The White Wind Howls (9)
The White Wind Howls (9)
#90
The moment the enemy's silhouettes emerged from the darkness, Lily's sword moved first.
——WHOOOM—
Without a moment's pause, a single streak of blue cut into the enemies.
He assumed their heads would go flying naturally. Lily's blade was that sharp, after all.
But.
Clang——!!!!!
"......!!"
A metallic shield materialized in midair and Lily's attack was thwarted.
"Just as they said. Like a wild beast. Don't you think, Rosenheim?"
"..."
"Just hand over the Deviant—and I'll let you live."
"I refuse."
"I refuse."
"Then we've got no choice. Looks like we'll both bleed a little."
Hunters?
Three mages in black robes strode toward us. Think fast, act faster. This was my turn now.
I stepped forward and spoke up, taking Lily's place.
"Excuse me for a moment! Could I have a word with you?"
"The Deviant! You even talk, do you? Just as that person told us. If we just catch you and offer you up, our lives will be turned upside down—"
"By 'that person,' do you mean the woman with purple hair? Mariel Etchellan."
"......"
"You must not have seen what she looks like lately. She'd be missing an arm."
"Shut up! How dare filth like you—"
"Lily! Now!!!"
During the time I'd bought, Lily's Unique Magic had finished forming.
The mana of a decisive strike to cut them down wreathed the tip of Lily's sword.
The three Hunters' expressions hardened simultaneously. Until just now, their eyes had been looking down on us.
The moment a blue light kindled on Lily's blade, they too seemed to realize it instinctively. That this one blow was absolutely not something they could take head-on.
The Hunters dropped their stances as one, and from beneath their black robes came rapid incantations.
『Adamantine Shield!』
A bizarre shield began to rise before the Hunter who was sneering contemptuously.
"Too late, you stupid bitch, that kind of outdated attack—"
The mage at the rear sneered, confident in whatever he was counting on.
Naturally, I had no reason to listen to him.
『Unique Magic — Equivalent Exchange』
As if something were being wrenched straight from my heart, the Imprint blazed, and every muscle in my body screamed at once.
A genuine Unique Magic, using mana as the price for the Netherworld.
『Full-Body Enhancement』
The instant my feet kicked off the ground, the earth split, and my enlarged body flew straight at the silver shield.
"What—?!"
CRUNCH—!!!
I reached out and shattered the silver shield in a single blow.
"I'll just make another shield!!"
That moment—
The swordswoman with the quiet footsteps surely hadn't missed that split-second opening.
Ssaak——
Just one step.
The blue blade slipped through the gap in the shattered shield.
One human head rose into the air, and immediately the remaining two shrieked.
"Kill her!!!"
"Kill her!!!!"
Arrows of mana filled the air and poured toward us, but they were too many to dodge. Lily had just finished her beheading strike, so she seemed a beat too slow to chain into the next motion.
So without a second thought, I pulled Lily by the waist and drew her to me.
Her body tilted halfway toward me, and at the same time I planted my back and stood before her.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM—!!!!
The arrows tore across my back and grazed my flank, but this body that had surpassed human limits showed no sign of collapsing.
『Sicut vesper devorat ultimum lumen caeli』
Like devouring the last light of the evening sky.
Lily's low, hoarse voice came from within my arms—
And a blue flash spread over my back.
The remaining two Hunters didn't even get to scream; their bodies were sliced apart by an extremely thin line and collapsed.
Thud.
It was over!
My first real battle against Hunters had ended in success.
It hadn't even been a full day since Cassian told us not to fight, but now I felt like I'd proven my strength to Lily, and a surge of exhilaration filled me.
"Miss Lily, did you see that? My absolutely epic moves."
And then Lily's body shook heavily and she sank to the ground.
"Lily!!"
I caught her body instantly—
But her legs had already given out. Cold sweat had formed beneath her remaining eye, her breathing was ragged, and her shoulders were trembling faintly.
"Lily, are you alright?"
Of course she wasn't alright.
Lily let out a very short, scoffing laugh.
"Do-yun, just pick one—formal or casual. Don't confuse me."
"Right. That aside, are you alright, Miss Lily? It would be best for you to rest and recover here for a day."
"That's not possible. We can't afford any delays. Support me. Just help me a little and I'll walk."
"No. And we'll wait until Estelle and Sir Lucien return."
"What?"
"We can't go without those two. After fighting enemies like that and collapsing, how on earth do you plan to go?"
"We'll just... go carefully."
"In the first place, Miss Lily, you can't even use Stealth Magic. Why in the world are you trying to leave them behind and go?"
"........."
"If you won't tell me, I absolutely won't go."
"...... I can't tell you the reason."
"Then I told you clearly, I'm not going either."
"......... Then promise me just one thing."
"What kind of thing?"
"Don't get involved with Estelle. Lucien doesn't matter, but not her."
"Huh? What kind of random nonsense is that? Estelle is our expedition's leader."
"This is my final concession. If you don't like it, we abandon the expedition."
"...... Understood."
After that, Lily only gasped for breath and didn't say a single word to me.
In the end, I just leaned Lily against a large tree trunk, kept watch over the surroundings, and waited for the two who had run off.
#91
That was when a little over an hour had passed.
Sa-gak.
Sa-gak.
The sound of dead leaves being stepped on—
I immediately rose and pulled mana into my body.
"......So you were here."
It was Estelle.
