<Episode 23>
As soon as the unfamiliar man spoke, my head started throbbing.
“Ugh…”
“Eve…”
“Eveline!”
A familiar voice was desperately calling my name.
The ringing in my ears was too severe. I looked at the man with bright red hair cascading down to his waist, who was smiling in front of me, clutching my head. His golden eyes seemed to gaze at me with satisfaction.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Suddenly, his figure began to blur.
“Eve!”
“Snap out of it,Eveline!”
“Ugh…”
Suddenly, my eyes opened.
Abellard was crying, holding my right hand, while Elkais held my left hand.
“Eve… *sob*… Ugh…”
Abellard’s tears fell onto my cheek.
The tears that fell on my cheek were cold, and my mind slowly cleared.
I looked blankly as Abellard cried, then he smiled again, tears still in his eyes.
“Eve, you’re awake.”
“Yes.”
“Are you feeling better?”
This time, I looked at Elkais. He too was looking at me with a serious expression, somehow.
“Why am I lying on the floor?”
“Eve, are you back?”
“Are you okay?”
Seeing the warmth coming through his hands, it was clear that Abellard was channeling divine power into me.
Abellard’s expression didn’t look good.
“Why did I faint?”
“Probably because of being underwater.”
“Eve… I was so scared.”
Abellard nestled against me and gently tapped his head against my chest.
“So, it’s true that we went into the lake?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we entered some sort of temple?”
“What are you talking about? Eveline, you went unconscious after resurfacing from being underwater.”
“What?”
Surely, we all went down under the lake together, and I saw that strange man?
But even though Abellard might not lie, Elkais wasn’t someone who lied. He was honest unless absolutely necessary.
Moreover, there was no benefit for him in lying to me.
Then, was it a dream I had?
“Maybe it was just a hallucination?”
“Do you see hallucinations when using divine power?”
“No. When you die and come back, you see such hallucinations.”
But why did they bring up conversations about dying and coming back when it seemed like I just fell asleep and woke up?
“What are you talking about?”
“Eve…”
“Listen carefully, Eveline.”
“Yes?”
“Your heart stopped just now.”
“What?”
“Eve, I saved you. I was really in pain.”
Only then did I realize that Abellard’s complexion wasn’t good. He seemed nauseated, like someone who had just fainted.
“Am I useful now?”
It felt strange, even though he was smiling, it didn’t seem like he was smiling.
Was it because of the dying and coming back thing, or was it because Abellard was not in a situation to smile but did anyway?
I couldn’t tell.
“I’m sorry.”
“Am I useless?”
“No. I won’t nag you about being usefulness anymore.”
“Hehe. That’s a relief.”
He said that and then slumped onto my shoulder.
I gently lowered him down beside me.
* * *
“So, you’re saying we swam all the way here?”
“Yeah.”
They said the place where I woke up was a cave on the beach.
The place we were trapped was a lake. It didn’t seem to directly connect to the sea.
They seemed to think that we didn’t enter the lake directly but drifted from a waterway next to the lake to the beach.
And I’m pretty sure the cave didn’t look like this when we came to get Elkais’s medicine before.
“Weren’t there shelves or something here?”
“…There were wild animals.”
“Where are they?”
“There.”
Elkais pointed to where only bloodstains remained.
“I thought you’d be surprised if you saw them, so I got rid of them.”
“Ah…”
Boom!
I was startled without meaning to. The thunder rumbled even though it had been raining continuously.
I couldn’t move my body because I was focusing on breathing steadily.
“It’s okay.”
Even though I wasn’t okay, I couldn’t push him away as he comforted me.
It felt a bit late to lie now, saying I was scared of thunder and lightning.
If I could survive separately from Elkais and Abellard, it wouldn’t matter, but the cabin was burnt down by lightning. There was nowhere else to go.
But still, that doesn’t change the fact that I have to leave them.
With the cabin burned down, there’s nowhere to escape the rain, and we don’t know when the next Lurt cycle will come.
It would be nice to have comradeship, but I can’t sacrifice myself like that for comradeship.
Boom! Crash!
“It’s okay.”
