Chapter 72: Escape (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 72: Escape (3)
Distinguishing day from night seemed impossible in the underground cavern where not a single ray of light could enter, but as a high elf, Iris could tell the difference simply by feeling the flow of the earth.
“Haaah...”
Instinctively sensing the arrival of morning, Iris stretched carefully.
A quick glance around revealed, of course, only darkness.
However, a faint light seeped through the slightly open tent flap, so securing a clear view wasn't too difficult.
‘My body... feels so light.’
Iris couldn't help but be surprised by how unusually light she felt.
It was just last night that she had been suffering from a high fever and body aches, the aftereffects of her prayer.
But now, her body felt light enough to start running at any moment.
Unlike the saintesses of other gods, who bestowed blessings using immense divine power, the maiden of the World Tree was not granted such power.
She had to endure every prayer with faith alone, so collapsing like this was a frequent occurrence.
She would pray continuously, without eating, drinking, or resting.
Even sleep was not permitted; she had to support herself with a faith that transcended her limits, offering her prayers to the World Tree.
The blessing Kang Hyun-woo had received was bestowed in this very manner.
From a human's perspective, nothing could be more inefficient, but from a god's, nothing could be more efficient.
Divine power was a fragment of a god's strength, shared with their followers.
When believers used divine power on the surface, it placed a burden on the god.
The fact that the World Tree, whose connection path to its symbolic entity was already severed and its authority to interfere with the world diminished, could grant such a powerful blessing to Kang Hyun-woo was entirely thanks to Iris's prayer.
Of course, it was easier said than done. For a woman to pray for days without sleep, without even using magic to enhance her physical abilities, was no simple feat.
As a result, the moment her prayer for the blessing ended, Iris had fallen asleep as if she had fainted.
But now?
The thirst that had felt like her throat was on fire, the high fever that made her head feel like it would split from the headache, the muscle aches that had tormented her to the point where she could barely lift a finger.
Not even a trace of them remained, making her wonder if it had all been a dream.
On the contrary, she felt better than she had before the prayer, as if she had never been sick at all.
It was truly a surprising turn of events, but figuring out the reason wasn't very difficult.
Iris picked up the wet towel that had fallen from her forehead.
“Hyun-woo...”
Discovering Kang Hyun-woo asleep beside her, Iris gently brushed aside the bangs that were poking him in the eyes.
His hair was rougher than before he'd left for the dungeon; she could guess how much he had suffered.
He had willingly taken on hardships he didn't have to for her sake, and instead of welcoming him back warmly, she had made him nurse her.
A pang of guilt pricked at Iris's heart.
“...You went through so much.”
She leaned down and briefly kissed his forehead.
The warmth of his skin, which she hadn't felt in a long time, was incredibly comforting, but at the same time, she noticed an undeniable fact.
“...”
The scent of a woman.
It was so strong it made her nose wrinkle.
“Doesn't seem human... a beast-kin?”
Iris's gaze turned cold.
Even though she had said it was fine for him to take as many concubines as he wanted, for him to have taken another woman in such a short time...
If asked whether she was annoyed, she honestly was.
So infuriatingly annoyed that she wanted to create an elixir of immortality just to lock him by her side forever.
“Iris...”
“...Pfft.”
Iris quietly lay down, using Kang Hyun-woo's arm as a pillow.
With a pleasant smile, she snuggled deeper into his embrace, enjoying the warmth that enveloped her.
She had known it all along, but Iris was once again reminded that no matter how much of a womanizer Kang Hyun-woo was, she would never be the one to leave his side.
“...Just what kind of dream are you having to be calling my name like that?”
Iris passed the time in her own delightful way, watching Kang Hyun-woo's sleeping face as his expressions changed from moment to moment, and touching his body here and there.
*
“...What the?”
Waking up, I turned my head toward the presence I felt right beside me.
There was Iris, fast asleep, clinging to my side like a cicada.
“Sleep talking?”
She had been sleeping over there before I fell asleep. When did she move over here?
‘I never knew the queen was such a restless sleeper.’
Of course, it didn't shatter any illusions.
If anything, I was grateful to have learned one more thing I hadn't known about her.
I gently stroked Iris's hair, careful not to wake her, and focused on the flow of magic within her body.
Just as a doctor places a stethoscope on a patient's chest or an oriental doctor checks a patient's pulse, a mage's condition could be easily determined by assessing the flow of their internal magic.
Before I had given her the holy water and potion, the flow of Iris's magic had been extremely rough and unstable.
It was like looking at a river overflowing after a massive typhoon.
Thankfully, it was now as calm as usual.
Her fever seemed to have broken as well. I could finally rest easy.
“Hyun-woo...?”
“Ah, sorry. Did I wake you?”
“Of course not.”
At my words, Iris shook her head cutely and nuzzled her face against my chest.
“You didn't wake me, Hyun-woo. I woke up because I wanted to see you.”
I pulled Iris, who could tug at a man's heartstrings so effortlessly with her bright smile, into a tight hug. Wouldn't it be nice to spend a few days just like this?
[Remaining Matching Time: 64:42:37]
Of course, I didn't have the luxury of actually lying around for days. About ten minutes passed before I got to the point.
“Iris, take a look at this.”
“Yes?”
I took the ‘Old Thread Spool’ from my inventory and handed it to her.
