Chapter 549 – The Heart and the Cave

000

Even over the shady canyon the moon rises.

I was worried that the cliffs rising high like the sun would block even the moonlight, but fortunately, inside the tented base, even if there were few torches, the moonlight poured in enough to light up the night.

Outside, the sound of flags waving as the wind blew, mixed with the rustle of soldiers’ armor roaming the base.

He was confident that even in such an environment, Cleon, an adventurer, could fall asleep without any problems.

‘It’s a big deal.’

Cleon sat down on the bed just like that, with a rare weak thought passing through his head.

As Amelia let out her regular breathing, beside her in her sleep, her gaze her at her was imbued with her warmth her.

Cold sweat ran down Cleon’s forehead his, and his heart his was still beating faster than usual.

I didn’t come after doing some exercise, I was sitting on the bed and lying down repeatedly.

If you’ve been doing this for several hours already, it’s hard to rest and fall asleep even if you want to.

“Cleon…”

Galatea, who could not stand to see Cleon’s condition her, returned to human form and sat next to Cleon, holding his hand her.

Even if Cleon’s body stayed that way, it would not be restored.

“Since a while ago. A while ago, when I saw the vision of Nemea and met her eyes in her.”

She appeared before her own eyes without any warning, and then disappeared as well.

Is it really Nemea, or is it something else borrowing her form of her.

Cleon had no way of knowing, but there was no doubt that this condition had started when he met her eyes in her.

“I can feel the disorientation of my magical power. Maybe it was some kind of demonic eye? Or, seduction magic? The reason why I was able not to be possessed on the spot was because Cleon’s resistance was high… I guess. “

Galatea calmly puts her hand on Cleon’s body and checks the condition, and when he explains in detail, Cleon smiles wryly and nods his head.

“Ah. I feel it too. But… Being in a state where you can’t purify yourself is a bit difficult.”

“No way, I thought something like this would happen before entering the dungeon. What the hell was that vision?”

Even Galatea, who is more sensitive to magical beings than Cleon, could not identify it.

That’s why, she also couldn’t come up with an answer to how to restore Cleon’s physical condition to her.

“…Before leaving, it would be better to wet at least your head in cold water.”

When Cleon said that and stood up from her seat her, Galatea grabbed him by the shoulder, saying he would support him as well.

“Caliburn.”

“Yes~”

Another person, Caliburn, who was resting in the state of the holy sword, took on a human form, and Caliburn, who hadn’t seen him in a long time, stretched out.

“When Amelia wakes up, tell her she went to wash up for a bit.”

“Okay~ By the way, is there a place to wash near the entrance of this gorge?”

“It’s where the government officials live, so there will be water for sanitation reasons… If you catch a suitable soldier and ask him, he will tell you.”

And, when I opened the entrance to the tent and went outside, I could see that all the soldiers who had been showing off their presence with voices until just a moment ago had disappeared.

“…It’s just that it’s time, so it’s just that you moved to shift?”

Though Cleon thought so, he took a deep breath in order to suppress his pounding heart even a little, and let the cold night air into his lungs.

Then, although his body did not change, he felt a little better and put his hand on top of Galatea’s hand her on his shoulder her.

“…It’s okay, Galatea. I think I can walk alone.”

“Don’t overdo it… Your hands are shaking.”

“It’s okay. My legs are fine.”

While saying that, Cleon made eye contact with Galatea, and after a while, Galatea changed into a sword form and hung on Cleon’s waist.

[If I think I’m going to overdo it again, I’ll force myself to pull it up.]

“That’s scary…”

While smiling wryly at Galatea’s declaration, Cleon somehow straightened his back and walked out of his base.

The place he was headed to is the largest tent that Aaron had asked him to come to if he needed anything.

Standing in front of the entrance of the lowered tent, I cleared my throat once, pretended to be human, and called his name.

“Aaron. This is Cleon. Is it okay for a moment?”

Cleon’s voice resounded in front of the quiet tent.

However, when he waits for a while and no answer comes back, he realizes that no one is inside the tent.

“Are you absent…”

Cleon sighs and sighs.

Yes, Aaron is also the captain of this base, so he must have work to do.

Then there is nothing you can do While thinking, Cleon shifted his gaze to the fence at the entrance of the gorge.

It’s the two people in front of him.

When Cleon comes straight towards them, they look at each other for a moment, then straighten their spears and talk to Cleon.

“I heard the story from Mr. Aaron. You are Prince Cleon who received permission from the Beauty Painter.”

I didn’t know he was wearing a helmet, but I knew he was a different person because his voice was different from those I’d seen during the day.

