Volume 1 Chapter 16 Valkyrie
After the promotion exam.
Me and Rose came back to my place to celebrate the promotion.
We decided to make a feast with the ingredients we bought at the market.
I suggested we celebrate big at a tavern or diner, but Rose said she preferred my house, so we ended up buying the ingredients and doing it at my place.
By the way, I lied to Rose about Freesia and the others, saying, "They apologized earlier".
I thought it would avoid complications, and more than anything, I was just filled with the desire to celebrate right now rather than wanting an apology.
Once we finished all the preparations, me and Rose clinked our glasses filled with fruit wine together.
"Rose, congrats on your promotion to 4th rank!"
"Thank you!"
We both downed the fruit wine and let out a big sigh of relief.
After that, while enjoying the food and drinks, we chatted happily.
"Still, I never thought Rose's 'Apprentice Warrior' would break its limits (Exceed). I've heard about it, but seeing it happen for the first time was something else."
"I'm surprised myself. I mean, even now, I can hardly believe my own strength."
Rose looked down at her body, showing a puzzled expression.
Well, she had been fighting at level 3 all this time.
Suddenly evolving into a job class with immense power and gaining hero-level skills must feel unreal.
I've never even heard of a job class like Valkyrie.
But the fact is, she evolved her job class and breezed through the promotion exam.
"This is all thanks to Mr. Roezé. Because of Mr. Roezé, I could become this strong. Thank you so much!"
"No, I didn't really do anything special. The one who really worked hard was Rose."
The trainer's power is just to help with development.
It's not a force that makes growth happen.
So if she was able to change, that's all thanks to Rose's own hard work.
Even though we were complimenting each other, we weren't getting anywhere, so we decided to wrap up the conversation by saying it was thanks to both of our efforts.
As the food and drinks were starting to wind down, I jumped in to speak.
"Well, I guess my job here is done."
"Huh?"
"You've become strong enough. You've received plenty of invitations from parties, and I think you'll soon be able to solve your mother's curse issue."
"Yeah... I guess so."
Rose gave a somewhat awkward smile.
Seeing that expression made me feel a mix of emotions, and I continued.
"It's up to you whether you want to make a name for yourself as an adventurer and gather a lot of curse-breaking funds, or go directly after the spellcaster, but I'll just sit back and enjoy hearing about your achievements from here."
"My... achievements..."
She still seemed to be in disbelief, so I reiterated.
"You've gained power that rivals the so-called 'Hero,' the strongest adventurer out there. And you still have so much room to grow. I can say it with confidence: Valkyrie Rose will one day become the savior of the world, and your name will echo across all continents."
"..."
This isn't just my fantasy or a lie.
Rose will definitely become a renowned adventurer.
Honestly, I never thought she had this much talent, and I'm still really surprised.
Having seen that hero party up close, I feel that Rose has even greater potential hidden within her.
When I conveyed that again, Rose responded with a dazed look.
"I still feel like I can't really grasp what's happened to me, and I'm kind of floating in my thoughts..."
She pulled out her 4th rank adventurer's notebook from her pocket and held it tightly.
"If I can make a name for myself in the world, I will definitely say it's thanks to Mr. Roezé. The one who helped me grow strong like this is Trainer Mr. Roezé from the town of Hyamars."
"Uh, I'd prefer to not be in the spotlight, to be honest..."
I'd rather not stand out too much.
I think it's great for Rose to have her name known, but there's no need for my name to be spread around.
"Anyway, this is the starting point to help your mother, so let's keep doing your best from here on out."
"Yes!"
Rose nodded enthusiastically.
Now, it was about time to wrap up the celebration and start cleaning up when──.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The door was knocked on fiercely.
"Roezé! Roezé!"
"...?"
Hearing a familiar voice, I quickly opened the door.
There stood Ms. Terra, the receptionist, just as I expected.
She must have rushed over, as her shiny brown hair was unusually messy.
"Ms. Terra? What's going on all of a sudden?"
"I-I thought maybe Ros-Ros was here...!"
At the sound of her name, Rose came out, looking puzzled.
Ms. Terra, seeing her, spoke even more frantically.
"Thank goodness you're here! A letter arrived for Rose from the village head in Beith Village, meant for Ros-Ros...!"
"A letter?"
"The courier said it was urgent and needed to be delivered to Ros-Ros as soon as possible."
Saying that, Ms. Terra handed a letter to Rose.
It seemed that was the urgent matter, and she had come looking for Rose to bring it to her.
Once the letter was safely in Rose's hands, she began to read it with a puzzled expression.
Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she seemed driven to dash out of the house.
"Rose!"
I grabbed her hand just in time to stop her.
