NOVEL NEXT Chapter 216
216. It Takes Time To Grasp Information, Isn’t It?
It was a familiar ceiling.
Waking up in my bedroom at home, my head felt strangely foggy, and my thoughts wouldn’t work.
First, I couldn’t remember when or how I had fallen asleep.
And it was strange that I felt so unusually fatigued.
“…I need to drink a stamina potion.”
As I tried to sit up, I noticed someone leaning against me, asleep by the side of the bed.
It was Leafan.
She has a key to the house, so it’s not strange for her to be here, but the situation was unclear.
Ah, just to be clear, there are a lot of people who have keys to the house!
Jabil-sensei, who’s staying with us, and the maid Ryuko, of course, as well as Mina, Persia, and even Kyle.
After all, it’s the house Kyle gave me.
As I sat up, the movement seemed to wake Leafan, and she lifted her head.
She’s usually full of energy, but she looked unusually worn out, which surprised me a little.
“Hey, what’s wrong, Leafan? You look tired.”
Honestly, I’m concerned about my own condition, but I’m even more worried about Leafan right now.
“What’s wrong? I’ve been worried sick because you wouldn’t wake up, Craft-kun!”
“Wouldn’t wake up?”
Now that you mention it, what was I doing?
I tried to pull up my memories.
Well, first, the Empire declared war on Kyle’s territory, Elixir. Yeah, I remember that.
Then, we held off the Imperial army at the newly built fortress on the other side of the river. Yeah, the Mizuho warriors really pulled through there.
To break the stalemate, the Empire decided to bypass the bridge and attack Golden Dawn directly.
Though, that part was part of our plan.
Anyway, the Empire’s main force arrived in the city, but Alphard’s strategy crushed them. The surviving strong ones were easily taken down and captured by Raidoc and the others. Yeah, the strategy was a bit brutal, and Raidoc was way too strong, but everything went according to plan, I think.
Everything seemed to be going well.
“The Empire attacked, and we destroyed their main force, right? Wait, what did I do after that?”
“Maybe you can’t remember?”
“Hold on. I’m just a little confused.”
I tried to shake off the sleepiness in my brain. The foggy thoughts gradually cleared up.
“That’s right. After that, Kyle went to talk to the Empire’s survivors, and then the bee demi-humans… no, the bee demons, and Kyle’s stepmother Bella came back…”
I’m starting to remember now.
After that, I think…
“That’s right. We fought that hornet bastard, and we won. Ah, I was surprised to find out the bee demon’s true identity was Lucas, the wandering adventurer from the Empire.”
“Um… can you remember what happened after that?”
Leafan looked at me with a worried expression. Well, if my memory’s all jumbled, I guess it’s natural to be concerned. It seems like I’ve been out for a while.
“The demon Lucas, who had fallen… that’s right. He attacked Kyle… no, wait. He attacked Bella to silence her…”
And then, finally, I remembered.
“Huh? I can’t really remember what happened after that. Something about Kyle shouting, so I looked up and… huh? No, I really can’t remember anything beyond that.”
Leafan made a sad expression and slowly stood up.
“Yeah. Craft, you’ve remembered everything.”
“Everything?”
“Yeah. So, don’t worry, just rest again for now.”
“Did I pass out on the battlefield?”
“Right now, I want you to forget everything and just sleep.”
Leafan pressed her forehead against the back of my hand. Right where the mark of the Twilight Alchemist was on my left hand.
Maybe it’s just my imagination, but it felt like the mark was telling me to calm down.
There’s a lot I want to ask, but I’m definitely feeling fatigued, so I decided to take Leafan’s advice.
“Alright. I feel strangely tired, so I’ll sleep a bit more.”
“Yeah. Take it easy. Goodnight.”
And just like that, I fell asleep again.
◆
When I woke up again, without much explanation, I was taken to the castle’s conference room.
There, a line of important figures was gathered.
King Vaindeck Midlights von Maugaria of the Maugaria Kingdom, and next to him, Muten Ingram, the living god of the Mizuho Divine Nation.
Muten is blind, but he seemed to notice my arrival just by sound, and he smiled in relief.
It’s a secret, but Muten is also my new little brother.
Next to Vaindeck… or Van, was Kyle’s older brother, Zaid. And then there was Batista von Helmond, the head court alchemist. He still has that unnecessarily impressive white beard.
Van waved his hand lightly toward me.
“Looks like you’re feeling better. Well, take a seat.”
I obediently sat down, but I was a bit surprised by the members gathered. It was like the lineup before the decisive battle with the Empire.
From the Mizuho group, there was Muten, as I mentioned earlier, along with General Shingen Wilhelm. Following them were the heads of the three great families: Hanbei Wilhelm, Motonari O’Brien, and Masamune St. Clair.
Nobuna and Chiyome were also seated in the corner.
From the Kingdom side, aside from the three I mentioned earlier, there were Jabil-sensei, Mina, Alphard, Persia, and Leafan. And Jitaro too.
Looking closely, I noticed Ryuko was also working as a maid here. It’s rare to see her outside my mansion.
From the adventurers, there was the usual party of Raidoc, Soral, Eva, Marilyn, and Camille.
Even the lizardmen, Jurara and Shururu, were present.
Even someone as slow as me could tell something big had happened.
Wait, isn’t someone missing?
Before I could ask for that person’s name, Van spoke up, so I swallowed my words.
“Craft. We’re relieved you’re safe. Everyone here is probably relieved to see your face too.”
Everyone in the room nodded with a smile. Seems like I worried them. I feel a bit sorry, but also a little happy.
“Now, let’s get straight to it. Alphard, explain what happened that day. If anyone has something to add, feel free to speak up.”
“Understood. Then, let’s begin.”
Alphard stood up and straightened his posture.
“We’ll start from when we defeated the demon Lucas. Do you remember Lucas throwing a needle at Bella?”
He looked at me.
“Was that a needle? I thought it was an attack on Kyle, so I shielded him. I didn’t see Bella being attacked directly.”
Alphard nodded slightly.
“That’s right. It wasn’t an attack on Kyle-sama, but aimed at Bella.”
“I remember Bella foaming at the mouth and dying after that.”
“Right. Bella did collapse, and she had no pulse or breath. She was definitely dead at that point.”
At that point?
I felt a twinge at those words. The answer came quickly.
“But Bella was alive. No, she came back to life… or maybe she was in a state of suspended animation, but Bella started moving again.”
“Seriously…”
During my adventurer days, I’ve seen people in suspended animation. Even if their breathing stops, if it’s for a short time, there are rare cases where they come back to life.
“We should’ve tied her up just in case.”
“…Even if we had, it probably wouldn’t have mattered.”
Huh? What do you mean?
“Bella… transformed into a monster… no, a demon.”
“What?”
Alphard gestured for me to stay silent, then calmly began recounting what happened that day.