With that, Lacius pressed his forehead against hers, warming her body with his body heat in case Shay’s temperature dropped. From Daphne and the old man’s coughing, it seemed Shay might soon be affected of the cold too. She’s not exactly the most physically fit person.
But then. Shay’s body glowed brightly, and a black bird spread its wings and appeared, and Lacius’s eyebrows rose as he realized it was Shay’s drawing.
‘Has she regained consciousness?’
Not knowing for sure, he leaned closer to the barely breathing Shay. And just as he was about to call her name more affectionately than usual.
“… …!”
Lacius instinctively blocked the fist coming towards him.
“Ugh!”
“Shay!”
“Another fake?!”
Then Shay opened her eyes so quickly that Lacius was startled.
“Lashin, didn’t you see any hallucinations or something? I was on Shay Island!”
Shay opened her eyes wide and poured out words. She’s excited, blurting out this and that, but he can’t hear it well. Lacius just pulled her to him and held her tight.
She came back.
That fact alone overwhelmed his heart with so much excitement that he could barely hear anything else.
* * *
“I didn’t see it. Most magic and drugs don’t work on me.”
“Ah, of course. Its only natural since you are the sun god’s descendant.”
About 5 minutes later, I came to my senses. I stayed quietly nestled in Lacius’s arms until I calmed down, gathering my thoughts. Lacius then informed me that he did not experience any hallucinations. I nodded and hugged him tightly once more.
Despite everything that had happened, beneath the scent of dust, I could still smell his familiar scent. It was fragrant, with a hint of smoky oak, and also had the aroma of old books and ink. This time, it was the real one.
I was so happy that I even kissed him on the cheek, completely forgetting that there was another person here beside us.
“Excuse me. Could you please give me some attention too? Haha.”
Giogio chimed in, scratching the back of his head shyly. But as he got closer, the fishy scent of blood wafted through me, causing me to wrinkle the bridge of my nose.
“Are you hurt?”
“Ah, yes. I was clinging to the wall, but I slipped and… got cut.”
He laughed, holding his arm clumsily. It was like looking at a naive, stupid country boy. But Lacius was still wary of him, hiding me behind his back. The will to do nothing for Giogio radiates from his straight back.
“Uhm, do you think you could create some bandages like you created the blankets earlier?”
“It’s not a magical tool for the likes of you.”
“Haha, is that so?”
Looking at this scene, it feels like Lacius was the bad guy and Giogio was a pitiful commoner. My conscience pricked me for not being able to help when there was clearly an injured person in front of me, but I decided to trust Lacius. And no matter what, if your partner says he doesn’t like it, it’s best not to take that action. It’s not like it’s a matter of life and death anyway.
“Now, the question is how to get out of here.”
The exit from earlier was not even visible. I don’t know how deep we’ve fallen. To make matters worse, there were no black birds left. Cave engravings wouldn’t be able to take us to the exit, and if we fell, it would be a real disaster.
“Haha, good thing I’m not hungry. Are you guys hungry?”
“I am alright.”
“Me too.”
“Then that’s good.”
Giogio holds up well despite not being a warrior. I thought about that without thinking, then flinched.
‘Wait, that’s right. How are you holding on so well when you’re not even a warrior?’
He was fearless and positive, as if he were used to this type of darkness. But is it possible for a human being to do that? The desert people’s reaction earlier seemed more human.
I carefully took the compass out of my pocket and glanced at Giogio. I was checking to see if he was going to try to attack me or if he would have any abnormal reaction. But Giogio was still cheerful, and he wasn’t even looking at the compass.
‘Hmm. Let’s see, the compass is definitely pointing to a certain direction.’
We’re not likely to be rescued anyway, so let’s get moving. It’s in my nature to go see what’s around the corner. It’s better than shivering in fear.
“Let’s get moving, Lashin. We don’t know what’s at the end of the road.”
“Alright.”
The rest of the trip was wordless. Instead, I intertwined my fingers with Lacius’ and held his hand tightly. So that no matter what, unless our arms get cut off, we wouldn’t lose sight of each other.
We walked like that for maybe half an hour, until we came to a crossroads. I looked at the compass, of course, and the red arrow on the compass twitched, crackled and pointed to the left.
“Let’s head that way.”
A hint of amazement flickered in Lacius’s eyes as he watched.
I was a little surprised, too. This is really useful; we wouldn’t be able to locate the secret temple without it. As a test, I picked up a rock from the ground and threw it to our right. But I didn’t hear anything. Nothing at all.
“Wow, if we’d gone that way, we’d have fallen into a deep pit. I can’t hear any crashing noises at all.”
Giogio slowly poked his head towards the right path and let out an exclamation.
It was a chilling realization. Sighing in relief, I threw a stone to the left, and this time we heard a sound normally. After that, similar events were repeated. It was a path that was no different from a maze, so a compass was absolutely necessary.
Maybe another couple of hours passed like that. I noticed that the compass was suddenly getting hot. It wasn’t hot enough to burn me, but it felt like the compass was getting excited. I feel like we came to the right place. The feeling that we were on the right track, that we had finally found it, dominated my senses.
At the end of the road. I put the compass back in my pocket and carefully turned to the corner. And the next moment.
“Wow….”
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