Teresa was a very energetic child who loved exploring and making friends. Her favorite activities was unlike what normal village girls would do.

That was because she preferred playing with boys instead of girls. This made others call her "weird" since she would much rather do dangerous things like climbing trees, fishing in the lake deep in the forest, and rock-climbing instead of tasks like taking care of cattle and chores like washing clothes.

Since she wouldn't stop anyway, her mother decided to leave Teresa to enjoy her youth. She continued playing with boys and made a lot of friends over the years but things changed when she began entering her developing phase called "puberty".

Her breasts swelled up every year since ten years old. Her hips became wider and her legs longer. She also became aware of the opposite sex once she became of age.

It wasn't long before she experienced one of the joys of being a woman.

She lost her virginity to a peddler's son who frequently visited the village. The two only ever saw each other once a week, thus Teresa would make the best of the time she had with him.

Perhaps it was because she was too needy and clingy but the young man never returned to the village after their last time together.

Teresa was heartbroken. She screwed up her first chance at love just because she wanted all her needs fulfilled.

Was that too much to ask for?

After her first short but sweet relationship, she began seeing other men once she began working in the port town that was near the village.

The men she had sexual relations with also didn't seem to be interested in having a long relationship. She didn't mind as long as she got what she wanted.

She grew tired of sleeping around so she began looking for people who could fill that hole she had. She went on dates nearly every week just to find out if any one of those man were the one. It wasn't an easy task since many just wanted her for her body.

But miraculously, she managed to find Mr. Perfect in the end. That's what she thought for the past few months at least.

It was the day of the attack. The man ran away after shoving Teresa towards the crowd of people who were being attacked by those monsters. Her eyes carried disbelief as the man who had claimed he loved her and would marry her would run away, abandoning her in the process.

Teresa didn't want to remember anything else after that since it was memories filled with agony and sorrow. Her body trembled whenever she remembered those eyes that were not of a human but of a demon.

Everything faded to black somewhere down the road and she lost feeling in her legs as if a weight was continuously pressing down on them. It was hard to even move her aching body.

But her body managed to recover somewhat after being saved.

'I can feel a presence. Who's there?'

She wasn't sure but it seemed her other senses heightened in response to having lost her vision. Perhaps it was a coping mechanism for those in danger.

"Miss Teresa?" A sweet, soft voice called out to her as she felt someone's hand touch her shoulder.

Since that hand was warm and soft, she didn't feel as shaken as before. She wasn't alarmed since it was a voice she also knew.

"…Lucri?"

"Yep. It's me. I've come to inform you that the reinforcements have arrived."

"R-Really…?"

A voice deep down asked her:

What's there to be excited about now?

They did nothing to prevent this village from being attacked so why be happy about them coming now?

"What's wrong? I thought you—of all people—would be happy?" Lucri asked with concern.

Teresa shook her head and managed to smile.

If she was a little honest, she would say that the feeling was underwhelming. Why feel happy when the danger already passed by?

There was no need to fear for anything now because….

A realization struck.

She forgot about the one who saved them.

The self-proclaimed strongest swordsmen on the continent.

Nova.

"Where is… sir Nova?" Teresa asked with a timid voice. She wanted to go out by herself and find him, however, she couldn't.

She also wanted to see the man who saved her. His muscles were so hard that she wanted to touch them forever. His voice was deep and soothing which made her heart flutter.

If a man could induce such carnal desire inside her even though she couldn't see him, then what not if she could gaze upon him with her own eyes? Her stomach was churning imagining that.

She could feel her underwear getting wet.

"Sir Nova is… busy at the village chief's house. No one is allowed to go inside at this moment since he is in a meeting with the guild master. The guild master couldn't bring the city's adventurers since he was in a hurry after getting a call from the guild in the city. So he brought over some adventurers from the town's branch."

'Ah, now that I remember it there was a small branch in that town.'

She had explored every inch of the town so she knew quite a lot about it. The guild—though it was without a guild master after the previous one died—was one of the most important services in the town, besides inns and stores.

Perhaps the guild master from the city went there to elect a leader on his own, which was why he came from there. She remembered hearing about him visiting the town, after all.

"If sir Nova is there then why aren't you with him? The two of you should give a full report together, right?"

Lucri chuckled, "What would my being there matter? I'm sure I would only be hesitant to speak in front of those two. Heck, my throat might clog repeatedly. I'm not sure but sir Nova seems as wild as our city's guild master. Their eyes are exactly the same."

"I see… I apologize for being so snoopy. I only want to speak with him to offer my gratitude."

"Is that so," Teresa could hear Lucri rummage through some things in his bag, "We can start your full treatment right away since we managed to receive donations from the temple in the form of potions."

