The Revenge of the Soul Eater

Iria ②

 

  To Iria, the man called Sora was a distant existence…or a forgettable one.

 

  As a companion or a friend, she wasn’t as close to him as Lunamaria and Larz were, but at the same time, it wasn’t like she was hostile to him like Miroslav, who hated men, was either.

 

  Iria did not like him or hate him, she was simply not close to him. 

 

  Of course, they have talked to each other many times since they were in the same party.
However, if she was asked if they had any memorable moments together, Iria would shake her head left and right. 

 

  Their bland relationship changed when Sora confessed about his talent limit.

 

  At that moment, Sora had definitely tipped towards the “bad” side of the scale of good or bad inside of Iria.

 

  Miroslav condemned Sora’s actions as “parasitic”. 

  In response, Sora explained that he had never intended to be a “parasite”.

  Iria didn’t think he was lying.

 

 Sora didn’t have any intention of being a parasite…He probably wanted to come clean himself before he got to the point of leeching, she thought.

 

  However, at what point his actions become parasitic depends on how each person views them.

 

  The state Sora sees as “I’m not leeching off them yet”, Miroslav could see that as “Nothing but leeching”.  

 

  And Iria’s feelings were closer to Miroslav’s.

 

  To her, the incident relating to Sora’s talent limit was just “someone else’s business”.
If Sora had talked everything out with them and everyone was okay with it, they could have faced it together as “the party’s problem”, but Sora didn’t do that.  

 

 He was in『Falcon Sword』for half a year.
Even though he had many opportunities to bring it up, he didn’t do it.

 

  A party’s battle power imbalance could lead to accidents.
It could result in the death of party members.
Iria could not be sympathetic towards someone who would keep quiet because of a personal reason despite knowing that he will put their party members in danger.

 

  At that time, she felt that Sora was “spoiled”.

 

  After Iria’s father passed away early, she had been living her life with strict self-discipline as her mother raised her by herself.

 

  From her point of view, Sora not facing the fact that he reached his talent limit was nothing but him acting like a spoiled child.

 

  It was spoiled of him to not tell the truth to his companions because he didn’t want to be hated or looked down upon.

 

  Even when he finally confessed about his talent limit, it felt like he was saying “Since it’s coming from me, I want you to just move on and forgive me for staying quiet all this time”…She was honestly disgusted.   

 

  After he was labeled a “Parasite”, Iria did not try to spread that name around, but she did not deny him being one either.
That was the result of the bad vibes he had left her with at that time.

 

  And it was the same for the king of flies incident as well.

 

  The actions Miroslav took in that incident was certainly unforgivable.
On top of that, Iria’s own sins for blindly going along with them were unforgivable as well.

 

  She didn’t have a choice since she was carrying the unconscious Larz on her back, but she understands that to the person who was made a decoy, that was not an excuse.

 

  She understood that…but she did not like getting blamed by Sora for that.

 

  The fact that Sora was the one who deceived them first took precedence no matter what.

 

  A human who hid his own talent limit and put his companions in danger was loudly criticizing her like that because he was the one in danger this time.

 

  Why would she lower her head to someone like that?

 

  That was how Iria truly felt.

 

◆◆◆

 

  The cheers of villagers could be heard from a distance.

 

  The village of Melte was currently in a buzz as if they were in their yearly harvest festival.

  Normally, the villagers would go to bed without question once the sun sets regardless of whether they are adults or kids.
But now, they were having fun singing and dancing in the plaza lit up by lamps.
Even the children were allowed to play tonight as they ran around in excitement. 

  It wasn’t only the residents of this village who were participating in this feast, people from the neighboring villages had also gathered here.
On top of that, all of those people were leaders such as village chiefs and counselors. 

  They were like “we should run it like a yearly harvest festival so let’s do this right”.
The level of liveliness this year was beyond the level of a harvest festival.

 

  「Seriously, what the heck……?」

 

  Iria lay in her room inside of the church by herself. 

  She stretched her arms and legs out like the letter “大”.

  She heard that her village was under attack by the epidemic, but when she arrived after traveling days and nights without rest, the illness had already been wiped out long ago.
The special medicine that Miroslav went through all the trouble to get for her was also meaningless compared to the fruit of detoxification that had a better effect.
“There was nothing left for her to do other than to relax then right?” was what was in her mind.  

 

 It wasn’t just that.
On the day Iria returned, the orc village that was threatening all the surrounding villages was annihilated by a single dragon rider.

  The event that is taking place right now is a feast to celebrate that.

 

   「Well, of course I’m happy that the epidemic is gone and the orcs were exterminated as well, but…」

 

  She was frustrated that she did not contribute anything at all.

