Published at 26th of August 2019 12:09 pm

Volume 1, Chapter 4: The Oath in the Forest

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

I was under the illusion that we were vainly walking in circles because the scenery hardly changed as we walked.

According to Louie, the area we were in wasn’t too far from a highway that was often used by peddlers and travelers or something. And, there was supposedly a forest coming up ahead soon.

We weren’t using the highway because it wasn’t possible to make it to Urs village in a day.

We would have to spend the night outside no matter what. Evidently, it was more dangerous on the open road because we would have nowhere to hide ourselves.

Besides, while we wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost if we took the highway, it actually took the long way around to our destination. Which would mean that we would be wasting time and that the forest was something of a shortcut.

We found the remains of a stream that had once flowed through the area. The long, meandering cavity it left behind was completely dried up.

Not only did we decide to pass through the forest because it would save time and would be safer in a crisis, but also because we needed to secure water. The entire world had become dehydrated, making it rather difficult to get your hands on any water.

Speaking of which, Louie had looked apologetic after he drank more than half of the water in my water bottle when we had first met.

“Have you been in forests this entire time?”

I felt like it would have been easier to secure food and water if he had lived in a town or village.

“It was safer than staying in a town even after taking the danger of encountering beasts into consideration. Especially at night. You would have to worry about Reims attacking all night in a town.”

“Oh, right……. You wouldn’t really get much sleep then.”

“Beasts come all the way inside of towns in search of food. And there are monsters that were freed from their summoning restraints in large towns with establishments like temples. Beasts and monsters attack regardless of the time of day. Since beasts will attack in both locations, it’s better to hide in a forest where you have a lower chance of encountering a Reim.”

I was rendered speechless by Louie’s harsh but rational explanation. Then, he turned to look at me with a serious expression on his face. He continued,

“Hibiki, there’s something I want you to promise me. Don’t ever leave my side. It’s comparatively safer now——in the morning, than it is at other times of the day, but even then, I can’t say that it’s completely safe. I want you to stay where I can see you.”

“O, okay.”

I keenly felt the tension in his voice, causing my answer to naturally become more serious in response.

I tightly grasped Eru’s steel-colored fur. I didn’t have any reins, so it was the only thing I could grab on to.

Eru turned back a little at me and growled sweetly, perhaps because he sensed my anxiety. Right, I’m not alone.

Louie, while still concerned about a possible beast attack, seemed to want to reach the village during the day when there weren’t any Reims. Every break we took was calculated, and he checked the road carefully as we walked.

I’d lost my sense of direction a long time ago, mostly due to the unchanging scenery, and I didn’t even know if we were getting closer to the village like we were supposed to be.

——I’m useless here, aren’t I?

A dark forest appeared before us as I obediently followed Louie’s instructions as we continued our travels, though I was still a little depressed.

I subconsciously furrowed my brows as I looked to it. The forest had a disquieting atmosphere to it that made me think that the words, “forest of death,” suited it quite well.

The trees that just barely still had leaves clinging on to them looked hard and on the verge of death. Their countless branches, which shot up to the heavens, were sharp. They looked like thorns.

I eventually grew fatigued even though I’d been riding on Eru’s back this entire time, maybe because I’d been so tensed up. My consciousness broke away from time to time and my body slanted diagonally.

“Hibiki, it’d be better for you to lay down, instead of sitting upright,”

Louie urged me gently, probably because he had seen me. He was trying to let me, the person who had it the easiest here, rest, instead of scolding me. ……I wonder why I’m more vexed about it than happy.

Eru was long since he was big enough to carry someone as large as Olin. He was long enough that I could lay down and sleep on him.

“I’ll call you if something happens.”

“……But…”

I bit down on my lip. Louie didn’t sleep very much last night because he’d been watching over the fire all night long. I’d slept properly the whole time, and it wasn’t like I’d done any strenuous exercise or anything either.

It was Louie who needed more rest, hands down.

“It’s only natural that there’s a difference in stamina between you, a lady, and me, someone who’s trained on a daily basis. I want you to rest a little.”

Louie hesitantly reached out and gently pressed down on my shoulder as I hung my head. I knew that I shouldn’t let this go on, but my body felt so heavy I couldn’t resist. Louie continued,

“don’t worry, and sleep.”

His words echoed within me, and——.

