* * *

“Hey.”

The Hero called out to me.

“Get up.”

Though my head was fuzzy, I opened my eyes.

When the Hero himself was waking me up, there was no way I could lie there arrogantly.

“Sorry… When did I fall asleep?”

“A while ago.”

The answer was firm.

Had he been watching me sleep?

I’d offered to stand watch for our injured teammates, so falling asleep was a mistake.

Embarrassing, but I must have been more tired than I thought.

All I’d done was keep an eye out at the rear, making sure no enemies followed us.

The fight had been intense.

Even the Hero, who was normally untouchable, had taken a serious wound.

I’d intended to stay sharp, but it was pathetic.

I could see blood seeping through the torn leather of the Hero’s armor.

We’d fled too quickly to use potions, but I’d applied medicine and bandaged him properly.

How had the wound reopened?

“I’ll stop the bleeding.”

“It’s fine.”

“It’s not fine. We’re resting now, right? If you don’t take care of yourself while you can, what are you going to do—heal in the middle of the next fight?”

The Hero sighed.

I flinched, worried I’d crossed a line, but when he didn’t object further, I cautiously removed his leather armor.

The armor was already damaged from frequent battles, but it was still enchanted with protective magic, so he had no better option for now.

As I pulled it off, I revealed the soaked bandages beneath, dyed completely red.

It looked agonizing.

There was no way he could sleep like this.

I regretted that we’d run out of potions.

“Why didn’t you say anything when it hurt this much?”

The Hero probably didn’t want to demoralize the team, especially in an already dire situation.

He must have known I’d worry, too.

I understood that.

But seeing him endure so much pain on his own was heartbreaking.

Even though he’s stronger and more capable than anyone, the Hero is still just one person.

The number of people he has to save is as countless as the stars.

When I pressed on the wound to stop the bleeding, he shuddered—a rare display of vulnerability.

His pain felt so real it chilled me to the bone.

I hated how little I could do.

All I had were basic herbs to grind into a poultice.

“There might be painkilling herbs nearby.”

Even if the bleeding stopped, the pain wouldn’t just disappear.

He’d need something to help him sleep.

I started to rise to look around, but the Hero grabbed my arm.

“I’ll be quick. You’re awake, so you can keep watch.”

The Hero shook his head.

“Why?”

Even asking that question was meaningless.

The enemy’s power, black as night, seeped into the air and consumed the surroundings with an eerie intensity.

It was too fast.

Faster than my eyes could follow—my skin sensed it first.

Before I could wake my companions, they were already frozen, petrified in place.

I rushed toward them, panic-stricken, but the hero yanked me back forcefully.

“Hide.”

It was the phrase I heard most often from him.

By now, I was so used to it that it didn’t even hurt my pride anymore.

Better to hide than to be a hindrance.

But this time… the others weren’t here.

Could the hero handle this alone?

Shouldn’t we be figuring out a way to reverse this instead of just standing here?

My heart raced with unease.

The hero shoved me behind him.

For the first time, I thought, ‘I can’t just quietly stay behind him today.’

“Wait, at least let me get your armor.”

The armor I’d removed earlier to treat his wounds lay discarded nearby.

Surely, I could manage to fetch it quickly.

As the hero reached out to grab me, I moved faster.

“Raul!”

A sharp voice cut through the air.

Before I could even turn toward the sound, my vision turned blood-red.

Blood splattered everywhere, but there was no sound of metal clashing.

I didn’t want to open my eyes.

Even though they weren’t closed.

“…Zerbin.”

Unable to wipe away the blood obscuring my vision, I called his name.

I desperately wished for a reply.

Silence surrounded me.

Not even the sound of the wind could be heard.

Then I saw a massive silhouette collapse to the ground, its form large enough to obscure my entire body.

“Zerbin?”

With a dull thud, it hit the ground.

That wasn’t the answer I was waiting for.

My chest tightened painfully, as though I couldn’t breathe.

‘No, this can’t be happening. This makes no sense. There’s no way a hero that strong could fall from a single attack. That’s absurd. It can’t be true.’

But the hero… wasn’t wearing his enchanted armor.

Because of me.

He had been looking at me.

Because I moved on my own.

Because of me. It was all because of me.

Frantically, I rubbed my eyes, but the world remained drenched in red.

I squinted at the fallen silhouette.

…’It can’t be.’

Not because of me. It couldn’t be.

“This is your fault.”

A voice whispered somewhere, but I couldn’t think of anything to refute it.

The guilt was crushing.

---

“…Ah.”

It was a dream.

How ridiculous—I’ve had the same kind of nightmare so many times and still fell for it again.

After experiencing it so often, shouldn’t I have learned to recognize it?

Like, ‘Oh, it’s one of those nightmares again.’

Apparently not. My eyes were damp, as though I had cried in the dream.

Well, of course I cried— ‘the hero died.’

…

No, the hero didn’t die.

Even in a dream, I refuse to accept that.

At most, he must have been injured and temporarily immobilized.

My vision had blurred too much to confirm anything properly.

But still, without the hero, what could I possibly do against an enemy strong enough to bring him down?

‘Stop thinking about it.’

Even if the dream was entirely fake, what if something like this happens in the future?

What if I fail to show the hero what love means, lose our one chance, and doom humanity because of me?

‘Stop thinking about it.’

If that happens, then everything really will be my fault.

‘…I’m so tired.’

Even though I knew I’d just have another nightmare, my body grew heavy, and I let myself drift.

* * *