67) Sick Adventurer
…
{3rd Pov}
A full day had passed since Ember woke up from his impromptu coma.
During that entire time, he had done almost nothing besides eating, resting, and occasionally taking a bath whenever necessary.
As for his behavior toward the two women, it remained especially cold.
It was not as though he actively avoided seeing them or refused to remain in the same room. However, he never responded whenever either Athena or Merina tried speaking to him.
At most, he would simply stare at them with a tired and depressed expression that somehow made both women feel even worse than outright hatred would have.
Merina, meanwhile, had been trying her best to somehow make up for what she had done. She personally ensured Ember received food whenever it was time for him to eat and handled nearly everything related to his care.
Athena, on the other hand, mostly remained silent.
The only things she usually said were brief instructions directed toward Merina. Other than that, she rarely spoke anymore.
Even so, she still remained close to Ember almost the entire time.
However, his silence whenever he was conscious became increasingly unbearable for her to endure, and because of that, she ended up quietly leaving him alone rather than forcing herself to stay near him constantly.
Athena understood one thing very clearly.
Ember was not ignoring them because he was emotionally overwhelmed or trying to avoid confrontation.
In fact, his eyes and behavior clearly showed that he observed both of them carefully at all times.
He paid attention to what they said and what they did.
How they behaved after everything that had happened.
The reason he remained silent was far simpler.
He simply no longer believed either of them was worth speaking to.
Showing anger? Showing hatred? Yelling at them?
Ember did none of those things.
At most, he occasionally showed expressions of displeasure or disgust whenever their hypocrisy became too obvious for him to ignore.
Because if there was one thing Ember had learned from his previous life, it was that losing control over yourself often ended in disaster, whether because of another person’s hypocrisy or because of actions taken blindly in anger.
To live properly among mankind, there were two fundamental things every person needed to learn.
First, how to accept a “No.”
Second, how to say a “No.”
Without understanding those two things, people eventually became monsters in one form or another.
Devils who selfishly destroyed others for their own desires.
Or Saints who destroyed themselves trying to satisfy everyone around them.
And in the end, both kinds inevitably hurt not only themselves but also the people who genuinely loved them.
“You know,” Athena suddenly spoke as she entered the room, “I have a feeling you are thinking about something philosophical and deep again.”
Her voice carried a faint trace of amusement despite the heaviness lingering between them.
Ember remained lying on the bed while loosely holding his sword beside him.
There was another thing he had realized recently after spending so much time thinking.
And admittedly, he had possessed far too much free time to think over everything while his recovering body forced him to remain resting instead of immediately running away.
The thing Ember had realized was simple.
Athena was genuinely terrifying.
Leaving aside the earlier disaster that completely destroyed their relationship, she was actually unbelievably intelligent.
Honestly, Ember almost found it funny that he was only fully realizing this now considering she was literally the Goddess of Wisdom.
But perhaps that title truly was not just for show.
It genuinely felt as though Athena could determine what kind of person someone was and roughly understand what they were thinking simply through interacting with them for a short period of time.
“You know, there is no need to praise me like that,” Athena said with a small smile as she once again sat down on the wooden stool near his bed.
Her eyes looked at him dreamily, filled with completely unabashed admiration despite everything that had happened between them.
And honestly, that only made Ember feel even more uneasy.
He was genuinely a little terrified after realizing that her intelligence had reached such an absurd level that she could almost tell what he was thinking simply by looking at his face.
“Well, I have had millions of years to observe people and study their behavior,” Athena explained casually with a faint smile. “Before I even realized it myself, I had already reached the point where I could usually understand what someone was feeling or thinking simply from their expressions alone.”
She shrugged slightly afterward.
“It is not as though my assumptions were never wrong,” she admitted. “But most of the time… I was indeed correct.”
Throughout her entire explanation, Ember remained completely silent.
Then he slowly turned his head toward her and stared at her with an utterly deadpan expression.
“Uh, I suppose you are wondering why I am acting so nonchalant after everything that happened,” Athena said while casually resting her chin on her hand. “And perhaps why I am still staring at your face like some shameless pervert.”
She smiled slightly before continuing without hesitation.
“Oh, and probably why I keep narrating your thoughts out loud with such terrifying accuracy, even though doing that might only alienate you further. Or maybe you are considering whether it would simply be safer to slice my head off right now because of how frighteningly intelligent I actually am.”
She spoke those words so casually that it only made the entire thing sound even more unsettling.
“Becausssseee…” Athena dragged out the word playfully before leaning back slightly on the stool.
“I realized something. If you are already going to silently avoid me no matter what, then what difference does it really make whether I stay by your side or leave you alone?”
