Return (3)

“Are you guys okay…?!”

Malcolm’s mind came back to the voice he hadn’t heard in a long time.

When he finally looked up, a familiar face was in front of him.

“Director Max…”

The person who appeared in front of Malcolm was Max.

And there were Arne and members of the knights following him.

All the party members who discovered Malcolm and Catalina were scared.

Catalina faints in a miserable state and Malcolm barely breathes.

It was not strange even if he died right away.

Arne took out the recovery medicine from his backpack and poured it on Catalina.

The Knights also checked Malcolm’s condition and began treatment.

Even in this situation, Malcolm could not take his eyes off Catalina.

“Sister… Lady Catalina…”

“Stay still! It’s dangerous!”

“I’m fine, but… My sister is more…”

“I understand, so just stay still for now!”

Arne took off Catalina’s armor and checked her wounds.

I suppressed my astonishment when I saw a body full of knife marks and scars here and there.

Catalina collapsed with her entire body mangled.

It was clearly revealed how desperately she fought.

Fortunately, my abdomen was heaving, so I didn’t stop breathing, but I didn’t know when I would die.

Arne poured the potion and healed Catalina’s wounds.

Among them, there were several wounds that did not respond to the treatment.

The wound even began to fester and pus began to ooze.

As soon as Arne saw the wound, he immediately knew the reason.

“I feel like I’ve been poisoned! I need an antidote!”

Immediately, Rack opened his backpack and took out the antidote, and Arne began to carefully apply the antidote to the wound.

There was no noticeable effect, but at least it could prevent the wound from getting worse.

The problem is that there were too many injuries.

Even where the wound was open, the skin was discolored.

“Potions aren’t enough! We need a healer!”

Unfortunately, there was no healer among Max’s group.

Although troop support arrived, there were no healers capable of fighting the fog of the Demon World.

In other words, there was only one healer that could be supported right now.

“Where is Serika? Are you really scattered?!”

Malcolm barely opened his mouth to answer Arne’s question.

“Ever since the cave collapsed… Everyone scattered…”

At his words, the group checked the surrounding wreckage.

Numerous corpses of monsters and demons and collapsed cave walls.

In other words, it means that you are trapped in a cave and have not yet been able to get out.

“…Damn it.”

In a rare occurrence, the atmosphere froze when Max swore.

He, who always maintained his composure in any situation, lost his composure.

It’s not enough to evacuate and hospitalize these people right now, so we have to find others as well.

Even when things got messy, they got stuck tightly. If they hadn’t come, Catalina and Malcolm wouldn’t have survived either.

However, it is impossible to enter the collapsed cave like this.

I had no choice but to wait for them to get out safely.

***

As soon as a loud noise sounded in the cave, my blurred mind returned.

As soon as I fell on Kayla, a hot sigh came out.

“Ah…”

Kayla also hurriedly adjusted her clothes and stood up, but her already red face did not return.

I looked around in the direction where the loud noise came from, but there was no one.

Perhaps it was a sound made artificially by someone somewhere in the cave.

It was clear that my colleagues were on the move.

“Kayla. Let’s get up first.”

“…Yes.”

Kayla follows my orders with a voice full of regret.

If I hadn’t stopped, she wouldn’t have tried to stop me.

Even if I had hugged her, Kayla would have accepted it without resisting.

Now I couldn’t cross the irreversible line.

If Erina finds out about this, their relationship will fall apart.

What just happened was very dangerous.

“Master…”

Kayla approached me and spoke cautiously.

Was it my imagination? Her voice also seemed quite reminiscent.

“Kayla. “I’m sorry.”

“No. Rather, I was happy.”

Has Kayla ever lied to me?

Likewise, her eyes were full of sincerity.

“As long as my lord has decided to keep me in mind, I will wait.”

Even if I really quit like this, she wouldn’t mind.

I was embarrassed to even ask them to wait for my decision.

I had no right to say that in the first place.