***

I woke up after feeling my body suddenly sway.

I grew uneasy, as I would have been if I had been made to sleep in a pitch-black room, as my mind struggled to catch up with reality.

My consciousness finally cleared up upon hearing Eru’s low warning growl from directly below my body.

I abruptly looked up to see that my surroundings were already surrounded by a heavy, fog-like darkness. The outline of the trees, darker than the night itself, shadowed the area and made it all the darker.

The sound of splashing water, the terrifying sound of something being cut down, and the sound of someone stepping on the low wild grass echoed around me in the eerie atmosphere it created and pierced my ears.

“Louie?”

A giant sword drew a white line as it brilliantly cut through the darkness and cut away at the writhing shadows.

——No way!

We’re being attacked by something dangerous——either beasts or demonbeasts!

“Louie!”

Louie’s sword mowed down the last creature as I shouted. I squinted, still astonished. There were multiple large creatures laying around Louie, who held up his sword.

With his sword still tightly in his grasp, Louie approached Eru, who was waiting on standby in the shadows, and me with long strides.

“I spilled blood. Other monsters will be here soon. Let’s hurry and move somewhere else.”

I realized that his words were directed to Eru, not me. Eru, as intelligent as always, growled in agreement and followed after Louie without hesitation.

“Now, hurry.”

I heard more beasts growling from far away. I trembled.

Louie never let his guard down even after we left the area where blood had been spilt, and Eru never once tried to stop either. He simply wove through the trees while trying to hide his breathing.

Afterward, we were attacked about twice before we finally found a place to rest.

Louie, and only Louie, had thrown himself into battle while all I could do was watch from a safe distance.

***

We decided to rest in a cave with a crooked slope that connected it to the outside that looked like an abandoned beast’s den.

Louie exercised the upmost caution as his gaze surveyed our surroundings and, after leading me inside while I was at a loss, he immediately ran back outside.

I couldn’t even call out to him because I knew that it wasn’t a smart idea to shout.

After Louie left, Eru laid down at the entrance of the den as if to seal it away.

——It was to protect me as I was still inside it.

Both Louie and Eru acted without the slightest pause, as if they had planned for this ahead of time.

All I could do was curl up and wait for Louie to return. My heart was beating loudly and fast. I’m so stupid. Why did I just fall asleep without another thought back then?

I frowned as I recalled the fight from earlier. I haven’t done anything.

I didn’t come to this world just to be protected. But, contrary to how I felt, reality still existed as it was.

“It’s because I haven’t tried to do anything…..”

My heart suddenly grew cold. I was really pathetic. Haven’t I simply been pushing off all of the responsibility on Louie? I couldn’t let this continue.

I stood up, pulled out the sword I had received from Olin from the luggage, and tried to go outside. Eru was laying down at the entrance. When I approached him, he got up as if to say, “you can’t,” and refused to budge to matter how much I begged him.

“Eru, let me through.”

Eru refused to listen no matter how many times I asked and he pushed his nose against my chest when I tried to force my way through. I couldn’t get violent with Eru, and he would catch up to me soon even if I somehow luckily managed to slip through because he was more agile.

“Eru!”

Eru growled quietly, flustered, when I raised my voice a little in protest. Even then he still wouldn’t let me outside.

“I hate this, Eru!”

I held my sword as if I was clinging on to it as I stood there.

Eru put his nose on my arm and snuggled closer in a somewhat troubled manner. He was trying to console me in my misery. Knowing that made me feel all the more pathetic.

I forced myself to stop trembling by gritting my teeth. Eru licked my cheek. I lost the tension in my body at his fawning behavior.

Eru wrapped his long tail around me when I sank down right where I stood. I pressed my face into his warm stomach as I cursed my uselessness in my heart.

It was quite a while later when Louie finally returned.

“Thank goodness, Louie……! Are you injured?! Are you hurt?!”

I rushed up to him and checked over his entire body. I couldn’t help it in my worry that he had suffered a deep would somewhere.

Louie placed his gigantic sword against the inner wall of the cave and smiled softly while looking at me and Eru in turns.

“I brought some wood for the fire.”

Louie was certainly carrying dried branches that looked like they’d make fore great firewood in one arm, but…

“Wrong!”

I couldn’t help but shout.

——Lies, such lies.