A soft smile formed on her face.
“This is probably the first and last time I will ever truly fall in love with someone.” Her voice became quieter afterward. “And yes, I know I am obsessive.”
Then she added without shame at all,
“Anndddd even if this is my first time experiencing something like this, I still know that relationships completely fall apart once both people stop interacting with each other entirely.”
Athena’s eyes remained fixed on Ember the entire time.
“I know it is selfish. I know it is obsessive,” she admitted openly. “But Tet… I am not giving up on you.”
A faintly crazy glint appeared within her eyes as she smiled.
Meanwhile, Ember merely sighed deeply, his expression practically saying, ‘What else was I supposed to expect?’
Seeing that reaction, Athena puffed her cheeks slightly in annoyance.
“It is not as though I do not understand how terrible my actions were,” she continued afterward, her tone becoming slightly more serious. “I have spent a lot of time thinking about everything.”
Then she hesitated briefly before speaking again.
“And honestly… harems are not even that uncommon among the children of the mortal world, are they?”
Her gaze lowered slightly.
“It was foolish of me to force my own expectations onto you while completely ignoring your own feelings and beliefs.”
“So I will earn your forgiveness,” Athena said with a soft smile.
“And even if I fail to earn that…”
Her eyes remained locked onto him with unwavering intensity.
“I will earn your love instead.”
Meanwhile, Ember simply looked away while rubbing his temples tiredly.
‘What kind of main character speech is this?’ he thought with faint amusement.
Honestly, for a brief moment, it almost sounded convincing enough to make him consider forgiving her.
But Ember understood himself well enough to know reality was not that simple.
Once damage like this was done, it was not something a few emotional words could magically erase.
Trust, once shattered that badly, was not easily rebuilt.
Not to mention, after everything that happened, Ember genuinely did not want to involve himself with the disaster named Athena ever again.
After nearly being killed because of her obsession and losing his freedom because of her actions, he was under absolutely no obligation to forgive either her or Merina out of simple human or now High-Elf compassion alone.
After all, he was not some overly forgiving shonen protagonist or generic harem main character who instantly overlooked trauma because a beautiful woman showed regret afterward.
Reality did not work that way.
Thus, Ember simply continued spending his recovery period resting quietly beneath the adoring gaze of the obsessive Goddess of Wisdom.
...
It was the next day when it happened.
Merina suddenly collapsed unconscious while carrying food toward Ember’s room.
Athena reacted instantly, catching her before she hit the floor and quickly carrying her into another room nearby.
At first, she assumed Merina had simply exhausted herself from stress, injuries, and lack of proper rest during the past few days.
But the moment Athena placed her onto the bed, her expression immediately turned serious.
Merina had a fever.
A fucking fever.
And that realization instantly terrified Athena.
Merina was a High-Level adventurer.
In fact, even ordinary Level 2 adventurers didn't become sick anymore because each level up pushed their bodies closer and closer toward divinity itself. Their immune systems became absurdly powerful compared to normal mortals.
A simple illness should have been nearly impossible for someone like Merina.
Which meant this was definitely not a normal fever.
Something gravely poisonous or extremely dangerous had to be affecting her body.
Heck, Merina even possessed the skill Abnormal Resistance.
Combined with her status as a Level 5 adventurer, that meant nothing short of a poison equivalent to Level 6 or higher should have been capable of making her genuinely sick.
But that made absolutely no sense.
The surface world around this region barely even contained Level 2 monsters.
So where in the world could something carrying poison powerful enough to affect a Level 5 adventurer possibly come from?
Athena’s first conclusion was immediate and grim.
Someone was targeting them.
Perhaps they had already been under surveillance this entire time without realizing it.
Without wasting another second, Athena immediately informed Ember about the situation and brought him toward Merina’s room.
Despite still refusing to properly interact with either of them, Ember instantly followed the moment he heard the possibility that someone might be targeting them.
The moment they entered the room and saw Merina lying on the bed while breathing heavily, Ember’s expression turned serious.
“She is sick?”
Those were the very first words he had spoken since waking up from his coma two days earlier.
Under different circumstances, Athena probably would have felt happy simply hearing Ember willingly speak again.
Unfortunately, this was not the time for that.
“Yes,” Athena replied immediately. “As a High Level adventurer, nothing short of some world ending plague should realistically be capable of making her sick.”
Ember remained silent for a few moments, thinking deeply.
Then suddenly, his eyes widened slightly.
Athena instantly noticed the subtle change in his expression.
“You know the reason behind this?” she asked seriously.
Ember hesitated.
Part of him questioned whether he should even tell them anything at all.
