***
Fabian had been acting strange lately.
The closer the performance report got, the more sensitive and irritable he became.
It was impossible for April, Fabian’s old friend, not to know that he was laughing and encouraging everyone in the front, but gritting his teeth in the back.
How long had Fabian been like this?
In retrospect, she may have already seen the signs when he left his hometown to lead an expedition, not recently.
Unlike April and Deca, who were initially stunned after defeating the demons, Fabian spoke of far-off borders that were far away from that very moment, as if they were in his hands.
At first, she thought it was wonderful and reliable that he had sworn to fend off the Black Knights and defeat the Demon King himself, but…
The more Fabian talked about the “distant future” and hurried the expedition, the more out of control he became.
Still, it was for the greater good and peace.
Even if the other members of the expedition were dissatisfied, only Fabian’s right and left arm, Deca and herself, must take center stage and support Fabian.
But the attitude that Fabian showed to the Vice Commander of the Black Knights was the kind that could not be described in good terms.
April, frightened by Fabian’s unusual appearance, visited Jun with the feeling of “just in case.” She wanted to give her a warning.
As she opened her mouth, April felt that Jun could not help but treat her as a crazy person.
But Jun spoke to her with a soft smile.
<You are as kind as ever. It’s still refreshing.>
<… Do you know who I am?>
<I know you. Of course, I know you.>
Jun smiled cheerfully as if buds were beginning to bloom.
She felt a somewhat strange sense of intimidation from her as if she alone knew what she did not know.
She should have known from then on that something was wrong.
Having deliberately moved Jeanne far away, she soon spoke in disbelief.
<The first round? You and Fabian? Are you kidding?>
It was outrageous that she remembered the first round and now the second. April’s face twisted involuntarily.
Jun continued without caring even though she clearly showed signs of reluctance.
<Do I look like I’m kidding? But I’m serious. I swear to St. Marianne, there is no lie in what I just said.>
<No matter how much you swear to Saint Marianne… How can I believe you?>
<Honestly, it’s hard to believe, right?>
Jun asked back and smiled quietly. How calm she was, April herself approached Jun, but all of this felt as if she was rolling on Jun’s palm.
<I also understand that you don’t trust me because this is the first time we’re meeting. I was just, I was just sorry for you.>
Jun whispered softly and grabbed April’s arm.
Naturally, the distance felt as if she had known her for years.
<Because I believed with you that Fabian was a hero, that he would become a hero.>
Beyond Jun’s words, a sense of regret oozed out of her. She didn’t need to ask to realize that she and Fabian hadn’t ended on a good note.
What the hell was going on?
Jun’s words could have been dismissed as a falsehood. That she had mythomania and was trying to deceive her.
But she surprisingly knew a lot about April and the Fabian Expedition.
What would the Vice Commander of the Black Knights know so much about a priest of the middle and lower regions?
She couldn’t even believe her just because she said one thing. If she did, it would shake the very foundation of everything she had ever believed.
It was only for Fabian that April left the village and stepped into the dungeons.
She felt bad for her friend who would be a young hero alone, so she wanted to be a little help next to him…
<It’s okay to think everything I said is a lie. But please remember this one thing.>
<… What? No. I don’t want to hear it. I don’t think there’s a reason why I need to know. I’m the main healer of the Fabian Expedition, and no matter what I hear from you, I’ll never betray him.>
April shook her head as if trying to shake off Jun’s gentle voice, which stuck to her ears like a devil’s whisper.
But devils are devils for a reason. She brought up a topic that April just couldn’t refuse.
<If it’s about Jeanne?>
<Jeanne?>
Afraid of the word Jeanne falling, April raised her head and stared at Jun. her wide-open eyes did not match her white face and were floating.
Jeanne was someone whom April cared about as much as Fabian, or maybe more.
What in the world was going on with Jeanne?
Jun, who had been mumbling about things April hadn’t asked about earlier, suddenly stopped talking and shut up.
The skinny April wanted to take a piece of Jun’s flesh, but she deliberately held back with reason.
Jun lowered her voice more than ever. Then she said, moving her lips in an audible and inaudible manner.
<Fabian. Will kill Jeanne.>
<Jeanne? Fabian? Why? No way. Jeanne is a good child, and Fabian is…>
April gave a fake laugh. Then she shook her head nervously.
But Jun could only watch her with a blank stare. It was as if she was looking into April’s innermost thoughts.
