episode_0055

From that day on, Ariel quickly assimilated into our daily lives.

As she promised, she took charge of cleaning and cooking, making our lives comfortable without any complaints.

Although Ariel couldn’t touch the laundry due to Killua’s stubbornness…

Ariel cleaned the house immaculately with a surprisingly skilled and professional touch.

“Whew!”

Ariel, having finished sweeping and mopping the floor and even oiling the wooden floor to prevent rot, wiped the sweat from her brow and let out a sigh of satisfaction.

“You worked hard.”

Having finished chopping a day’s worth of firewood for exercise, I looked around the surprisingly clean house and expressed my sincere gratitude to her.

“This much is basic. But… why do you keep chopping firewood?”

Ariel, roughly wiping the sweat from her brow with a towel draped over her shoulder, tilted her head with a puzzled expression as she looked at me, still chopping wood late into the day.

“Now that I’m here, you shouldn’t need firewood, right?”

She lightly waved her hand in the air, creating a small flame.

For Ariel, a fire-elemental mage, heating water for daily use or using magic to maintain the house’s temperature was as easy as breathing.

From her perspective, it would be difficult to understand why I kept chopping firewood when it wasn’t needed.

“It’s just exercise. They say exercise is effective for detoxifying the poison remaining in my body.”

“Poison? You don’t mean that slime poison, do you?”

Ariel, seemingly unaware that I was poisoned, looked at me with a surprised expression.

“Actually, what happened this morning was also to neutralize the slime poison.”

I took this opportunity to explain why Killua was rubbing my bare chest earlier that morning.

Fortunately, Ariel nodded as if she understood my words, and looked at my chest with a slightly serious expression.

“May I put my hand on your chest for a moment?”

“Ah… well… okay.”

Her sudden request to put her hand on my chest was perplexing, but realizing it was for a simple examination rather than any other intention, I nodded.

“Then, excuse me…”

Ariel quietly closed her eyes and carefully placed her fingertips on my chest.

Then, unlike Killua’s magic which held a warm, comforting heat, I felt a magic imbued with a vibrant, crackling heat like small flames seep into my body, following her hand placed on my chest.

“Hmm…”

Ariel, with her eyes closed and brows furrowed as if concentrating very seriously, focused on the flow of her magic seeping into my body.

“Three… four… six?”

Her magic, having seeped into my chest, moved around as if probing the inside of my chest.

And as a result, as if she had found something, Ariel mumbled the number of items she had found.

“Hoo…”

With a small deep breath, Ariel withdrew the magic that had seeped into my chest and looked at me with eyes full of concern.

“It’s true. There are six lumps of toxins remaining near your heart, liver, and stomach.”

“Is it serious?”

“I’d say if you hadn’t received proper neutralization treatment, you would have been limited to just lying down and gasping for breath.”

At her honest words, without a hint of falsehood, I felt my chest as if I couldn’t believe it.

Despite the serious situation Ariel described, I couldn’t believe that I was currently experiencing no after-effects or dizziness.

“As expected, the White Mage.”

Ariel, too, seemed genuinely impressed and surprised by Killua’s healing, muttering her true identity and nodding her head.

“Shh. Don’t say that word again.”

If Killua’s identity as the White Mage became known, not only Killua but everyone around us, including Rai and the entire population of Eaton Village, could be in danger.

Ariel also nodded greatly, as if she readily accepted and understood my words.

“Hwaaah… that was a truly wonderful bath after so long…”

Just then. The bathroom door opened, and Killua, who had changed into comfortable clothes, walked out, letting out a sigh full of happiness.

“How was it? Did you like it?”

“Absolutely the best… It was truly the best bath I’ve had in ages!”

Thanks to Ariel, Killua, who had soaked her entire body in the hot bath filled with warm heat for as long as she wanted, gave a thumbs-up as if imitating Ariel.

It was possible for Killua to heat the bathwater with her own magic, but her magic was barely enough to keep the water hot for a long time.

From the start, it made no sense to relieve fatigue by bathing while simultaneously exerting almost all of one’s magic.

Thanks to Ariel, who was skilled in fire magic, Killua was able to comfortably enjoy a long, warm bath that deeply warmed her body for the first time in a long while.

“By the way, I have something to say about Jazel’s physical condition.”

“Huh? What about Jazel?”

