20 years had passed when I woke up! ~ The villain's daughter’s thereafter and after that ~ - Chapter 29

Translator: Darling | Editor: Nebosuke

5 years ago.

When Heinkel came to, he had apparently fallen near the Black Forest.

He could remember only his name. 

Suffering from severe memory loss, he couldn’t recall anything else. 

He was treated in a town nearby and became an adventurer afterward.

Although he journeyed around a number of countries in search of his lost memory, he couldn’t find a definitive cue to recover it.

Frustrated and anxious, he came to Bolt, the independent commercial city, and bumped into Fioria by accident.

“Do you know me? If so… have a look at this.”

Heinkel took out a gold-crafted pocket watch from his pocket.

The case was full of scratches. 

Fioria opened the watch. The clock hands weren’t ticking. 

It looked like it was dead.

An emblem that symbolized a libra was engraved on the inner face of the lid.

“Yeah, I remember this. I gave you this watch.”

Just before Heinkel left for the Crusader expedition 20 years ago…. 

Fioria handed over the gold watch to him as a farewell gift.

“Right, it was you…”

Heinkel nodded as if he had finally found the cue. 

“I used to have the same dream. It’s like a vague remnant of my memories. An extensive meadow, the gold watch, and a woman dazzling like the sun… Tell me one thing. Were you my girlfriend?”

“What?”

Fioria looked at Heinkel as if she was saying, “What on earth are you talking about?”

To support Heinkel, he didn’t just look handsome. He looked superbly attractive. 

Every single girl might fall in love with him if he sighed with slight sorrow. 

If he asked whether they were formerly his girlfriend, even if they weren’t, they would say, “Of course I was.” He had a kind of magically alluring look.

Despite his appearance, Fioria remained level-headed.

Because she was not distracted by his stunning appearance, she could build a rapport with the boy, Heinkel, 20 years ago.

“I asked you a damn question. Forgive me.”

“Yeah, I’m afraid it sounded like poppycock.”

“…My apology. When I’m with you, I feel calm for some reason. I feel like we’ve been together for a long time.”

“Then we could be sister and brother. You’ve just jumped into conclusions. Well, I’m relieved that your roots haven’t changed. It’s your specialty to play around with people’s minds.”

“Wait. What did I do before?”

While the two kept talking, they walked through the back alley.

“For the time being, let’s go to a café or somewhere. I’ll tell you about the past.”

Fioria proposed so.

Of course, Heinkel agreed, and then…..

“Is there anyone who can use recovery magic? If you do, come to the Wall!”

They saw a man, who looked like an adventurer, shouting out loud.

* *

The independent commercial city of Bolt was surrounded by the Wall.

When Fioria and Heinkel went to the Wall, it looked like a field hospital.

A thin cloth was spread over the grass field, and many injured people were lying there. Priests and sorcerers were treating them, but they couldn’t get what they wanted. 

“Hey, you there. What’s going on?”

“Yes, dame!”

Catching a young adventurer who was slightly injured, she asked about the situation.

“Um, Cockatrice came out of a forest nearby…”

Cockatrice was a gigantic monster that had the body of a chicken with dragon wings and a snake’s tail.

The monster was agile despite its sheer size, and also powerful thanks to its large size. 

When swung down, its beak could shatter a lump of iron.

But what was even more dangerous was the toxin in his breath.

Even if a bulky strong man was showered with the toxic exhalation, he would die in less than a day. Furthermore, it polluted the surrounding environment and transformed it into a dead land for three days.

“Are you alright? Don’t die!”

“Damn it. The toxin is too strong! I can’t detoxify them!”

“On top of the intoxication, look after the injured! Their bleeding won’t stop!”

Everyone was screaming here and there.

Cockatrice’s toxin was very invasive. Only the high-level water magic could detoxify. 

Unfortunately, the priests and the sorcerers treating the intoxicated were not that capable. The most skilled of them could only use medium-level water magic. They were just able to slow the intoxication progress. 

“Someone needs to run to the royal capital for help! The archbishop in the royal capital should be able to cure them!”

“No one can make it in time! It takes a day to get there by a carriage! The poisoned will all die before the archbishop arrives!”

“So, what else can we do? They’ll all die anyway!”

They were in a critical situation, and there was nothing they could do. The priests, adventurers, and sorcerers were all upset. 

The field hospital was becoming more terrible every single minute. They all were increasingly frustrated, impatient, and despaired.  

“Calm down. It’s gonna be alright.”

Everyone heard a positive and confident voice.

“Your willpower of trying to rescue these victims is priceless. Every one of you is compassionate and doing your best… But it’s not time to quarrel.”

Fioria said so sympathetically and looked around at the gathered people. 

“Your efforts would never be wasted… Leave it me.”

The people might think she was a bigmouth. 

However, her words were somehow persuasive.

Everyone there saw hope and felt, “It’ll be all good.”

Fioria took a deep breath.

She focused her mind. 

Being called the “No Healer Saint” was history. 

Nothing was impossible for her today.

” << Cleansing Healing Light >> “

The light descended upon them that was just like the sunshine in spring.

Golden particles floated around and enveloped the injured.

It neutralized the deadly toxin of the Cockatrice right away. Moreover, it restored the life force eroded by the toxin and healed their wounds.

The sufferers stopped groaning, and they began to sleep peacefully.