<How come. What happened to Jeanne. No, why on earth would Fabian…>
Jun grabbed the arm of April, who was talking gibberish, and made eye contact.
Only after discovering the disheveled image reflected in her red eyes, April was able to calm down a little.
Jun sighed in disappointment.
<She was sacrificed in the dungeon. It’s common.>
<There’s no way! Fabian cares about the expedition. Obviously, an unavoidable accident…>
<No. Fabian used Jeanne. At the moment of defeating the last Demon Lord, he forced her to make a sacrifice, knowing that she was pushed to her limits.>
Jun firmly cut off April’s lingering feelings.
April repeatedly held and unfolded her hand.
She didn’t want to believe it. It would have been better if Jun was lying.
However, Jun blocked even where April would escape.
<April, you’re guessing a little, too. Fabian is weird. He’s probably different from before…>
That was it.
Jun’s words, thrown at a moment when she was questioning Fabian’s recent decisions and actions, stabbed April in the chest as if she was shot.
However… There was no way Fabian would act so inhumanly just because he was immersed in the expedition.
In addition, she couldn’t abandon Fabian, believing only in Jun’s words. Fabian was her best friend. They had been together since childhood…
<You don’t have to believe me. It would be nice if you could come to the Black Knights, but you don’t have to. However… You have options other than Fabian. I wanted to tell you that.>
April may have felt conflicted, but Jun backed away and stepped aside.
But at the same time, she didn’t forget to throw a bait until the end.
<If you are curious… After a few days, come to the place I say. Then you will know that everything I say is true.>
She was just ignoring it as a crazy woman’s nonsense.
April didn’t want to know the hidden truth. Because it was usually just as horrible as she hoped it would be.
She knew she shouldn’t have gone out there at that moment.
April went to the appointed place and secretly listened to Fabian and Jun’s conversation.
As the conversation grew longer, April’s legs began to tremble.
Unless both Jun and Fabian were psychotic or teamed up to play a joke on her, she must have been telling the truth when she said she remembered the first round.
Then… Fabian had really sacrificed Jeanne.
It was a truth she didn’t want to admit. Even looking at a body dissected in detail, she thought it would be less nauseating than this.
It was no longer possible to deny it, but that did not mean that she could shake off Fabian at once.
So April swallowed her confusion and accompanied him to the dungeon. And the sight faced in the dungeon was…
“If you recover, you can fight again. Right, Jeanne?”
Jeanne’s woundedness was nothing to her, and her gaze was as pale as frozen iron.
Above Jeanne, who collapsed, April’s never-seen future overlapped. Jeanne’s cold, bleeding corpse.
April shuddered. She could no longer avoid pretending not to know.
Now… She also had to make a decision.
***
Fabian blinked his eyes in dismay at April’s accusatory words.
Never before had April accused Fabian in such an open manner in front of the other expedition members, the first and second round combined.
Fabian, finally realizing later that he had made the wrong choice, hurriedly tried to placate April.
“Sorry, April. I must have lost my mind for a second. I’m getting nervous… It wasn’t my intention. Jeanne, are you okay? I’m sorry.”
“…”
Fabian looked at Jeanne and looked at April.
Fabian was sure that one day April would make her anger known. April and she were not the kind of people who would be disturbed by an argument of this magnitude.
However, April’s tightly closed expression was hard to undo.
In the precarious situation that seemed to break soon, Jun intervened without any sense.
She was as insensitive as if she had just stepped out onto the white ice of a splitting lake.
“I was going to use support magic, but the level of the Fabien Expedition doesn’t seem to be that much.”
Fabian’s stomach churned. But Jun spurred Fabian on even more in his boiling.
“If you’re worried about Jeanne… Rather, we will take care of Jeanne here. If we do that, the Fabian Expedition will be able to conquer the dungeon with peace of mind.”
Every word she said with a smile weighed down Fabian’s pride. As if Fabian was over-enthusiastic…
But he couldn’t say no. It was obvious that stubbornness would repeat the same thing as before.
Rather than that, it may be profitable to let go of his pride.
Fabian, who changed his expression like a palm flip, smiled and suggested.
“Then you’ll take Jeanne, please.”
“Don’t worry. Jeanne will be safe.”
“Thank you. But… Since it’s like this, can I ask you one more favor?”
“… What is it?”
Jun asked back dismally.
She didn’t know Fabian would come out like this.
Fabian asked with a deeper smile than before.
“Because Jeanne’s seat is empty, we’re in a difficult situation… Can you make up for a long-distance striker?”
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