“Quite the sight.”
I stood at the village’s main gate and watched the long line of evacuees.
The residents of Lindel Village were relocating to a nearby town in case of a potential disaster.
Children held tightly onto their parents’ hands, while the young supported the elderly as they walked.
They had left their fields behind, taking only the bare minimum with them.
Following the village chief’s orders, they moved in an orderly fashion.
“Buying up all the crops… That’s an idea commoners couldn’t even dream of.”
The reason for their hesitation to evacuate had been the thought of abandoning their crops.
It was their livelihood, so I could understand how they felt.
If they left the village over a mere possibility and nothing happened, they could lose the entire year’s harvest.
That’s why Rosaria lent them a hand.
With her overwhelming wealth.
She bought up all the crops grown in the village at a fair price, easing the villagers’ concerns.
She even promised that if the crops were still intact when they returned, she would return them free of charge.
The farmers had nothing to lose.
Thanks to that, they could leave the village without worry.
“Maybe I should just marry her.”
Rosaria had a fine character. She’d make an ideal wife and mother.
One son, and two daughters.
She’d raise them all with love, without showing favoritism.
Those children would grow up to become the pride of the kingdom, and I, once a commoner and a former hero, would go down in history as the embodiment of a self-made success story.
A luxurious life without envy.
A wealthy existence where money kept flowing in no matter how much extravagance was indulged.
That kind of successful future had been just within reach…
“But none of it would matter unless I defeated the Demon King.”
That was why I had worked so hard to collect magical artifacts.
Even if it had never worked in all the timelines I’d repeated, at the very least, I could protect myself this time.
And perhaps even the precious people around me.
I had decided to do what I could for as long as I could.
While I watched smoke rising from the volcano’s peak, a carriage rolled to a stop near the main gate.
It wasn’t some reckless traveler.
“So you finally showed up.”
As the door opened, Claria stepped down.
“Theo, you got here first!”
Right after her, Louis and Farne disembarked as well.
The old four-member party had reunited.
“Tch, what a mood killer.”
Louis gave me a side glance and walked straight into the village without a word.
Seeing that, Farne said, “I’ll catch up with you later…!” and hurried after him.
Only Claria approached without hesitation.
“Can I ask what’s going on?”
I wanted to ignore her, but doing that would only make things more complicated.
So I gave the explanation I had prepared.
“We’re evacuating the villagers.”
They could obtain rare materials from the Lava Golem.
She probably coveted them just as much.
Since it was almost certain she’d come here, I had coordinated with Rosaria in advance.
I told her pretty much everything that had happened.
“Did you end up owing that noble again…?”
“I had to, so we could leave without any worries. Being a former Hero helps in times like this. I have credit.”
Whether it was a million gold or two million, it was enough to go bankrupt either way.
Since it was a fictional debt anyway, I decided to play it cool.
“…Theo, I’m starting to admire you.”
Claria gave a bitter smile.
“What for?”
“The way you selflessly sacrifice yourself for others.”
She was completely mistaken, not knowing the real situation, but I didn’t bother to correct her.
“I’ve always regretted it. You were the one who always worked so hard for the party. I realized it far too late…”
Yeah, way too late.
She hadn’t realized it even once, not until countless timelines had come and gone.
“But I want you to know. What I said that day… I meant every word of it.”
“That day?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t remember. I told you I liked mature men like you, Theo. My feelings haven’t changed, not then, not now.”
Impressive memory.
I had forced myself to forget because I didn’t want to recall that disgusting display of affection.
“You’ve got some strange taste. Maybe it’s time you changed it.”
“Don’t be like this.”
When I tried to turn away, Claria stepped in to block my path.
“It might sound arrogant coming from me, but I don’t think I fall behind anyone in terms of looks.”
Claria ran her fingers through her golden hair.
“So?”
“As a mage, I pull my weight… and I’d be a great match for you, Theo.”
She stepped closer and traced her fingers across my chest.
Was she out of her mind?
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Before I could stop her, Fran shoved Claria away.
She had been watching silently, but it seemed she couldn’t take it anymore and stepped in.
“So you were here too? I didn’t notice you at all. You’re completely forgettable.”
“We made eye contact earlier.”
“Did we?”
“The evacuation is almost complete. There’s nothing left for you to do here, so go back.”
A tense standoff began.