"Ah! That's wonderful! Will I be able to walk and see again?" She was finding it hard to control her excitement. The first thing she would do was go and find her sister to give her a big hug.

"Well…" Lucri hummed in thought, "The problem aren't your eyes since it can be replaced rather easily with the right potions. The problem are your legs. They are all mangled up and twisted around that even your bones are crushed. Your femurs seem fine and locked in their original place but everything else needs careful medical care which is out of my expertise."

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"Ah…"

A depressed moan leaked out of Teresa's mouth. But she was happy enough with being able to see again.

"Since we don't have artificial eyes, it will take a little longer for you to get used to your vision once your eyes regenerate so I suggest keeping one eye closed throughout the day."

"But why?"

"You don't want to look in two separate directions, do you? But in all seriousness though, you'll need to take it slow. You are the only one to have survived those demons' torture. The investigation team would like to hear your end of the story when you're ready."

"….Got it."

"Okay, now close your eyes because they might get infected."

"Ah…"

She didn't notice that she had been keeping her eyes open all this time. It was a habit after all since she had eyeballs that could see before everything happened.

Lucri smeared a kind of cold gel over her cheeks and on her forehead. It smelled similar to medicinal herbs.

"This is my own creation which might increase the effectiveness of the potions I'm about to give you. I'm not sure by how much though but the people who I've sold this to have given positive reviews."

After finishing up with smearing Teresa's entire face, Lucri grabbed something from the bedside table which opened up with a pop.

"Open your mouth and slowly swallow this. The taste won't be the greatest but bear with it for now."

"…Okay."

Teresa opened her mouth and then the cold liquid began pouring down her throat, instantly rejuvenating her body. The scars she had before started to disappear and her once pale skin retained its porcelain color.

Her hair which had been ripped out in some areas on her scalp started to restore itself.

'My hip hurts. What's going on?' Teresa put her hand on her hip and felt something move under her skin. 'Did they put something in me?'

She started to panic.

"Do not worry. I've checked for any abnormalities and have found none. That is just your kidney restoring itself through the power of magic." Lucri's gentle voice flowed into her ear, "A potion usually works by healing the bottom-half of the body first before moving to the top-half. And it seems that it had no effect on your legs. Should I order a stronger potion from the Temple? The Adventurer Guild can handle the cost…"

Teresa continued listening to Lucri's mutters as she felt the magic power of the potion rise up inside her body. The warm energy reached her chest which made her heartbeat faster. It rose to her upper chest before ultimately nearing the head.

"!!!!" An incoherent scream came out of Teresa's mouth as she felt her head being ripped apart from the inside.

No, it felt that way even though it wasn't like that at all.

"C-Calm down. The real magic is happening now," Lucri put his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her, "Please bear with it. If you feel yourself starting to vomit then prevent it. If the potion's contents are spilled then we need to wait a day to use one again."

"O-Okay…"

Teresa suddenly felt someone grasp her hand. It was odd because both of Lucri's hands were on her shoulders.

"It will be okay, big sis. I'm here too."

"N-Norn?" Through gritted teeth, Teresa muttered. She wasn't a warrior with a sense of her surroundings, so she wasn't able to sense Norn's presence.

Norn had also been silent this whole time so it was impossible to hear her.

"Yes. It's me, big sis. Please relax." By the tone of Norn's voice, Teresa could hear her force down her emotions.

She heard occasional sniffles too.

Since her sister was staying strong it was only right for her to stay strong as well.

Teresa gripped the bedsheets and tightened her core muscles. The pain was still severe but she didn't make any sound besides a strained moan.

After what seemed like an entire hour to her, she could feel the pain lessening. Something moved in her head. No, there were two things that began moving.

"Good. It seems your eyes are able to regenerate by themselves. Your rapid eye movements are reacting normally to the pain you're experiencing."

Teresa began blinking and noticed that her vision was blurry. Lucri clapped his hands.

"It worked!"

Teresa's vision was slowly being restored. She closed her left eye since she was seeing in two completely different directions.

She looked towards her sister and was shocked by what she saw.

Norn's entire face was distorted and filled with snot and tears.

Trying her best to smile, Norn spoke:

"Y-You're alright. Thank goodness…"

Teresa silently opened up her arms. Losing what little resistance she put up, Norn finally burst into tears and ran into her big sister's embrace.

◇◇

Shortly after Teresa's treatment, Norn left the room accompanied by her childhood friend, Lilia. The two went to the room next door.

"Is Norn going to be okay?" Teresa asked when the door opened and Lucri walked in.

"Yes. She was just tired because she hardly slept these past three days. I think it's best if we leave her for now."

Teresa nodded slowly.

A knock came from the door as Lucri was packing up the medical supplies. He approached the door and exclaimed in surprise:

"Ah, sir Nova."

