Angelique Currentail. Commonly known as Angie.
She was born in a small village at the western edge of the Dragon King Kingdom, near the jungle region.
Angelique was raised by her parents, both apothecaries, and received her education as one as well.
Just before she reached adulthood, her parents were killed by magical beasts—but in this village, such a thing was not uncommon.
She grieved as much as anyone, accepted the villagers' help to hold the funeral, and then inherited her parents' home and profession.
Angelique had one person she could truly call a best friend.
Fam Heindra.
Born to a hunter's family that lived nearby, Fam had experienced something remarkably similar to Angelique—around the time she came of age, her mother fell ill and her father was killed by magical beasts. Or rather, he had been serving as escort for Angelique's parents, who had ventured deep into the forest to gather medicinal ingredients.
In other words, Fam's father had failed to protect Angelique's parents.
Because of this, Fam carried a sense of guilt toward Angelique.
And Angelique, for her part, had once harbored resentment toward Fam.
But after several clashes, they reconciled.
Now, they were known throughout the village as an inseparable pair.
Both of them were turning twenty this year.
"Ugh, I wonder if there's any good-looking guy around somewhere..."
The one who muttered this was Fam.
She wore a well-worn fur vest over tight leather pants, thick leather boots on her feet, a machete at her hip, and a quiver and longbow slung over her shoulders.
Her outfit gave her the look of a bandit, and while she was generally a bit grimy, her sharp, well-defined features made her undeniably beautiful.
"At the very least, not in a place like this," replied Angelique.
Though she was an apothecary, she too wore practical pants and a tanned leather jacket. At her waist hung not just a knife but also a small axe.
If there was any difference between them, it was that Angelique carried a large basket on her back.
The basket was about half-full with medicinal herbs and nuts.
The two of them were deep in the forest.
Angelique, the village apothecary, was in the middle of gathering ingredients for medicine.
"There's just no substitute for a rich guy, right? Handsome, but totally innocent, completely inexperienced with women. You hold his hand once and he turns beet red."
"I'd be fine with someone normal. I don't need money—just someone who's kind."
"Angie, you have no dreams!"
"Fam, you need to look at reality."
Their village didn't have many young men.
Well, they existed, but almost all of them were married.
Not many followers of Millis lived in the village.
But by village decree, no one other than the chief was permitted to take more than one wife.
And the current chief was already approaching fifty, with five wives taken.
He wasn't likely to take another.
"Even looking at reality, the only one who could plausibly marry is Docchi, right?"
The chief's son, Docchiru, was the same age as the two of them—twenty.
That said, he had already married his childhood fiancée and had a son and heir.
There was even talk that he would soon become chief himself.
If that happened, he would presumably take a second wife.
By village custom, when a chief was appointed, he took a second wife.
Currently, the village was buzzing with speculation over who that second wife would be.
There were far more unmarried women than available men.
"Nah, Docchi's never going to pick me as his wife."
"Fam, you were always really mean to Docchi, you know."
"Or maybe, to get back at me for how I treated him growing up, he'll pick me on purpose?"
"'I'll make you pay at night!' Is that it?"
"Like that would happen. He's still scared of me."
Since they were all close in age, the group had hung out and played together since they were little.
There were seven kids around the same age, and Fam had been their leader.
Back then, Docchiru was often reduced to tears by Fam.
Angelique had been one of them too, vaguely assuming she'd end up with one of the group someday—but things hadn't worked out that way.
Three had left the village, and only Docchiru and three girls remained.
Docchiru married his fiancée, and Angelique and Fam were left behind.
"But Angie, you've got a shot. You're cute."
"Yeah, no chance. I'm the only apothecary in the village, remember? If I get married, I won't be able to keep doing this. Everyone would be in trouble."
"Hmm, true... But with everything that happened, maybe he could propose as a thank-you?"
"Ha ha ha, I wish!"
Angelique laughed as she said this.
But deep down, she was thinking about something entirely different.
(Marriage, huh... No prince ever came for me...)
She had told her friend to look at reality, but Angelique had grown up idolizing a story she once heard from a traveling bard.
