I Picked Up the Hero Who Banished Me - Chapter 36



35 – [In the Elven Lands – 03]

“Lord Royce. Can I ask you just one thing?”

Ten days since Sylphie joined as a traveling companion.

They were steadily heading toward Elvenheim, but there was still a ways to go.

They finished their meal and lightly heated water, drinking it warm.

Drinking warm water before bed helped with sleep. It was because somehow, she felt the warm water spread inside and flow through her entire body. Especially when sleeping outdoors.

“What is it.”

“Lady Olivia, she only has one arm right now, doesn’t she?”

“You can see that, can’t you?”

“And judging by the severity of the bandages, she’s severely injured, right?”

“Truthfully, I don’t even know how she’s alive.”

How could a person survive after being shot through the head and heart with arrows? It truly was beyond comprehension.

Because of that, she didn’t feel like saying Alex was foolish for not confirming her kill.

Who would think she was alive?

It’s no joke, even if you left the Demon King in that state, they’d think he was dead and just turn around.

“But that same person is doing handstand push-ups with one hand right now, you know?”

“Sometimes, I call it the mystery of life when a person who should have died survives. And that’s a mystery. …If you judge people based on that, you’ll be in for some horrifying things.”

“Hoo! Finally feels like I’m getting the hang of moving around.”

“Please, be reasonable. Are you aware your body is being eaten away by a curse in real-time right now?”

“This isn’t even rough exercise. Just light activity.”

“I can’t.”

“Me neither.”

“You both need to work on your stamina and strength.”

No, I think I’m above average.

Just doing a handstand push-up with one hand was already amazing, but stacking small pebbles underneath and supporting himself with just one finger on top of them… it made me doubt if he was even human.

If it was just a normal handstand push-up with both hands, I think I could probably do it.

I slurped some warm water and naturally handed a cup of warm water to Livia with my other hand.

“Oh, thanks.”

“You’re not even sweating.”

“Just light exercise. I think someone said light exercise is good for sleep.”

We agreed to call what you do intense exercise.

I wouldn’t even be as surprised if you used magic to enhance your body, but you barely use it, you’re just doing it with the magic that naturally circulates in your body.

People who push their physical abilities to the limit can enhance their bodies with just the magic circulating in them, and that eventually becomes their natural physical ability.

That’s why masters of physical enhancement can react very quickly to ambushes and such.

Take Livia, for example. Even while she’s sleeping, the circulating magic greatly sharpens her physical abilities and senses, so unless you have stealth skills like Sylphie, it’s impossible to ambush Livia while she’s asleep.

“Hmm, a bit interesting.”

“What is?”

“If Sylphie uses stealth and ambushes Livia while she’s sleeping, would she react?”

“No, I’d die.”

“She used to react before all this. But now, I dunno, Sylphie? Wanna try?”

“No! What about my life after the ambush? Seems like I’m the only one losing out in this experiment!”

“Just kidding, just kidding.”

“By the way, how old is Sylphie?”

“…Lord Royce.”

For a moment, a shadow seemed to fall across Sylphie’s face.

“Is there really a need to know?”

“…Ah, no.”

Elves, among the longest-lived of humankind.

High elves, among those with the longest average lifespan.

And Sylphie, a half-high elf, arguably the longest-lived race outside of the full-blooded elves themselves.

Clearly, after the full-scale war between humans and elves, and the lengthy truce at its end, a large number of half-elves were born. Then, after considerable time, the elves made peace with humankind and joined their ranks.

And that was 300 years ago that elves became human.

Which means Sylphie is at least 300 years old.

“It seems like elves haven’t ever seen an old person. Royce? Is there a reason?”

“They’re always hunting, always in the forest where they might become prey, and they’re blessed by the World Tree, the forest’s deity, so to speak. In other words, their youth lasts for an exceptionally long time.”

“I see, I didn’t know that. …Ah, then what’s with that old hag?”

It felt a bit off calling Titania an old hag, but Titania’s favorability was probably at an all-time low in Livia’s mind, and since nobody here was listening, it was probably fine.

I hoped he wouldn’t bring up *that* again, not once we were inside Elvenheim.

“You claim you’ve lived since the war between humans and elves, right? That’s been a thousand years. The average lifespan of an elf is 500 to 600 years, and even for a high elf, isn’t that too long to live?”

“You’re right, that is a bit questionable.”

“Even Titania, whom I saw when I was in the hero party, was young.”

“About how old would she be in human terms?”

“Uh, um… mid-twenties?”

“That’s definitely strange, no matter how you look at it.”

It exceeded the average lifespan of elves by a significant margin.

But if you search through Elven books, not all past Titanias lived that long.

So, maybe it’s not the position of Titania that’s significant, but the current Titania herself that holds some meaning.

“Come to think of it, they say there’s a curse of immortality… a curse that stops you from aging…”

“Sylphie, do you know most people dream of immortality?”

“Ah, yes.”

“And the classification of a curse is usually done by humans, so why would the power of immortality be called a curse?”

“Hmm… because you have to watch the people you love die?”

“That’s a rather romantic answer.”

Certainly, those who live a long life might get depressed or shocked after befriending other races and watching them die first, but it varied among the long-lived races.

Some of the long-lived simply saw it as their fate, they lived as long as their race should and that was enough.

“The curse of immortality, when a human is afflicted and lives beyond their natural lifespan, they start to feel pain. Their body and soul already know when they should have died, but they’re forced to continue living by the curse.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that. …the main cause of death for those cursed with immortality is suicide, or so I heard. And they didn’t even live *that* much longer, just around a human’s lifespan before dying.”

