Chapter 42
Determined not to let Olga get hurt any further here, I desperately put strength into my legs. Luckily, I was soon able to stand, even if only in an awkward position.
Ugh… I, I made it. I let out a sigh of relief. Only then did Olga open her wide, bunny-like eyes in surprise.
“Uh… uh…”
“Hugging someone isn’t as easy as it looks. But somehow, we’ll manage.”
I took in the scenery filled with fresh green light.
I absolutely cannot get stranded here! If that happens, the scolding will double!
“Olga, do you remember the way we came?”
“Not at all.”
I thought so.
“Let’s just pick one direction and keep going. It’ll be uncomfortable, but please bear with me.”
I boldly walked in the direction I remembered. Olga wriggled slightly in my arms.
“Um, Anastasia?”
“Yes?”
“Are you… angry?”
Olga asked in a timid voice. I shook my head.
“Not really. I just feel responsible. If I hadn’t suggested going to the forest together, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt in the first place.”
Olga immediately disagreed.
“Why would that be your fault, Anastasia? You were just trying to comfort me.”
I let out a faint smile.
“I’m sorry my comfort wasn’t enough to help.”
Olga opened her mouth as if to say something else, then closed it again.
The forest here and there looked the same. As unease grew, Olga glanced up at me with worried eyes.
“We’ve been walking for over ten minutes. Aren’t you tired?”
“Not at all.”
I silently recited a magic spell in my head. I’d leave the aftereffects for my future self!
“So… have you fully recovered from your illness?”
“No, of course not. I only look fine because of the tonic. A few days from now, I’ll probably start coughing up blood again.”
I said this matter-of-factly, and Olga looked shocked.
“Such a remarkable tonic…”
“I don’t even know what’s in it. I don’t really want to know. Especially those green, square-shaped lumps…”
I couldn’t bring myself to finish the sentence. Olga looked intrigued.
“Green lumps? Did they actually work for you, Anastasia?”
“They definitely changed my condition. I heard that back in the day, the king gave it to soldiers before important battles.”
Olga seemed to have pieced something together from my explanation and fell into deep thought.
I knew that although Olga didn’t always show it, her brain contained knowledge accumulated from thousands of books. It just rarely manifested at the right time.
As I stumbled over a tree root, Olga suddenly lifted her head and nearly headbutted me. Ah! That scared me!
I barely managed to step forward and avoid falling, while Olga didn’t seem to notice at all.
“Wasn’t it more of a fishy taste than a bitter one? But not like eating actual fish?”
“That sounds about right. Do you know what it is?”
Olga’s expression softened.
“I’m not sure. The books I read described it as a harsh medicine, not exactly a tonic.”
I shrugged.
No way… Could the duke, who looks flawless like Adel, have given me something terrible? No, that couldn’t be it… right?
“Harsh? Because of the ingredients?”
“The medicine I read about was given to soldiers who had lost limbs or been stabbed—not to heal them, but so they could muster their last strength to fight once more on the battlefield and die. So it only applied to those whose death was already certain. It wouldn’t work for ordinary illnesses.”
Huh? What does that mean? I stopped walking.
“‘Death is certain’… what does that mean?”
Olga continued, speaking proudly of her knowledge.
“Illnesses can be treated—if you find the right medicine. But once a person’s life energy is depleted, nothing can reverse it. I’ve read that some ancient tools could even drain life force.”
There was no cure for my illness. This was confirmed even in the original story.
Duke Friedrich had spent endless amounts of his fortune searching for a cure for me.
He could obtain anything that existed in the world.
Yet all the remedies he and the Sinclair family found couldn’t heal my disease.
Only this tonic could make me temporarily feel like a normal person.
So… does this mean I’m in the worst-case scenario, like a soldier about to die on the battlefield?
That my life force is nearly depleted and nothing can reverse it?
“I-I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable! I just… enjoy reading as a hobby. These are very old books, so maybe the information is outdated.”
I didn’t know where to fix my trembling gaze and felt flustered.
The tonic seemed to work only on those whose lives were destined to end. It was as if someone was shouting: Anastasia Sinclair, you must not resist—it’s your fate to die.
When I bit my lips in silence, Olga muttered in a dejected voice.
“I guess I said something unnecessary.”
“…No. Thank you for telling me.”
I decided to focus on getting out of the forest first. I shook my head vigorously to shake off the thoughts.
