episode_0035

I fiddled with the soft tail fur of the fox doll wrapped around my finger inside my pocket and carefully opened the door to Rai’s house.

“Welcome back?”

Rai, holding a creamy stew made from simmering herbs, milk, a few pieces of meat, and a bit of cheese, greeted me with a bright smile as I entered the house.

“Tom Bolt was a good person, wasn’t he?”

“He was an incredibly good person, almost unbelievable for a merchant.”

At my answer, Rai also nodded profoundly as if he had expected it, stirring the hot stew slowly with a wooden spoon to cool it down.

“Where’s Killua?”

“He just woke up. That’s why I prepared a simple meal.”

Rai answered, showing me the warm bowl of stew in his hand.

My gaze couldn’t help but fall to his neck.

His necklace, where his fiancé’s shabby and murky magic stone, a memento, had been fixed, hung empty and limp.

He let out an awkward laugh.

Feeling my gaze, Rai let out an awkward laugh and tucked the empty, weightless necklace deep into his clothes so it wouldn’t be seen.

“Don’t worry. Those who have left have left… and those who must live, must live.”

Although his fiancé’s memento had briefly left his possession, Rai smiled as if it were nothing and shrugged his shoulders lightly.

However, unlike his smiling lips, his tightly strained eyes showed that he was forcing a smile.

“Thank you. For saving Killua.”

I expressed my heartfelt gratitude to Rai, bowing my head deeply.

“Whoa, whoa! What’s wrong! We just help each other live!”

As I bowed my head and expressed my sincere gratitude, Rai, startled as if my thanks were too much, rushed over to me and gently lifted my lowered head.

“You helped our village too. Let’s just consider it mutual assistance.”

“But…”

“Come on, come on. No need for thanks. Killua must be hungry.”

Rai, waving his hand as if my thanks were too much, emphasized again that Killua was waiting, and headed upstairs with the bowl of stew and the wooden spoon.

Worried about Killua, I also followed him to Killua’s room on the second floor.

“I’m coming in!”

Rai lightly knocked on her door, then carefully twisted it open and entered the room.

“Rai… and Jazel, you’re back too!”

She was still sitting on the bed.

But her complexion had brightened, and her voice carried strength and vitality.

“Killua… your arm?”

“As expected of World Tree Sap, it truly works wonders.”

And crucially, the bandages wrapped tightly around her right arm were completely gone.

Her shoulder wound, which had been bitten by the wolf, seemed to be completely healed by the potion’s effect, leaving no scars, as Killua vigorously tried to move her right arm right in front of me, as if showing off.

“Don’t overuse it yet. You need to rest for about a day until the muscles and nerves are completely connected.”

But Rai grabbed Killua’s right wrist, preventing her from moving it vigorously.

After gently tucking her right arm back into the bed, he showed her the bowl of stew he had brought.

“Wow… this finally looks like real food.”

When Rai brought real stew instead of the bland grain porridge she usually ate, Killua exclaimed in admiration at the fragrant herbs and rich creamy scent.

“This is all thanks to you. Because of you, the villagers can have proper meals.”

“Hmmph. It’s a huge relief that I could help.”

Killua replied with a light snort, feigning modesty.

However, her shoulders, shrugging slightly without her own awareness, showed that she felt immense pride in what she had accomplished.

“Here. Say ah.”

Rai stirred the stew with a wooden spoon, then scooped up a spoonful and brought it to Killua’s mouth.

As he tried to feed her the stew himself, Killua’s face turned bright red from his surprisingly tender consideration.

“I… I can do it myself.”

“Don’t move your right arm.”

As she tried to move her almost fully recovered right arm to take the bowl of stew, Rai raised an eyebrow, chiding her actions.

“Thanks to the World Tree Sap, it’s almost completely healed…”

The World Tree Sap’s medicinal properties were potent enough to instantly heal even severed, terrible injuries.

Such potent sap would have quickly healed a torn wound from a wolf bite without leaving any after-effects.

“It’s because I’m worried about you.”

“Ugh…”

At Rai’s sincere concern, Killua obediently tucked her right arm back into the bed, only wiggling her left arm, the only one she could move, in front of the stew bowl.

“Here. Say ah.”

“W-wait, I have a question!!”

As he brought the spoon to her mouth again, Killua frantically stopped him, desperate to escape this embarrassing situation.

“Hm? What are you curious about?”

“Ah… that… R-right! Where did you put your necklace?!”

Killua, rolling her eyes around to find a question, asked about the whereabouts of the magic stone he always carried.

She had been able to predict Rai’s movements by sensing the faint magical energy of the magic stone he carried.

Since she couldn’t feel the faint magical aura of the magic stone, Killua had urgently asked about its whereabouts to escape the current situation.

