I Can’t Run Away From the Girl Who Saved Me

120 – Persuasion (4)

＊

I explained to my sister Alice, as if I was telling her a tale of heroism, the process of persuading Sylvia in an excited voice.

Sylvia blushed and twitched her body, and Alice glared at her with snake eyes for a moment before sighing deeply.

After listening intently to the word marriage that suddenly popped up, Sister Alice soon got tired of it and waved her arms as if she was annoyed, cutting off my words.

“Okay, I got it. I got it.”

“Oh, then! Are you following me now, Sister?”

“…”

Sister Alice looked at me in disbelief.

I continued speaking, unable to hide my excitement.

“I told you I would follow you without question. Did you forget?”

“No, I haven’t forgotten.”

“Then now…”

“Ash.”

Sister Alice wiped her face with her hand, then let out a sigh as if she was groaning and snapped at me.

“Have you forgotten? What kind of being the Demon King is? Where Maria died.”

“… No, I didn’t forget.”

Her few words alone instantly calmed the excitement.

The atmosphere that had been excited about a bright future with Sylvia suddenly became heavy as if cold water had been poured over it.

It seems that the idea that Alice would follow along without question if only Sylvia could be persuaded was nothing more than an illusion.

She glared at Sylvia again and said:

“I guess she forgot.”

Sister Alice’s gaze flew sharply toward Sylvia.

It was a look full of obvious mockery, anger, annoyance and disappointment.

Judging from the fact that her voice was filled with the same emotion, it seemed that Alice had no intention of hiding how bewildered she was.

Sylvia still held onto my arm tightly, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.

Alice continued with a short, hollow laugh.

“Ash… I understand your determination. I don’t know if you want to save the world or if there’s another reason, but I know you’re desperate to catch the Demon King.”

“… Sister.”

“I’ll believe that nonsense, whether it’s from a spirit or something. Since I have some belief in it, I’ll say bold things like catching the Demon King or something.”

“…”

I kept my mouth shut at Sister Alice’s sharp words.

Apparently, she had no idea that Sylvia would fall for my persuasion.

My sister raised her arm and pointed at me with the tip of her finger.

It was a sarcastic remark that made no attempt to hide the fact that he was looking down on me.

“But, you can just catch the Demon King? Do you think it’ll be over if you just walk over and slit the Demon King’s throat while he’s recovering? Does it seem that simple?”

“… That… isn’t it, but…”

“Yes, it’s obviously dangerous. No matter how much you control spirits, your delicate body will die if it gets brushed by even a carelessly swung club from an ogre, let alone the Demon King.”

“…”

Sister Alice wasn’t trying to nitpick or pick a fight with me.

The reproaches coming out of her mouth were all justified concerns and obvious facts.

I am weak.

He is so weak that he can be killed by the magic energy that fills the air before even reaching the Demon King.

I knew that fact very well.

And I also knew very well that Sister Alice’s words and expressions were all derived from her concern for me.

But maybe it was because of her attitude.

Or maybe she said she would do as I said and now she’s rebelling against me, so I’m just getting angry.

I retorted a little nervously, which was uncharacteristic of me.

“I know it’s dangerous… but that’s the same for everyone. You told me what the world outside this forest is like, and… If you were going to go alone in the first place, wasn’t that reckless?”

“It was reckless.”

“Then of course it would be better for three of us to go than to go alone…”

“It’s not three, it’s two people and one piece of luggage.”

“Sister!”

At that moment, Sylvia, who had been standing behind me while holding my arm, pushed me forward and opened her mouth.

“for a moment.”

“…”

“Could you please watch what you say?”

“Think about it yourself. I don’t know how Ash got you, but that’s tantamount to saying you’re going to kill him.”

“Don’t you understand what I mean by “be careful with your words”? Don’t you know how to speak our language? I’m telling you to be careful with your mouth when you play.”

“…Ha, you’re not going to say anything like you’ll protect me somehow, are you?”

Sylvia couldn’t answer.

Sister Alice’s provocative remark was a trap so obvious that even I could see through it.

If Sylvia answered that she would protect me somehow, it was clear that my sister would criticize me for not being able to protect my sister Maria.

Sylvia also knew that, so she just remained silent and quietly glared at Sister Alice.

At this point I realized.

The point is that in order to journey towards the Demon King, you must reconcile the two people before persuading them.

