Joan barely noticed, went to the baths, asked the waiter to rinse her up, and then she went to the hot baths below the castle. She wondered if there was a water magician in the castle, despite the large and hot pool, and even in her previous life, her home was not so big or extravagant, even though the dwarves had some homes below their city, which even made her feel ashamed. Still, it was beyond anything she could use in her life.

She rubbed her hand along the smooth stone.

Now that I think about it, the castle itself is probably hundreds of years old. She had never seen a bathroom like this outside of a human castle, and she stretched out her right hand and tried to draw some water with magic. to her hand, but it only caused a sharp pain in her palm. "I'm not ready, am I?" She muttered to herself.

All the life she's been through. It gave her a headache and she sank into the water a little more. There were a thousand different versions of each memory mixed in her mind, linked to something new and a new idea, all of which seemed desperate to surface. "Can't you all shut up?" She asks about memory, and she desperately wants to find the answer,

She closed her eyes and sobbed. "I don't want to end, though," she whispered. "I just want to win. Please. The gods swear that let me set things right. Let me fix that. I'm sorry, I'm too arrogant. Sorry I'm being too pompous. I'm sorry I went beyond my boundaries. I'm so sorry. So please, just this once, let me win. Make me strong enough to solve everything. She prayed to heaven. She wondered if the gods would listen to her now. She did all this, and they hated her too? Do they know? Did they see what she had done in a thousand lifetimes? Or will the three sisters be able to separate them from them?

She raised her hand and patted her cheek. "Nope. No, no. Don't do that. No! She said firmly. I wouldn't do that. Even if I have to go crazy, I don't care. I'll fix everything. I will succeed. I don't care about anything-"

She looked around, sure someone was watching her.

"Hello?" She shouted. After a while, she sighed and leaned into the water. "It could just be an echo of everything," she said, hoping that speaking out loud would make things more likely. Once again, that feeling was gone. "There must be a way around this," she muttered softly, then closed her eyes and leaned back in the tub.

For the first time, however, she felt almost relaxed. She's always been a fighter at heart, and after a long workout, she feels more relaxed. The warmth of the water slowly began to remove the pain and discomfort, and then slowly put her to sleep.

------

Burn. Shriek. The burning pain on her skin slowly melted from her bones. She screamed as she tried to extinguish the flames. They failed, and no one wants to pay for her failure. The laughter of the gods of hell echoed in her ears, taunting her mercilessly.

Each breath brought more pain to her body, and the smoke melted her from within, even though death felt so slow.

----

Joan woke up screaming and tried to sit up, but something warm held her down. To make matters worse, it was so dark in the room that she couldn't see anything. She was no longer in the bathroom, though. A moment of helplessness told her everything she needed to know. She lay on the bed again, wrapped tightly around her body. "Damn," she whispered. "Am I not even dizzy in the shower now?" She asked. She slowly shook the blanket loose enough so that she could lower it low enough that she could lift herself slightly and land on her hands and knees.

She was very thirsty. "Hello?" She screamed, finally broke free and tried to get out of bed. However, her foot got stuck in something on the bed, and with a scream, she fell from the side.

Joan heard the door open and cursed in her heart. Half lying on the floor, half still buried under the covers, she couldn't think of anything more embarrassing.

"Are you in trouble, prodigy?" Hadwin asked.

"That's right," Joan said, though she kicked herself in the heart. She should have known that fate could not be tempted. At the very least, the man who dragged her out of the tub must have dressed her in a thin dressing gown. She heard Hardwin's footsteps and tried to stand up straight, but before she could stand up, he had already reached her side and gently took her back into his arms.

He covered her with a quilt. "I'm thirsty," she said, looking up at him.

"I think you're hungry too," Hadwin said, then gesturing to the small table. A pair of small pies were placed on top, and a large cup. "I've heard you've had a great time in the last few days," he said, before handing her the cup.

"You don't know. You shouldn't leave. Joan said as she took a sip of her drink, trying to look horrible and irritated as much as she could. Juice, at least sweet.

