Chapter 23: First Night - 3
The effect of the mark Seraphim had given me was as follows.
An increase of 100 in the Mental stat?
Among H Company’s distinctive set of nine stats, Mental was classified as the most useless one.
Still, an increase of 100 was by no means a number to be dismissed.
Judging by Mental alone, I’ve surpassed hero-level talent.
The game’s settings categorized the rank of an individual stat as follows.
5–10 = ordinary person level
11–30 = knight-level talent
31–50 = hero-level talent
51–100 = superhuman-level talent
101–150 = Hero-level talent
And thanks to the [Mark of Love] from earlier, my Mental stat alone now exceeded Hero-level talent.
Perhaps I could be considered transcendent-level, a rank that had existed only as dummy data.
Who would look at this and think these were Ian’s stats when he had been nothing more than an ordinary person?
I could feel just how determined Helia was to shower me with gifts.
No, isn’t that only natural?
Based on the diary’s contents, the original Ian had most likely possessed Hero-level talent.
And then there was “that being” Helia had spoken of.
If I was to face it, I needed to become at least Hero-level myself.
But just what kind of bastard is it that even a goddess hesitates to mention its name?
“That being” had never once been mentioned in an H Company game, and Ian had left no information about it in his diary either.
As a result, there was no way for me to learn anything about “that being” in my current circumstances.
Going by the diary, though, Ian’s master seemed to know something about “that being.”
To find out about it, I would probably have to meet his elven master, but even I had no idea when that would happen.
Still, I could roughly guess the timing.
Once I take control of the village and Entiel Village develops into a dungeon city, I’ll meet them naturally enough.
The reason heroines flocked to Entiel Village was that, in the future, it would develop into a dungeon city that drew in countless adventurers because of the dungeon that appeared in the eastern forest.
Before that, the villagers will all be replaced, but I’ll have to stop that.
While I was making one plan after another, Isabelle, who had been asleep in my arms, opened her eyes.
"You’re awake?"
"Ian..."
The moment she saw me, Isabelle smiled.
"I’m happy. I wish this happiness could last forever."
"It will. I’ll make sure of it."
At my answer, Isabelle looked up at me with a slightly worried gaze before cautiously asking,
"Ian, if it’s all right with you, could you tell me your story?"
Isabelle was not a fool.
She must have had doubts after seeing me cure [Rose’s Punishment], something everyone else had given up on.
Yet despite that, my wife still wanted to remain by my side. That was surely because she loved me that much.
"It’ll be a long story. Are you sure?"
"Yes. I like listening to stories."
So I had to answer her.
That was what it meant to be a husband who loved his wife.
Besides, they say there are no secrets between husband and wife.
It was a story I had intended to tell Isabelle someday anyway.
.
.
.
At first, Isabelle listened to my story with interest.
But little by little, her expression changed by the moment.
She was shocked to hear that her older sister, Isolde, had originally been Ian’s wife, and her face stiffened when she heard how Isolde had betrayed Ian and committed adultery.
Her face brightened at the story of Ian, who had left home and lived in the mountains, rescuing Isabelle after the villagers had abandoned her. Then it darkened again when she heard of his despair after losing Isabelle.
"That was how I was able to return to the past. It was all thanks to Goddess Helia’s grace."
"Ian... sob."
Isabelle began to cry and buried her face in my chest.
Her eyes brimming with tears, she kept apologizing to me.
"I’m sorry. I’m so sorry."
"Why are you apologizing, Isabelle?"
"B-but you suffered because of my family."
"I was happy because it let me love you that much. And I’m not as good a man as you think I am, either."
I honestly confessed that I had made Isabelle drink tea brewed with Golden Flower in order to obtain Big-Dick Herb, and that I had used Reina in the past to relieve my sexual desire.
At that, Isabelle’s eyes widened.
She apparently had never even dreamed I was capable of doing such things.
"As I told you, the current me is two souls merged into one. And as Goddess Helia said, my essence is evil."
