A fraud!
He had to be a little fraud.
Brimming with righteous indignation, Pierre was about to step forward and expose the brat before him for the fraud he really was.
But in the next instant...
Whoosh! A vast surge of mana rapidly flooded the room.
A great mass of gentle, pure mana flowed from Luo Ge's palm, miraculously seeping into her body.
Funika's ashen face began to flush at a rate visible to the naked eye, and her breathing gradually grew steady and strong.
"What?"
Pierre's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Mmm..."
Before long, the woman murmured softly and miraculously opened her eyes.
She... had not only recovered quickly, but her rosy complexion even made her look younger.
Everyone present froze at the sight.
"Huh?"
"V-voiceless healing magic! This is the legendary voiceless casting! That's a talent only a tiny handful of magicians can master!" Coming to his senses at the sight, Pierre could no longer hold back his cry.
With a thud, he collapsed limply to the floor.
"This is real... is this really happening?"
The tension that had kept Karen wound tight finally eased, and he covered his face and wept with joy.
At first, he had only thought it was worth a try, but he had never imagined that Luo Ge could actually use magic.
And... his magic was outrageously advanced. Karen was no magician, but even he knew that what Luo Ge had just used was Voiceless Magic.
The boy was nothing short of a genius.
Sara fell silent.
Utterly silent.
Her clenched fists finally began to loosen.
At first, when she saw that the boy did not even recite a spell, he had seemed ignorant of the common knowledge that even outsiders knew: magicians had to chant.
An evil young noble...
Sara had already felt deceived. Surely this was another childish game by those noble children, who had come to toy with her family for their own amusement.
But she had never imagined...
Her mother, Funika, had truly been cured.
She watched her mother, who had nearly died of illness, wake up, and at last she, her father, and her mother could all embrace as a family.
At that moment, Sara felt a warmth unlike anything she had ever known.
She...
She had actually been saved by one of the nobles she hated.
Sara stole an idle glance at Luo Ge beside her and saw him suddenly smile at her.
That smile again.
It was exactly like the smiles she had seen on nobles before.
She hated the way nobles smiled...
Once, when Sara was younger, she had seen a local noble inspecting his domain in the streets, and she had seen a similar smile on his face.
The local lord, a high-ranking noble named Pylemon, had a smile that was false... and greedy, like a rat.
Even though many monsters emerged from the forest to attack the village, that lord disregarded the lives of the commoners in his domain... and delayed sending troops to help.
Ever since then, Sara had hated nobles, hated those selfish people.
Yet today, seeing that same sort of smile again, she could not bring herself to hate it at all.
Even though... I said so many awful things... doesn't he hate me at all?
Sara's feelings were complicated.
Standing nearby, Luo Ge had watched the woman, now healthy enough to get out of bed, embrace her husband and daughter.
Luo Ge's first thoughts were of Paul and Zenith... He quietly left the room.
Luo Ge hated trouble, but at that moment, he did not seem to dislike the feeling of helping others.
He could not say he liked Sara's family all that much, but at any rate, not disliking them so much was enough.
When he met people he found agreeable, Luo Ge did not mind helping them within his means-helping the family that had taken him in.
It also repaid Karen for leading him out of the Great Forest.
When Karen's family came to their senses and wanted to thank Luo Ge, the three of them finally realized that the boy had left without their noticing.
"He left."
"Why did that child leave without saying goodbye? Ah... we never even got a chance to properly thank him for his help."
"Luo Ge really is a wonderful person, and a very unusual one." A gratified smile appeared on Karen's lips.
He would never forget that boy named Rog Greyrat.
Thinking back on how they had met...
It had only been a single day, yet he had seen so many incredible things about this boy.
Someone who had appeared in the Great Forest... and actually survived unharmed.
At first, he had been utterly baffled, but now he understood. This boy possessed some truly remarkable abilities.
He was amazing...
Far, far more outstanding than anyone Karen had ever met in his life.
The corners of Karen's mouth lifted. Afterward, he looked at Sara beside him and said earnestly, "Sara, you must repay his kindness someday."
"I know that even if you don't tell me, Dad."
Sara turned her head away with a show of defiance, her little hands seeming to have nowhere to rest.
But then Karen gently placed his rough hand on Sara's head and spoke patiently.
"Sara!"
"You need to be a little more polite to others from now on..."
"And now you understand, don't you? Not all nobles are the same. Even though you hate nobles, you shouldn't rush to judge someone before you truly understand them..."
"You shouldn't hastily pass judgment on someone based on your preconceptions... do you understand?"
Sara lowered her head and answered softly, "I... I understand."
She regretted it.
She also recalled her own awful attitude. That night... she had gone too far, much too far.
A rush of complicated feelings welled up in Sara's heart.
There was guilt, and gratitude too...
Rog Greyrat.
Sara now wanted very much to thank that boy in person, to thank the young noble face-to-face for saving her mother... to thank him for saving her from despair, for saving her whole family.
But when Sara tried to run after him to thank him, Luo Ge was already nowhere to be seen around the village.
Only after asking around did she learn that Luo Ge had already left the village.
After stepping in to save someone, he had sought nothing in return... and simply left without a word.
On the way home, Sara kept her head lowered, her heart especially heavy.
Her thoughts were a complete mess.
Swish, swish.
Suddenly, a breeze blew over from nearby, lifting a few strands of golden hair from Sara's forehead.
Sara raised her head and looked at the bright sun and the distance.
It was then that Sara quietly made up her mind. She had decided that someday, she too would leave the village and become an adventurer out in the world.
She would make a special trip to the Sword Sanctum in the north to find him...
And then she would be sure to say it to that boy named Rog Greyrat, in person, face-to-face... thank you.