Rise of the Soul Hero

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Having finished with the plants in the village, the four of us were rewarded with the first portion of fruit from the new trees. They sold the fruit themselves through new acquaintances, and Andrew managed to find enough gifts, and the best one he prepared for Lizi. It was a diamond necklace, which he made from improvised materials, in addition to another beautiful dress, which he picked up especially for her. But the news didn't end there. As they had recently travelled near the border, they had finally found out information about Itsuki, and they were not happy about it. As they had learnt from people, Itsuki had overthrown the ruler of the land and helped the revolutionaries, but in the end the government had almost completely ruined the state by raising taxes on almost everything. Andrew was not very happy about this and hoped that at least Ren had not spoilt the situation with his actions.

At the moment the four of us were travelling among the dense coniferous trees, heading for the special mines to get new materials and find new jobs if possible. Andrew was sitting in the back this time, but the slight breeze and mist was blowing around him, and the fragrance of the pine needles was relaxing him. Naofumi covered his eyes slightly and breathed in the fresh air as he continued to steer the wagon. Raftalia looked around and just smiled, humming a light tune in her head, while Firo went ahead and pulled the wagon, looking forward to trying the new dishes they might be served. So it went on up to the top of this hill where the village was beginning. Here the air was heavy and the fog even thicker, and there was an uneasiness in the air itself. Andrei immediately carefully peeked out and began to speak.

- Naofumi, there's something wrong here. You feel a heaviness in the air, as if a disease has struck this place. -

Naofumi immediately turned towards Andrei and began to answer.

- I feel it too, so we'd better talk to the people. I just feel like we've probably already found jobs. -

As soon as he said that, the door of the house next to them opened. A thin, old-looking man with a bald spot in the middle where the hair should be. He looked sadly in the direction of our four, and then began to speak.

- You'd better leave before the disease kills you too, and if you're going to go forward. Don't go towards the mountains. -

He was about to close the door, but Naofumi stopped him and began to ask for more information.

- What disease are you talking about, and why don't we go towards the mountains? -

The man stared at them for a few seconds and then his eyes widened. He walked outside and before running towards a larger house, he uttered.

- Wait a little while, I need to report you to the old age. Thank god that you have come the great saint with the sacred bird and his apostles. -

Hearing this, Andrew and Raftalia shook their heads, and wanted to say that they were just ordinary living beings. But by this time the man had already run into another house, and a few minutes later he opened the door and began to speak with a broad smile on his face, beckoning our four to come in.

- Come in quickly, the headman wants to see you. You have no idea how much we've been expecting you to come. -

Andrew, Naofumi and Raftalia looked at each other, but shrugged and dismounted. Firo became a little girl and walked with them towards the house. And as soon as they got inside the apparent headman of this village came up to them. He made a low bow and began to speak.

- O holy hero, we thank God that you have come here. We ask you to deal with the affliction that has afflicted our land. -

Naofumi looked at him and began to ask.

- First, tell us how it all began. That will help us to put things in their proper place, and also tell us why it is better not to go towards the mountains. -

The elder bowed again and began his story.

- Originally a dragon came to our land, of course it was a nuisance and a death threat to us all. But luckily the hero of the sword killed the dragon. Then everything was fine, we collected materials, adventurers came to us and paid for the job. But of course all good things come to an end quickly, the dragon's body began to rot, the air became infected and now blowing from the mountains it is coming towards us. The dragon's body is in the mountains, so it's best not to go there. -

Naofumi nodded, and Andrew sighed heavily, and this was noticed by the elder, he approached Andrew and asked with undisguised concern.

- Dear Apostle of the Holy One, are you alright? -

Andrew smiled slightly and began to answer.

- Don't worry, I am fine and please don't call me apostle. My name is Andrew, and I sighed with such a heavy sigh because of the fact that already the second hero made a major mistake. We recently corrected the spear hero's mistake, but it's not that important. At this point, you have those who need to be healed? -

The Elder bowed once again and began to answer.

- O noble apostle, I mean generous Andrew. There are sick people, and if you have a cure, we will gladly buy it from you. -

Andrew looked at Naofumi and he nodded and began to speak.

- Yes, we have medicine, Raftalia, if you would be so kind. Bring the crate from the wagon, we'll negotiate a price. -

Raftalia smiled and started to answer.

- 'I will do it very quickly Naofumi-san, just please. Don't make the price too high. -

Naofumi smiled once more and started to reply.

- Don't worry Raftalia, I'm not a greedy merchant, I'm just a good businessman, in addition, this isn't a bazaar to charge sky-high prices. How about two hundred silver? -

Raftalia nodded and ran outside, but at the same second a girl in medical clothes came forward and began to speak.

- In my opinion you are not a saint, but a stingy one. Two hundred silver is not too much for a medicine. -

But at that very second, an elder stopped her and started to answer her.

- The others would have demanded gold for the cure, perhaps even more. This price is so low for us that your claim just seems like the behaviour of a miser. -

She apologised and walked away, then Raftalia returned and they began to give potions to all who needed them.

When they finished, they approached the headman and Naofumi began to speak.

- We will take care of the remains of the dragon and remove the disease, you can pay for it with some things. Also, if you don't mind, I'll sell you some jewellery later. -

The Elder made another bow and then began to reply with joy in his voice.

- By all means holy hero, may God protect you and your companions with the sacred bird, we will pray for your success in this difficult task you are about to undertake. -

Andrew stepped forward slightly and began to answer.