“Ah…”

However, Killua’s question turned Rai’s efforts to hide the empty pendant deep within his clothes into naught.

Rai, who hadn’t expected Killua to notice the magic stone’s absence so quickly, had no answer ready and could only let out a small gasp of embarrassment.

“I’ll explain for you.”

The matter of leaving his fiancé’s magic stone, a memento, as collateral with the merchant to purchase the World Tree Sap that would save Killua’s life.

It was clear that explaining such a thing himself would not be easy.

I stepped forward to help the flustered Rai, intending to explain the magic stone’s whereabouts for him.

“Please do, Jazel.”

Rai gave me a small nod, as if thanking me for my thoughtful consideration, and stepped slightly aside.

“Hm? Something happened, didn’t it?”

Killua, looking between Rai and me, seemed to realize something unusual had happened, and gazed at me with eyes full of interest and curiosity.

I met Killua’s gaze, stood beside Rai, and calmly began to honestly and truthfully recount the story of his deal with the merchant for Killua’s sake.

————————-

“So that’s what happened…”

Killua, having heard my entire story, slowly nodded while looking at Rai with a complex expression.

“Indeed, the village’s assets wouldn’t have been enough to purchase a top-grade potion.”

Killua closed her eyes for a moment, lost in thought, as if trying to organize the story I had told her.

“Thank you, Jazel.”

While she was organizing her thoughts, Rai, who had been standing beside me, expressed his gratitude to me for elaborating on the transaction he had made with the merchant for Killua.

“Don’t mention it…”

But it was I who should have been expressing gratitude.

To save Killua, Rai had made the decision to purchase the potion, even letting go of his deceased fiancé’s memento.

Without his resolve, I would have been helpless, only able to watch Killua die in pain.

“Rai.”

Killua, who had been closing her eyes to organize her thoughts, slowly opened them and called out to Rai.

“I’m hungry.”

And she pointed to the bowl of stew he was holding, stating her hungry condition.

“Ahahaha. The story got a bit too long.”

Rai approached Killua, holding the bowl of stew, which had cooled enough to be eaten in one mouthful without discomfort.

“Ah…”

Then, Killua no longer felt embarrassed and voluntarily opened her mouth.

As Killua opened her mouth, Rai carefully scooped a spoonful of stew and fed it to her.

“Mmm… it’s delicious!”

Having only eaten bland porridge usually, Killua’s eyes sparkled as she took a bite of the stew, which could truly be called proper food, and let out an honest exclamation of delight.

“You made this yourself?”

“Of course. I’m quite confident in my cooking, more than you’d think.”

As Killua exclaimed how delicious it was, Rai, who had made the stew, also smiled brightly with joy, scooping up a suitable amount of meat and vegetables onto the spoon for another bite.

“Ah~”

Then, Killua opened her mouth as if she had been waiting.

As she seemed to enjoy the stew he had made, Rai’s smile showed no signs of fading.

Rai, showing not even a speck of lingering regret or worry about the vanished magic stone, simply focused on carefully feeding stew to Killua.

“Ah… by any chance, could you lend me your pendant?”

Killua, after swallowing a spoonful of stew Rai had fed her, abruptly pointed to the pendant around his neck and asked.

“Hm? This pendant, without its magic stone?”

At Killua’s pointing, Rai took out the pendant he had been hiding inside his collar.

The pendant, simply crafted from wood, had lost the magic stone that had been set in its center, leaving only its bare framework.

“You haven’t found your fiancé’s remains yet, have you?”

“N-no…”

Finding the remains of victims attacked by slimes was never an easy task.

Due to the slimes’ characteristic of dissolving everything they touched, victims struck by them would be reduced to mere bones in an instant.

“If you lend me the pendant, I’ll find her remains for you.”

“That’s… possible?!”

At Killua’s words about finding the remains, Rai, disbelieving yet with eyes shining with a glimmer of hope, asked her again.

“Yes, it’s possible. If you lend it to me now, I can prepare so we can go look for them tomorrow morning.”

Killua stated to him that it was possible, her voice full of certainty.

“Then… I know it’s shameless, but could I ask you to?”

Was finding the remains of his fiancé, who had been attacked by a slime, his lifelong wish? Or was it lingering affection for the woman who had loved him?

Rai, without a moment’s hesitation, took off the pendant around his neck and handed it to Killua.

“Leave it to me. I’ll locate the remains tonight, so let’s go find them together tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

“Alright then… Say ah~”

Having finished her conversation, Killua looked at the remaining stew in the bowl and opened her mouth again.

Then, Rai, letting out a small laugh unconsciously, scooped up another spoonful of stew as she wished and brought it to her mouth.