Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 106
With the sound of the bells, people rushed out of their homes, shouting as they ran in panic.
As the sudden crowd poured into the streets, Gerard struggled to keep his footing while carrying his sister. Then a deafening roar shook the ground.
Rumble— CRASH!
The earth split open, and flames shot upward. People screamed and ran in all directions.
“Move, get out of the way! I have to save my sister!”
Gerard tried to push through the people running the opposite way, but it wasn’t easy.
“Eus, hang on a little longer.”
In his arms, Eustiel was foaming faintly at the mouth. Her eyes were rolled back, and her whole body hung limp, drained of strength.
“Please, Eus. Don’t leave me. Please…!”
She was the only family he had left. She was the strength that kept him living, the reason he breathed.
“Bro…ther…”
“Eus!”
The moment he heard her faint voice, a shadow spread across the sky. Gerard stopped and slowly raised his head.
The Black Flame Dragon was roaring above him. Each beat of its massive wings stirred violent gusts of wind. Gerard’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to his knees.
So this was the Black Flame Dragon he had only heard about in rumors.
Fear and helplessness swallowed him whole. The strength left his arms, and the sister he had been holding slipped from his grasp onto the ground. It felt as if he had forgotten how to breathe.
When the Black Flame Dragon opened its jaws wide, flames erupted from deep within its chest. Gerard couldn’t even think to avoid the fire. He simply closed his eyes.
*
When he opened them again, he was staring at the raging snowstorm.
He let out a long breath and reached out, habitually touching the small wooden figurine attached to his staff.
“This doll is my other self! If you keep this with you, Brother, you’ll always stay healthy. I’ll protect you!”
It was a figurine his sister had carved by hand. He had handled it so often that it was worn smooth, its face nearly rubbed away.
‘Wait just a little longer, Eus.’
Now that his sister was already dead, what Gerard needed was a dragon’s heart. During his research into ancient magical medicine, he had discovered something.
The [Elixir of Resurrection].
It was a miraculous medicine that healed all wounds, granted eternal life, and even had the power to bring the dead back to life.
And the essential ingredient for that elixir was a dragon’s heart.
‘I’ll take revenge on the Black Flame Dragon and bring you back. Just wait a little longer.’
The reason Gerard had sought out Kyle, who aimed to defeat the Black Flame Dragon, and joined the hero’s party himself was because he needed a dragon’s heart.
For Gerard, who was not used to getting along with people, joining a ‘party’ had been unbearably difficult. Even so, he desperately pursued the Black Flame Dragon.
When they finally reached the dragon’s lair, he had thought it would all be over.
But the Black Flame Dragon had fled, and only someone named Lysian was left behind.
And on top of that, he claimed to be the Great Sage of the past, which irritated Gerard.
For some reason, whenever Gerard looked at Lysian’s long black hair, it reminded him of his sister. Of course their faces looked nothing alike.
His sister, too, had not inherited the bluish navy hair passed down through their family, but hair as black as ebony.
“It’s a relief you weren’t born with that ominous blue.”
Gerard used to say that as he brushed her hair.
Whenever he saw Lysian from behind, he was reminded of Eustiel’s back. That made him more anxious, more irritable. It bothered him that someone so incompetent seemed like a burden to the party.
But as Kyle had said, even if Lysian didn’t have any particular ability, he always did his best for the group.
No matter what task Gerard gave him, he carried it out quietly. Even when he was hurt or in danger, he didn’t make a fuss and tried to handle it himself so he wouldn’t burden the others.
Only now did guilt begin to well up inside Gerard, along with regret for how harshly he had treated him.
When he saw Lysian again, he wanted to make sure he apologized.
