Were in the hospitals exam room. Sitting on a chair, facing Ruruka. Obviously somewhat nervous, Ruruka keeps adjusting her posture on her chair as she observes me.
Even though this is a scene Ive experienced plenty of times before, just having her tell me she loves me somehow makes it look extremely different.
Ahaha Long time no see!
Ruruka shyly wraps her hand around the back of her neck and averts her gaze as she speaks. Its not like its been that long since we talked. Just a few days.
Sure. Whats the matter, this late at night? Need treatment?
Perhaps shes becoming conscious of it. When she misunderstood that she was dying after the beauty contest, she confessed, and on top of that she even kissed me. At the time, there was the tension that she might die from petrification, and a sense of liberation when that went away.
It was an extraordinary situation. Precisely because of that, she likely got caught up in the momentum and went so far as to kiss me.
But now its different. Weve had some time, and both of us have calmed down. Facing each other in such a manner, she must be thinking about that time.
Its kinda awkward besides, Im becoming a little conscious of it too.
About how she had me rub her breasts using the treatment fee discount as an excuse. About how she was eager to enter the labyrinth together as adventurers. Moreover, about those magic tool earrings and how she came running right for me when I got lost in the forest.
After being told she loves me, I ended up thinking about it in relation to this and that.
Ruruka is cute. Her features are well-ordered, and I think her red hair is pretty. Her tits are big, too. I saw her in a swimsuit at the beauty contest, and even though shes big-breasted, the places youd expect to be firm on an adventurer are tightened up, and have a healthy eroticism to them.
Plus her personality is light-hearted and shes easy to talk to.
And unlike Yuel, shes at an age where I can put my hands on her. If I tell her that I love her too right here, I wonder what will happen? Just thinking about it is making me restless.
-But, I cant do that.
Putting aside how I feel about Ruruka, at the very least, I cant do it now.
Yuel is sitting on my lap.
I dont mean shes just sitting on my lap. Im sitting in the chair, and Yuel is sitting facing me so she can cling to me. I can see Ruruka over Yuels head, but its covering the lower half of my field of view.
At that point-blank range, Yuel is staring right into my eyes. I dont have the courage to say something like that to Ruruka in this situation.
I-Its not like Im particularly hurt or anything I dont need treatment Does that mean that unless its for treatment, I cant come here?
At the same time that Ruruka blushes shyly and asks that, I feel Yuels hands clutch my clothes. Its no good. I dont mean that its no good for her to come to the hospital if its not for treatment, but that I cant speak with Ruruka honestly when Yuel is this close.
I thought about having Yuel go brew some tea for me or something, but from the look on her face, that seems impossible as well. The dams of Yuels eyes are about to burst from just that single bashful line from Ruruka. Trembling as if to implore me, those blue eyes are earnestly fixed on me alone.
I cant burden Yuels mental state any further.
With Yuel being so obedient, if I told her to go brew some tea she would leave, but if I do that then without a doubt Yuel will cry. I dont want to drink tea that Yuel brewed while crying; sorrowful tea with a hint of salt.
For the time being, Ill handle it by tenderly petting Yuels head.
Nh
When I do, Yuel nuzzles her head against my neck. At the same time, at a volume that I almost dont hear it, she unintentionally chokes out a tiny sob.
Hopefully petting her head makes her feel a little relieved. As if reassuring herself of my warmth, she wraps her hands around my neck and rubs her head into it.
Ahhhh!? Wait, Shiki!?
When Ruruka sees that she cries out, but I cant stop Yuel at this point. If she were only trying to provoke Ruruka as a woman then I would put a stop to this kind of behavior, but for Yuel thats most likely not the case.
Yuel is just plain insecure.
Yuel isnt paying attention to Ruruka, but simply gazing into my eyes. So as to avoid missing the slightest change, simply continuing to peer earnestly into my eyes alone. In other words, what Yuel is worried about isnt Ruruka getting closer in and of itself, but a change in my heart because of that.
Like if I ended up thinking I want to be alone with Ruruka.
Would Yuel, a slave, still have a place at my side?
Slaves are beings bought and sold with money. The moment I saw her as a hindrance, Yuel would be put up for sale in the slave market once again. Well, I would never do such a thing to Yuel, but in this world the common sense is unquestionably that slaves are that kind of existence.
Right now, the existence that Yuel depends on the most is without a doubt me. Perhaps its natural for her to think that if I get close to Ruruka, Ill see the slave at my side as a hindrance. That she wont be able to stay by the side of the only person she can depend on.
Just how deeply disheartening would that be?
