The Villainous Noble Tried His Hardest to Break the Original Storyline, and Now the Heroines Are Acting Weird - 40-41

Chapter 40

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“……”

“……Sorry for cutting in all of a sudden. After I defeat the Demon Lord, the world might fall into chaos. I thought it’d be better if capable fighters remained in each town, so that’s why I’m traveling now.”

Having said what I needed to, I turned my gaze toward Golsh-san. He gave a small nod before opening his mouth.

“Please accept the treatment. As for fighting the demons, just forget about it. But promise me one thing. Never tell anyone that I treated you.”

Refusing treatment here wasn’t an option to begin with. I’d already told Golsh-san that it would serve as practice for my healing magic.

Now then, I wonder how much experience I’ll gain from this.

Thinking absentmindedly about that, I began healing the three of them. A black mist appeared, and I cast more healing magic to blow it away.

…The treatment was complete. Each of them looked surprised, moving their now-healed limbs or seeing again with newly restored sight, some with tears in their eyes, others overjoyed.

Among them, Eld repeatedly opened and closed his regenerated hand as if checking its function, then firmly clenched it into a fist.

“Rubest.”

As he said my name, Eld smiled.

“……Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

…After saying that, he placed his fist over his chest.

“When I think about the demons… Yeah, it’s still scary. But Rubest, your words just now, they really struck a chord.”

Well, they were Eld’s own words, after all.

“I still don’t have the courage to fight for a stranger. But I understood your desire to save your parents. So—”

With the same expression he had when he once risked his life to help the Hero escape, he made a declaration to me.

“On your birthday, I’ll come to celebrate too. I don’t know how much help I’ll be… But if it’s for you, I can fight now.”

“…Eld. Thank you.”

…I didn’t know if he’d be a reliable fighter. But still, having someone say they’d fight by my side—that genuinely made me happy. Then Eld chuckled in a joking manner.

“And with you able to use magic like that, staying near Rubest is probably the safest place to be.”

“You lot… Well, I’ll help too.”

“……Me too.”

Ruby and Bruna also gave cheerful thumbs-up with smiles. Their status was probably glitched thanks to my healing magic, but if they kept training like this, they might become reliable assets in battle.

After that, Sasha explained a lot to Eld and the others. People who had been healed by me regained their old body function. So, they would be able to see better results from their training. As long as they continued training every day, they would definitely grow stronger.

With this, Eld and the others would surely be stronger than they were at the start of the original storyline. And with that, I had managed to bolster our fighting force just a bit more.

Once the healing was finished, I returned to my room to take a short break. I sat on the bed, stretched lightly, and spoke to the Goddess.

『So, how many levels did I gain from that just now?』

『Four levels… It’s been a while since you’ve had such a big jump.』

『Well, considering how badly hurt they were…』

Each of them had suffered serious injuries. I shouldn’t be happy about it, but it ended up giving me a good amount of experience points.

.Eventually, I want to be able to heal all the people who’ve been hurt by demons.

While I was thinking about that, someone knocked on the door.

“Rubest-san. May I come in?”

“Ah, sure.”

I replied with a nod when I heard Aifi’s voice. Turning my gaze in that direction, I saw Aifi sitting in a wheelchair.

Sasha was pushing the wheelchair as they both came inside. Since coming to this mansion, Aifi and Sasha had often been together. Not only were they close in age, but both had undergone treatment for their injuries, so they likely had a lot in common to talk about.

When our eyes met, Aifi smiled warmly.

…In the original story, she wasn’t the type of character to show such a smile. If anything, she usually wore a dignified expression. She had probably been through a lot of difficult experiences since becoming the lord of this town. Well, considering her position, she probably didn’t have the luxury to smile.

After entering the room in her wheelchair, Aifi slowly stood up. I already knew that she’d been doing rehabilitation every day since her injuries were healed, and that she had become quite mobile. Unlike the first time she stood up, she didn’t seem nervous, but she did glance over at me.

“I’m going to walk a little. If I look like I’m going to fall, would you catch me?”

