Do Heroes Need Welfare Too? - Chapter 125

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 125

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“Iberis, what is this medicine used for?”

“Ah, Lucy. That herb can be toxic to young children, so give it here quickly.”

A small brown head bobbed back and forth beyond the counter.

Iberis suppressed the laughter that was about to burst out and reached out her hand.

Then the little head disappeared with a whoosh, and Lucy’s hand shot up.

Iberis took the herb from her and organized the dried herbs into containers.

Lucy, standing on her tiptoes, rested her head diagonally against the table and whined softly.

“Hmph, I want to help Sister Eve too!”

“Hmm, it would take Lucy at least 10 more years to help sister, wouldn’t it?”

“Sister has only been running the clinic for 3 years!”

“But sister is an adult.”

Iberis, who had much work to do, turned her body away without facing her directly, but replied with a voice full of affection.

Lucy was the daughter of someone who had helped her adapt well to the village.

When she first saw her, Lucy had burst into tears at the sight of this stranger, but now she sought out Iberis more than her own parents.

Now it was countless times that she would walk holding onto Iberis’s dress hem rather than her mother’s.

‘Has it already been 3 years…’

Iberis’s hands slowed as she organized the herbs.

Three years had passed since then.

Time had flown by in the blink of an eye.

The Quest’s time limit had long since expired, but nothing had happened.

She had spent more seasons here than the one year she had lived in the Demon King’s Castle, passing the time.

But the memories of that day still remained vivid—was it because of that person in the Demon King’s Castle?

“Sister? What’s wrong?”

“Mm-hmm, it’s nothing.”

Iberis shook her head slightly toward Lucy, who was tugging at her sleeve.

Was it really nothing?

The moment she left the forest, Judith’s mansion was engulfed in massive flames.

The sight of the artificial giant pillar of fire was something Iberis knew well.

‘…That’s the work of demons, isn’t it?’

It was the same flames that had taken the lives of Adam’s companions several times.

One of the Three Great Demon Clans, excluding Abracxas, who had rarely been mentioned.

She didn’t know why he, who hadn’t even shown himself in this cycle, had burned down Judith’s mansion where she had been staying.

At least one thing was certain.

‘As expected, this damn Quest was trying to kill me…!’

Iberis leaving Judith’s mansion had been a purely impulsive action.

She had simply become depressed staying alone in the empty mansion.

When alone, there was no Potato who would approach first to share warmth, no Abracxas who would grumble but keep her company so she wouldn’t be bored, and…

And there was no Adam either.

Being in the mansion with no one there was too lonely.

Come to think of it, she had never been alone since possessing this body.

As soon as she woke up, Violet had been there, and the villagers too, and Ben as well.

After that, there were Adam and his companions.

It was different from before her possession, when she had always been alone.

Back then, such things would have been routine, yet she couldn’t adapt to that gap at all.

The Quest, shining brightly and flaunting its presence, still hadn’t disappeared.

Was the condition of leaving Adam’s side not fulfilled with just this?

Or perhaps Judith had broken her promise and told Adam.

Even she thought running away from the Demon King’s Castle had been too hasty.

Iberis let out a small hollow laugh.

‘Sacred Relic, divine oracle, Quest, whatever it is. How do I explain that to anyone?’

That I was a god outside the game, but coming in, it seems like there’s someone above me?

And that this being is the one who led me to this world?

No one would believe it.

Unless they accused her of blasphemy, perhaps.

In her complicated mind, a clear voice rang out like a ray of light.

【Leave that place…】

“…!”

Iberis sprang up from her seat like a spring.

She had definitely heard a voice.

As clearly as if it had whispered in her ear.

The delicate woman’s voice was clearer than before.

‘My head…’

It was starting again.

The headache she had felt in Mia’s Forest, and the pain she felt whenever she heard this voice.

Iberis, pressing her throbbing forehead, staggered up from her seat.

It was the same as that time.

That night when Violet’s inn had burned down.

It was the voice that had awakened her when she couldn’t get up.

Though she didn’t know the identity of the voice, she could understand one thing.

‘Something similar is about to happen!’

Or it might already be happening.

Iberis got up from bed, packed the luggage she had left as it was since yesterday, and went outside.

She had no particular destination.

But she kept moving wherever her feet took her.

When the dense bushes had disappeared and she stood at an intersection marked by human traces.

CRASH!

“…!”

Iberis looked at the mansion engulfed in flames with a pale face.

There were no tools that could start a fire, so someone had set it intentionally.

“If I had been in there, I would have surely died…”

The thought that she would have burned to death without even leaving a scream sent chills crawling all over her body.

She had almost died just now, hadn’t she?

If she hadn’t heard that strange voice and escaped from the mansion, she would have surely almost died.

‘I left a comfortable house to take care of the Hero’s welfare, and…’

This was the result.

‘What on earth is that Quest error?’

Iberis shifted her gaze to check the Quest’s location.

The error Quest was still there.

■■ Quest is in progress.

From the Quest that was about to be completed disappearing, to this current incident.

‘This is like…’

Iberis slowly looked around her surroundings.

It was as if someone had been watching her all along.

“Surely there isn’t really a god… or something like that?”

Even as she spoke the words, a hollow laugh escaped her.

If it were a god, who would it be?

But if there really was a god, all the strange experiences up until now would make sense.

The oath, the contract, and even her coming to this place.

There would be third-party influence.

However, being monitored by someone and having one’s actions restricted was not a pleasant feeling.

Thinking that Adam had experienced something similar to himself made him shudder involuntarily.

And for half a lifetime at that.

He seemed to have endured such a situation remarkably well.

‘The Quest is….’

When he brought up the Quest, it showed neither success nor failure yet.

Time just kept flowing.

Then he still couldn’t return to Adam.

What if this happened because he hadn’t gotten far enough away from Adam’s side…?

At the sudden thought that came to mind, Iberis quickened his steps.

The second choice he would have made if Judith hadn’t helped.

He planned to go to the port town that was supposedly his parents’ hometown.

“…Ah.”

Then Iberis touched his ear with an empty feeling.

One of the earrings Adam had given him was missing.

He must not have noticed it falling off in his frantic escape.

It was Adam’s gift that he had been too precious to even use.

Though he felt regretful, he couldn’t go back.

After all, entering the burned mansion would be suicide.

Now he had nowhere to return to.

His steps quickened a little more.

■■ Quest: Leave the ‘Hero’s’ side within the next 4 days. Success reward: ‘???’s survival Failure: ‘Hero’s’ regression [Time limit: 09:37:59]

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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