Elena Ru
When Keira was hovering between life and death, I called Garam.
He was the only one I could turn to for help.
Calling him meant I had already decided to reveal Keira's true identity.
Garam would come and see her face—what was I supposed to tell him then?
A foreigner? Sure, that might buy us a moment. But what about after?
Keira had two major constraints. First, she couldn't enter a Gate unless she was with me. Second, she had no ties anywhere in this world. Calling her a simple foreigner couldn't explain either of those things.
Keep both secrets forever? Maybe if it were just the two of us living alone. Out of sight, out of mind. But if we had to keep living around other people, the truth would eventually come out.
Right now I needed the crew's help. Especially Garam—I had no choice but to keep working with him. Whoever this unknown enemy was, they clearly meant to terrorize me, and the only people who could protect me were my crewmates.
So it was better to come clean from the start. Better to build trust now than leave them feeling betrayed later.
More than anything, I didn't want to hide it from Garam. When I asked for help earlier, he said he'd come running as if it were his own problem. Anyone who hasn't been in that position can't understand how that feels. It really was like gaining a thousand allies at once.
In the end Elena became the one who saved Keira's life—but if Elena hadn't come? Garam would have been my savior instead.
"...So that's how it was. That's why you never showed me your Gate all this time."
I had kept turning down Garam's offers to explore my Gate for free. Claimed I'd already tried it and there was nothing special.
"Yes. I'm sorry for lying."
"No, it's fine. With circumstances like these, of course you'd hide it. But the fact that you're telling me now means..."
"That's right. I want the crew to protect us."
That had been the original reason I joined a crew in the first place—a decent shield.
"Hmm... If it's GGC, they won't just fall apart over something like this. If word got out that she's an otherworlder it might make some noise, but there wouldn't be any real practical gain... right? She doesn't have some monopoly technology or anything, does she?"
"She is a mage."
"...Just a mage makes it a little close. You're a mage too, after all. One more mage isn't going to change much."
"That's a relief. Will the Guild Master say anything?"
"The Guild Master? She'll give the okay right away. She's got plenty on her plate, but this is your business, isn't it? The guy who saved Nayeon. For a while, she'll accept pretty much anything you say."
Kim Nayeon, standing nearby, cleared her throat in embarrassment.
"Ah, that's good to hear. Honestly most of the credit isn't mine—it's Keira's. I just helped. Nayeon's real savior is Keira."
"Is that so? Then there's even less to worry about. The Guild Master will handle it properly. You'll see—she's got real skill. Building a crew of this size at her age isn't something just anyone can do."
"Yes, I know. That's why I chose GGC."
"Good. Then I'll go report to the Guild Master. Nayeon's staying here, right?"
"Yes, Oppa."
Kim Nayeon nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world, but I couldn't quite keep up with the conversation.
"Of course she has to stay. What if another attack comes?"
"Ah..."
"And give me your family's contact info. I'll tell them to go somewhere safe for a while... No, actually, I'll just have them come to the crew house."
"What? Do we really need to go that far?"
"Ugh. You little smart-ass. Of course we do. Someone who can hit you in broad daylight in the middle of Seoul is capable of anything. Don't treat them like a normal opponent. Got it?"
I had nothing to say back. I really was just a dumbass pretending to be clever.
"In situations like this you just listen to Garam Oppa and nod. That's all you need to do."
"Ah... okay."
"Alright, I'm heading out. Nayeon, take care of things."
"Don't worry."
Once Garam left, an awkward silence settled over the hospital room. Most of the talking had been between him and me.
"Ahem."
Kim Nayeon broke the air with a cough.
"I never got to greet you properly last time. I was in no condition to look presentable."
Last time? Ah...
"It's fine. I heard the shock was severe."
"...It's all my fault for being such a bad judge of people. I'll step outside. You two look like you have things to talk about."
"You don't have to—"
But Kim Nayeon was already out the door before I could finish. She clearly didn't want to sit through the awkwardness. And she probably still wasn't ready to be around people.
"..."
"(...)"
Wait—did we actually have something to talk about? I thought we'd already covered everything.
"Ah, um..."
I started to say something to Elena, then noticed her face looked more translucent than before. Had it already been an hour?
"(What is it?)"
"I think it's time to recharge again."
"(...Already?)"
There was no helping it. Elena shed the padded jacket and returned to her thin clothes. I kissed the back of her left hand and transferred mana. My control was still terrible, so once again I had no choice but to touch her chest.
"It's done."
At my words Elena spun around and pulled the jacket back on. Her expression had gone stiff. Of course it would—some man she'd just met groping her chest. I didn't feel great about it either. It felt like I was doing something wrong to the person who had saved a life.
I could only hope this next question might ease her mood even a little.
"Could you tell me about Lord Ru of Compassion and Love?"
"(Of course!)"
Thankfully, Elena's face lit up at once. My ears were going to suffer a bit, but this much I could handle.
Five hours later.
In that time I had touched Elena's body more times than I could count, and my ears had paid the price. At first it was bearable. I was even starting to develop a kind of faith of my own. But listening to an endless story for hours on end was exhausting. Where did all that passion come from? She really was the Thirteenth Sword.
The Thirteenth Sword came up during the conversation, too. There were only thirteen Swords of Ru in total. In other words, she was one of the absolute top-tier fighters of her world.
Anyway, five hours passed before Keira finally opened her eyes.
"...Jungmin?"