When Cleon nodded, they tried to open the fence, but Cleon called them to stop by saying ‘wait a minute’.

“I’m not going in right now… Before I go in, I want to cool my head for a while. Is there a place where I can wash my body around here?”

“Ah, if that’s the case. Near the base, there’s a cave with water gushing out. Our crew is using it.”

A soldier standing guard nodded, raised his finger, and pointed to a cave that was a short distance away by passing in front of the fence.

“There’s a magic light installed inside, so you don’t need to bring a torch.”

“… Thank you. ──And, one more thing.”

Cleon lightly expressed his gratitude and tried to pass by, but continued his words with the thought of asking him since it was already.

“Have you two… Ever seen a female ghost?”

When Cleon said that, both sides flinched and trembled, then looked at each other.

“…Lord Cleon. Where did you find that?”

“At the tavern on the way here?”

Cleon shakes his head as he immediately hears words that doubt him.

“No… Actually, I also saw a ghost earlier.”

“Are you sure?!”

When one of the soldiers raised his voice in surprise, the other soldier’s expression darkened.

“I never thought that even Prince Cleon would see a ghost. Is there anything wrong with your body? It’s like you want to go to the gorge fiercely…”

“No, that’s just… A little bit, the heart pounding continues.”

At those words, the surprised soldier made a sound of admiration.

“As expected, you are an adventurer who is a customer of Beauty Painter. …Actually, I and this guy have seen the ghost. It’s embarrassing, but when I woke up, I was in the middle of the canyon road leading to the dungeon.”

“The moment I saw her ghost her, I wanted to chase after her. After she disappeared from sight, the urge came to me that she would be in the gorge… But, the memory remains for a very short time. It gets cut off.”

The soldiers sighed and sighed.

“Besides, once you see it, you never come back. There’s no such thing as the same thing. They say they see the ghost two or three times at most.”

They seemed to be afraid of when their turn would come next.

“…By the way, since when did that happen?”

“It’s not that long. It’s really… About a month? The reason why this suddenly started happening is unknown, and there’s no way to fix it, so all of my colleagues are having a hard time.”

That’s right, even if Cleon were in their shoes, every day would have been painful.

So far, fortunately, there have been no deaths, but accidents can happen and lose one’s life, and the biggest reason is that the identity of the ghost that appears is unknown.

“But, Prince Cleon wasn’t taken to the gorge and maybe he’ll be fine.”

“Well… If we don’t meet again in person, I don’t know what will happen. …Then, I’ll go to the cave I told you about.”

Cleon scratches his head and thanks him for answering them, then truds away from the fence and the soldiers.

[What do you think of Cleon?]

Then, when Galatea spoke to Cleon, Cleon stayed quiet for a moment as if to organize her thoughts of her, and then he answered her.

[Well. To say that they were monsters targeting men’s spirits, nothing happened to them. Its behavior is too strange to be called a ghost. Besides, if it started a month or so ago. In the meantime, it would be plausible to say that someone died around here and things started to happen-]

[I don’t think there is such a story?]

Cleon nodded at Galatea’s words.

[Besides, that appearance… No matter how you look at it, it was the appearance of ‘Nemea’, the charismatic queen I saw before. If the dungeon we are heading to now contains facts related to Nemea. You’d better think it had something to do with it.]

Then, when he reached the entrance of the cave with those words, he knew that the sound of water flowing from inside was reflected on the wall and echoed.

[Looks like there’s really water inside…]

Galatea seemed a little suspicious, but Cleon answered her with a bitter smile.

[There is no reason to lie, officials. …Let’s go inside.]

As the officials said, the magic lamp was hung on the wall, so it didn’t feel too dark inside.

The deeper you go, the more you feel the smell of the cave and the louder sound of the flowing water—

Soon, the water gathered in a little distance away.

I could tell that someone was immersed in it.

“…Were there any passengers? I think he was taking a bath.”

[Will you wait?]

“…No, because I don’t have time. I’m sorry, but I said I’ll just wash my face and leave. They’re all guys the same anyway.”

Besides, the soldiers approach the water thinking about things like the fact that people of the same sex don’t really care if they show a bath scene.

Then Cleon could tell that the water was a little unusual.

When I was far away, I thought that the light created by the magic lamp was being reflected, but the light was leaking from the water itself.

A twilight blue light seemed to flow from beneath the hollow floor, from the basement of the cave.

“…Who?”

And, the neutral voice heard.

“Ah, sorry. Aaron. Were you here?”

Looking closer, Aaron, who is soaking in the water, turns her head without turning her body, and meets Cleon’s eyes her.

