A Story of a Noble Lady Who Was Ravaged by an Incurable Disease and Covered in Bandages All Over Her Broken Body; After Healing Her, She Turned Into a Stunning Beauty and Started Desperately Courting Me

Chapter 34: Going All Out to Help Alicia

One afternoon.

Inside a chiffon cake shop in the royal capital.

“Here you go, sorry for the wait. This is the chiffon cake you ordered.”

“Thanks so much! Whoa, it’s still warm!”

“Yeah, the cakes literally just came out of the oven. It’s super good, even warm, so when you get home, make sure to eat it soon, okay?”

“Got it, thank you! Alright, I’ll head out now.”

ding-dong♪

I gave the staff a quick goodbye and stepped out of the shop. Today I’d come to the chiffon cake place Alicia had told me about before.

The reason was pretty simple—I just wanted Alicia to have some. She’d been working really hard on her walking practice again today, so I figured this could be like a little reward. That’s why I bought a takeout chiffon cake to give her.

“Alright, time to hurry back to the Elfemina house and hand this over to Alicia… huh?”

Right after I walked out of the cake shop, something felt really off. I swear I just saw someone who looked a lot like Alicia heading into the alleyway across the street.

I couldn’t see the person’s face, but from behind, it totally looked like her. Plus, I’m pretty sure she was holding the one-handed cane I gave her.

“But would Alicia really be out here alone in the middle of the city like this? And even if she was, that alley just dead-ends anyway, right?”

Over the past few weeks, I’ve wandered all around the royal capital a ton, so I’ve got a pretty good mental map of the whole place now.

That’s why I know that alley. You walk in and it’s just a dead end. There’s literally no reason to go in there unless you’ve got a purpose.

So why would someone who looks like Alicia go into a sketchy dead-end alley like that?

“Hmm… I don’t really get it, but it’s kinda bugging me… Guess I should just go check real quick.”

With that, I decided to follow the woman I saw earlier and headed into the alley myself.

The moment I stepped inside, I immediately noticed the air felt super weird.

“…? What’s with this creepy vibe? It feels crazy tense all of a sudden…”

This is supposed to be the busy, lively part of the royal capital, yet the second I entered this alley, it felt like I’d wandered into some dangerous dungeon or something. Really strange.

My gut instantly screamed danger. Wait—could that woman from earlier… be in trouble in here?

The second that thought hit me, I took off sprinting full speed down the alley. And unfortunately, my bad feeling turned out to be right.

“Haa… haa… W-wait, is that… Alicia-san!?”

I kept running full tilt toward the back, and near the dead end I spotted a woman collapsed on the ground. Surrounding her were several really tough-looking guys standing there.

And yeah—no doubt about it—that collapsed woman was definitely Alicia. I could even hear her faint, shaky sobs.

No matter how you look at it, this was straight-up Alicia getting attacked. No time to hesitate. I charged straight at the big guys at full speed. And then…

thud thud thud thud thud!!

“What the hell are you doing to Alicia-san?!!”

“Huh? Wha—guhaaaah!?”

BOOM!!

I sprinted in and slammed a full-power flying kick right into those muscular dudes.

Since it was a total surprise attack, they couldn’t brace themselves at all and got blasted backward quite a ways.

After making sure they were sent flying, I immediately turned to Alicia.

“E… ah… ahh… aah…!”
“Haa… haa… I made it in time…! Are you okay, Alicia-san!”

“A-ahh… Se-Setsuna-sama…! Wh-why are you here…?”

“Haa… haa… I just happened to spot someone who looked like you, and it felt off, so… I got worried something might happen and followed! More importantly, Alicia-san! Can you stand? We gotta get out of here quick!”

“Y-yes…! B-but… my cane got knocked way over there… and I can’t stand up by myself…”

“Haa… haa… Got it… okay! Then I’ll help you right n—”

“…tch. The hell was that…? What’s with this random brat kicking me outta nowhere?”

“No clue, man. Who even is this little shit?”

“…!”

Right as I was about to reach down to help Alicia, the guys I’d blindsided with the kick got back on their feet and started walking toward us again.

(These guys… they’re definitely strong…!)

I’ve been in this other world for a whole year now, and I’ve trained and sparred with tons of senior adventurers.

So now, just by looking at someone, I can kinda tell how strong they are. The guys standing in front of me right now are clearly on a whole different level.

You can tell just by glancing that their bodies are seriously built, and I instantly knew they’re way stronger than a newbie adventurer like me.

But even if they’re clearly way above my pay grade, running away isn’t an option for me right now.

Because Alicia had collapsed on the ground right behind me. There’s no way I’m leaving her here alone and bailing.

“Se-Setsuna-sama…”

“It’s gonna be okay, Alicia-san. You don’t have to look so scared. I’m definitely gonna protect you, I promise.”

I turned my head just enough to give her a gentle smile while she was trembling with fear.

Then I planted myself right in front of the fallen Alicia, standing tall and blocking the guys completely—ready to protect her with everything I had.