I didn’t die.
Instead, I was seeing déjà vu, looking up at an unfamiliar ceiling—er, rather, canopy. I’d been sleeping on a luxurious, four-poster canopy bed, though one surprisingly unadorned and tasteless. My equipment and a change of clothes rested on top of a nearby dresser. A sunset stained the sky outside the window. From the height of my vantage point, I realized I must’ve been in the palace. My body was wrapped in soft, silky clothing… It was nothing I’d ever worn before.
My throat was parched. I tried to reach for the pitcher and jug by my bed, only for excruciating, paralyzing pain to ravish both my shoulders.
“Rgh!”
I lost my balance and toppled out of bed, hitting my head hard on the floor. The door flew open.
“Souya!” Lanceil rushed into the room. She lent me her shoulder and helped me back on the bed. “Are you all right? Do you hurt anywhere?”
“L-Lana? Is Lana okay?!” I grasped for an answer to my most important question.
“……Yes, safe and well. She’s waiting for you. We were able to extract all the poison in her system successfully, and she sustained no external injuries,” she explained. “How is your body feeling?”
“Did I register on the twentieth floor?” That was the second most important.
“Yes. After that, you were immediately transported to the Jumichla Healing Temple until your condition stabilized enough for us to bring you to the castle. So do you feel pain anywhere on your body?” Lanceil prodded and touched me all over. She was gentle, but—
“Yes, it hurts everywhere, like hell.” My back, legs, hips, neck, limbs, and head all throbbed with pain. If anything, the parts that didn’t hurt were in the great minority.
“Excuse me.” Lanceil undid my robe and removed the bandages wrapped around my body. Then she lifted off the gauze, checking my wounds. “You don’t seem to have a fever. Is there any part that hurts particularly more than the others?”
“No.” Nothing I couldn’t handle.
“Not only were you poisoned, but you were also so severely injured, both of your arms had almost completely severed from your body. Five Healers spent an entire day treating your wounds. I imagine the pain will continue for a while. If it becomes unbearable, I can prepare some medication.”
“I’m fine.” What’s a little pain? I thought—until I tried to move my shoulder and fainted in agony. Sweat streamed down my brow, and my vision blurred.
“Souya, I would have you rest longer, but the king has ordered me to bring you to him the instant you awake. Can you walk? Shall I carry you on my back?”
“I can walk on my own. But could you give me some water?” My throat was so dry I could hardly talk.
Lanceil poured water into a cup, then, for some reason, brought it to her own lips. Before I could say anything, she pressed those lips to mine and gave me the water mouth-to-mouth. She did always come on pretty strong, but I felt more passion in her gaze, more heat in her body now.
Did I do something to deserve this?
I changed into my washed and patched-up poncho, with Lanceil’s help, then slung my quiver over my back, slipped on Heuress’s Gauntlet, and put my glasses on. I didn’t need them to see or anything, but recently, I didn’t feel right without them.
Looking down at the gauntlet, a complicated mix of emotions came over me. Lümidia’s mortal enemy had been vanquished. While I didn’t know the particulars of their feud, I bet Rhora hadn’t been too happy to meet her end at the hands of a talentless nobody like me. The thought of that abomination, which had survived for so long only to meet such a humiliating end, tickled me. Through my gauntlet, I could feel the hero chuckling in delight.
The silver-haired beastmaid led me out of the room, down a hall toward a basement floor, and into yet another room for the dead. Rhora’s corpse rested atop a funerary urn made of stone. Around it stood King Remlia, Pops, the Guildmaster, and Lana’s father, Mellum Raua Heuress. From the side, he was the spitting image of Éa.
“Souya, how do you fare?”
“Well enough to converse, Your Majesty, thank you.” I bowed my head at the king’s consideration.
“Aye. Now then, Saorse, you may begin.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” At the regent’s prodding, the Guildmaster launched into his briefing. “My analysis of this fascinating monster has revealed several interesting findings.” He pulled out a thin poker and pointed to the corpse. Only the shoulders and below retained their original shape. Her head, pummeled into mincemeat, was safely stored in a large jar.
