CH 43

It was completely dark. Even Xena and Celia could not see very well.

It was decided that the couple would stay in one tent, and the two partners in the other.

Usually, in such a situation, they would take turns staying awake and keeping watch, but Helvi set up a barrier around the tents, making that area 100% safe.

“Theo, Helvi, good night.”

“Sweet dreams you two.”

“Likewise.”

“G-good night…”

They said before going inside their tents.

Xena and Celia were used to this, so they divided the small tent and each laid down in their own space.

“Hn… Traveling with Theo again after so long is fun.”

Said Xena as she stretched.

“Yes, and his food really is great. I was wondering if it would be as good as I remembered, but it turned out to be even better.”

More than a year had passed since the last time they ate Theo’s cooking.

They remembered it being absolutely delicious, and wondered if their expectations were unrealistic, but what they had surpassed those expectations.

That alone was worth coming all the way from the capital to see Theo.

They talked about their day as they changed clothes. Even they would not sleep in their combat gear.

“Remember when Theo complimented you? That was nice.”

“You were complimented too, weren’t you?”

“Not as much as you.”

Theo did compliment Xena a lot as she fought. The reason was simple, he liked the way she fought.

Xena enhanced her body with magic, but still fought empty-handed and defeated her opponents by overpowering them with pure force.

Theo thought it was cool. A boy like him admired that kind of raw fighting power, so he would get excited, and compliment her.

He also liked Celia’s magic and thought it was cool, but preferred Xena.

“That’s cute too, that pure feeling of admiration. It makes me really happy.”

“Maybe I should use flashier magic?”

Gravity magic was flashy in itself, but Theo had seen it countless times.

He was surprised by it at first, and did compliment her, but as he got used to seeing it, those compliments stopped coming.

To make matters worse, Helvi beat her at her own game, so her gravity magic had been surpassed.

“I have to develop new spells for Theo…”

“Hahaha, sounds good. I think something that explodes would be flashy enough.”

The conversation suddenly stopped.

The forest around them was very quiet. All they could hear was the sound of insects from time to time.

“…Do you think they’re asleep?”

Theo and Helvi were not too far away, but they could not hear anything coming from their tent.

“I guess. We walked a lot today, so I’m sure Theo is tired. As for Helvi… I don’t think this is enough to make her tired.”

“You’re right. She wasn’t out of breath for even a second.”

Both were sweaty and took heavy breaths as they walked up the mountain, but Helvi did not appear to be sweating at all.

“Celia… Do you want to take a peek?”

At the height of her curiosity, Xena proposed a reckless idea.

“…Xena, do you want to die?”

“No no, she won’t kill us… I think.”

“See, you know there’s that possibility. You almost died earlier didn’t you?”

Helvi did not play around when it came to Theo.

“No, I think just taking a peek is fine. It’s not like we’re taking Theo away from her.”

“…Maybe.”

“What about instead of peeking, we just listen, and see if they’re doing it… We’ll be able to tell.”

“…”

They decided to go for it.

Despite what she said, Celia was also curious.

They sneakily exited their tent, approached the one next to theirs, and used all the experience they had acquired so far to suppress their presence, a tremendous misuse of their skills.

When they got close to the tent, they stopped and listened.

Inside the tent, they heard nothing, but now they were close enough to hear.

“Ah, Helvi… Hn, it feels good…”

“…!”

Both gasped and looked at each other.

What was happening inside the tent?

Neither knew, but both wanted to find out even more now.