"I was chosen—"

"You have a responsibility to the world," she interrupted, shook her head, and handed out the cup. He took it, though the look of exasperation on his face made her struggle to avoid humming. "Trust me. I know better than anyone in the world what your role is. What is my role. If you don't think I've been thinking about this all the time these days, you're stupid. ”

His eyes widened slightly, and his brow furrowed in annoyance, but he didn't refute.

But she just felt too tired. "Please at least tell me that I haven't slept another day. What happened? ”

Hardwin sighed softly and pulled over a chair and sat on the edge of the bed. "You passed out in the bathroom. You are lucky not to be drowned. They pull you out. ”

Joan blinked a few times, just staring at him. "You're kidding."

"I'm not."

She couldn't help but snort and reached out to cover her mouth. The idea alone seems ridiculous. "Really? I was thrown into magma and buried under the still burning corpse of the Lava Titan, wrapped in the flames of the god of hell. A little hot water almost scalded me to death? She asked. Please. You can see why this is so stupid and ridiculous, don't you? ”

"I've seen you stabbed, crying, screaming, covered in mud, covered in, uh, filth, naked, wine squirting out of your nose, so shocked that you couldn't even say a word, covered from head to toe." Pink petals and everything in between. I've seen you at your worst and at your best. But the best part? That's the only way to feel. Of all the people in the world, I know you won't hurt me. I guess it's instinct, right? All I know is. If there's one person I can be completely open and honest with, it's you. You've never let me down before, and I don't think you're likely to start now. Except..."

"Yes?" He asked, crossing his arms, and she imagined him acting angry. To her, he was more like trying to suck a lemon.

"I'm your daughter now, am I? You'll never hurt me, Daddy," Joan chuckled, and the smile turned rather vicious.

Hadwin's angry face vanished, and he let out a long, painful sigh. "You're going to get me in a lot of trouble for a long time, aren't you?"

"You can pull out your sword and stab me if you want," she said contemptuously.

He was silent for a long time, just staring at her. Finally, he sighed softly. "I see. So what they say about you is true. ”

Joan felt a slight chill down her spine. "They say? Who said? What about me? ”

"Queen. Your guards. Master of weapons. Even the attendant in the bathroom noticed, she only stayed with you for a few minutes. Hardwin said, his voice calmer now.

"I don't know what you mean. You can't-"

"They say you want to die."

"Oh," Joan said with a shrug. Now that she remembered it, she thought it seemed easy. "That's not true, though. I don't want to die until this is over and the world is saved. ”

"After that?" Hadwin asked.

"I've died a thousand times. If this was to be believed, I would probably die hundreds of times. Perhaps, this is the torture of the gods of hell again. Or maybe it's the Demon King? ”

"Have you told anyone about this? About your claims? Hadwin asked, his eyes narrowing at her again.

"Oh my God, no. Do I think I'm crazy in your opinion? Don't answer this question! Seeing that he was opening his mouth, Qiao Anan raised his hand and said quickly. No, I'm not. At least, I hope I don't. In fact, you know, I wish I was. This will make things a lot easier. "The world will melt, or worse! Wait, no, just my delusion. But if I want to solve everything, I have to assume that I'm not. What evidence do you want? ”

"You certainly don't act like a child," Hardwin said.

"I've lived more lives than you've lived. You haven't told anyone about it, have you? ”

"Not yet, no."

"Because the queen can't possibly know. She hates me. Joan said with a slight tremble.

"Hate you?" Hadwin asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I don't think she has the power to hate. If yes, I've certainly never seen one. ”

"Oh, trust me, she will. Done. Yes," Joan whispered, and memories of her yelling and threatening came to the surface. "Sometimes it's really hard."

"You know, it's incredibly unsettling when you're talking like that."

"Like what?"

"As if you really knew it all," Hadwin said mildly. "It's like you really went through it all and then came back

Of course, we have to keep fighting. There is a lot of pain and suffering. But there were also a lot of victories. We spend a lot of time together. We even ...... Most of us are happy. ”

"At most?"

"My life is a chronicle of failures over and over again. I've never really done it right. ”

Joan slowly raised her hands to her head and massaged them slowly.

