I Can’t Run Away From the Girl Who Saved Me

159 – The Heart (1)

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As is the case with most things in life, you can’t know anything until you experience it yourself.

Thorough preparation and preparation can become useless in an instant, and countless worries that I imagined while feeling scared can turn out to be nothing.

I was so anxious and fearful that I woke up wide awake on the day my journey to the Demon King began.

However, to my dismay, the first day ended in an instant without any incident.

“It’s getting dark. Let’s go camping today.”

“That would be nice,”

As soon as Sylvia received Alice’s consent, she snapped her fingers and recited the spell.

Sylvia gathered dry branches and started a bonfire in the sudden blaze. She then took off her thick leather shoes and placed them next to the fire.

“Ash, come here quickly.”

Sylvia sat down on the floor, hugged her knees, and called to me.

Perhaps because I had been following the two of them around all day, I was very happy to see Sylvia’s face.

I approached her slowly and said.

“You worked hard today.”

“Ash, you’ve had a hard time too. Wasn’t it hard?”

“It was better than I thought… It was okay. The road was rough, but I think it was still possible to follow. How was it? I didn’t get in the way or anything…”

Sylvia shook her head, then slowly tilted it to the side and said.

“You’re following along better than I thought. I thought you’d tell me to take a break once in a while, but you’ve been following along silently.”

“… I think I was panting too much to say that quietly.”

“Really? I didn’t know.”

“Well, that’s fortunate…”

I said with an awkward smile.

To be honest, it was a bit burdensome.

Because the road was so rough, it felt like I had to jump over or hold on to things more often than I did walking.

If I hadn’t built up my stamina in advance, I would have fallen behind before I could even fight the monsters, but no matter how much I trained, it wasn’t an easy course that I could easily overcome.

“Still, it seems like there have been some results over the past month.”

“Hehe, the cute Ash is turning into a man.”

“…”

Despite Sylvia’s playful smile, I just smiled awkwardly again.

Sylvia’s platinum hair glowed like gold under the orange glow of the campfire.

Sylvia’s coquettish expression, shyly appearing from between her hair that was like the finest silk, was blooming brightly toward me.

But for some reason, that beautiful smile felt a little unfamiliar to me.

“…”

“Ash?”

Sylvia’s large, round eyes staring at me were incredibly cute, but because of that, they felt even more unfamiliar.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Sister Alice and Sylvia.

The two people I saw today were very different from what I had known before.

The sharp tension that doesn’t let up even for a moment while running and jumping,

A fighting spirit or a desire to kill that is expressed gently but skillfully controlled.

I could feel that terrifying pressure constantly from the backs of the two people I was watching all day long.

The attitude of a professional who never lets go of the tension for even a moment.

A clear warning to any monsters that might spot you from afar.

Even the sound of the footsteps of passing ants seems to be missed, with the nerves sharply piercing the skin.

‘This is a warrior.’

I thought about that all day.

I have only just caught a glimpse of the true face of Sylvia, who was the center of the warrior party.

And, there is also the appearance of Sister Alice, who is not pushed around at all by him.

“Yeah, that’s right. Ash has been a man for a long time.”

As I sat there thinking for a moment, Sylvia spoke in a sticky tone as if to tell me to focus on her.

She opened her eyes slightly and slowly rubbed her lower abdomen with a seductive gesture.

“her…”

It was as if she was a completely different person from the Sylvia I saw during the day.

I turned my head away from Sylvia, let out a small sigh, and slowly sat down next to her.

As soon as I sat down on the floor, Sylvia laid her head on my shoulder.

Sylvia during the day, who exuded a ferocious aura, and Sylvia now, who is like a cat in heat.

There was such a huge difference that I couldn’t even feel like they were the same person.

“Ash, take off your shoes quickly and dry them.”

Sylvia rubbed my legs with her bare white feet and slowly put her big toes inside her boots as she spoke.

The touch, which was somewhat awkward and yet subtle, was strangely stimulating, as it was less refined than the hand.

I quickly shook my head, which was starting to turn red, and answered.

“Ah… no, it’s okay. My feet are swollen so I don’t think I’ll be able to put them back on and they’re probably going to get cold.”

“Oh, you don’t know, Ash?”

“huh?”

Sylvia said with a bashful smile.

“We’ve been walking on roads where there’s no road, so our shoes are covered in mud. If we leave it alone, our feet will get heavier and the mud will get stuck in the grooves of the soles of our shoes, making them slippery, so we have to wipe it off, but it’s hard to wipe off.”

“… okay?”

“Yeah, so you dry it by placing it near a fire like this. Then, as the mud dries hard, it cracks, and then you just tap it on a piece of wood or something and the mud all falls off.”

“oh…”

I looked at Sylvia with a hint of admiration.

I simply thought she took it off because her feet were stuffy, but I never imagined there could be a reason for it.

Certainly, the knowledge that Sylvia had just imparted was something that could not be obtained from books or classes.

Experience, or in more colloquial terms, wisdom that can only be learned with time.

It was refreshing and surprising to see Sylvia’s side as an adventurer, discovered several times today alone.

I said, brushing back her hair as she leaned against me.

“Sylvia, you look so great today,”

“Hehe, it feels so good to be praised by Ash.”

Sylvia came to me in a cheerful embrace.

Sylvia’s two arms wrapped tightly around my body.

It was just the right amount of force for me, not so strong that it hurt, but at the same time so exquisitely controlled that I could never shake it off.

