67
My Villains Chapter 67
18. Erenar Radakalin (3)
Finally, Ellen's heart stopped.
"No, no."
My hands trembled violently.
What should I do? CPR? No, no....
With a sensation like lightning striking my head, I quickly raised Hrunting.
"Right, blood transfusion. Blood transfusion."
Muttering stupidly, I made a long cut across my left palm. The wound that had been slowly healing split open again, and blood gushed out.
Where should I pierce for a transfusion? Should I pierce the inner elbow like when donating blood? What if our blood types don't match? If bacteria get in....
"Phew."
After taking a deep breath to clear my thoughts, I pierced Ellen's inner elbow. Then I quickly pressed my left hand against the wound.
The blood flowing through my left hand was still under my control. I gritted my teeth and heightened my blood sense while exerting blood manipulation to its extreme.
Then I could feel blood weakly flowing from Ellen's arm. Additionally, I could sense Ellen's skin and the blood vessels beneath it, as if feeling them with my fingers.
I carefully manipulated the blood and pushed it into Ellen's veins. Ellen's blood resisted firmly against the intrusion, but my blood, infused with magical power, forced its way through the wound, behaving wildly.
Gulp.
Following my will, an enormous amount of blood flowed into Ellen. As the blood guided by blood manipulation invaded the body, Ellen's blood shattered and retreated.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
My heart began to beat violently.
The heart containing the essence of blood manipulation pounded as if it would break my ribs, pumping new blood. Life force rivaling that of a medium-sized monster assisted this process.
Gulp, gulp.
Blood equivalent to that of one adult person rushed toward Ellen's heart. As the enormous amount of blood charged forward carrying magical power, Ellen's blood melted away pitifully. Like an attacking army pushing aside weak defenders, it conquered the heart in one breath.
"Hnngh-"
Ugh, I'm dizzy- is it anemia?
I gritted my teeth and controlled the blood.
I could clearly feel the blood flowing through Ellen's body. The blood circulating through every corner of her body etched an image of Ellen's insides in my head.
Whatever the full-body image might be, my target was the heart anyway.
The blood that had rushed in all at once inflated Ellen's heart fully before flowing out through the arteries. I repeated this process five times, six times, seven times, violently pumping the sleeping heart.
Thump, thump, thump!
"Ha, haah-"
It's beating, Ellen's heart is beating!
'...No, it's fortunate enough that at least the robe is intact.'
Clutching the robe inherited from her ancestors, the mage slowly chanted a spell. It was a spell to summon the 'Spirit of Dance'.
"Exaudi me, devartar ventum (Obey me, incarnation of wind)-"
At that moment, footsteps were heard from above. Ellen calmly continued her spell while listening. Soon, the footsteps stopped.
When the ceiling suddenly began to rumble, Ellen quickly summoned the Spirit of Dance and started chanting another spell. Thanks to pouring in considerable magic, the fire arrow took shape instantly.
Crack.
"Ignis (Fire)!"
As soon as the ceiling opened, the fire arrow shot out,
"Ugh?"
Along with a familiar voice, a man swung his sword to deflect the fire arrow. However,
Whoosh!
"Aagh!"
"Eh, eeh?"
The magic that hit the sword lost its form and spewed flames following inertia, and the man's arms were instantly engulfed in flames. Thanks to that brilliant illumination, Ellen could immediately recognize the man's face.
"Pho, Phoenix?"
"Oh no-"
"-Holy sh*t!"
What kind of bolt from the blue is this!
I screamed and frantically rolled on the ground.
Tap tap tap.
After repeatedly beating my arms against the damp earth floor to extinguish the flames, I shouted.
"Are you crazy? What kind of stunt is this!"
"We-well, how could you appear so suddenly! You startled me!"
"That doesn't mean you should shoot magic without warning!"
"Well, you should have made your presence known first!"
"What? Talk about shifting blame... Geez, I can't even hit you for this."
Swallowing my anger, I fumbled around near Ellen and sat down with a thud.
"Really unlucky. How can you wake up right now after sleeping for four days straight?"
"...Four days?"
"Yeah, you troublemaker. Light something up!"
"Where? I can't see anything right now."
"Sheesh."
I grabbed Ellen's hand and placed it against Hrunting's blade surface. Soon the 'Burning Weapon' spell was completed, brightening the surroundings, and that kid let out a shriek.
“Eek! What are you doing, you crazy person!”
Oh really- making a fuss right after waking up.
“...Can't you just be quiet for a moment?”
The reason Ellen suddenly screamed was because of my appearance.
Well, I'd be startled too if a shirtless man suddenly appeared in the darkness.
“Wh-what, why are you dressed like that?”
“You know those bandages, blankets, and this water pouch? They're all made from my clothes, you know? Instead of being grateful, you're calling me crazy.”
The kid felt their body and then looked up with a stiff expression.
“...Wait. Where's my necklace?”
“Necklace? What necklace?”
“The carnation necklace. The one woven with ragweed.”
“Oh, that bracelet? You wore that as a necklace? What about the rash?”
“Obviously over my undergarments,” Ellen answered with a frown, then took a short breath.
Regardless of the kid's reaction, I examined my burned arms.
Hmm, thanks to the Dragon Slayer's seal's flame resistance? It doesn't seem to be second-degree burns... Still, it'll take a full half-day to heal completely.
'Damn, this is going to burn through so many calories.'
It's heartbreaking to waste my precious calories that I worked so hard to build up eating disgusting bugs on something like this.
Then, Ellen asked in a trembling voice.
“...Where are my undergarments?”
“They're wrapped around your stomach.”
