02. A Peculiar Daily Life
02. A Peculiar Daily Life
A silent space, save for the dim light of glowing moss and the sound of falling water drops.
A safe zone that remains unchanged even when the labyrinth's Alteration occurs.
A short time had passed since I gave Laila a name.
The wound on my abdomen and the burns on my legs were gradually improving thanks to Laila's treatment.
"Hut...."
Sreuk
"Kkyuu?"
"I'm o-fine.... Ut, it's not because it hurts."
Since most of my clothes and equipment burned away, I didn't even have first-aid supplies to use as bandages.
Instead, I was treating and protecting my wounds with the slime Laila applied with her tentacles.
I forced myself to endure the subtle pleasure felt along with the warmth from the tentacles and spoke.
"Now.... Ha-ut, my senses have come back, so I can do it myself..."
The creature cried out while making an X shape with its tentacles, as if telling the patient to stay still.
"Alright..."
'Somehow, communication flows so naturally....'
In this dark cave at first, left alone after being betrayed by my comrades, Laila became my only conversational partner.
Life in my hometown, friends, the war against the Demon King, and the adventures I went on after becoming a hero.
Both happy things and painful things spilled from my mouth, and Laila listened as if understanding every single thing.
When I told the story of the flowers I grew in the village and gave her a name, she rejoiced.
When I missed the friend left behind in my hometown, she held my hand with warm tentacles as if comforting me.
At stories of the war, the creature trembled as if scared, and upon hearing the story of my betrayal, she bristled her body sharply as if angry.
Gradually, I let down my guard around this small tentacle creature, and now I was being nursed while receiving food from Laila.
But....
'Now that I know she understands human speech, it's even more embarrassing when moans slip out while getting treated...!'
She is working hard purely for the purpose of treatment, yet the patient herself is making weird groans.
If I had acted like this while being treated by a priest at the cathedral, I would have immediately run away and hidden in a room.
Unfortunately, there was nowhere to run in the labyrinth.
"Kkyat, ha-euk!"
Whether I felt embarrassed or not, only my shameful groans continued to echo through the dark cave.
Waking up from the sound of the labyrinth altering after falling asleep exhausted from treatment, I looked around.
'Is she coming to give me that food... now?'
At first it was awkward, but no, actually it's still embarrassing, around this time Laila gives me food.
And she feeds it into my mouth like a mother bird feeding its chicks.
'At first, thinking some weird liquid entered my mouth, I spat it right out, but....'
When a startled me knocked it away, Laila drooped with a reaction that looked immensely heartbroken.
The creature showed me by dipping into the liquid I spat out and putting it into what looked like a mouth.
As if trying to say that this was something to eat.
After tasting it afterward, I found out it had a sweet taste like the juice of delicious fruit.
Unable to move, I ended up having the 'fruit juice' brought by Laila as my meal.
'However, the way I eat it is a bit....'
While worrying about the 'meal' I was about to have, Laila had arrived before I knew it.
The creature wagged its body as if a puppy that brought a ball wanted to be praised.
"Yeah, you worked hard today too, Laila. Thank you."
I gently stroked Laila's round, soft body.
Trembling with joy, the creature soon handed me a single tentacle.
"Chyub."
I gently took the tentacle Laila handed me into my mouth.
Sweet liquid gradually began to flow from the tip of the tentacle, and unable to resist my hunger, I began to suck on it.
"Heub, churyub"
The worry about the 'meal' vanished before I knew it, and I fell into the sweetness provided by the tentacle.
"Chub, cough!"
As I choked and coughed while drinking the liquid, forgetting even to breathe, Laila stroked my head as if telling me to eat slowly.
"Keheuk, sorry, I was too impatient, wasn't I?"
As my sanity returned after sucking away frantically in hunger, embarrassment washed over me.
The sight of me devouring it like a beast, and sucking on a tentacle at that.
I wondered if I might have accidentally chewed on the tentacle.
"I didn't hurt you, did I?"
At my question, the creature replied as if it was fine and offered the tentacle again.
"Yeah, I should eat everything you prepared. Thank you."
Being careful not to make a mistake this time, I resumed my meal.
After the somewhat embarrassing mealtime, the cave hollow grew quiet again.
"Laila, can you give me your hand?"
Ever since I taught her how to shake hands, Laila seemed to understand that her tentacles corresponded to human hands.
I kneaded Laila's tentacles, enjoying the soft texture.