Yuel is still young. Besides, as someone with no relatives, the bond between Yuel and me is just a one-sided master and slave relationship. Considering Yuels circumstances as well as her present mental state, it feels rather pitiful.
Were in front of Ruruka, but Ill try petting Yuels head one more time.
Youre petting her again!?
-The very instant that Ruruka protests.
At the nape of my neck, theres a lukewarm sensation. The location of that sensation was about where Yuels mouth is.
She licked me. No mistaking it, Yuel just licked the base of my neck.
No, perhaps Yuels tears ended up hitting the base of my neck, and she was just licking those off. There shouldnt be any deeper meaning behind it.
And it doesnt seem like Ruruka has noticed, so Ill ignore it for the time being.
Well, lets leave the matter of Yuel aside.
The fact that Ruruka didnt come here for treatment means that she came to see me. And furthermore, the fact that she specifically came this late at night
Now I get it.
Ruruka, I get that you want to pick up where we left off at that inn, but you should really pick a more appropriate time
In other words, a night visit. Ruruka came for a night visit. Right now she must want to do what we couldnt do that day due to the inn being full.
But of course, thats impossible in this situation since Yuel is here now. She would cry, and even if she didnt cry she would probably want to join in. As a slave, its extremely likely that she would assist me. And for some reason shes still continuing to lick around my neck.
Inn? Ah, Thats not it! I-I came here this late cause I had to sneak out of Lord-samas place Lord-sama was concerned because of the latest monster incident, so he said not to leave the mansion! See, Fran invited me as well so Im staying with her right now!
Just earlier, I finally slipped past the watch of the knights on guard duty!
What, so thats what it was?
I see, so thats why she came here at such a time? Sheesh, I wish she wouldnt mislead me so much. In this situation with Yuel riding on me, letting my delusions grow out of control would be extremely awkward.
Yeah! Especially Fran, Lord-sama ordered her not to go outside under any circumstances!
Well, that middle-aged lord does seem excessively doting. I guess thats how hed be when monsters run riot within the city.
Wait, Ruruka is currently living at the lords mansion? I was wondering where she was staying, but to think it was the lords mansion of all places. Nah, she did join Frans party, so I guess its not such an odd story.
And I feel like I heard that the lord prohibited Fran from entering the labyrinth recently, so as her party member, Ruruka probably has no source of income either. Perhaps thats why theyre taking care of her in the meantime.
Whats Lord-sama so wary of, that there could still be monsters hidden in the city like the ones from the beauty contest? Some fiendish ones like that dragon?
Mmmm, I dont really know. But seems like the knights are investigating, and theyre giving Lord-sama a bunch of reports all the time.
It starts to seem distinctly like a dead-end middle-management position.
I get the feeling he told me previously that I could rely on him if I had any issues, but I wonder if that guy is actually dependable.
Ah, now that I think about it, I do remember!
As Im thinking about it, Ruruka suddenly cries out.
Errr, to purge someone? Saint-sama said something about that too. Sounds dangerous, huh
Purge!?
I heard a term I shouldnt be hearing.
Did she say purge just now? As in the meaning of an organization erasing an inconvenient existence, that kind of purge?
No, its too early to freak out. Maybe I misheard, or maybe it wasnt (political purge) but some other shukusei.
shukusei, shukusei, (star of fate). Thats it, the star of fate. Shes something like my fated person, so she very much wants us to get along. Maybe thats what it means.
And she did hit on me, saying my black hair was beautiful.
Yeah, something about making the person who brought about an unfavorable situation for the church atone for their sins. Thats what she was saying.
Nope. Its a purge. No doubt about it, a purge.
Wait, that shouldnt be referring to me. Something disadvantageous to the church, Ive never done anythi
I have, huh. Something huge.
That Krankheit Turtle incident. By enveloping the entire city with Area Heal, I treated every little wound and illness in the city. Although people get injured a lot since its a labyrinth city, for a few days the people who make their living through healing magic were no doubt out of work.
And the biggest organization in this city that depends on healing magic for its income is, you guessed it, the church.
Now that I think about it, that female knight who invited me to join the Krankheit Turtle subjugation unit. I forgot her name, but I get the feeling that she was complaining about how none of the eminent members of the church would come with the subjugation unit back then.
-Something tells me theres a connection there.
The spectacle I saw before crosses my mind. The image of the saint, using shills in order to improve her healing magic ability.
Putting on a charade.
What if, by some chance, the people of the Church of Medine brought that Krankheit Turtle to the city in order to reap the rewards from using their healing magic? What if the church orchestrated that entire incident to secure profits for themselves?
