Chapter 83 – Episode 83. If You’re Happy Even if It’s a Lie (2)
‘… Sorry.’
When your ears choke and your body loses strength.
Hearing her voice, Celica’s head reflexively heard the sound and began to move in the direction from which it came.
No, she tried to move but her head wouldn’t move.
Because before that, I couldn’t even see her right in front of me.
‘Sorry. I’m sorry…’
Only sound.
I can only hear the voice of an unknown person in my ears.
‘I should have never met you. No, I should have just left without being greedy. I shouldn’t have dragged you into my circumstances… Now I can’t stop either.’
I didn’t know what the apology meant.
She just knows she’s being targeted.
‘Sorry, I… I’m all…’
The sincerity that came out of that voice.
I just feel it touches me so deeply.
***
“Serica, Celica!”
“… Awesome!”
How much time has passed
As her mind clears and her eyes open, Celica, clutching her throbbing head, turns to her teeth looking down at her.
A face that worries about oneself reflected under the clear moonlight.
“… Dave?”
Yes, she is her own lover.
“Ah, I’m glad. You are safe.”
Dave hugged my body as if he were afraid to recognize himself.
After staring blankly at him for a moment, Dave immediately pulled away from him and began to explain his situation.
“I was very worried about the sudden fall.”
“… Did I fall?”
“Huh. A tree root caught her foot and hit her forehead hard… Are you okay?”
Dave slightly raises his bangs to check the condition.
In fact, the part where his hand touched was strangely throbbing.
It’s as if someone had just punched one.
‘… Did you fall? I?’
But Celica couldn’t help but be more concerned about the fact that she had fallen than her pain.
I haven’t had a single accidental fall in the past month.
Even if you’re not fighting, you usually get your balance right before you trip and fall.
Even though the forest is dark, is it really possible for him to fall and lose consciousness?
‘Something is strange… Hmm.’
Celica, resting her chin on him and deep in thought, quietly moved her gaze to the side.
A man still looking at himself carefully.
The nervous look must have been that he was worried about the ideals he had.
‘… Well, is it any good?’
Yes, that alone is enough to dispel doubts.
The moment she met her lover, Celica felt a calmness come to her heart, and she threw away all her personal doubts and decided to face him.
“How long have I been unconscious?”
“Not very long. Still, I thought it would be nice to get some cold air, so I moved to the lakeside for a while…”
“A lakeside, you mean?”
Hearing those words, Celica’s gaze withdrew from him and began to look around.
A wide lake illuminated under the bright full moon. When the swaying water grass gently blowing touched the water, it vibrated the water surface created by the force and made the light shimmer.
Starlight reflected on the lake sways like waves.
“The scenery is nice.”
Celica engraved that into her eyes and smiled as she brushed her hair that was blowing in the cold wind.
With a very honest evaluation.
“Did you manage to find a nice place like this?”
Celica smiled brightly at her unconscious lover.
By that time, the matter of her unconsciousness had taken a back seat.
Even if it was unintentional, I didn’t want to waste this opportunity because I had just arrived at a beautiful place.
“I am resting here a little longer. After I can even firewood…”
“A little bit.”
Yes, because I don’t want to waste it.
“Shall we stay here for a while?”
As I grabbed the hand of my lover who was trying to get out of here, he started to hesitate from his seat as if hesitating.
“No, it’s too late, and Heyra will be waiting…”
“Are you worried about that child and want to go back soon?”
“…”
“… You do not have to worry. Because Ymir is by my side.”
As he is also her colleague, he must be mindful of Heira’s condition.
He must have come this far for the inevitable reason of coming to gather firewood, but he is not alone on this journey.
She is confident, and Yumir is…
Isn’t it the existence of a colleague to take responsibility for each other’s absence, to entrust and rely on each other when needed?
“And we, we haven’t had much time alone lately, have we?”
Of course, apart from him, as a lover rather than a colleague, the desire to be close to him exists.
“I think Dave takes care of me a lot because he helps me with chores, but I still want him to look at me when we’re alone like this.”
It would be impossible for each other to do that every day, but sometimes.
When the opportunity came, it was not easy for her to suppress her desire to spend time with him.
And I hope that the other person will also feel the same way as you.
“… Okay, let’s spend some time here.”
Dave reluctantly answers as if he were counting on himself. The moment he didn’t accept, Celica was overjoyed and started throwing off her clothes.
“Okay, then there will be a lake, shall we take a bath?”
“… What?”
“Coming to think of it, I don’t think we’ve ever taken a bath together, so I don’t think it’s bad to try it together now.”
“Hey, wait a minute, Celica. I’m out now…”
“What about outside? It’s night, so no one sees it.”
If even a monster appears, it will be enough if he protects her. Thinking of it, Celica took off her clothes and threw herself into the lake without hesitation.
A splash, a stream of water gushing out.
Celica felt excited at the coolness that seeped deep into her bones, and she immediately jumped out of the water with a bright smile.
“Ahaha! The water is so cool! Dave! Come in quickly, too!”
