Extra 6: Doubt

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Translator: Soafp

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After hearing of Nonoa's exploits, Lena's heart was far from calm.

What she had done with good intentions had ended up backfiring.

She hurriedly asked Erius to sound out the possibility of Nonoa's return, but he told her that he could not contact her directly.

Because of the bad reputation of having expelled Nonoa, the party could hardly receive any requests.

Even in such circumstances, Erius remained kind.

But that kindness only made it more painful.

She would rather have been blamed outright.

As those painful days continued, Phalan announced that he was leaving the party.

“Lena, keep this from Erius, but… I heard something from an archer I know. Apparently, the royal army is planning a large-scale operation.”

According to his explanation, thanks to Nonoa's achievements the royal army had begun to turn the tide of the war, and in order to send her into the Demon King's castle in perfect condition, they were luring out the demonkin guarding the entrance and recruiting a suicide squad to support her.

“I'm going to hide my identity and volunteer with the royal army to take part in it. If they find out I'm a member of the party that expelled Nonoa, they might pry too much and reject me. Luckily, I'm not as famous as Erius or the Saint.”

“Phalan, you…”

Could it be that he felt guilty toward Nonoa, and that was why he said this?

No matter how strong he was, fighting demonkin was practically the same as going to one's death.

“But… shouldn't you tell Erius—”

“No!”

At his sharp tone, Lena fell silent, and Phalan placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Listen, Lena. If Nonoa manages to defeat the Demon King this time, that's enough. But if she loses… then if you and Erius aren't around, humanity won't stand a chance. That's what I think.”

“Phalan…”

“Erius is… I can tell because I have a skill with the same ‘Gō' in its name. He's not a man meant to stop at being a Swordmaster. He'll absolutely become a Sword Saint like his father. That's why I can't let him die now.”

“…”

“So Lena, you stay behind… and take care of Erius.”

She had no right to stop Phalan.

After all, she herself was the one who had planted that sense of guilt in him.

Several months after Phalan left, Lena was called out to in the middle of town.

“Hello, Saint. Oh, are you by yourself today?”

When she turned toward the voice, it was a man who often spoke to her at the shelter.

“Yes, hello.”

“By the way… there's something I'd like you to hear.”

“…? What is it?”

“Well, Nonoa-sama, who's been making waves with her success lately, was originally in the same party as you, Saint, wasn't she?”

“…Yes, that's true, but—”

“There's a strange rumor going around about that.”

“A rumor…? What kind?”

“Well… supposedly, even though Erius-sama, the leader, was against it, you said, ‘If you won't expel her, then I'll leave.' That's the rumor…”

“W-Who would say something like that!?”

“As for who started it, I can't say. But there are people spreading such a rumor.”

Lena had recently awakened to a new ability.

The power to discern lies—‘Lie Detection'.

So she knew.

He wasn't lying.

Then who was spreading such a rumor…?

“…Um, Saint?”

“…Ah, s-sorry! I was lost in thought…!”

“No, it's fine. I'm the one who said something strange and disturbed your peace of mind.”

The man bowed his head and said only,

“Well then, I'll be going…”

before leaving.

She wanted to search for the source of the rumor, but if she did that, it would only cause it to spread further.

And besides—.

The thought that “that can't be true” and the thought that “but what if” were clashing inside her.

If—

If the one who spread the rumor was Erius.

Nonoa had admired Erius.

If she stubbornly refused all requests to return, that must be Lena's fault.

As long as she remained, Nonoa's return would never happen.

So if that was what Erius wanted, Lena was willing to step aside at any time.

But being driven out by a strange rumor, rather than being told directly to leave, was not what she wanted.

Perhaps, like Phalan, Erius had heard the rumors about the royal army and was thinking of joining them, leaving Lena behind.

She didn't know.

She understood nothing.

But there was one way to know Erius's feelings.

—She could tell when someone was lying.

She hoped her suspicions were wrong.

She hoped she herself was mistaken, as she asked the question.

“When was the day Erius-san first came here…?”

“Yes?”

In response to Lena's question, a long-time male resident of the shelter looked at her with a puzzled expression.

It seemed to say, “Why are you asking that?” and also, “Why are you asking something so obvious?”

From his answer, she understood it was the latter.

“Well, of course… Saint, it was the same day you first came here.”

She had always wondered.

Erius was—somehow strange.

There was no doubt that he was an outstanding individual.

And yet, the more she looked back on the days since they met, the more abnormal everything seemed.

The day they first met.

When a small child dropped a piece of candy, he caught it in midair.

He had clearly moved before it fell.

The same went for Lena's skill.

