2
“Um… Thank you for helping Lars,”
Iria said with a complex expression that night, after Lars’ treatment had settled down.
In a forest a little way from Melte village. A place where villagers are unlikely to visit at night.
Of course, it was I who brought her here, and Iria followed quietly, though her face was tense.
As soon as we arrived, Iria was quick to thank me about Lars. This was probably her best attempt to change the subject without upsetting me.
I shrugged slightly, deciding to go along with her intentions.
“If you want to thank someone, thank Miroslav. All credit for the new antidote goes to her.”
If Miroslav hadn’t used herself as a test subject to prove it was harmless to humans, we couldn’t have given it to Lars immediately. Before that, I probably wouldn’t have even brought the antidote.
In that sense, my contribution was practically zero. When I said this, Iria shook her head and responded.
“Still, you were the one who actually brought the medicine… um… you. Thank you.”
I found Iria’s awkward use of polite language towards me a bit amusing.
Thinking about this, I continued speaking.
“Just to be clear, he’s not completely cured yet.”
This is also a fact.
Lars’s symptoms from the poison have subsided, and he’s on the road to recovery. His once-pale face has regained much of its color. I confirmed this with my own eyes.
While there’s no joy in watching a man’s sleeping face, it was somewhat pleasing to see smiles return to the faces of the little brats who look up to Lars as their “big brother.”
According to Priestess Sarah, when they administered the old antidote, the symptoms would return after a while, but so far there’s no sign of that. The effectiveness of the new medicine was exceptional.
However, it’s hard to believe that the legendary Hydra’s poison would completely disappear just from a little of my blood. I suspected the symptoms would eventually recur. This was also the assessment of Priestess Sarah, who knew the situation.
“That’s…”
Iria lowered her head weakly. Her face, illuminated by moonlight, was pale and anxious.
If Lars’s symptoms recur, we can just make a new antidote. But looking at it differently, this means I now hold Lars’s life in my hands. If I wanted to, I could withhold the antidote and let Lars die.
Of course, I have no intention of doing so, especially in front of Priestess Sarah, but if asked whether it’s possible, the answer is yes.
This fact weighs heavily on Iria. Already collared to me through faith, now she’s been further shackled with Lars.
It’s only natural for Iria to turn pale. Moreover, Iria’s worries aren’t over yet. The white-robed warrior priestess, with a hard face and voice, said this:
“Was there… an ulterior motive in revealing the secret to my mother after all?”
The secret she’s referring to is my existence as a source being, a soul eater.
Iria, whose soul I had devoured earlier in the Mountains, knows about the source being. To be more precise, while she doesn’t know the term “source being,” she knows that something beyond human dwells within me.
This time, I revealed that secret to Priestess Sarah as well. Knowing this, Iria suspects that I intend to “get my hands on her mother too.”
In fact, since I had hinted at something like this after the previous orc subjugation, Iria’s paranoia isn’t entirely unfounded.
To conclude, this suspicion is unnecessary. As mentioned before, I revealed the source being to Priestess Sarah out of necessity, with no other intentions.
When Priestess Sarah heard my story, she couldn’t hide her surprise, but the fact that she didn’t interrupt Lars’s treatment speaks volumes about her judgment. Priestess Sarah chose to trust me.
I shrugged and dispelled Iria’s anxiety.
“Relax. I have no intention of going against the priestess’s wishes. I revealed the secret because it was necessary to explain the new medicine. By the way, the reason I went to such lengths to cure Lars was because Miroslav asked me to. It was her condition for cooperating with me — that I wouldn’t harm Lars.”
There’s also the matter of Lunamaria. If she found out I let Lars die, it might plant unnecessary defiance in the Elven sage.
The same applies to Iria. After making Iria swear allegiance to me during the previous orc subjugation, I returned to Ishka after forbidding her to speak about it. The fact that Iria obeyed my order while I was away is proven by the unchanged attitudes of Priestess Sarah and the villagers.
Although it was clear she wasn’t submitting from the bottom of her heart, at least she wasn’t actively trying to rebel.
If I were to abandon or exploit Lars now, Iria would likely shift from passive submission to active rebellion.
Considering all of this, I revealed the secret to Priestess Sarah and cured Lars.
“Well, that’s enough idle talk — come here.”
As I spoke in a stronger tone, Iria flinched like a scolded child, then approached me with her head lowered.
I grabbed her waist with my right hand, pulling her body close, and used my left hand to lift her chin, raising her face.
Iria’s face was before me, pale except for her flushed cheeks. I silently sealed her lips with mine.
The moment our lips touched, Iria’s body jerked violently. Her hands touched my chest, probably a reflex attempt to push me away.
But that action was never carried out. After resting on my chest for a while, Iria’s hands eventually fell away limply.
— Some time later, after I had thoroughly savored Iria’s soul, I pulled away from her lips, leaving a bridge of saliva between us.
Unaware of this, Iria looked up at me with moist eyes, still in my embrace. Her rough, panting breaths were thrillingly sensual.
Looking down at Iria’s face, now completely flushed rather than just her cheeks, I was inwardly engaged in cold, calculating thought.
The oath I forced upon Iria earlier in the Rem Mountains has a loophole. While it binds Iria as a warrior priestess, it conversely cannot bind Iria if she’s not a warrior priestess.
There was a possibility, albeit small, that Iria might abandon her faith in the Law God rather than submit to me. There might also be other loopholes I’m unaware of.
This series of actions was to confirm whether Iria had had a change of heart while I was in the royal capital.
In that sense, Iria’s current reaction was beyond reproach. She probably has her own intentions, but for me, it was a satisfactory result.
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After that, Iria leaned on me in a daze for a while, but suddenly coming to her senses, she hurriedly wiped her lips and moved away from me.
Then, probably to cover her embarrassment, she blurted out:
“Um, I have a question — no, there’s something I’d like to ask!”
“You don’t have to force yourself to use polite language. So, what do you want to ask?”
“From what you’ve told me, I gather that the River now contains an even stronger poison than before, probably from the Hydra. The water horse was infected by this poison and went berserk, attacking the village. And Lars was poisoned through his wound, is that right?”
“Hmm, that’s about right.”
“If that’s the case, why wasn’t I poisoned when I was injured just like Lars? Could it be…”
Iria trailed off, looking down as if finding it difficult to continue.
Guessing what she was trying to say, I folded my arms and responded.
“Lunamaria has confirmed that my blood and… fluids have a strong influence on others’ bodies.”
“So it really is like that…”
Iria hugged herself as if suddenly struck by intense cold.
I’ve already seen firsthand the fate of those afflicted by death poison, and I’ve shared this with Iria and Priestess Sarah.
Iria probably shuddered at the thought that she could have ended up like that. In a sense, my actions saved Iria. If I hadn’t touched Iria during the orc subjugation, it might have been her lying in bed now instead of Lars.
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