The moment the body without a thread is clearly illuminated by the moonlight, water droplets begin to flow down one after another along the curve.
Dave, who had been unconsciously following her eyes, came to her senses belatedly, and hurriedly tried to take her gaze away from her.
It’s as if I’m embarrassed to see myself now.
“No, I… Are you okay.”
Are you ashamed of it?
Even though we’ve seen each other naked?
“It’s okay, hurry up!”
He looked cute, so I pulled his leg to get angry, and his body was pulled and dragged into the lake.
“Whoops!”
Dave sinks into the lake with a shrieking scream.
Celica, belatedly realizing that she had put too much effort into it, panicked and stopped her.
“Mi, sorry Dave! I can’t control my strength well… Gwa, are you okay!?”
Celica stared at the bubbling water in bewilderment.
However, even her bubbles soon disappeared, leaving only shaking on the surface of the water.
“… Dave?”
The moment when the anxious thought of wanting to happen made my complexion pale.
– Iron puck!
The surface of the water cracked open and Celica was hit in the face by a shower of water that escaped.
While unable to respond to the sudden surprise and putting on a dazed expression, Dave, who escaped by crossing the water, glared at Celica with a full glass of water in her hand.
“Since you did it first, Celica, can I do this much?”
Dave draws a deep smile as if to say it’s revenge from the past.
After that, the moment her hand was swung and water poured again, Celica poured water at Dave with a bright smile.
“Can you get enough of that!? You have to do this much to spray!”
“Oh, wait! I can’t move well because my clothes are wet… !!”
“So you should have taken it off when I was told to take it off! Eight, Eight!”
Dave spraying water at my lover with a bright smile.
He seemed to be pushed back as if he was finally losing, but nevertheless, his face had an expression as bright as the moon in the sky.
Just as he teaches us that he is also purely enjoying his time with himself.
***
– Tap, tap, tap.
A bonfire made with firewood picked up nearby.
After that, I dried the clothes I was wearing in the rising heat, then went into the lake and spent time with Celica.
Starting from trivial pranks by spraying each other with water, competitions such as diving or swimming, and so on…
Of course, it was impossible for me to physically defeat Celica, who was growing rapidly as a hero.
So, I thought most of them would go back to her victory, but Celica pretended to be pushed back infrequently and even conceded a considerable victory to me.
“Ahaha~ Dave is amazing. Maybe it’s because he’s a man, so he can’t be defeated by force.”
Even so, Celica showed an attitude of acknowledging my victory rather than dwelling on the match.
Yeah, she must be that what matters to her is the time she spends with me rather than her victories.
Or splash around together.
Whether it’s time to look up at the sky while floating in the water, like now.
“Haa~ It’s been a long time since I played without thinking like this~”
As if that was enough, Celica vomited a sense of ease with her body floating on her surface.
It was a sentiment I could relate to.
“I know. When I say rest, it’s usually because I’m stretched out.”
“Eat, work, sleep, eat, work, sleep… I think I know why adventurers are so crazy about alcohol.”
It’s a schedule I can’t stand if I can’t even drink alcohol.
Of course, there are many people who work hard, but the party she belongs to has a mission to save the world soon.
Quests that require such a high level were handled not one, but many, several times a day.
The amount of time you can spend without thinking about anything like now will inevitably come to your mind even more.
“… It really passed in the blink of an eye. 1 month.”
“Yeah, I was really busy running around. Celica in particular suffered the most.”
“No, Dave was the busiest. All I have to do is roll my body, but didn’t Dave look after everyone in the party?”
“Ahaha, it’s a chore. Anyone with the body can do it.”
“It’s so easy to misunderstand, but living power also requires some skill. If you leave Ymir alone right now…”
“… Ahaha.”
When I mentioned Ymir, I lost my words and burst out laughing.
Well, Yumir, that guy has never properly put a drop of water on his hand.
Her stamina is also greatly reduced, so of course she wouldn’t be able to dare to do the hard work of a porter.
Of course, she has to use her talents for more meaningful purposes than that, so her inability to do chores is no reason to criticize her.
“Yeah, with Dave, everyone can do their best in what they can.”
On the contrary, my existence, which made it possible for me to fully display such talent, is now approaching me in a party that cannot be ignored.
Celica, who had conveyed her thanks, began to smile bitterly at me.
“But when I look back at the time I’ve spent so far, I feel that way. Dave helped us do our part, but I don’t think we ever did anything in return for Dave.”
“No, I’m grateful enough just to take her to a party.”
It wasn’t a lie.
On the surface, the only thing he knew how to do was to take care of the porter Naburaengi.
And practically for helping me achieve my revenge.
“Really?”
Still, is there something stuck?
Even in the midst of feeling satisfied with the progress of the work, she kept asking me back, unable to lose her lingering feelings.
“Really, what…”
“Even if I pretend not to, I can see everything.”
A truth that I cannot overlook.
“Dave is suffering for reasons he won’t tell us.”
Talking about it so casually.
