Decisions and concentration were important in survival, what to give up and what to choose. The more rationally he solved a puzzle, the higher the survival rate. However, this time I couldn't do it.
There were three wounded and a bottle of the advanced potion. To tell the truth, it was best to give Rotmiller the whole bottle. He had to revive it as soon as possible and take out the other potions from the Treasure Vault. The correct thing to do was to treat myself to a high-grade potion and feed Dwalkie the remaining advanced potion.
However, in that case, Dwalkie would have died.
It was difficult to make a rational decision. Although I already knew it in my head, my body had fed Dwalkie half the potion without the slightest hesitation.
«Both please hold on! Let's all get out of this damn place alive!»
As a result, the finished future had disappeared. Since he couldn't give up on Dwalkie, he couldn't even guarantee Rotmiller's life. Half a bottle of potion would have been enough if fed immediately, but feeding too late was the problem. Simply put, high risk, high return. I wanted the entire team to survive, so I made an irrational decision that could have killed them all.
«B-Bjorn...»
I approached Rotmiller, then checked his pulse and breathing. I hoped he would hold on. If this man died like this, all five of us would be dead.
Ten minutes.
After that time, the dragon hunter would wake up. Right now, the only one who was okay was the dwarf. If Hikurod couldn't block Vagos, it would all be over.
«Oh, right! The stone chamber! Bjorn, what was that stone chamber?» Hikurod, guarding Dwalkie's side, looked at me and asked the identity of the stone chamber we finally found after searching the maze for 12 hours. The question was full of his hopes. «Elixir? Potion? Was there something like that? Oh, if there was, you would have packed it, right? Or, is it a healing spring or something?»
«...That stone chamber is not for that purpose».
«So what is it? We searched so hard to find it! There has to be something!» Hikurod asked, waiting for a sure answer.
I knew it was best not to answer questions like that, but after a brief pause, I opened my mouth. «That stone chamber is a trap room».
«Trap room...?»
«Yes, if you open the box inside you will return to the starting point».
If the bastard and the priest appeared at the same time, he planned to discard plan A immediately and use it to reach the portal and escape. No matter what he did in that scenario, there would be no chance of winning.
«Yes! So let's use that and come back! That will do!»
«Hikurod Murad, wake up. Even if we can return to the tower, nothing will change.»
Getting to the tower wasn't going to give us any potions. Returning was impossible in the first place, unless we planned to rob an empty house. Go towards the portal in an injured state? That was suicide. Karui's priest, who I believed had changed classes with the divine power of the High Priest, would be guarding him.
«Oh, right! The priest! Wasn't there an old man as a priest in your group? Let's look for him».
«High.»
«From my point of view, you must have been forced to follow him. If that's true...»
«Para, Hikurod.»
«How can I stop? They are both dying, something must be done!», the dwarf shouted, as if shouting at his own helplessness.
I spoke coldly. «There is nothing we can do now. All we can do is watch».
«Really... that's all?»
«Sí.»
The dice had already left our hands. There were three possibilities that could arise: we all lived, we all died, or some died and others lived.
Every minute and every second passed like an eternity. Eventually, Dwalkie regained consciousness. «The man... what happened...?»
«¡Dwalkie! ¡No hables!»
«Yes, stay still. As soon as Rotmiller wakes up, take the potion...»
Seeing us say many words, Dwalkie asked again: «The man...? What happened to him?» As if that were more important than his life, was the only thing he asked when he opened his eyes.
I thought about it for a moment. Should I tell him the truth? I didn't have to think about it much. «He's not dead».
«Oh...»
«But thanks to you, the immediate crisis is over. Leave it in our hands and rest».
«No... I can't do that». Dwalkie shook his head desperately. «Time... is running out».
«Haven't you heard me? When Rotmiller wakes up, the potion...»
«This is not something that can be treated... with a potion».
There was a moment of silence at those words, and I calmly accepted reality. «...I see.» I didn't know what method Dwalkie used. However, he was the one who knew the current situation best. They were the words of Dwalkie, who longed for life more than anyone else, so there was no point in denying it.
«What are you talking about?! It is an advanced potion».
«You're right! You should also know what article it is. So stop saying weird things...»
«Miss Karlstein.» Dwalkie opened his eyes and looked at us. «Hikurod and... Bjorn».
All he did was say each of our names, but having experienced many deaths while spending my childhood in a hospital, I knew what Dwalkie was about to do now. «Tell me. I'll pass it on to Rotmiller».
«...Thank you.» It was the flickering of a candle whose wick had gone out, as if it wanted to leave something in the world. As if to be remembered, it emitted the greatest light in the final moment. «I have something to tell you all».
Soon, the tremor in Dwalkie's voice stopped.
***
His mother loved the sea, the unknown she had never seen, she had only heard of it. He wanted to see him at least once in his life. I couldn't understand it when I was young, but as I got older, I understood it.
