episode_0047

“Rai!! Take Jazel first!!”

From within his hazy consciousness, Killua’s desperate plea to Rai could be heard.

“It’s okay. I gave emergency treatment, so she’ll be able to hold on. I’ll move Ariel first.”

“No… I’ll protect Ariel, so please take the severely injured Jazel home first!”

Since Rai couldn’t carry both the unconscious Ariel and me, who was injured, alone, it seemed like they were bickering over who to take first.

“I don’t want to leave Ariel in the Lime Forest anymore!! The bleeding has stopped, so Jazel will be fine!!”

“Ra… Rai?”

Rai raised her voice to a furious level and intimidated Killua.

Along with Killua’s bewildered mumble at Rai’s intimidation, the sound of Rai carrying Ariel on her back could be heard.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

Rai’s heavy footsteps, as if carrying Ariel, slowly faded away.

“It’s okay… It’ll be okay…”

As Rai left, a heavy and silent stillness, so thick that not even the sound of birds or insects could be heard, solemnly enveloped the two of us in the Lime Forest.

Perhaps feeling as if that silence was inviting death, Killua, who had slumped down beside me, gently wrapped an arm around my shoulder and quietly murmured to herself.

“Killua-nim?”

To respond to her worried murmuring, I, barely clinging to the last thread of my fading consciousness, struggled to lift my eyelids.

But perhaps due to the effects of alcohol poisoning, my eyes couldn’t focus properly, and I could only vaguely see Killua’s figure, as blurry as a dirty window.

“Are you okay, Jazel? Is there anywhere uncomfortable?”

Killua, after confirming that I had regained consciousness, took a deep breath. Then, as if nothing was wrong, she asked about my condition in a calm and peaceful voice.

“My whole body aches… and I’m very cold.”

Was it because I had fallen defenselessly to the ground?

My shoulders and back ached as if they had been struck dozens of times with a sledgehammer.

And perhaps because of the very damp grass, I could distinctly feel my body growing cold.

“It’s just the after-effects of using too much magic in a short time. Don’t worry.”

Killua gently wiped my forehead, which was drenched in cold sweat, with her small hand, offering comfort.

“Is that so? Is that what it is…”

At her comforting words telling me not to worry, I let out a long sigh as if expelling all my worries and anxieties.

Thanks to the slime venom obscuring my vision, her warm touch, which strangely and persistently fidgeted with my hand, was distinctly felt.

“I’m getting sleepy…”

With my body growing cold, the potent intoxication clouding my head, and the warmth of Killua’s hand caressing my own, sleep naturally began to creep in.

“D-Don’t fall asleep!”

At my words about being sleepy, Killua, who had been fidgeting with my hand, gripped it tightly and shouted in a sharp voice.

At her cry, I, barely clinging to the fading thread of consciousness, turned my head to the left and looked at her dimly visible figure through my blurry vision.

Since my vision was out of focus, I couldn’t even properly see her facial expression through the blurry view.

What kind of expression was she making, seeing my pathetic state, having been affected by slime venom that only caused intoxication, unable to even properly break my fall?

“L-Look at this!”

She lifted my left hand and waved it in front of my eyes.

“Look. This tooth mark! Remember that time?”

Showing me her tooth mark etched on my left hand, she struggled to maintain a bright smile and continue talking with me.

“You should have just put the wooden stick you were holding in my mouth… Why did you foolishly put your hand in…”

“Huh…?”

I could feel her effort to forcibly keep my fading consciousness from slipping away by talking about past memories.

However, my gaze kept drifting to the strange, dimly visible figure moving beyond her shoulder, rather than her voice.

“Ra… *cough*!!”

The strange figure visible over her shoulder was Rai.

He, who should have left earlier with Ariel on his back, had returned.

I tried to tell Killua that fact, but blood rising in my throat choked off my voice.

“Don’t speak! Come on. Instead, hold my hand tightly. Don’t ever let go so you don’t lose consciousness.”

Killua gripped my hand tightly, lacing her fingers through mine.

And as if demanding proof that I hadn’t lost consciousness, she pressed for me to hold her hand back with force.

“So… where were we? Right! Foolishly putting your hand in my mouth…”

Behind Killua, who continued telling stories to keep my consciousness focused, Rai slowly took out the bow slung over his shoulder, making sure no sound was heard.

And even through my blurry vision, I could clearly see the arrowhead gleaming sharply as he began to nock an arrow onto the bowstring.

“Da… *cough cough*!! Danger… *gasp*!!”

I had to somehow inform Killua of Rai’s actions, which were clearly aimed at her.

But cursedly, the blood surging up in my throat kept blocking my voice.

