation where he had to protect one person while fighting an enemy, the only thing Aswell could do was trust his instincts and deflect the oncoming swords.
Clang-!
Once again, two daggers were bounced off the Holy Sword, and the woman’s figure was revealed.
"Is this what being a hero is like? I took pride in my speed."
A hint of disbelief and surprise was evident on her face.
She spun the daggers on her fingers and lowered her stance, preparing to charge again.
Aswell maintained his vigilance while continuing to think.
‘Should she be one of my companions?’
He recalled the five companions from the mories of past heroes. One of them had been like the woman in front of him, wearing a hood and wielding daggers.
But Aswell couldn’t be certain just from that.
If it were like with Niabella, he might understand, but the current situation was entirely caused by her.
From her aggressive stance, her goal was most likely assassination or inflicting injury.
To carry out such an assignnt "forcefully" was sothing Aswell couldn’t fully comprehend.
‘Even if, by so chance, that’s true, I don’t think I could forgive her easily.’
Clink.
Aswell gripped the Holy Sword, preparing for the next attack.
‘Let’s hold out until Louis regains her senses.’
He believed she would recover soon, so he only needed to hold out until then.
But then, the next mont, Aswell almost lost his composure.
"More importantly, a hero sleeping with a woman... That wasn’t in the intel. Is she really that precious to you?"
For a brief mont, there was a glimr of murderous intent directed at her, not him.
"······."
Aswell, now thinking that the woman was targeting Louis, suddenly lunged forward.
"Ugh······!"
Clang!
"I won’t let you hurt Louis."
With those words, Aswell grabbed the woman by the neck and threw her out the window.
Just as he was about to follow, a voice called from behind.
"Aswell······."
"······Louis!"
Her voice, calm as if her senses had returned.
But her face was still flushed, and her voice was laced with embarrassnt and allure.
She was pressing her thigh with one hand while using her other hand to grab Aswell, saying:
"Please... don’t kill her."
Her pleading voice, directed toward him, caused Aswell to feel anger for a mont.
‘She’s the one in pain, yet...’
Was she really trying to protect soone else?
Well, she probably isn’t completely a man.
If the mories of past heroes were true, the woman who had co was likely to beco a companion. But that was just from the mories of the past heroes, and the person who mattered was the one right in front of him.
But despite his anger, Aswell didn’t lash out.
"······Alright. I’ll be careful."
"I’m sorry···."
Breathing heavily, Louis collapsed onto the bed. Aswell quickly moved toward the window and headed outside.
Cough! Cough!
Once outside, he saw the woman clutching her throat and coughing.
For so reason, he had begun to feel lighter since just a mont ago.
With a body that felt as if it could bounce up at any mont, Aswell rushed straight at the woman.
Clang!
"Ugh···!"
"Is your goal to assassinate ?"
"Yeah... I’d love it if you just died···!"
"Why?"
"Because I just hate you···!"
‘Looks like we’re not going to have a proper conversation.’
If that’s the case, there’s only one way.
To subdue her and interrogate her.
Aswell didn’t even realize it himself, but his words and actions had beco increasingly violent since earlier.
ow~.
With the sound of a cat owing from sowhere, the woman’s figure vanished.
Instead of chasing her, Aswell closed his eyes and focused on his other senses.
Rustle.
The battlefield expanded.
In the darkness, where sight wasn’t necessary, it was more advantageous for him.
As a result...
Clang!
Before the woman could rush at him, Aswell turned his head toward the direction of her movent.
He then nonchalantly raised his Holy Sword and blocked the two daggers once again.
"······Ah."
The woman, with a surprised expression, tried to retreat, but he didn’t let her.
He quickly restrained one of her hands with his left hand, without the Holy Sword, and then used it to knock away the dagger with his sword.
In the process, he imdiately aid for her throat, effectively neutralizing her.
"What’s your na?"
"······Miara. Miara Rimfelt."
The woman who had attempted to assassinate the hero, Miara, finally raised both hands in surrender.
***
[Rember this. The death of a hero is necessary for our world.]
Miara ca to the Empire with such an order.
She had heard that the hero’s skills were still not very impressive. And though all the party mbers were won, none of them had a special affection for him.
Therefore, she planned to get him as intoxicated as possible and, if she couldn’t kill him, to take him out in other ways.
However, everything turned out differently from what Miara had anticipated.