I clung tightly to Louie’s waist as he faltered. There, look, it’s the smell of blood. And it’s really, really strong.

He might have been followed by beasts all the way here.

Had Louie gone through the trouble of putting me in the safety of the den and leaving by himself so that I wouldn’t see the fighting?

He had undoubtedly acted as bait to draw out the beasts’ attention and finished them off somewhere farther away.

And then, he had gathered dried branches as he returned so that he could tell me the kind lie that he had simply went out to take a look at our surroundings. ——Just to give me some peace of mind.

“I’m sorry.”

I had left everything dangerous, everything painful, and everything scary all to Louie.

“You’re not hurt anywhere? Your wounds from before haven’t opened up again?”

When I desperately looked up at him, Louie silently knelt on the ground and placed the branches he had been carrying off to the side. I followed along and stooped over as well.

For whatever reason, Louie, who had just gone through something terrifying, had a kind and somewhat bashful smile on his face.

“I’m not hurt——thanks.”

Why are you thanking me?

I couldn’t keep down my rising emotions even though I knew that I had no right to blame him. I was glaring at Louie before I knew it.

Louie didn’t look displeased with my actions at all as he awkwardly reached out for me. Timidly, he touched me on the slope of my shoulder and stroked it kindly.

“……I want to hear your voice.”

I don’t get it. Are you sure you aren’t hurt?

“Louie, you can’t do stuff like this, it’s unfair. You said that you’d wake me up if something happened!”

I was the one who was being unfair. I was throwing a temper tantrum like a child! I continued,

“you can’t put yourself in danger all by yourself like that!”

I knew that I was being fairly selfish as I complained at Louie, who had faced the beasts by himself to ensure my safety.

I hated myself for being too arrogant to keep myself from complaining.

“Yeah……thank you, Hibiki.”

He thanked me again. Louie dropped his forehead into my shoulder as if to hide his lonely, moistened gaze. It was like he was spoiling himself a little.

Oh no, is he holding back pain from being hurt? Is he actually so exhausted that he can’t even stand?

“Go rest inside. I’ll keep watch this time. Go sleep a little.”

All Louie did was nod a little without a word with I grabbed his hand to urge him to sleep and he didn’t look back up for a short while.

***

Louie muttered something that was more or less reasonable and prepared the fire by himself despite that I had said that I’d do it.

I understood that Louie was far more skilled at it that I was, but I wouldn’t be able to learn anything if all I did was stand by and watch all the time.

And, in the end, Louie sat down near the entrance where it was the most dangerous!

It was only during times like these that Eru and Louie shared a mutual understanding with each other. Eru would promptly wrap his long tail around me whenever I tried to move and would bite at my robe’s long sleeves in order to hold me back on purpose. Louie moved quickly while Eru held me back and finished all of the preparations by himself.

I’m angry, you know!

Eru, perhaps because he was more sensitive to my fury, would periodically push his nose against me in an attempt to make me feel better. Louie, on the other hand, looked a bit more troubled, but he would still dodge my questions in a tone completely devoid of any malice while refusing to budge. What did you say in times like this again? That it was all a waste of effort? ……I was probably wrong.

But, no matter how much they try to indirectly refuse me, I’ll definitely take watch for tonight!

Louie hadn’t slept at all. He would ruin his health if he didn’t sleep properly no matter how used to camping outside he was and regardless of the fact that he was strong enough to defeat monsters.

After a tasteless, simple meal, I stood up exactly as Eru yawned and sat down by the inner wall close to the entrance……in other words, where Louie was.

I made sure that I was carrying the sword I had received from Olin just in case.

“Hibiki.”

I ignored Louie as he called out to me, bewildered. I won’t budge.

Eru growled from deep within his throat and stared at me while scrunching up his nose like he was making a grim face, but I ignored him too.

“……Then let’s do this: we’ll take watch in turns. I’d like you to rest first.”

I wasn’t about to fall for his sweet words. It seemed fair at first, but Louie wouldn’t wake me up until just before we left if I accepted his proposal without a second thought.

“In turns, huh. That’s fine, but I’ll take watch first.”

“No, that’s…”

“It’s more dangerous later in the night, isn’t it? In that case, I think it’d make more sense if I took watch first.”

Despite what I’d said, I actually didn’t plan on waking up Louie either. We were both lying to each other. Louie’s burdens would only increase if I didn’t forcefully assert myself.

