Chapter 153: Ayda's recklessness

The last breath of fighting didn't take anywhere as long as the massacre that preceded it. With the mercenaries heralded by Hubert pushing right into the messy crowd, cutting out the corridor took only a few moments. 

From that point on, the most tedious yet relatively easy part of the entire mission started. One by one, the few relatively healthy victims of wizard's oppression started carrying those who were still unable to walk completely on their own. 

Even though it went slightly against my principles, I couldn't bear to be a monster that would be willing to leave those poor people right in the sight of safety to their own devices. And since I already brought them so far, I ultimately didn't mind lending my hand to those few who sustained the worst injuries over the long time they were tortured. 

"Come on. We are not that far." Encouraging an old man who looked more like a bunch of bones thrown into a bag than a human being, I allowed his arm to rest his arm over my shoulders. 

Step by step, we managed to get closer to the village's barrier. With all the blood flowing out of the many corpses of Wild Fang group production, the ground itself became insanely slippery, making it nearly impossible for someone stumbling on their feet to cross it.

Thankfully, noticing the situation, the inhabitants of the village rushed to help as well. Once the old man was taken from my shoulders, rather than helping to bring the others, I ultimately decided to stay back in the last place we reached as a solid group.

Carrying weak people could be done by literally anyone, but if the wizards would manage to launch a cohesive attack, only I and Ayda would have enough stopping power to root them in their tracks. 

Bit by bit, the small crowd on the hill where the march ended continued to get smaller and smaller. By the time most of the fighting finally concluded, the last round of the former prisoners finally made its way inside the village. 

"Everyone!" As soon as the last of the prisoner-carrying parties hid behind the barrier, Ayda stepped forward, attracting all the attention on the field on herself. "It's over! Retreat behind the barrier right now!" 

Standing right outside of the safety, Ayda swung her head above her head to get even a small bit more of everyone's attention. Soon enough, the effects of her actions proved to be effective. 

Not in form of the retreating mercenaries thought.

Attracted by the shouts, most of the still fighting-capable wizards instantly turned their attention towards my woman. If not for my instant reaction of forcefully pushing her behind the barrier, an onslaught of arrows and magic projectiles slammed into the place she stood at a moment earlier. 

"How could you be so reckless!" Grasping Ayda's wrist with way more power than I should, I could feel my emotions running amok. All this time and effort spent on calming myself down were wasted when I saw the danger approaching Ayda's delicate skin.

"Dear… You are hurting me." Raising her eyes before gently informing, Ayda didn't seem to find fault in me for that. Letting go of her wrist, I only stared at her for a moment, before suddenly pulling her into a bear-like hug.

"Don't scare me like that, please." Pulling the girl close, I had to take a moment to let my emotions pacify once again. Only when the warmth of the girl managed to better my emotional anxiety did I dare to let Ayda's arms go. 

"I'm sorry for worrying you, but if I'm not willing to risk so little, how could I expect the others to follow me into even greater dangers? Also," this time snuggling into a hug herself, Ayda rubbed her face against my chest before finishing, "it's not like I was in any danger in the first place. It's depressing when you trust so little in my abilities."

Lowering her head right on top of my chest, Ayda pretended to sob for a moment. Pulling her even closer into my embrace, I raised my eyes towards the other side of the barrier. 

Just like the girl claimed, her shouts brought some effects. While initially, only a salvo of the enemy appeared to be a fruit of her actions, soon, all of the survivors from the mercenary group along with lightly wounded Hubert managed to make their way to the inside of the barrier. 

"Uff, that was a solid fight. It's been a while since I allowed myself to drop most of my restraints!" Even though he just came back from the battle, Hubert already started doing stretches, as if a long yet shallow wound cutting through the flesh of his thigh didn't bother him at all. 

"Go and get yourself patched up first. Or rather, wait a moment." Changing my mind on the go, I let go of Ayda's body from my arms before approaching the man. Placing my hand on his shoulder, I instantly felt puzzled when his body fell to his knees.

