< Episode 183: While Asleep (1) >
*
‘What did he just say?’
Yusera blinked her eyes.
Allen’s last words had definitely been strange.
‘Please stay next to me?’
What on earth did that mean?
‘For some reason…’
She felt a bit weird.
Her face was burning, and her body started to tremble restlessly.
As she pondered why she felt this way, she finally realized.
‘Could that have been… a confession?’
Stay next to me.
Looking back, it was always Elsie who had been right next to him.
She was always just floating around the two of them.
But now…
‘Could it be me too?’
Maybe she had finally reached the same position as Elsie.
“Ugh…”
This was concerning.
Just thinking about it felt like her head was about to explode.
Her earlobes, flushed with heat, were on the verge of bursting.
Knock.
She even thought she heard strange sounds in her head.
Knock, knock.
But it wasn’t a sound in her head.
It was someone knocking on the door.
‘Who could it be?’
Of course, if anyone were to come here, it would most likely be Lucy or Luel.
But that wasn’t certain, and even if it was Lucy or Luel, she couldn’t fully trust them.
Especially not in a situation where Allen was completely vulnerable.
So she took out one Sacred Relic Replicant and asked,
“Who is it?”
From the other side of the door, a familiar voice came.
“Is it Sara? Is Allen in there with you by any chance?”
It was Luel’s voice.
“He is….”
He’s collapsed and sleeping.
But she might need Luel’s help now more than ever.
She heard that Luel could use healing magic.
“Would you like to come in?”
“Yes.”
As she answered, the door opened.
Outside stood both Luel and Lucy.
“Allen? What happened…?”
Luel seemed to figure out Allen’s state by the sight of his collapsed figure on the bed and the smell of blood pervading the room.
“What happened?”
“He said he was fine, but… he drank an overpowered potion and collapsed.”
Upon hearing this, Luel said to her, still on guard,
“Let me check his condition. He said he’s fine, which probably means he is, but blood magic is always more dangerous than it seems.”
“But…”
She still didn’t know.
If she could completely trust Luel.
After all, Allen had never told her that she was a full comrade.
Fortunately, Luel seemed to understand that fact.
“If you can’t fully trust me, may I borrow your hand, Yusera?”
“Yes?”
“It’s not too difficult; just follow my instructions.”
“Got it.”
If Luel could check on Allen’s condition without approaching him, that would be ideal.
As she pondered what to do, she felt relieved and waited for Luel’s orders.
“First, please unbutton Allen’s shirt.”
However, that order was unexpected.
“What?”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I need to make proper contact to accurately check his condition.”
Thinking about it, that made sense too.
Maybe she was the one being strange.
“I apologize.”
Right, it was for Allen’s sake; there was no helping it.
She cautiously placed her sword down next to Allen and reached for his shirt buttons.
‘So…’
She brought her hand to the top button at his neck.
And the moment she grasped it.
‘How do I… unbutton this?’
Suddenly, her mind went blank.
While she was hanging on to the button, Luel asked with a worried voice.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Thanks to that, her mind cleared a bit.
After all, forgetting how to unbutton a shirt was ridiculous.
She naturally undid the first button.
‘Huh?’
Then she faced Allen’s bare skin.
Of course, it was just a glimpse, but it was enough to trigger something in her.
Heat.
Her heart, which had somewhat calmed down while keeping an eye on the twin sisters, started racing again.
At the same time, her hand, which was headed for the next button, began to tremble uncontrollably.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes? Yes, I just had a bit of tremor normally…”
While her hand trembled, she managed to unbutton one more of Allen’s buttons.
‘Ugh…!’
Then, the lean muscles hidden beneath Allen’s body were revealed.
Though she felt it indirectly when they wrestled, seeing it in person was a different feeling altogether.
‘No, this isn’t the time for that.’
She barely brought her mind back to reality and unbuttoned the next button.
‘Ah.’
Now it was at its limit.
If she unbuttoned any more, her brain might fry.
“Is this enough?”
To her, Luel responded.
“It seems insufficient to only unbutton three.”
“Then how many…?”
“It’d be better to unbutton them all.”
Failed.
‘I don’t know.’
At this point, she decided to stop thinking altogether.
With her palm already red, she started to unbutton the remaining buttons.
‘You can do it.’
It was just unbuttoning a shirt.
What was so hard about it?
…It was hard?
Her fingers kept slipping.
She thought she had removed the button from the hole, but it slipped back in again.
Yet she refused to give up.
‘Think of all the battles you’ve fought, Yusera.’
That’s right; she couldn’t surrender to something like this.
Three more, two more, one more…
Finally, she undid all of Allen’s buttons.
“Phew…”
See, I could do it.
Just when she was feeling proud of herself.
