As Rudell and Leje returned, the camp was buzzing even more than before their departure.
“Welcome back.”
“Oh, you made it back!”
Uh, welcome!!
Spotting the two, three people greeted them, and Rudell and Leje nodded as they unpacked their things.
“Looks like you found something.”
“Well, sort of.”
The emergence of the church and their rituals…
There was much to discuss, but not right now.
“Let’s take it easy today. There are a lot of eyes on us.”
“Yeah, that sounds about right.”
Birds hear day talk, mice hear night talk.
Given there were listening ears everywhere, it was wise to postpone any discussion about recent events until the next day.
“Ugh…!! I smell like blood all over…”
Meanwhile, as Leje finished organizing her stuff, she stretched out her body with a tired voice and frowned.
The blood smeared over her was an unavoidable fate for someone who engaged in close combat.
W-well, there was a small pond nearby… you could wash there…
“Really? That’s great! I’ll go wash up.”
With a brightened expression at the thought of being able to wash, Leje stood up.
“Are you planning to go alone?”
“Huh? Of course, I am! Is there a problem…?”
Leje tilted her head as if wondering why Rudell was even asking such an obvious question.
But that moment passed quickly.
With sparkling eyes, Leje looked at him, and Rudell felt a chill run down his spine from her gaze.
“Could it be… you want to see me naked?”
“W-W-What!? N-No way!!”
Rudell shouted in a flustered voice at her unexpected remark.
His warning came from the dangers lurking in the forest.
Monsters and the church’s forces were roaming around.
In such situations, unforeseen circumstances could arise at any moment.
“Rudellheit, you’re quite lecherous, aren’t you?”
Oh my…!!
“N-No! It’s a misunderstanding!”
With Eleor and Silphier chiming in, Rudell waved his hands in a panic.
At that sight, Leje couldn’t help but giggle…
“I’m just kidding. If you’re there to watch over me, I’ll feel safer. Let’s go together.”
“Okay, then…”
Rudell felt like the number of people teasing him had somehow increased…
Feeling an inexplicable fatigue, he got up and headed into the forest with Leje.
*
Splash
As the calm sound of water echoed, Rudell stood behind a tree nearby, scanning the surroundings.
“Rudell, are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I’m just saying this just in case… Don’t look, okay?”
“I’m not looking!!”
Rudell shouted loudly at her voice, and Leje, giggling, started to wash herself again.
“Honestly…”
Leaving her to her antics, Rudell grumbled.
In a typical scenario, one might be conscious of a man being around, yet she seemed entirely unconcerned.
“Mom!?”
“Are you just messing with me again?”
Hehe, you caught me!
She was so shamelessly playing around that it felt like Rudell’s pride had taken a hit.
Of course, there wasn’t much he could do about it.
“Ugh… It’s cold. I think I might catch a cold.”
“They say fools don’t catch colds, so you might be fine after all.”
“Ugh! You go look!”
Washing in warm water in the wild was nothing short of a luxury.
Leje knew this too, so even while grumbling, she didn’t come out of the water.
Just then…
Gah!?
“Are you messing with me again?”
With a sound that was hard to describe, Leje reacted, and Rudell spoke in a deadpan tone.
“I-I really didn’t do anything! Just now, something brushed against my leg!!”
“Isn’t it just some weeds in the water?”
“C-Could be…?”
Leje made a reluctant sound but continued washing.
Seriously, scaring people…
With a short sigh, Rudell continued to monitor the surroundings.
After a brief moment…
“Leje?”
Noticing the splashing sound had stopped, Rudell called out to her in confusion.
However, he received no response, and he felt a nagging sense of apprehension but didn’t turn his head.
“If you’re just messing with me again, I won’t fall for it. It’s cold, so hurry up and wash up.”
Losing count of how many times he had fallen for her pranks would definitely take more than just his fingers and toes.
But…
“Leje?”
…
As several minutes passed with no sound, a small unease began to rise in Rudell’s chest.
No matter how much she loved to joke around, it felt far too long without a response.
Once unease took hold, it only grew, and the thought of “Could it be?” bubbled in Rudell’s mind.
“Ugh…”
A groan escaped Rudell’s lips, and not long after, he turned his head with a short sigh.
“Ah, what are you doing!? Not funny! Hurry up and…?”
He couldn’t help but stop moving.
The reason being…
“Leje…?”
The pond before him was, quite simply, completely empty.
