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Translator: Barnnn
“Hal? Ize?”
A faint voice was calling, refusing to let them sink back into sleep.
Somewhere in the recesses of their groggy minds, they knew they should respond.
But the thick, comforting cocoon of their blanket resisted any movement toward wakefulness. Each time a hand or foot slipped into the chilly air, they retreated even deeper into the blanket’s snug embrace.
“Heyyy! Haaal! Izeee!”
The calls grew louder, insistently tugging at their consciousness.
But for Ize, the true culprit was obvious: it was the blanket.
That sly, wickedly soft thing was more dangerous than any creature, sapping away the very will to rise.
“Well, guess I have no choice! HAL! IZE!”
“Hyah!”
“Oof!”
A sudden shock jolted them both awake, and Ize blinked, seeing Hal’s face hovering inches from her own.
Startled, she lurched forward, only to collide painfully with his chin in a resounding thunk.
The world spun as the impact left them both dazed and rubbing sore spots, cheeks flushed in mutual embarrassment.
“Heh, you’re finally awake!” came the voice again. “Everyone’s gathered, so we should start getting ready to move.”
“Everyone? Move?” Ize mumbled, her eyes still adjusting as she surveyed their surroundings.
Around them, a crowd of familiar faces had gathered — friends from their own horsebus, those from the one that had been attacked, as well as the guards and drivers of both, all watching with expectant gazes.
“S-Sorry!” she stammered, scrambling to her feet. Hal steadied her, catching her arm before she tripped over herself. “…Sorry,” she repeated, face coloring.
“Don’t worry about it,” he replied, still wincing slightly as he massaged his bruised chin. “Looks like we both got a little too comfortable.”
With a nod of acknowledgment, Hal strode toward the guard who had roused them.
Ize’s gaze followed him, lingering until she noticed a woman approaching from the crowd, her face alight with concern. It was the same woman who had fussed over her endlessly during their journey on the horsebus.
“Miss Ellie! Are you all right?”
“I should be asking you! I saw you lying by that tree and thought… maybe you’d been badly hurt or knocked out.”
“Oh, I’m sorry! It was my first time facing a Mystic Beast… I think I might’ve overdone it…”
“Honestly, what can you expect from such a little sprout?” Ellie’s husband teased from behind her.
“Ugh…” Ize grimaced in feigned pain.
Ellie gave him a quick elbow before turning back to Ize, eyes soft with relief. “I thought maybe you’d passed out from magical energy depletion. I was so worried.”
“Magical energy… depletion? Is that supposed to be dangerous?” Ize tilted her head, brow furrowed at the unfamiliar term.
Ellie nodded, her face grave. “It can be. You’d feel weak, dizzy — sometimes you could even lose consciousness entirely.”
“Got it… Maybe that’s why I was out like that. I’d never pushed my magic that far before.”
“Mm-hmm… Anyway, my husband and I just took a look at the remains of that Mystic Beast. Thinking about what it could have done to all of us… well, it makes my skin crawl. Ize, you saved us all. Thank you, truly.”
Ellie’s husband stepped up, nodding. “Yeah, thank you from me, too. If I had any coin left, I’d give you some to buy a few snacks. But alas, this poor fool is flat broke!”
Ize chuckled, feeling warm and fuzzy in her chest. “I’m just glad we all made it through safely!”
Before she could say more, Ellie pulled her into a warm, crushing hug. The rough texture of Ellie’s cotton shirt rubbed against Ize’s cheek.
In that moment, she felt the realness of her actions — an assurance that she had protected the people who mattered.
“Ize! You coming?” Hal called, waiting in the distance.
“Ah! I’ll be right there!” Ize called back, quickly turning to Ellie with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, Miss Ellie — gotta run!”
She gave Ellie an apologetic nod before darting over to where Hal was.
The guards and drivers were huddled together, deep in discussion as they considered their options and plotted out their route back to Abrol.
Their journey wasn’t so straightforward anymore — the attacked horsebus was unusable, while one of their horses nursed an injury.
And then there was the carcass of the Mystic Beast — bagfuls of loot that they couldn’t afford to leave behind.
“Let’s start from the beginning again,” one of the guards started. “How far are we from Abrol?”
