Ch 14 – Lap pillow and small-talk

"HOW!"

"Hm?" Necro looked at Mary, confused. She had no idea what she was talking about.

"She used too much mana in the casting, that's all." (Ace)

"What do you mean ‘too much mana’!? There's no such thing!"

"I believed that before but.." Ace was able to see every single thing that took place in that casting. And that enough was proof that everything she'd been taught was wrong.

"That's what happened." 

"..."

Mary was increasingly confused, but she knew very well about Ace's strange ability to see people's aura and mana.  She fell into contemplation as she stared at the fire that burned in front of her, warming her body.

Silence prevailed for another good minute as the other girls stared at the glowing stars and moons that illuminated the night sky. 

There were three moons, a white-is yellow one, and a smaller dark grey one that roamed around the first one.

"They say those are where the Gods live..." (Necro)

"But I'm not sure whether to believe..."

"Why?" (Ace)

"If you were such a powerful being and had control over the whole world... Would you still let things be the way they are?"

"..." Ace contemplated the question... The world really was a harsh place but she didn't think that it was God's fault. "I'd rather believe they leave it to us humans to think what's best for us..."

"Do you...?" Necro recalled being persecuted by the church as Soleir... All the hardships Ly had gone through. And also, how she was now separated from her family for such a wild guess from the same assailants as in her previous life. "In that case, God has just forsaken us... I reckon."

Ace realized Necro was about to cry and pulled her onto her lap, removing her hood. 

"Why do you have your hair like this? It looks so good..." Ace was very surprised at the way Necro’s hair was combed… Braids and Tresses were generally used by poor women to avoid dirtying it since they couldn't wash it often.

"Because it's easier to cover..."

"It's so beautiful... It reminds me of the sky... You should leave it free."

"Thank you... You can undo the tresses if you want..." Necro responded bashfully to the complement... She also thought her hair was beautiful. The surprise of the praise made her forget to cry, giving Ace a cute smile.

She indulged as Ace undid her braids and started combing her hair with her fingers... 

The feeling of Ace's small hand going through her hair was incredibly calming, almost sedative. Her eyes started feeling heavy as she comfortably laid on Ace's thighs. She turned her head up, only to see Ace starting at her warmly. 

It beats her as to how the two became so close in a matter of just a feel hours... It felt almost as if they already knew each other. Ace reminded her of someone. Someone who was very dear to her... Or maybe to Soleir, she didn't know it for sure... Yet she couldn't recall where she knew this girl from.

As she turned around, Ace's other hand, that was previously on her waist, wound up on her belly. Despite her not having moved it at all, Necro felt increasingly wary of the feeling of her hand there. It was not bad, but it embarrassed her a great deal. 

She blushed a little as she thought about this, making Ace giggle at her cute atmosphere as she continued to run her fingers through Necro's hair. 

After another peaceful pair of minutes, the boys returned. 

"The dinner's here!"

The pair of boys returned with some small animal. It looked to be a very small deer.

"Ohhh! What's that?" Asked Mary.

"It's a deer we caught after lunch. I was carrying it on my back." Hal answered proudly.

"It's just a baby though..."(Ace)

"You don't need to... The heck?" Bid tried to interject, but shut up as soon as he looked at Ace... There was a person with long dark hair on her lap.

"Is that..."

"Yes. Nec." Ace completed with a broad grin.

" Wow... Her hair looks amazing..." Bid continued. 

Necro was... Silent. Red from head to toe.

"Oh so there she is!" Hal started saying.

"What was that spell?! It must've been a very powerful one."

"Yeah! What was it?"

"Flame" Answered Mary, dejected.

"What? Flame pillar?! The advanced magic!?" (Hal)

"No. Flame."

"Flame what?" Asked once more Bid.

"FLAME! JUST FLAME! THE BASIC TIER SPELL FLAME!" Mary yelled at the two, visibly frustrated.

"WHAT!?"(Hal)

"THE HELL?!"(Bid)

"Sorry... I was nervous so... I used a little too much mana when casting..." 

""THE HELL WITH THAT!"" They both answered at the same time, almost dropping the deer in the process. 

After a couple of seconds, the pair's energetic response seemed to have died down somewhat...

The reality was they were so scared after almost dropping the dinner that they felt like a bucket of cold water had fallen onto their heads. 

They had the whole carcass already strapped to a long wooden stick. On their hand that was not holding the meat, they each carried a somewhat tall metal pole. 

Hal went around the Pit, bringing the meat above the burning fire. Both of them positioned the poles on each side and laid their side of the stick on top of it. Hal sat down immediately, while Bid started turning the thing over the fire. 

"It'll take like... Half an hour to cook. Mary, you should at least take your helmet off for once right?" (Hal)

"... You know I hate taking it off in front of strangers..."

"Look at Ace and her. Do you really think she's gonna hit on you? Take it off already. And while you're at it, you really should change into something more comfortable. I know you worry a lot but we are camping. Take the armor off."

"... Okay... I'll go change. Where's the rest of the booze?"

"Hah... It's behind my tent, but don't drink it before coming back."

"Yeah, Yeah. I know." Mary stood up and walked towards the tents. She went around one and grabbed something before disappearing into one of the middle ones. 

"Why does she do that?" Asked Necro in a low voice.

"Oh, she was harassed a lot when she joined the guild. She tries to hide her face and body quite a bit." (Ace)

"Hm... I guess that makes sense..."