episode_0042

The next day.

Waking up early, even before the sun had fully risen, we explained to Rai how we planned to eliminate the upcoming slime monster.

“……”

Thanks to Killua’s timely first aid, the poison had been extracted early, and Rai quickly recovered. With a serious expression, he listened intently, as if not wanting to miss a single word of our explanation.

“I don’t want to kill Ariel.”

After calmly listening to all our stories and explanations, Rai hesitated for a moment before revealing his honest thoughts.

“She’s the benefactor who saved my life and this village. I want to save her no matter what.”

“Ariel’s body won’t be normal. She’s been bound for five years.”

Despite our detailed explanations, Rai stubbornly insisted on saving her. On behalf of the silent Killua, I pointed out the terrible condition Ariel’s body must be in after being bound by the slime for five years.

“Even if we save her, a normal life might be almost impossible. Her very soul might already be dead, like someone in a vegetative state.”

No one could possibly endure five long years with their physical freedom completely restricted.

“I know. But even so… I want to save her somehow.”

Rai bowed his head to us.

Tears began to well up in his eyes, dropping onto the table one by one.

“I know it’s a difficult request. Please, won’t you help me?”

He even used extremely polite honorifics as he pleaded with us.

“Rai? What’s with the sudden…”

Flustered by Rai’s sudden use of honorifics towards us, I tried to calm him down with a soothing voice.

“White Mage Ariana-nim, please, I beg you.”

But at his next words, Killua and I froze.

“Ariana…?”

After Killua’s disappearance, the name of an unknown mage who had presumptuously taken her unique epithet ‘White’ was uttered by Rai.

If a mage with such outstanding talent as to be called the White Mage had appeared shortly after Killua-nim’s disappearance, there’s no way Killua-nim wouldn’t know the name Ariana. It was highly likely that she was a fake mage, a non-existent entity put forward by the Empress to solidify the Empire’s standing by exploiting Killua’s downfall.

At Rai’s words, which identified her with the questionable existence of ‘Ariana,’ Killua couldn’t hide her displeasure, openly frowning.

“If only Ariel can be saved… I’ll do anything the Mage-nim wishes.”

But the desperate Rai didn’t even notice Killua’s change in expression, merely pouring his earnest feelings into his plea to Killua.

At Rai’s desperate plea, Killua bit her lip, gazing steadily at Rai, who was bowing his head and pleading frantically.

Killua, who had been parting her lips as if to say something, took a deep breath as if she had made up her mind. Then, she slowly opened her trembling lips.

“Even if I save Ariel… can you love me?”

At Killua’s blunt and open proposal, a quiet, uncomfortable silence chilled the room.

“Ma… Mage-nim?”

As if he hadn’t expected Killua’s proposal, Rai lifted his bowed head and looked at Killua with trembling eyes.

“It’s Killua, not Mage.”

Killua corrected Rai’s title for her, slowly crossing her arms as if urging his answer.

Killua’s question was an obvious one with a predetermined answer to anyone.

‘I can love you.’

With this one answer, it would have been an incredibly easy question for Rai to get everything he wanted.

“I… I…”

However, Rai couldn’t give Killua the answer she wanted immediately.

The moment he hesitated slightly and stammered nervously, a faint wrinkle appeared between Killua’s brows.

It meant that Ariel, his benefactor and former fiancée, still held great significance for Rai.

“I love you, Rai.”

In the end, it was Killua who gave the answer first.

Unable to watch Rai, who was sweating coldly and trembling so much it was pathetic to see, Killua plainly confessed her love to him.

“So, don’t beg an omnipotent mage, but ask Killua, who loves you.”

“Killua…”

At Killua’s words, Rai shed large tears, mumbling Killua’s name in a choked voice.

“Save Ariel. Please.”

“Alright. Let’s plan a strategy to save Ariel.”

As if she could no longer ignore his earnest, tear-filled plea, Killua closed her eyes and nodded deeply.

Soon after, she opened one eye and looked at Rai, as if asking if he had forgotten something.

“And don’t you have anything else to say?”

At her prodding, a faint blush appeared on Rai’s tear-streaked face.

Rai awkwardly scratched his cheek with his fingertips before opening his mouth to say what Killua wanted to hear.

“I… love you too, Killua.”

“Excellent!”

As if satisfied with his awkward and clumsy confession, Killua sprang up from her seat with exaggerated vigor, as if to dispel the somber atmosphere.

