154 â [ I see . ]
â½
[âââââââ-]
I regain consciousness .
I take out my pocket watch and check the time .
......I hardly got any sleep .
Itâs only been about 10 minutes since I fell unconscious .
Seras...
[.................. . . ]
âis lying down with her back turned towards me .
She appears to be awake butââ
[......, ......... . ?]
I feel uncomfortable .
The only thing covering my upper body is these bandages wrapped around my wounds .
Thereâs also âthatâ in the center of my exposed chest .
A strange lingering memory .
That area is slightly warmer than the others......
One discomfort after another .
I put my hand on my mouth .
My lips .
......A warm moisture .
Strangely enough, they feel wet .
I silently looked at Serasâ back .
Shyness...
Nervousness...
Surprise...
Regret...
Guilt...
......Awareness .
I could read intermingling emotions from her .
[.................. . ]
âAchoo . â
Raising my upper body, I touch my bangs .
I then called out .
[......You still canât sleep?]
Serasâ calm shoulders twitched in response .
Taking a deep breath, she replied .
[My apologies . ]
What was that apology for?
[Why are you apologizing?]
[I- Iâm sorry......]
[............... . ]
I should probably pretend that I didnât notice it .
[Should I make you sleep with my skill?]
Thatâs also probably better for Seras with the way she is right now .
Slightly shrinking her body smaller, Seras replied .
[Yes, please . ]
[ââââ]
Shortly after, I began to hear the regulated sounds of her breathing .
Turning over, Seras lies down on her back .
I look at her sideways to see how sheâs doing .
......It seems that sheâs completely sound asleep .
[.............................. . . ]
I take a deep breath .
I had a slight hunch of what happened .
After the battle against Civit, Seras kept a reasonable distance from me .
Yesâ Consciously so .
She was probably looking out for me .
She doesnât want those emotions to get in the way of my journey for revenge .
Even so...
[Sheâs more daring than I thought......]
Iâm a little surprised .
No...
[But well...... this is how it turned huh . ]
However, this happened way too sudden .
A lonely journey of escape, in which youâre exhausted both physically and mentally .
And in the middle of the road, you finally met someone that you felt comfortable with .
In a situation where youâre driven to the corner...
And you were saved in a way like that...
If our situation was reversed...
If it were Seras that had saved me instead...
[It wouldnât be weird for me to be infatuated with her...... Howeverââ]
Before I fell unconscious...
I had only planned to sleep after Seras herself fell asleep .
And yetââ I fell unconscious .
On Serasâ lap, I completely fell unconscious .
Completely .
[I see . ]
I look towards Seras as her chest regularly move up and down .
[Even I...]
Before I noticed it...
[Iâve also come to trust you this much huh . ]
â½
â½
â½
After we had some rest, we left the cave and hurried straight to our destination .
The skies were still dark after we left .
However, the sky brightened up soon as sunrise came .
The morning of this day is rather quiet in the Demon Zone .
The crisp, clean air pleasantly fill my lungs .
We didnât encounter any minor hindrances along the way .
Is it because the monsters in the vicinity had decreased after yesterdayâs slaughter?
Or perhaps, is it that the monsters have perceived us as dangerous beings now?
Anyway...
[Touka . ]
Eve stood next to me .
[Yeah . ]
We checked out the map .
From hereafter, we finally entered the domain where the Witch lives .
The glowing dot showing our position and the glowing dot showing the witchâs position .
The two glowing dots showing our positions were about to overlap with each other .
[Thereâs no turning back now, Eve . ]
My lips curved up a smile .
[Well...... Thereâs no way youâre going to turn back now that weâre already in front of our goal . ]
âUmu . â
The pensive Blood Champion nodded her head .
[Obviously . ]
And thusâ- We stepped into the Witch of Taboosâ domain .