At Luman’s question, Kirky tilted his head.

"Hmmmmm."

He dragged it out like he was thinking. Coco and Ren both tensed up.

Why the hell is Luman asking something useless like that?!

Wait. That guy was bragging about how skilled a priest he was. Don’t tell me... did he figure out my illness...? What if he says it? What if he tells everyone?

It felt like his heart dropped straight through him.

"What’s wrong with you?"

Even Kirky, who had been about to speak, opened his eyes wide.

Startled, Coco hurried closer to Ren. Luman also tried to force himself upright, but Kirky grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"You can’t! Your wounds will split open, Hero!"

Coco gripped Ren’s arm tightly. Violet eyes met green ones.

"N-no. I’m fine."

"Ren. What’s wrong?"

Temar asked him after Ren barely managed to answer. His deep, heavy voice sounded almost like an interrogation. Ren shook his head hard.

"Nothing. I’m healthy. He completely fixed me."

"..."

He completely fixed me. Didn’t that sound an awful lot like a lie?

Coco couldn’t bring herself to agree. She only barely managed to smooth out the look threatening to twist across her face.

"Hahaha! At last, someone who recognizes this great Kirky’s true worth! That’s right! I perfectly healed all your external injuries."

Kirky puffed out his chest and thrust out his flat stomach. His gaze flicked over Ren’s clean fingertips.

"Ah! More importantly, y—"

Just as Kirky pointed at Ren and started to say something, Coco cut in at once.

"Kirky. There are a lot of patients here. How long are you planning to keep yapping?"

"What? No, but he—"

"You’re so loud I could die! Kirky! Your voice is going to ring in my ears all night and keep me awake. Instead of wasting time talking, why don’t we let Ren get back to bed and rest? With all this noise, he probably hasn’t been able to rest at all. It’s already the middle of the night!"

At Coco’s shouting, Kirky jutted out his lower lip, then shut his mouth. The irritation in Coco’s eyes looked, to him, very much like shut the hell up.

Luman frowned, but there was nothing wrong with what Lady Coco said, so he lay back down.

Morning would come soon enough, and there would be plenty of time to talk.

He looks tired. He must still be worn out from just waking up.

Luman felt a little guilty, wondering if maybe he hadn’t teased Ren for no reason.

But seeing Ren cry because he’d been worried about him had felt...

satisfying.

What am I, trash?

Luman smiled to himself, self-mocking.

"That’s enough. Everyone out."

Coco clamped a hand right over Kirky’s mouth. Kirky made muffled noises and thrashed all his limbs around.

Ren’s gaze lingered on Coco for a long moment. The boy blinked slowly. Now that he had calmed down, sleepiness seemed to be hitting him.

"Are you tired?"

Temar tried to loosen the strength in the arm holding Ren.

Back in the village, he used to stroke Ren all the time, but for some reason now it felt awkward. Temar’s thick hand, holding Ren by the shoulder, kept twitching.

"No. Not that. I’m just sleepy."

Ren’s answer came out haltingly.

It wasn’t an excuse. His body really was going limp. Mornings after his attacks were always like this. In those moments, he would feel almost weightless, as if for a little while he had a clean body. Even the sadness that came with it was always the same. Sometimes the thought of what a normal state felt like—something he almost wished he had never known—twisted Ren’s chest apart. His body was so clumsy, so weak, as if something ripped to shreds had just been stitched roughly back together. When that happened, Ren would think of his brother Temar out on the battlefield. Just because. Thinking of his brother made it feel like everything would be okay. But all it really did was make his chest ache more with the longing.

"Ren."

"..."

It seemed like he had started drifting off.

His eyelids were heavy, his mind hazy. Temar gently shook his shoulder. Ren could feel the thick, hot touch, but he couldn’t move at all. The drowsiness crashing over him was too sudden for him to fight. It was just... the days he had been left alone in the village were surfacing, and as if he didn’t want to remember them, his consciousness seemed to float away as he sank into sleep.

That priest might’ve figured something out. He might say something...

I have to stop him.

But he couldn’t even keep that thought going. Ren quietly fell asleep. Half-asleep, Ren wandered through light.

"...Is he really asleep?"

Temar touched a finger beneath Ren’s nose. He could feel the steady breath there. Even that breath felt precious. For one sudden instant, Temar felt a stabbing pain in his chest.

His body was sturdy, as if newly rebuilt. Even the limbs that had once been cut off were whole again. He was still Temar, Hero of the battlefield, red blood pumping hard through thick veins beneath muscles like stone.

Then what was this sharp, throbbing pain in his chest?

The unfamiliar sensation left Temar stunned into stillness.

"Kirky."

"Yes! Lady Coco! What is it?"

Kirky had been whining that his lips were split, answering playfully, but the moment he saw Lady Coco’s face, the laughter vanished.

"Are you perhaps feeling unwell?! This Kirky will heal you at once."

His tone was light, but his expression was serious. At his words, Seton’s face hardened.

"My lady. Please return to your room."

Coco forced her stiff expression to relax and shook her head.

"No. It’s not that. He really is asleep, right?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean Ren. He really is asleep, right?"

Coco desperately hoped her question didn’t sound strange.

"Yes! He’s sleeping like a baby, isn’t he? That just shows how exceptional this great Kirky’s divine power is! Even someone with blood pouring from his chest—mmph!"

