Chapter 39: Interlude – I’m Glad

Located within the grounds of the Hero Academy, the infirmary was primarily used by cadets who got injured during training or fell ill. Inside the facility was a special recovery room meant for private use. A payment was required to use it, and while the official name for this payment was donation, it functioned more like a steep usage fee. Therefore, not many cadets ever stepped foot in it.

Yet, here I was now, lying on the bed in that very private recovery room, dressed in patient clothes. In all my life, I had never imagined I’d be using a private recovery room.

An immortal monster who couldn’t stay dead was resting in a room reserved for injured elites. Could there be a more ill-fitting combination? I let out a deep breath and turned my head toward the woman seated beside my bed. She was cheerfully humming a tune as she peeled fruit.

Pale pink hair; a high-bridged nose; a delicate jawline; and soft, gentle eyes. But more than anything else, the overwhelming size of her blessed chest, which practically filled half my field of vision. Even without context, it was clear she had received the full favor of the Seven Gods.

Sensing my gaze, the Saintess stopped peeling the fruit in her hands and looked at me. “Why are you staring so intently?”

“Your blessed pouches.”

“Excuse me?”

“Ah, sorry! I was staring at your chest, Iris.”

Iris shrieked. “W-what?!”

Hastily covering her chest with her arms, she glared at me through narrowed eyes. “You little perv!”

“No, I mean…”

It’s blocking half my vision, how could I not look? Unless I start speaking out of the back of my head, it’s basically inevitable, I thought.

Her embarrassment faded as quickly as it came. “Hehe! Honestly, Dale, you try to act all composed, but you’re just a guy after all.”

She smirked and pushed her chest out even more, as if to show them off. Once again, my vision darkened with blessed curves. Trying not to stare, I slowly sat up in bed and turned my head away.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked.

“It’s about time I got out of here. My body’s already fine.” To be exact, my body had been fine since the moment Iris forcibly threw me into this recovery room.

“Tsk. I told you, didn’t I? You need to rest.”

“And I did. I’ve been lying here for days.”

She shook her head firmly. “That’s not enough. You need a bit more time.”

I sighed and replied, “You saw it too, didn’t you? You know what kind of blessing I have.”

“Yeah.”

With the Blessing of Resurrection, even in the face of death, I would revive almost instantly. She had personally witnessed it multiple times, no, dozens of times, during my fight with Astaroth.

“But still! You were in so much pain afterward!” she said.

“That’s only because I died too many times in too short a span.”

The blessing restored my body, but it didn’t replenish my lost mana or repair my exhausted mind. Even someone like me, who had grown numb to countless deaths, would collapse if forced to experience over a hundred deaths in under ten minutes.

“That’s exactly why you need to rest longer!” She insisted on it.

“I think I’ve rested enough.”

Iris tugged at the collar of my patient gown and murmured, “But… Just one more day. Can’t you stay just one more day?”

“Hmm!”

Truthfully, there wasn’t any real need for me to rest longer, but the tears welling up in Iris’s eyes made it impossible to say no. So, I replied, “Fine! I’ll stay until tomorrow.”

“Thank you!”

“Don’t mention it. Anyway, how much was the usage fee, uh, I mean, donation, for this room?”

“Oh, I paid for all of it. Don’t worry!”

“Still…”

“Nope! Patients should focus on recovery. End of discussion.”

“Ugh!”

Seriously, there’s nothing left to recover, I thought.

Suddenly, she asked, “By the way, is it really okay?”

“About what?”

“About hiding Professor Morpheus’s true identity.”

After I killed Astaroth, I had asked Iris to keep what happened a secret, that Professor Morpheus was Astaroth, the Archbishop of Dreams and Fantasies, and that I had killed him. Thanks to that, the academy believed Morpheus had fled the academy right after the incident.

Astaroth’s Veil of Illusion had ensured no one else witnessed what happened. As for Camilla, Father Antonio, and the orphans inside the veil, they had all been affected by Astaroth’s illusion magic; most of their memories of the event were wiped out.

I looked at her and explained again, “I told you. If this gets out, we’re the ones who’ll suffer.”

If it became public that Astaroth had targeted Iris’s Seven Eyes, then the entire continent’s attention would immediately fall on her. Moreover, beyond that, Astaroth had said her eyes were a hindrance to unsealing the Demon God. This meant that her Seven Eyes could prevent the Demon God’s resurrection, a longstanding wish of the demons. If that information spread among the demons, it would endanger Iris. So, for her safety, this incident had to remain hidden.

On top of that, if word got out that I had killed Astaroth, that’d be another massive headache. Why? Just imagining the fallout was enough: a mere cadet taking down one of the six Archbishops, beings who ruled above tens of thousands of demons. The entire continent would go into an uproar. This wasn’t just about hiding my power anymore. If the truth came out, my life at the academy would become unbearable.

From everyone else’s perspective, it’d be like a toddler beating a grown adult to death with their bare hands. Given how deeply the Archbishop title was rooted in fear across the continent, this revelation would be even more catastrophic.

Therefore, for both Iris’s sake and mine, keeping everything under wraps was the best move.

Iris sighed. “Fine. I’ll do as you say, Dale.”

“Thanks.”

“No, really. I’m the one who should be thanking you. You risked your life to protect me.”

“Does it count as risking your life if your life just comes back right away?”

Iris shook her head with a serious look in her eyes. “No. Even if you have the Blessing of Resurrection, that doesn’t make your life any less precious.”

I was speechless.

“So, don’t ever say your life is cheap again.” She gently reached out and brushed my cheek with her hand. “To me, your life is more precious than any other.”

Precious, no one had ever called my life that before. Because, well, my life had never been precious. What kind of value did an endlessly regenerating life even have? And yet, why? Why had she said that my life was precious?

