I Picked Up the Hero Who Banished Me - Chapter 52



51 – [In the Land of the Elves – 19]

There was something Raina regretted.

The thing she regretted most in the world.

That night, the Hero Olivia had been unbelievably active.

They’d exiled Lois, and Olivia, growing ever stronger, had joined a hero’s party, but was offering no real help, so her feelings of inadequacy only worsened that day.

Ah.

How could I have been so foolish?

I was drunk.

I didn’t know the world.

Too many things combined.

Around that time, Reyna didn’t know Alex’s true nature.

“Reyna-nim, you’re drinking a lot today.”

“Shut up.”

She drank, badmouthing Olivia.

It was just insecurity, really. Olivia had done nothing wrong; it was just Reyna who was weak.

But she’d been drinking, and was quite exhausted, so Reyna ended up cursing Olivia, and Alex listened to her words.

“The Hero is strong, but there are times when they don’t value people’s feelings.”

“You know it well, Alex.”

“Oh my, perhaps would you like to play a game with us?”

“A game?”

“That’s right. A simple game. But it’s no fun just playing, so shall we bet something?”

“Bet what?”

“That’s true.”

Alex smiled.

“Is it the power where the victor can command the defeated?”

“Cliché, but not bad.”

Idiot.

Moron.

What are you doing?

No.

Don’t.

It was a game we were destined to lose anyway.

But my drunken mind couldn’t reach that far, and as a comrade, I never imagined Alex would apply a Geass to that game.

From noble mtl dot com

After applying the Geass, he threatened the World Tree.

Truthfully, threatening the World Tree was pointless with the Geass already in place.

It was just, since I was under the Geass, there would be psychological resistance, and in case of emergency, he did it to eliminate that resistance under the guise of “for Elvenheim.”

I knew it.

I knew it, damn it.

And knowing, I went and did that trashy thing.

“Huh.”

Reina opened her eyes and instinctively touched her neck.

Like a slave, Alex had tormented Reina using Geass, constantly whispering it was for Elvenheim.

Back then, I almost believed it sincerely, but now alone and thinking coldly, I question what the kingdom could even do for Elvenheim.

Even if they found a Spirit Magician, finding one was difficult since there were so few in a generation, let alone a Spirit Magician who could save the World Tree, that was even harder.

I knew it, actually.

It’s an excuse.

My own life was precious, but I got tricked by Alex’s words, “For Elvenheim,” and that’s how it ended up.

My own life was precious.

That was all.

Elvenheim, too.

The hero party, too.

None of it mattered.

I was just scared of dying from the Geas, because of Alex.

More than anything, if they found out I had the Geas around my neck, Reina was as good as done.

More than anything, I didn’t want to disappoint my mother, Titania.

But.

“What should I do?”

No, the answer was already decided.

It was decided, but selfishly, Reina didn’t want to choose that answer.

Looking in the mirror, the Geas mark on my neck looked so disgustingly ugly.

And Reina’s face, reflected in the mirror, was ugly too.

“What are you doing?”

I talk to myself.

“What I can do….”

The path was either going to be one she lit herself, or one lit by Olivia. There was no other choice.

Olivia hadn’t breathed a word of the truth to anyone but Titania.

She was waiting, likely.

Waiting for her to come, head bowed, to confess her sins.

It felt merciful, for Olivia.

She was giving her time to choose.

Had her betrayal caused a change of heart? Or was it simply because Reina was once a comrade?

‘No, the latter is impossible.’

Good rewarded, evil punished.

That, at least, was Olivia’s bedrock, unchangeable even if she died and came back to life.

No matter how you sliced it, Olivia was a good person, and she hated evil.

“Olivia, do you still believe in me? Do you believe that I have any humanity left?”

She didn’t know.

Reina rose to her feet.

“Today… Alex said he’d prepared something…”

She didn’t know what was prepared, but she didn’t know what she could do now.

Even if Olivia wasn’t at her peak, her power was comparable to a high-ranking demon army officer.

No, those demons on the lower end wouldn’t stand a chance against her.

‘What can these weakened demons do anyway, now that they’ve lost their Demon King?’

Still, Olivia considered them a threat, and planned to set off alone to save people as soon as she reported them to the kingdom.

Maybe I would have just gone into the monster territory and started a hunt.

No.

Olivia’s priority was fundamentally saving innocent lives over taking enemies, so she’d probably prioritize rescuing people over slaughtering monsters.

“…….”

I quickly got ready and went outside. It was still early dawn, so there weren’t any people around.

Walking quietly down the street, I felt someone approaching from the opposite direction.

Who’d be out this early?

A soldier?

Thinking that, a familiar face appeared.

For a split second, Reyna saw her mother, Titania, superimposed on it.

“Oh, it’s you.”

“Whoa! L, Lady Reyna?”

The name.

What was her name again?

Sylphy.

It was Sylphy.

“What are you doing out so early?”

“I just wake up early. There wasn’t anything to do, and I was kind of nervous, so I was just going for a light run. What are you doing out at this hour, Lady Reyna?”

“……You don’t have to use honorifics with me.”

