Declared Dead, Exiled, and Betrayed— Now I Walk Away, but I'll Save One Who Cared - Chapter 15

“Lax! You’re late!”

“Michelle? You’re awake?”

“Yeah. Shifa used the charm you gave her.”

I see. The charm I gave to Shifa had a built-in healing spell that automatically activated when the wearer was injured.

I had originally given it to her, hoping it would keep her safe.

But Michelle was just as important.

It must have reacted and healed her. That was a relief.

That charm was a versatile item, capable of holding different types of sealed magic.

Sometimes I’d imbue it with healing magic, other times with support spells or counterattacks.

A charm only serves its purpose when the time comes, but different people need different types of protection.

Michelle still had hers as well.

I had originally sealed physical defense and healing magic into it, but now it was empty.

She must have used it up while escaping after I fell into that trap.

Without a word, I recharged both of their charms, this time reinforcing them with protective magic.

“So, Shifa went to find Michelle, huh?”

“Yeah… I thought she might get caught in the stampede.”

“I see. Thanks, Shifa. I never even got to thank you.”

“I should be the one thanking you. But hold on—why are we acting like this is a normal conversation?! We just survived a dragon’s breath—the same one that destroyed an entire city in legend! Is everyone still here?!”

Shifa frantically looked around.

It seemed like everyone had made it.

“Thanks, everyone. I know most of you probably hate me, but… thank you for protecting Shifa and Michelle.”

“No, we’re the ones who should apologize.”

“Yeah. We were fooled… We never even questioned Jekyll’s lies.”

“We never realized you were looking out for us…”

“We’re truly sorry.”

“Ahh, it’s fine. Not that I have any clue what you’re talking about. Anyway, let’s focus on taking down that giant thing flying above us.”

I had no idea what they were apologizing for, but—wait.

Had they found out about the fund?

That was embarrassing.

I had only set that up because I figured I’d become lord one day. It was purely practical—just a bit of foresight.

Besides, wouldn’t it have been cooler if I had revealed it at the right moment?

Like, say… on my deathbed?

Or when passing the mantle to my successor?

“Sorry, but my sister was too vile, so I accidentally blurted out that you were secretly adding extra reward money to help the adventurers.”

“?!?!”

OH GOD.

I internally screamed.

This was beyond embarrassing.

No, stay calm, Lax.

Panicking now would make it even worse.

I had to play it cool.

Act like it was no big deal.

Come on, Lax—you got this.

“Don’t blame Lady Shifa, Lax.”

“Yeah. We were the ignorant ones.”

“We never realized how much you and Lady Shifa had done for us.”

“If you’re going to blame someone, blame us.”

NOPE.

I couldn’t handle this.

They were brutally attacking my emotions.

Stop making my eyes sting, damn it!

“Alright, enough of this! I’m taking that thing down—so all of you, get out of here!”

“Yeah, no way in hell we’re doing that!”

“We stayed behind to fight!”

“That’s right! You’re not going to steal the spotlight by dying heroically!”

…They totally misunderstood me.

I wasn’t trying to die heroically.

I could take it down.

I had survived the lower depths of the dungeon.

But looking at their faces…

Yeah, there was no convincing them.

“Shut up! I’m dropping that thing—so stay the hell out of the way!”

I gave up trying to reason with them.

Instead, I unleashed my full magic power.

“W-What the…?”

“That pressure… Is he really human?”

“Wait… is he stronger than the dragon?!”

“No way, right???”

“Wasn’t he supposed to have fallen into the lower depths?”

“Is it just me, or does Lax feel stronger than that dragon…?”

“We should… probably move.”

“EVERYONE, GET TO THE GATES!”

“YES, MA’AM, MICHELLE!”

Nice, Michelle.

She had read the situation immediately.

She might not have known how much stronger I had gotten, but she understood from my reaction.

“Lax… thank you. Please—be careful.”

The last one still standing beside me was Shifa.

She really was stubborn.

Well, whatever.

She’s always believed in me.

That alone makes me genuinely happy.

“Ah…”

As a small gesture of thanks, I pulled Shifa into a brief hug, ruffling her hair.

“Thanks, Shifa. For believing in me.”

“Y-Yes… Ah…”

Her face turned bright red—adorable.

So, I pressed a light kiss to her forehead.

I had always thought of her as a kid, but…

I guess I wasn’t the only one who had grown in the past six months.

“Go on. I recharged your charm with magic, but I’d still feel better if you got as far away as possible.”

“Understood. I’ll head toward the gate.”

“Good. We’ll talk after I take care of that thing.”

“Yes. I’ll be waiting.”

She smiled before running off.

I watched her go—then lifted off into the air using magic.

Alright, you overgrown lizard. Time to settle this.

I ascended, stopping right in front of the dragon’s massive eyes.

Within those giant pupils, I could see something almost… laughable—

Confusion.

And fear.

Of course.

This thing has probably never been overpowered by anything.

It has always been the strongest.

It has always won.

And yet, some tiny human has been holding it back with magic alone.

I bet that’s shocking.

No—it’s already shocked.

But it picked the wrong opponent.

The deep levels of the dungeon were crawling with creatures like this.

For some reason, those monsters never made it to the lower floors.

Was this one… an exception?

Did it just happen to spawn in the lower floors?

That’s why it had no challengers.

Sure, I’ll admit—this thing is stronger than anything I saw in the lower layers.

It must have devoured its way through the weaker monsters, growing more and more arrogant.

And then… it emerged.

Only to find me waiting for it.

Talk about bad luck.

GRUUUUUUUOOOOOHHHHH!!!!

Oh?

Still got some fight in you?

It unleashed another red-hot breath, just like before.

I swatted it aside.

Sorry, but I’m not taking that head-on.

I made sure to redirect it carefully—

Couldn’t let it hit the city.

The redirected orb of flames shot off into the distance, far beyond the gates.

Wait… forest fires?

I scanned the area.

Nope. We’re good.

It landed in an empty field near a fortress—far from anything important.

Close one.

Alright.

Time to say goodbye.