The tale of a small adventurer with blue hair.
A lone traveler who crossed from the Millis Continent to the Central Continent and made it to A-rank in the blink of an eye.
When Angelique first heard that story, her heart had soared.
But at the time, she had accepted that it was ultimately just a tale from a faraway world.
What broke that sense of distance was an event ten years ago.
A certain adventurer who had appeared in their village without warning.
This adventurer had been passing through the jungle region on her way to Westport and had stopped at their village.
A small adventurer with blue hair.
She looked exactly as described in the bard's tale.
It was the moment a story from a faraway world became reality.
She stayed in the village for only one night, but she spent that time telling the then ten-year-old Angelique and the others about her travels.
Real stories, told by someone who had been nothing more than a figment of imagination.
Fam and the others had their eyes sparkling over tales of dungeon bosses.
But Angelique had been captivated by the part about why the adventurer entered dungeons in the first place—"searching for a cool guy."
In the end, that adventurer conquered the dungeon without ever finding what she was looking for. But the memory of that encounter left a lasting impression on the Angelique who came after.
From the day she heard that story, the adventurer's tale crystallized within Angelique into a clear, bright longing.
And that longing would sometimes carry her away into a sea of fantasies.
Suddenly attacked by magical beasts and trapped in a dire situation—then a dashing prince appears to rescue her! And then, as thanks, she gives him her body...
(Squeal!)
That was usually where the fantasy ended.
A longing was just a longing.
A fantasy was just a fantasy.
Angelique knew perfectly well that such convenient things didn't happen in real life.
When the topic of marriage came up, she would drift into fantasies, but it was all just a daydream.
She was merely longing for something.
The Angelique of today had a firm grip on reality.
Five years ago, she had lost her parents and found herself all alone, and reality had forced its lessons upon her whether she liked it or not.
"Angie, stay sharp. From here on, it's his territory."
"Yeah, I know."
As they approached a cave deep in the forest, Angelique stopped and set down her basket.
The two of them had come searching for the ingredients of a particular medicine.
A specific remedy for a disease known as Ibury disease, endemic to this region.
"We have to help Docchi."
"Yeah."
Currently, Docchiru, the chief's son, was afflicted with Ibury disease.
The disease caused rashes to spread across the entire body, and without taking medicine within ten days, the patient would die.
That said, there was a specific antidote, it could be cured with intermediate-level detoxification magic, and it wasn't contagious.
For those reasons, it wasn't considered particularly dangerous in the cities.
But in Angelique's village, it was feared as an extremely lethal illness.
Because no matter how hard you tried, it took more than ten days to reach the nearest place with an intermediate detoxification mage.
And this disease had now claimed their childhood friend and future chief, Docchiru.
To make matters worse, this same disease had claimed both Angelique's parents and Fam's father.
Fam's mother had contracted Ibury disease.
Angelique's parents and Fam's father had ventured into the forest to find the ingredients to cure her... and died.
It was a disease deeply entwined with both their lives.
And now it was about to sink its fangs into their childhood friend.
"......"
The two of them advanced carefully.
The ingredient they needed was the Eint flower, which grew at the base of a cliff ahead.
Since they only needed enough for one person, they didn't require a large quantity.
Five or six petals.
That should be enough to save one life.
"Gulp..."
Swallowing hard, they pressed forward—and suddenly their view opened up.
They had emerged into a clearing, a wide, open space carved out of the forest.
Before them stood a tall cliff.
And spread across its face was a sea of blue flowers.
This was the Eint flower colony.
".........gulp..."
Even at the sight of such beauty, neither of their faces relaxed.
Angelique reached out with trembling hands and plucked a petal from one of the Eint flowers.
The next instant—
"GROOOAAAAAARGH!!!"
A thunderous roar shook the air.
"Angie, run!"
Fam screamed.
But Angelique's legs had already locked up from the sheer force of the roar.
"Angie! Hurry!"
Fam shouted again, raising her longbow, pulling an arrow from her quiver, and nocking it.
"!"
