The Healer Banished From The Party, In Fact, Is The Strongest - Chapter 14

Raust’s Past III

I didn’t remember why I ran toward the goblins flock.
…… No, even if I knew, I probably wouldn’t understand why I started running.

Though, it was probably because the image of that girl dying overlapped with the image of the kids in the orphanage.

I thought I would have some value if I sacrificed my life for the sake of saving a noble.

I just hated my existence, maybe I ran to die?

Or was that for an entirely different reason?
That reason might exist deep inside my mind.
But I clearly was not aware of such reason when I started running.
My emotion was controlled by the messed up feeling inside my chest.

「Fuhahahaha! This is my revenge! My revenge on the ruler of this world!」

「Damn you!」

…… In the carriage that was attacked by the goblins, the situation had become to the man who looked to be the girl escort being killed as he yelled in frenzy, even so, my memory of an event that should be shocking like that was vague.

By that time, my emotion was terribly grim.

The hatred for this word that didn’t accept me, the anger for my own existence which was unacceptable by anyone.
Those emotions became one in me, and I no longer knew exactly what I felt.

「Uwahhhhh!」

「Gyeeeeee!」

…… Then, I attacked the goblin, with my dagger stabbing the rearmost goblin as the signal, the battle of the goblins and me started.

◆ ◆ ◇

I didn’t remember the detail of my battle with the goblins.
I only remembered trying to draw away the goblins’ attention from the girl.
I didn’t know when they would come, but I believed there would be knights that would help the girl and my task was to stall for time.
The only thing left in my head was me trying to evade all the goblins’ attack while running around laughing to provoke them.
I didn’t remember much after that.

「Here, is……?」

When I came to, I was lying down in a place that looks like a room.
With my sluggish body and still a bit hazy consciousness, I looked around the room for a while.

「Ahh, you’re awake!」

「……Ah-」

… When I saw the beautiful blonde girl beside me, I remembered about the goblins.
Apparently, I have survived.
I didn’t remember it clearly, but even though I should be full of injury and obviously fatal wound, there was none of that on my body now.
The only one who could do that was either a healer of a first-class party or healer that achieved knighthood.
I managed to stall until the knights came, and survived that way.

「……Haha.」

… However, what I felt in my chest was not joy.
I checked my body over and over again to make sure there wasn’t any injury and then let out a dry laugh.
At that time, what I felt in my chest was not a relief for being alive, but a sense of inferiority towards the knight’s healers whose ability far surpassed mine.
If only my ability is as much as one of their healers who treated me, I might be able to save my comrades, such thought couldn’t leave my head.

「You’re really amazing! That’s so, so, so cool! I really appreciated your help! Thank you!」

「… There is no such thing.」

「……Huh?」

…… Precisely because I was thinking that, I reacted strongly to the girl’s words.
Immediately after I said that, I felt irritated.
However, in an instant, that feeling of irritation turned into the feeling of inferiority.

「I’m not that good, I’m just a healer full of defects.」

Before I realized it, I talked about myself to the girl.
…… Thinking about it now, I realized how stupid that was.
After all, I was talking to a noble, moreover, a little girl.
She would obviously not understand what I was talking about, would she laugh after I finished? It was not weird for a common adventurer to be killed after telling noble an offensive story.
——— However, she didn’t do those things.
「… Uuu, hic- hic- cruel, that was so cruel!」

「Ehh? Huh? W-Why are you crying!?」

「Because it was so cruel!」
She cried after hearing my story.
She shed bitter tears for a while, and then she turned her face toward me, forcing herself to smile despite hear tear-stained face, and then opened her mouth.

「But it’s alright! Ana… no, Onii-san is strong! That’s why all those people who said otherwise are spouting nonsense! Don’t worry about it!」

Her face who said that was full of confidence.
And then, still tear-stained, with a beaming smile, she said.

「And when I grow up I will join Onii-san party to protect Onii-san, so Onii-san have nothing to worry about anymore!」

「———!」
It was the first time since I became an adventurer that I was approved by someone……

◆ ◆ ◇

I didn’t know what happened after that.
I didn’t think the girl was lying to me.
But the girl who said that was so young, and a noble too.
She seemed to be a daughter of distinguished noble’s family called Analestria, family like that wouldn’t have any reason to become a knight, nevermind adventurer.
Analestria’s family head was tolerant of a low-class adventurer like me and even gave me a fair amount of money, but he would absolutely never allow his daughter to become an adventurer.
After all, adventurers were just that kind of existence.
Even so, the words that girl said had saved me.
Because of her words, I was able to make an effort to gain more strength somehow.
Also, even when everyone didn’t approve of me and still called me useless no matter how much strength I gained, I still didn’t despair.

Even though it was just a fantasy, because I thought that girl would become my companion one day, I was still alive until now.

That was why I was thankful for that girl.
It might never become a reality.
Nevertheless, her words helped me.

「…… You seriously remind me of that girl.」

That was when the image of that girl overlapped with Narsena.
Seeing her expressive self, I once again overlapped her image to Narsena.

…… Not a noble, and even her hair color was different, Narsena shouldn’t be that girl.

「… I seriously need to give up.」

I shook off the idea and then chuckled lightly.
When I tried to soothe Narsena who turned away her face away from me…

「Hmm?」

At that time, I finally realized that Narsena’s ear turned red.

「Narsena!? W-what happ-…」

「D-Don’t look at me!」

No, on the contrary, her face I caught a glimpse of was also red, I was surprised by the sudden change in Narsena…
After that, even though Narsena never told me the reason her face turned red suddenly, she looked really happy since then…….