“Now place your hand on Allen’s chest.”
“Yes?”
“I told you at the beginning; proper contact is necessary.”
That did sound right.
Though she didn’t quite remember well.
“Uh, right.”
After hesitating for a moment, she finally steeled herself.
‘For Allen’s sake…’
In the end, she placed her hand on his chest.
“Ugh.”
It’s warm.
She felt the chest muscles moving with each breath.
Moreover, beneath that, she could feel a small heartbeat.
‘This will be hard to maintain.’
It felt strange.
So strange that it felt like she might die right there.
“What should I do now? His heart is beating…”
“Then with one hand, please hold mine. I’ll check Allen’s condition through you.”
“Yes.”
It was a reasonable enough request, so she held Luel’s hand.
“Hmm…”
Luel closed her eyes and said,
“Overall, his condition looks better than I expected.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but just to be safe, please move your hand a bit.”
“Move my hand?”
“I’d like you to put your hand on various spots of Allen’s body, if possible, on all of them.”
That was a request on a different level altogether.
“His heart is beating this fast? Sara, you’re the one who seems fine…”
“I’m okay.”
But she had to do this.
Allen trusted her and fell asleep.
‘Is this the right spot?’
She slowly began to move her hand.
“Good. Now please move it slightly upward from there.”
Luel gave her detailed orders.
“Now downward. A little more.”
After she brushed through Allen’s upper body, Luel smiled and said.
“He’s fine. He’s recovering properly. Allen has natural healing abilities, so there’s no need for me to do anything further here.”
“But still, wouldn’t it be better for him to receive treatment and wake up as soon as possible?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
Luel looked at the sleeping Allen’s face and continued.
“Even if I use healing magic, I can’t heal mental fatigue. Over the past week, he must have accumulated a lot of exhaustion from mastering blood magic, so I hope he rests for at least a day.”
She pointed to the window.
“It’s almost dinner time, so let’s let him rest today. And… judging by the fact that all his muscles are relaxed, it seems he is finally letting his guard down completely. Such opportunities are rare going forward.”
“Letting his guard down completely?”
“Yes, perhaps it’s because you’re next to him, Yusera?”
Luel smiled bitterly.
“He never relaxed even when I healed him using blood magic; he always maintained at least minimal tension.”
The fact that Allen was currently sleeping without any tension also meant he trusted Yusera that much.
‘Trusting me?’
That’s when she finally understood Allen’s last words.
‘Saying please stay next to me…’
That was what it meant.
‘I almost misunderstood there.’
Leaving Yusera, who had finally begun to regain her color, Luel and Lucy stepped out of the room.
“Then we’ll be on our way.”
Luel was carrying a bucket filled with the blood Allen had spat out.
“We’ll bring your dinner here, and if anything comes up…”
She called someone into the empty air.
“Albert.”
Understood. If a suspicious person comes, just yell again, right?
That was the voice of the Ego Sword that Allen possessed.
Though it didn’t seem to be visible in the inventory, it appeared it could still speak from within.
“Since that’s the case, it’s okay if I step out for a bit.”
“Thank you.”
It was a moment to express gratitude for her consideration.
“Then have a good time, sister.”
Lucy said something strange just before leaving the room.
“Lucy?”
What did she mean by saying to have a good time when she was just going to stay by Allen’s side?
Of course, she didn’t dislike it.
‘Could it be a good thing?’
The sight of Allen sleeping peacefully, unaware of the world.
That was not something easily seen, just as Luel said.
The current Allen was a testament to how much he fully trusted her.
‘Then I must live up to that expectation.’
She would protect Allen.
Because they were comrades and future joint leaders.
At the same time, because he was someone precious to her.
She gripped her sword tightly and resumed her vigilance.
*
Night had already begun to fall.
Dinner was brought in by Luel, who later took the empty bowls away, and apart from when she went to the bathroom, she had continuously kept watch over Allen.
“Ugh…”
Maybe it was because she was full; drowsiness began to creep in.
To her, Albert said,
You can close your eyes for a bit. If I sense anything, I’ll wake you up.
“No. I can hold out just fine.”
With her stamina, she could probably manage two or three days without sleep.
If you say so.
However, she couldn’t shake the one thought in her mind.
‘Who could come here as an enemy?’
This was a location hidden by fog.
Of course, she couldn’t definitively say this, as she knew far less than Allen, but as it stood, there were only the twin sisters, Allen, and herself on this island, making it hard to imagine anyone else showing up.
‘But still, I must not lower my guard.’
Just as she gripped her sword tightly again.
‘Presence?’
Suddenly, she felt a presence outside the door.
It was a weighty step, different from either Lucy’s or Luel’s.
‘Who could it be?’
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