Chương 86: Chapter 85 – A Sincere Conversation

I registered the sensation of the hard, unyielding, and biting cold floor beneath my back. For a brief half-second, I genuinely believed I had died and reverted all the way back to the subterranean mana-slave pens beneath the Cathedral. My entire body felt so utterly drained and frigid that I couldn't muster the willpower to stir a single finger. But then, a melody drifted into my consciousness. It was a soft, pure, and gentle voice, humming low like a soothing autumn breeze.

I cracked my eyes open and met Lealia's face. How strange. Not a single branch of my meticulously mapped-out strategies had accounted for waking up to the sight of Lealia.

"Asher!" Lealia gasped softly, her face lighting up the moment she realized I was conscious.

"He's awake?" Another head breached my field of vision—it belonged to Kamarti. As my senses gradually came back, I realized I was lying with my head resting squarely on Lealia's lap inside a room constructed of ancient, weathered stone. A small, arched window nearby permitted a fragile stream of daylight and the rustling leaves outside to filter into the space. I made an effort to sit up, but Lealia gently pressed a hand to my chest to restrain me.

"Just stay down. You're still incredibly weak."

"…Then at least swap something else as my pillow."

"Oh… but there's nothing else up here. Do you mind if it's a bit damp?" I harbored no objections, so my makeshift headrest was promptly swapped for a straw rain-cloak layered over a leather pack. If given the luxury, I would have desperately preferred a heavy blanket or some sort of padding beneath me, as a violent chill was currently racking my core. But realistically, I was in no position to be demanding amenities.

"Are we… still inside the abandoned church?" Lealia nodded.

"We found you unconscious on the lower level. There was a… a ghoul idling right outside the entrance, so we carried you up to the second floor." I briefly channeled the Halunar's Eye to verify that our current place were entirely free of Miasma before asking, "Why did you two even come up here?"

"Because I waited for hours and you never returned…"

"My point is, didn't Nathan explicitly detail just how suicidal it was up here? And what about the evacuation of the town below?"

"The people has already been completely evacuated. It appears Edgar successfully established contact with the high authorities; the relief vanguard they dispatched arrived early this morning. Iris is down there managing the crowd as well. As for Nathan… he apparently set off to scout the alternative mountain trail outside the church and hasn't returned."

"Hold on. Then who brought you the information?"

"It was Jonas. He risked the descent down the mountain entirely alone to deliver the warning." I had to draw in three slow, deliberate breaths simply to forcefully anchor my composure. That absolute coward of a brat, Nathan. To think he would entirely abandon such a volatile, chaotic situation and dump it onto the laps of two young girls—one of whom he knew damn well was completely untrustworthy. I should have anticipated his flight response the moment the pressure mounted.

And to leave the logistics of leading the townspeople entirely to Iris? It had essentially handed her free Reputation points on a silver platter! Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Yet, the most jarring reality I had to process was that Lealia had actively jeopardized her own life to scale this mountain solely to track me down. It was impossible to harbor an ounce of resentment toward her actions. I knew how brutal the ascent to the mountain was.

For a young woman who had rarely engaged in grueling manual labor, making that trek even in pristine weather required an immense feat of willpower, let alone navigating it during a treacherous rain. One look at Lealia's current state told the whole story; she looked as though she had been dragged bodily through a puddle of mud. Furthermore, she had been fully aware of the deadly danger of this location. She could have died, yet she still chose to gamble her life to rescue a companion. To rescue me.

I had to admit, I was once again moved by the purity and sincerity of this girl. And this was occurring right at the time when I had forced myself to abandon all hope of grooming her into a Hero Candidate. Testing my limbs, I found my mobility somewhat restored and pushed myself into a sitting position. Kamarti, sitting nearby, extended his firm hand to help me maintain my balance.

"Lealia, do you truly have no desire to become a Hero?"

"Huh…?"

"Not even if I were insistent on wanting you to?" Lealia was visibly taken aback by my abrupt earnestness, but I couldn't restrain the urge. I genuinely wanted this girl as a core member of the Hero's party. I locked my gaze directly onto her deep brown eyes, silently demanding a definitive answer. Lealia did not flinch or break the eye contact. Instead, she asked in a slow, measured tone, "Before I answer... can I ask you a few things first? I need you to be entirely honest with me."

"Yes."

"What is it that drives you to care so profoundly about who fills the seats of the Heroes?" My instinctual reflex was to manufacture a lie. But looking into those earnest eyes waiting for nothing less than absolute transparency, I resolved to unveil a fragment of the truth.

"You might find this hard to believe, but I'm orchestrating all of this under the divine guidance of the goddess Halunar." The revelation caught both Lealia and Kamarti completely off-guard, their expressions freezing. Kamarti knit his brows, voicing his skepticism:"Uh, are you implying that you work for the Holy Church?" I shook my head.

"No. The Goddess directly bypassed the Church to bestow this directive upon me. My task is to scout and select the individuals most suited to fill the roles of the Heroes."

"But… the Goddess already possesses an absolute system for selection, does she not? I am referring to the Holy Marks she burns into her chosen."

"The Goddess is currently facing a trouble. As a result, she communicated her divine will directly to me within a dreamscape, mandating that I execute this task on her behalf."

"The Goddess wants you to choose for her?"

"Not precisely. The underlying mechanics are infinitely more complex than that. The Goddess has strictly forbidden me from disclosing the deeper parameters of the arrangement; I can only share this much." Lealia lapsed into silence, her gaze drifting toward Kamarti as if silently asking via telepathy if I had suffered a traumatic head injury and was merely speaking in a feverish delirium.

Letting out a slow sigh, I peeled off the leather glove that had become an inseparable extension of my identity, exposing the mark on the back of the hand for both of them to see.

"This is the mark the Goddess etched into my flesh. It isn't a forgery. It mirrors your Holy Mark though the geometry is slightly more complex, doesn't it?" Lealia blinked in confusion.

"I… my mark is located at the base of my neck. I've only ever caught a fleeting glimpse of it through a mirror." I slid the glove back over my hand, despite it now being uncomfortably caked in grime.

"The sole reason I know about your skills, including hidden abilities you aren't even consciously aware you own, is because the Goddess detailed them to me. Short of that, I have no other method to substantiate my claims. Whether or not you believe what I say is entirely up to you." Lealia remained locked in deep, introspective thought for a prolonged silence before she asked, "Why me?"

"The Hero's party will need a good healer," I countered simply.

"And in my estimation, you are the most qualified candidate in existence."

"But Iris's healing capabilities are exceptionally potent as well, aren't they?"

"… Her personality is terrible. She's not suited for teamwork." Lealia blinked, visibly suprised to hear me make such a comment about famously sweet-tempered Iris.

"I've consistently felt as though I were wandering blindly through a thick fog," Lealia murmured suddenly, her voice dropping. I didn't get it at first, but I maintained silence, allowing her to speak.

"Until yesterday, I genuinely had no clue of what I wanted to do with my life. But this trek up the mountain today… it was the first time in my entire life I felt absolute clarity and decisiveness." She turned her head, locking her eyes onto mine with the weight of a final, unshakeable verdict.

"I am not exceptionally gifted, nor do I possess grand confidence. There may come a time when my limitations hold you back. But if you truly require my assistance, I will give you everything I have. Just as I did today. Can I walk by your side... until I finally clear this mist myself?" A genuine smile couldn't help but break across my face, the weight that had been anchoring my chest instantly vanished.

"We have a deal. I'll be in your care from here on out, Lealia."