CH 75

Chapter 75: The News

Cyril: “Henry, what drink would you like to have?” Henry: “Tea.” Cyril: “Okaーy, oh, excuse meー”

Cyril calls over a waitress and gives her our orders.

It was the morning before we set out on an expedition.

As is our custom now, we came to the Grandes Church a little early before our meeting time, and I had tea with Cyril at the tavern.

This is how we energized ourselves and raised our motivation before an Adventure.

Cyril: “Oh, looks like the Adventurer’s News has a newly published release. Should I grab one for you?” Henry: “Yes, thank you.”

Cyril: “Sure thingー”

And as she hummed a melody, she went to the corner of the tavern shelves and took one of the Adventurer’s News releases from there.

The Adventurer’s News is a newspaper published without a regular schedule for Adventurers.

It was published by the Church, and on it, you’ll find many important developments and information that is useful for Adventuring in general.

There are news about new Magecraft Artifacts, newly discovered traits of Demonic Creatures, news about the most famous Adventurers, etc., etc.. You can see Ms. Lotte’s Live Performance dates and location advertised there too.

It is published and placed there for free at the tavern, so many Adventurers read it. I usually glance through the headlines at the very least when there is a newly published release. The situation in Ligaleo is a constant hot topic, so I typically see names I recognize.

And Cyril returns.

…….? But something’s wrong. She’s acting really weird.

Cyril: “UーUm….Henry. Look at this.”

Henry: “What? Did Sir Ezeal do something ridiculous again……?” I take the Adventurer’s News from Cyril’s hands and look at the article.

[The Saint of Salvation Collapses]

……..that was the first thing I read.

Cyril: “HーHenry?”

Cyril calls out to me, but I’m too busy reading the article.

………..looks like the recent attacks from Demonic Creatures are escalating and injuries are mounting up.

Without sleep or rest, she continued to perform Healing duties and finally her fatigue peeked, and Yuu collapsed from exhaustion.

But that was after she finished treating every last injured Adventurer there at the time. That’s Yuu for you.

Of course, there are other Healers in Ligaleo. But she would take on 30-40% of the injured herself, and only Yuu is able to save anyone who is minutes away from death.

But even so, if they overwork this precious resource to the bone and completely put her out of commission, then their backs will be up against the wall with no alternatives.

……….the Grandes Church and the Ningel Church met to discuss this, and decided to draw Yuu back away from the frontlines to give her time to rest and recover.

In exchange, the Ningel Church is sending 10 Upper-Tier Healers to Ligaleo…….and that’s where the article ends.

Henry: “.........fwew, okay. It’s not like she was taken out by a Demonic Creature, but she passed out from overwork.”

Cyril: “YーYes. Um….Henry….? Are you okay?” Henry: “Ha ha. What’s wrong, Cyril? Why wouldn’t I be okay? Geesh, that girl. I knew she was a hard worker who always felt responsible for everyone, so I knew something like this would happen one day.”

I take up the tea that was brought to me while I was reading the article and….

Henry: “(COUGH!) HOT!!”

…….I take a mouthful without thinking and burn my tongue.

Cyril: “Oh geesh. Calm down. You spilled your tea.”

Henry: “SーSorry! I’ll go borrow a towel!”

I immediately stood up.

…...but maybe I was in too much of a hurry.

I bump the table with my legs, and now the tea completely spilled over and splashed over my shoes.

Well, I don’t feel any of the hot water through my gear but……….crap.

Thankfully, Cyril was holding her cup with the hot milk tea, so her drink was fine. ……..but I almost want to think that she expected that to happen.

Cyril: “...........Henry…..” Henry: “IーIt’s nothing….”

Oh no, she has an exasperated look on her face.

IーI need to go get a towel and clean this up…….

I explained the situation to the tavern worker, and they let me borrow some cleaning equipment. By the time I got back, Jend and the rest of the group were there.

Jend: “Hey, Henry. I’ll help you. Here, hand me that towel.”