  Moreover, the person who achieved those things was Sora who she has beef with.
That made her extra frustrated.

 

  「…I’m just a clown…aren’t I?」

 

  She muttered quietly.

  At that moment, Iria heard the cheers that were coming from outside and frowned without realizing it.

 

  What Sora had subjugated was a group of 30+ orcs that were led by a single High Orc. 

  It was a force that could easily run over the countryside villages.
There is nobody who isn’t relieved and happy after finding out that the orcs have been destroyed. 

  That wasn’t the only reason they were cheering either.

  Sora had donated all the corpses of the slain orcs to the village of Melte.

 

  There are bounties that could be claimed from the corpses of monsters that aggressively attack humans such as goblins and orcs.

  Also, the corpses of monsters are a treasure trove of materials.

  Since the meat of orcs has a strong scent and a terrible terrible taste, they can’t be eaten.
However, if you cook them to remove the astringent taste and dry them after, you can mix their meat with grain and use them as livestock feed.
Their bones and hides can be used to make tools, and things like their testicles and hearts can be used to make energizing medicines. 

  If the bounty was added to the worth of those materials, it’ll probably be more than the loss that the village suffered from the epidemic this time. 

  Those who came from the surrounding villages said that they came to celebrate the subjugation of the orcs, but what they really wanted was a share of the “treasures” that the village of Melte had unexpectedly obtained. 

  If the village of Melte took all the benefits for themselves then they’ll be hated.
The village chief of Melte will probably share the benefits with the surrounding villages, but it will be in the form of a debt to the surrounding villages that will bring the village of Melte benefits that are in a different form than money.

  That was why everyone was so pumped up even for a feast.

 

  「Seriously, everything is perfect.
No one is going to listen to me no matter what I say then」

 

  It wasn’t just the villagers.
Iria’s mother Sarah and Iria’s non blood related brothers and sisters were also very fond of Sora.

  Even if she were to tell them Sora had enslaved a former companion and put a collar around her neck, probably no one would believe her.

  No, on the other hand, he might bring out the incident about the king of flies to condemn her and Larz instead.

  If Sora were to lose his mood right now, he could go back on his word about donating the orcs’ corpses as well.
Most people will probably take his side.  

  In the first place, Sora solved the crisis and cleaned up the hurdles one after another.
He can’t be compared to Iria, who rushed here but didn’t do anything, or Larz, who didn’t even come here at all.

 

  「This was an extremely good chance for him to bring down our reputation.
I thought he was going to use that as his shield to make some requests of me, but he didn’t do that either……」

 

  Maybe he will make a big announcement about the king of flies during today’s feast, she thought.

  However, the meritorious person who destroyed the orc’s settlement by himself was surrounded by all the big shots of the villages after the feast began and he seemed fed up with the endless talking.

  If he wanted to expose the incident, he would have done it long ago.

 

  She wondered if Sora had no intention of publicizing that incident.
However, if that’s the case, then for what purpose did he come to the village of Melte? That question surfaced in her mind.

 

  The fruit of detoxification, the stamina potions, and the holy waters.
It should have taken Sora tons of money to get the items he provided.
She cannot imagine what his goal could be after spending that large amount of money.

  He visited the village of Melte with a clear purpose in mind.
However, Iria had no clue what that would be.

 

  It was disturbing.
She thought and thought about it, and it was so disturbing that she became tired from thinking and went to her room.

 

  「…Speaking of which, back when he agreed to duel with Larz, I was scratching my head the same way as I am now too」

 

  At that time, she could not understand why he would take on the pointless duel as a level 1 vs a level 16.

  Miroslav said “He must have been overconfident after he got his hands on an expensive weapon”, but she now knows that that was not the case.

  She didn’t understand what happened.
However, Sora definitely had a huge level increase.
He became strong enough to overwhelm Larz, tame a wyvern, and destroy an orc settlement all by himself.

  With this, the stories about him defeating numerous monsters that she thought was bullshit became more believable.

 

  「……Just…what happened…ah……」

 

  While she was thinking about it, her eyelids gradually became heavier.

  Maybe the few sips of alcohol that she had been pressured to drink by the people at the feast were starting to kick in.

  Iria let out a slight yawn and slowly closed her eyes. 

  After a little while, she fell asleep and began breathing softly.
There was a slight frown on her face as if she could not solve the mystery in her dream. 

 

    …To Iria, the man called Sora was a distant existence…or a forgettable one.

 

  However, that was in the past.

  Sora now was neither distant nor forgettable.

  As an existence that is unforgettable even in her dreams, he was about to be engraved in the depths of her heart and mind.

 

 

 

 

TLN: The lesson is, communication is key