I wasn't sure where she was trying to go or what she was planning, but seeing her pale face made me think it was better to stop her.
Besides, she wasn't even wearing proper shoes──where did she think she was going?.
"What did the letter say?"
"...It said Mom's condition suddenly changed, and she collapsed. She started getting blue bruises all over and couldn't even stand."
"..."
Blue bruises.
I had a bad feeling about that.
"That's a sign of 'curse death.'."
"──What!?"
"I've seen a few people who were cursed with a weakening effect. Those people gradually got weaker and slowly moved towards death. And right before they died, they always had bruises all over their bodies."
It seems like they don't feel much pain.
But the bruises, as if hinting at the cursed person's death, increase in number as they get closer to dying.
I once saw a party that fought against a unit of the Spirit King's Army, and one of the members was cursed with a powerful spell, covered in bruises, and died from weakness.
The fact that the signs have started showing means that Rose's mother doesn't have much time left.
"Ms. Terra, do you know when that letter was written?"
"Um, if it's from Beith Village, it usually takes about 3 days..."
If it was delivered here as fast as possible, it was about 3 days ago.
As far as I know, once the bruises appear, it usually takes about 2 weeks until they die from the curse.
That means there are about ten days left.
If we don't break the curse by then, Rose's mother will be killed by it.
So, we need to break the curse quickly, but how do we do that?.
Should we hire a curse-breaking expert?
No, for Rose, who just recently leveled up to 4th rank, it would be tough to earn an outrageous fee right now.
Then should we find and defeat the spellcaster who cast the curse?
No, that's nearly impossible too.
Finding and defeating a spellcaster from the Spirit King's Army, which is said to be a strong enemy, within ten days is something even a hero party would struggle with.
"W-what should we do... I finally got stronger..."
Rose must have realized that time is running out, as she started to panic intensely.
After getting this strong and leveling up to 4th rank, it felt like all of it was in vain, and despair showed its teeth mercilessly.
The hope she had finally grasped slipped through her fingers, and Rose hung her head low.
Seeing her like that, I clenched my teeth and made up my mind to suggest something.
"I'll take care of it."
"...Huh?"
"I'll cover the cost to hire the curse-breaking master, Lotus. That way, we can call the curse-breaking master and have your mother's curse lifted."
"..."
Rose lifts her tear-streaked face.
She looks like she can't believe her ears, and I think her surprise is totally understandable.
"B-but, 'I'll pay' means the curse-breaking fee is about 5 million Flora. That's an amount that a top-tier adventurer would take 3 whole years of hard work fighting monsters to save up without spending a single coin..."
And we have to pay it all at once.
This is definitely a tough condition.
If she had a lot of connections with top-tier adventurers or wealthy people, it might be possible to borrow from them, but she doesn't have any leads.
But...
"I have it, 5 million Flora."
"Huh?"
I step into the house and open the wardrobe in my room.
I touch the safe hidden deep inside and unlock it.
This is one of the magic tools my parents left me, designed to respond to a person's magic for locking and unlocking.
Since my magic is registered with this safe, all the money I've saved up until now is kept inside.
The money I saved during my time with the hero party.
"Mr. Roezé?"
I guess she was curious, as Rose peeks into the room.
I hand her almost half of the money in the safe, divided into 5 pouch bags.
"This should be about 5 million Flora. I don't know how long it will take for the curse-breaking master to actually break the curse after we request it, but if we ask now, we should just make it in time."
"..."
I force the 5 million Flora into Rose's hands, who is still in shock.
Then she slowly realizes the weight in her hands and lets out a trembling voice.
"W-why..."
Why.
That question seems to carry multiple meanings.
Why did I have such a huge amount of 5 million Flora?
Why did I give her such precious money?
And this is just my guess, but I think you might be wondering why I decided to give you that big amount of money now.
"I'm not holding back or anything... Ah, no, it's not that I don't feel a bit hesitant."
Not wanting to look bad until the end, I keep making excuses.
"I might have done this from the start, but I thought if I suddenly lent you a huge sum, you might feel some weird responsibility. More than anything, I didn't think you would accept it. But now, I can't say that anymore..."
Honestly, I could have lent the money to pay the curse-breaking master.
But if I did that, Rose would have felt some strange responsibility, and she probably wouldn't have accepted it in the first place.
At that time, I still had time, so I could have chosen to earn it myself.
More than anything, I didn't want to get in the way of this kid's serious desire to become stronger.
The moment I lent her money, her growth would have definitely stopped.
"Anyway, let's put that talk aside for now. We need to request the curse-breaking master first."
"Y-yes!"
More than feeling hesitant, my desire to not see this kid cry became stronger, and I entrusted 5 million Flora to Rose.
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