«There are things... that you want to have because you can't have them».
There were things like that in the world. Because they were unknown, because they were not allowed, they shone even brighter.
«You were that whole existence to me».
He was lucky, more than he deserved. He met nice people and explored. They talked a lot and comforted each other. The empty seat that he thought would remain empty had finally been filled. So he had to say it.
«Everyone, thank you for being my teammates». I hadn't said it until now out of shame. They were words that had always been postponed, promised for later, but words that would remain buried in his heart forever if they were not said now.
Slide.
Dwalkie looked ahead with blurry eyes.
«Noooo! Do not say that! Um? Dwalkie, please...» The woman he loved was crying. That wasn't what he wanted.
Deslick.
He moved his gaze to the sides.
A dear friend looked at him and smiled. «I am... also grateful that you were my friend. Why would you join... the team I formed». He was grateful for the way Hikurod smiled through that trembling beard. And he regretted it. He had promised to visit the blacksmith shop one day. Now he couldn't keep that promise.
Slide.
He moved his gaze again.
«Riol Warb Dwalkie». The last one was a rival and a comrade he longed for. Unlike him, a coward, Bjorn was a warrior who always fought to the end and protected everyone. He looked at Dwalkie with calm eyes. «I apologize. I misunderstood you. You were a magician and a teammate better than anyone. And the choice you made was sublime and noble», said the man who was always sparing in praise, the warrior who never put words in his mouth that he did not feel. «It has been an honor working with you».
It was overwhelming, and he felt somewhat relieved. It was the first time they recognized him. They told him that it was an honor of a great warrior who lived like a fairy tale hero. A half-mage like him had decorated a page of this warrior's journey. I could die in peace with this. Yes... I should be able to do it.
But why am I...
I was angry. This was unfair, terrifying and useless.
¿Por qué...?
That was death, being deleted from someone's next page.
«Do you have anything else to say? If you wish, we will step aside». Soon the warrior spoke, and only then did Dwalkie realize the reason for that feeling.
«Noooo! Dwalkie! Do not die! Please.»
There were some people in the world who shone. For him, that was Missha. He hadn't said those words yet.
This must be greed.
He did everything he could to erase his selfishness. There would be no other chance after this, but that's why he had to endure it. His journey would not end today. He was not to remain a dark shadow in his future life. If it was really because of her, that was the right thing to do.
Then, Dwalkie opened his mouth. «Bjorn.»
«... Do you have something to tell me?»
«Yes, I have.» It was the only thing a person leaving could leave behind. «You are not quick with reflexes. Please don't look away any longer.»
The warrior did not ask. I must have known what those words meant. He was too smart and wise to call a barbarian.
"Contestame..."
«Okay.»
Dwalkie, who finally received an answer, smiled happily from the bottom of his heart. This was all the time he was allowed.
The warrior's eyes grew cold. «...He's awake.»
Dwalkie's broken heart began to beat. The dragon hunter, Regal Vagos. Although she fought him at the cost of her life, hers was an existence that Dwalkie was unable to overcome. «Can you... win?»
«Don't worry. We will definitely come back alive».
With that, Dwalkie erased all his anxiety. It also erased concerns that it would be a senseless death. If this trusted warrior said it, it must be so. Now I could leave everything.
Slide.
He closed his eyes. The sound faded and the darkness grew deeper. With his mind dulled little by little, he thought: If I lived a heroic life, so that my life would be recorded in a book, even if it were brief, what would be written as the last sentence?
A rather plausible phrase came to mind. It may not have been a very appropriate expression for a magician's ending, but it wasn't bad.
The wizard of the Half-Wit team, Riol Warb Dwalkie, after protecting a precious comrade from a member of Hercules, the dragon slayer Regal Vagos, died bravely in battle.
***
[Achievement
Condition: First death of companion character.
Reward: Permanently increases your spirit stats +1.]
There was no paradise to escape to. As he learned the identity of the bastard, the dragon slayer Regal Vagos, this thought became increasingly solid. He was a member of the Hercules group who despised even the king. Even if we didn't show up, it wouldn't be difficult for him to find us. If he wanted to retaliate, the city was not safe.
I devised a plan to get rid of it using the Guardian of Balance effect. I judged that if it wasn't right now, there would never be another chance. But what was the result?
A hit!
My heart pounded under my breath. My new plan failed. The battle was fought, but I couldn't save everyone.
¡Tump!
Even where I fought, there was no paradise. It wasn't that I didn't know, because there wasn't such a specious place anywhere in the world.
¡Pum!
Unlike my heart that was beating low, this guy's heart was no longer beating.
«Hikurod, you must prepare to fight.»
«Lo sé.»
I stood up, using the mace as a staff. Those left behind had their own work to do. I caught my breath and looked down the passage. The bastard was lifting his body from inside the shell, which opened wide like a flower petal. It was time to end this bloody fight.