Chapter 704
Chapter 704
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 704
Chapter Title: Awkward Warmth
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Drip—
The crisp sound of a water droplet echoed through the cave, formed from steam that had risen from the hot spring and condensed on the ceiling before falling back into the water.
Crackle, crackle—
A campfire brightly illuminated the cave's interior.
Chloe, who had spread her uniform and underwear to dry nearby, approached the hot spring and carefully dipped a foot in.
The water was just right—not too hot, not too lukewarm—and its pleasant warmth traveled up from the tip of her toe.
Having been exposed to the cold for so long, the warmth spreading from her foot through her entire body naturally drew a pleasant sigh from her lips.
After savoring the heat for a moment, she carefully submerged her whole body into the spring.
“Haaah. Nothing beats soaking in warm water on a cold day.”
Chloe hummed a tune, a languid expression on her face.
“Mmm~ah~ this is so nice and warm~ Hot springs are the best~ The best~”
“Enjoying yourself that much?”
“Eek?”
Splash—
Startled by the voice from the other side of the cave, Chloe shrieked and instinctively pressed herself against the edge of the hot spring.
“Y-You heard that?”
She asked, her face completely red, and heard Leo's laughter in response.
“Of course I did.”
Splash!
‘Ugh, seriously!’
Overcome with embarrassment, Chloe dunked her face into the hot spring water.
She had been so relaxed that for a moment, she’d forgotten she was in a cave.
Trembling with shame, Chloe peeked her head back out of the water.
“You've been full of openings since we first enrolled. I never understood why everyone calls you the ‘Ice Queen’ or whatever.”
Even at their first meeting, Leo had found the student ID Chloe had dropped.
Chloe tried to be a flawless top student, but if you looked closely, she had plenty of surprisingly dorky moments.
In response to Leo's words, Chloe submerged her mouth in the water and blew bubbles with a pout.
Crackle— Pop—
Amidst the sound of the crackling firewood.
The silent Chloe finally spoke.
“Leo.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you okay? It must be freezing.”
Even for a monster of stamina like Leo, being exposed to this cold wave must be exhausting him.
Besides, his whole body was wet, lowering his body temperature and continuously draining his strength.
‘And right now, mana itself isn't flowing.’
She didn't know what kind of curse it was, but it was certainly a terrifying one.
Not just magical power, but Aura and spiritual power too.
None of them could be manifested.
“I'm holding up.”
At Leo's reply, Chloe once again submerged her mouth in the water.
After blowing bubbles once more, Chloe spoke with a determined expression.
“Leo. If you stay like that, won't it be physically draining even for you? I… I'm not saying this with any strange intentions, but… how about getting in the hot spring?”
She spoke in a slightly trembling, yet endlessly serious voice.
Thump— Thump—
The sound of Leo's footsteps approached.
Leo's large shadow appeared on the cave wall, then began to shrink.
Seeing this, Chloe pressed herself tightly against the side of the spring.
Leo arrived at the edge of the hot spring and asked seriously.
“Are you really okay with this?”
“This is an emergency.”
Leo watched Chloe avert her gaze, trying her best to remain composed, and let out a small sigh.
“Turn around.”
At his words, Chloe turned her head to face the opposite direction.
Rustle— Slap—
She heard the sound of wet clothes falling to the ground.
The sound of him undressing made her heart pound like crazy.
‘Clear your mind. Clear your mind. Runic symbols are…!’
Her face beet red, Chloe began to frantically recite runic symbols in her head.
Splash—
Ripples spread through the water.
As the small waves from the spring lapped against her back, Chloe's body went rigid.
Every single current felt intense.
‘Wait. Now that I think about it, this is mixed bathing, isn't it? Am I not doing something completely outrageous right now?’
Chloe's mouth opened and closed silently.
She had made the suggestion simply thinking it was an emergency and that Leo shouldn't be exposed to the cold, but with a little more thought, it was a truly absurd thing to do.
‘He doesn't think I'm some weird girl, does he?’