Eru, perhaps because he had noticed how Louie silently let his gaze wander, slowly began to get up as if to say, “then I guess I’ll do something about this.”

“You can’t, Eru. We’ll be relying on your legs if anything happens, so you need to make sure to rest properly.”

I quickly stopped him before he got up completely. Eru got back down despondently when I glared at him.

“Won’t you let me keep watch until you get used to traveling?”

Louie, who had given up on tricking me, drew a little closer and began to persuade me in a serious manner.

“I want to do stuff like this because I want to get used to traveling,”

I responded quickly without turning my eyes away from him.

“Hibiki, I’m really grateful for your feelings. But what would happen if we get attacked while you’re on watch? You don’t know how to use a sword, do you?”

Louie refuted hesitantly but with eyes that told me that he wouldn’t give in.

I helplessly lowered my gaze, unable to say a word. He was probably right.

I could say anything I wanted now because it was safe. But I wouldn’t be able to do anything but tremble without offering the least bit of resistance when danger really closed in.

“I’m not ignoring your consideration for me. But I don’t want to see you facing danger. I’d like you to let me be selfish.”

He wasn’t being selfish. Louie had chosen his words carefully as to not hurt me while he opened up his heart.

“But Louie, you haven’t slept at all.”

“I’ve been napping. Besides, Hibiki, I’ve been spending the nights alone until now. It’s not difficult for me to keep watch.”

Eru, who had been watching over us, came closer and snuggled his nose against my cheek as I gripped onto my sword tightly and looked down, unable to say a word. His steel-colored fur tickled when it brushed against my face.

“I’m sorry. For being useless.”

My voice sank down as low as it could go.

“No, there’s no need for you to bear that responsibility.”

Despite Louie’s swift denial, I still felt like I did.

“Hibiki.”

Louie hesitantly reached out and gently touched me on the chin when I refused to look up, frustrated by how powerless I was. He continued,

“all I need is for you to be here.”

His voice was so quiet that it seemed to melt away into the faint darkness.

“I don’t want for anything else,”

Louie said as if he was saying a prayer and quickly moved his fingers away. Eru turned around and pushed his forehead against my arm to urge me back inside before I had the chance to ask Louie what he had meant.

I waited to see Louie’s reaction, puzzled, but he wouldn’t look back at me. He was stubbornly looking off to the side as if he was holding something back.

***

Late at night. It was pitch black.

I woke up to the feeling of something soft swiftly wrapping around my body.

The fire had been extinguished. Eru’s long tail had completely sealed away my ability to move. I realized that he was doing this to keep me from making noise.

——What about Louie?

He wasn’t here. He wasn’t inside the cave.

I felt the tension in the air rise at once and heard something fall to the ground from far away.

Eru nimbly got up all of a sudden, grabbed the luggage with his mouth, and skillfully threw it lightly on his back. He got down and waved his tail as if to signal me to get on before I could get up in my state of fright.

I fastened the luggage to Eru’s back in a panic and got on. Eru vigorously dashed out of the cave the very moment I grabbed onto his steel-colored fur.

The scent of blood that permeated the air was so thick that I wanted to cough.

“Where’s Louie……?!”

I asked, half shouting, and Eru lithely turned around and swiftly ran forward after a moment of hesitation. The cold wind, dyed by the color of night, hit against my forehead and the sleeves of my robes fluttered audibly like a bird taking flight. I felt a bloodthirsty presence.

——Louie.

A beast’s terrifying howl resounded as if it was cursing the world and eventually melted into the darkness. It sounded somehow twisted, like it was a person’s scornful voice rather than a beast’s howl, and the ominousness of it made my heart leap.

Eru ran fluidly across the uneven ground and approached the place where a second howl had come from. Behind the trees. He was there.

I saw a black shadow against the weak moonlight. And a large, sharp blade that was far more vivid than the moon.

“Louie!”

The scene of the fight burned into my eyes. Louie held his gigantic sword with both hands as he swung it upward as if he was chiseling away at the earth. Standing before him on two legs was a hideous monster.

It had human-like hair. It had oddly large eyes and many uneven fangs sticking out of its mouth. There was short fur here and there across its thick torso, and four arms splintered from its elbows.

What a creepy creature. I stared at it blankly as my shock overcame my fear. I couldn’t believe that this monster was alive just like us.

