The Hero’s Party Members Treat Me Well for Some Reason - Chapter 81



Facing the Truth (2)

An awkward silence lingered.

Having conveyed all her stories, she was still trying to steady her emotions.

It seemed that merely recounting the story required considerable effort.

The memories of the past that I did not know were embedded in her mind as trauma more than I had imagined.

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Seeing her still sniffling a bit.

Although the silence was heavy and uncomfortable, I didn’t feel the need to break it.

I also needed time to sort out my thoughts.

To be honest, I don’t even know if all those words were the truth. Where does the truth end, and where does the lie begin?

Her attitude seemed genuine, but… the story was so absurd that it was hard to believe.

That I had already died once.

No, perhaps it was so absurd that it seemed more believable…

‘…Let’s stop.’

After thinking for a while, I decided to choose to believe for now. It was a problem that wouldn’t yield answers through doubt.

If such a complicated story were fake, she would be more suited to being a novelist than a magician.

“Ah.”

As I was thinking this, something suddenly flashed through my mind.

Come to think of it, there was one person whose attitude had changed significantly before hers.

Ulysses. Our team’s saintess.

Curiosity piqued, I broke the silence and asked her.

“Lily. Is there anyone who came back to the past before you?”

“Uh?”

By that time, she had somewhat gathered her emotions.

Her eyes still glistened with unshed tears, but at least her voice didn’t tremble like before.

“Oh, there is! It’s Yulris. I heard she came back when they caught the king.”

“……Huh.”

It seems I was more of a fool than I thought.

To think I had already messed up twice. Where did my experience of over 900 game cycles go?

In truth, I had squandered it all!

I, who cannot learn from failure, am closer to a slug than a person…

I thought I was doing well, but I guess I wasn’t…

As I sank into my own gloom, Lily cautiously opened her mouth.

“This is why Yulris wanted to keep it a secret… She was worried you would be downcast…”

“Ha, no… Still, it’s right to talk about these things. Thank you.”

The sense of self-loathing still weighed heavily on me, but it seemed I had something to sort out.

“First, let’s meet Yulris.”

It seemed a three-way confrontation was necessary.

*

A considerable amount of time had passed, but the saintess was still busy.

She had to treat the critically injured Jess Cuban while also purifying the puppet.

So when we arrived, Yulris was still in the midst of her work.

Upon spotting us, Yulris greeted us with a weary expression.

Lily and I relayed the story we had just discussed.

As Yulris listened, her face visibly grew more fatigued… perhaps it was just my imagination.

“Ah, ahh…!”

After hearing everything, she pressed her forehead, as if a headache was coming on.

“In the end… you ended up telling her. I told you to keep it a secret…”

Lily averted her gaze and offered an excuse.

“I couldn’t help it… She kept asking. And we can’t keep it a secret forever, can we?”

“Ha…”

Yulris let out a small sigh.

“Well, it’s already happened, so…”

She seemed less regretful than I expected. After all, as Lily said, it couldn’t be kept a secret for a lifetime.

If it was something that would come to light eventually, it might not be so bad to speak of it now.

Yulris brushed her hair back once and looked at me.

I faced her and said, “So that’s why you’ve been secretly helping me all this time.”

“…Yes. I just wanted to do something for you.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry… I made you suffer for no reason…”

Even until that moment, I was trapped in a sense of failure, unable to break free.

Think about it. I’m not exactly a novice at this game, am I? I know more about the Demon Lord’s army than anyone else.

I fought tooth and nail, even taking on a curse to protect them, yet I still ended up being defeated by the Four Heavenly Kings, even if just for a moment. As a result, feelings of self-loathing and confusion washed over me, leading me to briefly blame myself.

But it seemed that was something I shouldn’t say in front of her.

“Please, don’t say that.”

It had been a long time since I had seen her so genuinely serious.

“You did nothing wrong. That was an unavoidable outcome. It was a fight where you had to lose at least once. If anything, the fault lies with us…”

She snapped back, her voice tinged with a hint of irritation.