"Sir, I'm unworthy of your praise. I erred before, so let my work be a proof of my loyalty and obedience." Clasping both of his hands above his head, Hubert didn't dare to raise his head to face me. 

It seemed that he was still pretty conscious of the small clash that we had back in the ruined wizard's camp!

"Stand up." Even after I softly spoke out, the man still remained on his knees with his head lowered. "For God's sake, stand up. How can I clear your emotional clogs if I need to squat to touch your arm?"

Rather than a real, physical barrier to doing so, I just didn't find it rational to bend over in order to help the man. Given his contribution to Ayda's cause that I saw with my own eyes as he raced into the enemy ranks, healing up this part of his that got used over the extensive use of witchcraft was the least I could do to repay his favour. 

"Your excellency!" Hearing my words, Hubert finally raised his head, only to let me see his tearing-up eyes. Just as Ayda explained to me way in the past, this was the main reason why witches wanted the return of the true mages. 

And it wasn't hard for me to gauge just how emotional Hubert got over the possibility of restoring his natural state. With his eyes tearing up, when he felt the gentle touch of my fingers on his shoulder, the tears openly started to flow down his cheeks.

On the other hand, clearing the man's clogs proved to be slightly more difficult than it was in Ayda's case… But still not even close to the tangled mess of clogs that still held me back from using the full scope of my abilities. Still, in just a few moments, I raised my hand from the man's shoulder, before taxing him with my eyes.

"As good as new!" Patting Hubert's back, I graced him with one of my rare smiles. Even if we started on a really bad foot, it didn't mean we couldn't be not only allies but actual friends later on.

That is if he would fix his attitude towards Ayda as well!

"Hey…" Just as I thought about the girl, my dearest suddenly appeared right beside me, only to chug at the corner of my jacket. 

"What's up?" Instantly ignoring the sobbing mess of a man before me, I turned all my attention to my partner. 

"I have a small request for you. Could you maybe…" Escaping with her eyes to the side, Ayda finished, "go to our room for now? I want to prepare something."

Not allowing me to read her emotions from her aura or from her eyes, Ayda clearly had something on her mind. But rather than reading into it too deep, I simply rustled her hair for a moment before turning around.

"No matter what it is that you want from me, I'm always happy to oblige. I have no idea why you are putting your guard around me now, but well, I guess I will understand it later, right?" 

Waiting for a moment for the girl's response while staying in a single spot, I then released a defeated sigh before stepping forward. 

The village itself was pretty small when compared to the camp I destroyed, but it was by no means small enough to make travelling from one edge of the barrier to another an easy task. Only after several minutes spent marching with a rather good pace did I manage to finally reach the doors of the Inn we continued to stay at with Ayda and then the doors of our room. 

Getting inside, I felt slightly weird. Not because there was something strange in the room or about this room, but because of how normal it was. With my guilty consciousness prompted by the massive massacre that I orchestrated acting up once again, I laid on the bed and closed my eyes in an attempt to calm myself down. 

And before I could tell, all the mental and physical exhaustion that I kept at bay so far, suddenly slammed me right into sleep. 

"Hey, are you awake?" After only God knows how long, Ayda's voice suddenly forced me awake. Opening my eyes, all I could see was her delicate face currently filled with worry and some kind of uncertainty. 

"Yeah, I'm back amongst the living. What's up?" With the anxiety of the ignorance once again striking a chord in my soul, I asked. 

"Can't you see it yourself? Or rather, can't you remember what I told you before?"

Moving her upper body up, Ayda allowed me to see that she was currently mounting my hips. While our clothes made the instant intercourse impossible, from the strange glint in her eyes I could tell that it was only a matter of time before the intimate times would being.

But prompted by her words, rather than focusing my attention on her, I looked around the room. 

And then I saw what most likely took all this time from my girl.

Or rather, who did.