I entered the room at the very end of the hallway.
There, I found Saten and Estia—a peculiar combination—with their heads together over a desk.
They seemed to be having a disagreement, shouting at each other.
"No! I'm right!"
"That can't be. I'm the one who's right."
"I'm the Saint, so what do you know! I'm telling you I'm right!"
"I said no. I'm the one who's right."
"...Stop fighting, you two. What are you arguing about this time?"
Shaaak—
Saten and Estia turned their gazes toward me.
They seemed so absorbed in their fight that they hadn't noticed me come in.
When they saw me, they shouted even louder.
"Oppa! I'm right, aren't I!?"
"Mister, tell her I'm right. Estia is too young to understand."
"We're the same age! Don't look down on me just because I'm short!"
Fighting again.
I shouted firmly.
"Stop. Explain the situation so I can understand."
Saten stood up from her chair and came over to me.
Saten, who had awakened to wrath in the battle against the Demon King of Sloth.
Her expression clearly showed her irritation.
"Mister."
"Yes, Saten."
"Estia won't listen to me. The method to solve the situation you mentioned—to increase the stability of that method, we absolutely need to conduct 'experiments.' But Estia refuses to do them."
"I said I don't want experiments! Why should I have to do experiments! I don't want to! I said no!"
Estia pounded on the desk, throwing a tantrum.
However, her words were tinged with trauma.
Unfortunately, I couldn't take Saten's side.
"Don't force experiments on Estia."
"That's right! Don't force me!"
"...You talk big when you're hiding behind someone. Let's see how long you can keep that up."
"Bleh—"
Seizing the opportunity, Estia hid behind me and taunted Saten.
She seemed full of confidence now that she could use Divine Power.
More importantly.
"Estia, has there been any progress with the treatment?"
"Um, well, Oppa. There has been progress! Look at the bed over there!"
"Both of them look much better."
"Yeah, using Divine Power is bringing them back gradually! Probably just one more time will do it!"
Saten and Estia had been treating the unconscious siblings.
Saten wanted to conduct a few more experiments before they regained consciousness.
Estia wanted to just treat them quickly, which seemed to be the source of their conflict.
*'Still, I guess a Saint is a Saint...'*
She's doing well even without the teacher's instruction.
If the teacher came now, her growth rate would increase even more.
Perhaps the reason Estia had been cowering was to build up momentum.
*'...Even I think that's a bit much.'*
As if that were the case.
With that thought, I shifted my gaze toward the bed.
The siblings lay there with peaceful expressions.
Estia reached out her hands toward them and shouted.
"Goddess! Make these two wake up! Heal them!"
As Estia finished speaking, light began to swirl through the room.
Light that healed wounded souls.
Truly using Divine Power, Estia focused on healing.
As the light spread over the siblings' bodies and warmth enveloped them.
"Ugh, uhhh... Wh-where...?"
The unconscious siblings began to open their eyes.
I placed my hand on Estia's head to congratulate her.
"Success, Estia. Both of them have regained consciousness."
"Of course! Who do you think I am! I'm a Saint!"
Estia, drunk on success.
She shouted joyfully.
The siblings looked confused about where they were, and I decided to explain the situation to them.
"Are you feeling more alert?"
"Yes... I'm alert, but... where is this...?"
"This is my house. We treated you after you were attacked by the Demon King."
"Th-thank you...! B-but what happened to that girl who protected us...? She kept saying she was the Hero..."
Are they grateful to Luna?
It would be better to tell these two the truth.
"Luna is indeed the Hero. And she defeated the Demon King."
"R-really...?! That young girl is really the Hero...?! Like in fairy tales...!?"
"Yes, Luna is the Hero. And this one next to me is, believe it or not, the Saint."
"Wow... Am-amazing...! Ha, hahaha...!!"
Hahaha...!!
The siblings suddenly burst into laughter, as if they couldn't believe it.
"Ha, haha...!! Haha...!! Hahaha...!"
"...What's this?"
"Oppa, why is he laughing? It's creepy."
"I feel uncomfortable too. Should we kick him out?"
"Hahaha...!! Haha...!!"
"...Let's wait 30 seconds and then decide."
If the laughter didn't stop after 30 seconds...
Then we'd kick them out.
Setting aside the noise.
The laughter was quite eerie and gave me chills.
"Ha, haha...!! J-just a moment...! Haha...!!"
The younger sibling, who showed no signs of stopping, tried to hold back the laughter as he spoke.
"The l-laughter... ha... w-won't stop...!! Haha...!! Ha...!"
"..."
...Is this laughter a side effect?
I asked Estia.
"Estia. How many times did you attempt to infuse Divine Power into these siblings?"
"Four times!"