‘I heard the hero’s hair was black.’
The hero’s hair, which she had been staring at while lying on the floor, was gradually turning black.
Until just a mont ago, when they had been fighting, his hair had been completely white.
As his hair color changed, his speed, which she had barely been able to match in the room, beca so fast that it seed like he had already anticipated her moves.
Did this an that his strength was growing with every passing mont?
But there was even more confusing information.
‘I heard he didn’t have a special attachnt to anyone.’
"Give the antidote to the drug you sprinkled."
Instead of interrogating her, he demanded the antidote first.
She distinctly rembered that the hero had been almost unaffected by the drug.
If that was true, then it ant the woman magician in the room had so significance.
‘Just because she’s a companion? But that doesn’t seem like it...’
The hero’s eyes were filled with anger.
"My right pocket."
Thud!
With a swift movent, the hero grabbed the potion from his pocket and headed straight for the second floor. Watching him, Miara felt an unfamiliar emptiness.
"·······I wish I could be in her position."
At this mont, Miara could have fled, but she didn’t want to. Instead, she got up and walked to the room where the hero and the magician were.
"Louis, drink this. It will make you feel much better."
"Hah… hah…"
The hero gently poured the potion into the mouth of the red-faced magician. It seed like that wasn’t enough for him, though, as he even put the potion in his mouth and fed it to her himself.
‘So they’re lovers.’
In that case, it was sowhat understandable why he was so angry.
After feeding the potion to Louis, the hero still seed anxious, and Miara finally spoke up.
"He’ll recover soon. It wasn’t even a strong drug."
"······You didn’t run away."
"I got caught."
The hero seed to ponder for a mont before speaking to Miara.
"Co in."
"······Huh?"
"Louis, it seems like my companion wants to see you."
At those words, Miara turned her head toward the magician.
‘He wanted to see ?’
But Louis must have been completely out of it due to the drug, right? That drug was especially potent for beastn.
Even beastn, who have high resistance to drugs, are significantly affected by it. There’s no way a woman magician, who isn’t physically strong, could have maintained her composure.
Did she hold on with sheer willpower?
"······I’ll stay here."
In the end, Miara slumped down in the corner of the room.
Her curiosity about the two of them grew stronger, yet she had already co to accept the consequences of her failure in the mission.
***
The world spun in circles.
My whole body felt hot.
Especially my lower abdon, which felt unbearably tingly and hot, making my legs twitch uncontrollably.
"As… Aswell..."
I kept calling out to him, like a child searching for their mother.
He had gone outside.
It seed that the assassin heroine had arrived.
So, I managed to squeeze out a few words, begging him not to kill her.
But Aswell’s response... I couldn’t rember.
Instead of my mory, the desire to stop Aswell from leaving grew stronger.
"Ugh…"
I exhaled roughly, and instinctively, my hand tried to reach down. I wanted to relieve this suffocating feeling.
At that mont, soone entered the room.
It was Aswell.
[Louis, drink this.]
He then fed sothing.
But since I couldn’t drink it easily due to my heavy breathing, he blocked my mouth with his and poured it directly into .
I felt the liquid travel down my throat, and as it flowed through my body, the heat that had been burning began to gradually subside.
"Aswell…"
"Yeah, I’m here. It’s okay."
In an instant, my body cooled down, but there was still a lingering warmth. Without realizing it, I pressed my body against his.
I hugged him slowly, without him noticing, as gently as possible.
"It’s okay, Louis. Everything is fine…"
"Aswell…"
Then, after about ten minutes, I was finally able to clear my head.
Before was Aswell, looking at with a worried expression, and in the corner, I saw the assassin heroine, Miara Rimfelt.
It seed that Aswell had only neutralized her, as I had asked.
Now, all that was left was to remove the "restrictions" that had been placed on her by the organization that had commissioned her assassination.
Once that was resolved, she would be free.
I needed to get up right away and grab the master key.
But the things I had done just monts ago ca back to .
"…Louis?"
"…"
"Hey, is there sothing wrong with the potion? Louis’ face is red again!!"
"Uh? That can’t be…"
Miara’s voice sounded closer, with a hint of panic.
But soon, her tone relaxed.
"Ah… It’s not a side effect of the drug."
"Then what is it? Why is Louis avoiding looking at my face?"
"She’s probably just embarrassed."
I wanted to die.
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