CH 121

Episode 121 – Fatigued Body

After that, I took advantage of the fact that the four Goblins and one Kobold had frozen up after seeing my blow and slaughtered them all in quick succession. Walking over to the remaining two Goblins whose legs I had cut off earlier, I put them out of their misery. Finally, calmness returned to the abandoned Dungeon.

Exhaling heavily, I realized that the long battle was finally over. Even though the opponents were all monsters of the lowest class, I hadn’t expected a series of continuous battles to be so taxing. A sense of relief washed over me when I realized that I had weathered the storm and emerged safely. My entire body was so exhausted that every muscle felt like it was cramping, so I sat down on the ground with a plop. Kirty, who had been quietly watching from behind, walked up to me.

“Lewin, good work. In the second half, you made a lot of misjudgments and wasted movements, but you were able to defeat all the monsters in the end. In that final battle there… it looked like you managed to grasp something, so I think this was a pretty good experience for you, wasn’t it?” (Kirty)

“…..Yeah. I started making a lot of mistakes because I couldn’t think straight after the continuous series of battles. Plus, the exhaustion started setting in, and I ended up making a lot of wasted movements… But as you said, Kirty, I think I started to get the hang of my sword swings in the last battle.” (Lewin)

“As long as you recognize the points you need to reflect on, then I don’t need to worry. I had some fun experiencing the feeling of being protected,” Kirty said with a laugh.

I smiled wryly in response. I was barely hanging in there without any room to breathe, but it seemed that Kirty really had a good time. Her voice sounded so carefree and joyful.

“I’m a bit reluctant, but let’s head back to Grezesta. Lewin, can you walk…?” (Kirty)

“Yeah. I can walk just fi—Whoa.” (Lewin)

I tried to stand up and walk, but when I tried to put strength into my legs, I started tumbling forward. Kirty quickly reached out to catch me before I fell.

It seems my body is even more exhausted than I thought it was…

“Your whole body is trembling from fatigue. There’s no way you’d be able to walk in this state. I’ll carry you until the exit of Nava Forest… It’s my way of thanking you for saving me.” (Kirty)

“Ah, n-no! It’s really fine!” (Lewin)

I tried to turn down Kirty, who was crouching down as she offered me her back. But when I tried to walk on my own again, I lost my balance.

“See, I already told you. It’s fine, so just get on my back. If you’re that wobbly, even if you could walk, it would take forever. We don’t have all day.” (Kirty)

“………..Then, would it be alright for you to carry me on your back?” (Lewin)

“Yeah. I’m the one who suggested it, so of course it’s alright. Come on now, hurry up and get on.” (Kirty)

Just like that, I was once again being given a piggyback ride by a woman. Last time, I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even think about it, so I didn’t feel much. But this time, I was completely flushed with embarrassment because even though my body was exhausted, my consciousness was still going strong.

Once I took a deep breath and calmed myself down, I climbed onto Kirty’s back.

“Oof. Hmm, you’re pretty light still, Lewin. Have you been eating properly?” (Kirty)

“Ah, yes! I’m eating every day!” (Lewin)

Since Kirty wasn’t wearing her armor and was wearing civilian clothes instead, I could directly feel her body heat against me. Ahmed had a gentle, faintly pleasant scent… but in comparison, Kirty’s fragrance was much fuller and smelled even better.

It was embarrassing enough being carried by a woman, but combined with my over-awareness of her warmth and her scent, my thoughts were a total mess, and I was half-panicking. As she carried me through Nava Forest, Kirty kept talking to me about various things. But the conversation was barely registering in my head, and I could only reply blankly.

In that state, with me attached to Kirty’s back and flustered to the extreme, we finally made it out of Nava Forest.

By the way, Kirty fought the monsters that appeared along the way all by herself while carrying me on her back at the same time. Since I was on her back as she fought, I could experience the battle from her perspective in real time, which was of great benefit to me.

“Alright, we made it out of Nava Forest. Sorry, but… can you walk from here? It might sound like an excuse, but I’d rather not be seen by the guys from the Knights of the Royal Order as much as possible.” (Kirty)

“Of course! Thank you for carrying me all this way. It was a great experience for me!” (Lewin)

“A great experience? Me carrying you was a great experience for you…? Lewin… You weren’t having any indecent thoughts while you were on my back just now, were you?” (Kirty)

“That’s not it!! I was talking about being able to see the battle from your point of view!” (Lewin)

“Fufu, I was just kidding. Anyways… so that’s what you were thinking about while I was carrying you, huh? It seems that you really do have a different perspective from other people. It’s as if you have a great capacity to absorb, or something like that… But because of it, I can see why your strength is growing so rapidly,” Kirty complimented me with a smile. I felt flattered by her praise, but I felt that it wasn’t entirely correct. Rather than me having a great capacity to absorb, I felt that it had more to do with the fact that Kirty was a great teacher.

I thought about dropping by Elf’s Tears to tell the grandma that I couldn’t show up for the potion brewing lesson today, but I was so tired that I didn’t think I had the energy to visit the shop. I decided to just apologize tomorrow for taking a day off without notice and spend the rest of the day recovering my strength a bit. After applying some Medical Herb-imbued Slime liquid to my body, I went to sleep.