There was no way two people who were growling at each other could fight with their backs turned to each other.

“Both of you, please stop…”

“Ash.”

Sister Alice called me and stared at my face for a long time without saying anything.

I was overwhelmed by the determined anger on her face and couldn’t say anything, so I kept my mouth shut, but at least tried to look straight at her face without giving in.

Sylvia was silently holding my hand tightly.

How many minutes have passed?

Alice closed her eyes tightly and opened her mouth.

“Let me just ask you this one thing.”

“… Yeah, tell me.”

“I’ll believe you when you say you deal with spirits. I don’t know if you want to kill the Demon King for the sake of the world, or to fix that damned eye, but at least you don’t want to commit suicide with us.”

“…”

“Looking at your expression, I can clearly see that you have some kind of confidence. However, I don’t know where that confidence comes from.”

I nodded at Sister Alice’s words.

I knew better than anyone else that I was very weak.

It was also true that the possibility of me defeating the Demon King that even Sister Maria could not defeat in the end… no, the possibility of me reaching him alive seemed extremely slim.

It seemed like my older sister wanted to know the reason for my confidence or determination.

Sylvia, who had been responding to Alice’s words in a fit of anger, also turned her head and looked at me quietly.

She, too, seemed to be curious as to why I suddenly had the courage to go and catch the Demon King.

“that…”

I was about to say something, but then I quickly shut my lips.

Where did that strange courage come from to go and finish off the Demon King?

In fact, this decision did not come from courage or any passionate emotion.

Of course there was a motive.

It was because I wanted to find Sister Maria’s body, because I wanted to lift the curse and have a happy future with her, like I told Sister Sylvia, and because I couldn’t just stand by and watch the world end, like I told Sister Alice.

However, they were only my motivations for moving, and they could not explain my current attitude, which seemed to be confident that I could kill the Demon King.

In fact, this attitude was closer to cold logic than emotion.

The fate told by the green lady.

And the moment I saw Sister Sylvia and Sister Alice appearing to me as if they were trying to lead me to that fate, I naturally became convinced that if I followed that fate, I would be able to defeat the Demon King.

Is it because I am a spirit sorcerer?

I could feel in my skin that it was bound to happen.

The words of the green woman, who was almost prophetic.

As I witnessed those words come true one by one, a vague but clear certainty began to form in my head.

I am,

No, we can catch the Demon King.

A new fate created by twisting the fate of this world that was ruined for unknown reasons.

The three of us are active in this flow.

However, if I explained this straight to Sister Alice, she would definitely dismiss it as the nonsense of a madman.

Even if the green lady told me, there was no way they would be convinced.

That’s why I couldn’t say anything.

But neither Sylvia nor Alice pressed me for an answer.

My sister sighed slowly.

“… Oh, shit,”

“…”

“Hey, Sylvia.”

Sister Alice suddenly called Sylvia.

Sylvia nodded silently and looked at her older sister Alice.

The older sister spoke briefly to Sylvia.

“One month.”

I couldn’t understand what my sister was suddenly saying.

But Sylvia seemed to understand.

She nodded slowly and answered.

“… okay.”

“Ha, I’m crazy too. Can you do it?”

“We have to do something.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, but I trust Ash.”

“…They are a pair of crazy ones.”

Unable to keep up with their conversation, I looked back and forth, watching them talk before opening my mouth.

“Hey, what are you talking about?”

The answer came from Sister Alice.

“Ash.”

“uh?”

“I will leave this forest tomorrow and return to the capital.”

I was taken aback by her sudden words and asked back.

“You’re… going back?”

“okay.”

“You’re just going to leave the Demon King behind? I understand that you don’t trust me, but… still…”

“That’s not it.”

Sister Alice spread her arms, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment.

After holding that position for a few seconds, my sister slowly lowered her arms and began to speak again.

“Judging by the amount of magic spread throughout the forest, it will probably be about a year before the Demon King fully recovers.”

“…Can you know something like that with divine power?”

“It’s not a divine power, it’s something you can just feel with your skin. Anyone can feel it with training. I think Sylvia knew it too.”

Have you sharpened your senses?

I looked back at Sylvia.

Sylvia closed her eyes for a moment like her older sister Alice, then tilted her head and muttered.

“I think I have about two years left.”

“No, a year, at most a year and a half. The concentration of the magic energy is getting thicker and thicker.”