After all, despite the current situation, Athena and Merina were still potentially his enemies. In fact, Merina becoming sick technically made his future escape far easier.
But another part of him worried that this might not be the actual cause at all.
If someone truly was targeting them from the shadows, then the situation could become far more dangerous than they realized.
Then another thought crossed his mind.
‘If a single bite was enough to make her sick… does that mean I might never be able to interact intimately with anyone again?’
The possibility genuinely troubled him.
After thinking for a few more moments, Ember finally sighed quietly.
“I think I know what caused this,” he admitted. “But I am not completely certain yet.”
After saying that, he slowly walked closer toward the bed before lowering his gaze toward Merina’s injured hand.
More specifically, toward the place where he had bitten through her tendons during their battle.
“Here,” Ember said while pointing toward her wrist. “I bit through this part.”
The wound itself had already completely healed due to the healing potions used earlier, leaving almost no visible signs of injury behind.
However, once Athena stepped closer and examined the area carefully, she noticed something unusual.
There was a faint green tint beneath the skin around Merina’s wrist.
Athena’s eyes widened slightly as she immediately turned toward Ember.
Seeing her reaction, Ember quietly sighed before finally explaining everything properly.
He told her about the battle in Karuna City.
The sudden appearance of the Behemoth there.
And how he had somehow survived exposure to its poison.
As Athena listened, her expression gradually became more serious.
“We need to confirm it to be absolutely certain,” she said afterward. “Come on, make a small cut on your skin. I will taste your blood to verify whether that poison is truly present inside your body.”
Ember immediately looked at her as though she had completely lost her mind.
“You do not need to worry about me,” Athena continued calmly before he could refuse. “At the end of the day, I am still a Goddess.”
Then she added with confidence in her voice, “And not just any Goddess, but a High Goddess.”
“If there truly is something poisonous within your blood, then my divinity will naturally cleanse it.” Her expression remained serious as she explained further. “And compared to fatal injuries, using enough divinity to purge poison, even poison originating from the Behemoth, would not be enough to force me back to Heaven.”
Ember said nothing in response.
Instead, he brought the edge of his sword lightly against his fingertip and brushed it carefully across the skin, creating a small cut.
A drop of blood slowly formed at the tip of his finger.
Then Ember looked directly at Athena before speaking in a calm but serious tone.
“If you die, I will run away and leave her alone…”
He paused briefly.
“No. I will kill her instead.”
He meant every single word, and it was not some hidden romantic confession.
He was simply stating how he intended to handle the situation if Athena truly ended up dying because of this.
He would not stay behind for Merina’s sake.
He would simply leave.
However, Ember also understood that if Athena died, then Merina would likely be left behind in a weakened, sickened state with her Falna sealed.
And considering everything happening around them, her fate would almost certainly become miserable.
To him, it would honestly be kinder to kill her quickly rather than leave her behind to suffer through a slow and torturous end.
Athena, however, merely giggled softly after hearing his words.
“Even if that is not what you meant…” she said gently, “thank you.”
Then she carefully grabbed his hand before bringing his bleeding fingertip closer toward her lips.
Afterward, she slowly opened her mouth and took a small sip of his blood.
‘~Ahhh… Ember’s blood…’
Even if she had failed in to claim many other things of Ember, at the very least Athena still felt strangely pleased that she had managed to experience another one of “first time” with him.
However, despite the blissful thoughts running through her head, she did not forget the actual purpose behind this.
The moment the blood touched her tongue, Athena immediately noticed something unusual.
It tasted bitter, almost like some strange medicinal herb.
Then she felt a tiny fragment of her divinity react inside her mortal shell as the blood was absorbed, automatically beginning to neutralize and diffuse the toxic properties hidden within it.
“~Slurrrp~ Slurrrp~”
Athena continued lightly sucking at the blood with shameless enthusiasm, causing Ember’s eyes to twitch visibly in irritation.
“Leave it, you perverted Goddess,” Ember said flatly before immediately pulling his hand away from her.
Athena blinked once, looking oddly disappointed after losing access to his blood.
“Well,” she said afterward while lightly smacking her lips together in thought, “there is definitely some form of poison within your blood.”
Her expression gradually turned more analytical.
“But it is not poison in the traditional sense meant specifically to kill others.”
Athena looked directly at Ember.
“Your blood became poisonous because your body itself now possesses an inhuman level of immunity against toxins and diseases.”
“A normal mortal or a low level adventurer would almost certainly die if they were poisoned by your blood,” Athena explained seriously. “Though it most likely requires direct contact with your blood itself as a medium.”
She continued calmly,
“That is why you are not constantly breathing poison into the air and causing some kind of massive pandemic simply by existing.”