When Ariel mentioned my physical condition, Killua, wiping the remaining water from her hair with a towel, looked back and forth between Ariel and me with slightly surprised eyes, as if taken aback.

“May I treat Jazel?”

“You?”

Killua’s eyes filled with suspicion as she looked at Ariel, who had just offered to treat me.

“Ariel accurately confirmed the amount of toxins remaining in my body. She could even pinpoint their exact locations.”

Ariel had not only examined my body and said there were exactly six lumps of toxins remaining, but she also told me their precise locations.

“No… how?”

Killua looked at Ariel with eyes that couldn’t possibly believe what I had just said.

At her suspicious gaze, Ariel awkwardly smiled and scratched her cheek.

And then, as if there was no longer any reason to hide it, she frankly revealed the reason.

“Perhaps it’s because I was held captive by the slime for a long time? I can track its remnants.”

“Is that even possible?”

Even Killua, who possessed all the knowledge and wisdom in the world, had never seen such a special case as Ariel, so she looked at her with eyes filled with doubt and distrust.

If one is held captive by a slime for nearly five years, they gain the ability to track the slime’s remnants?

Since no creature had ever survived being held captive by a slime for such a long period as Ariel, there was no way to verify the truth of Ariel’s claim.

“For now, the opinion of the person receiving the treatment is what matters, right?”

Killua, unable to fully trust Ariel’s words, ultimately passed the choice to me, the one who would receive the treatment.

Although I couldn’t fully believe Ariel’s claim that she could track the slime’s remnants, she had clearly confirmed the slime poison remaining in my body with her magic.

If the medicinal herbs were intensely absorbed into the remaining toxins in my body, there was a very high possibility that the recovery period would be significantly shortened.

“There’s nothing to lose… May I ask for your help?”

Feeling the possibility of recovering my physical condition faster than the original plan, I had no choice but to ask Ariel for treatment.

Killua also slowly nodded as if agreeing with my opinion, but still looked at me with slightly worried eyes, as if she couldn’t erase the small suspicion she had towards Ariel.

“If it’s something I can help with, you’re always welcome!”

At my request, Ariel replied with a bright voice, sounding happy.

“First, I’ll prepare the medicinal herbs… so I’ll ask you to treat Jazel starting tomorrow morning.”

“Ah! Then for the treatment, I’ll have to sleep here starting today!”

At Killua’s words, Ariel began to ponder with an excited expression, like a child the day before a picnic.

“Then… I’ll need to borrow a sleeping bag from Rai, along with a change of clothes and toiletries, since I’ll only be staying for a few days!”

“Stay here?”

Slightly surprised by Ariel contemplating what to bring, I was astonished by the fact that she would also be cohabiting in this house.

“Isn’t that obvious? If you don’t get treatment early in the morning, you won’t be able to function for the rest of the day.”

Killua, on Ariel’s behalf, explained why she had to cohabit, in a slightly grumpy voice.

“No… I didn’t realize that…”

Although I had heard it from Ariel, I hadn’t imagined that the slime poison remaining in my body was that serious.

This was because Killua had always come in at just the right time each morning when I woke up, so I hadn’t felt any discomfort or severity regarding the poisoning symptoms.

Killua, who had been staring at my ignorance, shrugged her shoulders as if it didn’t matter and turned away.

“Anyway, just prepare yourself. Jazel and I will set up a space for you to sleep.”

“There’s a place for me to sleep?”

At Killua’s words, Ariel’s eyes widened, genuinely surprised.

“The herb drying room is fine, right? The hero made a spare bed there for practice when he was making furniture.”

“Of course! Anywhere is more comfortable than a sleeping bag on the bare floor!”

At Killua’s consideration, Ariel smiled brightly as if genuinely expressing her gratitude, even bowing her waist to give thanks.

But was it still caution towards Ariel? Or discomfort at my ignorance? Killua merely gave a slight nod, accepting her thanks.

“Jazel! Follow me. You’ll need to use the strength you’ve trained until now.”

Following that, Killua beckoned with her hand, as if telling me to follow her.

Feeling unnecessarily sorry towards Killua because of my own ignorance about my body’s condition, I gave Ariel an awkward smile and followed behind Killua.

“Then I’ll go gather my things too!”

Ariel gave me a light wink, as if to say ‘cheer up’. Then, she waved at us and headed towards the village to gather her change of clothes and daily necessities.