It appeared at the top of the cliff.
A massive lizard with crimson-purple skin, easily ten meters long.
The master of this forest.
The Ibury Lizard.
A wingless reptilian creature, similar to the giant lizards native to the Begaritt Continent.
The reason this particular lizard was called the "Ibury" Lizard was simple:
Wherever this creature made its territory, Ibury disease inevitably spread.
And it always staked its territory near the Eint flowers—the only cure.
According to one scholar's theory, the Ibury Lizard itself was the source of the disease.
By spreading Ibury disease, it could prey on those who came to gather the cure.
Whether this was true or not remained uncertain.
But for the past five years, the village had suffered under both Ibury disease and this Ibury Lizard.
Angelique's parents. Fam's father.
All of them had been killed by this creature.
"Aaargh!"
Fam screamed to steel herself and let the arrow fly.
The arrow shot straight toward the Ibury Lizard and embedded itself in a scale with a dull thunk.
In that instant, the Ibury Lizard moved.
With terrifying speed reminiscent of a gecko, it descended the cliff.
Fam's arrow hadn't even tickled it.
"Angie! Please, get up! Run!"
At Fam's voice, Angelique finally rose to her feet.
She had to run. She had to hurry!
That panic made her legs tangle beneath her.
But she managed to stumble into a run.
Fam saw this and broke into a sprint as well.
But it was already too late.
"GROAAAARGH!"
"GYAAARGH!"
Moving at a speed that belied its enormous size, the Ibury Lizard caught up to Fam and clamped its jagged rows of teeth around her leg.
Fam was lifted off the ground like a doll. Screaming a cry far too shrill for a maiden, she was swung through the air and slammed into the Eint flower colony.
Angelique saw it all.
Her eyes met Fam's in midair.
She saw the look of despair on Fam's face.
And in that moment, she hesitated.
She thought she had to save her friend.
And by the time she realized it, the Ibury Lizard was right in front of her.
"Oh."
I'm going to die.
That was the conclusion Angelique reached.
She had once fantasized about someone rescuing her in a pinch.
But fantasies were nothing but fantasies.
In a real pinch, there was no time for anyone to come help.
Death came in an instant.
That was reality.
So surely, this must all be a dream.
The Ibury Lizard was blown sideways.
"Huh?"
Angelique couldn't process what she was seeing.
The creature that had been about to kill her—
The creature that seemed utterly impossible to send flying—
Had suddenly twisted its massive body and been hurled in an impossible direction.
"Grrrrr..."
Blood dripped from the corner of its mouth, but the Ibury Lizard raised its head and looked in the opposite direction from which it had been thrown.
Angelique looked too.
There stood a man.
A gray-brown robe billowing in the wind, and beneath it, black armor.
A man holding a tube-like device in his left hand.
His light brown hair swept back as he walked toward the Ibury Lizard.
"GROAAARGH!"
The instant the Ibury Lizard saw the man, it lunged with speed that seemed impossible for a creature with a hole through its body.
Its massive fangs closed around the man. Its jaws clamped shut with a sickening crunch.
The man seemed to have been torn apart—
That was only Angelique's panicked perception.
The man was alive.
Incredibly, the man had caught the Ibury Lizard's head.
With just his right hand, he held its enormous snout and brought it to a dead stop.
And then, with a movement that could only be called leisurely, he raised his left hand toward the creature's head.
"Shotgun Trigger!"
In the next instant, something fired from the tube.
Angelique couldn't tell what it was.
She could only infer that something had been launched at extreme velocity.
Because in the time it took her to blink—
The Ibury Lizard's head had ceased to exist.
"......"
The Ibury Lizard's head detonated. Its long neck snapped back as if it had taken an uppercut, and it toppled backward.
It hit the ground with a surprisingly light thud for something so large.
A scene that didn't seem real.
But from the severed neck, bright red blood continued to pour in steady streams.
"Hah..."
The man let out a sigh as he turned his right hand toward the corpse.
In an instant, the Ibury Lizard's body was engulfed in flames.
