I Could've Carried Her a Little Longer
Tania looked on with open disapproval at Adele, who stood frozen with both hands covering her face.
"Instead of just standing there like that, why don't you try thinking of what to do?"
At those words, Adele wiped the expression clean from her face, lowered her hands, and looked once more toward the door where Elysia was presumed to be.
"I don't think that'll be necessary."
"What?"
Creeeeak—.
Just as Tania was about to press the point, the rusted iron door screeched open with a scream of metal.
And beyond that door, a silver-haired girl appeared—blood smeared across her cheek, drenched in sweat.
"Eli!"
"Elysia."
Tania and Adele called out to her at the same time, but for some reason Elysia gave no response at all. She simply moved her feet in silence.
Her foot, lifted with difficulty, came down upon a crystal flower, crushing it lightly as she stepped onto the floor. At the same instant, the pulverized crystal flower turned back into tears and swirled in lazy circles around her ankle.
One step. Then another.
Crystal became water droplets, and all that remained was the blood pooled on the floor, which she walked through with wet, squelching sounds—leaving her crimson footprints through the garden of crystal flowers. She approached with vacant, empty eyes that held nothing at all.
"Eli…?"
"……."
Tania called out in a voice laced with anxiety, but received only silence. Beside her came the soft clink of Adele's hand reaching for the cube at her waist.
Squelch.
At last Elysia reached them. Even without touching, they could feel the searing heat radiating from her body and the hot breath she roughly exhaled. Flushed red cheeks. Eyes that seemed out of her mind.
"Eli, are you oka— eh?"
As Tania carefully tried to reach out, Eli seized her hand and pulled her in. Adele instantly tore the cube from her waist and prepared to use her ability, but—
"……."
"……."
Eli simply nestled into Tania's arms and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Awawawa……."
As a result, Tania found herself holding Eli—who was wearing nothing but a sweat-soaked short-sleeved shirt and underwear—and with a face gone bright red, she stared off into the distance and began muttering incomprehensible nonsense.
"Eli's in my arms… Eli's in my arms…! A dream? Is this a dream?"
"……."
Adele, who had been standing blankly behind them, quietly approached, looked at Elysia nestled in Tania's arms, and spoke.
"Tania."
"Don't interrupt."
"…Elysia's fallen asleep."
"Huh?"
Startled, Tania lowered her head to look at Elysia's face.
Soft, even breathing—.
She really had fallen asleep right there in Tania's arms.
"She was so light I didn't even notice she'd fallen asleep."
"It's not that Elysia's light—it's that your strength is absurdly high."
She was ignored.
After a brief moment of surprise that Elysia had fallen asleep, Tania began concentrating on studying her face. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she panted hot breaths; her body was damp and feverish. Cheeks flushed red from the heat, sweat trailing down in a way that only emphasized her sensuality. Closed eyelids that made one want to press their lips against them, and long, beautiful eyelashes that drew gasps of admiration. And those moist lips, pressed together like flower petals.
As she gazed at her face as if entranced, Adele—unable to watch any longer—spoke again.
"Tani—"
"I said don't interrupt."
Cut off before she could even finish the name, Adele let out a deep sigh and reached out to feel Elysia's forehead. Tania glared at her with sharp eyes, as if even that displeased her, but knowing the action was for Elysia's sake, she didn't stop her.
"…Her fever is bad."
When Adele put it that way—essentially asking if they were going to keep standing around—Tania finally came to her senses and raised her head.
"Let's head back quickly. We need to get Eli to my place first."
"…No. Elysia's going to my room."
"My house is better than your room, Adele."
"I'm sure Elysia would just love waking up to find herself in a mafia den."
"I'll stay right by her side the whole time, so it's fine."
"Does your mansion even have a doctor?"
"A doctor? We can just kidnap one. Give them a fat stack of cash afterward and they'll actually be happy about it."
"That's such a mafia way of thinking."
"Well, I am a mafi—"
Their childish bickering, so out of character, suddenly stopped. At some point, they had been surrounded by the organization members they hadn't finished dealing with on the mountain.
