Chapter 3: The Antidote
The moment I defeated the mercenaries, the elf I love most in the world arrived.
She immediately threw herself into my arms and hugged me.
She was a slender woman, but her embrace was filled with the determination to never let me go again.
I hugged her back just as tightly, but we had to hold back on the love scene.
“If my circulation gets too good, the poison might spread and kill me.”
“…You idiot.”
My wife’s cheeks turned red, but she seemed to understand the urgency of the situation. She took a small vial from her pocket and handed it to me.
It went without saying that this was the antidote Sage Murdock had spent a hundred years creating.
Trusting my wife Fina and Sage Murdock completely, I drank the liquid in the vial without a second thought.
To put it mildly, it was disgustingly foul, but there’s a saying that good medicine is bitter to the taste. Besides, no matter how bad it tasted, not drinking it was not an option.
I wanted to cherish this life I had held onto, and the last thing I wanted was to make my wife sad.
After I downed the potent, vomit-inducing medicine, a change came over my body.
The crushing pain in my lungs that had been there moments before began to ease.
Breathing became easier, and my thoughts grew clearer. My blurry vision returned to normal.
“Renas, your complexion is getting better.”
“Is it? Have I gotten more handsome?”
“You were from the start.”
As we exchanged these words, I made a full recovery. I could feel that “most” of the toxins had been purged from my body.
“…Hmph, as expected of Sage Murdock.”
I offered my thanks to the medicine’s creator and gave a little hop on the spot. I began to do some warm-up exercises.
“One, two, three, four…”
My condition improved so much that I even started doing Fortuna Calisthenics Number 2.
“Alright, I’ve made a full recovery.”
“Congratulations.”
“Yeah. Thanks, Fina.”
“Not at all.”
“You should be prouder of your accomplishment. You spent this past hundred years worrying about me and running all over the place for me, didn’t you?”
“…”
“I figured out most of it from the conversation of those mercenaries lying over there. It seems you had a hard time while I was frozen.”
“…Yes. But, Murdock and I traveled the world and developed the antidote to save you.”
“I’m grateful. So, where’s Murdock?”
“He passed away about twenty years ago.”
“…I see. That’s a shame. I wanted to meet him and thank him.”
“He said you would say that. So he left a message.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“He said, ‘Don’t worry about me, just go make love to your cute wife. Make lots of babies. And name the smartest one Murdock’—that’s what he said.”
She blushed, but she recited Murdock’s message word for word, without a single change. She must have felt it was her duty.
I saw a reflection of the old Sage in my beautiful wife.
I spoke, as if to my old friend.
“I will definitely fulfill that promise.”
“I would like that, too.”
“I see, we’re on the same page. Well then, shall we leave on our honeymoon right away?”
“Honeymoon?”
“That’s right. We got married before we entered Meizars’s castle, remember?”
“Yes. We exchanged rings, saying we might never come back.”
“Which means you’re my wife.”
“Yes.”
“For you, it might have been a hundred years ago, but for me, it was just the other day. In other words, in my mind, you’re my new bride.”
“Yes.”
“And one is supposed to travel with one’s new bride. It’s called a honeymoon.”
“Oh, my.”
Fina covered her mouth lightly in surprise.
“Let’s go on a journey. Let’s travel around and see the world we once saved.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
“Yeah. It’s not easy for humans and elves to have children, but by the time our journey ends, we’ll probably have one.”
“Yes.”
“So, a honeymoon it is. Let’s visit the sacred places that hold our memories. A ‘holy site pilgrimage’ journey.”
“That sounds like it will be a lovely trip.”
Fina’s expression softened into a gentle smile.
Her smile was as dazzling as a sunflower.
