Chapter 244 – Under the Sanctuary.

Geeing, Usher felt awakened by the ringing in his ears. I wondered if it was still night at the sound of the lanterns distorting the lights, but the sound of iron coming from everywhere seemed to announce that it was morning. Still, thinking about why the lanterns were on, I remembered that I had come down to the bottom of the holy ground yesterday. Also, being indebted to Erica, who lived in what used to be Krikaliev’s secret base.

“Oh, that’s right. You have to eat quickly and go to bed right away.”

It was while she was serving her meal last night. Even though Erica said that, she didn’t seem to be rushing, so she asked.

“Why all of a sudden?”
“In a little while the lights will go out.”

What she pointed to was a lantern dangling from the ceiling and lighting it. But Usher couldn’t understand her words.

“Then can’t we just sharpen the lanterns?”
“This is different from the lantern you think.”

Then Krikaliev answered instead.

“Is it different?”
“Yes, look closely at the inside of the lantern.”

Hearing his words, I got up and looked at the transparent glass lantern. The light was so bright that it dazzled my eyes. It was something like a smooth, vermilion stone that emitted a bright light by itself while making a small sound.

“Ugh, what is that?”

I checked it and immediately took my eyes off it, but the light still remained as a greenish afterimage and seemed to bother my eyes.

“It’s called a magic stone.”
“A magic stone lamp?”
“It doesn’t shine by burning something like a candle, but it glows when energy is supplied from above, so if you cut off the energy from above, it will inevitably go out.”

For some reason, it seemed that it was brighter than the usual lanterns.

“Didn’t you say this was a secret base?”

If it was a secret base, it would have been nice to be able to use it even if the energy sent from above was cut off.

“Even if it’s a secret base, it can’t be helped because it’s the same as sharing energy at the bottom floor. As soon as the lights go out, go to sleep.”
“I’m not even dry yet.”

The problem was that his hair and clothes hadn’t dried yet, so it was obvious that he would catch a cold if he went to sleep.

“Then you should just take off your clothes and go to bed.”

Because of this, Usher had no choice but to take off his clothes.

“Swimming.”
“Don’t look!”

If it wasn’t for the gray light staring at him. Are you not watching as he tries to undress, let alone turn his head?

“Can’t you see?”
“Then you want me to watch you when you change?!”
“Ugh, I don’t mind.”
“…”

On the contrary, Usher was at a loss for words when he saw Erica’s complexion not changing as if something was wrong. I thought she was an unusual girl, but I didn’t expect her to be like this.

“Anyway, it’s not okay. Turn your head!”
“Chi, okay.”

It was only after he finally turned his head to check her appearance that he was able to remove the bandages and take off her underwear and hang them on the clothesline across her room, but the problem was next. The blanket he had in the bag was already wet, so he didn’t have anything to cover it up with, so he asked Erica.

“By the way, where can I sleep?”
“You can sleep in the bed.”
“You?”
“Hee hee, because there is a way.”

She was puzzled by the girl giving her a bed she didn’t want, but since she didn’t have a way to cover herself if she didn’t even use a bed, she lay down on the bed, covered herself with a blanket, and fell asleep. He thought he should open his eyes, but he wanted to sleep a little longer and turned away from the light shining through his eyelids. I felt his swollen stuff rubbing against something soft. Not only that, but something soft and pliable, yet warm and light, was on top of his body.

“Oooh.”

And as if it were not an illusion, even the breath that brushes against the skin.

“What, what?!”

When Usher opened his eyes in surprise, he saw Erica’s face, her cheek against his chest, her eyes closed. As I shouted out, the girl fluttered her eyelashes and showed off her sleepy gray color. As soon as I run into him, I burst into laughter.

“Good morning.”
“Joe, what’s good morning…! Why are you on top of me!?”

In spite of his question, Erica casually rubbed her face against his body and raised her upper body with her hands. At the same time, she frowned at the illusion that her eyes were turning white, and realized the problem.

“There’s nothing wrong with sleeping together.”

The girl’s white skin was still visible. From the fragile collarbone that could be broken, to the slender shoulder that could be held in her hands, the long arm and the softly curved waist, to the two peaks that asserted themselves only when the eyes finally reached each other. Her hair, like the night sky, flowed down her white skin, making each other stand out even more.

“Because there are a lot of problems! More than that, why are you naked?”

Needless to say, his stuff was already inflated, so there was no time to settle it down. With Erica sitting on top of him, it was all the more difficult because she could feel her skin.

“But sleeping in clothes is uncomfortable.”
“Still, sleeping on top of me is strange!”
“Because the bed is narrow. Huh?”

Usher swallowed as she cut her off and stared at him. Although she wished she hadn’t been caught.

“Hee hee, you’re healthy ♪”

Erica smiled at him and moved her waist back. At the soft touch of her against his pole, Usher hurriedly lifted her up and slipped out between them. She could have just pushed it off, but she just couldn’t handle it. She told her, making her own internal excuse that she was only doing it because she was such a delicate girl that she was afraid of getting hurt.

“You can’t do this to a man! It’s dangerous!”

Usher said it was okay to play pranks on her, but it was embarrassing to see this girl who was so outspoken. When she says she’s on the verge of worrying, she blinks her gray light as if she understands.

“Ugh, okay.”