“When did the two of you start hanging around together?”
“Not long ago. If that’s all you wanted to know, then get lost.”
Fran pushed her shoulder away again.
“Your attitude hasn’t changed, has it?”
“Still better than yours.”
“There’s not a single cute thing about you. No wonder you were a loner back at the academy.”
“…Watch your mouth.”
Fran and Claria had both attended the same magic academy.
I had known they didn’t get along, but even after reuniting for the first time in a while, the rift between them still seemed deep.
Was Levasthan cast with a mute spell or something?
He wasn’t the type to miss juicy drama like this.
Most likely, Fran had sealed his mouth to keep him from jumping into the conversation.
“You peasants over there. What’s with all the pointless chatter? For a second, I thought a bunch of wild monkeys had started fighting.”
Even the villainess had made her entrance.
“So you were here too. I heard about you. I won’t say anything about helping with good deeds, but please don’t put any more strain on Theo!”
Unlike last time, Claria took a firm stance.
“Putting strain on him?”
“You increased his debt!”
“I wasn’t the one who did that, you know? That foolish man tied the noose around his own neck. O~hohoho!”
She talked like a villainess, but in truth, she was just a hopelessly kind-hearted creditor.
She had lent money to someone who had little chance of ever paying it back.
Although I tried to cover it up by saying it was because of my reputation as a former warrior.
“….…?”
A question mark practically popped up over Fran’s head.
She looked completely lost as to why Rosaria was acting like that.
Ah! I forgot…!
I hadn’t explained to Fran yet how I ended up getting roped into this whole act.
What was I supposed to say?
If I messed up, everything would be exposed.
Just as I was about to speak to Fran who was wearing a puzzled expression—
“Lady Fran, the village chief is looking for you.”
Rosaria’s loyal maid, Canon, stepped in naturally to support us.
“For what reason?”
“You’ll understand once you get there. It’s urgent, so please hurry.”
Though still confused, Fran followed Canon and left.
***
“Where’s the village chief?”
A deserted corner of the village.
She had followed the maid, but there wasn’t a single sign of anyone around.
“He’s elsewhere.”
“Didn’t you say he needed to see me?”
“Yes, that was a lie I made up.”
“I don’t get your intention.”
“Sir Theo is on his way. I thought it would be better if you heard it directly from him.”
It seemed he had wrapped up the conversation quickly and followed after them.
“Miss Canon, thanks for helping out just now.”
Theo scratched his head.
As expected, he hadn’t been prepared for the situation earlier.
“I didn’t help you. I only acted to keep Lady Rosaria from getting into trouble.”
After warning him not to make the same mistake again, Canon left.
“I still haven’t heard the story.”
Fran lightly tapped Theo on the back as he watched the maid walk away.
“Sorry, it must’ve been confusing. I’ll explain everything now.”
He began to tell her about what had happened in the village where he had stopped to hunt the Cyclops.
There were parts that were hard to believe, but she listened through to the end.
“You’re saying Claria is going to try to come between you and separate you?”
Theo said that Rosaria’s strange behavior was because of that.
If things went wrong, she’d only end up embarrassing herself.
Fran knew she had a mean streak, but wasn’t this just jumping to conclusions?
When Fran tilted her head in doubt, Theo spoke with conviction.
“She’s a hundred percent going to do it. It’ll make it easier for her to steal the credit from me.”
“That healer likes you, though. I don’t think she’d fall for any manipulation.”
“Mhmm… That’s the conclusion I came to after spending time in the same party. Anyway, just go with it.”
The noblewoman Rosaria acted like she didn’t get along with Theo whenever Claria was around.
No, it wasn’t just pretending not to get along.
She had saddled him with a fictional debt of a million gold and was blatantly pushing him around.
“…I didn’t think you were into that sort of thing. So you actually like being dominated by a strong woman?”
Fran had a lot she wanted to say but chose to let it go out of respect for him.
“It’s not like that!?”
“Don’t expect too much from me. I’m not going to act like that just to satisfy your twisted fetish.”
“It’s not a twisted fetish!”
Fran thought that she had no interest in romance at all.
But now, not only the healer, even Claria was showing signs of affection toward him.
Their relationship as childhood friends hadn’t changed, but something stirred faintly in a corner of her heart.
“I’m going.”
Turning abruptly, Fran walked away as if hiding her troubled emotions.
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