He reached the conclusion that “it strengthens through good deeds” far too quickly.

And when Lena confirmed it, she learned that the first time Erius ever appeared at the shelter was—the very day he came together with her.

Yes, as if—

As if he had known from the very beginning that accumulating good deeds would strengthen the Saint's skill, and had acted to make Lena perform them.

Beyond that, even in their first labyrinth he advanced without hesitation, and whenever he saved Nonoa, he clearly moved as though he were one step ahead.

So why was such a thing possible?

Only one answer came to mind.

A skill.

But she had never heard of a skill that could see the future.

If there was one conceivable skill, it would be the unknown skill said to exist—‘Divine Eye'.

Unlike the ‘Saint', whose bearers existed in both the past and present, ‘Divine Eye' was a truly legendary skill with no proof of its existence in history.

But if one were to assume such a skill did exist—

Then how far into the future it could see would change everything.

A few seconds was unlikely.

To know that Lena's skill would strengthen through good deeds would require months of foresight.

The problem was—if it could see five or ten years ahead.

Then everything since they met would have been orchestrated by Erius.

His gentle words.

The vow that he would “never leave her alone”.

All of it would have been an act, solely to bring Lena into the party.

The expulsion of Nonoa as well.

Her belief that Nonoa, the accountant, would one day leave the party might have been completely wrong—and perhaps the one meant to be cut away was herself.

Phalan had said as much, but at the time she couldn't yet use ‘Lie Detection'.

So perhaps, in truth, the three of them excluding Lena were planning to reform the party anew.

If she wanted to know the answer, it was simple.

She only had to ask Erius.

Now she had ‘Lie Detection'.

—She understood that.

But if—

If everything truly had been orchestrated.

She was afraid.

Even though she could see lies.

She was afraid of knowing the truth.

Lena continued to agonize.

Why she had done such a thing.

Even Lena herself couldn't properly explain it.

She only thought that if Erius truly saw everything, he would stop her actions no matter what.

Even if she didn't have the courage to ask him directly, perhaps she wanted to test him.

Yet, to her surprise, it was easy—almost disappointingly so—to bind the sleeping Erius and bring him out to the outskirts.

“Have you woken up, Erius…?”

“…Yeah.”

When she spoke to the awakened Erius, he responded calmly.

“I've been hearing rumors lately… that I was the mastermind behind Nonoa's expulsion.”

Even after hearing her words, Erius said nothing.

To finally approach the truth, Lena posed her question.

“You swore it. That you would never leave me alone. …Can you say that those words, that vow, were not a lie? Erius.”

Still, there was no answer.

To press him for one, she began chanting a spell.

“The index finger of the right hand governs destruction—this is the punishment bestowed by God.”

Perhaps—

Perhaps Erius didn't understand everything after all.

Then what mattered was—

Whether that vow,

Whether Nonoa's expulsion,

had been orchestrated.

If he didn't answer, she would release the spell.

By making him think that, she might draw out his true feelings.

And Erius's answer was—

“I don't want to leave you alone! But I can't! No matter how much I think about it… it was impossible!”

So it was true after all.

Erius—had known.

His shout conveyed it.

That his feelings were real.

And because of that, the vow itself had been a lie.

“I understand that those feelings aren't a lie… But… I can't forgive you.”

Whether it was anger or sadness,

or both, her finger trembled as she took aim.

But—

Perhaps even this was seen through.

In the end, she couldn't bring herself to harm Erius.

No matter how unforgivable it was that he had used her with a false vow.

Even if those days together had been a lie, the four and a half years they spent together were more precious than anything she'd known before—yet if all of that had been orchestrated…

As she agonized, the magic was released from her finger.

Her unstable mental state caused her control over the spell to falter.

The magic pierced Erius's left arm, and the impact sent him flying into a well.

“Eh?”

After a moment—understanding caught up with her.

“Erius!”

As she rushed to the well, her body began to tremble at the realization of what she had done.

This was only supposed to be an act to draw out his true feelings.

She had to save Erius—!

When she peered into the well, black miasma wrapped around the sinking Erius.

—The moment she witnessed it.

A terrible chill ran through her entire body.

“Ahead lies an enemy that must be defeated!”

That premonition, that instinct, sent a warning through Lena.

But at the same time,

“There's nothing I can do anymore.”

That sense of helplessness crushed her.

After some time—

Erius, who already appeared lifeless, rose back into view from the well.

Seeing that, and recalling the events of recent days, she became certain.

(So that's it… I lost.)

So she thought.

How long she stayed there, she couldn't remember even when looking back later.

She only knew that when she came to her senses, the sky was blue.

That much, at least, she remembered.