Accompanied by the crackling of burning fat, the smell of searing meat filled the air.
Then, the man turned to face Angelique.
With the fire at his back, he spoke as though nothing had happened.
"Hello. You're Angelique Currentail... isn't that right?"
"Huh?!"
She let out a dopey sound at the sudden address.
"Or perhaps you're Fam Heindra?"
They were asking her name.
Realizing this, Angelique couldn't form words. She shook her head vigorously, then nodded just as emphatically.
"I've come to help you."
When the man in the gray-brown robe said those words, Angelique's heart was undeniably racing.
---
The man introduced himself as Rudeus Greyrat.
While Angelique struggled to contain her racing heart, he cast healing magic on Fam and treated her injuries in an instant.
Fam hadn't regained consciousness, but her mangled leg, her broken bones, and the purple bruising on her skin were all restored in the blink of an eye.
He explained that he had been asked by someone to come to their aid, but refused to reveal the name of his employer.
Angelique couldn't imagine who would have sent someone to save them.
"In any case, I'm glad I made it in time. It was cutting it close."
"Y-yes...!"
Rudeus walked through the forest with Fam slung over his shoulder.
Angelique, meanwhile, carried the basket brimming with Eint flowers on her back.
As she walked, she fretted over her appearance.
(There's no denying my hair is a mess, my clothes are caked in mud, and my rear is filthy too... My face is probably dirty as well... Oh, what do I do? And more importantly, I can't keep acting like this!)
Every time Rudeus glanced back, Angelique would blush and look away, then follow behind.
Rudeus didn't seem to notice her peculiar behavior.
Or perhaps he decided that looking at her face was inappropriate, because before long, he stopped turning around and simply walked in silence.
He glanced back occasionally—truly only occasionally.
Angelique wanted to see more of Rudeus's face.
(Wh-what am I going to do? We'll reach the village soon.
And when we do, he'll definitely become the hero.
He defeated the lizard and saved the village.
What am I going to do? Once that happens, I won't be able to even talk to him...)
Just then, Angelique's gaze fell upon Fam, being carried on his back.
Fam's ample chest was pressed obscenely flat against Rudeus's back.
Angelique saw it and felt a small pang of jealousy.
"U-um, Rudeus!"
"Yes, what is it?"
When Angelique called out impulsively, Rudeus turned around with his expression unchanged.
"F-Fam! Is—i-isn't she heavy?"
"It's no trouble."
"But you've been walking nonstop this whole time! Aren't you exhausted?"
"No, I haven't trained in a way that would make me tired from something like this."
As he said this, Rudeus pushed up his sleeve and flexed his arm.
The black armor concealed his muscles, but Angelique still watched and thought, "He really does work out!" with inexplicable admiration.
Then Rudeus suddenly clapped his hands together.
"Ah, right. My apologies, I didn't realize."
"Huh?"
(Did he figure something out? Figure out what?)
Angelique's eyes widened in confusion.
Rudeus flashed a bright smile and said:
"You must be exhausted, Angelique. Shall we take a rest?"
Incidentally, the "bright smile" was purely Angelique's imagination.
"...Ah, y-yes! I am tired—I'm sorry, could we please stop and rest? And... well, please, you have to call me Angie!"
"Understood, Angie. Then, over here..."
Rudeus carefully set Fam down against a tree and sat on a fallen log.
The fallen log was shaped like a V, and Angelique quickly understood that Rudeus had arranged it so they could sit facing each other.
But Angelique thought:
This was her only chance.
(Ha!)
Without hesitation, she sat down right next to Rudeus.
"...!"
Angelique noticed Rudeus's body stiffen.
(Does he... not like it?)
She stole a glance at him.
Rudeus looked uncomfortable, but he wasn't showing any obvious disgust.
He was simply flustered.
Reading this, Angelique blurted out an excuse:
"I-I'm sorry! I was scared. I'm still scared, actually—is it okay if I sit next to you?"
"Huh? Ah, sure... be my guest."
Everything was momentum.
Angelique intended to go all the way.
To the very end of the holy war.
"A-ah, really, thank you so much."