Killua, looking down at me, raised her other hand, the one not holding mine, and slowly stroked my cheek.

And she met my anxious, trembling eyes, which were worried about her safety.

“Don’t say anything. I know everything.”

Meeting my eyes, as if she had read my thoughts, Killua smiled faintly.

And as if fear and worry were washing over her too, she tightened her grip on my hand, the one intertwined with hers.

“You being by my side, truly…”

Before her words could finish…

*Thwack!*

A horrible sound of flesh being pierced by a sharp arrow rang out, and fresh blood splattered across my face.

“Oh…?”

Immediately followed by Killua’s startled gasp.

Fresh blood, still warm as if it had just flowed out, was splattered on her shoulder as well.

The owner of the fresh blood splattered on my face and Killua’s shoulder was not Killua.

The moment Rai released the bowstring, drawn with full force, a large, massive shadow rushed out and protected Killua.

“Heheheh… This hurts more than I thought, damn it…”

“H-Hero!?”

Killua’s eyes widened in surprise at the appearance of the unexpected figure standing behind her, as if protecting her.

“Heh heh. A Hero protects their comrades. It’s a relief I wasn’t late this time.”

The arrow shot by Rai, as if proving his genuine murderous intent, had pierced through the Hero’s thick, fleshy shoulder and emerged on the other side, its gruesome tip, drenched in his blood, glinting towards us.

The Hero clutched his pierced shoulder and turned to look at Rai, who had shot the arrow at Killua.

But Rai, whose cowardly strike had failed, had already rushed away as if fleeing.

“G-Good job. He… *cough*!!”

I tried to praise the Hero’s actions, which had miraculously saved Killua’s life, but once again, blood surging up in my throat choked off my words.

“Wanna come to my place first? I’ve got some good herbs for fractures and bruises.”

The Hero, instead of chasing after the fleeing Rai, approached Killua’s side and checked my condition with a worried expression.

At his cautious invitation to his house, Killua looked at the Hero, who was quietly examining me, without a word for a moment.

Since it was clear that Rai had targeted her life, she couldn’t foolishly return to him.

From Killua’s perspective, needing to treat my wounds in a warm sanctuary right away, she couldn’t refuse the Hero’s offer.

“Can we impose on you for a bit?”

“Heheh. As much as you want!”

Hearing Killua’s reply, the Hero broke into an innocent smile, lifting my limp, powerless body with ease.

“Follow me! It’s not far from here!”

The Hero, with me draped over his thick, well-padded shoulder, began to walk, raising his voice energetically as if his injury was nothing at all.

In the tranquil calm of his regular, heavy footsteps and the gentle, cradle-like swaying from side to side with each step, my eyelids, released from tension, slowly began to close.

——————————————

“Jazel…”

A familiar voice seeped into my hazy consciousness.

At that voice calling my name, I struggled to lift my heavy eyelids, as if tiny weights were hanging from them.

“Killua-nim?”

She stood there detachedly, like a single white lotus blooming in the middle of a murky black swamp of unfathomable depth.

Upon finding her fearlessly standing in the middle of such an obviously dangerous swamp, I unhesitatingly stepped into the murky black swamp of unfathomable depth.

Struggling through the black swamp, which clung to my legs like sticky adhesive, I stretched out my arm towards Killua, who stood in the middle of the swamp, and cried out.

“Killua-nim!!”

“……”

At my call, Killua, who had been turned away from me, slowly turned her body to face me.

“Killua-nim…?”

The moment I faced her like that, I couldn’t help but be speechless.

Her eyes were empty, as if she had lost everything.

A chilling sensation, as if facing a doll from which the soul had departed, violently squeezed my chest.

“C-Come over here!!”

But I, having with difficulty swallowed that chilling sensation deep into my chest, gritted my teeth and struggled through the swamp even more fiercely.

“Jazel…”

She painfully parted her dry, wounded lips and called my name.

Knowing she still needed me, I bit my lip and desperately thrashed through the black swamp.

But the closer I got to her, the more powerfully the black swamp constricted my body, as if refusing my approach to her.

“Grab it!! Grab my hand!!”

As the black swamp violently constricted my body to the point where I could no longer struggle through it with my own strength, I desperately extended my right hand towards her.

“Ah…”

Killua’s empty eyes, which had been looking at me, gazed at my right hand, which I had raised towards her.

Soon after, with a small gasp, Killua slowly raised her right hand as if imitating my action.

“Grab it… Please grab it!!”

But she had merely raised her right hand, as if imitating my action.

Her right hand and my right hand merely brushed fingertips; they couldn’t grasp each other.

