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The prelude to a battle is always felt when night falls and your wounds still ache. I received a mortal wound to the chest... the dragon tore me with its claws, and although I survived, the burning hasn't gone away. But... Why do I feel this heat in my chest?
"Ugghh..." I said, complaining about the pain as I woke from my sleep.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Keia imbuing healing water into me, or at least that's what it seemed like from my point of view.
"Keia... Where am I?" I asked as I tried to get up, but with a gentle push I was returned to the bed.
"Calm down, you don't have to get up. You and Darel received quite an ugly wound. A great doctor came and stitched you up, but I have to tend to you so they don't get infected," she said with a bitter expression.
Her cheeks began to blush and her eyes became bright, and her tears began to flow.
"Why are you always so reckless, idiot... Don't you know we're a team?" she said, holding back her tears.
I had never seen her like this. Not when I almost died from the Urvargs, not when we lost Kalesh... This time, I really broke her.
"I'm sorry..." I murmured, unable to hold her gaze.
"Don't say that," she interrupted immediately, wiping her tears with her sleeve. "Just... think before throwing yourself to die, okay?"
I laughed, barely, though it hurt to do so.
"And since when do you give motivational speeches?"
She frowned, but her lips trembled as if she wanted to laugh.
"Since I got tired of seeing you fainted with a martyr's face."
"My face isn't that bad... I think," I replied with a hoarse voice.
Keia lowered her gaze and concentrated again on the wound on my chest. The heat was still there. It wasn't fever. It was something else. Something I couldn't explain.
"Keia... Am I... burning?"
"Huh? No," she replied confused. "You're a bit warm, but you don't have a fever. Why?"
I shook my head, closing my eyes.
"Nothing. Just a strange sensation..."
She stayed with me for a long time. She seemed even more worried about me than about Darel. That fight-addicted idiot really outdid himself... Maybe I should train more with him, to avoid these mortal wounds.
"Are you okay?" I asked, with a weak voice.
"Yes, I am. You should shut up and focus on recovering, you can't prete—"
I interrupted her clumsily, raising a trembling hand to touch her cheek. I felt her warm skin. She froze.
"Really... I don't know what I would have done without you..." I said, with words that seemed to float rather than come out of my mouth. "You're like... my guardian angel. A beautiful one. Maybe too beautiful for someone like me..."
I noticed her face tense, but she didn't pull my hand away.
"I want you to keep protecting me forever... Keia..."
I couldn't say more. The words dissolved in my throat, just like my consciousness. Everything became blurry, and then dark.
When I woke up, I didn't remember much of what had happened the night before. My mind was translucent, as if everything had been a dream.
"I think I'm having wet dreams... If Keia finds out about that... I'm dead!" I whispered to myself, with a horrified expression.
But something immediately distracted me: my body felt lighter, as if they had removed an enormous weight from me. The wound that crossed my chest was huge, and yet... it had healed.
Perfectly.
"How much time has passed...? For this to heal like this... at least a month, at minimum," I said, carefully touching the area, feeling barely any pain.
Looking around, I noticed we were still in the village inn.
Wait... Haven't they left me? Or have they?
I panicked.
I started looking for my clothes like crazy. I grabbed everything I could—pants, bag, even a shoe that wasn't even mine—and, half-dressed, I launched myself straight toward the door with the desperation of someone about to miss the train of their life.
Just when I was about to open it...
BAM!
"Ouch! What the hell...?" said a voice, which sounded more like the complaint of a stepped-on cat.
I crashed head-on with someone. Something fell. Something bent. Something got crushed. My dignity, probably.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" shouted Aethen, massaging his forehead. "Why are you running out with all your things... in your hand? Were you going to escape!?"
He looked at me as if he had just discovered he was sharing a room with a thief.
"What? Aethen, are you still here?" I said with surprise.
"I thought everyone had left me! Since I lasted a month in bed because of the wound, I was going to go out and look for you around the world," I added, still half-dazed.
Aethen looked at me with total incredulity.
"What are you saying, idiot? How were we going to leave you lying in a bed, in a country where you don't even understand the language? Your head must be full of air."
I burst out laughing like an idiot.
"It's just that I didn't see anyone with me and I thought they had abandoned me to my fate!"
"Oh, really? And should we have also abandoned Darel, who was just as injured as you?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh! And how is that shitty addict? Did he survive?" I asked, looking away while rubbing my chin and observing the ceiling as if philosophizing.
"Yes, you're definitely sick. The Lysae must have damaged your brain," said Aethen, bringing his hand to his face.
Then he told me everything.
A month hadn't passed like I thought.
In fact, barely three days had passed since we arrived at the inn.
The doctor who treated us, according to Aethen, was a legend. He saved us both and left us like new, just so we could continue the journey as soon as possible.
"And where is that doctor? I want to thank him for saving me," I said, sketching a smile.
"He already left. But who did the final work was Keia. She took care of you for these three nights. Apparently the doctor taught her some tricks, since her water Lysae was compatible with the treatments."
Keia... of course.
She always had talent for supporting from behind. Maybe healing wounds isn't a problem for someone like her.
"Stay here, I'll go tell everyone you're awake," he said, turning around while holding something in front of him...
"Was he holding his bag in front? How uncomfortable... He probably stole something and doesn't want them to find out. But that fool is being very obvious." I thought, and started laughing alone, as if someone had told me the best joke of the year.
BAM
The door swung open.