“A solid two hours, if we keep a steady pace… But if we send a rider ahead on horseback, we might be able to get help. The city guards could spare some men, more adventurers could come along, or the Union might send us a spare horsebus.”
“Then let’s have one of the guards go. They’ll know who to reach out to.”
“All right. In the meantime, we can start moving slowly with what we’ve got. What about the Beast’s carcass? We can’t just leave it lying around.”
“Let’s see if we can hoist it into the broken horsebus. At least that’ll keep other animals from getting at it.”
“Good idea. And let’s keep the women and children in the functional horsebus. Anyone who’s able to walk should be walking. Best to make it to the city by nightfall.”
As the guards finalized the plan, the group began to mobilize. Hal and Ize joined the effort, working with the others to haul the broken horsebus closer to the fallen Mystic Beast.
Only now, standing beside the creature, did Ize feel its sheer size. The creature was a monstrosity, far larger than anything she had imagined.
“Can you believe we ran into a Blood Bear this big?” murmured one of the guards, shaking his head. “Last one that got the roads all locked down had six arms — an odd mutation, but this one… its size really is something else.”
“It was smart enough to avoid patrols all this time — thing was probably much more dangerous than it looked. Lucky for us it wasn’t a mutated one on top of that.”
“No kidding. If it had been, we wouldn’t be standing here. We’d have been nothing but paste by the time backup arrived,” the attacked horsebus’s guard leader turned to the northbound bus’s guards. “Really, I mean it — thank you.”
“Hey, don’t mention it.” The northbound bus’s guard leader waved off the thanks. “We were… well, I was just doing my job. If anything, we focused on protecting our own horsebus first. Honestly, I didn’t help all that much.”
“Yeah, no doubt,” chimed in another guard of the northbound bus, giving him a pat on the shoulder. “Without those brothers — Hal and Ize — we’d never have been able to both horsebuses.”
“I see… then I guess we’ve got to thank those two again, eh?”
As Ize and Hal helped the guards with their work, they were startled by how the guards’ conversation suddenly became about them.
They realized that all the guards were now facing them, their expressions solemn. And then, one after another, they each bowed deeply, their voices resonating with gratitude.
“We’re truly grateful for your courage and cooperation.”
“Because of you, the passengers in both horsebuses — and we guards as well — are still breathing. That’s something you can be proud of.”
“Thank you for saving my friends’ lives. Thanks to you, we didn’t have to make the choice to abandon one group to save the other. I can’t express how much that means to me.”
“We’re the ones who should have shouldered all the responsibility — but we made you kids take on a dangerous role that wasn’t yours to bear. I’ll personally see to it that the Union rewards you for your bravery.”
Startled by the heartfelt gratitude pouring from the men around her, Ize instinctively tried to shrink behind Hal, her face heating up under their earnest words. But Hal nudged her forward gently.
“Hey, don’t be rude. They’re thanking us,” he whispered. “You can’t be hiding like that.”
“B-but… it’s so…” she stammered, overwhelmed.
“It’s important,” he said firmly, nudging her again. “Accept it, Ize.”
Ize was so preoccupied with her nerves that she failed to notice the small crowd that had gathered, watching her and Hal with warm, amused smiles.
Her mind raced as she tried to resist Hal’s push, but it was futile. Before she knew it, she found herself standing beside him.
Hal glanced down at her with a look of quiet satisfaction before turning back to the guards. Straightening his posture, he met their gaze.
“Thank you for your kind words,” he began. “I’m glad our actions didn’t interfere with your mission. To be honest, this was my first time in a situation where lives were at stake, and I regret that I may have acted too recklessly. Oh, but…” he added with a grin, “if you happen to have any cash, I won’t complain!”
The unexpected mention of payment broke the tension, and laughter rippled through the guards.
“Come on, Ize, you too,” Hal proceeded to give Ize another gentle nudge.
Painfully aware of all eyes turning to her, Ize could feel the heat spreading across her cheeks, making her face a bright shade of red.
Summoning her courage, she glanced at the guard closest to her and managed to squeak out, “Um… are your injuries okay now?”
The guard’s expression softened. “They’re fine. Thank you for asking.”
“Oh, good!” she replied, visibly relieved. She added shyly, “And… um… would you mind keeping my skills a secret?”