“Leje!?”
Only then did Rudell grasp the situation and rushed toward the pond in a panic.
“Leje!? Where are you!? Leje!!”
With a splashing sound, a desperate voice escaped Rudell’s lips, but there was no sign of Leje anywhere.
As he felt his head going blank, Rudell frantically searched for any trace of her.
Bloop!
“…!?”
Bubbles surfaced from the pond, and Rudell hurriedly gathered his magic to create a glowing sphere.
The bright light illuminated the pond’s bottom, revealing a small hand that was sticking out.
“…Leje!!”
Seeing that, Rudell quickly summoned his magic.
With his magic, the water of the pond began to swirl, shooting upward and transforming into a massive sphere.
“Hang on a bit!”
From the emptied pond, Rudell reached for the hand that was sticking out.
However, it seemed to be buried quite deep, as Leje’s hand wouldn’t budge.
Pushing through the mud with his hands, Rudell cast magic again, and just as the water had, the mud moved with Rudell’s will, revealing Leje’s form.
“Leje! Wake up! Leje!!”
Seeing her seemingly unconscious, Rudell struck her cheek and shouted.
Yet, she didn’t open her eyes, so he leaned in to check her breath.
“She’s not breathing…!!”
Having been buried at the bottom of the pond for quite a while, Leje was not breathing.
As he watched her, Rudell recalled memories of his previous life and started compressing her chest.
“Ninety-eight… ninety-nine… one hundred…!!”
After the hundredth compression, Rudell raised his head, squeezed his eyes shut, and pressed his lips against hers.
The warm sensation from her lips…
Of course, Rudell didn’t have the time to dwell on that.
Air flowed into Rudell’s mouth and after doing that a few times, he pressed on her chest again.
Then, at that moment…
Cough…!! Gah…!!
A rough coughing sound escaped from Leje’s lips, and water gushed out.
“Ugh…”
“Leje!!”
Afterwards, she looked at Rudell with a low groan.
“Rudell…?”
“It’s alright. Just rest for now.”
As she spoke in confusion, Rudell placed his robe over her.
Then, standing up, he gazed at the swirling massive drop of water above them.
“…”
The magic felt within the droplet.
It indicated that the water was far from ordinary.
Heeheehee!!
“Nixie…”
With a childlike giggle, a woman’s figure appeared reflected on the water’s surface, and upon seeing that, Rudell gritted his teeth with a grind.
Its identity was a creature commonly referred to as a fairy.
Among them, a malicious water fairy known to bury unsuspecting humans who step into her realm. A Nixie.
“You’ve picked the wrong person to mess with today.”
Heehee!!
Seeing the Nixie chuckling innocently, Rudell drew upon his magic.
The air around him began to heat up, and the soaked ground rapidly dried, releasing steam.
Heh…?
Only then did the Nixie seem to realize that something was off, but Rudell had no intention of stopping.
As sparkles ignited on the ground, an overwhelming blaze soon erupted.
Eep!? Heeheeee!!
“Go back to the spirit realm and regret this.”
Understanding the dire situation, the Nixie started banging on the circle of water that encased her, frantically asking for release.
But that water was already under Rudell’s control, and there was no way he was going to let her go.
“You messed with someone you shouldn’t have.”
With those parting words, a massive pillar of fire erupted, engulfing the water droplet that trapped the Nixie.
Heeeeeee!!!
From within the pillar of flames, the Nixie’s sudden scream echoed, and when the fire column dissipated, nothing remained.
“Phew…”
Watching that, a short sigh escaped Rudell’s lips.
Perhaps from over-exerting his magic, he was experiencing light dizziness.
But with Leje safe, that was enough for him.
With that thought in mind, Rudell turned his head.
And then…
“D-Don’t look this way!!”
“Eek!?”
At Leje’s urgent shout, Rudell quickly averted his gaze.
In the urgency of the situation, he had overlooked that she was completely bare.
“Geez… How did it come to this…!!”
“I-I’ll get your clothes!”
Grumbling in annoyance, Rudell went to fetch her clothing.
“Hurry up and put them on. You’ll catch a cold.”
“Th-Thank you…”
With a turned head, Rudell handed her the clothes, and Leje, feeling awkward, took them.
As she rustled around putting them on…
“Should we head back now?”
“Yeah, that sounds good…”
Amidst the awkward atmosphere between them, they took steps toward the camp.
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