Hero Audition Ch. 69

https://ncode.syosetu.com/n5562hc/69/

Repentance

“Lily-san…. I’m sorry. You father told me to do it. I made a team with no mages in it and chose to fight a dragon on purpose. All of it was to drag you down.”

The first thing to come out of Nerine’s mouth when she woke up was an apology. She no longer had any reason to lie or any chance of hiding her secrets, and her expression was as bright as the sun because of it.

The reason why she was crying in bed earlier must’ve been because of the guilt she was feeling. Lily is her idol, and she was forced to betray her. It would’ve been an extremely painful thing to do for an innocent girl like Nerine.

“Nerine. It is nothing I will hold against you. And I am sorry for threatening you over Liffy.”

Lily knelt down and gently hugged Nerine’s head. I could feel my lips pouting out with jealousy. I wish she’d be that honest and kind to me.

“I argued with Daddy…. and when I was wondering what I should do, Akatsu-san came to me. He said if Lily-san can’t become a hero, you’ll have to marry my brother. After that, Akatsu-san and Daddy will be relatives, so he can talk to him about setting me free….”

Nerine repented her crimes aloud, tears falling down into Lily’s chest.

Just as Lily had guessed, Akatsu had taken advantage of Nerine’s wish to be free and used it to get her to do his dirty work.

It’s disgusting. I can’t believe this guy would take advantage of the problems of a girl who is younger than his own daughter just because his daughter isn’t doing whatever he wants.

“Rather than talking here, it’d be better to say this to the reporters. They’ll visit us to see how the training is going right?”

Lily shook her head at Peony’s suggestion. I figured it would be a long shot too. The difference between our power and his is just too great. In this situation, Akatsu is the one who can turn lies into truth and truth into lies.

“Impossible. The truth will be whatever my father makes of it.”

“Then what are we going to do?”

“The same thing we were always going to do. I am going to continue as if nothing has happened. I will take this incident as proof that my life will not be targeted, and I will continue to fight. It is already late tonight, but tomorrow, we will begin our training for fighting against a dragon. We should head back and sleep early.”

Lily never bends and always faces her enemies. I know that’s how she is, but I didn’t expect her to switch gears so quickly when the opponent is her own father. It just goes to show how rational and level-headed she really is.

“You two also would not have known the full details when you were roped up into this. You should run away before things get worse.”

Apparently Lily was willing to release Koha and Sawa who had been quietly listening to us talk for a while now. They should’ve already washed their hands of this whole situation by now, and since its doubtful that Lily’s dad will be able to drag them into this again, it should be fine.

“We appreciate it, but we still have something we need to do here.”

Koha answered while brushing some dirt off his shoulder.

“And that would be?”

Lily asked even though she obviously didn’t care.

“There are dragons gathered near here right? They are humanity’s enemy.”

“Enemy?”

“It was a dragon that attacked our village. Our parents and all my friends were killed during that attack.”

“Venting your anger? You know there’s no guarantee the dragon that attacked your village will be here right?”

“No, he is. Dad sacrificed his life to take that bastard’s right eye. And I saw him when I was sneaking around, getting a feel for the area before the kidnapping.”

“Sure. Then good luck to you. Our goals here are different.”

“Hey hey! Don’t you think this is some kind of fate meeting up like this? Heroes are supposed to help people, aren’t they Liffy? Well there are two people in trouble right in front of you as we speak. And if you’re going to fight a dragon anyway, bringing us along will be a win for everyone!”

Koha figured out Lily wasn’t going to give him the time of day real quick and decided to beg me instead.

“You’re right! Heroes are meant to save people. Just leave it to us!”

But Koha’s words lined up perfectly with Ran’s principles, so he got back up from out of nowhere.

“That’s why I said our goals are…. well, it’s fine. However, you two will just be following along. And we will not be going out of our way to hunt down a one-eyed dragon to defeat it. You will simply have to pray and hope the dragon we train against has one eye.”

Lily was pulled along by Ran’s promise, but she refused to let us get derailed from our original goals.

I know nothing about dragons and can’t say whether the dragon Koha and Sawa are looking for is really here, so it’d be irresponsible to just puff out my chest and yell, “We’ll definitely get your revenge for you!” Given that, I’d think Lily’s way of doing things is correct.

“Really!? Thank you! I don’t know what you mean by training, but we’ll watch you! We’ll watch you kill that big dragon when you do it too!”

“It sounds like you’re plotting something again.”

“We aren’t! Really…. thanks…. we’d never be able to put up a fight on our own….”

The dragons hasn’t even been killed yet, but Koha is shedding tears of gratitude for us. It’s good that he’s so simple, but it worries me that he was taking on these dirty kinds of jobs with this kind of personality. He’d be better off trying to find a more proper job.

He’s a great actor if he really is planning something though. He was so happy that he ran over to hug Sawa and started rubbing his cheek against hers. It must’ve been embarrassing having your older brother do that at such an age, and she ended up sucker punching him in the gut.