"Don't mention it. It's my job."
Rudeus was brusque, but Angelique noticed his eyes darting downward.
She followed his gaze.
At some point, her collar had torn and her chest was exposed.
"!"
Angelique instinctively moved to cover herself—then stopped her own hand.
She had said it before, and she meant it.
To the far end of the horizon.
"...!"
Angelique shifted closer to Rudeus.
Rudeus shifted sideways. Angelique moved in. Rudeus shifted again.
In the end, Rudeus was backed against the edge of the log, and Angelique was pressed right against his arm.
"Um, Rudeus."
"Wh-what is it?"
Feeling Rudeus's eyes flickering toward her chest, Angelique swallowed hard.
She wasn't as large as Fam.
But she was above average for the village, and the old perverts always made comments like, "Did you brew that medicine in the valley of Angie's chest?"
Back home, they had been nothing but the butt of jokes.
But, her feminine side screamed—right now those assets were a weapon.
"Even if it's just your job, I'm truly grateful that you saved our lives."
"Y-you're welcome."
"If, after this, you aren't leaving right away when we reach the village, please come to my home so I can properly thank—"
"No, I'll be leaving immediately. I have other work to do."
Her advance was shut down, but Angelique didn't give up.
Because she intended to go all the way.
To the far end of a distant journey, to the eternal city.
"Then, um, well, how about I show my thanks right now? I don't have anything on me, so, um, my body..."
Feeling her face turn scarlet, Angelique reached for the torn fabric at her chest.
Sensing Rudeus's gaze lock onto it, she pulled it open wider...
Rudeus shot to his feet.
"U-um... Rudeus?"
"Excuse me—I think I'm about to have an episode of my chronic condition. I should take my medicine."
Rudeus said this, but his eyes had not left Angelique's chest.
Still, at the mention of medicine, Angelique came back to herself a little.
She was an apothecary, after all.
Hearing that the man before her had a chronic condition triggered an instinctive desire to help.
"A-ah! If it's medicine, I'm an apothecary, so once we're back at my home I could prepare some—"
"No, I carry my own."
Rudeus said this and reached into his robe.
What he pulled out was a small cloth bundle wrapped in white.
Seeing it, Angelique's interest shifted from romance to pharmacology.
Occupational hazard, perhaps.
Rudeus was a powerful warrior.
He wore armor and possessed the strength to catch an Ibury Lizard's attack head-on.
And yet he could cast both attack magic and healing magic.
The healing magic he had used on Fam was advanced.
Healing magic and detoxification magic were often learned as a pair.
Therefore, he likely had expertise in detoxification magic as well.
A man who seemed to have stepped out of legend, with a chronic condition and the medicine to treat it.
If it was something she didn't recognize, she wanted to know about it.
"...Is it a pill?"
"Yes, something like that."
Rudeus said this while taking hold of both ends of the cloth and unfurling it.
Angelique thought the medicine inside might fall out and reached out quickly.
But neither pills nor powders tumbled free.
There was nothing inside the cloth.
Then where was the medicine?
As Angelique looked up in confusion, something strange came into view.
Panties.
Rudeus was, at some point, holding a pair of panties.
The size a woman who hadn't yet come of age might wear.
When had he...?
What?
Why?
A moment ago, that cloth had contained medicine...
No—this was the same cloth from before.
That cloth had been the panties, folded up.
What?
Why?
"...? ...???"
"Hah..."
Leaving Angelique in a state of total confusion, Rudeus took a deep breath...
Pressed the panties to his face,
"Sniiiiiiiiff—haaah!"
And inhaled deeply.
"Sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff."
He continued breathing in through his nose, over and over.
Smelling them, rubbing them against his face, occasionally giving them a wet lick.
Savoring the panties to his heart's content.
"......"
Angelique was horrified.
A chill raced down her spine, and she was unable to move or make a sound.
Paralyzed, she could only watch as Rudeus continued his display.
"......hah."
Rudeus did this for a full five minutes, perhaps.
"Thank you, God."
