Free Isekai Reproduction Life with an Endangered Demi-Human Onee-san in the Forest of Certain Death ~My Mental Stat Is Pathetically Weak, But After Transferring, I’ll Live for Myself This Time~ - Chapter 122: No Such Thing as Resolve

Chapter 122: No Such Thing as Resolve

After handing the letters to Putyuera, we head to Braga-san’s Howling Tavern. It’s lunchtime, after all. I also want to check on the ramen’s progress.

We arrive at the shop.

“Huh?”

It’s closed. Weird. Closing at peak lunch hour? Has the ramen gotten that good for such lordly business?

“Kei, I hear a distraught human voice inside,” Bestelta says.

Before she finishes, I pry open the door for a dynamic entry. Just in case, I ready myself to pull Bestock from the bag. Indoors, it’s this guy’s time to shine.

“Ke-Kei! Perfect timing!”

Braga-san rushes over, flustered. His family’s behind him. Good, they seem fine. So who’s freaking out?

“Braga-san, what’s going on?”

“It ain’t about us… It’s Sharon.”

What, Sharon-chan’s here? Oh, there she is—crouched on the floor, crying. Crying? What happened?

“Sharon-chan, it’s been a while…”

“…Kei-san?”

Her face shocks me.

She’s gaunt, with dark circles under her eyes. That sharp, bright impression is gone, replaced by pure despair. Her hair’s a tangled mess.

“Y-Yeah. What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Y-Yes… M-My…”

She chokes out sobs, eggugu eggugu.

“My… my mom’s gonna die…!”

She collapses, crying into the floor. Braga-san’s wife gently comforts her, soothing her.

This’ll be tough to get details on. Come to think of it, last time we met, she mentioned nursing her mom. Did it get this bad?

“Braga-san, do you know the situation?”

“Yeah, a bit. Sharon’s been off lately, taking care of her mom. She showed up just now, begging, ‘Please help…!’ So I closed the shop. Couldn’t leave her like that. Her mom—Shafuna’s her name—took a turn for the worse. She tried doctors and Assembla priests, but they brushed her off. She nursed her ‘til she couldn’t, then came to me.”

Seriously? So Shafuna-san’s alone right now? We gotta move.

I should’ve purified sooner. Maybe it wouldn’t have gotten this bad…

A hand rests on my shoulder.

[‘Don’t blame yourself. I don’t know the details, but you’ve got that regretful look. Your hands aren’t that big, Kei. You’re doing great.’]

Bestelta sees right through me. She’s right. Thinking I can save everyone’s arrogant. I just gotta do what I can.

“Kei, can you do something?” Braga-san asks, tending to the sobbing Sharon-chan.

He knows I’m Geos’s Apostle, so he’s hoping I can help.

I can. I will.

“Sharon-chan, can you take us to your mom?”

“C-Can you… save her?”

She clings to me with shaky steps, her tear-streaked face pleading.

“Please! I’ll do anything, just save her… Please… Please…”

I catch her as she collapses. She’s so light. Hard to believe she spoke so confidently before. She’s still… just a kid.

“Braga-san, do you know where Sharon-chan lives?”

“You can help? Leave it to me, I’ll guide you. Oi, mind the shop!”

His wife nods, kokuri, holding Sharon-chan’s hand and rubbing her back. Their son chimes in, “Don’t cry, nee-chan!” Good family.

“Bestelta, Sharon-chan’s mom is critical. I’m heading to purify.”

“…Kei, I didn’t notice before, but this girl’s an Assembla follower. Or maybe her mom is. A devout one. There’s a foul, rancid oil stench.”

Bestelta grimaces, spitting the words. She can sense that? I don’t smell anything Assembla-ish.

“You, Geos’s Apostle, would save an Assembla follower? You know how much we demi-humans hate them.”

Her gaze pins me. My heart feels gripped; my body freezes. It’s like her fiery energy’s burning me.

I can’t choose who lives or dies. I can’t ignore someone begging for help—especially not Sharon-chan, who’s been kind to me.

Even if it risks the demi-humans’ ire, I can’t abandon her. What else am I supposed to do?

Resolve? I don’t have that. It doesn’t just spring up now. But what else can I do, damn it?

“…I’ll save her. No resolve, though.”

“No resolve, huh? That might bring you misery down the line. You okay with that?”

Like hell I’m okay. I want to steer clear of misery forever.

“No way I’m okay. But I’ll take responsibility. So… help me out when the time comes.”

Pathetic words, squeezed out. Ugh, I’m such a mess.

“Pretty selfish.”

Bestelta smiles.

“But fine. My contractor’s hopeless without me, so I’ll bail you out.”

Her motherly yet thrilling gaze locks onto me.

I’m being spoiled. Not great… But I can’t always make perfect choices, so I move forward. This is just kicking the can to future me, huh?

*

“This is Sharon’s place.”

We arrive at… a house? It’s rundown, practically a shack. Drafty, barely standing. Sharon and Shafuna-san live here?

“Awful stench…”

Bestelta grimaces.

That bad? I don’t smell anything. Gotta bathe properly…

“Don’t push yourself. Wanna wait outside?”

“Thanks, but no. Can’t send you in alone.”

Ugh, Bestelta’s too cool. I’ll take her up on it.

“This way…” 

Sharon-chan leads us to the bedroom.

It’s nearly empty. Generously, it’s minimalist; bluntly, it’s poverty. I’m seriously worried about her now.

We open the bedroom door.

“Mom!”

“…Ke…i…su…”

A woman lies on the bed, muttering deliriously. Sharon-chan gently takes her hand.

“Sha…ron…?”

“It’s me, Mom. You’ll be okay soon. Hang in there…”

Sharon-chan desperately encourages Shafuna-san.

“She’s in bad shape…”

Braga-san mutters, understandably.

Let’s be clear.

She’s so emaciated, it’s hard to believe she’s alive. Cheeks sunken, eyes hollow, voice faint. Her features are so faded, I can’t tell her gender. Her face… doesn’t even register as human. It’s terrifying, like facing a monster. A chilling death stench fills the room.

“Ugh…”

Unbelievably, Bestelta steps back.

No way. She didn’t flinch against rampaging Sandria, but this? What’s happening in this room?

“What a sinister miasma… Kei, purify it quick. Leaving this is dangerous.”

Bestelta calls it dangerous, and I’m supposed to handle it? More than a rampaging demi-human? But I gotta try.

“Will Purification work?”

“It’s clearly impure. And… my instincts are whispering.”

Bestelta’s instincts? More reliable than my reason.

“Braga-san, take Sharon-chan and step back.”

“R-Right.”

He pulls a reluctant Sharon-chan from her mom, hiding behind Bestelta. Smart move.

Alright… let’s do this.