“For now, we should return to the villa.”

On Lily’s cue, we climbed up through the hole in the ceiling and moved outside.

Getting a breath of fresh air, I found that the part I had been calling a ceiling was in fact the floor of a dingy old hut. It’s validating knowing I was right about being underground the whole time.

“So I was underground after all. Is this a warehouse?”

“There are dragons nearby. Even if we say you will only catch a glimpse of one every several years, that one sight will still cause a panic for the people. And so every building in the area is built with a basement for shelter.”

Lily gave me an easy-to-understand explanation. Maybe it’s because she has a noble’s pride, maybe it’s because she’s the daughter of a minister, or maybe it’s just because of how diligent she is, but Lily always has an answer to whatever question I have.

“You know a lot.”

“Well this is my family’s territory.”

“I want to try saying that once in my life too! ‘This is my territory!'”

Ran did her usual thing of trying to tease Lily.

“Oh? If you like it that much, I suppose I could let you have it. You will have the responsibility to protect the land from any dragon attacks though. If you have the confidence to take one on by yourself without running away–“

“N-Nope! I’m perfectly fine! No problems here! Being a servant really does suit me just fine!”

Lily tilted her head, confused as we left the building. She wasn’t here earlier when Ran told the joke about becoming a servant, so she had no idea what Ran was talking about.

With everyone gathered together, I took a moment to look up. A sky full of stars was spread out wide for all of us to see.

This time, I was calm enough to appreciate how beautiful the scenery out here is. I was too angry and in my own head to care when I stomped out of the mansion and into the garden before.

“It really is beautiful. Reminds me of home.”

“How far out into the sticks do you have to be to enjoy the stars like this….?”

I could understand Peony’s reluctance here. The hut we were in looked even worse from the outside, and the other buildings scattered around us didn’t look much better. Some of them had scorch marks on the outside while others had walls that were torn apart and broken down. In other words, nobody lives here, and the only light source comes from the moon itself.

This must be a village abandoned after a dragon attack.

It’s a sad reality, but proactively hunting dragons isn’t a realistic solution. In truth, humans encroaching on dragon territory is the reason for most dragon attacks.

While I was lost in thought, staring at the starry night sky, Lily appeared on horseback and stopped directly in front of me. Combined with the height of the horse, I had to crane my head upwards to get a good look at her.

“Is something wrong?”

“Something wrong…. we need these horses to get back. Ran, give Peony a ride. Liffy, come here.”

“Oh, sure”

I fearfully took Lily’s outstretched hand and let her pull me on top of the horse. Is this how it would feel like if I was born tall? Having the eye level of a giant is making me more nervous than excited. It’s my first time ever riding behind someone.

“Koha and Sawa have a carriage right? Then tomorrow, meet us in front of the mansion as soon as the sun crests the horizon. Peony, Nerine, Ran, take care on the way back. We can gather in front of the mansion.”

After handing out instructions to everyone, Lily flicked the reins and began guiding our horse. The sudden weird vibrations had me stumbling, and I grabbed Lily’s waist on reflex.

“Move your arms a little higher. It is hard to move like this.”

“Ah…. sorry.”

“Is this your first time on a horse?”

“My first time riding behind someone. I hate the way you swing around on these things.”

“Oh? It is an honor to be taking another one of your firsts then.”

“This doesn’t mean that everything should be given a first.”

Every time we sway forward and back, my hips slap against the horse’s torso, and it hurts every single time. I really have gotten too used to a noble’s life thinking that transportation is limited to just horse-drawn carriages.

Lily’s back is right in front of my eyes. Dependable and strong, that’s how I always think of it. But in reality, it is a lot thinner and more delicate than what I cook up in my head.

“It sure does shake a lot.”

“Hug me tighter, and it will get better. Stick closer to me.”

“T-That’s allowed!?”

“When you say it like that, I want to say no….hey!”

Before Lily could say anything more, I hugged her as tight as I could and rubbed my cheek against her back.

That faint Lily scent. It’s been so long I’m actually feeling nostalgic.

“Please do not cum while on the horse.”

“Of course that’s not going to happen.”

“Then it’s fine. Just stay close to me.”

With Lily’s permission, I found a way to hug her even tighter.

“Thanks for today Lily.”

“Was today, another accident? You do require a lot of help. It is not easy being an escort.”

“Ahaha…. thank you for being that escort. Dahlia-san and most of her companions are gone already, so when we go back to the dorms, I could change rooms.”

“You can stay in that room forever.”

Lily is being especially kind after that incident in the bathroom. She’s trying to respond to my request.

“Well…. I’ll think about it.”

“Good. Think on it.”

Lily being so forward like this is making me feel bad. I decided to end the conversation there and switched to just silently enjoying Lily’s back.

The tens of minutes traveling between the abandoned village to the mansion gave me the best view of the night sky from over Lily’s shoulder.

Chapter 68 ⊥ Chapter 70