The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

When I was summoned by Mr. Farga, I went with Nair to the hall where the throne is located.

Normally, the Norns would be in the hall, but this time there was no one there.

As I moved to the center of the hall, the scaffold sank to the floor by itself and we headed toward the basement.

I guessed that Farga had moved the scaffold remotely, but it seemed to me that she had finally called me alone.

"Is there something you don't want people to hear?　No, but is there such a thing only with Miss Farga?"

"I don't know. A divine dragon is a demon of the same race as an evil dragon. I don't know what he's thinking inside. Old demons are cunning and mean and smart and really nasty.

"You're very persuasive when you say it: ......"

It's a boomerang that sticks with great force, but .......

From Néa's point of view, Lady Farga is old enough, but from my point of view as a human, Néa, who is three hundred years old, is also long-lived enough. .......

I don't dare to say it for his sake, but....

While we are chatting about other things, we arrive at the basement and find Master Farga emerging from the fountain. When he notices my arrival, he slowly looks up and sees Nair on my shoulder.

"You have come too?

"Can't I come?"

"No, I don't mind."

Master Farga looked at me as he replied to Néa's grumpy look.

"I called Usato here this time for a specific purpose."

"Purpose?"

Mr. Farga nodded at my words.

What happened to him yesterday?　And why did he go to the trouble of talking directly to my head?

"The battle with Kalon is near. You who go into battle with a piece of me will be forced to go head to head with him.

"Yes, I know. ......"

Whatever today's strategy is decided upon, it will be my role to hold Mr. Karon down.

But what does it matter?

"I fear that you and Kalon may make a mistake and lose your lives."

"...... misplaced?

"There is no clear difference between you and Kalon in a melee fight. It is a terrible thing to say, but you are trying to follow someone who has lost his reason but is awakening into a dragon with only his body and his kagome.

I feel like I'm being treated like a monster.

But I guess I'm wrong. ....... I don't want to end up like that, but Falga-sama says that it is possible.

"I don't think it's possible that this survival specialist will die. ......?"

"Nea,...... I'm talking about something important right now. This is not the time for jokes."

"I'm not kidding at all. ....... That look of disgust on your face is so disgusting!

I really wish you wouldn't interrupt my important conversation.

He turns to Farga-sama, ignoring Nair who is blabbering on his shoulder in disagreement.　

"So, you didn't call me here just to give me advice, did you?"

"Yes. You just have to keep what I just said in mind. I called you here, too, to take a peek into your memories.

"My memories?"

What good are they?

Perhaps, like Nair, he wants to know about other worlds?

As I tilted my head, Mr. Farga continued to speak.

"What you see are the memories of the brave men you know.

"Are you talking about Inukami-senpai and Kazuki ...... the heroes of the Lingle Kingdom?"

Yes. I'm afraid we'll never meet the heroes of the Lingle Kingdom in person. Before you go off to battle, I would like to know what you know of the heroes of the Lingle Kingdom.

Inukami-senpai and Kazuki.

I don't know everything about them either, but I wonder what Falga-sama would do if he knew about them.

Unlike Nair, I have a feeling that this lady is not trying to look into my memories to satisfy her thirst for knowledge.

In the first place, can't this person keep track of my senpai and Kazuki who are far away from me?

"The reason I know what a brave man looks like is to see if he is worthy of making my armor.

"Isn't that a very serious thing? I wonder if my memory will be enough.

If Master Farga creates a weapon for the both of you, it will be called a true "Weapon of the Brave".

It has to be you. There is no one more qualified than you, who will be most trusted."

"...... understand."

When you say it like that, I have no choice but to nod.

But, I remember my senpai and Kazuki.

Kazuki seems to be my best friend in general, but my senpai is .......

I remember him as a man who is always on the edge of his seat, or as a man who throws his work away and lets it go free, or as a man who runs wild with his desires. .......

.......

"......Farga-sama, let me tell you in advance that one of the brave men is a very strange man. But he is a good person!　Please understand that and look at my memory ......!"

"Uh-huh?"

"If you said that to me with a bitter look on your face, I'd think you'd have a bad feeling about it. ....... I mean, is the brave man Usato knows such a freak......?"

I'm not sure how to describe it, but I'm sure it's not a bad idea.

