Mebius World Online – Mari’s VRMMO Diary, Embarking on a Laid-back Adventure as a Novice - Chapter 89
89. Mari-nee and the things that remain at the end of the performance
At the moment the battle with Leon and the others ended, I couldn’t help but run to Gils’ side.
Although I managed to catch Gils, who was about to fall to his knees, his body was in terrible condition.
His left arm was missing from the elbow down, there was a large hole in his abdomen, his right hand was miraculously intact but broken in several places and twisted.
Seeing him in such a battered state, I became scared at the thought of losing another family member.
But even in such a state, Gils gently stroked me with his right hand, which he could barely move.
His hand seemed to be saying, “I’m not going anywhere,” so I buried my face in Gils’s chest and cried silently.
Finally calming down, I looked at Gils again and noticed that his eyes were filled with color.
It was a color I had seen many times before.
“Those eyes… I see, Nero and Kuuga are there, aren’t they?”
“Yeah. Inside me, they’re still by Maria’s side as always,” he said.
“I see… That’s how it is…”
I shouldn’t say things like that, or I’ll start crying again.
As I held Gils, his body tensed as if to warn of something.
Following Gils’s gaze, I saw Mephistopheles approaching us.
“That bast-!”
“No!”
I managed to stop Gils from standing up.
Despite my lack of strength against Gils, I was able to stop him because he prioritized my will.
In those small gestures, I felt that he recognized me as family, which made me happy.
But there was another reason I stopped Gils.
It was because there was no sense of hostility from Mephistopheles as he approached us.
Behind his mask, his red eyes were visible.
While they had been narrowed in enjoyment during our fight, now they seemed small and somewhat dazed.
Standing about three meters away, Mephistopheles repeatedly made motions as if hesitating to speak, tilting his head down and then raising it again.
It took a while before he spoke.
“Why… even after all this, does Lady Maria not succumb to hatred and resentment? You lost your family, didn’t you? You should feel anger, resentment! Isn’t that what it means to be human!?”
If you only focus on his words, it sounds like he wanted to see me in such a state.
But does he realize? Despite his words, Mephistopheles’ eyes are tinged with relief, as if he’s comforted by something.
“To compare Maria to those guys, how dare you!” I squeezed Gils’s right hand and shook my head.
I wanted Gils to listen to this too.
“I’m sad and frustrated too. Why did this happen… I don’t even know the reason, and I certainly have feelings of not being able to forgive those who took my family away. But if I let myself be ruled by such emotions, I would betray the feelings I entrusted to Gils.”
“Maria…”
Feeling Gils’s body go limp, I continued, “As the head of the family, I can’t show weakness. Even in this state, I am still the older sister.”
“…,” Mephistopheles listened silently.
Eventually, he began to speak as if pouring out the background of this battle, at least a part of it.
“It is the duty of Lady Wilhelmina von Legios to convey the whole picture. What I can tell you is why the adventurers of the Empire came here.”
I was more interested in that, so I was grateful.
“The individuals who came here to enjoy killing each other among adventurers, who are considered extras, did so solely to gain fame by defeating Lady Maria, who became famous in the previous event.”
Since I had been warned to be cautious of PK, this was somewhat expected.
What I didn’t understand was the adventurers who didn’t seem to show much emotion and, later, Leon and his group.
“The leads are mainly members of the conqueror group. Despite feeling that their group was crushed, they ended up encountering a wall of strength in the Empire, and harbored accumulated feelings of frustration. I whispered to those people. I said that by defeating Lady Maria and then His Majesty Areis Roa Caldia, they could regain their glorious days.”
“Is that so…”
“Do you think people wouldn’t act on such things? Many adventurers see what they want to see and hear what they want to hear, Lady Maria. And those who are smoldering inside are seeking something to cling to. Even if they know it’s a mirage, they can’t help but cling to it. That much is clear from the fact that the leads came here.”
Once he said that, I couldn’t argue.
I think everyone, to some extent, has that weakness, including myself, of course.
“As for Lord Leon’s party, I cannot say in just a few words due to the complexity of the situation. However, the reason the three others besides Lord Leon and Lady Mist came, I speculate, might be considered an obligation.”
Gils seemed to understand that explanation more than anyone else.
Perhaps there’s something you can only understand by directly fighting?
“The performance is over, and the other actors have left, leaving only the protagonist. Although the ending I envisioned was different, the protagonist was played so brilliantly that he deserves a fitting reward.”
When Mephistopheles snapped his fingers, Gils’s body was enveloped in a faint light.
There was no malice in that light, rather, it felt warm. When the light disappeared, all of Gils’s wounds were healed.
“As a tribute to Lord Gils’s bravery… if I may offer a piece of advice, it would be regarding the skill ‘Karma.’ I recommend using it as sparingly as possible. The power of that skill will likely increase with Lady Maria’s future actions. Although I was able to heal the damage from its two uses this time, I cannot guarantee the same for the next. And if it had been used a third time, it might have harmed the soul rather than the body. In that case, there would be no way to heal it. Please, do not forget.”
Using such a dangerous skill…
I almost blurted out, ‘Why go that far?’ but I stopped myself.
If I were in the same position, I might have done the same.
So instead, I hugged Gils tightly.
Thanks to the color in his eyes, I could tell that Gils was flustered or embarrassed, which was a bit amusing.
…Thank you so much.
“And as for compensation for Lady Maria…”
Before Mephistopheles could finish his sentence, a magic circle appeared.
From it emerged the corpses of Nero and Kuuga.
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