Chapter 103 – Darkmtl

Chapter 103


How long have we been lying here, staring at the sky together?

Squeak, squeak.

When I turned my head toward the sound of regular breathing, I found Anne had somehow fallen asleep.

Well, I had guessed that the moment she got overly excited last night and couldn’t sleep.

She’s really not a child anymore…

But this leisurely nap is something we can only enjoy right now.

Without considering post-graduation activities, as the professor in charge of the ecological survey said, by the time we reach our second year, we won’t have the luxury of time like this.

As for me, the Hero, I could be summoned for the full-scale Demon King crusade at any moment.

It could be tomorrow, or it might be several years after graduation before I’m called.

A Hero’s emergence marks the precise moment the Demon King fully resurrects and the serious activities begin.

According to the legends passed down, it’s said that stepping up before that is futile, destined by fate or something like that.

If you think about it, I can’t help but wonder why I was chosen as a Hero so early.

But, oh high one. How could mere humans comprehend the will of the Goddess in the sky?

Setting aside unnutritious thoughts for a moment, watching Anne happily sleeping with her gentle breaths made me feel drowsy too.

Since class had barely just begun and there was still plenty of time before our ecological survey results were due at 5 o’clock, it really wasn’t a big deal.

I casually turned my head to the opposite side and saw Selian with her eyes closed, and a seat away, Yuli was also softly breathing.

Her hands were neatly placed on her belly, clearly showing, “I’m sleeping.”

– Hey, why don’t you take a quick nap too, El? Everyone else is sleeping; it seems fine to close my eyes and have a meal…

Linne, the only one awake, floated in the air and spoke to me.

Just as I worried about what Linne would do left alone if I fell asleep, she seemed to read my thoughts and continued.

– Me too! I want to sleep too! Then I’ll go first. Good night.

With that, she laid back down in the air, closing her eyes.

One might wonder how a ghost could sleep, but perhaps due to her contract with Yuli, Linne had always taken her sufficient rest.

Moreover, she actually had her own hammock in the room.

Well, given the situation, I suppose it’s fine for me to just relax and sleep too.

Following the rhythm of the breathing coming from both sides, I slowly found my own breath becoming deep and steady.

Slowly, slowly.

As rustling sounds reached into my gradually fading consciousness… But it seemed my danger-sensing ability wasn’t reacting, so it was probably just a little critter passing by.

If there was truly any danger, my keen senses would send an immediate warning, so it wasn’t a big problem. I let myself relax and fell back into sleep.

– Ugh, haah…

Hmm… I was sleeping so well; why is it so noisy?

I think I hear voices, or maybe it’s just rustling sounds.

“Ugh…”

“Ha!”

“Shh, shh…”

In the end, I had to turn my body and open my eyes to check what had awakened my deep slumber.

But having just woken, the sunlight streaming from high in the sky was bright, making me squint and unable to fully open my eyes.

Slowly, adjusting my eyes bit by bit.

However, as soon as I woke up, the mysterious commotion that had stirred me was already gone.

“Ugh… why is it so hot…”

Even though the sun was high, it felt unreasonably warm. It was quite stifling.

As I began turning to see what was around, I quickly found the reason.

Anne, who had been lying next to me, had somehow moved down and was tightly hugging my thigh like a doll.

On the opposite side, Selian’s hand had mysteriously found its way into my shirt as if she were cold and chilly.

It would be hard even for her to do this in her sleep; talk about skilled approaches.

Even Yuli, who had been across from Selian, had come over and was now lying beside me, holding my hand instead of the now-lower Anne.

Knowing Anne had bad sleeping habits was one thing, but I had never expected Selian and Yuli to be like this too.

Perhaps they were exhausted after shopping and cooking for lunch all weekend, and the wide-open outdoors versus a cramped bed played a role.

But I still couldn’t find the source of the mysterious commotion that had woken me up.

Carefully, I slipped my hand out from Yuli’s grip and gently pulled Selian’s hand out of my shirt.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Frecia and Selian too.

Is it the trend to suck on my fingers? My fingers were stickily wet again.

It seemed Yuli had taken my hand and put it into her mouth.

I wouldn’t say Yuli’s saliva was dirty, but if my friends saw me as an adult sucking on my fingers while sleeping, they might misunderstand. I quickly wiped my hand on my uniform.