He is not a bad person, though he has his share of weirdness. In fact, he is a very nice person.

He has a record of spreading an unbelievable story about me and my senpai all over the continent. But I don't think of him lightly enough to dislike him because of that.

I'll get even with him when I get back to ......!

"...... then, let's see what you remember."

What am I doing?

Just picture it. Not as a brave man, but as a friend to you.

When Falga said this, a pattern of magic appeared in her eyes.

They are different in shape from the ones of yesterday, so I guess they are meant to look into my memories.

Knowing that there is no danger, I close my eyes and try to picture the two of them as Farga said.

......The first thing I remember is ......Yes.

I remember from that rainy day, when I was an ordinary high school student and I met them for the first time.

I remember the first time I met them.

Mr. Farga spent about half an hour looking at his memory.

For my part, I was in a strange daydream-like sensation, so I thought it had been much longer. When I opened my eyes, I found Nair on my shoulder, stretched out his arms, as if he was not busy, and Falga was breathing deeply.

"You seem to have been blessed with good fortune," he said.

"Yes, I'm too good for it, though."

"Needless to say, the brave man you know has the right qualities to be entrusted with a piece of me."

Good.

I'm glad you didn't tell me that I'm not worthy to be entrusted with your armor because I'm not like the average brave. .......

I am relieved to hear that Kazuki and my senpai will be entrusted with my armor.

All that remains is for me to create the nucleus and entrust it to them.

"......"

Create and entrust, huh?

I still remember how Master Norn panicked when I was making the hero's sword into mine.

To create a powerful weapon, we must use a part of Falga's body. Mine is an exception, but from the performance of the other weapons, it is not just a matter of separating the body from the body.

Looking at the strength of the weapons of Mr. Karon and the previous generation of heroes, it may be that the power itself is separated from the body.

The reason why Norn-sama was in such a hurry was because he was afraid that Falga-sama's action would have a great impact on his body. .......

"...... No."

Nothing I can say will stop Mr. Farga.

He knows that, and he is going to entrust the two of you with his armor. He is the one who supported the Norns in maintaining the boundary by himself.

I cannot read his intentions, but I can say without a doubt that Master Farga is on the side of mankind.

He is cooperating with us human beings, even detaching his own body from us.

"Master Falga loves humans, doesn't she?"

I don't mean to be rude, but that's what I said.

Falga's eyes widen at my words. After about ten seconds of silence, he opened his mouth heavily.

"I have to tell you something," he said.

"What?"

"Where did the dragon factor that lies within Kalon come from?"

The source of Mr. Karon's dragon power: ......!

I had not expected that it was not Norn or Leona, but Farga herself who would reveal it to me.

"In conclusion, Kalon is like my offspring.

"Huh?"

Nair, on his shoulder, is astonished.

Seeing Nair's reaction, Master Farga smiles pleasantly.

"In that respect, I am close to you. A mixture of human and dragon. The dragon's blood is infinitesimally thin, but its potential will not fade, and will be passed on.

Certainly, it is close to Nair, the half-vampire, half-necromancer.

But I didn't think it surprising.

I thought that since he has the dragon factor, he must have some kind of blood in him. I didn't think it was Falga's, though. ......

"How did your power get into Kalon's body?"

Nair's question made Lady Farga lower her voice a little.

"The reason goes back to the time when the Demon King was defeated and sealed by the heroes of the previous generation.

"If the Demon King was sealed, does that mean it was hundreds of years ago?"

Yes.

You don't mean back that far, do you?

This may be a more difficult problem than I thought.

"After the demon king was sealed away, I lost sight of the value of human existence. I am the divine dragon who presides over harmony and peace, and humans are the evil that disturbs them, aren't they?　Was it right for me to lend my power to the existence of human beings who repeatedly fight, betray their own kind, oppress other kinds of people, and bring destruction meaninglessly?　I questioned even my own actions, and at that time I had lost sight of what I was supposed to be.

"You are, are you? ......"

"So fierce was the conflict between the demon king's army and humans in the past."

I don't want to imagine such a conflict ...... that the divine dragon, Lord Falga, would question humans.

"So what happened?"

