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

103 – Two Faces (3)

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Ms. Sylvia looked at me with wide eyes and slowly brought her hand to her mouth.

“That… what is it?”

“Poem, Sylvia, no, sister.”

I hurriedly pushed Pia behind me.

After forcibly pushing away Pia, who was resisting being pushed with a bewildered expression as if she didn’t understand the situation, I hurriedly blurted out words in an urgent voice.

“Well, I don’t know how this happened either.”

“…Since when?”

“Ah, in the morning… when I opened my eyes, it was…”

I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t get the words out.

Why is that?

Even if she likes me very much, Sylvia isn’t a crazy murderer and she wouldn’t murder a six-year-old child.

She was the one who saved my life when I was dying, even though she didn’t have to, and even though she had a ton of reasons why she shouldn’t.

It is clear that there is no way she could harm my spirit who looks like this young girl.

I’m sure that’s true.

Why am I so scared?

Could it be because of the heavy affection she had for me, as if something was broken, that I felt ever since we met again?

Could it be because of her obsessive gaze that makes her seem to be acting up more and more?

Or maybe it’s because of that sad face I see her on right now.

I stood there stiffly mumbling like an idiot.

“That’s not it.”

I muttered that without even knowing what it was.

Ms. Sylvia walked towards me slowly, one step at a time.

I could see her legs shaking slightly.

It seemed as if not only her legs but her whole body was shaking.

“I smell blood.”

Pia’s one word, spoken without any notice, added to the ominous feeling.

I was sitting and slowly moving back.

“Stay still.”

“…ah”

Ms. Sylvia quickly lowered her body and grabbed my leg.

She spoke softly, her voice very subdued.

I could clearly feel the sadness in his voice as well as his expression.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“That, that…”

“I should have said… No, no. I should have noticed.”

I realized that I had to first explain to Sylvia that this girl was Pia.

She has seen the large fox figure appearing with my magic several times, so if I explain it sufficiently, she will surely understand this absurd sight.

“I really didn’t think it would turn out like this…”

“Next time, if you get hurt, be sure to tell me.”

“…yes?”

At the same time as my foolish voice, she slowly placed her palm on my bare knee and breathed divine power into it.

A slightly warm feeling spread across my knees.

Soon after she removed her palm, my knee, which had been bumpy with scabs, had healed perfectly, leaving only a slight scar.

I slowly rolled my eyes at her to figure out what was going on.

She said with a complicated expression.

“I didn’t notice you were naked all day… I’m sorry. I guess I was just… focused on making out with Ash.”

“…ah,”

“It must have been two days since the scab was removed, how did I not see this…”

Ms. Sylvia hugged me tightly, feeling guilty.

I just blinked and hugged her with a dumbfounded expression on my face.

Pia poked my back and begged me to hug her.

What the hell is going on here?

＊

After checking in various ways, I was able to realize that Sylvia couldn’t see Pia at all.

Of course, she had seen the fox figure wrapped in my magical flames several times, but those were only flames flowing along Pia’s body.

I realized once again how rare the talent of a spirit wizard is.

Indeed, if there were more people who could see spirits, the existence of spirits would have been more widely known and not dismissed as a simple fairy tale.

Even I, who was born with the talent of a spirit sorcerer, had never seen Pia’s true form without the flames until I came face to face with the green woman.

I sighed deeply and looked at Sylvia again.

I didn’t notice it until a little while ago because I was too flustered, but there was a big change in her since last night.

“Sister Sylvia.”

“huh?”

“Those clothes…”

“Oh, this?”

She was wearing clothes.

Instead of the thin tunic I was wearing, she was wearing a large white cloth dress, a slightly worn but still proper leather breastplate, and even slightly dirty but sturdy-looking leather boots.

She extended her hand as if to tell them to wait a moment, then went out to the door of the cabin and came back carrying a large sack that she had left in front of the door.

The bag contained spare clothes, leather, and various odds and ends.

I looked at the sack and asked.

“Oh my god, where did all this come from?”

“Hehe, I worked hard to get it.”

“You brought it back?”

“You know.”

“Ms. Sylvia said, emptying the contents of the bag onto the floor.

“Pick up the body.”

“…ah,”

That must be the reason why Pia smelled like blood.

I nodded my head slowly, thinking that way.

“Magic suddenly spread through the forest. The monsters became more active, and I went out to see if there were any victims who had entered the forest unknowingly, and sure enough, there were quite a few new corpses.”

“…okay.”

Picking up dead bodies.

It meant bringing the belongings or luggage of those who were sacrificed in this forest.

If you think about it, since these are things that the dead won’t need anyway, it’s better for the living to use them, so it wasn’t as bad an action as its ominous name suggests.