“Then, don't tell me this is?”
Ellen's face turned red while fidgeting under the leather clothes.
“You, you, then, perhaps-“
“There wasn't anything else suitable for bandages. Don't worry, I washed out all the blood.”
Ellen's mouth opened and closed for a moment before shutting tight again.
I stuck my sword into a pile of gathered shrubs and lit them on fire.
“Oh, it catches quickly.”
The fragments of shrubs salvaged from the dugout all had thin stems and were quickly consumed by the fire. I gathered dried shell fragments and wings and threw them into the fire.
“So, what happened to my necklace?”
“Hmm, not sure? Don't think I saw it.”
Ah, could it be?
“While doing first aid, something like water weeds got in the way so I removed it, could that have been it?”
“...What?”
“I wondered why it was so tough, so that must have been the ragweed. It was too dark to see properly.”
“Wh-what did you say?”
At my answer, Ellen's eyes blazed with anger and threw the blanket she was covered with straight at me.
“Whoa,”
Because I instinctively leaned back to dodge, the blanket caught fire.
“Aah, hey, it's on fire!”
“Too dark to see? You crazy person, you throw away someone else's things and that's it?”
I quickly patted the blanket on the ground to extinguish the fire, then asked with a sigh.
“Look, it's nothing special, why are you making such a fuss over some weed?”
“Some weed? You-“
Just before Ellen's voice rose, I quickly covered their mouth.
“-mmph?”
I whispered quietly while meeting the widened eyes.
“Be quiet for a moment.”
In the silence, I perked up my ears while holding my breath. I could hear scratching sounds from far away, but they didn't seem to be heading this way.
After listening for a while, I released Ellen and warned,
“There are quite a few dangerous monsters nearby. We can't make noise.”
“...Okay.'"
"The kid who gave a short answer avoided my gaze while keeping their mouth shut for some reason. Then she hunched her shoulders, pulled her leather clothes tighter, and hung her head low.
Seeing her awkward or embarrassed gestures, I let out a bitter smile before suddenly rummaging through the pouch tied at my waist.
“Here.”
“...What's this?”
What I handed to Ellen was a small carving. The wooden carving looked like a fish at first glance, and aside from some water stains and bruises here and there, it was in fairly good shape.
“A dolphin carving. Well, they say it gives wisdom in making friends.”
“Where did you get it?”
“From where I bought your bracelet.”
“Ah....”
Ellen quietly fiddled with the carving. Watching this, I carefully opened my mouth.
“That bracelet, its effect probably wore off anyway? It's been almost 2 weeks since we bought it, so the flowers must have wilted.”
“...It was still decent.”
“I'll buy you another one, so don't feel too bad. Until then, let's consider this a replacement.”
The kid didn't give any answer, but her expression seemed to improve considerably.
“So, are you feeling alright?”
“...Yeah. I think I'm okay.”
“Let me see.”
“Ah, wh-what are you-”
When I reached out, Ellen twisted her shoulders in alarm but soon had her arm restrained and ended up presenting her back. I firmly pressed my palm against one side of her delicate back.
Thump, thump!
I can feel the pulse of life. If it's this clear through the back, it must be beating very healthily without a doubt.
But somehow feeling uneasy, I drew up my blood energy.
I can sense the blood that originated from me. Though it wasn't intact anymore since several days had passed since the transfusion, my power still faintly reached the blood flowing through Ellen's vessels.
Through that power, I could confirm there was nothing wrong with the kid's heart.
“Your heart seems fine.”
To the kid who kept her mouth shut, I carefully asked.
“Do you know you almost died?”
“...Yes.”
Seeing Ellen nod more quietly than expected, I kept my mouth shut for a moment. I was somehow caught up in complicated feelings.
I let out a small sigh and opened my mouth.
“I'm sorry.”
“...For what.”
“Every time I left you alone, something bad happened, and this time too.”
Ellen, who had been hanging her head low, shook it slightly.
“No, no. That was my…”
“I'm sorry about Luke, that crazy bastard too. I accepted him as a companion without discussing it with you once, and this is what happened.”
“It's not your fault. Anyone would have been fooled.”
Though Ellen shook her head while speaking, she couldn't help but grit her teeth.
Damn, almost dying after being deceived by an alt character. Does this make any sense?
I looked down at the white-lit crown of her head in the firelight while suppressing my anger.
“...You. Did you really intend to leave alone like that?”
“No, that was…”
Ellen took a moment to steady her breath before continuing.
'I did it impulsively. I was just so angry at that moment.'
“...About, that Daria thing”
“No, stop.”
The kid shook her head vigorously while keeping it down.
“We don't need to talk about that. What business is it of mine who you sleep with?”
“Uh-”
“That was just... My mistake. So, don't talk about it.”
Silence fell again.
After keeping her head down for a moment, Ellen rubbed her face with her sleeve and looked up.
“...I'm a bit cold.”
“Come closer to the fire here.”
“I-”
Blue eyes filled with moisture blinked a couple of times. Ellen, who had been opening and closing her mouth for a moment, struggled to speak.
“Can't you... Hold me for just a moment?”
“...Huh?”
“It's because I'm cold. Just for a moment, really just a moment.”
...What could the kid be thinking?
The heart of a girl who lived in a completely different world was not something easily guessed.
After contemplating for a moment, I finally picked up the kid. I sat them by the fire, shook out the cloak and covered her shoulders with it, then wrapped my arm around her over it.
The kid quietly buried her head in my chest.
How much time passed? Ellen fell asleep in my arms.
“...Sigh, somehow I feel troubled."