She continued, “Back when you were fighting Astaroth, remember how you asked me why I jumped in instead of staying put?”

“Yeah.”

“I mean, I had the same thought. I didn’t know what your blessing was, but when I saw you revive again and again, I figured you probably wouldn’t die, at least.”

Just like she said, I wasn’t going to die. It made me curious. “Then why did you jump in?”

“I don’t know. When I saw you in pain, my body just moved.” It wasn’t a smart choice, nor was it a wise choice. It wasn’t even logical. Yet, she said, “If the same situation happened again, I’d still jump in to protect you.”

“Even knowing that I can’t die?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” That tangled knot of confusion in my mind only grew tighter.

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why would you give up your life to save mine? my mind screamed.

“When Astaroth stopped attacking you and turned toward me, do you know what I was thinking?” she asked.

“No.”

Iris lowered the hand that had been gently stroking my cheek and firmly grasped my hand with both of hers. “I was relieved.”

She wrapped my hand tightly, her voice trembling. “I was just… so relieved that you were still alive. That’s all I could think about. Heh. Doesn’t that sound familiar?”

“What do you mean, familiar?” I tilted my head.

With a playful smile, Iris poked the tip of my nose. “My, my! Why are you pretending like you’ve never heard that before? You said it to me the first time we met, remember?”

“Ah!” I let out an awkward cough, recalling that embarrassing moment from the first day after my regression. I had really just run up to her and blurted out that I was glad she was alive. It was definitely a memory I would rather forget now.

“Anyway, enough chit-chat. Lie down already, I’ll slice some fruit for you,” she said.

Suppressing a groan, I lay back down on the bed. Suddenly, a memory came rushing back. It was the day the sky had turned blood-red, and the day I heard her final words.

Back then, did Iris feel the same way as she does now? I wondered.

I didn’t know, and maybe I never would. But even if I never found out, what did it matter?

Iris held out a fork with a piece of fruit skewered on it. “Open wide, Dale. Aaaah.”

I gave her a small smile. Thank goodness you’re alive!

***

Under a sky burning red, golden eyes flared fiercely. “You’re going back?”

“Yes.”

“Iris, do you even hear yourself?”

“I do,” she replied.

Yuren clenched his teeth, glaring at his comrade. “Then how can you say you’re going back? Dale risked his life to give us this chance! If we don’t escape now, we’ll all die.”

“I know. That’s why I’m going back alone.”

“That’s what I’m saying! If you go back, you’ll die too!”

Iris gently touched the black eyepatch over her eye and said in a quiet voice, “Then, what about Dale?”

“Dale is…” A short silence ensued. Yuren clenched his fists so tightly they trembled. “Dale’s not going to die.”

“Of course not. He’s protected by the Blessing of Resurrection,” Iris replied.

“Exactly, so—”

“But if the demons capture him, he’ll suffer in ways we can’t even imagine. So much pain that he’ll wish he were dead.”

“That’s…”

Iris looked him in the eye and said, “I can’t leave him behind.”

Yuren grabbed Iris by the collar, his hands trembling with rage. “You!”

He screamed, almost in tears. “You think I don’t know that? Huh? You think I want to leave Dale behind and run away?! But you know it too! If we die here—”

“Then humanity loses its last hope.” Iris calmly finished it for him.

“Right.” Yuren bit his lips so hard that blood welled up. “If you don’t come with us, I’ll drag you back by force.”

A cold laugh slipped out from between her lips. “Do you know something?”

“What?”

“I’ve never used healing magic on Dale. Not even once. No matter how badly he was hurt, I figured he would recover anyway. No matter how much pain he was in, I thought he wouldn’t die anyway.” It made more sense to save her healing for others. It was more practical, more efficient. “He would come back even if he died! So I never used it on him!”

While Dale died hundreds, thousands of deaths, she had just stood by and watched. That was why she had no right to say his life was precious. Because it wasn’t supposed to be. If his death could save just one more life, then it was the right thing to do.

“You know what Dale always says when he saves someone? You know, right? He’s saved your life more than once,” she asked.

“‘I’m glad you’re alive,’” Yuren whispered.

“Exactly. He says that every time.”

Even though he died again and again and even though he screamed in agony over and over again, Dale always smiled and said, “I’m glad you’re alive.”

It was a phrase he would never hear for himself. But still, he said it with that same warm, bright smile.

“I’m going to die in a month,” Iris said.

This shocked Yuren. “Wait, what? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“I used the blessing of the gods without the Seven Eyes to support them. Honestly, it’s a miracle I’ve lasted this long. I kept it from Dale because I didn’t want him to worry, but there’s no reason to hide it anymore.” Her smile was tinged with sorrow. “Even if I’m going to die in a month, if I escape now and heal people, I could save so many lives. There are bound to be countless wounded from this war. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of lives.”

Iris looked up at him. “But I want to go back. To where Dale is. I’ve done everything I could, haven’t I? I watched him die over and over, turned away each time, all so I could save others. I became one of the Final Five Heroes, humanity’s last hope. So now, just this once. Before I die, I want to save him. I want to tell him that his life is precious. That it’s more valuable than anything in this world. That it’s irreplaceable.”

Yuren silently let go of her collar.

“Yuren?” she said.

“Go.” Yuren turned away from her. He clenched the hilt of the sword at his waist and walked off without another word.

Iris quietly nodded and turned around toward the black tide of demons gathering like a storm cloud.

Soon, Dale’s voice cracked with a sob as he cried out. “Why? Why did you do that?! Why did you come back?!”

Iris gently reached out and touched his cheek. She had always known he wouldn’t die. Yet, now that she saw him again, she felt such overwhelming relief. “I’m… glad.”

That you’re alive.

“Truly. I’m so… glad.”

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