"I, who had almost lost sight of my own existence, transformed into human form and entered a city in order to once again determine the value of human beings. Not as Farga the divine dragon, but as Farga the mere human being."

You became human in order to know humans.

Or rather, did he take on human form like Nair? I had thought that Nair's transformation was unique to vampires, but did Falga-sama transform herself by magic or something?

"The city was in a terrible state, still bearing the scars of the battle with the Demon Lord. The city is full of wounded people and there is not enough food to eat. But even so, the people there were not despairing and were living day by day without giving up."

People who live in spite of despair.

Perhaps the sight was indescribable to Mr. Farga, who had almost lost sight of himself.

"As I was watching these people, a person approached me. That was how I met her.

"She?　Could it be that person is Mr. Karon's ......?"

"Yes."

When he spoke of "her," Mr. Farga's tone was gentle.

Perhaps remembering a memory from long ago, Falga, whose mouth was slightly twisted, continued to speak.

"Through my encounter with her, I have come to know more deeply the existence of human beings. It has been a pleasant experience for me, a long time ago. It was a pleasant experience for me, because human life is full of surprises.

"......"

I don't know how many years Master Farga has lived.

I don't know, but I felt a kind of weight in his words about human life. Not in a bad way, but in a way that made me feel the preciousness of life.

"I, who had beheld her at first, forgot my duty as a divine dragon, and enjoyed the life of a human being. After decades of bearing children and becoming a human parent, I watched her die, and then ...... became the divine dragon that protected her hometown of Mearrauk."

"...... is just like me, isn't it?"

"Hmm?"

Nair, who was standing on my shoulder, muttered something like that when she heard Lady Farga's words.

The girl on my shoulder immediately turned her head away as if to deceive me, but I heard her say that they looked alike.

......The words reminded me of the village where she had been.

In that village, Nair had played the role of a resident for over two hundred years. I have not heard the details of why, but I could guess her feelings from her words.

Lady Farga has been watching over the place where people live as a divine dragon.

Nair, who must have spent time together with the villagers in the village where they live, disguising her own appearance.

Indeed, the resemblance is striking.

"...... originally, Kalon could have been stopped before he went out of control."

"What?

I was lost in my thoughts, when I was shaken by the unexpected words of Mr. Farga, who whispered to me as if spilling out.

Does it mean that Mialak was spared from such a disaster if we were able to stop him before he went out of control?

"Whether the dragon's power is about to be awakened or not, he is still a human being. If he had been awake for a short time, he could have been suffocated by magic ......, but he couldn't."

"Mr. Farga, ......"

"Kalon is the trump card against the Demon Lord. If he can fully possess my power and the armor I have created, his power will be unparalleled. Besides, there are two heroes summoned from another world. If we cooperate with them and face them, we can defeat the Demon King.

The power that can defeat the Demon King.

If he inherits the power of the divine dragon, Lord Farga, his power may be equal ...... or even greater than that of the heroes Kazuki and his senpai.

In fact, in terms of physical strength, he was equal to or greater than me.　

However, that is only a pretense.

"What?"

What's the point of ......?

"No matter how much you try to make up reasons, it doesn't change the fact that you couldn't kill Karon. I could not make up my mind. I could not make up my mind to kill Kalon, my own offspring.

"...... that's!"

Isn't that something that can't be helped ......?

It's impossible to make up your mind when you have to kill a being who is no less than your son.

I knew this would happen to my people sooner or later. If what he is going to do is what I think it is, this event cannot be avoided. ...... Even though I knew this, I could not be so ruthless. Because no matter how many generations pass, her image still remains in Kalon. That alone is enough to shake my resolve again and again.

I can't say anything to Mr. Farga, who said these words with his eyes downcast and regretful.

There was no way she could kill the people of Mearaq, her own descendants, whom she had watched over until now.

"The only reason Kalon is here is to kill me."

Master Farga?

He has killed the source of his power and is freeing himself from his instincts. If he does so, he will become a second evil dragon, capable of destroying everything in sight.

"The second evil dragon?

I was wondering why Mr. Karon was staying here, but he was staying because Mr. Farga was here?

In other words, if Master Farga is killed, the runaway Mr. Kalon will be released from Mialak ......!　If Mr. Karon goes on a rampage in such a state, it's not a level of trouble!

