Chapter 88 – The Ruler’S Tomb (4)

After that, she got really sulky and completely ignored me no matter how much I talked to her. Cha Hyewon stuck right next to Irian, chattering away and badmouthing me. Seriously.

 Seriously, is this some kind of picnic? Does everyone trust me too much?
 No matter how much I say there’s no plan, no plan, if they don’t believe me, what am I supposed to do? What’s with this attitude of just assuming I’ll take care of everything? Am I some kind of cheat code?

 I appreciate the trust, but if you’re going to trust me, you should also believe me when I say it’s a crisis. They only believe what they want to believe, and now we’re in a really dangerous and serious situation, and I don’t know what the hell they’re doing.

 But the true qualities of a leader are revealed in moments of crisis. As the leader of the party, I need to snap them out of it, even if it means yelling.

 “Irian. Irian~? Hey, Irian?”
 “…What.”
 “I think we should start moving soon.”
 “Okay.”

 Hmm. They obey the leader’s instructions, so there’s no need to yell. I was about to try to carry Sandra, who was still sprawled out as if she were asleep or passed out, but I almost fell over trying to pick her up.

 Ugh, my whole body aches. I’m still a patient, right? Carry her, my ass, I should be the one being carried.

 Okay. I’m a patient, so I can be carried. But why are they pushing each other to carry me? Irian, weren’t you into me? Cha Hyewon, we’re friends, right?

 In the end, Irian carried me. She was acting all aloof, but whatever. I blew a soft breath on her fluffy ear, and she looked like she was about to die of happiness. …My butt’s going to explode, and I’m going to die first.

 “My butt hurts. Stop it.”
 “Try blowing in my ear one more time, and I’ll blow up your butt.”

 Scary woman.
 After leaving the place where I had sex with Sandra, we soon saw a few scattered monsters. Did they chase us this far and then lose us because of their dull senses?

 It’s been quite a while, and now they’re not even chasing us, just crawling around like snails with their slow movements. They’re so slow usually, but when they get into a fight, they use their deformed hind legs to approach in an instant, which is annoying.

 Their disgusting faces popping up in front of me are like jump scares in a horror movie, and I’m not a fan of this kind of jump scare.

 Fortunately, they’re so dull that they don’t attack unless provoked, like if you attack first, linger in front of them, or approach their nest.

 We could just pretend we didn’t see them and pass by, but… just in case, we decided to reduce their numbers, so Irian and Cha Hyewon took turns dealing with them as we walked for a while. Then, a groan escaped from Sandra’s mouth, who was slumped on Cha Hyewon’s back.

 “Sandra. Are you coming to?”
 “Ugh… Governor? Where… what happened to me?”
 “……”
 “……”

 Why are you looking at me? What do you want me to do?
 Sandra, who had regained consciousness, questioned why she was being carried, and then frowned slightly as if trying to remember.

 “I remember… escaping, after escaping. Ah, I don’t remember well. My head hurts. Can someone explain what happened?”

 It was unbelievable and frustrating to see Irian and Cha Hyewon, who were like the best of friends, pushing me to speak, but I figured it would be better for me, who had shared a body with her, to tell her. It would be more humiliating to hear this kind of news from someone else.

 “Sandra. I’ll explain it to you.”
 “Huh? Ah, but why does it smell so weird… sniff sniff. Hmm? From my body…? Why is my body so sticky?”

 Sandra, who was scratching at the white flakes on her arm, brought her nose to it and sniffed. After tilting her head for a moment, Sandra’s face slowly turned towards us.

 …What is it? Why are they all avoiding my gaze? Sandra’s gaze fixed on me as Irian and Cha Hyewon pretended not to notice and pointed at me with their chins.

 “…Would you explain?”
 “…Yes.”

 Whether it was the calmness of a mage or because she was too dumbfounded and angry to speak, Sandra remained silent throughout the explanation. It would be nice if she showed some reaction, but she was just sitting there like a doll, which made me even more uneasy.

 “I see.”
 “Yes.”
 “I understand.”

 ……?
 Is that it? Why is her reaction so calm?

 Sandra, who seemed to notice my dumbfounded expression, hesitated for a moment and then opened her mouth as if making an excuse.

 “It was an unavoidable situation. You said that if I had been left alone, I would have lived as a madwoman forever. A mage losing her reason… it’s better to die than to live without magic for the rest of my life. So you don’t need to feel guilty. I should be the one thanking you.”

 It was a calm statement, but it was a heavy one. Sandra was from a small tribe in the South, and her appearance was clearly different from the mainstream race of the Empire. Even in the 21st century, there is discrimination based on skin, race, and origin, so how much more would it be here?

 For Sandra, who had barely managed to seize the opportunity thanks to her talent for magic, magic must be more precious than anything else. Since she was saying this much, I thought it would be rude to express my apologies. She would probably want me to treat her like before.

 “Understood. From now on, I’ll treat you like before, Sandra. Is that okay?”
 “Of course. Ah! But… please keep it a secret from my husband… He would… understand too.”

 She had a painful expression. Were they a good couple after all? Although it was an unavoidable situation where we had to have a relationship, it doesn’t make everything understandable. People are often led by their emotions rather than reason.

 “Of course. I’ll keep it a secret forever. Don’t worry.”

