Mimino didn’t know for certain how long it had been since Reiji left. She felt pathetic that she couldn’t stop that little boy when he said goodbye with such a resolute face, she was angry at herself that she couldn’t save that little boy who had such a pained look, and above all, the pain in her heart somehow knowing that he left to protect them.

「Dad!」she heard a familiar voice cry from the neighbouring room. Mimino was startled. When she wiped her tears away with a towel, she realized it was the towel that Reiji used to wipe her face, and her chest tightened yet again, but she immediately rushed to the room next door – the room with Dante and Non.

「What happened? Don’t tell me Dante’s condition worsened– Eh?」

Mimino, who opened the door thinking that Dante’s condition had worsened, was at a loss for words.

「..Look at this, Mimino.」Dante said.

Light shone through the open wooden windows. Dante’s skin, softly illuminated by the light reflected off the floor, wasn’t the gray it used to be.

It had become flesh with blood coursing through.

「When I woke up, I found that my dad’s skin had become black. When I hurriedly wiped it off, it became like this..」Non said, with a shocked look.

「In other words, uh..? The petrification is healed?」Mimino asked.

「That’s right. My body moves just fine, and I’m feeling completely refreshed. I haven’t felt this healthy in a long while. Well, the burns haven’t healed yet.」

Non, who was still shocked,

「Dad..」

Tears started rolling down her cheeks nonstop.

「Dad, dad, dad, dad, daaaaaaad..」she cried her eyes out.

「Don’t cry, Non. I’m sorry for making you go through all this.」

「Wahhhhhhh.. Daaaaaaaaad!」

Dante hugged her, as she cried like a child.

Mimino was surprised to see Non crying like that.

(Non must have been suffering inside all this while without anyone knowing..)

Well, it was obvious. Even though she was part of the church where discipline is strict, she was still a 16 year old girl who would love chatting with friends and going shopping on holidays.

Needless to say, Mimino knew that when Dante was petrified, Non was confronted with a situation that her father would soon die without any treatment and that she had been devoted to finding a cure ever since.

However, Mimino eventually thought that Non was a “strong-hearted child”. She was convinced so much that she couldn’t even see her suffering.

(I was.. stupid. I didn’t even know what Reiji-kun was suffering from. I convinced myself that he would tell me someday. It was the same for Raikira. That’s why he died..)

She recalled Raikira’s death, and her heart tightened even more.

「Thank you for everything up until now, Mimino.」

Mimino came back to her senses when Dante said so.

「I have troubled you a lot too.」

「No. It’s fine. I’m also a party member.. But how did you suddenly heal?」

「......」

Dante’s face stiffened. Non stopped crying and peered into Dante’ face.

「What happened? Dad..」

「..I don’t know what time it was, but I think Reiji was in this room.」

「Reiji-kun?!」

「I think Reiji healed my petrification.」

The room fell silent. Dante kept trying to remember what happened at night.

「..My memory is hazy, but I think I heard something about “medicine”. Mimino, where’s Reiji?」

「......」

「Mimino..?」

She didn’t want to say it. She felt that she wouldn’t have to face reality if it wasn’t put into words.

But she couldn’t lie to her friends.

「Reiji-kun.. has left.」

「..What does that mean?」

「He said he had to leave no matter what, and left..」

「That guy..!」

「Dad! Don’t get up yet!」

Non stopped Dante from trying to get out of bed.

「Don’t stop me, Non. I remembered that Reiji asked me for pocket money. He said there was something he wanted.. Now I finally understand.」

「Something Reiji-kun wanted?」

「Mimino, you also saw it in the guild, right? Knowledge of rare medicinal herbs and that humble attitude. I can only think of one thing he could’ve wanted – a medicine for petrification!」

「Eh!? I thought that the curse of petrification couldn’t be cured with medicine?!」

「He knew that wasn’t the case, and in fact I was healed.」

「Ah–」

Mimino remembered the time when Reiji wanted the “Leaf of Life Tree” in the herb market.

Did that lead to a medicine for petrification?

「B-But if that’s the case, I think he would’ve said so from the beginning.」Non said.

「Perhaps he didn’t have the conviction. I felt that there was something suspicious when we sold the herbs in the guild. His knowledge of herbs was quite unbalanced.」

Indeed, Reiji didn’t know the market price of herbs or the medicine system.

He was a boy with many mysteries.

He had abundant knowledge, had a soft attitude, and his behavior was calm. He was like a child from a noble family, but his origin seems to be a slave.

「My guess is.. Reiji crossed a dangerous bridge to cure my petrification. For example, getting his hands on prohibited items.」

「N-No way..」Non gasped.

「Perhaps he thought it would cause problems for Silver Balance if exposed, or maybe it had already been exposed. That is why he rushed out. Non, I am going to look for Reiji. I can’t just let him leave alone after what he has done for me. If he’s going to be hanged, then I’ll take his place for him.」

「..Dad. I understand.」

Non’s expression stiffened, as she activated 【Healing Magic】. Perhaps Non’s mana was almost exhausted as well, as she was breathing heavily before long. Sweat trickled down her forehead.

「Dad, you should be able to move a little with this. But don’t forget that you almost died yesterday. And also try to avoid the hanging.」

「Thank you, Non. You are my proud daughter.」

「..Please don’t do anything that would make this daughter sad.」

She was probably referring to when he used his body to protect the adventurers.

「Sorry... Mimino, will you come too?」

「I want to go, but.. I couldn’t stop Reiji-kun.」

If she had stopped him with all her might at that time, they wouldn’t be in this situation.

But Mimino couldn’t stop Reiji. Feeling his resolute determination, she, who couldn’t do anything in the battle against the dragon but was instead saved by him, didn’t know what to say to him.

「Fu..」Dante laughed.「That’s dumb, Mimino. If you try once and fail, then you should just try again. For us, adventurers, freedom is our way of living.」

「Freedom..」

「Yes, freedom.」

「..Yeah, that’s right. Seems like I’ve become somewhat weak-hearted.」

She slapped her cheeks with both hands.

Mimino made her decision. To bring back Reiji.

「Reiji is our comrade, after all.」