The Second Son of The Marquis Runs Away from Home ~ Lacking Talent, He Abandons Everything and Becomes an Adventurer ~ - 20

Chapter 20: The Reason I Desired It

“You’ve got the sword,” I said to Aria as she held the longsword. She looked surprised, wiped her eyes, and then turned to face me.

“Yeah, now I just have to learn how to use it.”

“Indeed, but for now, I’d like to suggest we return…”

I looked up at the ceiling’s opening. Considering our current amount of magic, climbing back up seemed difficult.

“Don’t worry, I’ll send you back,” came a voice.

At the same time, our surroundings began to shine. When I looked again, we were near the entrance of the dungeon.

“Teleportation…?”

“Yes, within this dungeon, I have some degree of flexibility. By the way, I brought these as souvenirs.”

Looking down, I saw a large quantity of gems and ores that would have been in that room. It was clear that they were all of high quality.

“Humanity values these, don’t they? So, I brought them along while sending you back.”

“…It’s amazing, but I made a contract with something like you.”

“Well, let’s return to town for now.”

We collected the gems and ores and left the dungeon. It seemed that we had successfully accomplished Aria’s request, at least for now.

—

We returned to town after a day, and while I was writing a report for the guild back at the inn, the door opened. I turned around to see Aria, who had just finished bathing.

“Welcome back. Want to talk for a bit?”

“Sure.”

I put down my pen, and Aria, who was sitting on the bed, patted the space beside her. I sat down as indicated, trying to ignore the flush creeping up on my cheeks as I noticed her slightly flushed skin.

“So, what’s on your mind?”

“I thought I should tell you why I wanted the Rare Drop in the first place, for helping me with your power.”

Aria began to speak in a soft voice.

“I had a friend named Serena. We had been together since we were five, but we had to part ways on our tenth Naming Day.”

“Naming Day… the Rounas Orthodox Church?”

The Rounas Orthodox Church was a religion followed on the Hume continent, where the Belga Kingdom and the Mildreya Empire were located. Although the main temple was in the small country of Rounas, the church had followers all over the continent, making it a powerful force.

“But isn’t Naming Day just about receiving a blessing with holy water? What happened?”

“A staff appeared before the Serena who had received the Naming Day ceremony, a staff that should have been securely stored by the Rounas Orthodox Church.”

“No way.”

“Serena was chosen. She became the long-lost Saint.”

—

The Rounas Orthodox Church had sacred relics. One was the holy sword and shield passed down to the leader of the church’s knights, and the other was the holy staff wielded by the Saint who had once purified a great darkness and saved the people.

However, the holy staff had been unused for hundreds of years since its last owner passed away.

The appearance of a Saint after hundreds of years was a significant event, and it caused quite a stir at the time. I hadn’t been particularly interested in it, but I didn’t know it was Aria’s friend…

“What happened next?”

“Of course, it caused a commotion. But the real problem came afterward. The Rounas Orthodox Church demanded that Serena be handed over to them. They even hinted at using force if we didn’t comply, which almost led to a clash with the Empire.”

“That’s… terrible.”

“I didn’t want to be separated from Serena, and I knew even back then that the upper echelons of the Rounas Orthodox Church were corrupt. I didn’t want to send Serena into that kind of place.”

Aria hung her head. Given the current state of the Rounas Orthodox Church, where the Saint was now their symbol, it was clear that Aria’s wish hadn’t come true.

“Serena was clever. She realized that there would be conflicts if she didn’t go, didn’t she? During the argument when I tried to stop her from going, she said something to me.”

“Don’t say things you can’t back up, even though you’re useless.”

Tears welled up in Aria’s eyes, and the drops fell, staining her clothes.

“I couldn’t forgive myself. I was so weak that I let Serena say something like that… I regretted that I couldn’t protect her.”

I couldn’t find words to say. Asking a ten-year-old Aria for that level of power was unfair.

“So, we made a promise when we parted. I promised that I would become strong and come to find her… even if I had to kidnap her, I would go to rescue her.”

“…Is that why you wanted the Rare Drop?”

“Yeah, that’s why I wanted to say thank you. If it weren’t for Belk, I wouldn’t be here now, and I wouldn’t have had the power of Ruskdite. So, thank you.”

“What are you going to do from here?”

“I’ll go back to Mildreya first, and then I plan to head to the Rounas Orthodox Church. I’ll decide what to do along the way.”

With that, Aria leaned against me and pressed my hand against her chest.

“But you can’t get involved from here on.”

She looked at me with eyes that seemed to carry a hint of sadness, clinging to me.

“So… this is my way of saying thank you. Right now, this is the only way I can repay you.”

I sealed Aria’s lips, not letting her finish her sentence…