"Keira, you're awake? Are you okay?"
I went straight to the bed at the sound of her calling my name. Her face looked a little haggard, which somehow only made her more mysterious.
"Mmph."
The first thing Keira did the moment she saw me was pull me into a deep kiss. I was a little flustered—Elena was right there, eyes wide open, staring straight at us.
"Chuuup, mmph."
The kiss went on for quite a while. Pushing Keira away never even crossed my mind. You don't shove away someone who just came back from the brink of death. I would keep going until she was satisfied.
"Haaang..."
"No, Keira, wait a second."
But when she started trying to strip my clothes off, I had to stop her. She looked at me as if to ask why, so I pointed at Elena. Elena had turned her head away from us, the back of her neck flushed red.
"...Who is that?"
"An otherworlder. The one who saved you."
"Saved me? Ah..."
Keira touched her chest in surprise. The hole that had been blasted clean through was gone without a single scar.
"At this level... a cleric?"
"She says she's a Holy Knight of Ru."
"Ru?"
"You don't know?"
"No. First time I've heard of it."
Huh? Then...
"She's not from Archenia, then."
That would explain it. Could there really be yet another world?
"Lady Elena, where did you come from? This is Keira Mustang, from Archenia."
"(...Archenia? I've never heard of it. I come from the continent of Keruon. It's the largest continent in our world.)"
So Elena was from Keruon. Another dimension entirely—just how far did my ability reach?
"She says she came from the continent of Keruon."
"Looks like you've already formed a contract."
"No. Nothing like what you're thinking. I only transferred mana and magical power."
"...Really?"
"Yeah, really."
Keira's expression rose and fell. Cute little jealousy. She slowly got up and stood in front of Elena.
"Translate for me. Tell her thank you so much for saving me."
"She says she's truly grateful that you saved her."
Keira bowed at the waist as I spoke. Elena raised her shield and sword in response.
"(As a Sword of Ru, I only did what was natural.)"
"As a Sword of Ru, I only did what was natural."
A mage and a Holy Knight from different otherworlds, with me standing between them as interpreter. Not a bad picture, actually.
"Then, could you step outside for a moment?"
"Then, just a mom— wait, why?"
I had been mindlessly translating Keira's words and stopped mid-sentence.
"We have something to talk about."
"Ah, if that's the case. Lady Elena, would you mind waiting outside for a bit? The two of us need to talk."
"(Understood.)"
I stepped out and asked Kim Nayeon to look after Elena as well. She had been standing in the hallway for five hours straight without a single complaint. I really needed to repay her properly someday. I couldn't keep living off other people's help like this...
I had to get stronger. Whether it was power or money.
Keira scratched the itch I hadn't even voiced.
"You need to get stronger."
"I was thinking the same thing."
"So let's do it."
"Do what?"
"Have sex."
She said it like it was as natural as an apple falling from a tree.
"...Why is that coming up right now?"
"Because of your contract."
"The contract? Ah... but that only raises potential a little, right?"
"Potential is more important than anything. Stats only go up if potential goes up first."
She was right. Without remaining potential, stats simply didn't rise. People talked about breaking through limits sometimes, but it was probably an extremely rare chance rather than a common one.
"But I haven't even hit my potential limit yet."
"Potential still matters. The more potential you have left, the faster your stats climb."
"...I had no idea. Completely news to me."
"Looks like this world still doesn't know that."
It was also knowledge that was mostly useless even if you knew it. There were almost no direct ways to raise the potential ceiling.
"Sorry to keep poking holes, but the contract says potential only rises slightly. Is there really a reason to have sex for training?"
"I don't know the full details, but from your perspective or mine, it's anything but slight."
"What do you mean?"
"That 'slight' amount took my potential from 49 to 50. The difference between 49 and 50 is nothing like the difference between 48 and 49—it's huge. Once that goes up, you can't call it slight."
"Then what about me? I only went from 15 to 16."
"If my guess is right, you'll hit 17 right away."
"Right away? But we went at it like crazy."
Embarrassing as it was to say out loud, we really had done it like animals. Every single day, without rest.
"No. I've been here about two months. Subtract the first few days and the days you went into the Gate... we've only done it for about two weeks total. And even during those two weeks it was only three or four times at most."
Huh?
'Every single day, without rest' translated into that?
Had my math been that off?
"See? It's definitely not slight, is it?"
"W-well, yeah..."
"So if we go nonstop for just one week from now, your potential will hit 20. Let's aim for that first."
The sparkle in Keira's eyes was not my imagination. Hadn't she just woken up? When had she even thought all this through?
Rustle.
She was breathtaking as she slipped out of the patient gown, but I was flustered enough that I took a step back. Of course she didn't care and closed the distance again.
"Wait, there are people outside."
"I need to recharge my mana too. Let's do it once and think later."
"Fine. But at least let me say something first."
I slipped past her and opened the door. The two of them were standing a distance apart in the hallway.
"Please don't come into the room. And don't listen to any sounds. I'm begging y— ah!"
Keira yanked me back by the waist before I could finish.
Click.
The sound of the door closing rang like a death sentence—or maybe that was just me.
"Mmph, chuuup."
Whether it was or not, Keira's lips were sweet. My lower half heated up hard, atmosphere be damned.
"Haa, mmph, Jungmin, more, haaht!"
Maybe coming back from death made the libido boil over. Mine and hers both. Was this what they called survival instinct?
The hospital room grew hot in no time.