- Don't worry Elder, we've been in a lot of trouble. We will cope with this one too, and when we come back, let's drink tea or something stronger together. -

Without removing his smile the elder replied that he would set a table in honour of their successful return, and then he crossed them all for God's help.

An hour later our four were already in the very area of the mountains where the dragon's body lay. There was an unpleasant dark purple smoke around, which turned out to be the cause of the contagion that was spreading through the air. Because of this everyone bandaged their faces with water to prevent them from inhaling the poisoned air. So they walked a little more and saw the body that started it all.

The body itself had really started to rot, Andrei looked at it and began to speak.

- We have a lot of work to do now. It's good to have everything at our fingertips. It's a pity that the meat has already rotted, we could probably spit it on a spit if it were fresh. -

At these words everyone laughed and Raftalia began to speak.

- I never thought that you have such a big appetite, brother Andrei. Usually Firo here likes to have a snack. -

Right after that, Firo started to answer.

- I'm not that voracious, sister Raftalia, but it looks quite edible. So I don't know what you don't like, but I wouldn't mind tasting this meat. So wish me a good appetite. -

No one even had time to stop her, turning into a bird Firo ran towards the dragon's body. Andrew sighed slightly and shrugged his shoulders and began to speak.

- Well, once again I am convinced that our Firo is an omnivore. Eh, it's a pity we really can't eat so much meat, we'd probably get fat, but that's okay. Let's get to work, it's gonna take us a while. -

Naofumi and Raftalia immediately agreed, then approached the dead body and got to work. Naofumi and Raftalia worked with the materials at hand, while Andrew made signs and burned them where he could. Firo, on the other hand, was eating pieces of the body. They probably would have finished faster than they had planned, but the ground began to shake. The poisonous air intensified, and the body itself rose to its full height.

Naofumi immediately hid his comrades behind him and began to speak.

- Damn, that thing has become undead. It's a mess, so now we have to send him back to the other world again. Well, if we're careful, we can handle it. -

Everyone agreed except Firo, she came forward and started talking.

- Don't worry master, I can easily deal with this overgrown lizard. -

No one had time to stop her, she ran forward and wanted to attack the dragon in a leap. But the dragon quickly moved its long neck and snapped its sharp jaws, swallowing Firo into its gut.

Naofumi almost fell to his knees at this, Raftalia could barely hold back her tears, and Andrei, on trembling legs, stepped forward and began to speak.

- Hey! Give her back now, you stupid lizard, I won't let you take her away from us, you hear me, I won't let you, you bastard! -

Fury mixed with destruction and dexterity ran through his body, Andrew ran forward to attack, with swift blows he chopped the dragon wherever he could, but even that wasn't enough. The undead dragon's outer defences were too high and eventually Andrew was hit by a blow that sent him flying towards Naofumi and Raftalia.

He stood upright and felt a new burst of anger that was unfamiliar to him, but when he looked at Naofumi, who seemed to be covered in scarlet light, and Raftalia, who was trying to bring her to her senses, it all went away. He sighed heavily and almost fell to his knees, but he walked over to Naofumi and turned to Raftalia.

- What's going on with him, there's a very ominous aura coming from him right now. It's like he's not him at all right now. -

Raftalia was a little frightened, but started to answer.

- I don't know what happened, Naofumi-san became like this as soon as that thing ate Firo. I have to try to bring him back to his senses, while you protect us from the dragon's attacks. -

Andrei nodded and began to answer.

- I'll do what I can, but be careful. I don't want to lose you too. -

They nodded to each other and Andrei immediately began to activate his defences. He blocked every blow and stood on his feet despite the pain, his eyes were starting to darken and the small wounds were still bleeding. His characterisation interface told him that he was about to bleed profusely and take double damage to his body if he didn't take the healing elixir. He didn't care about that, but after activating another barrier he turned towards Naofumi and Raftalia.

He saw that Naofumi had already recovered slightly, but there were black burns on Raftalia, like some kind of curse. Because of that, he fell to his knees and crawled closer, then started to ask in a trembling voice.

- Naofumi, what happened? What the hell is wrong with her. -

Naofumi looked at Andrei and started to answer.

- I don't know, but it's because of me. I was angry and now we're all going to die, I'm sorry, it's my fault. -

But Andrew shook his head negatively and began to speak with a very serious tone.

- Pull yourself together wimp, this may be the end, but not for you. I'll hold this thing off, you take Raftalia and heal her wounds, I'll stay and finish it off, whatever it takes. -

Naofumi wanted to protest, but at the same moment they both heard the dragon's painful howl. They turned around and saw that the dragon was being beaten from the inside, and the dragon was bleeding dark red blood. A moment later, Firo came out of the dragon's belly, eating her way out.

As she disappeared from the dragon's mouth, neither Andrew nor Naofumi could say anything. But the miracle didn't end there either, Raftalia opened her eyes heavily and began to speak rising to her full height.

- Mr Naofumi, Brother Andrei, I had such a bad dream. There was a dragon in it and it ate Firo and you were hurt. -

Andrei was trembling, but he put his swords away and hugged her, and then pulled Firo and Naofumi against him as well, then he began to speak.

- Don't ever scare like that again, you have no idea how scared I was just now. Please don't ever scare me like that again. I thought I really lost you, it's getting dark and cold. -

After saying that, his eyes closed and he no longer felt the pain and fear and rage that made his body shake.