She was confident Leo wasn't the type to do anything strange.
But more than that, she was worried about what Leo thought of her.
Her head started spinning with all sorts of thoughts.
“Thanks for worrying about me.”
Just then, Leo spoke.
Hearing him, Chloe exaggerated her composure and said.
“We're in an isolated situation. We can't afford to waste stamina. So, don't turn your head this way.”
“Right.”
“By the way, it's a little cramped for two people.”
The spring wasn't small, but it wasn't spacious enough for two people to relax comfortably.
“If you're okay with it, lean against my back. It'll be more comfortable.”
Chloe's shoulders flinched.
Glancing around nervously, Chloe carefully leaned her back against Leo's.
She felt more comfortable, but her heart was pounding like crazy.
Leo's warmth was distinctly different from the water's heat.
Suddenly self-conscious, she hugged her knees to her chest and wiggled her toes.
“Chloe.”
“Yes?!”
Chloe jumped, startled by Leo's call.
“Do you like hot springs?”
“Yeah. Most people from the northern continent do. It's a cold region.”
“Then you should come visit Duncan during winter break.”
“Ah. That's right, Duncan is part of your country now, isn't it?”
Chloe smiled, recalling the famous hot spring tourist city.
“How are the hot springs in Duncan?”
“I went with Chelsea; they were nice.”
“Ah. Chelsea… What? You went to a hot spring with Chelsea?!”
“We were wearing swimsuits, so don't get any weird ideas.”
At Leo's words, Chloe submerged her mouth and blew bubbles.
Feeling awkward, but sensing that silence would only make her more conscious of the situation, Chloe spoke up.
“Anyway, you said this mana-freezing phenomenon was a curse, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Just what was that Sorcerer King to have caused such a powerful curse?”
“...”
Other than the fierce blizzard that had started to rage, there hadn't been any other dangers.
But if this had been a combat situation, having their abilities sealed would have been a major crisis.
“Leo. You said you've experienced a curse like this before, right? When was that?”
“Briefly, when I fought Erebos.”
Unable to tell the whole truth, Leo mixed in a small lie.
“Back then, all the mana in the surrounding area was burned away in an instant.”
“...And now, it's frozen.”
Chloe fell into thought.
‘And that snow.’
Chloe recalled what happened a little while ago.
The snow that wouldn't melt.
She had collected some in an empty potion bottle to examine it, but it had already melted.
‘What was left after the snow melted was just ordinary water.’
The medium, water, wasn't special.
That means the power that froze the water is what's special.
“A phenomenon similar to the curse during the battle with Erebos. And ice that doesn't melt.”
Connecting the keywords, Chloe spoke seriously to Leo.
“Leo, could this be related to a fragment of Erebos?”
“That's highly unlikely.”
“Why?”
“You think that monster was called the Flame of Calamity for nothing?”
An evil god who hated the world and sought to burn it all to ruin.
The absolute Flame of Calamity.
That was Erebos.
Erebos used all sorts of powers.
But up until the moment he was defeated by his own hand, he had never seen Erebos use any abilities related to ice.
‘But.’
The attribute was certainly different.
But just as Chloe said, this current phenomenon was exhibiting characteristics of Erebos.
‘I'll have to ask Lian when I get back to the academy.’
When it came to Erebos, Lian, a god, knew best.
“By the way, how's that ice clone research you mentioned at the entrance ceremony going?”
“Yeah! There hasn't been much progress, but I feel like I've found a clue!”
Chloe's eyes sparkled.
“Your advice to approach it with multiverse theory was a huge help! The theory itself posits that the world splits at every choice, creating divergent points…”
An excited Chloe began to rattle off her magic theories.
‘…Maybe I shouldn't have asked.’
Watching the excited Chloe, Leo scratched his cheek.
He had momentarily forgotten that this bright, vivacious girl's passion and love for magic was no less than Luna's.
The realm of magic isn't confined to just combat.
Exploration and research.
The desire to satisfy one's intellectual curiosity.
In that respect, Chloe was much more of a mage than Leo.
