Iria ③
“He saw me”――The moment Iria had that thought, she immediately covered half of her face with her right hand.
Of course, her doing that did not erase the fact that she was seen.
Sora probably got a good look at her messed-up face.
With that thought, her body heated up from shame and humiliation.
If she had covered her face up with a cloth, or rather, put on a mask in the first place, perhaps she wouldn’t have to taste such emotions.
However, she deliberately chose to face Sora like that.
It was a front she put up towards her opponent, someone whom she never had a good relationship with.
“I don’t care even if you see my ugly face. I’m not so weak that I’ll beg you for your antidote”――That was the silent message she displayed.
But in reality, when her face was seen by Sora――a person of the opposite gender, her toughness disappeared like ice that melted under the sun.
Just what the hell am I doing? She ridiculed herself.
At the bottom of that self-ridicule, there was an unsettling feeling of uneasiness.
As someone who has been active as an adventurer and a warrior priest for many years, she is no stranger to abnormal conditions such as poisoned, cursed, and paralyzed. She had experienced it all first-hand many times, and she was able to overcome them every time.
Despite that, the poison this time made her feel strongly anxious.
Things like high fevers, coughing, nausea, and joint pain are still fine. What made Iria afraid was the numbness that was slowly spreading to her hands, feet, and face.
The other symptoms can be suppressed with the use of medicine and magic. Even though they would come back before long, she could have relief temporarily.
However, the numbness is the only thing that never goes away. Slowly, but surely, her body was being taken over by it.
Right now she can still move her limbs. She can stand, walk, and she can still converse with her mother, Larz, and the kids. However, she probably won’t be able to do those things soon――That belief is firmly rooted in her mind.
The right side of her face that is covered in numbness has been crumbling to ugliness as if it was confirming that belief of hers.
Moreover, there was no pain accompanying that numbness. In fact, until her mother pointed it out to her with a pale face, Iria did not notice anything wrong with her face. That truth still scares her now.
Pain is the body’s alarm that signals the person of any abnormal encroachment. If the alarm doesn’t ring, the person wouldn’t even be able to determine if there’s something wrong somewhere. Even if her limbs were rotting off, she wouldn’t have noticed it. She was completely horrified by that realization.
The numbness that’s eating at her body is the grim reaper’s arm. The moment it grabs a hold of her entire body is surely when she dies. That’s what she thought――Not long ago.
However, Iria’s thoughts gradually changed in the days she was under attack from the poison.
Right now, she thinks that it would be a blessing if she can die.
If the symptoms keep on progressing at the current rate, won’t she have to keep watching herself break down even when she can no longer move or speak? Isn’t she about to step into a painless hell that won’t even allow her to go mad?
If that’s the case, she would rather――
「Oi, Iria」
Iria snapped back to reality after she heard her name called in a strong tone.
When she took a look, she found Sora staring at her with a serious expression.
「W-what…?」
「When? When did this happen?」
While confused, Iria answered the question of the person who she thought had looked away in disgust.
「Th-three days ago…But I think the symptoms started to show right after I was poisoned」
「Three days, so three days, huh?」
After he said that, Sora looked up at the ceiling as he mumbled something to himself.
Iria felt like she heard something like “I need to hurry”.
Then, Sora looked at her again. As soon as Iria felt his eyes on her face, her body twitched.
Without paying attention to such a reaction from her, he spoke with urgency.
「Iria, you heard about the antidote I have from the priest, right?」
「Er-ermm, I did, but…the fake antidote that’s mixed with a dragon’s blood, right? If you were going to make something up, you should have made it a little more believa――」
「It’s not made up. Here, drink it. In one go」
「Hey wai-?!」
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Iria protested against Sora who took a bottle of medicine out of nowhere and pressed it against her mouth.
As she tried to push the bottle away with her right hand, she stared at Sora.
「What are you doing all of a sudden?!」
「Don’t worry. If you’re concerned about its safety, Miroslav made sure that it’s safe. I can guarantee it as well」
「I don’t trust you guys! Rather, why are you the one who is in a hurry?」
「……Three days ago, I was at a village upstream of the Kale river. I heard from the guild that a poison that antidotes do not work against had surfaced there. And that’s where I saw people who had similar symptoms as you. They had been poisoned for much longer, and they could neither stand nor talk」
「……Eh?」
「I don’t know the details since I didn’t stay in that village for long. But I heard that it did not even take 10 days to go from their collapse to the point they could no longer move. If you don’t take care of this soon it’ll be too late」
When she looked into Sora’s eyes as he spoke quietly, she understood that he was not lying.
Things might end up like that eventually――Iria knew that, but she could not help feeling more frustrated after hearing the 10 days number.
When she opened her mouth next, her voice trembled against her will.
「……Those people, were they suffering?」
「They didn’t even make a sound」
「I see…So it’s like that after all, huh…」
As she muttered out while suppressing her voice, Iria stared at the bottle of medicine Sora took out.
「If drinking this doesn’t do anything――」
「Then I will make it stronger」
「Even if it works, what if the symptoms return right away――」
「Then you’ll just keep drinking them. Luckily, I’m not going to run out of materials to make these」
「But it’ll be less effective if I keep drinking them. It was like that for the antidotes and my mother’s magic too」
「If that happens then I’ll just make it stronger again. If you want, you can just drink some dragon blood directly」
After she heard that, Iria shrugged her shoulders as if she was disappointed.
What she was disappointed with had nothing to do with what the young man before her said; she was disgusted with herself who is still trying to act tough even now.
「Easy for you to say. Dragon blood is as rare as orichalcum, you know?」
「You just witnessed the rare event of a human who was level 1 until recently becoming a dragon rider, didn’t you?」
That line made Iria burst out a small chuckle.
「Yeahh, now that you mention it, you’re right. Compared to your case, even dragon blood wouldn’t be considered that rare――――Hey, Sora」
「What?」
「I haven’t even asked my mother or Larz for something like this, but I will ask you without holding back. If the poison can’t be cured, and it looks like I’ll become paralyzed while alive…if that happens……I…!」
Iria was trying to spill out her feelings that she couldn’t tell anyone, but she hesitated even though she got up to that point.
If she finishes her sentence, wouldn’t that means she has lost the will to fight against the poison and things will end up as a self-fulfilling prophecy? Such fear made her lips heavy.
But Sora did not care and shattered her complicated feelings.
「Don’t worry. If it comes to that, I’ll end your life right away」
Having her secret thoughts easily read by him, Iria suddenly lifted her face up.
「Really? You’ll really do that for me?」
「Yes. First of all, do you think I came to your rescue with purely good intentions? If I do manage to save you, I can make you do what I want since you will owe me. Even if I fail, I can have my revenge and kill you before the poison does. I’m not losing anything in either of those cases」
Towards Sora who has a frivolous smile on his face, Iria stared at him with a different gaze than the one she has looked at him with up until now.
No matter how sick she is, she could still tell that his frivolousness was just an act.
“Since I hate you, I won’t hesitate when the time comes, so don’t worry”――That was the attitude Sora was displaying.
If there was anyone else here right now, they might be cursing at him for his attitude.
However, to Iria who had continued to fear a painless hell ever since her face started to break down, Sora’s attitude was something she liked more than any consoling words.
It’s because even if she can’t beat the poison, she will never have to experience the worst situation――to live in a painless hell. The guarantee of that was exactly what Iria longed for.