Once the Curse of Reversed Likability Was Lifted, My Party Members Became Unbearably Heavy
A gentle breeze caressed Ren’s cheek as he rose from the sacred spring.
The air enveloping this sanctuary was pure beyond measure, and the past month had been deceptively peaceful.
he let his gaze fall softly upon the scar on his left arm.
The pain was almost gone now. Yet, what remained was the undeniable loss.
โRen-san.โ
A small voice came from behind her.
Turning, he saw the girlโIrisโwho had been peering into the spring’s surface lift her face.
Her pale golden hair caught the sunlight, swaying softly.
A pendant with a blue gem glinted around her neck.
โโฆAre you all right?โ
โYeah. Just felt a bit drained. Like I breathed fresh air for the first time in ages.โ
“I seeโฆ That’s good.ใI’m truly glad.”
Iris smiled.
That smile was salvation itself for Ren.
Come to think of it, he had met her a few days after defeating the Demon King. They hadn’t even been traveling together for a month yet.
That day, Ren was being hunted by a curse, wandering in search of the sacred spring.
Ren, whose wounds from the battle with the Demon King hadn’t fully healed, arrived at a remote, cold village surrounded by mountains. Few people passed through the streets, and a stagnant air hung over the place.
The village was quite far from the royal capital, and even Ren, the Hero, was hardly known there.
There, Ren met Iris, who was being persecuted by the villagers.
At the edge of the village, I saw a girl, probably a little younger than me, sitting alone by the well. She wore a grimy cloak, hugged her knees, and stared off into the distance.
โโฆWhat are you doing here?โ
Even when I spoke to her, the girl didn’t answer right away. Instead, a small blue gem glinting at her chest rattled softly in the breeze.
โโฆCould Iโฆ get some food?โ
Her voice was hoarse.
She showed no hostility toward me, the cursed one, but merely gave a faint smile.
Later, as we ate the food I had with me, I learned her name was Iris.
It had been three years since she’d been dubbed the โPlague Girl.โ
Three years ago, she lost her frail parents to illness. Within the village, she was whispered about as an โunlucky child.โ
The blue pendant her mother left behindโa โprotective stone that wards off cursesโโonly fueled the villagers’ fear, seeming eerie instead.
Rumors spread: โThat child summons demons. Approach her and you invite disaster.โ Before long, these rumors were treated as truth.
In this village, she was loved by no one, needed by no one.
Still, she lived in a hut on the village’s outskirts, clutching her late mother’s keepsake to her chest.
Iris, protected by her mother’s pendant, remained unaffected by my curse and treated me โnormally.โ
Under the curse’s influence, the villagers gradually turned their hatred toward Ren.
For me at that time, Iris’s presence might have been a crucial source of emotional support.
Then, one night, monsters attacked the village.
Though Ren defeated the monsters, his injuries, not yet fully healed, slowed him down, and flames spread throughout the village.
Villagers fled in panic, no one sparing a thought for her.
Amid the rising flames, the only one who rushed to her house wasโRen.
โRun! This place is dangerous now!โ
โIโฆ I’m staying here. There’s nowhere else for me to go!โ
โDon’t be stupid!โ
Ren grabbed her arm, almost forcefully, and dragged her out of the burning house.
In that instant, the roof collapsed, sending sparks dancing into the night sky.
The night the village burned to the ground.
Ren quietly draped his coat over her shoulders as she sobbed.
โโฆLet’s go. I can’t just leave you locked up in a place like this.โ
โButโฆ I have nowhere to go.โ
โThen come with me. We can take our time finding your place.โ
Those words were the first time since losing her parents that someone had told her it was okay to live.
โโฆIris.โ
โYes?โ
โHaving you here really helped me.โ
When Ren said this, Iris’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, then she smiled softly.
โI’m the one who’s been helped.โ
โIs that so?โ
โYes, it is. โฆBecause I was always alone.โ
Iris traced the surface of the spring water with her fingertip.
Ripples spread out, softly distorting the reflections of the two figures.
โAfter my father and mother died, I couldn’t believe in anything anymore. I didn’t understand the meaning of living. But when I’m with youโฆ somehow, I feel like I can believe again, like I can try to live on.โ
Ren narrowed his eyes slightly.
โBelieving isn’t easy. โฆI’ve failed at it a few times myself.โ
โEven so, trying to believe is what matters.โ
Iris said this, clutching the blue pendant.
Its light shone especially brightly in the twilight. Ren gazed at that light, murmuring softly deep within his heart.
โPlease, let this light be the one thing she never loses.
โHow can this person always keep that expression?
No matter who hated him, no matter who cursed him, his back, smiling for someone else, seemed endlessly distant, endlessly dazzling.
Ren started walking.
Iris hurriedly stood up and followed his back.
The shadows of the two heading toward the forest’s exit stretched long in the morning light.
Walking, Iris quietly gazed at his back. On it remained faint, old scars like burn marks.
The traces of a man who once saved the world, and was then rejected by it.
โI can do nothing.
โBut at least, I want to be beside him so he isn’t alone.
Thinking this, a quiet warmth stirred deep within her chest.
It was still far from what could be called love, yet it possessed a definite heat that moved her.
โRen-san.โ
When she called out, he turned back. The setting sun lit his hair, casting shadows around his eyes.
โHm?โ
โNoโฆ it’s nothing.โ
Iris managed a faint smile.
She sank the feeling deep within her chest, knowing that putting it into words might break it.
โSomeday, this person will surely start running again.
โWhen that time comes, I want to be right beside him, supporting him.
Praying silently within her heart, she quietly turned back to the fountain.
In the light, the last ripple spread gently, then faded away as if nothing had ever been there.