He murmured those words, struck a prayerful pose, then neatly refolded the panties and tucked them away.
"......"
Angelique couldn't find words. She merely opened and closed her mouth.
She couldn't process what had happened.
Things had been going so well, and then suddenly panties appeared and a pervert started sniffing them.
Nothing made sense.
"As I thought, the divine vessel must be used."
There was one thing that was certain.
Rudeus's actions had utterly shattered the spell that had been holding Angelique captive.
Yes—her feelings of love.
"So then, Angie. What was it you wanted to say?"
"...Never mind. It's nothing."
The dream was over.
---
And so, Angelique returned to the village without much fanfare.
Upon arriving, Rudeus handed Fam over to Angelique and said:
"I don't intend to stop by the village, so I'll take my leave here."
"Yes... yes..."
At his words, Angelique nodded numbly.
The image of what had happened moments ago was still seared into her eyes.
"Well then, take care."
Rudeus turned on his heel and began walking away from the village... then, as if suddenly remembering something, he stopped.
He turned back.
"Ah, that's right. Angie, didn't you say you wanted to give me your thanks?"
At those words, a chill raced down Angelique's spine.
Thanks.
Right.
Come to think of it, this man had saved her life.
If he asked, she couldn't refuse.
No matter how much physical revulsion she felt toward the man standing before her.
She wasn't that ungrateful.
"U-um... th-that... I'm not really comfortable with, um, undergarments or anything..."
"No, that's not what I want. There is something I'd like you to do."
"S-something you want me to—!"
Oh no. He was definitely going to ask for something perverted.
Bracing herself, Angelique's face went pale.
"......"
Rudeus scratched the back of his head at Angelique's reaction, muttering, "Well, whatever," then pulled something from his backpack.
What emerged was a picture book and a doll of some kind.
"Angelique. If you have a child someday, please read this picture book to them.
Tell them that the Sperd tribe are not demons."
"Huh!? The S-per what!?"
"The Sperd tribe."
"The Sperd tribe..."
At the sudden, unexplained words, Angelique's eyes went blank.
"There's a table for reading the characters on the last page.
You can teach them to read while you're at it.
I'm counting on you."
With those parting words, Rudeus left Angelique standing there, completely dumbfounded.
All that remained in her hands were the picture book and a doll of a demon with green hair.
A terrifying-looking Sperd tribe doll.
It was made with surprising craftsmanship, painted in vivid colors.
It looked as though it might start moving at any moment.
A statue of a fearsome demon.
She wanted to throw it away immediately.
But the fact that this man had saved her life kept her from doing so.
"...Um?"
The Sperd tribe.
She had never met one, but she had heard of them.
A race called demons.
When she was little, her parents had threatened to let the Sperd tribe eat her if she misbehaved.
And now this man was asking her to spread the word that they weren't evil?
(Why would he ask me to do something like that...)
Not understanding his intentions, Angelique didn't know what to do, so she pinched the doll's head.
"Ah..."
The doll's hair came off.
In Angelique's hand, a bald warrior with a fierce expression stood brandishing a spear.
"Heh."
Seeing this, Angelique laughed.
She still didn't really understand.
But it had been entrusted to her by the man who saved her life.
She would do as he asked.
That was what Angelique decided.
Several years later.
Angelique was proposed to by Docchiru, who had been fully cured by the medicine, and became his second wife—the village chief's consort.
Docchiru was hardworking but an ordinary man, with no particular flair for anything.
But he wasn't a pervert.
Angelique was grateful for that, and she raised her children by reading them the picture book.
Eventually, the story from the picture book became a staple among the village children, and in the surrounding region, the notion that the bald Sperd tribe was a righteous race gained widespread acceptance...
But that is another story.
『Next Chapter Preview』
Rudeus narrowly escaped the temptation of infidelity.
Physically and mentally exhausted, he arrived at the one place he could call home.
Seeking the healing embrace of his daughter, Rudeus was instead ambushed by Eris's selfish whims!
Next time — Mushoku Tensei Chapter 191: "The Borrowed Cat"
—The tyrant never returns what she borrows.