I’d heard that half-elves resented the current elves, but was that not the case?

“No, I’m just… ashamed…”

“I heard you created a bow with magic? Does that mean you have High Elf blood in you?”

“W-well, I do… u-um… perhaps you don’t know whose lineage I am?”

“Huh? Um… High Elves are so few, I might guess it if I tried, but that makes it sound like my bloodline means something to me.”

Sylphy laughed, as if flustered.

“Um, well… I am the son of the daughter of Titania’s ex-husband.”

“Huh?”

“So, it’s a bit complicated, but you and I are, technically, aunt-nephew relatives.”

“…!”

Reina was incredibly young for a High Elf.

Considering that, there was a chance Sylphy could be older than Reina.

No, since Titania’s ex-husband’s daughter died before the end of the human-elf war, Sylphy must’ve been born around that time, meaning it was almost certain he was older than Reina.

“Huh? No… um? Son?”

“Yes, son.”

“Son?”

“Yes, son.”

“……”

Reina clutched at her head.

Her brain was short-circuiting.

*That face* and he’s actually a *man*?

Looking more feminine than Reyna herself.

How can he be a man and yet have such a feminine frame?

Silphy paused, a troubled look on his face, then looked at Reyna and said,

“Auntie.”

“Oh, please. Just call me Reyna.”

“Then, Reyna-nim.”

“Why?”

“Can we talk for a minute?”

“……What is it?”

Silphy smiled at my slightly bristled attitude.

“Don’t be scared. Unlike Olivia-nim or Royce-nim, I’m not directly involved in that incident. I won’t tell anyone either. If that incident is to be made public, it should be done by Olivia-nim or…by your own hand.”

“……”

His slightly cold, yet child-scolding tone definitely resembled Titania’s.

His face resembled Titania’s even more than Reyna’s, as if he had inherited her blood more strongly than Reyna had.

For some unknown reason, a sense of suffocation rose in Reyna and she grabbed her neck.

“What do you want from me?”

“Having such a sharp attitude is poison, Reyna-nim.”

“……”

“The mark of a sinner must be quite heavy, right?”

“……”

“You’ve lived so right until now, but you loathe yourself for committing these evil acts because of a forced contract, yet admitting it is just a headache, isn’t it?”

“Don’t talk like you know everything.”

“I do know.”

“What?”

Silphee laughed.

“I’m a half-elf. I was a sinner from birth.”

“…….”

The wind blew.

There was no choice.

Born a symbol of hatred, merely surviving was worthy of praise.

That was a half-elf.

Hatred of half-breeds existed in every race, but hatred for half-elves was even more severe. Regardless of whether it was human or elf.

“Still, I was lucky. Being a high-elf half-breed, I had innate talent and even learned techniques from Titania for a short time. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say I was blessed.”

Though, that was only by half-elf standards.

“I…”

“You’re afraid of so much, you don’t know what to choose. Born and raised in this Elven Heim, you didn’t know the outside world, and you committed evil acts because you were tainted by that malice. Your sin is entirely your own.”

“…….”

“No one can shoulder it for you, you must bear it yourself.”

“…….”

“But, I’m still family, so I don’t want to see you cruelly cut down by Olivia. Well, it would have been okay if Olivia had wanted to cut you down, though.”

Regrettably, Olivia waited.

Waited for Reina to open the door and come apologize.

To beg on her knees.

To apologize with tears streaming down her face.

Olivia waited because she wanted her to move like a sinner confessing to God.

“If even a god who gives opportunities gives up giving opportunities, you know what’s left, right?”

“…Sins don’t disappear. They don’t change just because you apologize. And, I don’t even have anything I can tell you.”

Even disregarding that he was currently bound by a geas, Alex had restricted various pieces of information.

A prime example was that he didn’t tell them where he got the Shinigami’s curse.

So even if they asked, he couldn’t answer, and even if he *could*, he didn’t know anything.

“Yes, sins don’t disappear.”

“…..”

“But that’s not a reason not to atone. Everyone makes mistakes, big and small, and commits sins.”

From tiny sins that would vanish with a simple apology to sins that wouldn’t disappear no matter how hard you hit your head against the floor.

Depending on the person, countless wrongdoings existed.

“For you, there’s no more ‘just brushing it aside’ or ‘finishing things peacefully.’ You’ve gone and done something that big, haven’t you?”

“…..”

Of course, this was the same for Alex and Belita too.

“There’s still a little bit of time left. Think about it some more. Today’s going to be a busy day, but after that busy day ends, there’s no going back.”

Silphi said that and moved away from Reina.

Reina, left alone, stared at her own hands.

The sensation of shooting Olivia still lingered, haunting her nightmares.

“Mother… I…”

Ah.

Yes.

It had all been excuses.

The reason Reina was agonizing now was nothing special.

Not guilt.

Not responsibility.

Not for Elven Heim either.

It was just that.

Just that Reina.

“Was it just that I didn’t want to admit I’d committed a vile act?”

The shell of excuses, which had been protecting Reina since the day Alex placed the geas on her.

Had finally been peeled away.