Henry: “Thanks……”

I handed Jend the towel, and I take another one to wipe the tea off the ground.

………...when I tried to stand up, I hit the back of my head against the underside of the table.

Teo: “Um, Mr. Henry? You aren’t your usual self today. Did something happen?” Henry: “Ohー, um, it’s nothing….”

I can’t believe that I made even the youngest member in our group, Teo, worry about me.

Cyril: “Henry saw this article and started acting this way…..” Cyril spreads out the Adventurer’s News newspaper and shows everyone the article.

Ferris: “The Lady Saint of Salvation……..so that’s why Mr. Henry’s head is up in the air.”

Jend: “Wasn’t she Henry’s ex? And they knew each other for a long time, right?” Henry: “..........you don’t have to emphasize the ‘ex’ part….”

I haven’t even held hands with her.

Cyril: “Umー, Henry? Are you okay for today? Why don’t we cancel today’s expedition?”

Henry: “Cyril, what are you saying? Of course we won’t cancel. It’s nothing, alright? Of course, I am a little worried since she was a member of my Party long ago. But I’m not that shaken up, okay? I know it says here that she collapsed, but that was from overwork. Plus, it says that she’s taking time to recuperate so there’s no reason for me to be worried, so I’m not shaken up at all by the news.”

I finish saying this in one breath, and Cyril begins whispering with the rest of the group to discuss.

Jend: “.........it’s worse than I thought.”

Teo: “Yes, he’s completely lost his cool.”

Ferris: “I’m sure if it’s Mr. Henry, he’ll be fine during the expedition but….”

Cyril: “Should we just go without him?”

I can hear everything, you guys.

Henry: “I’m telling you, I’m fine, so……”

But before I could finish my sentence, I swallowed back my words.

I don’t know why. I don’t quite understand, but it’s true that I’m not in my best condition. If the worst case scenario happens, if I make a critical or even a fatal error, I’ll curse myself to the grave. Besides, in this city, nothing will happen if you don’t go on an expedition for a day or two.

I try to calmly assess the situation andーー

Henry: “.......no, sorry. It’s like you all say. I’m a little off today, so let’s cancel. You can go without me if you like.”

Jend: “If we go without you, we might run into the same situation as last time. Why not take a break for a change?”

Cyril: “Yes, you’re right. Then Ferris, Teo, since we have time, do you want to go shopping with me?” Cyril begins inviting the two.

………..but what should I do? I think the longer I stay awake, the more unhelpful thoughts keep coming to mind so maybe a nap will do me some good?

And as I was thinking, I headed to the Grandes Church entrance.

I open the doorーーand I go into full alert.

“Hey, Henry!”

I barely managed to parry a hand with its fingers fully extended that was heading to my throat with unbelievable speed.

By pure reflex, I try to palm strike in return, but I couldn’t fully see the opponent’s face, and they duck and dodge my attack.

I block a leg swipe underneath by moving my center of gravity to a different foot.

As the opponent was forced to pause, I swung my arm downwards, but they crossed their arms to block my attack.

For a few seconds, we dish out punches and kicks and block in kind.

Finally, our fists meet with a <DON!!> (sfx) and the air around us trembles from the impact.

We both stay still for a moment……….and I finally saw my opponent’s face.

Henry: “........you…...Ageha. What do you think you’re doing?” Well, there were too many attacks going for my neck, so I knew immediately who I was up against, but the face confirmed my suspicions.

Ageha: “Just saying hi.”

Henry: “You completely erased your presence and sneak attacked me. Is that your way of saying hi?”

Well, it is a common way of greeting in Ligaleo’s terms.

Ageha: “What? If I was really serious, you wouldn’t have been able to respond in the first place. You know that, right?” Henry: “There’s no way. If you tried to attack me, I would know.” Ageha: “Haha. Yeah, right. It’s uncool to say you can do something when you can’t, so just stop.”

Henry: “........you picking a fight?”

Ageha: “Yeah, sure. You want to have a go?”

I was just about to answer her back when I felt a <CONK!>, and Cyril hits me in the head with her staff.