“What do you think this is?”
“Hmm... It looks like an ordinary spool of thread, but I can feel an unusual amount of magic from it... Is it a magic tool you got from the dungeon?”
Since Iris didn't have the ability to read item information like I did, her eyes, as she examined the spool, were filled only with questions.
“It's not a magic tool, but a rather special artifact.”
“It certainly... does look unique.”
“What kind of artifact do you think it is?”
“Umm...”
Iris examined the spool, which glowed with a faint silver light.
“I'm not sure. I can't tell just by looking at it.”
Her mage-like curiosity seemed to be growing by the second, and she urged me to tell her the answer right away.
“Well, it's nothing much.”
I deliberately trailed off, then fully opened the tent flap that had been slightly ajar. The light from the lamp I had set up outside naturally flooded the tent.
“It's an artifact that will get us out of here.”
Iris, not quite understanding the meaning of my explanation, wore a slightly strange expression as she quietly mulled over my words.
“Why are you thinking so hard about it?”
I pulled the still-struggling Iris into my arms.
“We're getting out of here soon. Out of this godforsaken underground.”
“...What?”
Finally grasping the meaning of my direct explanation, a look of bewilderment flashed across Iris's green eyes.
“B-But you said we could only get that by defeating the 3rd Layer's gatekeeper...”
“Of course I defeated him.”
“...?”
Iris looked confused.
She muttered to herself, wondering how a 2nd Circle mage like me could have defeated the 3rd Layer's gatekeeper, and even if I could, how I had returned so early.
“Oh, right.”
I took Iris's hand, which was hovering uncertainly in the air, and placed it over my heart.
In this spot, where an ordinary person would only feel a heartbeat, lay the mana circle—a mage's second heart.
Even though Iris's magic was suppressed, it would be a simple matter for her to notice the change in my mana circle at such a close distance.
Sure enough, Iris's eyes widened.
“No way...”
I could understand her reaction.
A 2nd Circle mage becoming a 4th Circle in just a few days.
Even a novel written like this would surely be criticized for being unbelievable.
“I got lucky.”
As if.
Even though I said it myself, it was nothing short of a miracle.
I didn't know if it was because I had continuously absorbed natural mana during the fight with the Minotaur or if it was the app's doing.
But that wasn't what was important right now.
“Alright, let's go.”
This time, I held Iris in my arms and stepped out of the tent. I didn't bother to retrieve the tent or the bed.
I wasn't so destitute that I needed to recycle them.
I gave a slight nod to the withered golden tree. It was time to leave this wretched underground cavern.
[Would you like to use the Old Thread Spool?]
[※This is a consumable item with a limited number of uses.]
[Y/N]
[Y]
The spool of thread floated into the air and began to twist and tangle in a complex pattern. A massive storm of magic could be felt at its center.
Soon, the thread transformed into the shape of a small woman, about as tall as my solar plexus, and began to walk somewhere.
A continuous thread trailed in her footsteps.
It was as if she was telling us to follow.
Holding Iris, who still hadn't fully regained her senses, I followed the thread.
We passed the bed where we had first been together and headed in the opposite direction of the stone gate, the main entrance to the barrier.
“Iris.”
I whispered her name softly in her ear.
Only then did Iris, who had been quiet and unresponsive, look up at me with a dazed expression.
“I made you a promise, didn't I?”
I still couldn't forget the day I first got the Another World Dating App and first met Iris.
A former elf queen who had spent 200 years alone in a dark underground cavern.
I had never imagined such a fantasy would happen in my life.
And I certainly never thought I would make love with a woman who would confidently stand at the very front if all the women in the world were lined up by their looks.
They were days where I couldn't predict a single thing.
There were many hardships, but I was honestly grateful to be here now, able to keep my promise to Iris.
“That no matter what, I would get you out of here.”
The seemingly endless spool of thread finally revealed its destination.
Beyond the thread-woman, who was pointing somewhere with a blank expression, a small portal, just big enough for the two of us to pass through, made its presence known.
Without a second glance back, I ran past the woman and toward the portal.
[...Farewell, Theseus.]
It was a voice so quiet I might have missed it if I wasn't listening, but for some reason, I heard it with perfect clarity.
I glanced back, but the woman of thread had already vanished without a trace.
Pushing aside a slightly unsettling feeling, I jumped into the portal.
A sensation similar to when I was caught in an isolated gate washed over my body.
A clearly alien space appeared before us, but I didn't lose my way.
A familiar sliver of light shone brightly in the distance, as if declaring itself a beacon.
And before long, beyond the light that grew more and more intense────
“...Oh.”
Sunlight so intense it was blinding welcomed us.
For me, it had only been a few days, but for Iris, it was her first sunlight in 200 years.
Iris, now down from my arms, said nothing.
She simply walked slowly on the soil with her bare feet.
She would stroke the petals of a small flower blooming by the roadside, then touch the trunk of a tree so massive it looked like it wouldn't break even in a typhoon.
I watched her from a step back.
Betrayed by her confidant, she had spent the last 200 years in a place without a single ray of light or another person.
For now, I wanted to let her do whatever she wanted.
I watched Iris endlessly as she laughed like a child one moment and grieved deeply the next.
Until the sun began to set.
[Remaining Matching Time: 60:11:57]