23 Inversely Proportional

Near the Capital of the Oslesan Kingdom, there was a tomb for warriors. On a windy old hill where thousands of tombstones lined the warriors' names who died in the war. On a tombstone that had just finished a funeral, three bunches of flowers were placed.

"Evan Hayes...Knight Commander..."

Ellie Snow and Liliana Hayes, standing in front of him, stared at the tombstone with tears already running down their cheeks.

When Ellie thought that Evan had died without her knowing it, she felt like there was a hole in her heart.

"...Lily, you don't have to hesitate, just put the flowers down."

Still staring at the tombstone, Ellie called out to the little girl beside her, who was still tightly gripping the flower in her hand with her bottom lip jutting out.

"...Sister Ellie...Brother hasn't died yet... This is all a lie... isn't it? Sister Ellie you believe that??"

Liliana's legs became limp, and she cried as she kept trying to deny the facts that had happened to her brother.

"Yes, Lily. I believe that. Your brother is a great man. He will definitely come home."

Ellie immediately calmed her down by hugging her tightly and suppressing the sadness in her heart in front of Evan's sister.

"Princess, what exactly happened to Evan? Why wasn't his body found?"

Weiss Snow was Ellie's grandfather and also the Regional Guild Boss. He was the one who allowed Ellie and Liliana to attend Evan's funeral in the Capital.

"I-I'm sorry, Mister Weiss. Because the royal platoon only found the sword and a piece of clothing that him wore last time on the mission to conquer the 7th Labyrinth."

"I heard everything from the royal messenger, if him died from being eaten by the monsters in the Labyrinth... I don't want to sound pretentious, but is it true?"

"That... Maybe the truth."

Weiss frowned as if to show doubts about the integrity of Princess Ariella's statement.

"Then how will the kingdom deal with the Evan Family? Liliana is only 10 years old, and Eve Hayes is sick at home."

"N-no need to worry about that. I'll be responsible to both of them."

"Sister, I'll be going back to the castle first. This place is really giving me goosebumps." Aurellia interrupted the conversation while rubbing her arm and left the place.

"Huff... why a man as good as Evan, when he died only got 4 bunches of flowers." Weiss looked up at the sky, remembering how Evan's life was so cruel because of the curse he had.

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"Ha ha ha!" Evan gasped as he opened his eyes after having a bad dream. His face was pale as he remembered that he died with the name of the True Lizard King written on the tombstone.

Evan stared at the unfamiliar ceiling. His feeling was that he was still in a dreamland, but he was sure that he wasn't there after he felt a drop of water in his head.

When he started to look up, it wasn't a roof with a hole or a leaking water pipe. But it was the drool of a pink-haired girl sleeping next to him.

"Hiyaa!! Lucia why are you still drooling??" Evan shouted and immediately crawled away from Lucia before his face filled with drool.

"Mmmn... Good Morning, Evan. Good to see you're okay." Lucia wiped her lips before greeting Evan. But, she said that while half asleep.

Evan remembered that he was fighting to the death with Lord Baselix. He was sure to have sustained fatal injuries because his body was wrapped in bandages.

"I should have died from Baselix's final lash... but, what happened??"

His body felt lighter and fitter than before as he started moving his body. His battle wounds were also gone. Even the fatal damage on his back didn't cause any pain when he tried to touch it.

Just as Evan wanted to ask Lucia, she fell back asleep before he uttered a single word. However, his feeling was happy when he saw the girl he wanted to protect was still alive.

When Evan turned around, he saw a streak of light from the wall in the corner of the room. Since Lucia couldn't be spoken to, he walked towards the light.

"Dazzling light... Ah... This is the village of those monsters, right?" Evan was surprised to realize that it wasn't a room but the tents he had seen before.

"My King, you're awake." One of the orcs guarding the front of the tent saw Evan and looked very happy.

"Ah, you're right. Tell Master Piwood quickly." The Old Goblin who was also in front of the tent immediately asked his subordinates to summon Piwood.

"O-okay, Village Chief!" The Young Goblin immediately ran after the Old Goblin's orders.

Evan didn't know what was really going on, but seeing the monsters was fine. He was sure that his battle with the Lamia Race had been won.

"Hey, girls move faster!... Immediately inspect and clean the King's body. Do it carefully!" The Old Goblin shouted at several monster girls carrying medical kits and toiletries.

"W-wait girls... I-I'm a man you know...let me- No!!"

Before Evan could finish explaining, his body was immediately picked up and brought into the tent.

"Dald, did the ritual work?" Piwood came in haste.

"Yes, I saw it myself. King is doing well. Now he is being examined and bathed by the girls."

A few moments later, Evan came out of the tent while being carried by one of the goblin girls.

"My King, your fur is very soft." The other girls scrambled to stroke Evan's clean fur.

As the girls remembered their duty to check on and bathe Princess Lucia, he put Evan down and entered the tent again.

"My King, good to see you're okay... Eh... Why are you covering your face?" Piwood was moved to see his King back.

"This is my first time with girls… Eh… I mean, thanks for worrying about me! Piwood, what about Lamia Lord and his army?"

Evan was really embarrassed when the girls treated him. When he saw that it was Piwood who asked, he immediately turned his voice serious.

"He was already dead when I found you beside him, and his army... I've already destroyed. I'm sorry, for not expecting that the Lamia Lord would pull off a dirty trick to almost kill you."

"... I'm the weak one...I should have died during that fight. But why am I still alive?" Evan hoped that Piwood had the answer.