Cyril: “Please don’t start dueling at the Church entrance.”

Henry: “..........yes’m.”

Ageha: “Pffff, youー got in trouーble”

Cyril: “You too, Miss Ageha! What are you laughing at!”

Ageha laughs and apologizes without a hint of remorse in her voice.

Cyril tries to conk Ageha in the head with her staff, but Ageha’s dodging all her swings.

Henry: “(sigh).......”

I let out a deep sigh.

Henry: “.........so, why are you here, Ageha? You just wanted to drop by Flowtier for no reason again?”

She said last time that it took her four days, and considering the distance between Ligaleo and Flowtier, that is an incredibly short amount of time, but it’s not something she could do casually. She must have a reason…………….or maybe in her case, maybe she doesn't.

Ageha: “Oh yeah. That’s right. The reason why I’m here. Henry, have you heard the news? Yuu overworked herself and collapsed.”

Henry: “I just read the article in the Adventurer’s News this morning.” Her timing is unusually impeccable.

Ageha: “Greatー so that actually happened while I was on a long-term Quest. When I came back, Yuu had already left to go recuperate”

Henry: “And why does that bring you to Flowtier?” Ageha: “So I think Yuu went to go recuperate where her family is, but I don’t know where exactly in Salaiz that is. Everyone I know said they don’t know, and the people at the Church won’t tell me either……..so the only other person who would know is you, right?” Is she a genuine idiot? Oh, yeah. She is.

Henry: “.......okay, I understand your reasoning. But why do you want to know where Yuu is?”

Ageha: “Hm? To go check on her of course. The others were too slow, so I left them behind.”

If you were the standard for slow and fast, the whole of humanity excluding one person would be considered slow.

Ageha: “And I thought I better bring along a gift or a certain someoneー so…”

Henry: “Yeah, Flowtier has a lot of pretty flowers and other stuff.”

Wait.

Henry: “Did you just say [bring along a certain someone]?”

Ageha: “I did.”

Henry: “You mean…” Ageha: “You have nothing else to do, rightー? Besides, Yuu seemed pretty down lately, so here. Why don’t you go and say something nice to her.”

This girl………

But Yuu’s family home? It’s true that I know where that is but……...wait…...huh?

Henry: “Hey, Jend. Isn’t Wreathfield in the Salaiz Republic pretty close to Flowtier?”

I ask Jend who’s the most knowledgeable about geography.

Jend: “Yeah, it’s definitely a lot closer than the Capital. The Flowtier Count’s territory neighbors the Salaiz Republic, and it’s a town close to that border. My family’s business has some business ties there……….but you asking about that means….”

Henry: “I heard that Yuu’s home is the Orphanage in Wreathfield. If that’s the case……..I guess we could just go there without any issues.”

If it was Ageha and I, we could get there and back within the day.

Teo: “If it’s that close, wouldn’t she consider visiting you?” Henry: “.........nope. Not her.” I had to tell Teo no.

I do know her preーtty well. Unless she was planning on visiting me from the get-go, if she just happened to accidentally end up near me after an incident like that, she would not consider visiting me in the least. She’d feel too embarrassed and ashamed.

It’s kind of like…….when you skip school and the guilt eats away at you, and you can’t fully enjoy just playing around and doing what you like. It’s similar to that feeling, I think.

Ageha: “Good, then there’s no problems, right? Let’s go!”

Henry: “Wait, wait. Ughー I don’t mind going, but let me get some things ready at least.”

I guess I’ll pack a few clothes, and then go find some Flowtier snacks as a gift and then….

Cyril: “Oh, then we’ll get ready too. Should we meet up again after lunch here?” Jend: “You’ll need a proof of identification to cross the country border, so have that ready too, everyone.” Ferris: “Ohー, but I have my debts so I can’t just go to another country….”

Cyril: “Henry’s a Heroic Warrior, so if he takes responsibility, can’t you go then?” And Cyril and the rest of the group begin discussing next steps.

………….wait, is everyone coming too?