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Chapter 65

It’s the middle of the night.

Nature calls, so I head out of my room and into the hallway to the washroom. There, I caught a glimpse of someone sitting in the living room.

Everyone should be asleep by now, so what’s going on?

Taking a closer look, a candle on the table reveals Celes sitting there.

“Hmm? Ah, Cohgray. Is something the matter?”

“Right back at you, Celes.”

“Ah, hmm... say, Cohgray...”

“What is it?”

The dimly lit figure calls me over.

“I am wondering if I could... speak to you for a little.”

“Of course. I’ll listen to whatever you have on your mind if you’re fine with just me.”

“Ah... it is something on which I would like your opinion.”

My opinion, eh?

I kinda had the feeling that something was bothering her.

She wasn’t really hiding it either.

I take a seat and give her my attention.

Celes looks back at me and begins to softly speak.

“This is regarding someone who dreamed of living life as an adventurer and then made it their reality...”

That adventurer gradually became more and more powerful and made a name for themselves.

However... a turning point came upon them.

The adventurer only became an adventurer for the money—so that their family could live comfortably.

But, their family... the little sister whom the adventurer so cherished had been cursed.

The one who placed the curse was an abhorrent dragon.

Learning of that fact, the adventurer joined forces with others who were suffering the same fate and enlisted as knights and sorcerers to slay the dragon.

There, they formed a dragon slaying squad with others whose families were affected or killed by that curse.

The adventurer was more than a knight... a hero, even. They led men and women—these dragonslayers—to wage war against menacing monsters and dreadful dragons.

Their goal was their family... to destroy the root of the curse that was causing so much misery.

If not... the adventurer’s beloved sister would perish.

It mattered not how despicable their tactics, how cowardly they fought—what matters was to slay the dragon.

“But... one day...”

“...”

It’s as if Celes were engaged in a monologue; she fixed her gaze to the starry skies and words simply spilled out of her lips.

“... the adventurer encountered someone else afflicted by that same curse tormenting their sister. That person had their curse lifted. The adventurer even discovered that the curse was not caused by a dragon but a man. This was all in front of the adventurer’s other dragonslayer ally as if obvious...”

‘She... hath been vague, but however...’

Yeah, I get you.

“I am sure you have seen the posters up in taverns and such, but I represent those who transformed the dragon into a human. The adventurer is now too pursuing the dragon to defeat it.”

I feel Veno staring at me.

So, she’s the dragonslayer that was leading the group when they brought me into the world with Forced Possession Summoning.

I remember the dragonslayer was clad in armor... but to think it was Celes all along.

If you think about it, the signs were there.

Celes is a follower of the Teachings of the Sacred Yggdrasil, an extremely powerful adventurer, and had merely swung by Wayne’s residence while she was on an assignment.

Wayne’s a well-known blacksmith too. He’s someone who Celes is indebted to and was afflicted by a curse much like her sister... Celes couldn’t help but to help those who are suffering.

“And then... this curse was caused by a greedy man in order to profit from the adventurers putting their lives on the line. Someone had placed a curse on a religious symbol used by many for praying.”

But there’s someone using Celes.

The villain... he’s the one who placed Dragonfall’s Charge on the job-changing altar.

Still, we don’t know who the culprit is...

“What do you think the adventurer should do?”

... Celes probably has an answer in her heart already.

Still, she’s asking the person who showed her that the curse can be lifted for support.

“That’s a no-brainer if you ask me. Never mind whether or not the curse can really be lifted; the adventurer’s priority should be their precious baby sister. Helping their sister is way more important than finding the culprit.”

That’s obvious, right? You’re only risking your neck to save your dear family.

But the adventurer—no, Celes’ objective is to slay the dragon, not to catch the mastermind.

It’s just to save her sister.

“I... think so too. It is exactly as you said. Nothing else matters more than the adventurer’s beloved ones. It is true for all of the adventurer’s comrades too.”

Celes looks at me with her piercing gaze.

“Cohgray, tell me... are you absolute in that the curse can be lifted? And it... shall not return?”

Yo, Veno, what do I say here?

‘... repeatest after me.’

Gotcha.

‘“There are no absolutes in this world. However, that abhorrent magic has reared its ugly head in the past. If we lift it before it evolves or gets changed, then there is no threat of being cursed again. But, the source of the problem is within the body. The mastermind may very likely to have already prepared another illness or hex. If it seems incurable, then it very may well be an entirely different problem at hand.”’

Celes and that friend of hers fought for their loved ones.

Their emotions are being controlled like a tool by some bastard.

If his tools don’t work... then he’ll fix them by subjecting their loved ones with another illness.

We can’t let the bastard have his way.

“I... see. It is ironic how the stronger one is, the farther the goal seems to slip away.”

Celes continues to mutter to herself.

“... that silly adventurer seems to have taken a detour from her destination. Aye, neither the culprit nor the curse matters. The fact of the matter is that the sister is sick, and the adventurer should be helping her.”

Whatever doubts or hesitations she might have had, Celes seems to be free of them now.

“That is all the sappiness to which I shall subject you. Tomorrow is another day, so we need to rest well.”

“You got that right. You never know when you have to get back to your work too.”

“Ah... that is certainly true.”

With the candle in hand, she begins to head back to her room.

“You have my gratitude, Cohgray.”

I could but barely hear her faintly mutter out her thanks.

‘I know not who or where, but that being is more repulsive and despicable than any monster.’

Veno, who had been pretty positive as of late, spits out his words.

He did say that the miasma that chokes this world is mankind’s just deserts.

In a sense, he lost his life so that the world tree may live on, but as if it meant nothing at all, there are people who are determined to make it wither.

And the one who shifted the blame onto Veno and Arleaf’s ancestor is Virage, huh?

I guess people are more despicable than any king of demons could ever be.

After that, I finished up my business in the washroom, and headed back to sleep.