143. Cecilia Saten's Revenge (7)
Saten, who had cleanly severed her past.
*Clack- Clack-*
She stepped on the bricks and approached the unconscious man lying on the ground.
"You made a good choice too, Hare. I'll overlook you slapping my cheek."
Saten approached the man lying on the ground.
Worried that he might get hurt, Hare had hidden his body with her hood.
In addition to moving him to a safe location, she was preventing any possible accidents.
Saten thought Hare's consideration was very thoughtful.
"From today on, his body isn't his alone. We have to handle him carefully."
The man lying on the ground with his eyes closed was breathing faintly, unable to regain consciousness.
Saten knelt beside him and checked his body.
There were traces of blunt impact on his head and back.
"You got hurt like this trying to protect me. I'm sorry and thank you."
Saten showed a faint smile and placed his head on her lap.
It formed a position she couldn't pass without stroking his hair.
"Mister."
"..."
"You're not awake yet, are you?"
"..."
"Thank you for answering, Mister."
*Stroke-*
Saten stroked his black hair.
The hair she felt in her hand was soft, and her heart naturally became at ease.
"It's less fluffy than BlackMeow, but your hair is pretty nice too, Mister."
After those words, Saten stroked his hair without saying anything else.
If there was a reason for living, the man before her eyes could be called her life's purpose.
Even without saying anything, just being together with their skin touching made her happy.
The corners of Saten's mouth naturally lifted slightly.
"It's a shame you can't see it, Mister, but today I killed my biological father. When I mixed the magic you taught me with my own magic, he couldn't move at all. It felt like cool wind passing through a hole that had been pierced. But that feeling didn't last long."
*Swoosh-*
Saten gently placed both hands on his cheeks.
She gazed directly at the face of the man lying on her lap, looking down at him with his eyes closed and admiring him.
They were at a distance where their lips would touch if either of them moved their face.
"Taking revenge on someone you resent and hate. But revenge only feels good for a moment. Will you feel the same way I do when you succeed in your revenge, Mister?"
"..."
"You can't even answer, so I guess I talked too long."
Saten stopped talking and blocked the moonlight shining on him.
Her head was confused and her heart stirred, not knowing what emotion it was.
However, one thing.
Saten recalled that there was something she had to do.
"Do you know from books when men and women kiss, Mister?"
"..."
"Accidents, atmosphere, farewells. But though the causes are all different, the result is the same—they kissed."
"..."
"Then, Mister. What kind of moment is this for us now? Atmosphere? An accident? Or is it a farewell?"
Saten slowly brought her lips closer and said what kind of moment this was.
"From my perspective, right now I'm just... 'just.' Following my heart. Just because I want to, I'm going to do it."
*You can't refuse anyway, Mister.*
*Only I need to remember this moment.*
Saten, who had lost her destination called revenge and pondered where to go, finally chose a direction.
Being alone together with him, she couldn't control her pounding heart.
After finishing her revenge, Saten filled the hollow feeling in her heart by coveting his lips, filling the hole in her heart.
Though the kiss was short, unlike revenge which had a bitter taste, the aftertaste was sweet.
"My heart... feels like it's going to burst... Mister, I'm starting to understand what Hare meant."
*Smooch-*
Saten did it once more.
She kept kissing him until he woke up.
It was an open space and she felt eyes on her, but she didn't stop kissing him as if to show off.
As a result.
The Hero Party gathered in one place could quietly watch that strange spectacle.
"Wh-what's that? Am I seeing things wrong? Why is Saten kissing Mister? Is, is it the Demon King's power? St-stop them right now-!!"
"No, Luna...! Saten must have eaten Holy Water...! Oth-otherwise there's no way she'd do such... such an act...!!"
"..."
Hare silently picked up her dagger.
"...Luna, from today the Hero Party has three members. Know that. Saten crossed the line today."
*Either you die.*
*Or I die.*
*One of us dies today.*
The betrayal of the friend she thought was closest to her.
"It's now, Luna...!"
"...Let's go home."
While those two were fighting.
Luna and Estia took the opportunity to take me home, and it was two hours later when the wounded Hare and Saten returned home.
"You, you two! How much did you fight...!?"
"...Move."
"...Move aside."
From Luna's perspective greeting them.
It seemed the match hadn't been decided.
Luna stomped her foot after they headed to their rooms.
"Ugh-!! If she's hurt like that, I can't hit Saten...!!"
Unable to vent her anger on Saten, Luna muttered to herself like that.
The ceiling again.
I opened my eyes looking at the familiar ceiling.
Sunlight that someone had left open was seeping through the window.
"...Who thoughtlessly didn't close the curtains?"
The basic thing when sleeping is to make it dark.
Who did such a thoughtless thing?