"Yes. I used the Light Charm so I could see you, and—"

"Okay. Now imagine that. But imagine a thousand times. But, most importantly, imagine that sometimes things are different. It's like the chair you're sitting in," Joan said, gesturing to his chair. "Sometimes it's a foot or two to the right. Or it has a mat. Or not even a chair. Or it's on the other side of the room. Or on the contrary, someone sits in it. Sometimes there's no one inside. Now imagine that you have all these memories at the same time. ”

Hardwin squinted, but nodded. "I see. It sounds disorienting. ”

"Exactly. Now imagine that each of these memories has a thousand other memories. The person sitting inside? You may remember, once they made cream pies, or ten years later they had a daughter. Or you may remember their heads ripped off and eaten by a giant giant. But you can't even remember this properly. Because you remember that the chair was burned during a fight with the assassins, or you also tripped over it and hit your head on the floor, or once someone sat on it and it broke and hurt them. Then you remember everything else, and then there's not a single real click, instead, everything feels so, so familiar. If I think too much, my head will explode. One memory can lead to a thousand memories, and each memory has a thousand each.

All of this is non-existent. I can't go from one to the other, or just remember the one that's in progress. They are all connected, but they all have different things," Joan said, slowly rocking back and forth.

Joan felt tears roll in her eyes, but she didn't mind once. If there was one person who could make her cry in front of her, it was him.

"I don't quite understand," Hadwin said with a soft sigh.

"I don't know if I'm Joan, a hero, or somebody in between."

Joan sighed and shook her head. "Then I'll fail, I'll try again. I told you. If you're not going to help me, can you at least stab me so I can start the next cycle? ”

"Can you please stop talking like that?" Hadwin yelled and slammed his fist into her bed, thudging her bed to its feet. "It's serious!"

Her mouth was covered by his hand, and her eyes were wide open.

"Joan. I want you to listen to me. I don't want to hear anything like that again. Even if I don't believe you, I swear I'll help you. So stop this. Stop talking, as if you're dying. If the world is likely to be destroyed, then let's avoid it. Clear? ”

"I was exhausted and passed out. I barely managed to hold on to a spell for more than a few minutes. I can't hurt a reflection troll. She said with a gentle wave of her hand. I'm not a hero. I need strength. I couldn't beat any of these things without them. Ten years later, maybe. But we don't have ten years left. ”

Hadwin smiled lightly and shook his head. "Ahh So, even with thousands of years of experience, a child is still a child. ”

Joan squinted at him. "What does that mean?"

"You're just a kid, aren't you? I don't need and I don't want you to fight. It means you're putting me to fight. You take a break and recover. ”

Her anger welled up again, and she sat up, clutching the quilt tightly. "I'm not just a kid! I have-"

"You have the experience and knowledge I need, right?" Hardwin asked, his voice rock solid. "But you can't fight something like that troll. You almost died. If you push yourself too hard, you're going to die. You say you're a hero, and then you act like a hero. If you really have all this important information at your fingertips, then your survival must be a top priority. It must be more important than your desire to fight or save the world. If you die, knowledge will disappear with you, right? ”

Joan opened her mouth to object, but as much as she didn't want to admit it, she couldn't think of any proper response to his arguments. She was skeptical, "But I want to fight too!" " Will be eligible." Nice. You know, I've been fighting for a lot longer than you think. As an adult and as a child. I-"

"When you're a hero, right? Did you break your hand when you hit me? ”

Her cheeks turned even redder, and her whole body sank into the covers. "I've fought in this body, too. As Joan. I-"

"Like you fought a reflection troll?" He asked.

Joan sighed softly, her eyes lowered, and the desire to argue faded. She only felt weak and helpless now. "I'm not worthless."

"I never said you were. I said you can't fight like this. If I keep worrying about you being killed, I can't fight. Do you agree? ”

"Now, well," said Joan, desperately resisting the urge to pout.

"That's good. Assuming I don't believe your story, the fact remains that you're definitely a weird person. I can't ignore the gods

"The First Demon King. He is the leader of a cult that tries to resurrect the gods of hell. The second is the resurrection of the gods of hell and the separation of the gods from our realm. The last is to corrupt the Chosen One into the Second Demon King. ”

"The god of hell was the cruel and evil god of thousands of years ago, apparently even before the elect. It is sealed by the gods of the present day and inhabits the very core of our world. However, if it is released, then—" Joan was interrupted as new memories filled her mind, telling her to close her eyes and try to digest it. Bursts of terrible pain, burning flames, and terrible screams echoed in her head.

