FreeBooksOnline Chapter 234: The End Of Waiting (4)
Chapter 234: The End Of Waiting (4)
Chapter 234: The End Of Waiting (4)
As the other party members finally managed to defeat the remaining named chimeras, they barely managed to calm down Clara.
“Sniff, sniff.”
“Please don’t make crying sounds with your mouth...”
“It means I’m that sad. Someone took advantage of the chaos to sneak a peek at my underwear.”
“Good heavens. Who would do such a thing? Perhaps it was that foolish saintess who can’t even recognize the God she serves?”
“...Go die!”
Clara picked up a stone from the ground and threw it. However, it simply rolled at their feet without any real intention of hitting.
As I laughed at the sight, Clara’s trembling grew more intense, and she suddenly began to act out.
Oops! I had barely calmed her down, and I unknowingly made it worse!
Even if Clara disappeared now, the dungeon would still be cleared safely, but it wasn’t time for that yet.
There were still things to be taken care of here, and above all, Helena, who had been looking at me with desperate eyes since earlier... I had to let her meet the Righteous Radiance.
“It was a joke. So please don’t try to ascend just because you’re upset. There’s still work to be done, right?”
“That’s true...”
Clara sighed deeply, extinguishing the light she had been emitting from her entire body.
Now that I look at it, she wasn’t really trying to disappear; she was just creating light with her holy power.
As Clara looked at Helena with an awkward smile, Helena also approached with a similarly awkward gesture.
“Um... Are you the saintess of this generation?”
“Yes. My name is Helena.”
“Nice to meet you. As you may know, I’m Clara. More precisely, I’m not really her, but a lingering thought...”
“That’s... fine. Just now, the Righteous Radiance said that if anyone could call themselves Clara, her saintess, it would be you.”
“That’s... a kind thing to say.”
The two, or rather three if you count the Righteous Radiance who was present but unseen, introduced themselves hesitantly.
“......”
“......”
However, after that, they just stared at each other without saying anything.
Clara and Helena might be expected to be like this, but I didn’t think the Righteous Radiance would be at a loss too.
Maybe the Righteous Radiance felt guilty for having abandoned Clara in the end.
Otherwise, it didn’t make sense that the usually boisterous spirit I’d seen was so quiet.
It was also unlikely that Helena would ignore and not convey the Righteous Radiance’s words.
Seeing them eager to meet but unable to speak now that they had met, I opened my mouth.
“It seems everyone is hesitant to talk outside, so let’s go inside first. Clara, how long can you maintain the barrier?”
“Huh? Oh. I recovered the holy power I had saved for a self-sacrificial spell, but I used quite a bit while fighting the Tarasque... I think a day? That should be fine.”
“That’s not very long.”
Well, maintaining a barrier this strong with almost depleted holy power was impressive in itself.
It wasn’t for nothing that she was called a saintess.
“It’s a bit short, but it should be enough time to talk.”
At my additional remark, Clara and Helena, who were looking at each other, nodded simultaneously.
The Cassis Valley Fortress was as desolate inside as it appeared outside.
But if there were six beautiful women, even such a bleak room would feel like a flower garden.
While I was stroking Iris’s head as she nestled on my lap, I suddenly felt a sense of discord and lifted her up.
“Hmm?”
Iris, now accustomed to being lifted like this, tilted her head.
“Beautiful...”
“Hmph. Of course, I’m a bit pretty, but if you suddenly compliment me like that, it’s embarrassing.”
I gave a warm smile to Iris, who was twisting her body.
“Let me call you a beautiful girl.”
After hesitating for a moment, the Radiance cautiously asked.
“You... don’t resent me?”
“Not at all. I revere you so deeply that it’s imprinted in my lingering thoughts.”
“......”
The Righteous Radiance, like someone wanting to say something but unable to find the words, just moved her lips silently.
Clara slowly knelt on one knee before her, bowing her white head like a devotee receiving a blessing.
With trembling hands, the Righteous Radiance placed her hand on Clara’s head and began to stroke it gently.
“You did well.”
“Yes.”
“Thanks to you, the alliance could hold out a bit longer, until the hero Rahim appeared.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Yes. Because of you, Clara, we could win the Great War. Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. I’m your saintess. I only did what I was supposed to do.”
“And... thank you. For believing in me until the end. For not resenting me. For waiting for me.”
“......”
“Really, thank you, Clara.”
“...That’s what I wanted to hear.”
Clara lifted her head, which she had been bowing deeply.
She smiled brightly like a child who had just received praise from her parents, but her eyes glistened with tears.
Eventually, the tears she couldn’t hold back rolled down her soft cheeks and fell from her chin.
Drop.
As the tear fell to the ground, Clara’s body began to glow softly.
I could tell at a glance. This wasn’t the same holy power trick as before. Nor was it something she could suppress with her own strength.
At this moment, Clara was truly satisfied and freed from all her lingering regrets.
With nothing left to bind her, she would return to her original place.
Even if Clara didn’t want it.
Of course, this would be a warm and peaceful end, unlike her lonely and painful last moments in life.
...But I wasn’t happy with that.
Even though she was rewarded at the end of her long wait, it was far too little compared to what Clara had done.
I thought so even when I only knew this world as a game, and I still think the same now.
So I intervened.
“Hey.”
Clara and the Righteous Radiance, both forcing smiles while crying to show each other their best final expressions, were interrupted as I reached out and grabbed the medallion around Helena’s neck, bringing it to Clara’s forehead.
“Ouch! What are you doing? It was such a touching moment.”
“Weapon enhancement.”
“What? What enhancement? Wait, this medallion... whoa?”
The light that had been dissolving Clara in the air as if scattering her suddenly began to be absorbed into the medallion.
Both Clara and the Righteous Radiance looked at me in shock as I shrugged.
“I prefer noisy endings to touching ones.”
Clara, who had been about to say something with her emerald eyes wide open, was absorbed into the medallion faster than she could speak.
With Clara completely gone and the Righteous Radiance in shock, the medallion glowed with a serene light and vibrated loudly in my hand.
Buzz. Buzz.
As if protesting, I tapped the medallion with my fingertips and held it up high for everyone to see.
“Tada~ Yandel has successfully enhanced the medallion!”
Despite announcing the good news, all I received were looks as if I were crazy.
How mean.