"…This is your fault."
"I don't think the responsibility is mine alone."
Adele casually brushed off Tania's grumbling and dropped the two cubes she'd torn off earlier. The moonlight that had scattered like mist coalesced into the shape of a giant ray. Adele jerked her chin toward Tania, who was holding Elysia in a princess carry.
Tania glared at the ray for a moment, then grumbled as she climbed on.
"The design sucks."
"You're full of complaints."
Adele boarded the ray next, and the organization members—finally grasping the situation—began charging at them.
"Get them!"
But it was already too late.
Whoosh!
The ray beat its fins in a great flap, and its massive body soared into the air. The organization members each tried to use their abilities to shoot them down, but hitting the girls who had rocketed into the sky in an instant was impossible.
Watching the various abilities being fired at them with emotionless eyes, Tania muttered.
"Still… better not leave any loose ends, right?"
Snap—! She flicked her fingers, and a deep crimson flame bloomed above her hand. Those flames rapidly grew in size while simultaneously compressing into a single point. The flame, now shaped like a single water droplet, gathered at Tania's fingertip.
"This should do it."
Tania slightly extended her hand, and the droplet that had formed began to fall, drawn by gravity.
"What did you just do?"
Adele, who had been watching quietly from behind, asked, and Tania shrugged.
"Just… cleanup?"
"Hmm…."
Adele soon lost interest and turned her head away. Tania looked a little longer at where the base was, then—
——!
Seeing the entire base melt away, she was satisfied and turned her gaze to Elysia. And when she saw Elysia looking up at her with open, vacant eyes, she startled and trembled.
"E-Eli? You're awake?"
"Yeah……."
Still not fully lucid, she simply nodded slightly and stared blankly at Tania's face. Then Adele, who had been quiet behind them, noticed Elysia was awake and approached.
"You're awake, Elysia."
"Yeah……."
"We're going somewhere you can rest comfortably now, um."
Adele briefly stroked her chin, looked at Tania, then continued.
"Want to go to Tania's house—a den of criminals—or to my house, full of kind people?"
At those words Tania glared daggers, but she couldn't raise her voice in front of Elysia, who was in poor condition. Instead she looked at Elysia and asked again.
"Want to go to a den of hypocrites, or come to my house where you'll be safely protected?"
Hearing that, Elysia—still clearly sleepy—looked back and forth between Tania and Adele.
Gulp.
They were so tense that Tania and Adele could hear each other swallow. Elysia's answer was far from either of their expectations or hopes.
"My house……."
"……."
"……."
"…Here?"
Tania, carrying the once-again-sleeping Elysia on her back, asked Adele beside her in a tone of disbelief. But Adele's expression wasn't good either.
"I knew, but… this is beyond imagination."
The two stepped over the broken door into the house and looked around. After surveying the room, only one thought came to mind.
Can a person actually live here?
Of course, they knew there were houses even smaller than they'd imagined. So they could somehow understand that Elysia's house was smaller than the bathrooms in the houses they lived in.
But….
"This is too rundown."
Dust was flying everywhere, so every breath felt like it was shaving a day off their lifespan. And while the door being smashed had left the interior a mess… it didn't seem like much had actually changed when the door was broken.
After all, all that was inside was one small, old dresser and a damp blanket that Elysia appeared to have been lying on. And a mirror shattered into pieces, plus a few yellowed bandages rolling on the floor—that was it.
When Adele gestured, several guild members waiting outside came in and began cleaning the interior. With the room in this state, even letting Elysia rest comfortably was impossible.
Under the guild members' careful hands, the room was quickly tidied up. Sharp or dangerous fragments disappeared, and the nearly shredded blanket was taken away. Then a massive air purifier of unknown origin was brought in, followed by a new blanket that was spread on the floor.
Only then could Tania set down the Elysia she'd been carrying.
"…I could've carried her a little longer."
That she felt a little regretful about it was a secret.