“However, a High-Level adventurer would probably survive without too much danger.”
Ember immediately pointed toward Merina lying on the bed.
“She is sick,” he stated bluntly. “And she is a Level 5.”
Athena nodded in agreement.
“Yes, but I was referring more specifically to dungeon adventurers,” she clarified. “Someone around Level 3 with Abnormal Resistance would probably be capable of resisting it fairly well already.”
Then Athena shifted her gaze toward Merina.
At some point during their conversation, Merina had slowly regained consciousness and opened her eyes.
“You do not need to worry,” Athena said softly while sitting beside her. “You possess Abnormal Resistance, and even if your parameters were not particularly high during each level up, you are still ultimately a Level 5 adventurer.”
As she spoke, Athena gently grabbed Merina’s hand before softly rubbing the wrist where Ember had bitten through her tendons earlier.
“At worst, you will simply remain weakened for a few days,” Athena reassured her. “And if my assumption is correct, once your body develops stronger immunity against this poison, your Abnormal Resistance skill might even level up afterward.”
“She will remain weakened?” Ember asked while looking toward Merina.
Athena nodded thoughtfully.
“I think it is probably connected to your will,” she explained. “When your blood entered my body earlier, it almost tried to attack and kill me as well. Of course, attempting to kill a Goddess through poison alone is ultimately futile.”
Her expression became more analytical afterward.
“Your blood seems to carry traces of your intent or willpower within it. Back then, when you attacked Merina, you genuinely intended to kill her.”
Athena lightly rubbed the injured wrist again as she continued.
“And because that intent was successfully carried out through your bite, the poison reacted far more violently inside her body, weakening her to an inhuman degree.”
Ember quietly nodded while processing her explanation.
‘This is honestly such a cheat ability,’ he thought inwardly. ‘Now even my blood has become a weapon.’
Then another thought crossed his mind.
‘Hmm… that makes me wonder how Zeus Familia and Hera Familia managed to defeat the…’
He paused mentally.
‘…Wait, never mind.’
Ember suddenly remembered something important.
Only Zald had directly fought and killed the Behemoth, and according to the future plot, he defeated it in a single strike.
The rest of Zeus Familia and Hera Familia most likely never engaged the Behemoth directly at close range.
At best, they were probably only exposed to its poisonous breath from a distance.
Unlike Zald, who had apparently gone as far as consuming parts of the Behemoth’s poisonous flesh afterward.
Even Ember himself had only been exposed to the creature’s poisonous breath, and that alone had nearly killed him.
It had taken him days of agonizing struggle just to gradually adapt to the poison and survive.
Compared to the Behemoth itself or its breath that struck Ember back then, the poisonous properties now present within Ember’s blood were actually much weaker.
‘Even a Level 5 would have died from that poisonous breath…? This is fucking terrifying,’ Ember thought seriously.
Then his gaze shifted toward both Merina and Athena again.
A part of him still wondered whether everything happening right now was genuine or merely another setup meant to lower his guard.
“I am leaving,” Ember finally said.
After a brief pause, he added,
“I will leave tomorrow.”
Part of the reason he openly announced it was because he wanted to observe their reactions and determine whether they were plotting something again.
But at the same time, he truly did intend to leave.
Merina was currently at her weakest state, or at the very least she appeared to be nothing more than a heavily weakened and sick adventurer right now.
Athena quietly lowered her eyes for a moment before responding.
“I see…”
Her voice was soft, carrying clear disappointment beneath it.
She already understood that she had completely failed to regain his trust.
Still, after a few seconds, she forced a smile onto her face.
“Very well,” Athena replied gently. “You may leave tomorrow, Ember.”
Then she added quietly,
“I will keep my feelings completely separate from your life from now on.”
Even so, anyone looking at her could clearly tell how much those words hurt her to say aloud.
“Good,” Ember simply replied with a nod.
Nothing more.
Afterward, he calmly turned around and left the room.
The moment the door closed behind him, Athena’s heart sank heavily.
‘What am I supposed to do now?’ the Goddess wondered helplessly.
For the first time in a very long while, Athena genuinely could not see a clear solution to her problem.
Just like before, Ember had once again forcefully made himself emotionally dense around her in order to avoid encouraging her feelings further.
Though the last time that happened, everything only ended up backfiring horribly.
‘Then again…’ Athena thought bitterly, ‘the denser a man is, the more women seem to gravitate toward him.’
And that realization only made her feel even more helpless.
To be continued…
(A/N: Almost forgot to upload for today's chap. Anyway here it is, also don't think Ember has forgiven them tbh. He is the sort of guy who is very hard to read from his actions alone, bro is a professional working with aliases after all.)