I turned my eyes to find the culprit.
The suspect was very close, not far away.
"Luna."
"Hmnya... Hmm..."
Did she nurse me while sleeping here?
I unwrapped the bandage on my head and looked around.
There was no particular change in the room.
However, on the floor were my blood-stained clothes and equipment from yesterday.
"Right, I went to subjugate the Demon King yesterday."
And I lost consciousness there while protecting Saten.
As for the Demon King's subjugation...
"Seeing that Luna's alive, was the Demon King's subjugation successful?"
I have many questions.
I should ask what happened after I collapsed.
Luna's here at good timing too.
I shook the sleeping Luna's body to wake her.
"Luna."
"Ueh... Ueheeh..."
"Wake up, Luna."
"D-don't shake me... Who is it..."
"It's me."
"M-Mister!?"
*Jolt-*
Hearing my voice, Luna was startled and raised her head.
*Bang-!*
I felt a strong impact on my chin.
"M-Mister!! Are you okay!?"
"...Your head is very hard, Luna."
"N-no! My head is soft! More importantly, Mister! Your nose is bleeding! W-wait a moment!"
*Scurry-*
Luna hurriedly left the room and went somewhere.
I raised my head high to stop the blood flowing from my nose.
"Seeing that she's not depressed, it looks like they properly subjugated the Demon King..."
That can be considered fortunate.
More than that, Luna's head hurts more than the injury I got yesterday.
There's nothing in her head, so why is it so hard?
Luna's incomprehensible body structure.
As I waited with my nose tilted up like that, Luna came into the room holding something.
"Mister! You endured well! Here's Saint Estia!"
"...What am I supposed to do with her?"
"Heal yourself! No, that's not it... Estia will heal you! Estia, wake up!"
"U-ung...?"
Estia opened her sleepy eyes and yawned.
She couldn't even properly grasp where she was.
But when she made eye contact with my face, she opened her eyes wide and shouted.
"Oppa! You're alive! As expected, you lived thanks to me! But why is your nose bleeding?"
"...You saved me, but I almost died just now because of Luna."
"Wh-what do you mean, Mister! That's rude! Ugh..."
Luna touched her crown as if embarrassed.
Perhaps feeling that her head was quite hard herself, her face turned red.
"A-ahem... Anyway, Estia! Heal Mister! Mister got hit by an enemy!"
"By an enemy named Luna."
"A-anyway! Just heal him quickly!"
"My treatment fees are expensive! I'll do it for free specially for Oppa!"
Where did she learn about treatment fees?
*'She's learning useless things...'*
Estia learning strange knowledge while learning Divine Power from that crazy priest.
I should definitely warn her later, I thought.
I lay still and received Estia's treatment.
As if this much was enough with just one finger, Estia tapped my nose with her finger.
"There, done! Oppa is healthy now!"
"...The bleeding stopped. Can you do even this easily now?"
"Of course! I'm a Saint, Oppa!"
Estia shrugged and boasted of her skills.
Meanwhile, I felt something off.
If they heard I woke up, there should definitely be someone here...
Why can't I see her?
"Luna."
"Yep?"
"Where's Hare?"
"H-Hare! Hare is in her room!"
"But why isn't she coming to my room?"
"W-well, there are some circumstances..."
"..."
Suspicious.
Luna not giving a clear answer.
At that reaction, I had no choice but to get up from the bed.
"Something must have happened to Hare. I'm asking late, but how did the Demon King's subjugation go?"
"It's over! We finished it using the Saint's power!"
"N-no! That's not it, Saten got her revenge and I annihilated him!"
Annihilated.
I understand the result, but did a problem occur in the process?
"Who got hurt in that process?"
"M-Mister?"
"Just me?"
*Nod-*
Luna nodded as if I was right.
*'Hmm, only I got hurt...'*
Then why is Hare staying still?
Normally she would naturally be by my side.
*Creak-*
I opened Hare's door without hesitation.
Hare was lying in bed sleeping.
However, her condition didn't look very good.
"Basic treatment was done, but she has many injuries. But why did you lie, Luna?"
"Y-yep?"
"You said only I got hurt. But why is Hare's condition like that?"
Don't tell me.
After subjugating the Demon King.
"Are you saying you fought among yourselves?"
"..."
The Hero Party has a rule.
A rule that they shouldn't fight each other.
And the person who breaks that rule must perform one penalty decided by the Hero Party.
"To fight until it got like this... Is the other one Saten? Why did they fight?"
"..."
"Luna?"
"..."
Luna didn't open her mouth as if she couldn't speak.
I don't know what the situation is.
But it seems to me...
It looked like a quite serious matter that even Luna couldn't tell me about.
For now, I decided to wait until Hare and Saten opened their eyes.