Once I freed myself from the two, I left Anne, who was still latched onto my thigh, as is, and slightly raised my upper body to look around.

I wondered if a pervert was lurking around trying to peek at my beautiful friends sleeping, but I detected no signs of anyone besides us.

Of course, I was the exception to that pervert.

In the end, while it was on my mind, my danger-sensing ability hadn’t raised any alarms, so I thought it best to let it be.

By the way, while I was surveilling the area, Selian and Yuli’s breathing had become quite heavy, as if they were having a bad dream.

Both of their faces were flushed red.

I wondered if they had a fever, so I placed my hand on their foreheads, and both of them flinched at the moment my hand touched them.

Perhaps being part of the Swordsmanship Department, even in their sleep they reacted with their sharpened senses.

For a moment, I wondered if I had inadvertently awakened them, and I flinched too, but seeing their eyes still closed, they didn’t seem to be awake.

Fortunately, the body temperature I felt from their hands didn’t seem unusually high.

However, while all my friends were asleep, I was the only one awake.

After worrying for a moment, I ultimately lay back down.

From the position of the sun, it didn’t seem too long had passed, and though they looked to be having slightly uncomfortable dreams, I wasn’t keen on waking my friends just yet.

Since I managed to free my hands from Selian’s and Yuli’s, but Anne was tightly clinging to my thigh with her limbs, I was at risk of waking her if I tried to detach her, so I decided to just let it be.

Being just woken up a bit before, I could fall asleep again quickly, even in a bit of discomfort.

“Ely… Ely!”

“Uhm…”

Someone called my name while shaking my shoulder.

No matter how deeply I’d fallen into sleep, it was getting increasingly difficult to stay asleep, and in the end, I had no choice but to open my eyes.

“It’s almost time for lunch, so hurry and wake up.”

“Huh… what? Lunch…?”

“Yes. Lunch. Anne! You wake up too!”

Ugh, with a small groan, as I lifted my upper body, Selian began waking up Anne, who was still hanging onto my thigh.

Even if it was Anne, she couldn’t win against Selian’s touch, as Anne reluctantly let go of my thigh and rubbed her eyes while getting up.

Selian, who had awakened me, was also setting up the lunch we had brought.

“Your faces look healthy; it seems you all slept well.”

Earlier, when I’d briefly woken up, the other two seemed a bit off, so I was worried.

However, aside from the bad dreams, it seemed they had slept soundly and looked quite good.

Instead, they both had a glow about them.

“Is that so? It seems being in this good atmosphere is part of it. Right, Yuli?”

“Uh, yeah! I… I think so! No! That must be it. There can’t be any other reason. Right, Selian?”

“Of course!”

For some reason, they seemed to be vibing together.

“Ugh… I’m hungry…”

Anne, rubbing her eyes while getting up, said in a sleepy voice while patting her belly.

“Alright, alright! Now that Anne’s hungry, let’s eat. Is everything set up?”

“Yep! Just come eat! Hurry before it gets cold!”

Unlike me and Anne, who are usually on the receiving end, Selian and Yuli, accustomed to looking after us, immediately ushered us toward the lunch.

But all we brought for lunch was sandwiches, yet they told us to hurry before it gets cold. Yuli has quite the sense of humor.

“Phew… I don’t think it’ll… get cold…?”

“Shh, shh!”

“Huh? What did you say?”

For some reason, it felt like Selian and Yuli were more in sync than usual today.

Right now, they were whispering to each other, trying to keep it from us.

“Oh, it’s nothing! Don’t mind it and eat quickly; you must be hungry.”

“Yes. Eat quickly before it gets cold.”

But those sandwiches can’t even get cold…

Well… it was just a joke, and it felt silly to press them further when they were denying it so hard, so I decided to let it go.

They must have some reason to be talking secretly together.

Seeing my friends getting along so well made me feel warm inside.

With that feeling in mind, I gave them a light smile, then picked up a piece of sandwich and took a small bite after Anne, who was munching loudly.

Well… since it was a sandwich made without my help, it couldn’t quite compare to my meat pie… but with Yuli’s cooking skills and Selian’s effort put into it, it was extremely tasty.