Louie cut the hideous monster vertically with the swing of his sword. I heard the horrible noise of its entrails falling to the ground. Yet, the monster was still agile even after losing its intestines. Instead of bringing his bloodied sword back closer to him, Louie swung it diagonally in the same momentum. I think he was trying to cut off the monster’s head.

The monster tried to block Louie’s sword by raising its arms. It sacrificed one of the arms that splintered off from its elbows as it was cut off, but there were still three left——.

“Louie, dodge!”

I screamed reflexively. The monster took no interest in the arm that had fallen off and swung another one and ran its razor-sharp claws against Louie’s upper arm.

“Eru!”

Eru crouched down as low as he could while I was riding him and wedged himself in between Louie and the monster in one go. I grabbed the hilt of my still-sheathed sword with my eyes closed and thrust it hard against the monster’s abdomen.

The monster faltered for a moment at our sudden intrusion.

The sword that I had recklessly thrust forward had luckily hit one of the monster’s wounds and it fell over backwards while letting out a harsh, anguished scream that seemed to make the very air quiver as it resounded.

“Louie, get on!”

Please, Eru, let Louie on just for now!

Eru made a displeased growl but didn’t stop me when I reached out for Louie, who was kneeing on the ground on one knee. Louie took my hand even as he grimaced from the pain in his arm and swiftly jumped on Eru’s back.

The monster got up just as Eru began running again and brought up its arms once more. Eru avoided its claws just before its attack hit and sprang forth like an arrow.

There were several carcasses on the ground that belonged to the monsters that Louie had defeated. Among them were a few that still twitched like they were still breathing.

“Hibiki, get down!”

Louie said strongly in warning as he pushed me down against Eru’s back.

The fight wasn’t over yet.

Eru skillfully wove through the trees that made it difficult to see. I shivered as I had the ominous feeling that many somethings were gathering around us. It was the oppressive feeling of a trap closing in on us.

I swallowed down the spit that had pooled in my mouth numerous times and ran my gaze around my dull and dark surroundings.

I heard the sound of something stepping on the dead leaves on the ground.

The darkness steadily quivered. Something howled.

Then, the monsters that had smelled the blood and heard us fighting drew closer.

“What do I do……”

I felt like I’d scream out at any moment if I didn’t clench down on my teeth so hard I that I lost feeling in my jaw.

I had never been in such a terrifying situation before, not even close.

I’d thought that it’d be as fairytale-like as heaven had been, that I’d be able to do something about the situation with my own strength, that it’d be——.

If it was that easy, Louie wouldn’t have cried after seeing me. His kingdom wouldn’t have fallen, either.

“Don’t go where it’s out in the open! It’ll make us easier to target!”

Louie called out instructions in a strict voice.

The monsters followed us relentlessly no matter how much we ran and ran.

Eru single-mindedly continued to run through the darkness that was brimming with bloodlust while carrying us without a single moment’s rest.

A monster would ambush us from the side on occasion. Louie blocked it with a swing of his sword each and every time they did. It was all I could do to keep myself from making a sound.

How long the night was. I clung onto Eru’s back and closed my eyes as I trembled like an idiot.

Several of my regrets ran across my chest.

I should have just stayed in heaven without acting big. If only I hadn’t so readily sworn to go to Evelier. If I had accepted Fortune’s offer. If I hadn’t left the ryokan by myself and followed the clown and the children in the first place——.

I hadn’t known that I was this weak.

I wanted to go back. I wanted to do everything over again. I wanted to back to a time much before I’d even met Fortune. If only I could go back to a time when my parents had laughed merrily from the bottom of their hearts.

Dawn crept closer as I entertained my cowardly thoughts and I could tell that the darkness of the forest was slowing being swept away.

We’d been able to shake off the majority of the monsters, but there were a few left among them that were agile and intelligent. Those, we would apparently have to finish off.

“Hibiki, don’t ever get off,”

Louie whispered in a stern voice and swiftly jumped off of Eru’s back before I could even have the chance to stop him.

“Louie!”

I looked back in a panic. Louie’s figure moved farther away into the distance before my eyes because Eru hadn’t decreased his speed.

“Go on ahead!”

His sharp yell overlapped with the joyous cries of the monsters that had caught up with him.

“Eru, no! Go back!”