“Of course.”

With that, Aifi began walking straight toward me.

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Chapter 41

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Aifi had said that earlier, but she should be fine. She had already recovered enough to go about her daily life without any major issues. She even came all the way to the bed where I was sitting in the room.

Then, standing in front of me, she looked a little shy as she sat down on top of me. Surprised, I caught her body. Holding her slender frame, I looked into her face, and she smiled shyly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just felt a little dizzy.”

Really? 

I had my doubts, but I wasn’t about to say anything, especially when I got to enjoy the softness of a young woman’s rear. The only thing that bothered me a little was that Sasha, who was also in the room, was glaring at us.

“I’d really like to go for a walk outside together, but I suppose that’s still not possible just yet.”

“…Well, after we defeat the Demon Lord, we can take our time with that, right?”

I had scheduled the final battle with the Demon Lord of Wrath on my fifteenth birthday. That was less than half a year away, so it wouldn’t be too long a wait.

“You said you were going to defeat the Demon Lord, but do you have a plan?”

“Yeah. Sort of.”

“…You do know that attacks don’t work on the Demon Lord or the demonkin, right?”

“No… I think that’s a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?”

If I said something random, it could make people question my very existence, but I had already decided how to explain it.

“In the past, there have been times when the demons retreated while fighting humans, right?”

“…Yes, that’s true.”

“If attacks really didn’t work on the demons, then don’t you think it would be strange for them to flee from humans? Or even bother dodging attacks at all?”

At my point, Aifi widened her eyes for a moment, then nodded as if it finally clicked.

“…I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

Yeah, figured. Aifi seemed surprised, but the belief that demons were invincible had been ingrained in this world like it was common sense. Just like how people instinctively didn’t cross at a red light. Most people had unconsciously accepted that idea and never even questioned it.

“That’s why I came to this conclusion: the demons do take damage. It just looks like they don’t. It’s just that their recovery speed is so abnormal that it appears like nothing affects them. Well, I haven’t actually fought a demon yet, so I can’t confirm if it’s true.”

“…To think you’ve thought it through that far… You really are amazing.”

It was just me making game knowledge sound convincing, so it wasn’t anything worthy of praise.

“Well, it’s all just a mere speculation for now. That’s why I hope I get the chance to fight a demon somewhere.”

“I’ve heard that in the lands of Lust and Sloth, demons and humans coexist… So if you asked one, it might not be impossible…”

“…Yeah, but it’d probably be difficult.”

I didn’t know if I could get a demon to cooperate. Besides, if I crossed into another country, word would definitely reach the demons or the Demon Lord, and that could cause suspicion. And thinking about the trip there and back, it would be a hassle, so I couldn’t afford to be reckless.

If this were the main game, I could think of quests that involved encountering demons, but those probably hadn’t appeared yet in the current state of the world. While I was thinking about all that, Aifi looked at me.

“…After hearing Eld and Rubest talking… I started to feel like I want to fight too.”

“…You too, Aifi?”

“Yes. Ever since I lost the use of my legs, I’ve been training in magic nonstop. Of course, I’m still nowhere near Rubest’s level but even so, I want to stand beside you and support you when you face the Demon Lord.”

That was more than welcome for me. Aifi was pretty skilled. If she could become strong enough to help fend off demon minions like Eld and the others, that would be greatly appreciated. It would also mean I could leave this town in safe hands.

“I see. That makes me happy.”

“That’s why… Would it be all right if I accompany you on your dungeon battles? Moderate exercise will help with my rehabilitation, too.”

“…Yeah, that’s true. Sure, that’s fine.”

The experience points earned from the monsters in the dungeon were minimal anyway. Apparently, while Sasha and Aifi’s base attribute value had gotten bugged, their level or required experience hadn’t. So normally, I had Sasha handle the fighting in the dungeon while I stayed back a bit and cast spells on myself to earn experience without splitting it with her.

If Aifi wanted to come along too, I had no reason to object. In fact, I could even count on her to assist Sasha.

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