It had been so long since I had seen her like that that, honestly, it was a little frightening.

So, I responded politely.

“Ah, yes.”

“Right, phew…”

She exhaled once and continued.

“And to be honest, I wasn’t held for that long. It was only about a week, I think? So there’s really no need to worry. I should be the one apologizing, but really…”

With that, she seemed to feel she had said enough and turned her head away. Since my curiosity had been satisfied, I thought the conversation would end here.

If Lily hadn’t spoken up again, the conversation would have likely concluded.

“A week…?”

It was a question laden with meaning.

Sensing something was off, Yulris asked her, “Why? Is there a problem?”

“Um… wasn’t it supposed to be two weeks?”

“···Yes?”

Yulris seemed to feel something fundamentally off about those words.

With a serious expression, he grabbed Lily by both shoulders. Then, in a serious tone, he asked her.

“About that story. Could you tell me a bit more in detail?”

After that, Lily’s explanation continued. She omitted all the lengthy details about what had happened to her.

She only conveyed her perception of time.

“To be honest, I can’t say for sure if it was exactly two weeks. There were no clocks there, and I was having a hard time keeping my sanity… But it’s definitely more than a week. The day and night must have changed at least seven times.”

Listening to her, I opened the status window.

And I once again accessed the description window for [Power of Sacrifice].

There was a part I could somewhat guess.

A subtle but definitely weakened golden aura compared to last time. I thought it was simply because of using the skill…

‘Does it lose its effectiveness the more it’s used?’

After all, one cannot just use the cheating skill of regression endlessly.

After hearing the whole story, Yulris muttered with a serious expression.

“No way….”

This was indeed a serious problem.

If the casting time of the skill keeps increasing, how long will it take next time?

Three weeks? Four weeks?

Time was a problem, but the remaining Four Heavenly Kings were also an issue.

Those guys were despairing enough to completely break one’s mind within the remaining time.

Among them, especially that one with the Eternal (永劫) ability… doesn’t have to be bound by the remaining time.

“…For now, let’s keep it a secret from the other party members.”

Because of that, I made a somewhat conservative decision. I could somewhat understand the feelings of those who had kept the regression a secret until now.

“Telling them would only increase the confusion. They might panic. Besides, they probably won’t believe it anyway.”

So, for now, I’ll keep it a secret. And I also have to be more careful to avoid dying now.

To be honest, looking at the opponent’s abilities, I wondered if it would be possible… But in any case, I was well aware that there were plenty of unfair challenges.

At my words, both Yulris and Lily nodded.

That day, I finally felt like I had found a trustworthy party member.

*

“Then I will wish for good fortune.”

“Thank you, Farell.”

Three days after the battle with the Puppet Master.

Our party, having completed our reorganization, was ready to embark on another expedition to the demon realm.

We had pinpointed the location where he teleported, so it was truly time to hunt him down.

Now was the perfect opportunity, as his injuries had yet to heal.

His abilities were indeed overpowered, but conversely, his regeneration was quite poor.

Even elixirs crafted from human mana wouldn’t work on him.

The distance was a bit far, but we could think of it as a chance to level up.

“How is Lord Cuban’s condition?”

“All the wounds have healed. However… his mana circle is nearly destroyed. It seems that proper magic will be difficult moving forward…”

“That’s unfortunate…”

Lily grew somber upon hearing Ulysses’ words. We had lost much in this battle. One of the strongest in the Empire had been forced into retirement, and with that, the anxiety among the citizens had only increased.

The greater the loss, the higher the expectations placed on the hero party.

“In the end, it seems the only one we can truly rely on is you. It’s quite disheartening…”

Of course, given the curse, most gazes were filled with distrust.

Especially that McGuff fellow; it seemed he still disliked me.

“I won’t say much. Just be sure to take his head and return. I’ll hold this place.”

I nodded.

Thus, we traversed the long journey through the Empire.

Back to the demon realm. To completely eradicate the Puppet Master.

We turned our steps once more.