Eru wouldn’t go back no matter how urgently I asked. He continued to glide across the ground with me riding on his back.

“Then I’ll jump off!”

I shouted impatiently. Eru growled sharply once as if he was reprimanding me. He slowed down a little, but still refused to stop completely.

——I can’t leave him behind!

I knew all too well that I’d only get in Louie’s way if I was around. But, just as strongly, my instincts told me that I absolutely had to go back for him no matter what. I cleared away my cowardly wishes and gentle memories. I was always, always regretting things. I’ve had enough of that.

I gathered up all of my strength and jumped off of Eru as hard as I could. But…

——No way……!

Eru had turned around partly and somehow managed to catch me by the back of my collar with his mouth mid-air as I fell down.

“Eh?!”

My body was thrown up into the air like luggage. My field of vision spun and in the next moment, and, with a light shock that ran throughout by entire body, I had returned to my original position on Eru’s back.

Wha……what just happened?!

I was dumbfounded.

“——Th, that was mean, Eru!!”

Eru growled lowly with his head hanging awkwardly downcast, perhaps because he was pitying me for my pathetic complaints against him, and turned around to change directions.

“Eru!”

I grabbed tightly onto Eru’s back in joy.

——He’s going back for me!

Eru was going back to where we had left Louie even as his growls were colored by mixed feelings. He was probably worried because……who knew what I’d do next if he let me be.

I quickly found Louie fighting against the monsters because we apparently hadn’t put as much distance between us as I’d thought.

“Louie!”

Louie dodged a monster that had rushed at him with a hair’s breadth and used the rotation of his body to swing his sword. He looked astonished upon seeing that I’d returned.

“——Why…?!”

“Behind you!”

I shouted, cutting off Louie’s whisper. The monster had turned around and was trying to bite at Louie’s back. The monster had a tiny head, contrary to its large quadruped limbs. Its head looked like a cute squirrel at first, but its mouth split open all the way to the back of its cranium the moment it tried to bite Louie and it exposed its true ugliness along with the three long tongues peering out of its mouth.

Louie returned his gaze to the monster and pierced its throat with the tip of his sword. It wasn’t deep enough to give it a fatal wound. The monster flew in to a frenzy and wrapped it long tail, which split in two mid-way, around Louie’s arm.

“Don’t come here, Hibiki!”

——As if I’d just nod and obediently do as you tell me to!

I pulled at Eru’s mane and signaled him on.

Eru obediently obeyed, exasperated, and dashed toward Louie.

“Hibiki!”

Eru looked back for a moment and growled quietly. He was trying to tell me something.

——Right……the sword that can cut through anything that’s not human.

I swiftly drew my sword from behind and raised it up recklessly high as Eru leapt at the monster. I was going to cut off the long tail that was wrapped around Louie’s arm.

I’d prepared myself to feel some sort of resistance as I cut through it, but my sword cut through the monster’s tail as easily as if it was made out of spiderwebs and it made a noise as if something was melting away.

I was shaken by the unexpected lack of resistance and ended up losing my tension. I’d had a hand and both of my legs fixed on Eru’s back so that I wouldn’t fall off, but my waist still ended up floating up in the air.

My balance crumbled further because Eru had leapt at the monster and raised his upper body ever so slightly at the same time.

I was flung off from Eru’s back in spectacular fashion.

“I, I’m fall……!”

I screamed and reflexively shut my eyes. I naturally stiffened as I imagined how much pain I’d be in from the impact of falling down to the ground.

——Huh?

I heard the dull sound of something crashing into something else.

But it didn’t hurt.

“……Louie?”

I opened my eyes in a panic. I found myself on top of Louie, who had landed on the ground on his bottom.

He had caught me.

Louie and I looked at each other for a moment. The beautiful color of his eyes pierced deeply through my heart for some reason. We stared at each other wordlessly as if time itself had stopped.

Our special time faded away as Eru growled as if he was angry. I turned around to see that Eru was fighting back by biting the violent monster in the flank.

When I tried to get back up in a hurry——a white light flashed next to my face.

It was Louie’s giant sword.

Louie’s sword was thrust deep into the monster’s forehead by the time I’d blinked.

***

After we defeated the monster.

Eru carried Louie and me and continued to run without resting even once until the night was completely over. We encountered beasts a few times along the way but were able to shake them off because they luckily were not that agile.