"And me?"
"O-once...! But it was like twice in one...!"
"...? Why are you embarrassed?"
"I don't know! Don't ask!"
Estia let out a shriek and covered her mouth.
I couldn't understand why she was acting that way, but that wasn't what was important.
"It seems receiving too much Divine Power causes that."
"Ha, haha...!! The laughter...! Hahaha...!! Won't stop...!"
Still, if you think about it positively, laughing is better than dying.
So it should be fine.
"If the laughter doesn't stop even after a day, come find me."
Listening to the laughter continuously.
It felt like I was going to lose my mind.
And so I sent the siblings, whose lives I'd saved, back home.
*'Well, I've seen Estia's potential...'*
It would be good to eat and then look around outside together.
It would be nice if we could use Estia's abilities to save people's lives.
Deciding on that, I went downstairs.
Luna was waiting for me there.
"Mister, what's with those guys? They woke up but they're weird! They keep laughing like crazy!"
"It's a side effect of Divine Power."
"Oh no! Then aren't you in danger too, Mister!?"
Shasak— Shak—
Luna looked around me, searching for anything wrong.
After confirming there were no abnormalities, Luna let out a sigh of relief.
"The outside seems fine...? Is the problem inside...!?"
"...I have no problems. Let's go eat."
"No, wait! More importantly, Mister!"
Swoosh—
Luna thrust her head toward me.
"Do you want me to give you a knock on the head?"
"That's not it! You said you'd pat my head!"
"...I must have forgotten for a moment due to side effects."
"As if! Liar! Hurry up and do it!"
I had no choice.
I patted Luna's head.
Luna seemed pleased.
She made a purring sound.
*'...No matter how I look at it, she's like a Golden Retriever.'*
Luna, dog-like in a good way.
She smiled and said.
"Mister!"
"What is it?"
"Do you know what those laughing kids said to me!?"
"They probably said something like 'Stop lying about being the Hero.'"
"Wrong! You know what they said to me!?"
They said they want to become Heroes too!
"They said I was amazing for defeating the Demon King! They said they want to become Heroes!"
Luna, who had admired Heroes while reading fairy tales.
After defeating the Demon King, she had become the one being admired.
The process was difficult, but looking at the results...
*'Not bad at all.'*
I don't know how long this peaceful daily life will last.
But I hoped this kind of daily life wouldn't end easily.
After eating with the children.
When I went outside with Estia.
Knights had gathered and were working hard on restoration.
"There are so many people! It's too overwhelming!"
"...There are quite a lot. You'll attract attention too. For now, pull your hood down more."
"Okay, Oppa!"
Estia pulled her hood down further to avoid being recognized.
Unless someone knew Estia's face, they would never notice.
Estia and I continued walking through the streets.
"At least they've cleared away all the corpses. The destroyed buildings are being restored too."
"Mm-hmm, that's really fortunate!"
"We can at least say it's fortunate."
By the way.
"Why did you follow us, Luna?"
"I was bored so I came along!"
"..."
Bored.
Well, that could be the case.
Since it was hard to scold Luna, I had no choice but to bring her along.
*'...Maybe it's because I know the situation, but this isn't easy.'*
Anyway, is that building where they've gathered people?
A building that was hard to approach, where sounds of sorrow echoed.
I entered the building with Estia without hesitation.
Then, a burly guild employee blocked my way.
"Name?"
"...What?"
"The person who lost consciousness. What's their name?"
People lying on the floor unconscious.
Did he think I was their acquaintance?
I shook my head.
"I'm not related to them."
"Then leave. This place isn't for sightseeing."
"What if I came to treat them, not to sightsee?"
"...There's a person in charge inside. If you can treat them, please do. Help them regain consciousness."
Bow—
A guild employee with a proper heart, unlike his face.
Leaving him behind as he spoke sincerely, Estia and I headed inside.
There, at a glance, over 300 people were lying down.
These were people whose souls had been injured by the Demon King's authority without dying.
"What do you think, Estia? Can you treat them?"
"I don't know! I'll give it a try!"
"Wait. First, the person in charge."
I didn't know who the person in charge was.
But it would be better to say we'd treat them first.
Thinking that, I walked further inside.
After walking a bit, I saw a knight waving their hand and directing people.
A long-haired woman wearing silver armor.
That woman was probably the person in charge here.
I approached her and asked.
"Are you the person in charge here?"
"If you mean person in charge, then yes, but... Jun? Why are you here? Did someone around you get hurt?"
The silver-haired woman asked me.
She spoke as if she knew me and showed a friendly demeanor.
But from my perspective, she was...
*'Who is this woman who knows me...?'*
A complete stranger.
A woman not in my memories.