“Oh, that’s right. That’s true… The more divine power you have, the more sensitive you are to magic.”

“You’ve grown dull from living in this damn forest, don’t make excuses.”

“…”

The two of them slowly opened their eyes, muttering to each other.

I wonder if they teach this kind of thing at the academy.

I was dumbfounded and looked back and forth between the two of them, as if I was watching a conversation between legendary masters from some story.

Sister Alice slowly began to speak again.

“Anyway, there’s still about a year left, but I don’t intend to wait until the Demon King is resurrected. I have to finish this before then.”

“Because so many of my colleagues… failed on this journey even though they were perfectly prepared…”

The two nodded and exchanged words, but I still couldn’t understand what they were saying.

“I know that… but what does a month mean? Why are you leaving, Sister?”

“I’ll be back in a month. And…”

Sylvia continued Alice’s words.

“I will train Ash as much as I can during that month.”

“Huh? Training? Like we did before?”

“No, it was magic training then, but not this time.”

Sylvia said, grabbing my shoulder.

“Journeys, adventures, battles… all of them are ultimately done with the body. You have to walk and walk, and sometimes, when there is no path, you have to climb up a cliff. Whether you use magic or summon spirits, you have to throw yourself to dodge enemy attacks.”

“Ah… like that… yes,”

Sylvia’s hand, which had been massaging my shoulder, slowly moved down to sweep my chest.

Sister Alice continued, frowning.

“So, I want you to build up your stamina as much as possible during that one month. You can never go in your current condition.”

I smiled slightly.

That essentially meant that she was going to accept my opinion.

“Thank you, sis.”

“…it’s okay.”

“But… what are you going to do for a month, sister?”

My older sister shrugged her arms as if asking an obvious question.

“I need to get Sylvia and your equipment, and I also need to get a weapon to replace the missing sword.”

“ah.”

“Ash, remember. If you don’t prepare thoroughly before departure, people can easily die.”

Aren’t they both going to die?

Even though I had those thoughts, I never said them out loud.

Because they weren’t so foolish as to not know that what they were worried about was my life, not their own.

“Or, were you going to dress Sylvia in that piece of crappy leather that you made out of nothing?”

“…oh,”

Alice gave me a scathing look at the leather armor I had been working on and was now almost finished.

No, well… of course I didn’t think it was good quality armor either.

It would be even more strange if it was made well, even though I am not a professional blacksmith and have no knowledge of armor making.

But I couldn’t help but feel a little hurt.

“…No, what…is that.”

“It’s not wearable because the tanning is bad and the leather is worn to varying degrees, sewn together haphazardly. It’ll just fall apart.”

“… I know.”

It’s not that I feel hurt, it’s that I feel hurt.

Sister Alice noticed my mood and quickly changed the subject.

“I think I’ll have to move around quite a bit in the next month to get the gear and supplies you two need, and also find out more about your spirit or whatever.”

“Spirit… Honestly, I only thought of them as beings from fairy tales before I saw them myself. I wonder what I’ll find out if I investigate them?”

“I don’t know, but do you know if there’s an item that only spirit sorcerers can use?”

I nodded, slightly softening my slightly troubled heart.

Sister Alice said.

“Tomorrow morning… no, I’ll leave as soon as the sun rises.”

There were probably less than three hours left until the sun rose.

I asked, amazed by her action.

“Right now? No… Just a few hours ago… That was the situation. Are you okay?”

She was a piece of meat that had been mangled by Sylvia until a few hours ago.

But Sister Alice nodded and said.

“They said we had one year, but that’s not a preparation period, it’s a limited time. Besides, the Demon King will only get stronger as time goes on… There’s time, but no leisure.”

“… That’s true, but…”

“And since I believed your incredible words and followed your stubbornness that seemed impossible, I need to prepare everything I can.”

“Thank you again, sis.”

Sister Alice shook her head.

“If your body isn’t fully formed in a month, I’ll leave you behind no matter what you say. Even if it means cutting off your legs.”

“… Oh, I see.”

I swallowed and nodded at the murderous threat that came out of my sister’s mouth.

At that moment, Sylvia suddenly hugged my back tightly and spoke to Sister Alice in a low voice.

“Ash’s legs are mine.”

“what?”

“uh?”

“I’ll cut it, no. I won’t let you cut it.”

Alice and I both fell silent at the strange remark that suddenly came out of Sylvia’s mouth.

.