She lifted the quilt, it was so hot. "It's a cruel, evil monster. Flames don't burn, they melt. It will melt the world into molten sludge. ”

"In your experience, in your memory? Do we sometimes block it? ”

"Oh? It's fascinating. What other ways are there? ”

Joan took a slow, deep breath. Unfortunately, I only have two in my head. She suspected he wouldn't like the part. "The only way we can succeed is to destroy our world's connection to the gods. Completely isolate us from them. It's a last resort, but it's also the only one we have at our disposal. ”

Hadwin stared at her, his mouth wide open. "That's horrible. Without the gods, we can't-"

"You mentioned another way, right?" Hadwin asked.

"We destroyed its heart," Joan said. "We never succeeded, though. The Demon King is always one step ahead of us. By the time we killed him, it was already too late. The cultists are too powerful for God to stop. She shuddered again. But now the situation is different. I know where the heart is, and if we can gather all the chosen ones, we can destroy it. This time we can defeat the Demon King. She glanced back at him with a feeble smile. I just need you to trust me. ”

Hadwin stared at her thoughtfully, as if looking at her. Finally, his gaze seemed to become almost sad. How can we reach this heart? He asked.

Breathe a sigh of relief. He seemed to believe her, at least to some extent. Even if he doesn't want to, as long as he's willing to help her, that's okay. "We need all seven people who have been chosen. I can probably guess where they are, though. Most are easy, and some are a bit harder. But we need to move fast. We're not the only ones pursuing our hearts right now. On top of that, the troll is that the heart is waking up. We've got to solve this problem in front of the Demon King. ”

"Right. And this demon lord you keep mentioning, what is he? ”

"I don't know exactly. At first I thought he was just another man mixed with demonic blood, another worshipper of the gods of hell. In fact, their leader. But then it came back. The important thing is that we first reach out to our hearts. If we can do this and destroy it, then we can stop the god of hell from making a comeback. Then the Demon King will not be able to destroy the world."

"And then?" Hadwin asked.

"Without gods and cults, you can contain and deal with the demon lord." She said firmly.

"And what about corruption?"

After the connection with the gods was severed, everything was calm for a few years. Then suddenly, one of the chosen ones changed. Start small. But then one of you will die. No, not dying. The Demon King will kill one of you, but it looks like an accident. I'm so stupid, sometimes I don't even realize what's going on, and you guys die two or even three. She rolled over and stared at him. At the end of the day, I was almost always on my own. I can't beat them. Their power is simply too great. They have taken away our power, our weapons, our capabilities. Who makes us who we are. Then they use them against the rest. ”

"How? Only the chosen ones will be able to use our weapons. ”

"I don't know. I don't really know. You have to be prepared this time. Although the Demon King is strong, he defeats him. As long as we are united and the gods are still here, we can prevent the destruction from happening again. ”

"Cullon? It's an interesting name. Who is she? Hardwin asked.

Joan opened her mouth, "Cullon's one of the demons. She was also a voter of the royal family at birth. ”

"What?" Hardwin shouted, and she quickly stepped back to her feet, pushing the chair he was sitting on to the side, smashing it against the back wall and shattering. "The demon is one of the chosen ones?! It can't be, never-"

Joan shrugged slightly, quickly trying to interrupt him. "While it's true that the electorate is mostly human, there are exceptions. Our group is an exception. We have a swapling, an elf, a dwarf, and a demon. As far as I know, Chase was the first Changeling. There was also a chosen demon a few centuries ago, although I didn't study it much at the time. I knew it must have been a surprise, and I was a little shocked at the time. But if you consider how few humans are still alive, is it really that surprising that the gods reached out to other species to bear their mantle? ”

Hadwin let out a soft growl and began pacing, shaking his head. He turned to her. "I see. Tell me, who else is in our group? Any other small surprises? ”

"Well, the evil Kurlon is the crown. Then there's the chase of scammers. Nasty people, if you are on his bad side. But he's a nice guy with gloves and boots everywhere. Gentle Andreas, he is the spear. The same is true for humans. It's a bit hard to catch, but it's good. You're going to love him. He, like you, is the only one who hasn't been corrupted by the Demon King. Radiant Nea, the elf and the bow. She's also the most beautiful woman you'll ever meet, but ......" Her voice faded, her lips furrowed as more painful memories came flooding back her mind. It took a while for her to steady her mind again

。

"But?" Hadwin stared at her.