To Leo, magic was a tool for defeating enemies—a weapon. But to Chloe, magic was a boundless field of study.
And in terms of academic talent, Chloe was undoubtedly a genius.
Their fundamental approaches were so different that, while it might not have been apparent in their first or second year.
Now in their third year, watching Chloe discuss complex magic theories reminded him of Luna.
‘She resembles Lisinas, too.’
As the one called the King of Wisdom, Lisinas also had a strong thirst for knowledge.
Someone like that was a good debate partner for Luna, who knew nothing but magic.
‘While Luna's curiosity was purely confined to magic, Lisinas's curiosity extended to all things.’
And Chloe's curiosity wasn't limited to just magic either.
Chloe, who enjoyed learning through voracious reading, had quite a few similarities to Lisinas.
‘She's good at chess, too.’
Leo was thinking of his two companions when…
“Leo?”
Whap—!
When Leo seemed lost in thought, Chloe grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around to face her.
“Are you even listening to me?!”
Chloe protested, her face full of dissatisfaction.
Leo's red eyes and Chloe's blue eyes met in mid-air.
Absorbed in her talk about magic theory, she seemed to have momentarily forgotten their situation.
Leo closed his eyes and leaned his head back.
At his action, Chloe understood the situation and her mouth fell open.
Heat flooded her face.
An embarrassment incomparable to anything she'd felt before washed over her.
Her reason paralyzed and every sense in her body on high alert, Chloe remained frozen, her mouth agape.
Drip—
A cold drop of water, condensed on the ceiling from the steam, fell onto Chloe's back.
“Hyaak?!”
Splash—!
The sudden cold drop on her back made Chloe yelp and lurch forward.
And she unintentionally fell right into Leo's arms.
Her thoughts ground to a halt. Chloe froze for a moment, then scrambled back in shock.
“S-Sorry! I'm sorry, Leo!”
“Nothing to apologize for. Oh, looks like the mana is back.”
Leo said calmly.
“I-It is! Th-That's a relief… a… relief… Hauuu!”
Chloe covered her face with her hands, and Leo, chuckling at her reaction, stood up.
“Let's just call it an accident.”
“Right, an accident! An accident! Ahahahaha!”
Chloe laughed awkwardly.
Leo used magic to dry the water from his body.
He also dried the clothes by the campfire and put them on.
Chloe, who had been calming her wildly beating heart in the hot spring, carefully spoke up.
“Leo. I'm saying this just in case, but… you can't tell anyone about this, okay? Especially not Karl.”
“I won't, so don't worry.”
At his words, Chloe let out a sigh of relief.
“By the way, Chloe. You're bigger than I thought…”
“Say one more word and I'll turn even you into a human sorbet.”
“So bloodthirsty. Let's get ready to go.”
Leo chuckled and walked away, leaving Chloe to bury her face in the hot spring again.
‘I'm so embarrassed I could die.’
Bubble bubble bubble bubble.
After trying to shake off her thoughts for a while, Chloe took a deep breath and got out of the spring.
Then she got dressed.
As she tried to clear her head, her mind involuntarily drifted back to what had just happened.
‘Come to think of it, Celia and Xia were on the softer side, but Leo is definitely firm, probably because of his muscles.’
Standing there blankly, subconsciously comparing him to the female students of the Knight Division, Chloe suddenly slammed her forehead against the wall.
Thud—!
‘Ah! Seriously! What am I comparing! Chloe Müller! This makes me seem like a total pervert!’
Shaking her head vigorously to dispel the stray thoughts, Chloe neatly tied her ribbon tie and headed toward Leo.
“Let's go, Leo.”
The blizzard had also stopped.
Leo, waiting outside the cave, stared at the composed-looking Chloe and said.
“Chloe, you're bleeding.”
“What?!”
Chloe yelped and wiped her nose.
“...No, from your forehead.”
“Ah!”
Chloe hurriedly cast a healing spell on her forehead.
Watching her, Leo clicked his tongue.
“Kids these days.”