The Priest Wants to Retire

〈 Chapter 41 〉 Whining

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A chill swept through Apis, as if a sharp icicle had grazed her spine.

When the conversation fell silent, beings who lived through communication instinctively sought means to replace language.

They would observe each other’s expressions, gestures, or actions.

Ultimately, it was a sort of resistance to shield oneself from the weight of silence pressing down upon their consciousness. One could say it is a kind of defensive instinct rooted deep within intelligent beings.

“Y-You, Hero…”

Nothing, nothing was visible.

No expressions, gestures, actions, not a single thing she could decipher.

Even with her eyes wide open, desperately trying to gather the faint light hanging in the air, creatures living under the sun were powerless against the sudden darkness that enveloped them.

Apis had to calmly accept the absurdity of the night that had unexpectedly snatched away her vision.

“Right! It was just a misunderstanding! Just a misunderstanding!”

The resonant voice wavering in the darkness should have indicated where the sound was coming from.

Yet for some reason, Apis could not gauge whether the Hero was positioned directly in front of her, to the side, or behind her.

It was as if the darkness itself had sprouted a mouth and was speaking.

“It’s okay! Apis! You don’t need to worry too much! I too made a mistake just earlier by misjudging the priest’s sample! Haha! Even meticulous Apis has such moments! I actually felt relieved to find a clumsy comrade!”

“Th-That’s true…”

As her vision gradually adjusted to the darkness, Apis caught sight of the Hero’s chin, which was beaming with a bright smile. However, it felt as if she was gazing at some bizarre portrait, with only the upper part of the face smeared with black paint.

Instead of relaxing, Apis was now experiencing a new form of fear she had never encountered before.

“Please keep your worries at bay! I will take full responsibility for the food here! I’ll eat it all without leaving a crumb! Leaving food behind would be unbefitting of a Hero who should be an example for everyone! Even if my stomach bursts! I will finish it all!”

“I’ll… I’ll help too… Just let me relight the lantern… I’ll grab oil from the storage, so wait just a moment…”

“Yes! I appreciate your thoughtful assistance! Apis!”

From the faint remnants of light just before the lantern flickered out, Apis reached out, tracing the wall and tracing back the Hero’s voice.

It was instinct. No, it was closer to survival instinct.

Like a sensitive wild animal unconsciously avoiding unstable ground or predicting an upcoming natural disaster.

She had to escape this place as soon as possible.

The desperate call of her deep consciousness was urgently urging Apis’s legs, which were frozen in place by the unexpected situation.

But…

“A-pis.”

A resonant voice so dark that she couldn’t even dare to imagine its clarity.

A sticky voice reminiscent of the thick mud clinging to clothes wrapped around Apis’s consciousness.

Crack!

Something grabbed Apis’s hand.

In that moment, the image of a poor beast trapped in a swamp flickered in Apis’s retina.

Unaware that her sunken limbs were already buried in the ground, the creature continued to struggle futilely, trying to escape that very spot, dying alone just to survive.

Apis realized.

She was that creature. And what held her arms was that bottomless swamp.

“Y-You, Hero…?”

A sense of tension tightened around her heart like thorny vines. With all her might, Apis shook off that intangible shackle and croaked out a voice.

Then, the force that firmly gripped Apis’s hand began to expel a sinister breath, hiding its expression in the darkness, like a dense fog.

“Apis. We are comrades, right?”

“Hero… What do you mean all of a sudden… Ugh!”

“Apis. We are. Comrades. Right?”

“Ugh! Hero…!”

The Hero, who had a grip like a massive rope on Apis’s arm, repeated the question again and again, demanding a clear answer.

“Of course! We are… Cough! We are comrades!”

“Exactly! We are comrades! Together we have faced various adversities and trials! We can trust and rely on each other’s backs anytime, anywhere!”

“Hero! Can you please let go of my arm for a moment?…”

“Then─!!!”

Apis’s consciousness went into high alert.

It wasn’t because the Hero suddenly raised his voice.

The Hero’s voice had always boasted near-shouting volume, and in fact, memories of the Hero speaking softly were quite rare.

However, what caused Apis’s unease was not simply the Hero’s loud exclamations, but the distinctly different feeling she received from his voice, which sounded almost like a scream.

She couldn’t fully explain it in either human or elf languages. It was just clear that something was different in her perception.

Anger. Or perhaps, longing.

Amidst the words that popped up in her mind, she could only find those that bore a similar shade, but Apis couldn’t quite define the emotion the Hero was currently exuding.

“Between comrades. We shouldn’t tell lies. If we’re comrades who truly care for one another, we should only speak the truth.”

“Y-You, Hero…!”

Apis occasionally attempted to pull her arm away, but the Hero’s extraordinary grip on her arm would not allow it.

It didn’t feel like a person holding another person’s arm. It felt as if her arm was stuck between a cliff.

Even if she were to forcefully pull her arm, it was obvious that the state it would be left in would not be whole.

At that moment, Apis had no choice but to provide an appropriate answer to the question.

But…

“Apis. From now on, I ask that you speak the truth about what I’m going to say. Did you really not find the priest today? Or are you actually lying to me, saying you didn’t find the priest even though you did?”

“W-What are you talking about… Hero… I just said I imagined I found that one earlier…”

“Lies!!!”

“Ugh!”

With a roar that rivaled the previous cry, the Hero tightened his grip further on Apis’s arm.

“Apis. Why are you lying to me? We’re comrades. I don’t want to engage in the vile act of doubting my comrade as a Hero.”

“Hero… I’m really…!”

“Smell.”

“····!”

“The smell… I can smell it… The smell of the priest… For sure this time… This time I’m certain…”

There shouldn’t be any lingering scent.

Fearing that such a situation might occur, Apis had burned herbals to erase the scent, sprayed the ashes onto her body, and even intertwined the scents of various races while navigating the bustling market.

Later, she diluted any possible residual scent with wind spirit magic.

Moreover, this place was a chaotic realm of smells with rich food scents blowing about.

To detect that man’s scent on her body was equivalent to finding a single grain of sand in the vast desert.

“I get it… I understand… But please let go of this for now, and let’s talk about your… Hero…!”

At that moment.

Thinking she had gravely misunderstood the situation’s seriousness, Apis determined that calming the agitated Hero was her top priority, concluding her thoughts while carefully pondering her next words.

The pure moonlight that filtered in from beyond the window illuminated the veil-clad Hero’s face.

“H-uh…!

“····!”

The pitiful face of the girl, now smeared with tears and sorrow, stopped Apis’s once-cooling thoughts cold.

“I-I didn’t mean to! I-I’m sorry… A-Apis… I will be a model for all… I will become a person worthy of the name Hero…”

“H-Hero…”

“I won’t be greedy… I will prioritize others’ lives over my own… If someone gets sprayed with poison, I will take it on my own body… Even if it means my limbs are torn apart, I will do my best to ensure not a single speck of dirt touches another’s body… I won’t use my strength even a little bit for myself…”

“You……”

Apis’s arm trembled.

But the source of that tremor wasn’t Apis herself.

Like a child who had once gotten lost desperately clutching the only pillar of support in the hustle and bustle of the city—her parent’s hand.

Like a thin tree swaying in a gust, the Hero’s sturdy hands clung tightly to Apis despite emanating an uncharacteristic weakness proportional to their tremendous strength.

“I-I will eat everything, without picking and choosing… I won’t cry even if I have a nightmare… I-I will be a good child! A good child! So please…”

Now reduced to mere whines, a voice that could not even be classified as begging, lost in words.

“Please… return the priest to me…”

It was unmistakably the whining of a child.

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