The hand patting my back was affectionate.
“This is where I got the medicine last time.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. But there’s nothing here now.”
As I told Elkais that, he sighed softly and stroked my hair.
My body was trembling, perhaps from the drop in body temperature. He momentarily released me from his embrace and fetched a coat he had taken off nearby to wrap around me.
“I’ll make a fire, so stay here for a while.”
“Yes.”
He draped the coat over my head. It seemed he was doing it because he didn’t know when lightning might strike again.
Boom! Crack!
It sounded like lightning struck very close by. I huddled my body, using the coat on my head like a curtain.
I could hear crackling sounds, and when I lifted my head slightly, I saw him lighting pieces of wood that he had brought from somewhere.
“Come here.”
I shrugged off the coat and approached the campfire. It was still damp, so it might steal warmth instead.
“How did you manage without flint?”
As I asked, he glanced at his sword briefly. It seemed like he did something with the sword, although I couldn’t figure out how.
Without asking further, I moved closer to him.
Primarily because it was too cold.
“If left like this, my brother would also be in danger.”
“…I suppose.”
Saying so, he moved Abellard closer to the campfire.
Fortunately, it seemed cold wasn’t an issue for Abellard. He wasn’t shivering.
Crack!
I couldn’t tell where lightning struck, but the sound was intense.
“Eveline.”
“Yes.”
He left Abellard there and came to sit near me.
He was only wearing pants. His other clothes were spread out on nearby rocks.
I started removing my negligee.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s colder wearing this.”
Saying so, I removed the negligee and placed it on the rock after shaking it off.
Sitting near the campfire in just a sleeveless top and briefs, he turned his back.
“What are you doing?”
“I think there might be a leak somewhere from where it feels like rain.”
“Is that so?”
“…Yes.”
He was staring at the ceiling of the cave above his head. So, I looked in the same direction. But there was no trace of leaking rain at all.
“Oh.”
Elkais made a puzzled expression, then turned his gaze towards the direction of the fire. Then, squinting at me, he said.
“Come here.”
“…”
“It might be dangerous if your body temperature drops further.”
Even next to the fire, it was too cold. It seemed more like an issue with my body than the temperature itself. Abellard seemed fine, so it looked like I was the only one feeling cold.
Moreover, Elkais seemed fine too.
I was shivering so much from the cold that it felt like both of them were in a tropical area while I was the only one plunged into the Antarctic.
Boom!
While I hesitated, he pulled me into his arms. I felt the warmth of the fire behind my back, and in front, Elkais’s body heat transferred to me, making me feel warm.
“It’s cold.”
“Yeah.”
As he said that, he hugged me tightly, and my whole body warmed up.
“It’s cold.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s too cold.”
“It’s okay.”
He continued to reassure me while brushing my back. With each touch of his large, warm hand, warmth spread, and I gradually felt better.
When I opened my eyes again, it was morning.
The sound of birds announcing the morning echoed in the cave.
It seemed like I had shared Elkais’s body warmth until I fell asleep, but now it was hot.
“Ugh…”
I and he were lying on the cave floor, I didn’t know when we lay down. I tried to lift my head from his arm, which was as uncomfortable and unyielding as a stone, but the other arm wrapped around my body like a rope was the problem.
“Can you let go now?”
“…”
Since the cold had passed, he was no longer needed.
Grumbling, I managed to remove his arm from my waist. Seeing his furrowed brow, I immediately tried to get up to check on Abellard, as I was worried since he fainted yesterday.
But I couldn’t move his arm that I had just managed to lift up, which prevented me from doing so.
Turning my body away as it seemed like my face might touch his, I saw a white paper appearing in Elkais’s hand. It was as if red paper had appeared to me.
Surprised by it, I reached out to take it.
“What is this?”
But because he clenched his fist tightly, I couldn’t take it out.
“Sleep more. It’s still dawn.”
“No, this paper.”
“Okay.”
Ignoring my words, he pulled me closer.
So, pretending to be pulled, I seized the opportunity when he relaxed and pulled out the paper, unfolding it.
[Steal Eveline Wilden’s gun.]
