In that case, it was possible someone was threatening them to eliminate potential rivals. But a four-star adventurer was quite a bit tougher than the average. Whoever was driving them out had to be significantly more powerful. As far as I knew, the only people who fit that bill were the princess knight herself and her party, but they were obviously not the culprits. There weren’t many others beyond them, but I had a few guesses. I just didn’t think they were such cowards they’d want to drive off newcomers.
“So you’re saying you think this is the work of the sufferers or preachers.”
“It’s just a possibility.”
“In that case, you folks are their real target.”
At that moment, Aegis was the party with the greatest chance of acquiring the Astral Crystal.
“Just be careful. Ambushes in the dungeon can be very nasty.”
“I’m not concerned about that. At least for now,” Arwin said vaguely. “They’re after the Astral Crystal, I presume. So it should be a much safer bet that they’ll attack either just after or just before we get the crystal. Perhaps they were driving off the other adventurers to clear the way.”
Despite being recently weakened, the Millennium of Midnight Sun still held many monsters. Given that the preachers couldn’t fight in the dungeon, it would have to be sufferers taking on that task. If the sufferers had some kind of unstoppable power that would overwhelm all monsters, they would easily have the Astral Crystal already. Instead, it was Aegis that stood at the forefront of progress through the dungeon. The cowardly sun god and his minions would suffer less damage by allowing them to continue charting a path. And every scrub they cleared out of the way first was one less obstacle in Aegis’s way.
“The problem is, words like should and shouldn’t are forbidden when it comes to adventuring.” Arwin was only speaking in generalities. Seemingly impossible things could happen at any moment. And what was common logic for us was not for those fanatics. There was always the possibility that they could attack at any moment. “Anyway, I’ll focus on looking into that. Just be careful out there,” I said. Arwin nodded.
“Also…”
She looked down in shame and began to rock back and forth, getting up uncomfortably to shift her sitting position. It was about time. She must’ve run out of her supply, and we’d been with April ever since she came out of the dungeon.
“Here.” I handed her the usual candy from my little bag. It was the cause of Arwin’s past disgrace, and the only means of preventing her withdrawal.
“…Thank you,” she said shamefully after a brief look of excitement. However, she only let it rest in her palm and examined it closely.
“What’s wrong?”
“…I wonder if we’ll just have to keep doing this charade forever.”
“Arwin.”
She looked up with a start at the sound of her name.
“…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” she admitted.
“I’ve told you before. Don’t hold on to your regrets.”
I understood why she wouldn’t want to take the dose. I didn’t want to give it to her. Release was toxic. Continuing to use it would one day end her life in the not-too-distant future. But without a better solution, it was all we had, even if she had to deal with crippling humiliation and self-loathing. All we could do was buy her time. By limiting the dosage and the stress on her system, we could keep things going until we found a better way.
Thanks to that, we’d found someone who could mix her new medicines, and he had completed an antidote. We just needed to make more of it. One more step.
“…That’s right,” she said sheepishly. “You’ve been guiding me ever since then. What did you call it? A woman’s instructor?”
“Forget I ever said that.” The last thing I needed was to be reminded of glib comments I’d made on the spur of the moment. “It won’t be long until the next antidote dose is ready. Just hang on until then.”
As the town rebuilding continued, the avenues of trade would come back and prices would drop. I hoped.
“Now, if I’ve made my point, go ahead and take that dose. Or would you prefer it delivered mouth-to-mouth?”
“No need.”
She turned her head away from me, popped the candy into her mouth, and froze.
“What are you eating?” asked April, wearing a white nightgown and peeking around the doorframe. Her long silver hair was wrapped in a towel, and she looked exceedingly curious. Damn. I was so wrapped up in the conversation that I didn’t notice her approach.
“Is that candy?” she asked. “What did you make this time, Matthew?”
“Sorry, it’s not what you think,” I said, trying to act natural. I swept over to her and placed a piece of candy in April’s damp hand. It was the bitter kind made with herbal juice and very little sugar.
“It’s a cough drop. I just gave her one because she was coughing a little. Right?”
“Y-yes,” Arwin said. She turned her face away, covered her mouth, and began coughing. She had just put the candy in.
“Are you sick? Oh no, and just when you’re tired from coming out of the dungeon… And you had to walk all over the place because of me…”
“Don’t worry about it. This is Matthew’s special recipe. It will help me get better in no time,” she said.
I grabbed the towel and tousled April’s hair before she got any more upset at herself.
“Now, you get this hair dried and under the covers before you’re the one catching cold. You don’t want to get in bed while it’s still damp.”
I patted her on the back. April was going to use my bedroom upstairs. Meanwhile, I’d lay out some blankets and sleep on the floor of the living room. It was still much better than camping, because I at least had a roof over my head.
“Are you sure?”
“One of my skills is that I can sleep anywhere.”
I bade her good night and practically pushed her up the stairs.
Once April was out of sight, I exhaled. That was a close save. Living together would mean an increase in risks like that one. I had to be more careful for the time being.
Meanwhile, Arwin was still in her chair, looking downcast. She was probably feeling another bout of self-loathing after comparing April’s innocence to her own situation.
I put my arm around her shoulder. “Now that the child is put to bed, it’s time for the adults to play. Why don’t we make the most of the warmth of the bath and go in together before it gets cold?”
She pinched the back of my hand.
When my eyes opened, it was still dark. I crept toward the door. Someone was outside.