Fortunately, as I was barely relieved by the girl’s meek nod, I suddenly felt empty.

“But what about the uncle?”

After looking around the house, Krikaliev was nowhere to be seen.

“Then he went out to get some fresh air.”
“Oh, really! Be careful!”

Erica responded to his words and stood up from her seat. Still, she was not wearing a single thread, so she forced her gaze to see her long hair barely covering her body. Even so, she was clearly seen in her eyes, but the flesh remained vividly in her memory.

“It’s okay to just look at it.”
“I’m not okay!”

Usher was bewildered as to why he was acting so defenseless. It was because he was only feeling more and more disappointed with himself, thinking that he would do something bad to the girl right now. It was while Erica was out of her bed and he was hiding under the covers to hide the stuff that had swollen somehow. What I felt was pricks and stabs in his back.

“…Why?”
“I have to go get food.”
“Dishes?”

When she poked her head out from under her blanket, fortunately the girl was dressed, but her front seam hadn’t been closed yet, so her pure white chest was exposed. She was still better than not wearing it, but she was still defenseless. Eventually, Usher took her gaze away from Erica. She felt that otherwise she would not be able to bear it.

“What is food distribution?”
“I’m handing out something to eat.”
“Distributing food. Why?”
“All the kids here get it.”

Usher didn’t understand sharing her food, but he was still anxious about leaving Erica alone, so he wanted to put on her clothes and follow her.

“Don’t look.”
“Chi.”

She had to pull her clothes from her clothesline and put them on, with the blanket over her in the gray light that also followed her. And when she tried to leave the secret base with Erica.

“Hey! You, you!?”

Usher was startled by the sight of the girl climbing up her ladder.

“Yes why?”
“Go up quickly!”

As if not knowing what was wrong, Usher urged her to see Erica, who stopped going up and looked back at him. Eventually coming up on top of her house, he yelled at her.

“You, you, you! What are you doing without wearing underwear?!”

It was no different, but two mounds and a secret crack like a solid line were visible in her skirt, looking up from below. The navy blue skirt Erica was wearing was also very short, so Usher caught it in her eyes without filtering it.

“Eh, but you don’t wear underwear here?”
“What nonsense!”
“It’s not nonsense.”
“Mister?”

Then, at the sound of Krikaliev’s voice, he turned to find himself sitting by a pile of garbage nearby.

“Here, the fabric for making clothes is more precious, so I don’t care if there is no problem on the outside, so I feel like I should make another clothes with the fabric for making underwear.”
“…Then why are the sleeves of his top so long?”

Erica’s top was made of a slightly worn white fabric. The sleeves were so long and wide that they were loose enough to partially cover her hands. Wouldn’t it be better to make underwear with the surplus fabric? I wanted to

“This is a gift, so don’t do it carelessly.”

She shut her mouth at such a girl’s answer. When I say holy land, I was thinking of a city full of relics and sorcery tools from the Daemado era.

“What are you doing there, uncle?”

She tried to disappoint her and left her behind, showing signs of stumbling into the nearby rubbish heaps, she asked him.

“Well, there were a lot of things stored here in the past, so I looked to see if there were a few left, but there are none.”

Apparently, he had been looking for things with me since early in the morning, but soon she found out about him from Erica.

“Ah, if it was there, the uncle sold it and took it?”
“Hi-go! You took all of them?”

As soon as Krikaliev heard about it, he grabbed his head.

“Keuk, I can’t help it because I left it there, but how much did you sell it for?”
“Are they expensive?”
“That’s why I left it behind. There was a self-contained power generator.”
“Ah~ So the uncle often brought something to me.”

Erica touched her hand as if she had just realized it.

“Ugh, that’s it. That’s it. It looks like you paid for it yourself. Tell me who you sold it to later.”
“Yes! Okay! Then we’ll go get food!”
“OK.”

Even when the girl saw Krikaliev waving her hand, the girl took Usher’s hand and started to go somewhere.

“Ugh, it’s cold. Is this place like it used to be?”

Is it because it’s underground? Yesterday, I was so distracted that I didn’t realize it, but I was shivering in the cold air that made his breath come out. With just one dress, his legs would go numb.

“Yeah, I’m not particularly sensitive to the cold, so it’s fine, but the other kids seem to be having a hard time.”

Come to think of it, even though Erica was wearing a short skirt, she was walking casually. Thought a little envious of her, she walked after her. Above the sky, numerous devices that we saw yesterday rotate together with large cogwheels, making all sorts of iron noises such as giggling, rattling, and clanking. The lights shining down from above are bright enough to remind us of the sun, but not warm at all. After walking for some time, I saw a village with small houses huddled together.

“Look over there.”

As we approached the place, we saw an increasing number of children their age or younger looking.

“New kid? But the clothes…”
“Erika is with you?”

And the gazes glancing at them were also increasing. Rather than benevolent, they are quite hostile gazes that are young and envious. Erica whispered in his ear as he was embarrassed by the gaze that poured out even though he hadn’t done anything in particular.

“Shhh, don’t worry. Usher didn’t do anything wrong.”

It was when Usher was walking with her, surprised and relieved by her softer and kinder whisper, as if trying to reassure him differently than before.

“What is it, this is a face I’ve never seen before. Erica?”

Some girls blocked their way with their jaws.