CH 186

Episode 186 – Hazy Heart

Author’s Note: Still Ahmed’s POV.

The next day, I woke up in the middle of the night, probably because I had gone to bed early to forget my mistake. Come to think of it, I was insanely hungry because I had gone to bed without even eating, and my body was still dirty and unwashed.

As I woke up and noticed my discomfort, I soon heard upbeat voices coming from outside my room. I inadvertently listened to the voices, and found that they belonged to Dion and Smash. Judging from the slurred words and cheerful tones, Dion sounded pretty drunk, which was rare. I could tell that they probably had dinner with Lewin.

It was my own fault that I ran away, so I don’t have any right to complain at all… Still, it’s so irritating.

I had half a mind to vent my anger on them by charging into their room and forcing them to go to the Dungeon right this moment, but… you couldn’t go to the Dungeon while drunk. Deciding that it would be too rough to go into the Dungeon now while these two were still nursing their hangovers, I decided to just make my preparations until then.

From the middle of the night until the morning, I cleaned myself up and ate my stomach’s fill. Then, I hurried to their room.

I gotta wake Smash up first since he never wakes up easily.

With the master key that I had borrowed beforehand, I unlocked the door to Smash’s room. I cupped my hands together into a makeshift megaphone before shouting right into his ear.

“OIII, SMASH, WAKE UP!! It’s morning. We’re going to the Dungeon!” (Ahmed)

…If you think you can get away with just one futon, you’re sorely mistaken.

I wrenched off his covers and kept shouting loudly into his ear until he was fully awake. As a result, Smash was out of bed within minutes.

“….It’s still morning, you’re so noisy. We were drinking until late last night, so lemme at least sleep until noon.” (Smash)

“No way. We’re going to the Dungeon right now.” (Ahmed)

The moment I said that, Smash’s eyes went wide in shock.

“Haaah? What did you just say?” (Smash)

“I said we’re going to the Dungeon. Aside from your head going rotten, are you maybe going deaf as well?” (Ahmed)

“Nonono! It was only yesterday morning that we left the Dungeon! You haven’t properly rested, and we haven’t even made any preparations to go into the Dungeon!” (Smash)

“Shut the hell up. I’ll let you have a day off in the Safe Zone, so hurry up and get ready to go!” (Ahmed)

“Nonononono! I don’t want to g―” (Smash)

The instant Smash started complaining, I dropped a punch on his bald, slippery head.

“I’ve already made up my mind to go. Next time I hear a complaint out of your mouth, it won’t be just one punch, you hear me? …Alright. If you get it, then go get ready right now. I’m going to go to Dion’s.” (Ahmed)

After casting a backwards glance at Smash, who was crouching on the floor with his hands held over his throbbing head, I made my way to Dion’s room.

“It’s impossible. It’s just insane to come back from the Dungeon and go back down less than a day later.” (Smash)

“I hadn’t expected to go back this morning either. I also wanted to gather some intel on the layers we haven’t reached yet…” (Dion)

After waking Dion and Smash up in the same fashion, I managed to get the two of them together, even though we were an hour behind schedule. As usual, the two of them were complaining away, but as long as they were gathered here, we were good to go.

Now, let’s get to the Dungeon before we run into Lewin.

“Alright. Let’s go down to the Dungeon then.” (Ahmed)

“Sigh. Are you really going? What are you in such a hurry for, Eliza?” (Smash)

“I was also curious about that, too… You’ve been strange ever since we met Lewin-kun. Besides, you were also the only one who was dead set on not going back to Grezesta.” (Dion)

“……….” (Ahmed)

The two of them seemed dissatisfied, which made this conversation feel uncomfortable to me. As expected, it seemed that these two had noticed that something was out of place with my attitude. But… I couldn’t figure out how to put this feeling into words. I myself couldn’t even figure out what I was feeling.

I want to see him, but I also don’t want to see him. I want to talk to him, but I also don’t want to talk to him.

I felt the urge to punch myself in the face for being swayed by such an emotion.

…Letting out a big sigh, I continued walking towards the Dungeon, ignoring the two of them who were lingering behind.

I’m sure I’ll be able to forget this unpleasant state of mind once I’m in the Dungeon.

―Or so I thought…

In front of the Dungeon monitors off the Main Street of Landaust… was none other than Lewin, who was not supposed to be here.

“OIII!! Lewin!! Come over here!” (Smash)

While I was lost in my own thoughts at the sight of Lewin, Smash, who was trudging along behind me, suddenly shouted loudly. I desperately tried to cover his mouth, but it was too late. Lewin, who had taken notice of us, came running over.

“Smash-san, Dion-san, Ahmed-san! I’ve been waiting for you!” (Lewin)

“My bad, Lewin. Eliza must have caught wind of what we were up to, so we arrived a bit too early.” (Smash)

“It’s alright. I had a feeling something like that would happen, so I came here earlier than scheduled!” (Lewin)

“Fufu. As expected, Lewin-kun. You know Ahmed-san even better than we do.” (Dion)

I was half pissed off at Smash and Dion, but also… half happy that Lewin was here waiting for me. I was once again struck by an emotion I couldn’t describe, and I felt like running away once more.

They must have noticed me taking a few steps back in an effort to escape, because two voices quickly chimed in from the side.

“Eliza, no running away. Lewin’s finally here. Let’s talk about this, alright?” (Smash)

“Exactly. I don’t know why you’re avoiding me, but I’ve come this far already so I can’t give up.” (Lewin)

“Y-you guys… You tricked me!” (Ahmed)

Damn it! More than anything else, the grinning faces of these two annoys me to no end.

While I was preoccupied with these two, Lewin, who had come up to the front at some point, spoke to me.

“Ahmed-san, it’s been so long! How have you been since we parted at Grezesta?” (Lewin)

“Y-yeah… Well, I’ve been doing well.” (Ahmed)

Averting my gaze, I managed to feign a sense of normalcy as I replied. Still… looking at him up close, I could tell that he had grown up somewhat. He had gotten taller, and his body had changed a lot. He was no longer as young nor as weak as he had been when we had parted ways in Grezesta, and it was easy to tell at a glance from his body and aura that he had been training.

Distracted by the sight of Lewin’s growth, I was able to regain my composure, if only for a little while.