If Killua leaned her upper body just a little… if she stretched her arm out just a little more, it felt like I could firmly grasp her slender hand.

“Let’s survive together!! You can overcome this!! Please… White Mage-nim!!”

In the despair of being unable to reach her no matter how hard I tried, my mouth moved on its own, and a sorrowful cry, completely against my will, burst forth.

But even amidst that cry, light did not return to her empty eyes.

The flame of her heart, already chilled to its core, could never again shine as beautifully as before.

“I’m sorry…”

With a calm and dry apology, Killua lifelessly dropped her right hand, which she had raised towards my hand, as if letting go of everything.

“No… No no no!!”

The moment she closed her heart and resigned herself, the black swamp slowly began to climb up her body, engulfing her.

Though it was a dream unfolding before my eyes, this situation, vivid as reality, was hard to believe, and a cry denying reality burst from my lips.

“Please… Killua, please!!”

Even if I aimlessly thrashed my unreaching hands in the air, I couldn’t save her from being swallowed by the black swamp.

“This…”

As she was swallowed by the black swamp, Killua used her left hand to take off the pendant hanging around her neck.

And she placed her pendant onto my hand, which was flailing desperately in the air to save her.

“I don’t need this!! It’s not too late, quickly your hand… please your hand!!”

As if it were her last chance, I desperately tried to grasp the tip of her left hand, which she had stretched out to give me the pendant.

But her slender, thin fingers mercilessly slipped out of my grasp.

“N-No…”

As if resigned to her fate, she did not resist the black swamp engulfing her body and quietly closed her eyes.

And with an expressionless face devoid of pain, anxiety, or fear, she sank down to the bottom of the abyss.

“Ah… Aahh…”

The black swamp that had swallowed her, as if it had no further business with me, released my body, which it had violently constricted to the point where I couldn’t move a single fingertip.

Though I had regained physical freedom, I merely slumped helplessly in the abyssal darkness where nothing was visible and nothing existed.

*Clink…*

In my hand, the pendant Killua had given me at the very end made a clear chime.

At that sound, I slowly raised my hand and looked at the pendant Killua had given me.

“This is…”

It was her pendant, with all four lost fragments fitted together.

—————————————————-

“Gasp!!”

With an unbelievably vivid nightmare, I let out a scream and shot upright.

“W-What is this…”

The desperation and earnestness I felt in the moment of losing Killua.

And the misery and despair when I lost her.

Lastly, the emptiness I felt when looking at the completed pendant left in my hand.

All those emotions remained so vividly, from my toes to my fingertips, as if I had truly experienced them, unforgettable.

“My goodness…”

To collect my trembling, swaying heart, I covered my face and took deep breaths to calm my shaky breathing.

But the wounds carved deep into my heart by the unbelievably vivid nightmare showed no sign of healing easily.

*Clank!*

“You’re finally awake!”

Just then, the door burst open, and Killua entered, carrying a tray with finely ground herbs or sap-like substances.

“Ki… Killua-nim!!”

At the sight of the Mage-nim I remembered, not the Mage-nim from my dream with empty eyes and wounds, looking as if she had resigned herself to everything, I unconsciously called out to her.

“What’s with that intense reaction? Did you have a bad dream or something?”

Killua, letting out a small laugh at my intense reaction, placed the tray she had brought onto the bedside table next to the bed where I was lying.

I could only stare blankly at her, as if possessed by a ghost.

“What is it? If you stare at me like that, even I’ll feel pressured.”

As I couldn’t take my eyes off her, Killua, as if by habit, tucked her side hair behind her ear, looking perplexed.

Staring blankly at her, I recalled her hand, which I had desperately reached for but couldn’t grasp in my nightmare.

“W-Would you… please hold my hand?”

The desire to resolve the desperation and earnestness I felt in that moment burst from my lips unconsciously.

“My hand? My hand?”

At my unexpected request, Killua tilted her head, looking alternately at her hand and then at me.

“Well… it’s not a difficult request…”

Thinking it was an absurdly simple request, she shrugged lightly and sat on the small chair provided next to the bed, carefully cupping my right hand in hers.

“There. Is this enough?”

The moment her small, soft hand enveloped mine. Had she cast a small spell?

Her body heat strangely and distinctly seeped into my skin.

At the same time, the desperation and earnestness from the nightmare, which had been clumped together like a lump in my chest, gently melted away with that warmth.

“Oh…”

The desperation and earnestness that melted away turned into a stream of tears, beginning to flow down my cheeks.

“Ahahaha… How pathetic~”

Killua, smiling faintly at my state, left me with a playful remark.

But despite her words, perhaps worried about me, she gently clasped my hand with both of hers and slowly patted it.