Chapter 75 : Melancholy lives

Let’s put the topic of age far away from here.

It’s not like either of us can really say we’re in the clear.

We all looked like young women who had just come of age,

and to be honest, our mental age probably wasn’t much different either.

The topic of conversation naturally shifted to the flying island we had boarded.

The inside of the flying island, when seen from the outside,

didn’t feel like it was in the sky at all—it was barely different from the ground.

There was no shaking, nor any motion sickness.

“It’s not that cold.”

When we ascended using magic,

the cold air currents had made the atmosphere quite chilly.

Even though it was already late May,

Amither, who wasn’t sensitive to the cold, had shivered slightly.

But once we entered Noble’s interior,

the temperature had become mild, almost magically.

It was presumed to be one of the island’s mysteries.

Well, that’s convenient.

In a world where talking snakes and thousand-year-old kids exist,

a flying island isn’t even a big deal. Not going to worry about it. Definitely not.

“You’ve never been to a place this fancy, huh, country girl?”

“And you have?”

“Nope.”

Amither looked at me like she was seeing a crazy person.

But isn’t there a big difference between not coming and not being able to come?

I just never came because I wasn’t interested or didn’t have time,

but she couldn’t come even if she wanted to. That’s clearly different.

Ah, thinking back,

that might not have been the right joke to make to someone who once almost froze to death while begging in winter.

Now I can’t even speak freely.

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to mind too much.

Amither leaned out and looked outside.

There was nothing but endless blue sky and clouds stretching out in all directions.

“Where is this island headed?”

“Hmm… actually, I don’t really know.”

Noble doesn’t have a set flight path.

There have been scholars who tried to figure it out, but they all failed.

Other than occasionally docking on land for a couple of days,

it just floats around like a cloud with no particular destination.

In truth, it’s practically a giant living creature.

People use it more like a cruise ship in the sky than a means of transportation,

so its destination doesn’t really matter.

Even though angels are said to control it,

that doesn’t mean they can perfectly steer it or set its course.

“So, what now…?”

“You worry too much about pointless things.”

“That’s what you told me, remember?”

I grinned and nodded.

A lot had happened that day. From a brutal friendly match to a farewell.

Amither wasn’t showing it, but she was struggling.

After all, it was the day she completely cut ties with her hometown.

She needed a proper rest—not just her body, but her heart too.

“Let’s just go into any empty building.”

“Are we allowed to do that?”

“It’s not like they’ll throw us out midair.”

This place is only used by a tiny fraction of the upper class,

so it’s spacious and sparsely populated.

If we quietly take a spot, no one will probably notice.

Honestly, that’s how most things are.

As the name “Noble” suggests, the streets were spotless.

The inside of the flying island looked like a theme park—whimsical and colorful.

It did feel a bit eerie since it was still early morning.

Other than the lack of rides,

it felt like the kind of parade route you’d see in a fairy tale.

Kids would love it.

Whoever designed this place clearly knew what they were doing.

Thankfully, the inside of the lodging was ordinary and pleasant, like a typical inn.

Aside from there being only one bed, it was neat and tidy.

“Don’t they have any clothes? Honestly, this is very unpleasant.”

Amither was still wearing the sparkly outfit from before the match.

It wasn’t that weird of an outfit, really,

but after I teased her a few times, she started to hate it more.

“They don’t.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to walk around naked.”

What?

As I shrugged, she casually started taking her clothes off.

Sure, no one else was around, but still, come on.

She had on short underpants underneath,

but still—she should be more cautious. What if someone sees her?

I handed her an emergency outfit from my subspace storage,

and she finally looked satisfied.

Sure, it was something I used to wear,

but did she really have to sniff it like that?

“This is the worst.”

Thud.

She collapsed onto the bed and let out an uncharacteristically weak moan.

She’d never acted like this before.

“Are you going to sleep?”

“You wouldn’t understand, you dense idiot.

I feel like I could collapse any moment,

but I can’t fall asleep.”

“You stupid girl. Then why’d you leave home in the first place?”

Honestly, if she’d just endured whatever she didn’t like,

she might have risen to the top of the organization eventually.

Not that it would’ve been a good thing,

but she gave up a golden opportunity and chose hardship. That was curious to me.

She raised her voice as if answering that question.

“Damn it, they kept trying to pair me with weird scumbags!

You know how awful that is!”

“I know, I know.”

She called them scumbags,

but they were probably decent enough to be trusted with someone’s daughter.

Then again, everyone’s standards are different.

Take me for example.

If Amither hadn’t helped me that day, I would’ve been in serious trouble.

Come to think of it, isn’t it strange?

No matter how drunk I was,

how could I completely forget what happened so easily?

Amither sighed heavily and covered her eyes with her arm.

“To be honest, I’m not strong.

I don’t even know if what I did was right…”

“Of course not. You’re still a twenty-year-old brat, not an adult.”

Living two childhoods doesn’t make you more mature.

If it were only about time,

I should’ve become an old man already.

Most of those accelerated years were used on magic, though.

How did the mood turn into this?

I swear I told her to get some rest,

but here we were, complaining about life and counseling each other.

Such pitiful lives.

Watching her sit with her mouth agape, staring blankly,

I suddenly remembered something.

“If you can’t sleep, want me to do dream therapy?”

“Dream therapy?”

“I watched Teferi do it up close. I think I can do it too.”

When you’re feeling down and miserable,

nothing beats dream therapy.

It worked so well,

I used it often myself.

I didn’t officially learn it,

but I saw him do it enough to imitate.

It wasn’t particularly dangerous either.

As Amither looked at me suspiciously,

I half-forced her to lie down and copied the spell Teferi used.

‘Hmm…’

But something felt off.

The flames were the same color, the chant seemed correct—

but still, something didn’t feel right.

“Is something wrong?”

“Yeah, I think there’s something off with the spell.”

Even though I copied it perfectly,

upon close inspection, there was no healing element.

It only forced someone to sleep, almost like knocking them out.

The problem was probably me.

I just copied what I saw.

If I had that kind of talent, I wouldn’t still be doing this.

As I grumbled and tweaked the spell over and over,

Amither reached out and pulled me down by the collar. Gah!

“Quit wasting time and come sleep too.”

Maybe because this place was built for healing and relaxation,

the bed wasn’t particularly big.

We were practically going to have to sleep stuck together.

I considered finding another empty room,

but I was pretty tired too.

“Still, this is kind of…”

“Shut up and lie down.”

Beastkin body temperature is about two or three degrees higher than humans’,

so even just lying next to her, I could feel the heat.

How does she survive summer? She doesn’t even shed fur.

“Wait, hold on. All that’s fine, but… how much time do you have left?”

“Time for what?”

“Do I really have to say it? You know, your heat cycle…”

The season was changing—summer was approaching.

If that started here, there’d be no way to stop it.

Sure, I respected her, but that’s a different issue.

In response to my pitiful question,

she raised an eyebrow and shoved my head into the pillow.

“Not much time left, but not yet. So shut up and sleep.”

“Okay.”

“… You’re seriously lacking in tact sometimes.”

Was she sulking?

Amither closed her eyes and didn’t open them again.

Fortunately, she was still breathing,

so at least she wasn’t dead.

Sorry, but I can’t risk losing my virginity in my sleep, okay?

Please understand.

As I stared at the ceiling in discomfort,

soon enough, my eyelids grew heavy and I fell asleep beside her.