“But, I wouldn’t mind asking you one thing.”

That’s why Kayla asked me one favor in a very quiet voice.

“…I want to be the first.”

“…”

“I, not anyone else, would like to be the first to be held in the arms of my lord…”

Kayla’s voice gradually became weaker, as if she was embarrassed to say it herself.

After I finished speaking, I lowered my head.

“This is a request I ask my lord.”

“…”

“The answer is okay. I just hope that my lord knows my heart.”

“With those words, Kayla gathered up her clothes and returned to her original appearance.

Of course, there was a strange current in the atmosphere, different from before.

“…Let’s go.”

“Yes. I will take the lead.”

And so the march began again.

While wandering inside the cave, the monster’s cries were gradually echoing.

At the same time, vibration and noise can be felt from somewhere.

I noticed that someone was fighting a monster.

“Erina! Tyria! Celica!”

“…”

“Catalina! Malcolm! “If anyone can stop by, please answer!”

A voice that doesn’t return even if you call all of your colleagues’ names.

I became anxious at the thought that my colleagues might not be safe.

In particular, I was concerned that the golem had not yet been defeated.

Erina may have survived on her own, but the story was different for the others.

I was especially worried because Celica had no fighting ability.

“First, let’s find where the commotion is coming from. “We can get out of the cave later.”

“Yes. I understand.”

The road to the cave was rough and rough.

A passage blocked by a stone wall and a new path revealed when the wall collapses.

In addition, the exact geography of the cave was unknown, so it was difficult to determine the correct path.

The more I walked, the more the number of monsters decreased.

Maybe I got lost while taking a turn at a dead end.

Kayla also seemed to be getting more and more impatient, so her steps became faster.

“First, I will continue straight along this road.”

Before I knew it, even the popularity I heard from people around me had disappeared.

As the road became increasingly narrower, I had an intuition that something was wrong.

But there was no right way to go back.

In other words, it means that the road is blocked somewhere.

“Kayla. “Can I break down the wall in front of me?”

“Yes. I understand.”

At my words, Kayla immediately deployed a magic circle and caused an explosion.

A stone wall collapsed due to the vibration. A small passage was revealed in the back.

Just big enough for one person to fit in.

When I looked inside, it was quite deep and there was no end in sight.

“…Let’s go. There is no other way than here.”

“Yes. “I will go in first.”

As I entered the narrow passage, a dark energy overtook my entire body.

Thanks to the cooling effect, I couldn’t feel the chill, but the air was so gloomy that it made me feel bad.

While carefully passing through the passage, I could hear people shouting again.

Kaang!

A sound like someone fighting. It definitely sounded familiar.

One person’s name came out of my mouth instinctively.

“Erina… ?”

I felt confident for no reason. Erina was definitely nearby.

“Erina! “Answer me when you’re nearby!”

Then the commotion suddenly became quiet.

As I continued to pass through the passage, it gradually led to a wider space.

And as I walked, I started to smell more and more bloody, and numerous corpses appeared.

And one person standing in between.

“Erina!”

Erina slowly turned her head at the sound of my voice.

Even though her red eyes were full of exhaustion.

As soon as he saw me, his eyes sparkled.

“Seohyun… ?”

Erina can barely respond with a hoarse voice.

As he staggered towards me, tears began to fall from his eyes.

Even the long sword that I was holding with one hand fell from my hand.

He opened his arms and hugged my waist tightly.

“Erina. Are you okay? “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Seohyun… Are there any injuries? ?”

“Okay. I’m fine.”

“It’s really okay… ? It’s really okay… ?”

For some reason, Erina is clinging to me in a tone that seems to be filled with resentment.

I could feel how much they cared about me.

Then he grabbed my face and started kissing my lips for a long time.

“Erina. “Stay away for a moment.”

“I don’t like it…”

Even though Kayla was watching from the side, Erina did not stop.

And Kayla just looked at us in silence.