52 – And the winner is…

“Ugh…”My head felt like it would tear apart. I open my eyes and the first thing I see are… boobs. I’m not joking. Currently my face is covered by a pair of boobs. And I know the owner of the pair all too well.“Lu-chan… get off me. I can’t breathe.”

“Yufi!!”

I noticed that I was naked. Completely naked and covered in bandages. Iris was also in bed and clinging on my left hand.“We thought… you would never… wake up… *sniff*”

I then started to recall what happened. I relied on Berserker Blood to drastically increase my power and kill Drabaki. It was a gamble, but it worked. More importantly…“Hey, was everyone…”“Everyone is safe. After you fainted, princess Nana healed you. And we brought you back here. The army eventually also showed up but… there was nothing left for them to do. A parade was held in your honor, due the insistence of prince Gilbert. To show the might of their savior, the Night–”“Don’t you dare finish that sentence! I can’t stand that nickname.”But at this point, I doubt I can get rid of it. I tried standing up but…“No… you need… more rest….”True. I can feel that my bones and my internal organs aren’t that good. Nana probably couldn’t heal my internal damage. But that isn't an issue. I placed my hand on my chest and a green light starts enveloping me. Recovery, another skill I got from the Goddess. After a few minutes, I felt as good as new.

“See? I’m all better now!”“We can definitely see that, fufu.”“You…. are …. lively.”Now that I was standing upwards, both their eyes were drawn to my lower area. Yeah. I had a big boner, as my stick was standing straight.

“Iris, it seems Yufi still requires some attention. Shall we take care of her?”“...yes…”

Umm… it doesn’t look like I’ll be getting a vote here. Oh well. If you can’t beat them, join em..

.

.

“By the way, Yufi, I guess I should tell you this. You were granted an audience with the king.”

“What the hell?”“Remember the quest? The reward was anything you wanted, so since you saved both princes, the king intends to honor that reward. He will give you anything as long as it is in his power to give.”“Great… I tried avoiding drawing attention…”“That’s too late.”True enough. People on the streets recognize me, want handshakes, ask me on dates… it’s fucking annoying. I also have no clue what to ask.

Eventually we had to hide on a side alley to get some breathing room.

"Girls, this isn't working. I don't like standing out this much. I'm afraid we have no choice. We should leave this continent. Is there a place where they won't follow us?"

"Well, there would be my hometown. Deep in the demon continent. The Demon King probably died and a new one was elected. I guess it would be the best place to hide. Besides, that place has a high concentration of monsters so humans won't go there."

"I guess that sounds exactly what I need."

"But… the demon continent…. Is dangerous… and mean."

"Iris, nobody will harm you as long as I will be around."

True enough I am not that confident that we'll be safe there. The demon continent should have stronger foes. But to put it in gamer terms… that just means more exp.

"You don't want to get to the library anymore?"

"I've lost interest."

"What about Nana?"

"What about her?"

"Yufi, you don't know your own skills? You made her your slave like us, right? Slave Seal is a lost skill. The moment you will be gone, the seal will involuntarily transmit signals to her brain. People will think she's gone crazy or worse…

If you can't lift the seal, Nana is going to die."

"How come you two were fine when I sent you training?"

"That was different. That was an order for a temporary leave. However an order such as "never come near me again" is invalid and the slave can not comply."

What the hell!!? Why wasn't a detail like this mentioned in the skills description. I guess I can't leave now. Fuck. I need to find a way to talk this out with Nana and at the same time hide from the king and Julius.

I guess I need to start acting like a ninja. The answer is obvious though. I need to take Nana with me. Well at this point… I'm too tired to think of anything else. I don't give a fuck. Besides, didn't the quest reward say anything I wanted? I'll just take Nana as my reward. Sounds logic, right?

------

“… I feel sick.”(Nana)

I feel sick, I feel uneasy. What an unsightly woman I am. Why did Onii-sama had to get in the way? I want to meet Yufi again as soon as possible, but for my so-called recklessness I was locked inside my room.

“Fu, ufufu… There is no way I can meet you, is there…”(Nana)

I… I love Yufi. Not as a friend. I love her as a man would love a woman. I have merely arrived at such an obvious conclusion, but for some reason, my tears will not stop.

As I feel large tear droplets spilling forth from my filthy eyes, my eardrums shake with the second roar of thunder. And then in the direction that I desperately turn my gaze to, I see it.

The shadow from the window, cast on the floor. The shadow of a person.

“Who is there?! Sneaking at my window… I can have you…”(Nana)

“Ah… Umm, good evening, Nana? Sorry to startle you, but this was the only weak point in the castle I could sneak around.”(Yufine)

“Eh… Yufi?”(Nana)

Ah, I’m sure I am having a dream, seeing a hallucination.

The only thing I can see is the woman who has continued to be on my mind for a long, long, longtime. She is currently somehow standing on a window ledge on the third floor of the women’s dormitory while being struck by the heavy rain. More specifically, she’s standing on the ledge to the window of my room.

“A-ah, I came to visit you, but… It seems I’m causing trouble for you, so if this is a bad moment, I still have time to spare so I could just come another –”(Yufine)

“Wait!”(Nana)

She came to see me. She came to me! I can’t let her go.

“Wait, please… I don’t care if this is a dream or a hallucination, so please don’t disappear from my sight…”(Nana)

Nana was opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish as if completely shocked – her reaction is like she’s just noticed a huge failure on her part.

“N-no! Actually, no! You can’t right now, no, don’t look at me, please don’t look at me when my face looks so terrible, hyih! Five minutes – no, one minute, no, thirty seconds, I beg you from the bottom of my heart, just wait a little!”(Nana)

At the end of the day, Nana is still a girl who cares about how she presents herself in front of someone. She doesn’t want to be seen by her new discovered love in her rough state.

“Wah, ah, ah – I need to wash my face – What should I do – Toilet – Where did I leave my comb – What should I do, there are only ten seconds left –”(Nana)

“Nana, just calm down already. You don’t have to rush. I’ll wait, but can you at least let me in… If someone sees me, hanging from the window of a princess… it would be bad.”(Yufine)