81

Who is Sephir?

Although she usually appeared to be lacking, she was certainly strong enough to claim the position of a legion commander.

Naturally, her presence was different.

Unless she intentionally masked her aura or disguised herself, there was no way Athena wouldn't notice.

"Hera!"

Sensing the mana of a demon in the mansion, Athena rushed in through the door with a frantic expression.

What she saw was Sephir, the pink-haired succubus she had seen before, and Hera, who was soundly asleep with a shallow smile on her face.

Athena couldn't help but be surprised at the sight.

How long had it been since Hera had such a relaxed expression on her face?

Approaching carefully so as not to wake Hera, Athena noticed that Sephir was casting a spell on her.

"… What are you doing right now?"

"Hiik?"

At Athena's sharp, low voice, Sephir's body jerked in surprise.

However, she quickly steadied herself and looked at Athena with a clear gaze.

"Ah… can't you see? I'm putting Hera to sleep!"

"Putting her to sleep?"

"Y-Yes! It's a magic that helps her have happy dreams, so… so please don't look down at me so menacingly."

Athena glanced at Hera as Sephir spoke. It didn't seem like the spell was anything threatening, just as Sephir had said.

After all, if Sephir had been attempting something suspicious with Hera, Mari, who was watching quietly from the side, would have stopped her.

Besides, being a familiar, she wouldn't do something so foolish as harm her master.

"When did you arrive?"

"I've only been here a short while. It took longer than expected to take care of things."

With nothing else to say, Athena stared quietly at Sephir for a moment before speaking.

"… Alright. Please take good care of Hera."

She let out a deep sigh and turned to leave the room.

"J-Just a second!"

Athena turned back at Sephir's call.

"What is it?"

"Can we talk for a moment?"

Sephir's face looked much more serious than usual.

"So what is it you want to talk about?"

Athena folded her arms and stared at the pink-haired succubus.

She met Athena's gaze with a surprisingly serious expression.

"What have you done to Hera?"

Athena had already anticipated the question, so she wasn't caught off guard.

"What do you mean?"

"While I was controlling Hera's dreams, I saw what's inside her."

"… So, you know everything."

Sephir's expression twisted into one of anger.

"Do you… love Hera?"

Her absurd question sparked a surge of anger in Athena.

Love Hera?

What kind of question was that?

"Is that why you called me here to say something so obvious?"

But despite her response, Sephir only looked more confused.

"Are you telling me you made someone you love into a slave… and ruined them? Does that even make sense?"

Creek—

Frustrated and unable to provide any rebuttal, Athena, in a fit of anger, grabbed Sephir by the collar.

"Don't overstep your bounds and try to climb up. All you need to do is take care of Hera."

I was already feeling like I was about to die these days. I didn't want to bother with something as lowly as this succubus.

The mana around me started to rage as if it was threatening her.

Saphir's eyes began to tremble violently.

However, contrary to what I expected, she didn't lower her tail. She shook her head once and boldly met my gaze.

"Because of you, Hera is dying."

"You… want to die, don't you?"

Instead of grabbing her by the collar, I grabbed her neck and squeezed it hard.

Saphir began to breathe heavily, her face contorted in pain.

"Cough… cough… Anyway, if Hera dies, as her servant, I'll die too…"

"No. That will never happen."

"Ugh… Cough… As long as you're here… Cough… she'll die soon…!"

"…What?"

"Cough…"

Saphir's body started shaking as if having a seizure.

Her eyes were rolling back in her head.

"Thud."

I clicked my tongue and released my hand from her neck. Saphir collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air.

"Hah!! Hah… I… feel like I just saw the master…"

"Stop talking nonsense and keep saying what you were about to say."

"Heh… Hah… Hoo… Hoo…"

After catching her breath for a while, Saphir cleared her throat a few times and began speaking.

"As I said, I saw Hera's inner state."

I gave her a look, urging her to continue. Saphir naturally kept going.

"In the human mind, you can see their emotions. What they're thinking, how they feel, what they desire."