I quietly closed my eyes and hugged Sylvia.

“Ash, you followed along well today. So I’ll praise you.”

Sylvia whispered in my ear and gently bit my earlobe with her lips.

That was when.

“Why don’t you lower your price a bit?”

In the darkness, Sister Alice approached me with a look of contempt in her eyes.

I waved my hand at my sister and said.

“Ah, Sister. You too, quickly rest. Come here and warm yourself by the fire.”

Sylvia muttered in a curt voice.

“Isn’t it right to punish a person who interrupts the sweet time between lovers?”

“This is ridiculous. Couples who show affection without consideration for their companions don’t get punished?”

“The two of you really don’t get along.”

Sisters Sylvia and Alice glared at each other for a moment.

As my sister sighed and squeezed her eyes shut, Sylvia kissed my cheek as if to show off and slowly pulled away.

Sister Alice furrowed her eyebrows and spat on the floor as she spoke.

“There are no traces of monsters around, so there probably haven’t been any monsters around here for a long time.”

“That’s fortunate,”

“Ash? Are you feeling better?”

I nodded.

“Yeah, it’s okay. Both of you were worried about my health. You asked me once on the way back if I was okay.”

“That’s not it.”

“hmm?”

Sister Alice stretched her index finger toward the sky and spun it around in the air twice.

Just by that gesture I could tell what she was trying to say.

“Ah… yeah, it’s okay. I know I’m inside the magic, but I don’t feel any magic building up in my body.”

“Hmm, I guess I don’t really need to offer a prayer for purification.”

Sister Alice nodded briefly as if she understood and slowly approached the fire and sat down.

Then he slowly took out a handful of dried beef jerky and fruit from a small bag on his waist and handed it to me.

“Eat. A quick bite will do.”

“Isn’t Sylvia there?”

“Yes, you wicked woman, do you have anything for me?”

“… It’s given to the two of you to share. In the first place, when you’re going to have to keep moving for several days, you shouldn’t eat until you’re full. If you eat too much, your legs will just get heavy.”

I reached out and accepted the food that Sister Alice gave me.

It seemed like her sister was right, as Sylvia took a few small strawberries from my hand and put them in her mouth without any complaints.

“It’s a bit new, but they both look very familiar.”

“what?”

“No, that strange tension I saw during the day, and the mud Sylvia mentioned, and what my sister said…”

Sylvia slowly leaned back and sighed.

Sylvia, who was leaning back and supporting herself on her elbows, looked up at the sky and slowly opened her mouth.

“Yeah… I’m used to it.”

“…”

“People talk about being heroes and such, but in the end, if you don’t want to die, you have to get used to sleeping on the streets. If you don’t want to starve, you have to get used to bargaining. If you want to survive, you have to get used to preparing for surprise attacks…”

Sylvia, who had been silent for a moment, closed her eyes tightly and continued speaking.

“Even if you become so accustomed to everything, when faced with a life-threatening crisis, you will eventually have to die.”

“…Sylvia.”

“My colleagues also said the same thing, but there’s a saying that men who go on adventures are s*xy.”

“huh,”

“That’s because you don’t know when you’ll die. Since you don’t know when you’ll die, you want to leave behind descendants somewhere.”

Sylvia smiled bitterly.

“Well, since it’s a warrior party, you have to be careful about your behavior… In the end, my comrades died without being able to do that.”

“…”

Sister Alice slowly untied the strap of her bag around her waist and opened her mouth.

“Let’s stop the small talk. We have to leave early tomorrow morning, so Ash, go to bed early. Sylvia, you and I will decide the night watch order…”

Sylvia shook her head.

“Okay, I’ll just do it. Alice, you go to sleep too.”

“…”

“I don’t have to sleep, I’m used to it.”

“… Okay, then do that.”

Without even pretending to stop her, Sister Alice slowly raised one arm and untied the knot under her armpit.

The breastplate that covered her from her neck to below her chin slowly fell off.

The inside of her breastplate, as red-hot as red-hot iron, was clearly visible even in the darkness.

“Ugh,”

Sister Alice threw down her breastplate as if tossing it aside and shook her hands.

It was as hot as it looked.

In fact, her top, glimpsed through the flickering bonfire, was melted and sticky, sticking to her skin.

“Sister, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Ha… how did you get through today?”

My sister laughed and lay down on the floor.

For someone who was facing death that could come at any time, he looked very peaceful.

His appearance, which seemed much more manly than most men, was as unfamiliar as the appearance of her I had seen this afternoon.

“…”

The Alice I knew was no longer in this world.

And, even the current Alice who had changed would soon disappear from the world.

I feel like I’m suffocating from the cruel torments of fate.

Even if I don’t swallow, this excruciating pain, which forces itself through my mouth, fills my lungs and weighs me down.

In the suffocating darkness and magic, I slowly closed my eyes tightly.

“You must be tired… Good night, Ash.”

“Good night, Sylvia. Good night, you too.”

“Okay… tomorrow… see you tomorrow.”

Sister Alice pronounced the word tomorrow a little slurred.

You may not be sure that you will be alive tomorrow morning.

I was trying to calm my troubled mind and fall asleep.

I have to sleep.

On this journey, I must not fall behind even a little.

Even for my sister Alice, who is struggling to leave meaning at the end of her life that is soon to end,

I had to reach the Demon King before Sister Alice’s life was cut short.

.