Chapter 155 (Patreon)

Something thunks against my chest and I look down to the elf who clears her throat with an ‘ahem’. I take a deep breath, metaphorically speaking, and calm myself down. I like fighting, okay? Soon I stop shaking and she turns to the side and points down the length of the giant branch that we’re standing on, that reaches all the way across the floor, towering through the sky above the battlefield like a great serpent constricting the world. My eyes meet the chaos below of the never-ending war. No. No… with resolve, I raise my gaze again and look straight ahead, doing my best to ignore the fun below me.

A never ending fight in which nobody really dies. Aaaah, I’m so jealous. I walk forward, down the length of the giant branch. It is wide, easily wide enough to fit three or four other hollow-armors my own size next to myself, if we all stood shoulder to shoulder and so I try to stay in the middle, there where I can’t see too much of the world below. Think about how fun it would be though. I could get a lance from some body, literally, some body, and just go to town. I could fight and fight and fight and maybe even get some experience. A lot of experience. Think about what an amazing place to level up this must be.  AAAAAAH! I fidget.

Sensing my uneased movements, she speaks shortly. “Just keep walking,” is all I hear leave her mouth. I think she’s mad at me. It feels weird, actually. Has she ever been mad at me before? I mean, I feel like she’s been upset and a little hurt now and then, but this seems different. She seems -

The elf turns her head back forward to look ahead of us.

- disappointed.

Ah, it hurts. This feels worse than when she was stabbing me. Why? What is this? Well, I shake my head. She’s right. I need to keep walking, I can’t get distracted by the thing below. As I think that, I am distracted by the thing below, as a giant explosion rings out in some corner of the frenzy, as some caster let loose a massive wave of burning energies, charring everything around them and sending a powerful shock-wave out over the field. Immediately, some of the valkyries swoop down to amend the damage. Their white-blue shimmering wings almost leaving a trail of particles behind them, as they soar down through the air, gliding like midnight specters.

White-blue? Blue. Blue lights. Blue lights? Ah. My mind tumbles around from thought to thought, as the memory of the magic consuming fungus returns to me. I really can’t get distracted by this. People are counting on me. Come on. Focus. Focus. Focu-

“It looked like you, you know?” says the elf. Huh? “It tried to trick me, to make itself look like you, but I knew. I knew. I knew it wasn’t you,” she says. We walk on in relative silence. Relative being the key word here, as screams and shouts ring out all around us from the carnage below. Ah, I think I see where this is going. “So it really hurt me, you know? You know?” She folds her arms. “That you couldn’t tell.”

We walk in silence for a while, I’m not sure I’m in the wrong here to be honest, I mean. It was pretty convincing, for me at least. But I guess she doesn’t see it that way. Clank. Clank. Clank.

Clank?

I think about the sound for a moment, wondering about how I can speak my side of the story with no physical mouth. Sliding out my right arm for a moment from beneath her, continuing to hold her aloft with the left for a second, I knock against my own helmet twice. A hollow, ringing sound differentiates itself from the cacophony of war below and she looks at me, as I return my grip to hold her properly.

The elf looks at me and I see the gears behind her eyes turning, as she processes my gesture. Her expression softens to one more familiar to me now. I think I got away with it, guy. She sighs and leans in.

“Ah…” she’s quiet for a moment. We’re about halfway across the branch now. One of the valkyries swooshes past us, on her way down to a new site of resurrection. I’m tempted for a brief moment to ask her to take me down with her, but I have work to do. Swords ring out below, striking against another. I have work to do. Focus. Focus.

“I’m sorry,” says the thief meekly. Huh? “I mean, I know you’re sick. I shouldn’t get so jealous,” Huh? “But you know? You know?” She leans sideways and rests her head against my breastplate. “I’ve been looking for you for a long time. It’s been a long time, you know?” Ah. Well now I just feel bad. “I was really alone for a long time,” she says. Now I feel worse. “But I’m glad I found you again, so now we can focus on getting you better, so that things can go back to how they were.” She closes her eyes. Now I feel awful.

We walk in silence. My grip tightens a little. She still thinks I’m the lance-hero. Then again, why wouldn’t she? It’s not like I’ve told her that I’m not. It’s not like this wasn’t the dungeon-master’s plan. We’re both deceiving her to meet our goal. We’re both lying to her so that I can escape the dungeon a little bit quicker. What will she do when she finds out? What will she feel when the truth reaches her? That the man who gave me his menu is gone for all time. I want to tell her, but… I look down at the peaceful face, its tension now lightened. But should I? Can I?

Is that what a hero would do?

I shake my head as we get close now to the end of the branch. I don’t know.