“First, her hide. While visible now, it disappears at the slightest magical charge. It can also perfectly camouflage, concealing all noise, smell, and even body heat,” he explained. “However, it does have one weakness. Those with very low levels of ryvius or magic can see through the disguise, as this Otherworlder can attest. In other words, it cannot fool those unfit to be adventurers. I believe this to be a compromise it must have made when evolving to escape from formidable explorers.”
The Guildmaster continued, “Furthermore, as you can see, it has no intestines or heart, in fact. A single lung is the only organ it possesses resembling anything human. In addition, it has a tail-shaped tentacle that produces anesthetic, paralyzing venom, and a floating organ similar to those found in winged serpents. Upon appraising the articles left by its victims, I found some that date back at the very least six hundred years ago. Given that time span, I postulate this creature survived by relegating its bodily functions to its victims.”
In an unusual twist, the Guildmaster looked to another for permission. “Proceed,” the king decreed. Pops gave him a nod, too.
“Apologies. I have also made a discovery regarding the saplings. As Pops suspected, these were created from the remains of fallen adventurers. Many of the victims had one or several limbs amputated, and I observed several deformities in the bones of their lower abdomens.”
It’s a goddamn horror story. What the hell was Rhora thinking, making all those disgusting things?
“Pardon the intrusion, Remlia, Medîm, Mellum, and Souya.”
The last person I’d expect to see in a mortuary appeared: the Dragon-Slaying Goddess, Gladwein. A hooded cape covered her frame, perhaps to shield it from prying eyes.
“My, Lady Gladwein. To what do we owe the pleasure?”
“A bit of unfinished business.”
The king’s deferential attitude toward the herculean goddess made me realize she was truly an important figure. I’d really gotten away by the skin of my teeth, picking a stupid fight with her.
“Souya, your right hand.”
“Huh? Yes, milady.” Surprised by the sudden request, I offered her my hand. The powerful deity enveloped it with both of hers, then brought it to her forehead. Faint lights fluttered about like fireflies. I know this sounds strange, but it looked like she was praying. Just as my goddess had once done, this divine being now brought her hands together in orison. But whom would a goddess even pray to? And what for?
“Ah, my daughters have imposed on you greatly.”
“Daughters?” Lümidia, I knew, but don’t tell me—
“I had two daughters, one a maladroit who showed skill for naught but her archery. Her name was Lümidia. The other showed such promise, people hailed her as the God of War reincarnate. Her name was Rhora.”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“I doted upon the promising daughter and scorned the inept. Such is the way in military families. Only with these clear distinctions can one hope to train another. However, child-rearing is a difficult task. Not all goes as planned.
“One day, Rhora delved into the forbidden arts in her search for a greater power and devoured the dragon I had once slain. Thereafter, the dragon’s rage befell our family, placing us on the path to decimation. Many brave warriors turned to ash in its flames. The brutal war that ravaged the world at that same time ultimately ruined my clan. Rhora took advantage of the chaos to flee the Left Continent, then went on to commit even further atrocities on this land. She awakened the great spider of old, endangering everyone’s life.”
“Lady Gladwein, perhaps it would be prudent to avoid divulging such matters to a stranger,” Mellum interrupted the goddess with trepidation.
“Do not fret, Mellum. He has long known the truth.”
“Wha—?” His surprised expression looked just like Lana’s.
“Lümidia pursued Rhora, alighting on this land. It was then she joined hands with the mist master Heuress to vanquish the giant spider, cornering Rhora, but failing to prevent her escape. After that……” She chose her words carefully. “Lümidia left a blood descendant among the elves, then perished. I do not pretend to know the life Rhora led in the dungeon where she sought refuge. And yet, now she lies at my feet, naught but bones and dust, and Lümidia stands before me, through this Otherworlder’s borrowed body.”
The eyes of the goddess filled with tender sorrow and affection as they met her daughters’. “At last, you have avenged us all. Well done, my daughter.”