If thats the case, and they went out of their way to prepare that large-scale monster to take advantage of the huge business opportunity, didnt I end up making it all go to waste?
I have a bad feeling about this. An unbelievably bad feeling.
If the church is already hostile towards me, even if that middle-aged lord supports me, the odds that the negotiation over my rights will go well are extremely low. If making an enemy of the church isnt worth it in the first place, the lord may not support me at all.
And there are things such as slave crests in this world. With enough authority, its a simple matter to make someone submit unconditionally. The second an authority on the scale of a nation declares you an enemy, theres no way for you to oppose them as a private citizen.
I should run. I should run away with all my strength, right now, to some country where the Church of Medine has no influence.
She might not have discovered where Im staying yet, but there arent exactly that many black-haired healers in this city. Make it a black-haired healer accompanied by a dark elf girl and you can pretty much narrow it down to one.
With just a little questioning of the knights and adventurers Ive interacted with, shed quickly find out that Im here.
Thats it, Ill do a night flight.
Whats wrong, Shiki? Youre really sweating.
I-Im fine. No problems.
This is unrelated, but Yuel is still continuing to lick around my neck. Im sure shes wiping my sweat or something. I cant pay attention to the fact that her ears are turning slightly red for some reason, or that shes starting to breathe heavily.
At the moment I have no leeway to consider any other problems.
Err, and then, after we eavesdropped, Fran asked Lord-sama what kinds of things they were talking about, but in the end he wouldnt tell her.
Talking with the lord. Ah, something major was escaping my mind. I may be jumping to conclusions a bit.
Hey, just making sure, what you heard was a conversation between Saint-sama and that middle-aged lord, right? Youre completely sure about that?
Yeah. Thats right? Whats the matter?
Thats right. Stay calm. What Ruruka heard was a conversation between the lord and the saint.
Theres no way that the saint would be having a conversation like when we were about to have the city be assaulted for financial gain, somebody interfered so we want to purge him with the lord whos charged with protecting the city.
If the lord and the church have financial connections then I guess its possible, but at the very least the lord has been having everyone under his command in the knight brigade protect the city with all their power. I feel like thats a very unlikely scenario.
This is getting kinda confusing. In the first place, Ruruka said that the saints goal was to search for something. If she was searching for a person, that something choice of expression doesnt feel quite right.
Its good that I tried asking various things, but supposedly finding out the saints purpose just leaves me with more questions. What I understand is that shes searching for something, and shes going to purge someone. I also get the feeling that its not related to me.
Or rather, if she really was going to purge me, it wouldve been appropriate for her to detain me within these past few days. Leaving me alone with no surveillance, even though theres a chance that I could escape, is clearly strange.
Ah Shiki, Well, its getting late, so I should return soon. I-Ill be back!
As Im thinking it over, Ruruka hurriedly stands. While looking behind me, she exits the hospital as if shes running away. I take a look behind me to see whats up and Eris is standing in the hallway outside the room.
Her hair is wet. It gives off a feeling like she just climbed out of the bath.
I wonder if Ruruka ran because of her habit of negotiating treatment cost discounts? By some chance, maybe shes bad at dealing with Eris since shes aware that Eris is angry over all the discount negotiations. Yuel as well, perhaps because Ruruka left, got off my lap before I noticed.
Hey, you
And now Eris is looking at me slack-jawed for some reason.
I wonder whats wrong? Whether or not Eris feels any goodwill towards me, I get the feeling that if she thought Ruruka just came for treatment she wouldnt be that dumbfounded.
That mark at the base of your neck, dont tell me after all youve gone that far with that girl
As she inspects my neck, Eris makes a shocked face and speaks. Her voice is trembling. Its conveying a feeling like she doesnt want to believe what shes seeing.
The base of my neck?
I try touching it, but there doesnt especially seem to be anything there. No, there does seem to be something like saliva stuck to it, but there shouldnt be anything in particular.
No, wait, Eris was saying something about a mark. Tentatively, I check the silver mirror decorating the room, and
-one spot at the base of my neck has turned slightly red.
This is a mark from internal bleeding caused by sucking on the skin the so-called hickey. And theres a bit of saliva stuck there. I dont even have to think whose it is.
No! This isnt from Ruruka! Its from Yuel! I-Its a misunderstanding!
I was too focused on the saints objective, so I didnt notice at all. I take a look at Yuel, and shes hanging her head in shame. And, poking out from that silver hair, her long ears are tinged bright red.
I wasnt able to discern the saints purpose in the end, but I did determine one thing. I thought that perhaps she wasnt bothered that much about the matter of Ruruka kissing me. It turns out Yuel-san is ridiculously worried about it.