Louie didn’t say a single word the entire time we were riding on Eru.

Eru only stopped when we finally reached a basin that looked like it had once been a spring.

I’d hardly moved, but I felt like there were stones on my shoulders, perhaps because I’d been tense all night long. Plus, my thighs were stiff and my waist felt heavy because I’d been riding Eru in the same position this whole time.

I plopped down to the ground as soon as I got off of Eru’s back because my legs couldn’t support me. Eru cooed in worry and licked my cheek. Sorry, Eru, I’m sure you’re much, much more tired than me.

“Thank you, Eru.”

My body was suddenly lifted into the air while I was petting Eru’s face to show him my appreciation for his efforts.

Louie carefully carried me in his arms like a child and began to walk toward an old tree off the side of the basin that was probably at least a hundred years old.

“Stop! You hurt your arm!”

Louie didn’t let me down even after I called out to him in a panic and continued to walk without a word.

Is Louie……mad?

I felt like there was a stern atmosphere around Louie as I timidly peered up at his face.

Louie quietly put me down by the roots of the old tree as I stared up at the look on his face, which made him difficult to approach at the moment, in confusion. All of the trees around here were thick with large knurls.

Eru silently came closer, sat down next to me, and gently stroked my arm with his tail like he was seeking a reward. As he did, Louie undid the luggage that was fastened on his back.

I crawled to where the luggage was and checked the contents. There should be medicine somewhere inside.

“Louie, show me your wound. We have to treat it!”

My hands were unsteady, perhaps because I was still tensed up, and I clumsily spilled things on the ground for no reason.

Oh, what do I do? Which medicine was I supposed to use again? I became more confused the more I panicked and ended up moving about more than it was necessary.

“Oh, right, I have to give you water, Eru. You must be thirsty because you’ve been running this whole time, right? Hold on a sec.”

“Hibiki.”

“Y, yeah?!”

I jumped because Louie suddenly called my name in such a flat tone. How embarrassing. My voice betrayed me.

Louie sat down on the ground with one knee in the air. But he wouldn’t look me in the eye. My unease grew stronger until it finally became discouraging.

“Um, I’m sorry. I wasn’t useful at all, was I? I can’t do anything without Eru.”

I wonder why I had become such a chatterbox who was prattling on one lame excuse after another.

“I told you to go on ahead.”

There was no censure in Louie’s voice. Not only did he not sound angry, but there was no emotion in his voice at all. The air about him was still hard. It would have been so much better if he was being outwardly angry.

“Oh, but……I can’t do that.”

“I swore to stay by your side to protect you. But to think I’d be the reason you were brought back into danger.”

I shook my head as hard as I could. I realized that his heart was freezing up with feelings of self-reproach.

“You know, I don’t want to do anything to you that I myself would hate, Louie.”

Louie finally looked at me. A somewhat sorrowful light……as if he was angry at something, filled his eyes. I continued,

“I’d really hate it if our positions had been switched and I was left behind. I’m sure it’d be lonely and scary to be all alone like that. Even if my feelings for wanting you to run away to safety were stronger, somewhere in my heart I’d still want you to not go anywhere because I’m a coward.”

That was how I truly felt. Of course, I’d still ultimately be happier if he escaped to somewhere safe even as I wished he wouldn’t leave.

Feelings took on a lot of different shapes, not just one. It might just be that the feeling that took the clearest shape overpowered the others and became your will.

“And I believe in Eru’s speed. I knew he’d do something about it somehow,”

I added and pat Eru on the forehead.

Eru rustled his whiskered a little and happily rubbed his nose against my thighs, evidently in a much better mood after I pat his forehead and the area around his ears.

Eru, you’re so cute. I really like the gap between your ferocious appearance and your cute behavior.

“I couldn’t breathe——when you came in between the monster and me,”

I found myself hard-pressed to find the right words to respond with. I’d accidentally let down my guard and let my tension down and had fallen off of Eru’s back, hadn’t I.

“Sorry, I was heavy, wasn’t I? I’ve been trying my best to go on a diet, but it hasn’t worked at all……, did you hurt your back?”

I nervously looked all over Louie’s body. Oh, right, he hurt his arm!

“Let’s get that treated, okay?”

Louie looked slightly pained as he closed his eyes.

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