 Sandra, who gave a faint smile, braced herself and stood up. With her back straight, she had returned to being the proud mage she was.

 “Let’s go. It seems like you stopped because of me, but there’s no need for that now.”
 “Sandra. Has your magic recovered?”

 Her confident appearance made me wonder. It’s generally accepted that it takes quite a long time to recover from exhaustion due to magic depletion, but you never know. Theories are just theories, and they’re not always perfect. It’s possible that her recovery might be faster due to the unique methods or characteristics of her small tribe, or perhaps her innate disposition.

 If Sandra could just regain her magic, things would be much easier.
 As a graduate of the Magic Academy, she specializes in attack magic, especially fire and lightning, which are the most powerful, but I don’t know if she can create water, which is an incompatible element. But if she could, it would solve our biggest problem: drinking water.

 Not only drinking water, but it would also solve this sticky feeling of not being able to properly wash after having sex!

 Even if she can’t create water, the addition of a reliable attack mage would be a great help. If she could act as a rear artillery support for the Irian and Cha Hyewon duo, we could attack the nest. Instead of rushing in recklessly like before, we could reduce the number of monsters from the outside step by step.

 Sandra, who was standing with her back straight, turned her cold eyes towards us. The white flakes that were dried on her smooth chocolate skin were a bit distracting, but… she doesn’t know, so it’s okay, right? It would be rude to talk about it, so let’s just pretend we don’t notice.

 “No. I can’t use it.”

 I guess so. She was too confident, so I was mistaken. I’m disappointed, but what can I do?

 “Let’s go.”

 Sandra, who was taking a long stride, stopped and turned to look at us. Why now?

 “Hey. But where are we going? No, what do we do now?”
 “……”

 I told her about the meeting-like discussion we had after Sandra passed out.

 “I see. Then, it seems like we have no choice but to look for an exit while dealing with the scattered monsters like we’ve been doing.”

 Day 2.
 It’s been several hours since we received word from Diana that she had entered the underground waterway. Her efforts to confirm our location by constantly sending whispers are admirable, but can’t she stop with the whisper bombs? The translucent letters are blocking my vision.

 It’s difficult to receive support from the city hall while hiding her identity, and even though she has a lot of money, hiring a large number of mercenaries would lack trust and take time, so she revealed that she was a saint.

 At first, no one believed or did anything but laugh at the sudden appearance of the self-proclaimed saint, but fortunately, there were high-ranking priests from the Holy Nation of Hespote stationed in the city, which was of a decent size. Fortunately, they had seen Diana’s face in the Holy Nation of Hespote, and after they officially recognized her as a saint through a simple divine magic and scripture test, the whole city fell into chaos.

 On the condition that they would forgive her for mocking and disrespecting the saint, she not only mobilized the guards but also gathered mercenaries with trust and skill under the city hall’s supervision, and a rescue team was formed in an instant.

 In fact, the saint herself, as well as the governor of the Empire, were deliberately hiding their identities, so who would believe it if someone suddenly claimed to be a saint?

 Of course, the people of the city would feel wronged, but status is power, and Diana, who was blinded by worry for me, wouldn’t care about such things. It would be a relief if she didn’t drive them crazy.

 The rescue team entered the underground waterway, which was unknown to the city, and Diana and I tried to figure out each other’s locations by exchanging whispers in real-time, but it wasn’t easy. There were no signs in the underground waterway, and there was nothing distinctive that stood out.

 “Should we just stay put and wait for the rescue team?”

 We had used all the torches except for one that we had left for emergencies, so we had to spend almost half a day in the dark. We could vaguely see the outlines with our eyes adapted to the dark, but we couldn’t tell who was who until we heard their voices.

 “It’s not like we’re in the mountains here. There’s not much difference between waiting and moving, right?”
 “Still. We can save our stamina if we stay still.”
 “No. Our physical abilities are fine even if we walk all day. We’re not ordinary people. Besides, if we wait aimlessly in the dark like this, we’ll have a lot of negative thoughts. It’s better to move.”

 It’s not like I hadn’t thought about waiting for the rescue team in place… but waiting indefinitely in the dark is even more difficult. It’s better to move around and maintain a moderate level of tension, and occasionally beat up the monsters we encounter. If we stay still in this darkness, we’ll gradually talk less and have negative thoughts.

 “Our physical abilities are fine, but you should be excluded from that. Glass body, Glass Irian.”
 “…It’s because I’m a patient.”
 “No, you were a glass body even before you got hurt.”

 …How do I punish her? I can just picture Cha Hyewon’s smug face, smiling slyly even though I can’t see her.

 ‘I’m thirsty.’

 I don’t even remember how long it’s been since I drank the last sip. My physical condition is still terrible, although it’s slowly improving, and I’ve been sweating a lot from moving my waist so much with Sandra.

 Just in case, I reached into the sling bag I was wearing, but as expected, the empty water bottle made no sound. …Huh? What’s this?

 I felt a smooth glass bottle in the corner of the sling bag. I shook the round glass bottle and felt the sensation of liquid sloshing around.

 ‘…What is this?’

 Is it a potion? Did I put this kind of glass bottle in here? I took it out, wondering what it was, but I couldn’t see it because it was dark. Hmm… I don’t know what it is.

 …It must be a potion, right?