Master Farga, seeing my and Nair's frustration, cast down his eyes.

"Dragons are more fragile creatures than you humans can imagine. No matter how strong and intelligent they may be, they are not superior in spirit. It is a weak creature that can easily be turned into a monster like my other half if it is engulfed by power, a monster whose only goal is to destroy and kill ......."

Are you like that?

"Yes, I have been caught up in my emotions and misjudged. I should have killed Kalon then if I cared about the future of mankind.

No, it's not.

Nair interrupted Lady Farga's words.

I looked at her on her shoulder in surprise, and she was looking at me with strong-willed eyes.

"That's not true. If I did that, you wouldn't want to live. You didn't kill her because you didn't want to, and you shouldn't regret it."

"Nair ......?"

"I think it's wrong of me to be part of the cause. But it's too early for you to regret this. Kalon is still alive, Mearaq has not been destroyed, and we are still alive.

Lady Farga falls silent at Nair's words.

We cannot tell from her expression what she is thinking.

"I know how it feels to regret what you have done and to want to die. I almost lost something important to me when I made a fool of myself. But thanks to this good-natured person, I didn't. There is still hope because of ......."

So ......nea is changing on this journey.

Although it has only been a month, the changes have not been small.

"Neah is right."

I look up at Mr. Farga, just as she does.

Yes, there was no way we could give up while there was still a chance to save Mr. Karon.

I had planned to help him from the beginning, but now that I heard about Leona and Mr. Farga, that feeling has become unshakable.　

"We are here. We won't let a second evil dragon be born, and we will save Mr. Karon."

"...... you are willing to do it even if it's difficult?"

"I'm a lifeguard. I'm a lifeguard. I'm willing to do something reckless like that.

We have always done reckless things.

This time is no different.

Mr. Karon has people waiting for him to come home and people who don't want him to die.

That is enough reason for me to want to help him.

"......As I said, you are a strong man. That is why you are able to move forward so foolishly.

Master Farga looked down at me and Nair, his expression becoming calm.

"You have the qualities of a brave man, but you are not. A brave man is one who fights and wins, while you fight and save others. That may be why it is fortunate for us that you have come to us instead of a brave man.

"Well, I can't believe they lifted you up that high: ......"

Kyu, your sudden praise made me itchy.

As I was a little embarrassed and was scratching my cheeks to hide my embarrassment, Farga-sama meditated as if troubled, and then opened her mouth.

I have nothing more to hide. I have something I need you to do for me.

"What?　What do you want me to do?

I need you to save someone.

I want you to save me? ...... It's funny that you should say that again in the context of this conversation, but--,

"You mean Mr. Karon?"

"No, not Mr. Karon. I know I don't have to hope so after what you just said."

His words sounded somewhat funny, and I tilted my head.

It is true that I am determined to help Mr. Karon even if he does not wish me to do so.

If ...... is the case, then who ...... is Mr. Farga going to save?

"The one who is on his own mission, trying to solve everything by himself. She has been dragging herself along without shaking off the doubts that torment her, and she has decided to do the worst possible thing.

"Worst means?"

"I have a scoop of the Forbidden Fountain in my hand, and I am about to strike a blow against those who would bring danger to this city."

"......."

At these words, I look at the fountain beneath Lady Farga's feet.

The Fountain of Kureha.

Water that makes people crazy.

A poison that turns life into power.

The water of the fountain that brings ruin and madness to those who seek its power, "she", as Master Farga calls it, has obtained.

You don't mean ......?

That's what she was talking about yesterday!

Finally, I realized the true nature of the strange feeling I had for her. ...... No, I have realized it!

Amako is right, what an insensitive guy I am!

A little bit of thought would have revealed to me how mentally trapped she was!

"......!"

"My words and Norn's words cannot reach her, who is trapped by her mission and has chosen to carry it out alone. But your words can still reach her."

He was worried about me today.

Told me to take it easy.

Don't let them worry you.

I couldn't imagine that she, who had been so kind to me as if she cared about my recklessness, was about to do the most reckless thing of all.

"Usato, I want you to save Leona. Only you can do this, who never wished to be a brave man."

She's going to die.

She's going to give her life to stop Mr. Karon.