"She's one of the most susceptible to being corrupted by demon lords." Joan said.

"I guess Cullon is the most corrupted one?" Hardwin asked, his anger undisguised.

A little rage. Although she doesn't trust Kurlon, it's not fair. The demons had saved her life more than she could count, and the thought of someone saying bad things about her, especially the other chosen one, made her want to lash out. "No, she's almost never corrupted. She is often killed by the Demon King. Then there is the golden Salgren, a dwarf who wields a war hammer. He's a jerk, and you're going to love him and hate him, old friend. ”

"Will I?"

"Everybody's like that. Awesome bastard. Trust me, you'll see. There was only one left. The least important of the group," Searle. ”

"Is it only Serge?" Hadwin asked, staring at her again.

"Oh yes. Diligent Serge. He's the shield," Joan said, sitting up and clutching the blanket tightly.

"Joan? What's wrong? What about Serge, what is he? ”

Joan eventually succumbs to her thoughts and lets all the thoughts flow. "He's a useless, pathetic weight who has done nothing but drag us down!" She was almost yelling, and she couldn't contain anger in her voice.

Hadwin's eyes widened, "Joan? Don't you think that's a bit harsh? He's one of the chosen ones, isn't he? You talk about him like he's some kind of monster. Could it be that he is also a demon? ”

"Joan?" Hudwin asked, leaning forward slowly and shaking her shoulders.

"I know where he is," Joan said at last.

"What?"

"I know where he is," she repeated.

"Didn't you say you could find them all?"

"Yes, eventually. But I mean I know exactly where he is at the moment! ”

"What?"

"Academy! He's another student! He'll still be there! Shields. I know where the choice of shield is. ”

"What?" Hardwin shouted, his shoulders clicking. "Are you sure, you-"

She reached out and took his hand. For the first time in a few days, she was excited.

"What?" Hadwin asked.

"About who I am. About what I am. Let's take care of my daughter's affairs now. Or any other story you come up with. Of all the people I don't want to know what information I have, it's him. ”

"If he's one of the chosen ones—"

"Good. Then I thought I'd better start preparing, daughter," he said, turning to the door.

"I leave first thing in the morning."

Joan blinked a few times and turned to him. "Wait, what? Aren't we going right away? ”

Hadwin stopped in the doorway and sighed. "I'll go tomorrow. If he was at the academy, I would bring him here. Just stay here. ”

"I'll go with you!" She lifted the covers and jumped up from the bed. However, when she landed, her legs went limpy almost immediately.

Hadwin arrived at once, catching her before she landed.

"You need to rest and recover. Go back to bed," Hadwin said, and picked her up and carried her back to bed. However, she grabbed the front of his coat and did not let go. "Let go."

"Please, you can't leave me here," Joan said, looking up at him.

"Joan, I can't take you away. You need to-"

"It's only a few days away from here, isn't it? I have to go with you. Please, don't leave me behind. From the way he looked away, she could tell that his resistance was waning. He was never good at denying her, even as a hero. "I promise not to fight. I promise I'll do well. But don't leave me alone here anymore. Please. ”

Hadwin stared at her for a long, long time, then nodded slowly. "Good. Tomorrow morning. ”

"Why not tonight? We should -"

"Are you following the rules or not following the rules?" Hadwin asked, glaring at her.

"Very well," he said before she let go of his coat. "Let's rest for a while. I swear, kid, part of me wants to know if there's more to my lies. After a while, he slammed the door shut.

Joan stared at the door for a moment, then sighed and lay back on the bed again. "I've been there, old friend. This time I pray I won't. ”