The Betrayal that Was(n’t) – Part 1

“Huh?” I said, not really believing what I heard.

“Are ya an idiot? Or do ya have a death wish? Just grab onto my hand! Now!”

I was 100% convinced Yzara wasn’t going to help me. So when she said those words, those three simple words—“grab my hand!”—they went in one ear and out the other.

I just couldn’t believe she would actually want to save me, especially after that damned smirk on her face. But when I looked back, searching for the damn smirk confirming my feelings—it was gone. The only expression on her face was that of worry.

Wha—How did I mistake this?

I didn’t think much about it at the time. There was no point, really. All I did was grab onto the hand she extended my way—and without reservation, she pulled me back up with all her strength. As I managed to crawl my way out, she too collapsed onto the damp cave floor from the rebound. We both stayed there, laying in the dimly-lit cave, panting for a good long while.

“Uff. Uff,” she wheezed. “What the hell happened there?!”

“Well, I slipped, and—”

“No, not that part. I got as much. I mean, why didn’t ya grab my hand right away?”

“Huh?”

When I turned to her, she was already standing up, glaring at me from high above.

“Don’t make that face. You know what I mean. Out with it!”

“I…” I began, not making much effort to stand up. “I thought you were going to drop me.”

“Huh?!” She said, making a really strange face. “Why would I do that?”

“I mean… you don’t really need me for anything anymore. All these gems are probably worth enough to get you your fifty Gold.”

She scratched her head. “You really thought I’d…? I hadn’t even thought of it.”

“Huh?! Why not? Aren’t you the Demon Queen?! You should want to kill the Heroes like me!”

“I guess ya have a point. I certainly used to think like that before. But…” She paused for a second. “It’s strange. I don’t feel any animosity towards Heroes anymore.”

“Since… since when have you been feeling like that?”

“Hmm… actually, now that ya mentioned it, the moment Heroes disappeared from this world, I stopped carin’.”

Yzara looked particularly confused, but deep in my mind, a little idea took shape. What if Heroes—that is, players—disappearing wasn’t the only thing that happened then? What if, in the process of this world becoming real, people like Yzara stopped following her original directive to hate Heroes?

There was no point in thinking about it, though. It was an unprovable hypothesis.

“Anyway, I’m not one to betray people like that. But,” Yzara said as she stood up, with a beautiful smile on her face, “Ya can trust me. Really. I realize it might be difficult for a Hero, but… ya saved me and helped me a lot so far. I wouldn’t let ya go like that.”

“Okay. I… I trust you.”

I felt like shit. My body flushed hot, as if the world itself was judging me for my stupid assumptions. Still with a guilty conscience, trying to get myself back on track, I got up and finally took a good look around me. The cavern was essentially the same as before—except the floor was covered in tiny black spheres instead of those flying rats.

“Guess we’ll have more money than we thought,” Yzara said with a smirk—a proud one this time.

* * *

When we got to the surface, the sun was already starting to set. The crew of the Airdrake took full advantage of Petra’s protection, and were busy setting up camp among the restored ruins of the town. The Airdrake’s balloon had been repaired with a big patch of fabric, and was filled up again to full capacity. In the air, the smell of cooking Cave Dragon meat on the improvised skewer lingered enticingly.

That looks delicious. Guess I’m way hungrier than I expected.

“Hey! We thought you’d never return,” Keil said after waving us over.

“And we almost didn’t,” I said. “We were attacked by Screech Bats. A bunch of them.”

“Really? How much is ‘a bunch’? Did you get any Profane Magic Crystals from them?”

“Sure did. There were so many bats we couldn’t even see each other, and I almost fell down into a hole.”

“If I wasn’t there, he definitely would have died,” Chloe added. “Not that it would matter much for a Hero, right?”

Her words made me pause—of course they would. So far, I’d been on this journey, not really thinking much about what would happen if I took lethal damage. In Arcforge, you just respawned in a Church.

But would that be the case in this new world?

A chill ran down my spine.

What would happen if she hadn’t grabbed me? Would I respawn, or—

“Takashi?” Tanney asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

I tried to hide the pounding inside my chest by shoving my hand into my Hero’s Bag. The alchemist’s attention had been perked by the mention of Profane Magic, and she trotted over to see what we were talking about.

“Here, Tanney, that’s all the Profane Magic Crystals we—”

“Oh my sweet Baelrak!” She immediately exclaimed when she saw the pile of crystals on the makeshift dining table. She began counting the crystals by hand. “T-thirty-one, thirty-two, t-thirty-three Profane Magic Crystals. I’ve never seen so many of them together! Not even my parents have this many crystals stacked up. This many crystals would go for over sixty Silver on the open market…!”

Sixty Silver. That was more than we’d earned during our entire time in Adaville. But it was still a tiny fraction of the money needed to get Yzara her class back. It wasn’t even equivalent to three Gold.

“Hey, Takashi. Would you be willing to sell these to me?!” She asked, her eyes sparkling and her ears twitching furiously

Her offer made me pause. Sure, we could use the money, but the gemstones we got from that cave would be more than enough to cover our needs.

I didn’t hesitate any longer. Someone needed these crystals more than we did.

“Nah,” I said, trying to put on a carefree smile, “You can have them.”

Tanney’s expression froze for a moment as she processed my words. “H-huh? I-I can’t take this much…”

“You need them more than we do. Right, Chloe?”

I gave the priestess a side glance, who responded with that heavenly smile she so loved to put on. The fox girl, for her part, looked at her companions, as if asking for permission.

“Take them, Tanney,” Fianna said, her tone quite a bit softer than usual. “You’ll need them to progress through your classes, right?”

“I… I could use them, yes.” Then, she turned to me, with a smile so innocent it filled me with fuzzy feelings I hadn’t felt in a long time. “Thank you, Takashi. I’ll treasure this gesture forever.”