Chapter 13: Love (5)
"Fairy tales… they really are lies."
Subaru looked at the walls of flesh at the end of the path and thought this. He had already walked along every space he could move, but could find neither the whale's blowhole nor its anus. He realized he was in a completely enclosed space.
——In short, even if I get out, I could be crushed by the seawater or attacked by mabeasts again.
Subaru comforted himself, then once more checked his lifeline.
One food pellet left.
He looked at the last rations with a sigh. His stomach was very hungry, but Subaru forced himself to resist eating. He leaned against the flesh wall, habitually scratching the surface. Though it was flesh, it felt like stone to him.
——Reinhild isn't here yet. The mabeasts probably swam back into the deep sea.
Subaru sighed, as if seeing his own death ahead. A normal person might descend into madness from despair, but Subaru's mind wouldn't break so easily.
——If possible… I wish I could go back to climbing the mountain. ——But according to the "Return by Death" mechanism, I should return to the Water Capital, most likely to the point when I warned the children. If that happens…
Calmly thinking through all possibilities, he ate the last food pellet and recalled the journey with Reinhild.
"If… I could… I really want to… apologize… to Reinhild…"
Subaru felt his body losing all strength. His mind spun. Severe dehydration was about to take his life.
[You should properly apologize to me.]
Perhaps his mind wasn't as steady as he thought—he heard a hallucination. Subaru smiled bitterly. Death felt so near; he knew he was about to die.
A roar resounded. The familiar blue sword energy flashed before him, and blood splashed over Subaru. Almost instinctively, he opened his mouth and drank a few mouthfuls. The sense of death receded gradually, and then a blinding light filled the dim space. Subaru instinctively closed his eyes.
"Subaru!!!"
A familiar voice, then a violent impact. Subaru felt himself slammed against the flesh wall behind him.
The familiar touch and gentle fragrance told him his situation even with eyes closed. He let out a hoarse sound, and with it, realized the full state of his body.
——Over three days without bathing, with one intense physical exertion, entering a whale's stomach, submerged by fish, drenched in blood.
Subaru wanted to push Reinhild away out of shame at his filthy body, but then noticed her chest wet and her body trembling violently.
"It's fine… it's really fine. Thank goodness you didn't give up on what I said about fairy tales."
His motion changed from pushing to embracing, though he still hesitated.
"You're too much… why didn't you tell me? Do you know how I felt hearing that you were eaten by a mabeast?" "Sorry." "Every time I… found unrecognizable… corpses in the bodies of mabeasts… I kept thinking… could it… be Subaru…?"
Her words trailed off into sobs, finally becoming only crying.
"Sorry… really… I'm sorry."
Having experienced loss himself, Subaru vaguely understood her feelings and finally embraced the fragile girl in his arms. He then noticed her torn clothes and the stronger scent of blood on her than on himself.
"Thank you… really… thanks to you, Reinhild, I survived…"
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Noon, August 24th:
The last mabeast was gone. Reinhild breathed lightly, her sword dropping into the sea. Six days of bloody battle meant little physically, but her mind was nearly crushed.
——I really can't do anything.
Reinhild understood—she had lost something important again.
——Why… I haven't even said thank you… I haven't even answered your feelings.
At this moment, the girl seemed fragile. The deep-sea whale, long disguised, suddenly leaped from the sea, mouth wide open, facing the exhausted girl.
Reinhild froze, not from the immense pressure, but because her [Divine Protection of Rescue] indicated a living person inside the whale.
Surprise, joy, hesitation, worry, fear…
"If… I could… I really want to… apologize… to Reinhild…"
Using her [Hero's Divine Protection], Reinhild heard the voice inside. She felt it was the happiest moment of her life—this time, she was not powerless.
——You need to properly apologize to me.
Subconsciously using her [Mind Link Divine Protection], she transmitted her thoughts to Subaru. She raised her hand in a chopping stance. A massive flow of mana surged toward her, and with the whale's terrified eyes upon her, she swung lightly. The whale's body split in two, falling into the sea.
Reinhild instantly saw Subaru, nearly unharmed, and instinctively held him. Only then did she feel she had truly saved him.
Joy turned to fear; though unharmed, she noticed Subaru's condition was terrible, his body even chilling to the touch.
——If I hesitated for even a moment, I would have lost him.
At that moment, Reinhild realized this fact clearly.
"You're too much… too much…"
Though knowing Subaru needed rest, she couldn't let go, couldn't speak calmly. Six days of accumulated fear and despair exploded, leaving her to cry in pain.
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"Thank you… really, thanks to you, Reinhild, I survived…"
With Subaru's reassurance and the release of her pent-up emotions, Reinhild finally calmed down and realized what she had just done.
"Sorry… I'm not blaming you, Subaru… I shouldn't even be angry… No, no, no… I mean… you're alive… I'm really glad, really."
Reinhild felt a surge of strength. Subaru's body collapsed on top of her. A man's weight should have felt light, but Subaru pinned her to the ground before she fully reacted.
"Subaru? Subaru! Hold on!"
[Bestow Divine Protection – Phoenix Continuation]
Reinhild instinctively gave her strongest life-preserving blessing to Subaru, who still had faint consciousness—but some power within Subaru repelled it.
He coughed blood onto her, his breathing barely perceptible.
"Wait, Subaru! Wait! Don't die! You haven't taken me to so many places yet! I haven't even told you I love you! Please… don't die! Don't die! Just hold on a little longer!"
Reinhild shouted anxiously, holding Subaru as gently as possible. In the next instant, the two disappeared from the spot.