After all, the goddess had said she chose me in order to use one enemy against another in dealing with “that being.”
There was no need for further explanation. No man was as much trash as I was.
"My nature is so vile that I use others for my desires. So you don’t need to feel guilty, Isabelle."
My answer left Isabelle at a loss.
The truth was probably too difficult for her to take in all at once.
So I made her a simple proposal as her husband.
"But if you want, I’ll give up everything and look only at you, Isabelle."
"B-but is that really all right? The goddess chose you, didn’t she?"
"That’s none of my concern. And I don’t want my fate to be toyed with by someone else anymore."
Eloping with Isabelle would not be so bad.
Perhaps that was the final true desire of the Ian remaining within me.
"I..."
In response to my true feelings, Isabelle answered without the slightest hesitation.
"I’m your wife, Ian. No matter what kind of man you are, I will love only you, and I will follow you for the rest of my life."
"Are you really sure? I’m such a bad man that I’ll have relationships with other women."
"Yes, because I know you love me more than anyone else. But may I ask one selfish thing of you, Ian? Just this once, and never again?"
Isabelle whispered a single request to me.
And its contents were utterly shocking.
"Why would you ask for that?"
"Because I’m the source of everyone’s misfortune."
"That’s not true. You haven’t done anything wrong, Isabelle."
"But Mother and my sister are unhappy because of me."
There was so much emotion in Isabelle’s answer that I could no longer insist otherwise.
Isolde, you lucky bitch.
Because of Isabelle’s request, I had to completely revise my plans concerning Isolde.
Of course, that did not mean I would forgo teaching her a lesson entirely.
Only the method would change.
"I’m sorry. I’m such an inadequate wife for you, Ian."
"You don’t need to apologize. I’m a bad man who doesn’t deserve you either. Besides, marriage is about two imperfect people coming together."
At my final words, Isabelle smiled softly.
As expected, Isabelle was most beautiful when she smiled.
. . .
Isabelle and I carefully descended the mountain, avoiding the monsters.
Because of that, we did not make it home until broad daylight.
In other words, we had spent the night out on a mountain crawling with monsters.
Naturally, Adelia had not slept a wink.
"Ian, what on earth happened?"
Adelia asked, worry evident in her eyes.
She seemed a little angry, but considering she had spent the entire night awake, that was something I needed to understand.
"I’m sorry, Adelia. The thing is..."
But that lasted only a moment.
"I-Isabelle?"
Before I could explain in detail, Adelia had seen Isabelle.
Isabelle hesitated at first, then gathered her courage and spoke.
"Yes, Mother, it’s me. I’m completely better now."
At her daughter’s answer, Adelia babbled incoherently. At last, as though the strength had gone out of her legs, she collapsed to the ground.
"Ah, Goddess Helia, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Sob..."
As Adelia wept, Isabelle approached and embraced her.
"Mother, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I resented you. And thank you. Thanks to you, Mother, I was able to be loved."
"No. I’m the one who’s grateful. Thank you for being born my daughter."
I quietly gave the mother and daughter their moment as they shared that touching sight.
Things are about to get lively.
Then I looked at Isolde.
Isolde’s expression as she looked at her younger sister Isabelle was complex and difficult to read.
The younger sister who had been uglier than anyone had returned more beautiful than Isolde herself.
Isolde’s heart was probably in complete turmoil.
You’re next, Isolde.
Ian bore no resentment toward Isolde for betraying him.
Because rather than resent Isolde, he had chosen to love Isabelle.
But I was not Ian.
Come to think of it, I haven’t personally suffered any harm because of you.
It was strange for me, a possessor, to harbor ill will toward Isolde.
But I did harbor ill will toward her. There was no grand reason for it.
If I had to name one, it was simply that I did not like how Isolde took Ian’s consideration for granted.
That was all.
It might seem absurd, but I thought it was only natural.
After all, isn’t malice something you harbor without a reason?
Hmm. Thinking about it again, I truly was an evil person, just as the goddesses had judged.
Vile enough to be called ruthless.
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