Then, she spread her arms wide towards the flustered Rai and said,

“Come on. Hug me!”

“Ugh…”

Rai, his face beet red, glanced at me.

Although this situation was quite unfamiliar, I found it somewhat amusing. With a faint smile, I took a step back, signaling to Rai to do as Killua wished.

Then, Rai, fidgeting nervously, stood up and awkwardly embraced Killua, who had her arms open towards him.

——————————

After a lighthearted incident, we planned a strategy to defeat the slime monster and rescue Ariel.

“Is this really the only way?”

Rai tapped the sharp arrowhead off the arrow with a small rubber mallet.

Then, he firmly tied a paper bag containing gunpowder, which would explode upon impact, to the end of the arrow, in place of the arrowhead.

“The only way to incapacitate that slime monster is to kill Ariel or remove the pendant fragment embedded in her chest.”

“What about destroying it with overwhelming firepower?”

It was common knowledge that slimes were weak against magic.

Knowing that the White Mage Ariana possessed powerful magic skills, Rai brought up the method of directly eliminating the slime with magic.

“As you’ve seen, as long as it has the fragment, the slime monster will have abnormal regenerative abilities. To eliminate it with mere firepower, you’d have to blow up the entire Lime Forest, wouldn’t you?”

Unable to reveal that she had lost all her magic, Killua gave a plausible reason why the slime couldn’t be eliminated with magic.

“Is that so…”

However, Rai frowned slightly, seemingly unconvinced by Killua’s explanation that the slime couldn’t be subdued with mere firepower.

“Don’t worry too much. The moment we extract the fragment, I’ll blast away the slime monster with my magic and instantly heal Ariel’s wounds. Her life won’t be in any danger.”

“Alright…”

Despite Killua’s words and promises, full of confidence and certainty, Rai’s furrowed brow showed no sign of smoothing out.

Meanwhile, Rai, who had firmly secured the paper bag of gunpowder to the arrow, drew the string of his bow.

“There’s only one chance. If the slime monster realizes we’re targeting Ariel, it won’t allow another opening.”

In front of Rai was a sturdy tree with a piece of metal embedded in it, similar in size to the pendant fragment.

Staring at the sturdy tree, Rai drew his bowstring taut, then exhaled briefly and released the string.

Boom!!

The arrow, shot in an almost perfectly straight trajectory, accurately hit the tree where the metal piece was embedded.

A blast large enough to cover half a grown human’s body erupted, sending the metal piece embedded in the tree bouncing into the sky.

“Good. You shot it correctly!”

Immediately after, Killua, who had been intently watching the bounced-off metal piece, quickly calculated the trajectory of the falling piece in an arc.

“Hup!”

Watching the metal piece fall from the sky, she leaped slightly and precisely snatched the falling piece with her hand.

“Yes! This is the feeling!!”

Killua shook the metal piece held in her hand, strongly emphasizing that the operation’s success wouldn’t be difficult.

“……”

But unlike the delighted Killua, Rai approached the sturdy tree he had hit with a calm face and touched the area where the explosion had occurred.

The recent explosion had created a deep indentation in the sturdy tree, large enough for two fingers to fit into.

If this had been a human body, it would undoubtedly have been a fatal wound, with internal organs torn or crushed by more than half due to the force of the explosion.

“Killua… couldn’t we reduce the amount of gunpowder?”

Rai, examining the mark on the tree, asked Killua in a voice full of worry for Ariel.

“I know you’re worried about her too… but there’s only one chance. I’ll take full responsibility for healing Ariel. Don’t worry.”

Despite Killua’s serious reply, worry and concern still showed no sign of leaving Rai’s face.

He turned to look at me, who was watching them from behind, as if seeking advice.

“Don’t worry. Killua-nim’s magic could even save people on the verge of death.”

During her time as the White Mage, Killua could reattach severed arms with a mere gesture and heal wounds pierced and torn by swords and spears with a single breath.

Although her internal organs might be torn by the explosion, as long as Ariel was still breathing the moment Killua grasped the fragment, Killua would surely be able to heal her with her magic.

“Alright. I’ll trust you.”

Even as Rai said he trusted Killua, he merely touched the explosion mark on the sturdy tree with a hand full of worry.

Looking at Rai, Killua’s own brow also began to faintly furrow.