It was like a miracle…

All the medical staff wordlessly witnessed it.

Fioria, illuminated in the golden light, appeared to be a real goddess.

Some were so moved by her divinity and wept.

Everyone else looked up to her as if they were revering a spiritual being. 

“No, it’s not.”

However, Fioria shook her head.

“Fortunately, there are no casualties, but that’s because you guys worked hard.”

She looked at each of the medical staff and gave her gratitude.

“I managed to make it because everyone here has done your best in treating the injured….. Be proud of yourself. You brought this miracle. I just gave it a finishing touch.”

Then, Fioria activated flight magic.

A map of the area was in her mind.

She headed to the nearest forest.

“… It’s terrible.”

The Cockatrice was on the sub-highest risk level, SS, in the Adventurer’s Guild.

Not only was it ferocious, but the pollution due to its deadly toxin was a big problem. It was too late to save this forest. The soil had already turned into a toxic swamp, and the trees were sinking in it.

“Coooo… Cock… a doodle doo!”

It was the Cockatrice’s cry.

It was high-pitched and distressed the eardrums.

Fioria sighed.

“I can’t stand this sight. I can’t stand to hear.…. Vanish, leave no dust.”

It was very difficult to subdue Cockatrice in reality.

Due to its dangerous toxin, close combat was almost impossible.

There was no choice, but a bunch of adventurers casts destructive magic all together from a long distance.

However, the Cockatrice had very good eyes and keen sense. 

It often attacked the adventurers before they could shoot the destroy magic. 

It was a life-threatening quest…

But common sense did not apply to her.

The irrationality in a costume that walked around was Fioria de Florence.

―― << Wand of Divine Punishment >>.

It was released in full force upon not only Cockatrice, but also the toxic forest and swamp, and extinguished it all.

* *

The next day, a quite lean middle-aged man stormed into the office of the adventurer’s guild in Bolt.

“That forest is part of my land! You guys totally burnt it all off without getting my permission!”

This man was named Count Sine.

He was one of the Tristan aristocrats and was well-known for his grouchiness.

The forest where Cockatrice appeared was right at the edge of his territory.

“Pay me the compensation! You need to pay me here right now! Call the Guild Master!”

The receptionist at the guild office was completely frightened by the fury of Count Sine.

She fell on her rump and was trembling on the floor. 

……….. Fueled by her terror, Count Sine thought that he had the upper hand and went on. 

“Hum… if I look at you closely, you’re a cute girl. If you work in my mansion, well, I’ll consider accepting a little less compensation…”

“You haven’t changed at all. You were just as disgusting as you were 20 years ago, Count Sine.”

“D… dis, disgusting? You’re just an adventurer throwing that foul mouth at a Count ……!?”

Guild’s reception.

A golden girl appeared from the back.

“I was talking to the Guild Master just now. Burning the forest is unrelated to the Adventurer’s Guild. This Fioria de Florence did it on my own judgment and discretion. If you want to complain, do it to the Duke of Florence.” 

She stared at Count Sine over the guild counter.

“Grrr…!”

“Appeal to the imperial court if you want. Let’s get a fair verdict through a trial.”

“…..Gee, remember this!” Count Sine said so like a ham actor and ran away.

He knew what’d happen.

The forest contaminated by the Cockatrice’s toxin had to be completely burned off anyway. 

Fioria was not at fault, and even if he raised a lawsuit, he would lose.

He accused the Adventurer’s Guild because he wanted some benefits after complaining. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m okay.”

She reached out to the receptionist girl who was sitting on the floor. 

Fioria smiled at her. The girl’s face was flushed, and she looked down embarrassingly.

“Indeed, Count Sine has never cleaned up his act… He hasn’t learned anything from the incident 20 years ago.”

Fioria once severely punished Count Sine because he tried to make a play for a maid working at the court.

“If there’s no room for improvement, he shouldn’t be a lord anymore. I guess he does some shady business in the background. It may be a good time for him to retire.” 

Fioria thought about the plan in her mind.

She might ask Lex to investigate Count Sine. 

Meanwhile, let’s catch up with Heinkel.

We couldn’t talk about our past days because of the Cockatrice incident. 

Roughly one week later, Fioria received a message from the Monad Church. 

It said — “Acknowledging your achievements in the city of Bolt, we are reappointing you as a saint. You immediately need to report to the holy city of Millenia.”

And that was that.

This was Fioria’s take on it:

“Giving the saint title back to me is just bait. They call me in and then force me to investigate the blackmail letter case.”

The blackmail letters arrived from a person named W.H. to the five people in the upper tier of the Monad Church.

There were no casualties yet — they were increasingly becoming fearful by the day.

Therefore, in return for recertifying her to the saint, they wanted Fioria to get involved. 

“Well, what should I do?” Fioria thought.

It could be declined. But she felt that it might be a good idea to sightsee the holy city after such a long time.

She also wanted to personally meet the current Pope and the upper class of Monadism today to check their ability and personality.

In addition…

“Why not take Heinkel with me? It’s his hometown. It might be a good chance for him to regain his lost memory.”

Evil spirit: “What do you think will happen after this?”

Demon King: “Fioria may stir up the situation, and all five of them will get harshly punished. I can bet a soul on it.”

Evil spirit: “You’re bold.”

Demon King: “But I’m betting your soul, not mine.”

Evil spirit: “?!”