Fugitive Poison User ~I Am Somehow Recovering in a World Full of Miasma~ Chapter 65

It’s the middle of the night .

Nature calls, so I head out of my room and into the hallway to the washroom . There, I caught a glimpse of someone sitting in the living room .
Everyone should be asleep by now, so what’s going on?
Taking a closer look, a candle on the table reveals Celes sitting there .

“Hmm? Ah, Cohgray . Is something the matter?”
“Right back at you, Celes . ”
“Ah, hmm… say, Cohgray…”
“What is it?”

The dimly lit figure calls me over .

“I am wondering if I could… speak to you for a little . ”
“Of course . I’ll listen to whatever you have on your mind if you’re fine with just me . ”
“Ah… it is something on which I would like your opinion . ”

My opinion, eh?
I kinda had the feeling that something was bothering her .
She wasn’t really hiding it either .
I take a seat and give her my attention .
Celes looks back at me and begins to softly speak .

“This is regarding someone who dreamed of living life as an adventurer and then made it their reality…”

That adventurer gradually became more and more powerful and made a name for themselves .
However… a turning point came upon them .
The adventurer only became an adventurer for the money—so that their family could live comfortably .
But, their family… the little sister whom the adventurer so cherished had been cursed .

The one who placed the curse was an abhorrent dragon .
Learning of that fact, the adventurer joined forces with others who were suffering the same fate and enlisted as knights and sorcerers to slay the dragon .
There, they formed a dragon slaying squad with others whose families were affected or killed by that curse .
The adventurer was more than a knight… a hero, even . They led men and women—these dragonslayers—to wage war against menacing monsters and dreadful dragons .

Their goal was their family… to destroy the root of the curse that was causing so much misery .
If not… the adventurer’s beloved sister would perish .
It mattered not how despicable their tactics, how cowardly they fought—what matters was to slay the dragon .

“But… one day…”
“…”

It’s as if Celes were engaged in a monologue; she fixed her gaze to the starry skies and words simply spilled out of her lips .

“… the adventurer encountered someone else afflicted by that same curse tormenting their sister . That person had their curse lifted . The adventurer even discovered that the curse was not caused by a dragon but a man . This was all in front of the adventurer’s other dragonslayer ally as if obvious…”
‘She… hath been vague, but however…’

Yeah, I get you .

“I am sure you have seen the posters up in taverns and such, but I represent those who transformed the dragon into a human . The adventurer is now too pursuing the dragon to defeat it . ”

I feel Veno staring at me .
So, she’s the dragonslayer that was leading the group when they brought me into the world with Forced Possession Summoning .
I remember the dragonslayer was clad in armor… but to think it was Celes all along .

If you think about it, the signs were there .
Celes is a follower of the Teachings of the Sacred Yggdrasil, an extremely powerful adventurer, and had merely swung by Wayne’s residence while she was on an assignment .
Wayne’s a well-known blacksmith too . He’s someone who Celes is indebted to and was afflicted by a curse much like her sister… Celes couldn’t help but to help those who are suffering .

“And then… this curse was caused by a greedy man in order to profit from the adventurers putting their lives on the line . Someone had placed a curse on a religious symbol used by many for praying . ”

But there’s someone using Celes .
The villain… he’s the one who placed Dragonfall’s Charge on the job-changing altar .
Still, we don’t know who the culprit is…

“What do you think the adventurer should do?”

… Celes probably has an answer in her heart already .
Still, she’s asking the person who showed her that the curse can be lifted for support .

“That’s a no-brainer if you ask me . Never mind whether or not the curse can really be lifted; the adventurer’s priority should be their precious baby sister . Helping their sister is way more important than finding the culprit . ”

That’s obvious, right? You’re only risking your neck to save your dear family .
But the adventurer—no, Celes’ objective is to slay the dragon, not to catch the mastermind .
It’s just to save her sister .

“I… think so too . It is exactly as you said . Nothing else matters more than the adventurer’s beloved ones . It is true for all of the adventurer’s comrades too . ”

Celes looks at me with her piercing gaze .

“Cohgray, tell me… are you absolute in that the curse can be lifted? And it… shall not return?”

Yo, Veno, what do I say here?

‘… repeatest after me . ’

Gotcha .

‘“There are no absolutes in this world . However, that abhorrent magic has reared its ugly head in the past . If we lift it before it evolves or gets changed, then there is no threat of being cursed again . But, the source of the problem is within the body . The mastermind may very likely to have already prepared another illness or hex . If it seems incurable, then it very may well be an entirely different problem at hand . ”’

Celes and that friend of hers fought for their loved ones .
Their emotions are being controlled like a tool by some bastard .
If his tools don’t work… then he’ll fix them by subjecting their loved ones with another illness .
We can’t let the bastard have his way .

“I… see . It is ironic how the stronger one is, the farther the goal seems to slip away . ”

Celes continues to mutter to herself .

“… that silly adventurer seems to have taken a detour from her destination . Aye, neither the culprit nor the curse matters . The fact of the matter is that the sister is sick, and the adventurer should be helping her . ”

Whatever doubts or hesitations she might have had, Celes seems to be free of them now .

“That is all the sappiness to which I shall subject you . Tomorrow is another day, so we need to rest well . ”
“You got that right . You never know when you have to get back to your work too . ”
“Ah… that is certainly true . ”

With the candle in hand, she begins to head back to her room .

“You have my gratitude, Cohgray . ”

I could but barely hear her faintly mutter out her thanks .

‘I know not who or where, but that being is more repulsive and despicable than any monster . ’

Veno, who had been pretty positive as of late, spits out his words .
He did say that the miasma that chokes this world is mankind’s just deserts .
In a sense, he lost his life so that the world tree may live on, but as if it meant nothing at all, there are people who are determined to make it wither .

And the one who shifted the blame onto Veno and Arleaf’s ancestor is Virage, huh?
I guess people are more despicable than any king of demons could ever be .
After that, I finished up my business in the washroom, and headed back to sleep .

Chapter end