"YEROY!! Are you awake!?"
A voice...
Too deep.
Too powerful.
Too masculine for my taste.
"Keia...?" I managed to say, hopeful.
But no.
It was Kerl.
With his shining bald head gleaming as if he had just polished it with freshly squeezed dragon oil.
"AAAAGHH! My eyes! Master, your baldness burns my pupils!" I screamed, covering my face with the sheets as if I were under enemy attack.
"You should cover something else, you're half naked, animal!" Kerl shot back, pulling aside the curtains with a laugh.
Following Kerl's dramatic entrance, Terimaru and Keia followed him, and Aethen entered right behind, as if trying not to be left out of the scene.
"Well, you're alive, Miki. Not even a dragon can kill you, right?" said Terimaru, with a mischievous smile.
"Ho... I see you're starting to master the nuances of teasing, eh? You're learning well, my little vassal," I said with a dark and theatrical voice, as if passing him the torch of a cursed legacy.
"Yes, it seems the boy is healthy," said Kerl, scanning us with his gaze. "We just need Darel to wake up, and we can continue the journey."
"Master..." Keia began to say, with a voice that sounded more like contained impulse than a simple request.
But Kerl raised a hand.
"It's not time yet, Keia," he said with a serious, almost solemn tone.
That was strange. His expression was rigid, and Keia... Keia had a long face, as if she had been swallowing something important for days. Something she didn't want to say in front of everyone.
"Let's go to Darel. If he wakes up today too, we'll make an important announcement to the group," added Kerl, turning around.
And as if he had said "recess is over," everyone left faster than they had entered.
I was left there, alone, in bed.
"I feel used... They came in, saw me, said a couple of things and left as if I were a living ornament," I murmured, rolling around a bit in the sheets.
As soon as I finished putting on my clothes, I went out to the common room of the inn.
There they all were waiting for me... even Darel, who was wearing barely enough to be decent.
"It seems this is truly important. They have Darel almost naked for everyone to see his body. Are they planning to sell him to finance the trip?" I said with a mischievous smile.
"If we're selling something, it would be your dignity. Although you probably don't have any," replied Darel between laughs.
"And how is your little wound? I'm sure mine is bigger... it will attract more women," I said, but then I felt a pressure... intense.
A gaze. To my side.
My instincts activated instantly. My body formed ten layers of Lysae Sout, getting into a defensive posture. An enemy? An attack? But... I saw nothing.
Only Keia.
With a gaze as sharp as a knife.
Does she have a stomachache... or does she want to murder me?
"Alright, guys. Let's leave the chat for later," intervened Kerl, with a firm tone. "What's important now is that the Divine Doctor Hen-sha has given the go-ahead to take Keia as a disciple. I have informed the high command and Mr. Naoka. It seems to be an unprecedented case. He has never taken disciples, not even when many have tried to bribe him, beg him, or even challenge him."
"What!? You mean Keia will become a disciple of someone so legendary? That sounds great! Don't you think?" I exclaimed, smiling.
But no one responded as I expected.
Except Terimaru, who seemed amazed.
"Idiot... He's basically saying that Keia will have to stay if she accepts," said Aethen, frowning.
"W-what? But if she stays..." I tried to say, but Darel interrupted me.
"Be careful what you say, imbecile. It's a difficult decision. It's an opportunity that probably won't happen again. And you go and complicate it more with your big mouth," he added, this time serious, almost annoyed.
Keia stepped forward. Everyone fell silent.
"I've decided to stay..." she said with a serene voice, although her gaze remained firm on Kerl. "I accept being Hen-sha's disciple."
My hands closed into fists without me noticing.
Terimaru lowered his head. Aethen sighed.
And Darel just crossed his arms, serious.
No one argued. Because we knew that, however difficult it was, that was the best choice for her.
"I'm proud of you," said Kerl with a small smile.
After a few seconds of tension, Keia turned to me.
"Can you come with me for a moment, Yeroy?" she asked.
I didn't respond. I just nodded.
We walked outside the inn. The sky was tinged with dark clouds, as if they also knew something was changing.
"Listen... I didn't plan for it to be like this," she said, not looking at me yet. "When we arrived in Shunkoku, I never imagined separating from you."
"You don't have to explain it," I replied, though even I didn't believe how calm my voice sounded.
She laughed quietly, but this time... it wasn't a happy laugh.
"But I want to. Because I don't know how much time will pass until we see each other again. And because, if I don't say it now, I might regret it."
Then she turned to me, finally. And she looked at me like she never had before.
"Yeroy... I like you. I don't know since when, or why. I just know that when you opened your eyes after that fight, I felt like everything was okay again."
"Lately I only see how they beat you up and how you escape by the skin of your teeth and my Semillum throbs until it wants to come off and—" she sighed for a moment.
"I don't want something to happen to you without telling you what I felt."
I swallowed.
My tongue didn't know whether to crack a joke or stay silent. But Keia didn't give me time.
"I don't expect an answer. Just... I wanted you to know. I want you to take care of yourself, and to keep going. And when we see each other again..."
She paused. She took a step toward me.
"...don't look at me as a healer. Look at me as a warrior. As someone who will be fighting by your side, not behind you."
I didn't know what to say. So I just smiled. A crooked, nervous smile... but sincere.
She returned the smile, turned around and went back to the inn.
And so, in the middle of that night that seemed to anticipate storms, her figure moved away. Leaving me with a full chest... and my head a complete mess.