Chapter 196
After several bowls of hot soup, Ryu finally felt alive again.
Strength returned steadily to her limbs, but as her condition improved, she became increasingly aware of how uncomfortable she felt.
Sweat, blood, and monster fluids had dried against her skin, leaving her desperate for a proper wash.
"Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"
Kiriya noticed her shifting awkwardly and looked at her curiously.
"I’d like to..."
Ryu did not finish. She merely glanced toward the nearby stream.
Kiriya followed her gaze, then looked at the grime covering her body and immediately understood.
"Right, of course. Go ahead."
He nodded reassuringly.
"I’ll keep watch. No person or monster will get anywhere near you."
Ryu stared at him.
"I appreciate the offer, but could you stop looking at me while you say that?"
He was clearly pretending not to understand so he could take advantage of the situation.
"Huh? But I’m supposed to be guarding you."
Kiriya looked perfectly serious.
"If I can’t see what’s happening, I might not react in time if something attacks."
"That won’t be necessary. I’m still a Level 4 adventurer. I can protect myself."
Her tone left no room for negotiation.
"All right."
Kiriya sounded deeply disappointed, as though a wonderful opportunity had just slipped through his fingers.
The look on his face only made Ryu more embarrassed and annoyed.
"Do not peek!"
She gave him one final warning before entering the water.
"Don’t worry. If I decide to look, I’ll do it openly."
Kiriya gave her a thumbs-up.
"I’m an honest man."
Ryu had no response to that.
...
Despite her constant anxiety, the bath ended without incident.
There was no spying, no surprise attack, and no ridiculous interruption.
Nothing happened at all.
Feeling refreshed, Ryu emerged wearing Kiriya’s coat and a pair of leather boots he had apparently found somewhere nearby.
The oversized coat fell across her slender frame while the boots gave her an unexpectedly bold, practical appearance.
Combined with her refined features and composed demeanor, she looked less like an adventurer and more like a model stepping onto a fashion runway.
"Perfect."
Kiriya raised a thumb in approval, though his gaze lingered rather openly on her long legs.
For some reason, he found himself thinking that they were the sort of legs a man could admire forever.
"Wh-What is it?"
Ryu’s heart began racing beneath his gaze.
She tugged the hem of the coat downward, trying to cover more of herself, but the gesture only drew further attention to her embarrassment.
Her cheeks reddened, and Kiriya’s eyes brightened.
"Wow. The shy version of Miss Ryu is breathtaking."
He tilted his head and admired her with shameless delight.
Ryu’s face burned with equal parts embarrassment and irritation.
"Let’s go."
She turned sharply and marched away without another word.
Kiriya’s gaze rested briefly on the bright red tips of her ears before he smiled and followed.
"What do you plan to do next, Miss Ryu?"
He fell into step beside her, asking as though the question had only casually occurred to him.
"Return to the surface."
Her voice settled back into its usual cool tone.
"I’ve missed a great deal of work at the tavern. Mama Mia will probably lecture me again."
"That’s all?"
Kiriya looked surprised.
"What else would I do?"
Ryu turned toward him, equally puzzled.
"I expected you to continue training in the Dungeon and try to level up as soon as possible."
Kiriya casually swung his sword, killing a Skull Sheep that had approached under the cover of invisibility.
"Return to being an adventurer...?"
Complex emotions crossed Ryu’s eyes—longing, anxiety, and fear.
"What right does someone like me have to ask Lady Astrea to update my Falna?"
"I abandoned my companions."
"I abandoned justice."
"You?"
Kiriya stopped walking and examined her from head to toe.
Ryu grew uneasy beneath his intense stare.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing. I’m just surprised."
Kiriya shook his head in disbelief.
"Do villains have beauty standards now? Do you have to look stunning before they let you join?"
"What nonsense are you talking about now?"
Ryu’s irritation weakened the sorrowful atmosphere before it could fully settle.
"What exactly do you mean when you say you betrayed justice and your companions?"
Kiriya frowned thoughtfully.
"Surely this isn’t because you killed Jura?"
"Yes... but not only because of him."
Ryu nodded, then slowly shook her head.
"Five years ago, Jura and his accomplices trapped us."
"Alise and the others encountered the Juggernaut, and everyone except me... died."
Her fists tightened, and her body began to tremble.
"My companions believed that I would remain true to my justice."
"They sacrificed their lives so that I alone could survive."
Her voice began to break.
"But I betrayed that faith."
"At the time, all I felt was rage and hatred. To avenge them, I killed every member of the Evils I could find, along with everyone who supported or collaborated with them."
"I spared no one."
Ryu forced herself to breathe steadily.
"The name Gale Wind was once something my companions were proud of."
"I turned it into a mark of shame."
"How can someone like me continue to level up and call herself an adventurer?"
"You’re right."
Kiriya nodded solemnly.
"If your companions could see you now, they’d probably be terribly disappointed."
Pain tightened Ryu’s chest.
"Yes."
She lowered her head.
"You avenged them, yet you’re acting as though that means your bond with them was worthless."
Kiriya’s next words left her completely stunned.
"What?"
"I’m saying that you killed a handful of murderers and wiped out factions of the Evils who spent their lives hurting innocent people."
He looked genuinely confused.
"Why are you treating that as some unforgivable sin?"
"That was... justified?"
Ryu stared at him blankly.
"Of course it was."
Kiriya’s tone was firm.
"They hurt you, so you struck back. That isn’t wickedness. That is consequence."
"What, are good people supposed to stand still while monsters point weapons at them?"
"Are criminals allowed to destroy lives without restraint while everyone else quietly accepts it?"
"That makes no sense."
"If it had been me, I would have gone even further."
Kiriya placed both hands on Ryu’s shoulders and looked directly into her eyes.
His voice became slow and deliberate.
"Show your companions warmth."
"Show your enemies no mercy."
"You weren’t killing for pleasure. You were stopping those people from creating more victims."
"That is justice."
The words struck Ryu like a thunderbolt.
The darkness that had covered her heart for years split open.
For the first time, warm light reached the place beneath it, and something powerful began to awaken inside her.
"Miss Ryu, your life no longer belongs only to you."
"It carries the lives and hopes of every companion who died protecting you."
"So stand tall."
"Live without shame."
"Let your justice become so bright that it reaches them, wherever they are!"
"Wouldn’t that be the life that truly makes them proud?"
"Make them... proud?"
Ryu clenched her fists as her entire body trembled.
Somewhere deep inside her, she seemed to hear the sharp sound of something cracking.
The chains that had bound her for five years finally broke.
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