He seemed to stiffen for a moment at the sudden presence, but when he confirmed that it was Cleon, he let out a sigh of relief.

“It’s Prince Cleon. Did you rest well?”

“No… That’s it. I have a little work to do. But I’m going to wash my face and leave.”

As Cleon answered him, he bent down and dipped his hand into the well of groundwater.

It was lukewarm water, neither cold nor warm.

I’m not sure why the temperature is maintained like this, but washing your face with too cold water must have been painful, so if you wash your face thinking it’s good.

With the sound of something coming out of the water, click, click. I hear the sound of walking around on the stone floor with wet soles.

Did Aaron come out?

“Did you bring a towel?”

“No… I think it’ll be okay since it’s about washing your face. Aaron, you don’t have to come out because of me. Relax a little more-“

While saying that, Cleon lifted his face and turned his head towards the direction where the voice came from-

There, Aaron was wiping the water from his long limbs.

Cleon himself had no interest in looking at the male body, but Aaron’s body was tall and well-trained.

I turned my back, but what I could see was the muscles in my legs and back.

And, even the muscles of the arms are beautifully harmonized, the body of golden rain.

However, thinking that it is rude to look at someone of the same sex too much, Cleon lowers his eyes to the water again and wipes his face with water once again.

“Ugh…”

I came here to erase my pounding heart, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

Could it be that she herself is thrilled with a man’s body?

With that thought in mind, he slowly stood up and tried to wipe his eyes with his sleeve her.

“Please write if it’s okay.”

And the soft thing that was handed to me touched my hand.

“A towel… Thanks, Aaron.”

As Cleon answered, he wiped the water from his face with the towel he gave him and raised his head.

Then she turned to him and handed her a towel.

“Thanks, Aaron. Here-“

However, Cleon’s words are once again blocked.

Aaron untied his hair, which had been tied up in a ponytail.

The only thing she was wearing was underwear that covered the bottom, and the top was still naked.

Showing off her slightly swollen chest her, she took over the towel Cleon handed to her.

“It was nothing.”

To Aaron who smiled and replied that way, Cleon slowly turned his head while hardening her face.

“…Mi, sorry. Aaron, you… Were a woman.”

“Ah. Judging by the reaction, you must have thought I was a man.”

Speaking as if Cleon’s reaction was fresh, Cleon felt a bit relieved that the target he was excited about wasn’t a ‘male’.

“I’m really sorry…”

She did, and at the thought that she had nothing to do with looking at a woman’s naked body, she felt a sense of shame and guilt.

“Don’t worry. I don’t intend to be as angry as showing her naked body to her. I just thought it would be good to clear up the misunderstanding with Prince Cleon.”

As she said that, she picked up her bandage from her pocket and wrapped it around her chest in her.

After tying her breasts tightly enough to flatten her breasts, she tells Cleon, ‘It’s okay now’.

“Whoops. You’re more delicate than I thought, right?”

“No… I think everyone will react like this when they see someone else’s naked body…”

Cleon says she’s still a little downcast, but he-no, she’s puzzled by the fact that she’s still wearing no clothes, only covering her breasts and areas of her.

“For now… Dress properly.”

“I understand. But, Lord Cleon.”

Aaron nods her head and picks up her own clothes her.

“By any chance, you couldn’t rest… Have you seen ‘Ghost’?”

“…Ah.”

In response to Cleon’s answer, she murmured, “As expected…”

As she started to change her clothes, she continued her speech.

“Then, before we go in, I have a little story to tell you. About the ghost and about the dungeon.”

“…Do you know anything about it?”

“A little bit. Since it was a self-investigation, ‘verification’ has not been done. It’s because she was asked by her subordinates to resolve the situation.”

She finished her transformation her by putting on a black short-sleeved top in the style of an oriental country.

Unlike the armor of the day, she was wearing clothes that were easy to move in. When viewed this way, the thin lines of her body were exposed, making her look like a woman.

“…Now then, let’s go! If possible, it would be better for ‘Lia’-sama to listen as well. I will go to my tent first and wait, so Cleon-sama, please bring Lia-sama.”

As she said that, Aaron answered with a slightly flushed face.

She walks out of the cave with quick steps while Cleon quietly watches her back her.

[Because I always get caught up in an accident like this. Cleon.]

At that time, when Galatea opened her mouth in displeasure, Cleon himself let out a sigh as if to appeal that he had no intention of doing so.

“That’s right.”

[Isn’t that what you’re aiming for?]

“…No way.”

Talking to herself that she couldn’t do that, Cleon sighed softly as she placed her hand on her own chest, her heart beating faster than before.