The room fell completely silent after that question, but then—breaking the silence and showing in his eyes and on his face the deep despair he felt at that moment—the old man asked:
— ...Can you help her or not...?
"..."
"Come on, boy, answer quickly, because I won't..."
"Okay...!" Noah closed his eyes and, after a deep sigh, said:
— ...I can help her...
Upon hearing this, the old man displayed a faint trace of happiness on his face and asked:
— Then, what do you need to make that happen?
Noah paused for a moment. His body wasn't moving exactly as he wanted—not because of the pressure imposed by the old man, but because of something else, a force that both compelled him to get closer to her and yet prevented him from doing so. He looked at the man hesitantly and said:
— ...I... need to be alone with her for a while.
After hearing Noah's answer, the woman standing just behind the old man began to walk slowly toward Noah and exclaimed:
— Not even in your dreams! You little—!
The dagger's blade was nearly drawn from its sheath.
The old man quickly raised his arm to stop her from passing, looked at Noah, and said:
— ...I'll ask you one last time, so you'd better be sure of your answer... Can you really heal her?
"...Yes..."
The old man examined Noah from head to toe, and after a few seconds of silence, said:
— ...Let's go.
He passed by Noah and walked toward the door.
"What?! But, sir...!"
Noah then looked at the woman, who—almost unwillingly—glanced at him and walked past him with clear disdain. The blade was hastily drawn back into its sheath, much to her discontent.
'What the hell is wrong with this old woman...?' Noah thought.
The woman passed the old man and left through the door, but before he did the same—with his hand resting on the door—the old man looked at Noah and said:
— Many have lied to me in the past, and none of them are with us today. Truly... I hope you keep your word, because if you fail, you'll soon find yourself facing them all.
What the old man hadn't expected was for the boy to smile in response after those words.
After the two left the room, Noah sighed and wondered to himself:
'The situation isn't exactly favorable, is it...? What should I do now?'
[You just need to remove the flame from the girl, right...?]
'Ah, thanks so much for stating the obvious. That was a huge help.'
[You don't have much time, Noah; the girl will surely die in a few days.]
'Again—another very useful and encouraging bit of information... So what should I do to remove the Frozen Fire from her? It would be a waste to come all this way and leave something like that behind.'
[The part of your phoenix lineage is reacting to the flame—it's why you're feeling that pain.]
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: I Am Really The Best Anti Hero In Another World!-System Of Anti Hero!