Suppressing my emotions, I pushed forward through the forest.
Olga endured the pain well, but as time passed, she became noticeably anxious.
“It’s been about thirty minutes. What if we get lost and murdered in the forest? There’s a legend in Green Griad… the ghost of the headless rider wanders around…”
I cut her off.
“Don’t say such unlucky things. We’ll get out of the forest safely and receive treatment, no matter what.”
“Aren’t you scared, Anastasia?”
I wasn’t too worried since the escort knights would come looking if we were too late.
Green Griad wasn’t large enough for someone to starve wandering for three days. My biggest fear was the scolding and being grounded…
“There are no wild beasts here… I’m more worried about running out of stamina.”
I deliberately tried to sound a bit brave as I kept walking.
After a considerable amount of time, even with the miraculous tonic, my arms were numb and my waist screamed in pain.
I glanced at Olga, hoping for a break. The anxious girl, perhaps reassured by my promise to keep her safe, had fallen asleep soundly.
“…Olga, are you sleeping?”
Typical carefree protagonist, indeed.
Suppressing my urge to sit, I slowly moved past the trees.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of hooves.
At first, it was so faint I thought I’d imagined it. But before I could decide, it grew unmistakably loud.
It was definitely the sound of a horse running.
I froze, refusing to believe it. My head bowed automatically.
Green Griad has a legend… the ghost of the headless rider wanders…
Wait—that was just a rumor, wasn’t it?
No, it couldn’t be a ghost… maybe just a normal person on a horse passing through the forest?
The original story never focused on this forest, so I tensed.
There was no danger here, and the protagonists never paid attention. Why did I get this trial…? Maybe because Olga was with me!
Cold sweat ran down my back as a terrifyingly large shadow of a horse loomed nearby.
I couldn’t just keep looking at the ground. But then I noticed something strange.
I could see the horse’s shadow, but where was the rider’s shadow?
Was it really a ghost? Or was the horse wandering alone?
Finally, unpleasant curiosity overcame fear. Swallowing hard, I lifted my head determinedly.
A few meters away sat a knight on the horse, clad in faded black armor. His helmet had strange decorations that looked ancient.
I instinctively tried to see his face. But the area where the eyes should be was hollow.
“U-uaaah! Crazy! Crazy! Ack!”
I stepped back and flailed, making Olga wake up.
“Anastasia?! What’s wrong?”
“I’m not ready to die yet! And neither are you, Olga!”
I shouted at the knight and ran with all my strength. Seeing him over my shoulder, Olga screamed belatedly.
“Kyah! A ghost!”
Why is this happening to me! We ended up retracing our steps, but there was nothing in sight.
At some point, except for Olga’s breathing and my footsteps, everything went silent.
Are they not chasing us? Hoping so, I turned—only to see the knight right in front of me.
Eek! How can they move silently?! Were they deliberately trying to scare me earlier?!
A huge, monster-like black horse pressed its head against my face.
“Ugh.”
I stepped back. The knight sat quietly on the horse, showing no intention to attack.
In fact, he had no weapons.
“…Heh.”
A grating, unpleasant voice spoke.
“You’re going the… completely wrong way.”
“Kyaa… huh?”
I froze in cognitive dissonance.
It was definitely a human voice.
A man’s voice, but the noise made it hard to determine his age.
Olga and I looked at each other in surprise. I confirmed she heard it too, then stared at the knight again.
“D-Did you just say that? Not scream?”
“The way out… this way… no.”
He slowly moved the horse and paused, facing me—well, at least the helmet was.
Could it be…?
“Are you guiding us?”
He didn’t answer, but rode off again. Olga whispered urgently.
“Anastasia, leave me and run!”
I was in a tough spot.
Normally, you wouldn’t follow a stranger, but this didn’t feel like a normal person. And carrying Olga while fleeing was impossible.
I never considered leaving Olga behind.
More importantly, I was utterly exhausted. Every muscle felt like it was screaming.
Y-yeah, I can’t handle more than this.
“…Olga, sorry for confessing so late, but I’m already out of energy. Even if I run alone, I’ll be caught soon. And look at your condition. You’ll need your ankle treated quickly if you don’t want lingering aftereffects.”
“But…”
I was scared and uneasy too, but seeing Olga curled up like that made me feel a strong sense of responsibility.