Life in the cave hollow is very boring. It's hard to move due to my injuries, and my only conversational partner is a single tentacle monster.
Therefore, during my conscious hours, I spend time stroking Laila's tentacles or body, joking around, and talking.
That's how I somehow hide my loneliness.
'You're definitely coming back, right, Lily? You're not going to dump your childhood friend and run off to the royal capital just because you became famous, right?'
'Don't get hurt, make sure to eat your meals. Don't skip meals just because it's a hassle.'
"I miss you, Mari.... omma, appa...."
As I muttered while holding Laila's warm hand, the creature placed a tentacle on my head and stroked it.
"Puhut, are you comforting me?"
As I often petted Laila, at some point, she started petting my head too.
Whether groaning in the pain of my wounds or suddenly feeling sad like this. Though our languages didn't match, she touched me with that warm touch.
"Laila. Will you come closer?"
The creature hesitated for a moment and then soon approached me. I hugged such Laila into my arms.
A soft yet warm texture, and the sweet scent of slime that I had now grown used to.
'Before you leave, give me a hug once, Lily.'
'Yeah, Mari. I'll definitely come back. Wait for me.'
Laila, who came into my arms, seemed flustered at first, but soon relaxed her body and hugged my body back with her tentacles in the same way.
"This is a hug. How is it? Warm, right?"
Feeling the warmth in my arms, I gradually drifted off to sleep.
That day, I didn't have a nightmare.
Repeating the routine of being treated by Laila, eating, talking, and sleeping together, my wounds were almost healed.
"Wow... even the burn scars didn't remain."
When I touched my legs after the treatment ended, the grotesque appearance of scorched flesh was nowhere to be seen, and they had returned to pure white skin.
The piercing wound on my abdomen and the fractures from the fall seemed to have been completely healed as well. Filled with joy, I tried to stand up and walk right away, but.
"Uat!"
Laila caught me as my legs gave out and I collapsed.
"Ahaha, I'll need to start with rehabilitation first...."
As I smiled awkwardly, Laila stretched out a tentacle and held my hand.
"Are you supporting me?"
I grabbed the creature's hand and stood precariously on trembling legs.
"Huu.... Here goes."
Receiving Laila's assistance, I slowly took a step forward.
"Ut...."
Muscles that had been stiff and unable to move screamed as they moved. I wanted to collapse in pain right away, but I didn't want to show such a side to you, who was holding me.
One step, two steps. I began to walk like a newborn baby taking its first steps. A short distance that a hero could cross in a single step felt as distant as a thousand-li road.
But looking only at you right before my eyes, I take steps one by one.
And when I finally reached the end of the cave hollow, an exhausted me hugged you.
"Thank you, Laila. It's thanks to you."
You in my arms stroke me as if thinking I'm admirable. You help me, a worthless person who is no longer a hero or anything, with all your heart.
"Really.... Thank you."
If I'm with you, even if I was abandoned in this world, I feel like I can live on just a little longer.
Several days had passed since I started rehabilitation.
Unlike the past when I was only being nursed, I started exploring slightly outside the cave hollow, which was a safe zone, together with Laila, collecting food, drinking water, and the like.
The problem was that the drinking water and food we found were all filled with demonic energy.
'That's only natural since it's the depths of the labyrinth, but....'
When we found the water source and I saw it was filled with demonic energy and tried to give up and turn back, Laila swallowed it in large amounts.
And after swallowing the plants we found as well, Laila returned to her cute, small form once more, as if asking when she had ever grown that big.
Returning to the cave hollow, we had mealtime with Laila. I decided not to think about what on earth this nutrient fluid was.
'Breast milk? Food digested in the stomach? Or.... No, let's stop thinking here....'
The food Laila gave me was still sweet.
'However, how is it that the nutrient fluid Laila gives has no demonic energy? Even high priests find it difficult to purify materials from the labyrinth.'
My rehabilitation exercises changed a little bit too.
"Ha-ut, eu-ut...."
I forced myself to ignore the sensation felt in my lower abdomen and moved my legs.
There was no trace of trembling legs like a newborn deer. I needed to recover my strength to explore the labyrinth, and I was already able to run.
And the method for that lay with Laila.
"Laila, can you give me some water?"
Having run the targeted distance, I stopped for a moment and drank the water. Warm water with a faint sweet lilac scent moistened my lips.
Wetting my throat, I lowered my head and looked at Laila.
Not lying on the floor, but Laila wrapping around my abdomen and legs.