"…So?"

"The reason Hera is dying right now is simple."

Saphir spoke with a somewhat sad expression.

"She doesn't want to live. Maybe it's because of her sense of responsibility toward Maria, she isn't trying to commit suicide. But she doesn't have the will to live either."

"….."

"Since her master feels that way, naturally her body and mana follow that will. If this continues, she might die very soon."

Her words pierced my heart like thorns.

Because of what I had done, Hera had lost the will to live.

Just that fact alone felt like it could drive me mad.

"Who doesn't know that? How can we save Hera!?"

Finally losing my patience, I approached Saphir and yelled at her.

She seemed to have not expected me to scream. Startled, she backed away from me.

But in my half-lost reasoned state, I…

She immediately ran to her, made her kneel, and demanded an answer.

"What do you mean by saying that you'll die if I'm around?"

Her body trembled like a single aspen tree, but her voice came out clearly.

"She suffers every moment she's here."

Sephir pointed to herself with a finger.

"And it's all because of you. Because you're near her."

"Athena. Let Hera go now."

***

"Kkiieek!!"

One.

A monster resembling a wolf was torn apart, its limbs disintegrating as it died instantly.

"Kyaa-ya-ya!!"

Another.

This time, a beast resembling a bear fell to the ground, spraying black blood.

And it wasn't just them.

Looking around, bodies were scattered between the trees in the forest.

There were so many corpses, it seemed there must be at least a hundred of them scattered across the ground.

Kkieek—

Grrr…

Every time she cast a spell, the monsters died, and the terrain was destroyed.

"Dammit…"

But no matter how many monsters she tore apart, it didn't make her feel any better.

In the end, she withdrew her magic and slumped to the ground.

As her buttocks touched the bloodstained ground, blood started soaking into her clothes, but she didn't care at all.

"Let Hera go…?"

She muttered in despair.

Sephir had said that as long as she was around, Hera's condition would never improve.

After seeing the depths of her heart, it was clear that the only thing she wanted now was rest.

But Sephir also said that she would never find peace as long as he was there.

Crunch—

"I can't let her go."

How could she?

She had just managed to open her heart.

They had just become lovers.

Now she was supposed to let her leave her embrace?

Don't make her laugh.

There must be another way.

If it's a psychological issue, she could take her time and heal her.

'If I visit her and take care of her like before, every day…'

It didn't seem possible.

Every time she got near, she'd have a seizure. How could she take care of her like that?

Maybe she should ask Alina and Mari to help more.

She didn't like them being near Hera, but if it meant Hera could return safely, she could bear it.

"..."

No. This was meaningless.

She knew too well that they were already doing their best for Hera.

Even the saintess couldn't help.

The goddess's power could only heal external and internal wounds; she couldn't solve psychological issues.

She gripped her head with both hands, trying to think of a way, anything that could help.

But no matter how much she thought, there was nothing she could do for Hera.

"….."

'…Maybe if I erase her memories.'

As her rationality slowly faded, one thought pierced her mind.

There was definitely magic that could erase memories.

If she erased Hera's memories and returned everything to the way it was before she learned everything… he would surely be able to see her smile again.

'Okay. I have to erase her memories.'

Having made up her mind, she stood up and walked toward the mansion.

But with each step she took, the deep guilt and self-loathing weighed down on her, slowing her pace.

Eventually, she stopped completely, looking down at the ground, and started to laugh bitterly.

"You've finally lost it, Athena."

She had deceived Hera and caused her deep wounds until now, and yet, she was willing to repeat the same process.

No sane person could do something like that.

As Sephir had said, that could never be called love.

In truth, she already knew the answer.

No. She had known it from the beginning.

She was an Archmage of the 8th Circle. Her intellect was exceptional, never lacking.

She knew very well what the best path for Hera was.

She didn't want to admit it.

She didn't want to accept it.

She lifted her head, gazing at the beautiful night sky that had risen.

'…I'm no different from them.'

In the end, up until this moment,

He was just a selfish human who thought only of herself.