CH 79

Helvi burned the two felled monsters and left no trace of them.

They did not accept a quest to defeat monsters or anything, and extracting parts to prove they had killed them would be too much trouble.

“If you keep training, one day you will defeat a monster like the Chimera in one hit as you did now.”

“R-really!?”

“Yes, in about a thousand years.”

“T-thousand…!? T-that long… I’ll do my best…”

It was an overwhelming amount of time for Theo, but he decided he would get there one day.

“But Theo, are you tired? You fired magic twice.”

“I am. It’s my first time using offensive magic, so I’m pretty tired.”

Although he had only fired magic twice, Theo felt as though he ran a hundred meters at full speed a few times.

He was out of breath right after, but had since composed himself.

“I see. That is because you are almost out of magic energy. If we replenish it, that exhaustion will surely go away.”

“Ah, I see.”

It only took two magic attacks for Theo to become tired because he had so little magic energy.

Celia could fire similar magic dozens of times and not feel the least bit tired.

Theo really was just like a child that just learned how to handle magic.

“Given enough time, your magic energy will be replenished by absorbing the magic energy in the air. If you focus and feel the flow of magic energy in the air, you will absorb it faster.”

“Then I should do my best to feel it, right!?”

“But that is difficult. I think it will take you three years to learn it.”

“Ah, I see…”

Theo was full of motivation, so he was a little disappointed to hear he could not do it.

Hearing that Celia learned it in a month and Helvi was born able to do it unconsciously did not help either.

“But if you are tired, do you know how you can replenish it right now?”

“Eh? No. How?”

“Fufu, like this…”

“Eh, hnn…!”

Their faces were already close, but the distance between them became zero.

Helvi put her hand on the back of Theo’s head, and gently pushed it closer to hers, making their lips overlap.

Theo was surprised, but offered no resistance as he closed his eyes and his face became red.

In the middle of the grassy field, there were no other living beings besides the black horse, who perhaps noticed the atmosphere, because it waited without making a sound.

A while later the kiss ended, and they looked at each other closer than before.

“Ahh, ahh… Why… All of a sudden…?”

Theo was tired to begin with, but being kissed suddenly made him breathe heavily as his face turned red.

This made Helvi even more excited, but she started speaking as she looked into Theo’s eyes.

“Magic energy replenishment, remember? The fastest way to transfer magic energy is via mucous membrane contact.”

Being kissed made Theo forget what they were talking about, but he really was feeling a little better.

“That was just our lips pressing together, next time it will be more intense. All for the sake of magic energy transfer of course…”

It was a medical act not dissimilar from artificial breathing, so it was no problem if they kissed there.

That was what Helvi meant, but Theo pouted a little.

“For the sake of magic transfer… That’s why you kissed…”

“…!?”

Theo’s words as he looked up with moist eyes hit Helvi’s heart like a spear.

Basically, Theo was asking if she kissed him because she had to for medical reasons, and not because she wanted to.

“…I see, I take it back. I wanted to kiss you, and used that as a pretext.”

“…Then just say so.”

“Hn, then what do you want me to say exactly?”

“Eh? Hum, that you want… T-to kiss me…!”

Theo was on the offensive at first, but Helvi quickly flipped it around.

Theo could only respond with his face bright red.

“You’re so cute Theo.”

“…You’re cuter Helvi. And beautiful.”

Thank you. I want to kiss you Theo. What about you?”

“M-me too… Hnn…!”

Theo’s words were cut short, as Helvi was unable to hold back any longer.

This kiss was deeper and more intense, making the previous one look like child’s play.

The horse was given instructions to stay still, but started quietly walking forward. It had been waiting for so long without further instructions, that it decided they were not coming.

This decision was correct, as it would take over thirty more minutes for those instructions to come.

Had the horse not made this choice, their arrival at the capital would have been substantially delayed.

Theo made sure to thank the horse later after he noticed, but for himself and Helvi were both too entranced.