Antagonist Protection Service-Chapter 139: Helpful Stranger

"Drink this and you should quickly feel better."

"Is that a health potion?! I-I-I couldn't possibly...!"

'Hm?'

For some reason, she appeared more shocked at the fact I offered her the potion than anything else. Casting cursory glances at the others' faces, none of them appeared as surprised, but it still made me feel troubled.

'Did I do something wrong...?'

"Feanya, please take the potion."

Seeing the Protagonist's face from over my shoulder, who also called her, I realised he was also probably quite curious, even if he didn't show it.

'I guess that's why I was given the identity of a travelling noble... If potions are that rare or expensive, it makes sense... But if that's really why, then how did it know I was going to use the potion in the first place...?'

I hadn't any time to wonder about such things before someone snatched the bottle out of my hand.

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"Hmm... It is indeed a high-quality health potion, at least for a human. Impressive..."

The dragon girl, Ryoko, peered closely at the liquid in the bottle for a moment, muttering to herself before turning swiftly to Feanya. Holding the bottle out to her as I had done, she commanded firmly.

"Drink. It is untampered with, so fear not."

"I-I wasn't worried about that anyway..."

Seemingly still unsure, she gingerly moved her head forward to drink the potion, when suddenly―

"I can help!"

"Ah! Cassie, no-MMPH!"

―The dog girl swiped the bottle and forced it into the other's mouth, pushing her down and... drowning her in the health potion?

"Mmmph...!"

"Hehehe! Keep going, keep going! Just a bit more!"

"..."

'Isn't that not the way you're supposed to drink it...? Will it still work...?'

Despite my concern, even when I looked around at the others they didn't seem distressed at all and, conversely, watched the scene with smiles... Or well, the Protagonist did. Ryoko and the quiet cat girl both only looked on with frowns, but that was the same expression I had seen on their faces since the very beginning.

Before long, after the golden retriever Cassie finally forced Feanya to drink the entire contents of the bottle, which fortunately was pretty small, it looked like the effects kicked in almost immediately and she was already able to move her wing around like normal.

"Woaah...! Hey, thanks!"

"Wowww! Master, lookie lookie! Fefe is flying again!"

Taking off into the air, she shouted gratitude down to me gleefully. Although it would ordinarily be good to see someone so joyful after I've helped them, I was well aware that such was a luxury in Contracts, and particularly for this one, I could tell from the beginning that putting my feelings aside would be necessary.

Because I had a feeling that this time might end up with collateral damage.

"I've seen other health potions in use before, but never one that was so effective so fast... Um, would you like to come to the city with us? Then, if there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask. Oh right, my name's Itou Touya! Feel free to call me Touya."

Seeing Feanya healed and happy, the Protagonist approached me with a bright smile, saying effectively that the help I had given them was something they couldn't repay at the moment.

Needless to say, that was even better for me. After all, rather than some girl's thanks, what I required right now was something else entirely.

To be blunt, the goal was the Protagonist's life. Naturally. And so, to that end, him owing me such a big favour was a tremendous start.

For that, I should also probably take my disguise a bit more seriously.

"And you can call me Enki. Then, would you escort me?"

"Of course! We were just returning to the city from the mountains, but we'll probably be going back in a few days, so if you need anything before then let me know!"

"The mountains...?"

Turning my head, I looked to the distance. That's right, on the opposite side of the walled city, there was certainly a colossal mountain range that seemed to cordon off a section of the world... It being right adjacent to this incredibly vast and empty grasslands was definitely a strange sight, but it gave inspiration to a certain idea in my mind.

Thinking for just a moment, I turned back to the Protagonist and opened my mouth.

"...In that case, would you mind if I tag along with you for a while? Whenever you plan to travel back to the mountains, I'll come with you, is that alright?"

"Sure thing! When we get back to the city, I'll show you where we're staying!"

"That would help a lot, thanks. So, what happened for you to be crashing through the sky earlier?"

"Oh, that? Well, you see, we were quite high up the mountain, Feanya had this desire to glide all the way down, thinking she could carry all of us on her back... I-it sounds silly now that I think back, but Ryoko had used magic to make us all lighter, so it didn't seem that absurd at the time..."

'Ah. He really is reckless. Or just stupid...'

Like that, I found it fairly easy to 'befriend' the Protagonist and join his party.

The start of the Contract was going surprisingly well, but as we travelled and quietly I recalled all the sudden setbacks that occurred in the previous Decalogue Trial, I couldn't help but feel that this time would be painful too.

'Particularly that dragon...'

Because of that, it was impossible to suppress that sense of foreboding.