Nurturing the Hero to Avoid Death

Translator: mii

Editor(s): ASplashOfMusic, sleepchaser

I wake up. For a moment, I don’t know if it’s morning or night.

It’s dim, so it might be sunrise right now, but it’s also too dim to be morning… I’m not very sure.

I turn my eyes toward the window. All I see is the usual cloudy sky. The scenery outside is the same as yesterday, with the sky and mountains resembling an ink painting.

Water drops slip down the window glass, indicating that it just recently rained.

Right now, I’m still lying on the bed even after I’ve woken up.

Last night, that lying bastard… I don’t have any other memories after drinking that herbal water that worked so well in making me fall asleep.

Sweet dreams, he said?

Don’t mess with me.

I fell into a lethargic sleep without even a chance to dream, you bastard.

Damn it. Even I think that I’m too shameful. I’m such a big fool. I definitely have to go and get someone to give me a good scolding.

From this day on, I swear for the life of me to never drink anything that guy gives me.

What time is it now? The room is so dim that I can’t even tell whether the sun has risen or not.

I sigh, then I peel off the quilt made of soft fabric that’s hanging over my body and sit up.

Someone must’ve covered me up. It’s probably that guy.

I feel like I’ve slept a lot, but my head feels heavy and filled with haze. It’s like I’m still in a dream.

After I get up, I’m so dizzy that I feel like I’m about to collapse. So, I stay still on the bed until the haze in my head clears a little more.

I just watch the water drops on the window glass as they chase after each other one after another.

If I strain my ears, I can hear the sound of rain. And from the sounds, the rain seems quite heavy.

How long have I been sitting absentmindedly like this?

Then there’s a quiet clicking sound coming from behind the door.

“…My. You’ve woken up, I see.”

At the same time I hear footsteps coming into the room, I hear a voice. Schwede’s.

“Good morning, Lian-dono. How do you feel?”

I look behind me and see the knight with bright dawn-colored hair and eyes walking toward me with a smile.

But I don’t feel like smiling back at all. Or even replying to him.

The knight walks to the side of the bed. He stops once he’s right in front of me and looks into my face.

“…Hmm, your complexion has improved compared to yesterday.”

“Thanks to you.”

“Is that so? I’m glad to see that you’ve slept well.”

Even though I used a vicious tone, he still replied to me with a warm smile, pretending not to notice the irony behind my words. This fucking bastard.

“Lian-dono, you seem to have a considerable amount of night sweats. Do you want to take a bath before eating? Or, if you are hungry, do you want to eat first?”

After thinking for a while, I reply that I’m going to take a bath with a low voice.

There are a lot of things I have to think about and also things I want to say. But first of all, I have to clear my mind. Since I’m still feeling sleepy, I won’t be able to move well when the situation calls for it. I can’t even think well. This is no good.

“Then I’ll prepare the bath immediately. Ah, right. Lian-dono, I told you last night that you have to wait things out here, but… I’m sure you’re not happy with this place. You don’t eat much, and you don’t sleep enough, right? I’m worried that your health will deteriorate until I’m back. So… I’m thinking of returning you to the village so that you can wait for me with peace of mind.”

I look up.

“Huh…?!”

That means…

“I… I can go home…? To the village?”

Schwede grins. “Yes. I’ve already prepared the carriage that will bring you back. You don’t have to hurry. We have plenty of time. First, you can have hot tea until I finish preparing the bath. Please take your time. Come, give me your hand.”

When I move my body, the silver chain on my right leg makes a noise.

Schwede presents his ungloved hand to me.

For some reason, when I look up at his eyes…

I feel like they’re slightly hazy…

I take a bath and change into the clothes that he has prepared during that time.

The clothes aren’t the roomy loungewear I’ve been wearing until now or the black vestments Marie always wears. It’s a white clothing with a long hem, reaching near the bottom of my ankle.

A flower resembling a lily and a white bird are woven on the chest part of the clothing. They look refined, almost like a watermark.

The material has a glossy luster and a soft texture… It seems to be of high quality.

Moreover, the collar, cuffs, and hem are finely embroidered with silver and gold threads, making the clothes luxurious and somewhat…

…The quality is so good that I have a bad feeling about this.

In addition, the white jacket draped on top is not only embroidered with silver thread on the collar, cuffs, and hem, but also had soft white feathers.

Schwede kneels down on one knee before my feet. He then takes a small silver key out of his chest pocket and plunges it into the small lock on my right leg chain.

Afterward is a clicking noise, indicating that the chain has been unlocked.

No matter what I did, I couldn’t unlock or break it. But now, the silver shackles are easily removed and fall onto the floor.

After unwrapping the patch covering my ankle, Schwede touches and inspects my ankle to make sure it’s not scratched.

Then he makes me put on a pair of soft leather shoes. The soles are thin, unsuited for walking outside. They seem like… shoes that people especially wear for indoors.

“…Hey, Schwede.”

“Yes. What is it?”

“…Can you take off the thing on my neck?”

The magic seal collar is still on my neck.

“Ahh. It takes some time to remove it. I’m sorry, but… I will remove it later.”

“Later…”

When is later?

“…Hey. Where’s my luggage?”

“Don’t worry about that. It’s already in the carriage.”

“I see…”

“Come on. Let’s go, Lian-dono.” Schwede stands up and rests his hand against my back.

With Schwede gently pushing against my back, I leave the room as prompted.

In the corridor are four knights with swords on their hips, two knights with bows, two warlocks with a magic medium in their hands and neck, and three monks wearing black vestments similar to Marie’s.

Meanwhile, at the center stands a man dressed in white vestments with a long and thin white hat that has the emblem of the Fortuna religion sewn in silver and gold.

The moment everybody’s eyes fall on me, they smile so happily for some reason. Then they bow in respect. Weird.

Some monks look at me with wet eyes, making me feel restless… This is so uncomfortably weird that I want to run back, but Schwede is standing behind me. I can’t do that.

What is this? Why are there so many people in this place?

I look back and ask, “…Hey, Schwede. I’m going home now… right? Why are there so many knights here?”

Schwede smiles and cocks his head a little. “Isn’t it obvious? They’re of course here to protect you. We can’t afford to have anything happening to you on the way to the village, so I have gathered credible, strong men to be your escorts. Now then, let’s go home.”

Shoot I am SO sorry! I thought I already posted this chapter weeks ago, but it turns out it was still a draft… No wonder there were no comments- Sleepchaser