Behind her, Lucien followed, out of breath. Her hair was disheveled and her breathing was a little heavy. They both seemed unharmed.
Estelle's gaze swept the ground. When she saw the three cleanly severed corpses, for just the briefest instant, her expression stiffened.
"...I apologize."
Yeah, you'd better be a little sorry.
Though thanks to that, I was able to have my debut battle!
"I've shown you a disgraceful display. From now on, I will do my utmost to make amends."
Lily didn't answer the blonde woman. She simply turned her head away.
Lucien seemed to read the atmosphere, coming over to my side for no good reason and whispering softly.
"H-hiu... You two didn't have a fight, did you...?"
"Not at all."
"That sounds like a lie..."
"Please just let it go."
And so the four of us started moving again.
The forest as the sun fully set was darker than expected. Even after my eyes adjusted, distant objects were hard to make out, and the ground was a tangle of roots, stones, and damp soil that caught at our ankles over and over. Even so, we kept walking.
The problem was Lily.
She pretended she was fine, but the rhythm of her steps was slowly crumbling. Her upper body listed ever so slightly to the left, and her breathing was growing shorter and shorter.
So as soon as complete darkness settled, Estelle stopped in her tracks.
"Let's camp here."
Lily responded immediately.
"Moving at night is safer."
"No."
Estelle was firm.
"If Lily keeps moving in her current state and collapses, that would be even more dangerous."
"......"
"Traveling during the day is safer. My Stealth Magic works properly even in daylight."
Lucien also tentatively raised her hand and chimed in.
"Th-that's right... If we keep walking without thinking about your condition, Lily will collapse first... Estelle can cloak us anyway, so moving when it's bright is more—"
Lily exhaled very slowly.
It was a face that didn't want to lose, but she also seemed to have nothing to refute.
In the end, she said just one curt thing.
"Then do as you like."
The problem came next.
The moment I saw Estelle take a small tent out of her pack and unfold it—my brow furrowed without realizing it.
Hmm.
"Uh."
"Huh?"
There's only one tent?
My eyes met Estelle's, and she too was red enough in the face to tell she was extremely flustered.
"I-I'm so sorry. Out of habit, I only packed one two-person tent—"
It was obviously a narrow tent. Would two women barely squeeze in? If I got in, it would probably become a one-person tent.
Myself, Lily, Estelle, and Lucien—all four of us stared at that tent simultaneously.
"............"
"I'll sleep outside."
I spoke first.
"I'm tough enough anyway, so I won't freeze to death sleeping outside. Just give me one sleeping bag."
Lily looked like she was about to say something, but soon closed her mouth. Estelle thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Then let Lily and Lucien sleep inside. I'll sleep outside as well."
"Lu-Lucien will yield to Estelle. Since Estelle has to maintain the Stealth Magic over the campsite."
......Estelle tried to add something else, but she must have seen something in Lucien's eyes, because she quietly accepted the kindness.
So in the end, the arrangement was Lily and Estelle inside the tent.
Outside, Lucien and I decided to sleep in sleeping bags.
Before sleeping, Estelle deployed a wide-area Stealth Magic that enveloped the entire campsite. Golden threads of contract covered the tent and the designated campsite—along with the luggage, human scent, and finally even traces of body heat, blending them into the shadows of the forest.
It was impressive, really impressive. She intended to guide us while constantly maintaining a spell like that. I could understand why Cassian had entrusted her with the role of the brains. Even more so, I couldn't understand Lily's attitude toward Estelle. She was basically a magical Doraemon who did just about everything, so why try to leave her behind?
I took a thick sleeping bag and spread it out on the dirt. It was fluffier than I'd worried. The moment my body, which had run, fought, and endured all day, lay down, it felt like being absorbed straight into the ground.
"I'll lie down first."
I said it as a formality and crawled straight into the sleeping bag.
My eyelids sank heavily.
Just as I thought—I needed to sleep right then.
Sa-gak.
I heard the sound of something moving.
From the opening of the sleeping bag?
At first, I thought it was the wind. But then, once more, something very cautiously pushed against the fabric.
And—
Poke.
A cold sensation touched the tips of my toes.
My eyes flew open.
...A foot?
It was a bare foot.
Quite literally, someone's bare foot was slipping in first through the sleeping bag's only opening. The toes wiggled slightly as if groping the space inside, and then the top of the foot and the ankle slid in after.
My body went rigid. To be precise, my body stiffened, and it felt like some external force was making it stiff.
What?
What the hell is going on?
In the meantime, the calf came in. The knee caught on the fabric and then slipped free, and a smooth, warm thigh slid inside. The space inside the sleeping bag shrank rapidly. I reflexively tried to pull back, but some powerful force wouldn't allow it.
The hips came in, and above them, the torso followed. Very gingerly—watching my reaction, yet still pushing all the way in, that was the shape of it.
"...Just a moment."
I barely managed to stir my mana and force my mouth open, but the other person didn't stop.
Finally, our chests touched.
Warm breath was felt right in front of me.
And at last—
The face came right up to my eyes.
Lucien—???????
"H-hiu..."
She had really come all the way inside. The tips of her ears were burning bright red, and the eyes visible between her bangs weren't even meeting mine, just wandering through the air. Even so, her whole body was already inside.
"......Wh-what are you doing?????"
When I asked, Lucien flinched her shoulders.
"J-just don't say anything, please..."