“So, it’s best to undo curses as quickly as possible. A curse of immortality is relatively easy to lift even after a few years, but if it’s been decades, it becomes difficult.”

The longer a curse festers in the body, the harder it is to undo.

Typically, the first year is crucial.

If you undo it within a year, it’s a simple matter. But if it goes beyond that, it becomes complicated, and you can’t undo it in one go. The more time passes, the more complex it gets until, eventually, it’s impossible to undo at all.

Some people even kept holy water on hand, ready to immediately dispel any curses.

Curses of immortality don’t really affect immediate combat, but other curses can be a huge burden during a fight.

“Hey, Royce. I’ve never been cursed before… and this Death God’s curse is a first for me, you know?”

“That’s likely, curses often don’t work on people with strong magical power.”

Which meant that if a strong person got cursed, they were most likely already at their wit’s end.

“Why me…”

“In Livia’s case, she just swallowed the curse whole. In that case, resistance or whatever, it just takes hold. It’s like opening the castle gates wide and saying ‘Welcome, come on in!’”

“Ugh.”

Especially a curse of the Death God’s level, something straight out of legend.

It was strange that Livia was even still alive, rather than dead from it.

“I don’t care about anything else, but I need to see that Alex’s arm is lopped off before I can be satisfied! I swear!”

“Haha, I heard Olivia’s story, but it’s really something else, isn’t it?”

She had told Silphy everything, by the way.

It wasn’t something they could hide anyway, and thinking of going to Elvenheim to settle things, she figured Silphy was practically a companion. Livia had agreed to it.

That’s Livia’s way: once she opens up to someone, she’s incredibly generous.

She’s like a real puppy.

Woah! You’re one of us! Hah-hah! That’s the vibe.

Probably, that generosity toward anyone she’d once opened her heart to, it made her let her guard down, and that’s how she got hit with that Reaper’s curse, no doubt.

On the flip side, she’d be incredibly cold to those she hadn’t opened up to, especially those with any kind of hidden agenda, like you’d wonder if they were even the same person.

Speaking as someone who’s experienced both, it’s a truly bizarre feeling.

“Royce, how much farther to Elvenheim?”

“It’ll take a little more time. It’s secluded, but they at least keep in contact with the royal capital. They probably heard about the Demon King’s defeat or that the Hero died.”

“Depending on the situation, Reina might have gone back.”

“Why’s that? She could’ve stayed in the capital longer.”

“Huh? No, just a gut feeling, but it always seemed like Reina felt uneasy around Alex. I don’t know, but it looked like she was trying to minimize their time together. She probably went back as soon as she finished her report.”

“Hmm.”

The Reina Forest I remember was certainly a bit edgy, just like Livia.

But she was also someone capable of putting her own life on the line for a fallen child.

That’s why, honestly, I was surprised.

I could believe Alex doing something like that.

I knew he was someone who didn’t care about good or evil when it came to achieving his goals.

But Reina and Velita… especially Reina, it was truly unexpected.

I thought I had a decent eye for people, but I didn’t think someone like her would assassinate Livia, someone who hadn’t really done anything wrong, and throw her away like that.

‘Maybe there’s some other reason.’

That was something that Livia could decide for herself, anyway.

Regardless, Livia said she wanted to meet them and decide for herself, so I guess it’s better to keep my mouth shut until then.

“Hey, um, so,”

“What?”

“This whole thing, like, every meal, you feeding me like some bird feeding its chick… I’m sorry, but could you maybe tone it down a little? It’s making me cringe, I can’t watch!”

“Sylphy.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t have a choice.”

Olivia smiled.

“For some reason, only at meal times, this curse of the grim reaper makes my arms barely move. I want Royce to feed me.”

“Most choices belong to the strong. Or would you like Sylphy to feed you instead?”

“Roy, Royce! Are you okay with me doing that for another guy!?”

*Slurp*, I said, drinking the warm water.

“Hmm.”

“That’s a pretty weak reaction!”

“Olivia, maybe you’re pushing Royce a little too hard….”

“No, I think Sylphy would be fine.”

“Huh!?”

“Hmm.”

Olivia, thinking the same thing as me, stared at Sylphy.

A face even more feminine than a woman’s.

Her very bone structure, so womanly, she was the embodiment of a woman.

Her hair was short, but still, there was no way to erase the feeling that she was a woman. Sometimes you’d find people with androgynous looks, but this was so blatantly female it left you speechless.

Livia nodded in agreement.

“Ah, I kinda get what you mean.”

“…It’s not like I was born with this face because I wanted to be.”

“It’s not bad, though? It’s the kind of look someone would fall for. Your looks aren’t inherently bad, so I think there’d be women who’d charge at you saying, ‘It’s possible!’”

“Well, that’s… comforting.”

“Personally, I like eyes that are half-lidded.”

“……”

“……”

That’s my face.

Sylphie gave an awkward smile.

“Lady Olivia isn’t shy about expressing her affection.”

“I’ve learned that no one knows what might happen with human connections. If I hesitate to say I like something, I might regret it later. I want to give my all to the people I hold dear now.”

Perhaps because she was upright as a hero, even her affection was forthright.

“Let’s just sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow.”

“Your reaction’s so dry…”

“Sir Royce, you’ve got it tough in your own way.”

There were many reasons, but.

The deciding factor was that Livia was sick right now.

The flutter in your heart you feel for a patient is often a different kind of flutter, not the romantic kind.