As someone who still felt uneasy when I recalled what happened the last time I picked up a corpse, I felt a little uneasy.

But, looking at the state of my cabin now, it was definitely something that needed to be done.

I muttered as I looked at the sackful of things that had spilled out.

“You must have had a hard time…alone.”

“hmm…”

She smiled awkwardly and twirled her chest-length hair around her fingers.

“…”

“lol,”

“Yes, it’s better without me.”

Thinking back to what I saw the last time I picked up a body, it made sense.

Her feet were incomparably faster than mine, and her strength was incomparably stronger than mine.

As was the case last time, if I had followed her, she would have had to keep pace with me and would not have been able to walk properly through the forest.

Of course, there was no way I could follow her, as I was sleeping and my body was constantly being ruined by the magic.

“Are you upset?”

“No, it’s true.”

“The cabin was so empty… I thought we’d need a lot of things. Of course, that doesn’t mean we can get the furniture from somewhere, but still…”

She rummaged through the pile of luggage and took out two small brass cups.

The cup, which had a loop to hang a string so that it could be carried on the side, appeared to be a personal cup used by travelers.

Judging by the charred appearance of the bottom, it looked like it could probably be used to make a simple cup of tea by placing it over a fire.

“Now I don’t have to drink water with my palm… huh?”

“I’m not upset, so don’t talk to me like you’re trying to appease a child.”

“lol,”

Ms. Sylvia smiled softly and began to sort the items lying on the floor by type.

Pia, who had been poking me and begging me to hug her, went to the corner of the room when I continued to ignore her, then lay down and rolled around from side to side.

I pretended not to see Pia and started helping Sylvia sort the clothes out of the pile of luggage.

Indeed, the clothes that had been picked up from the corpse had been left in the dungeon for a long time, so not only the clothes, but also all the items in the pile of luggage had a terrible stench.

But for us now, even this was a very fortunate situation, so we had no complaints.

Of course, wearing pants soaked in corpse fluid and excrement would require a lot of careful washing and a stronger determination than expected, but it was not something I could absolutely refuse to wear.

I had become accustomed to this forest life enough to feel keenly how precious the things that had been the benefits of civilization were.

Of course, there were many items among the clothes that were torn by the monsters’ claws and teeth and were so damaged that they could not be used, but it was clear that they had been brought in for the purpose of recycling cloth or leather.

Suddenly I looked at the deerskin I was covering myself with instead of a blanket.

“…”

“Ash, what’s wrong?”

“I have… something to think about.”

“Um… what is it?”

I kept my mouth shut.

Two pieces of leather being dried.

One of them was practically used as a blanket, so it would have many flaws for proper use, but there is also quite a bit of leather left over for recycling.

At this point, Sylvia might be able to equip herself with leather armor all over her body.

Of course, it is leather and has been worn down a lot, so it is not as strong or as protective as steel armor, but it is still good enough.

Maybe I can go and subdue the Demon King who hasn’t fully recovered yet…

“Ash?”

“Ah… It’s nothing. It just smells too bad…”

I said, shaking my head.

It was because I judged that there was no need to talk about the Demon King right now.

It was also awkward to tell them to fight the Demon King in clothes patched together from pieces of leather.

Even if I had the materials, it would take several weeks to make the armor, so I didn’t think it was necessary to burden her by telling her in advance.

More than anything, since it had only been a few days since I had reunited with her, I wanted to enjoy this life with her a little longer.

Apparently, I fell for her more than I thought.

Sylvia nodded and agreed with what I said without asking any more questions.

“I see, it is a bit toxic. They say it takes a long time for the smell of a corpse to go away.”

“I know a spell that can be used to remove odors. I remember learning it. Once I’m done organizing my stuff, I’ll start by using it on clothes.”

“…This is when theory-oriented study shines.”

“Haha, I can’t guarantee that it will succeed.”

I said with an awkward smile.

Actually, I knew a magic that was used to remove bad smells and toxins.

Of course, like many magics I know, I’ve never used it.

“Ash is surprisingly strong in real combat, so he’ll be fine somehow.”

Sylvia smiled and patted my shoulder.

I smiled faintly at the strong sense of trust I saw in her attitude.

“Isn’t it only Sylvia who told me I’m strong in real combat?”

“That’s because those people have never had s*x with Ash.”

“… Sister.”

“…It’s true.”

… I don’t know whether I should be happy or dumbfounded that the source of her thick trust in me is my s*xual ability.

I blushed and started sorting things in silence.

“I’m bored”

Pia was tired of rolling around, so she lay down on the floor and kicked the wall with her feet.

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