Teresa's body instantly stiffened when she was in the process of wiping her sweat with a damp cloth.

"I'm not bothering you, am I?"

"Nope~! Miss Teresa's eyes and upper body scars managed to heal. But the same couldn't be said for her legs…"

"That's a shame… May I come in?"

"Ah, yes, of course." Lucri stepped out of the doorway.

Teresa's eyes widened into saucers when she saw the man who came inside.

He was perhaps taller than her by two heads. His medium-short hair was a whitish silver and his glowing red eyes were narrowed into slits. His facial features were what surprised Teresa the most.

He was so handsome that she was speechless. He was probably not even twenty years old and he had a sharp jawline with a mature face.

"I'm glad to see that you're finally awake… Miss Teresa, right?"

With her mouth still open wide, Teresa nodded.

'He's…He's the one who saved our village… The strongest swordsman on this continent….'

Teresa held her hand close to her chest and could feel it beating so hard that it wanted to leap out of her chest.

"I've come to say farewell." Nova said with a wry smile.

"W-What…?"

"I was told by your sister that I should personally see how you're doing so I figured I should come and say goodbye as well."

"Don't…"

Go.

She wanted to say that word but it wouldn't come out of her mouth.

Was it because it was selfish of her to want to spend time with him?

"Don't?" Nova tilted his head in confusion.

Teresa hurriedly shook her head.

"…Nothing. I-I apologize for not being dressed properly to send our hero off…" Teresa twirled a few strands of her hair with her finger.

"Hero, huh…It seems everyone is calling me that…" Nova didn't seem to like those words judging by how his eyebrows were arched.

"But you saved so many lives and threw yourself into danger. Why wouldn't you be a hero?" Teresa asked in confusion.

Surely everyone would agree with her words. If not for him and his companion then there would be no village left. Even Teresa would've probably died in the forest from starvation and blood loss or killed if she was found by those demons.

They escaped a terrible fate when he saved them.

"I'm going to be honest. Were it not for the demons appearing then I wouldn't have bothered to save this village if it was goblins. I could've gone to the empire to do higher rank quests which offer better pay. A hero is not someone who is just strong. They are people who aren't afraid to lay down their lives, even for strangers. That was not my intention ever since I decided to head straight towards the den of demons. If things went south then I would've escaped along with Lucri. I value our lives more than others."

Although his words were cold, Teresa knew that his choice would've been for the best. If there was no benefit, why would anyone save others?

The era of heroes had long since passed. In its place was a continent dominated by the strong where money and power was everything. Adventurers fitted into that category so Teresa could understand Nova's words.

"Whatever the reason is I am grateful to have been saved by sir Nova during our time of need. Were it not for you then I wouldn't have been back here with my sister,"

Nova shrugged helplessly since she didn't seem to accept his words.

'We have nothing to offer them for their hard work either… Should I…'

Teresa looked down at her body. This body which had matured all these years to become something women of this village envied.

'—offer my body to him?' Her face instantly turned red.

It wasn't uncommon for a female's savior to ask for their bodies in return for saving them. There had been similar cases in their village before when travelling vagabonds had saved them many times.

The village wouldn't have enough to pay them for their help so the most beautiful women in the village would offer themselves. Teresa had done the same thing.

They couldn't help it after all. Those men could've decided to forcibly take and destroy everything but didn't. They still had morals but that didn't mean that they could let the men go empty-handed.

'I…I really want to… I-I want him to push me down and—Ahh! What am I thinking!?'

Teresa slapped her cheeks to stop her thoughts from wandering.

It was far too embarrassing since she was now considered half a woman as they called cripples in this land.

Her actions surprised Nova and Lucri.

"Is something the matter?" Lucri asked in concern, "I could stay a little longer to oversee your complete recovery. Right, sir Nova?"

"I don't mind. I'll be hanging around the town for a while so I can wait for you there." Nova shrugged.

"N-No. T-That would be me troubling you further…"

"Ah, I see. Then please sign here," Lucri gave her a pen and paper.

"What's this?"

"That is a petition to the city lord. All the villagers should sign it for the city lord to send his own knights to patrol this region," Nova said, "Adventurers alone wouldn't be able to deal with imps like those I fought. If I made a mistake that it would've almost cost me my life."

"The city lord won't be back for a while so we'll leave the petition in the guild master's hands for the time being."

Lucri took the paper back when Teresa finished signing it. He took out a folder and put the paper inside.

"We'll take our leave now since everything we needed to do is finished," Nova turned towards the door, "Get well soon."

"Ah, yes…"

After Lucri gave Teresa some words of encouragement, he left as well.

Left alone in the silent room, Teresa muttered under her breath.

"In the end I couldn't say anything to him…" She leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes, "Will I ever see you again, sir Nova…?"