I was supposed to die.
In fact, I had died.
I couldn’t see anything, couldn’t hear anything. I didn’t even have a sense of my body, just a dark, cold abyss…
But that darkness was a painless peace I had never known since I gained consciousness.
The long-awaited solace of “death.” I wanted to fade away into slumber… but my wish was cruelly betrayed.
“…”
From the darkness enveloped in peace, I was awakened by a detestable “light,” and the first thing I felt was the familiar “pain” that tormented my body.
“—Are you awake?”
I heard a woman’s voice. Perhaps my body wasn’t functioning properly yet, as the sound echoed in my ears as if I were underwater, and in my blurred vision, I could only see the outline of a black, shadowy woman.
I faintly smelled medicinal herbs…
Who is she…? Friend or foe…?
Ah, remembering that I had no allies, I tried to circulate my Mana within my body, but it didn’t work, and I only felt the heat in my body increase.
“—Don’t push yourself, honestly.”
The woman’s voice sounded exasperated. At least she didn’t seem to intend to harm me, but why does this woman speak like an old person, even though her voice is young?
“The Taciturn Disciple will be back soon, so sleep for now… you were really dead until recently.”
“…”
The woman’s black hand touched my forehead.
Ah… I really was dead. If that’s the case, then this isn’t a dream, and I’ve really come back to life?
…How troublesome. As my consciousness grew hazy, I became too tired to think, so I closed my eyes, enjoying the comfort of the hand on my forehead, and fell asleep again.
“Good morning.”
“…”
When I woke up to a pungent odor and a strange bitterness in my mouth, I heard an even younger girl’s voice this time.
“Sleep a little longer. Your HP hasn’t recovered to double digits yet.”
That cold way of speaking. You’re as blunt as ever. My blurred vision gradually focused, and I could see shimmering, pinkish-blonde hair.
She told me to sleep… but I felt better than before, so I ignored the pain and tried to get up from the simple but often-washed bedding that felt good against my skin.
“…Where… is this… Aria?”
“My master’s hermitage.”
The Pink-Haired Girl who fought me to the death—Aria.
I wondered how much time had passed since then. Neither Aria nor I were wearing dresses. Aria was in her usual Adventurer’s attire, and I was dressed in a plain homespun tunic.
Aria got up from the chair at the workbench where she had been sitting, approached me casually, grabbed my head, and pushed me back onto the bed.
“I made more. Drink.”
From a container with an edge as thin as a beak, she poured a thick, pungent liquid directly into my mouth. …So this was the bitterness that lingered on my tongue.
“…Is this… poison…?”
“Poison wouldn’t work on you, would it?”
Aria didn’t change her expression as she made me drink the rest of the liquid, even as I complained.
“…Are you angry?”
“Of course.”
Aria replied to my words and returned to the workbench.
“I’m here.”
“…”
How brusque… but that’s just like her, and it made me feel more relieved than anything anyone else could say.
I slept several times and woke up several times.
The thing I was being made to drink changed from a poisonous medicine to a foul-tasting barley porridge mixed with herbs, and Aria told me what had happened.
The reason I couldn’t use fire Magic anymore was, as expected, because of that Golden Dagger.
The Orichalcon dagger was apparently the reward for Aria and me for clearing the Evil Race Fortress Dungeon. It was also a one-time-use item. The dagger that erased my fire attribute shattered and disappeared.
You can only wish for one thing in a Dungeon.
To use such a precious reward for something like that… How stupid.
Aria had coated the surface of the Golden Dagger with a “medicine.” Not poison, but a cardiac stimulant. Aria, who originally intended to kill me once, said that she bet on the possibility that I, who had died, would be revived by the effects of the stimulant I had received in life.
“What were the odds?”
“About 20%?”
If I was going to die once and come back to life, that’s a pretty good probability.
But even that was apparently a high probability that was only achieved because of my abnormal Mana capacity and the fact that the pressure on my heart was relieved by losing the fire attribute.
Also, when Aria was carrying me, she put me in her Shadow Storage, taking advantage of the fact that I was in a state of suspended animation, which helped preserve my condition.
Aria, who had killed me, brought my body to this place where her master was. As expected, the Evil Race woman I saw first when I woke up was Aria’s master.
“Being treated like luggage is cruel.”
“Should I have dragged you along? You should thank Nero.”
Certainly, if it weren’t for that Kitty’s speed, we wouldn’t have been able to reach this place, and if it weren’t for Aria’s master, who had the same heart problems as me, I might have died again soon after being revived.
I wonder where Kitty is? As I searched for his presence, Kitty sensed it and manifested the illusionary “black cat” form from Aria’s Shadow, snorting at me when he saw me.
Even when I had All-Attribute, I was told that I wouldn’t live past the age of twenty.
Even now that I’ve lost one attribute, I probably won’t live much longer than that because of the lifespan that was shaved off by the Soulthorn.
I, who had died once, was given a few more years of life.
I was called back from the death of peace I had hoped for to this life full of pain.
“…”
I touched my pure white hair.
My jet-black hair had lost its pigment and turned pure white, perhaps because I had died once, and my reflection in the water looked like a true ghost.
I was called a demon child by my parents, and I was a great sinner who killed my family and many people.
To try to save someone like me is really stupid…
Because I can’t leave such a stupid child alone, I’ll use the few years of life I have left for you.
After that, I lived with them, eating the foul-tasting medicine and the strange meals that Aria made.
Aria’s master, as one would expect from an Evil Race, knew Magic, spells, and tactics that I didn’t know, and I even enjoyed her lessons and magical discussions.
After several weeks passed, my condition recovered, and I was able to hunt Monsters in the Forest. Suddenly, Aria brought two sets of luggage.
“We’re going to clear a Dungeon.”
What do you seek from the Dungeon?
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Volume 4 of the book will be released on July 20th! Some bookstores with early stock may already be selling it?
Volume 2 of the comic adaptation will also be released on September 15th!
Currently, I’m in the middle of a death march working on volume 5 of the book and volume 2 of a certain series. Please wait a little longer for the new work.