I woke up in a white-graysh room in the palace, unable to feel anything. When I opened my eyes, I saw a maid to my right placing a plate of fruit on the small table. When she noticed me, she smiled quietly and told me not to move.
She left, and shortly after, a doctor entered the room and began examining me. I felt my senses gradually return after my vision— I heard the sound of my heartbeat, I felt the hot yet warm sunlight coming through the window, the fabric of the bed's white sheet, and its scent. And as my senses came back one by one, my memories became clear a little by little.
Surely, the mask exhausted my body to a high degree. But speaking of the mask, where is it? And where is Esteliora?
After the doctor finished examining me and left, the queen herself entered. I looked directly into her eyes.
She sat on the chair next to the bed, and we exchanged silence for a few moments until she spoke: "Ethan Lumiere, I'm truly impressed. You completed what you were tasked with perfectly. Ankvorena wasn't harmed at all, and she even improved in combat."
I smiled slowly. "It was an honor to be the princess's companion and guardian. I thank your majesty for this praise." I hope I get something useful.
"But I don't think your next journey is far away. Your mother has been infected with a disease called the Violet Thorns. The Violet Thorns disease is caused by a person's inability to endure the surrounding Despaye, and so it begins to destroy the body from the inside. And I suppose, Ethan, that you will not sit idly— you will go to the Cake Village to find a cure."
All Despaye-related diseases have cures there. But I never imagined that the undying Violet Thorns plant would be represented as a disease, for plants can become diseases due to the power of Despaye that a normal person may not withstand.
This doesn't happen always, but it is possible. If the Violet Thorns plant touches a person, it will pierce their body and delve deep until it completely destroys them, and from what I've heard, this disease does the same. I need to heal quickly, and stand quickly.
"As for your friend Kafka, his condition is very bad, but he's a bit far from death. He is being cared for in a private hospital, so don't worry too much about him. But you may have to start your next journey before he fully recovers."
She stood and headed toward the door, but before the queen left, I asked her: "May I know where the creature that's... It is white and orange, where is it?"
She turned and said: "I'll inform them to bring it to you. They're feeding it now." And she left, closing the door behind her.
Even in times of peace, I can't rest. How ironic.
Just a few seconds later, Arthur entered. He's clearly in better condition than I am, but the bandages on his hands show how bad his condition was.
"You finally woke up, hero," he said mockingly before sitting on the chair.
"Look at the hero's condition, I feel like all four of my limbs have been cut off from how hard they are to move," I replied sarcastically.
He looked at the ceiling, sighing with a smile of relief and curiosity.
"Ethan, how were you able to kill them, by the gods." He laughed afterward.
"It's a strange matter, but it's related to the clown."
He looked at me, puzzled. "The title you got in the adventurer exam?"
"I got it in Eternal Est as well. It wasn't the first time we met— I mean... you understand what I mean."
"The clown... it's not the only puzzling thing here, that mask that flew and stuck to your face is what gave you the tremendous power that allowed you to kill Yuan, Fang, and his followers. Also, the crack that appeared and transported us to the wheat field, and the mask falling from your face after we were transported to the field. All these are puzzling things."
His hair fell over his eyes, and he pushed it back with his hand before saying: "You, even though you weren't conscious, you were able to kill without hesitation. They were trying to kill us, so we had to defend ourselves."
I slightly moved my head to look at him. "That hair-pushing move is cool to be honest. But Are you trying to show off your now long hair? Anyway, no matter how much you understand it, the first time you kill will fill you with regret and pain."
The smile disappeared from his face, and his tone turned deadly serious. "And yet, no expression of regret appeared on your face the first time."
"And who said it was the first time?" I said immediately.
Arthur looked at me with cold eyes, I could feel him analyzing me with them.
Arthur, you know nothing about me just like I know nothing about you. Killing is something I was born into.
At that moment, Ank and my little sister Lumila entered the room, breaking the sudden tense atmosphere. Arthur looked at them with a smile, and I did the same.
Even though the doubts are clearly present, we get along very well. I hope... that this friendship lasts, if "friendship" is the right word.
All that time we wanted to confirm whether Yuan was a companion or a traitor, and in the end, what happened, happened. But I don't want the same thing to happen toward me.
Two days passed, two days and I was able to walk again. Definitely unexpected, but the mask of eternity is illogical to begin with. And speaking of it, Queen Stasioni… let me just call her Stasi. Queen Stasi didn't ask to study the mask unlike what I expected. Anyone would've taken the mask and do researches on it completely.
Ella or Esteliora grew in size, but she's still small enough to fit in my pocket.
The effects of the mask on me healed quickly. As for the burns and other injuries, they were taken care of by specialized healing mages.
As my body healed, my mother's condition worsened. And after three days, I was able to fight well. I wasn't fully healed, but my condition improved greatly.
Ank started using a spear, and this is a big change in her fighting style— she used to be a mage, and now a direct fighter. But she's the one who chose the spear, so she must have an idea about it.
Kafka still needs a long time to recover, so it'll be just the three of us... or four, if we count Ella.
Ank's spear turned into a ring she wears on her finger. Honestly... that thing is way too cool.
"It is expected that... the illness will worsen greatly within fifty days. That's more than enough time." I carried my sword after that and... isn't my sword smaller than before? I don't know, maybe I'm imagining things.
"I always wanted to go to the Cake City, I wonder how they have medicine for every disease," Arthur said after loading his ammunition.
"Candy medicine?" said Ankvorina.
"The Key of Questions is two days away, so let's depart." We got into the car... the "special" one. Anyone would brag about riding the princess's private car for the second time ～(￣▽￣～)~