“…?” The guard blinked, momentarily taken aback, then nodded firmly. “O-oh, of course. We’ll have to file a report on what happened, but we can make sure to leave out the details as much as possible. Skills are a personal matter, after all — and valuable, especially for adventurers. No one will pry.”
Ize’s face lit up with a grateful smile. “Thank you so much! And… I’m really glad everyone’s safe!”
The simple sincerity in her expression — the blend of relief and joy — softened the hearts of everyone watching. Hal, catching sight of the guards’ almost paternal expressions as they looked at her, could only shake his head with a wry smile.
[…This kid’s going to be a heartbreaker,] he thought to himself.
Later, he would come to learn that the guards, though aware that Ize was an apprentice adventurer, had somehow mistaken her for a ten-year-old. Hal wisely decided never to tell her this little detail.
The group proceeded to clear the site of the Mystic Beast attack. Then, after setting out at a steady walking pace, they traveled for about an hour before a welcome sight appeared in the distance: the city guards, who had arrived with a sturdy, two-horse horsebus in tow.
The passengers, weary and grateful, were given priority to board. The two horsebuses set off together, bound for the safety of Abrol’s perimeter.
Some of the guards stayed behind with the city guards to transport the Mystic Beast’s carcass.
And so, as evening shadows began to stretch across the landscape, the group arrived at the border city.
◆
That night, the city guards kindly arranged for Ize and Hal to stay in the barracks. The guards requested that they report to the station the next morning, along with the other horsebus guards, to finalize statements and officially wrap up the incident.
The barracks themselves were simple, unadorned rooms — not luxurious by any means, but for one night, it would do just fine.
As Ize observed the room they’d been assigned, Hal stretched his neck with a loud, satisfying crack, sounding like a much older man after a day of labor.
“Ize, I’m craving some hot tea and something sweet — if I grab the snacks, could you take care of the tea?”
“Of course. It’s too late to go out looking for dinner now, anyway. Do you want anything light to eat, too?”
“Nah, I think snacks’ll do for now; it’s a weird time for a meal.”
Ize narrowed her eyes at him, hands on her hips. “You could stand to get some proper nutrients, you know… but fine. I’ll make an exception for tonight only. Don’t get used to it.”
“Look at you, sounding all motherly.”
“Yeah, and you’re a manchild.”
“Manchild?” Hal scoffed, feigning offense. “You’re just salty ’cause you’re so tiny–”
“Here. Tea,” Ize interrupted, plunking down a steaming cup in front of him with just enough force to make a small splash.
The tea was perfectly warm, thanks to her Magic Bag’s Internal Stasis function.
As Ize wrapped her hands around her own cup, savoring its heat, she murmured softly, “You know, being an adventurer… it’s actually pretty tough.”
“Yeah, no kidding. Especially when your first real fight’s with a high-rank Mystic Beast.”
Ize gave a chuckle. “Right, I forgot. Most people start off with lower-rank Beasts to get a feel for things.”
“Mm-hmm. You know, like those harmless-looking rabbit-like Beasts or something.”
“With a description like that,” Ize sighed, “I’ll never be able to bring myself to fight the little ones…”
“Getting used to it takes time,” Hal added with a reassuring grin. “While we’re waiting for Fieda in Jasted, we’ll have plenty of chances to ease into things. We’ll go over combat basics — gotta be solid if we want to make it out in this world. We won’t be able to use your skills fully until we’ve learned to keep a clear head in a fight, too.”
“True… But today’s fight definitely gave us a sense of our fighting style, don’t you think? Now, I just need the Goddess to bless me with some frontline skills to actually make myself useful.”
“How about we save that wishlist browsing for tomorrow? We’re both dead on our feet.”
“Fine… The forty-eighth skill selection council is now adjourned.”
“Thank you, Mister Chairman,” Hal said with a mock salute.
For a moment, they sat in contented silence, the stress of the last few hours finally beginning to ebb away.
The last stretch of their journey through Lazulseed had been far from peaceful, but they’d made it. And for tonight, they could celebrate with a decent night’s sleep in a nice room — on real beds after over a week of camping out on hard ground.
When they’d first entered the city, they’d seen the northern wall rising high before them. Once they passed beyond it, they would have completed the first step toward their goal.
Only six days remained until their escape from the Kingdom of Lazulseed.
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