Coco’s eyes flashed and she slapped a hand over Kirky’s mouth. Smack! The blow was hard enough that tears sprang to Kirky’s eyes at once. She definitely had gone easy on him before.

"Mmph! Mmph!"

Kirky shook his head wildly. His hair kept slapping against the back of Coco’s hand, and with a thoroughly disgusted expression, she pulled her hand away.

"Do you have no tact at all? Did you really have to bring that up?"

"Priest Kirky. Please do not anger my lady."

"Ughhh. Isn’t this a little too much, Lord Seton?! Do you know how many people I saved today?! O-of course, it was my duty, naturally..."

Kirky started shouting indignantly, then met Seton’s eyes and his voice shrank at once.

"He really does sleep like he’s dead."

Coco felt someone looking at her cheek.

It was Luman.

Coco deliberately scrunched up her face. Her violet eyes turned fierce. She let out a rough sigh.

"I really don’t like this. If he’d just slept quietly in the carriage, he wouldn’t have had to go through any of this."

"My lady, you should get some sleep as well."

"I should."

"Ah! Lady Coco! You still need to hear more about my heroic exploits!"

"Shut up."

Your hand is hurt too! At sharp-eyed Kirky’s shout, Lady Coco ended up having the hand the physician had already treated healed again. Along with the scratch on her cheek. As Kirky’s divine power spread through her, Coco’s injuries vanished cleanly. Watching them disappear, she felt a small hope bloom in her chest.

Maybe... maybe Ren’s illness got healed before Kirky even had a chance to notice it?

Yeah! It’s not like it’s some incurable disease in the first place, right? Ren’s just a coward who keeps hiding it!

"Shouldn’t you lay Ren down already? How long are you planning to keep holding him?"

"...Right."

Temar, who had been frozen like a statue in shock over that strange sensation stabbing through his chest, finally moved.

He thought he ought to rest.

His regenerated body was still vigorous, but the fatigue that had been ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) held back was starting to rush in.

Coco was about to leave the room as she was, then stopped.

There was something she had forgotten.

Turning back around, Coco looked at Temar and Luman.

"...Thank you for saving us. I’ll make sure your reward won’t be lacking."

Lady Coco thanked the two Heroes who had saved their lives with complete sincerity. She bowed her head deeply. Her flowing violet hair spilled down so far it looked like it might touch the floor. Watching her, Seton’s pupils widened. He too bowed his head, to observe the proper courtesy owed by one who served his master to the benefactors who had saved both his lord’s life and his younger brother’s. The maids and attendants still in the room helping clean up all set down what they were holding and bowed as well. Even Kirky wore a playful smile for a second, then hopped into place behind Coco and gave a neat bow.

The solemn mood made it clear all over again that lives that had hung on the edge had only barely been saved. Somewhere, it almost sounded like someone was faintly swallowing back tears.

Faced with such an unexpected sight, Luman awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

I wasn’t expecting thanks like this.

The sound of hair brushing against clothes. Fingertips brushing collars and skirts. People swallowing breaths. The sound of knights who had looked like they would never move lowering their heads. The clink of scabbards and armor filled the room.

At this rate, if nobody answers, they look ready to stay bowed all damn day.

Luman and Temar both—

Neither of them had ever really received thanks this sincere before. It had also been so long since either of them had truly felt that they had saved someone that, for a moment, they were both at a loss for words. In the end, it was Luman, the better speaker of the two, who shook off the strange feeling and opened his mouth.

"That much, I know perfectly well. And I fully trust that your reward will be very generous."

Ahem. Luman swallowed the awkward cough that tried to come out. He hid it as best he could, but his voice was trembling ever so slightly.

Temar looked at Luman with faint disappointment, like That’s really all you have to say?

Luman felt wronged.

At the very least, he didn’t deserve that look from Temar!

Let’s see, Temar. Let’s hear how wonderfully you handle it.

Luman’s eyes narrowed. Temar’s dark brown eyes flickered for a moment, then his thick lips parted. Everyone who had lifted their heads at Luman’s reply turned their attention to Temar. Kirky, looking like he expected some magnificent words from a Hero, clasped both hands tightly to his chest and stared with shining eyes.

And the words that came from the mouth of the great Hero who had saved them all were—

"Yes."

"...?"

"Hah."

"..."

That was it. One word.

The one who let out a hollow laugh was Luman. Behind Coco, the dozen or so maids and attendants who had been bowing slowly raised their heads and glanced at one another. Right?! I didn’t hear that wrong, did I? He really just said, “Yes”? That was it...? Coco looked genuinely pissed off.

Even Kirky looked deeply disappointed, staring at Temar with downright disrespect in his face.

Coco’s lips moved like she wanted to say something, but in the end all she left behind was a barked, "Attend to our benefactors with the utmost care!" before she stormed out. Her flaring skirt looked like it was expressing her fury for her.

Temar, face hard as a brick, lowered his eyes to Ren again.

"Khh..."

Who the hell is looking down on who?

Luman held back a laugh, then sighed.

He couldn’t just laugh anymore.

Because he felt sorry for Ren—Ren, who was so devoted to his brother—being the younger brother of a man that dense, that impossible to talk to, that hopeless with words.