I’m lying on a bed. It’s soft.

“I must admit that this child’s determination wasn’t as overblown as I presumed, when I was told about you two. Honestly, I’m not sure whether I should praise him or not”

I hear a man’s voice.

“Hmm, definitely the opposite! It’s this idiot’s fault that he looks like a mummy now!”

I hear a woman’s voice, as well. It sounds very familiar, like that of a certain black-haired, petite, small-breasted, extremely self-conscious, violent without a reason, moody elven mage whom I knew since I was a small boy. In other words…

“Marie!”

I am so happy to see her well since the last thing I remember was that explosion. If she is fine, then all is fine, too. I’m so relieved I can even ignore the pain in my stomach. A-ha-ha… It hurts, though.

“Idiot!”

I feel a familiar sensation of an arm on my cheek. It makes a sound of pain and agony, so I shout. Is this how you show your love to your friends, Marie? Well, in her case, it might as well be some strange custom of elves.

“Who said you are allowed to move so suddenly? Look! Your wounds have opened!”

She points at my body. Hmm? Why do I have so much bandages on me? I really do look like a mummy! It’s funny because I once fought a bunch of mummies in an ancient tomb about two years ago. Ah, good times…

“Oh, so this is youth my friend was writing about. Should I leave? I don’t want to interrupt a lovers’ quarrel”

Hmm? I look at a man in the corner. He looks really old because of his white hair and short beard. Also, his huge muscles and a small scar on his brow makes look dangerous. His voice sounds familiar, too…

“What? A lovers’ quarrel, you say? It’s a dire mistake on your side, then, Gorm-san!”

Oh, Marie’s face is red! It means…

“Look, how can anyone fall for a dumb face like this?”

… She did it. Again. My cheek is not made of rubber; you know?

“A-ha-ha! I see! Jokes on me here!”

He starts to laugh, but not before winking at me for some reason… I don’t swing this way! I mean, I’m sure there are a lot of people out here, who would appreciate your frame, but I’m straight as a sword! Wait, I hear some warriors from distant lands have curved blades, so it’s a bad metaphor. I like girls, Gorm-san!

…

… Wait

… Gorm?

“I said you are not allowed to stand, Alan”

Marie’s tone turns cold, when I try to reach my weapon. Why?

“Stand down, soldier boy. I’m not here to hurt you. In fact, I’m here on your old man’s orders”

Gramps? But…

“He is safe. I checked him myself”

Oh. In this case, I am relieved. If Marie believes him, then so do I.

“So, how long did I sleep?”

I guess, I took a good nap…

“About two days”

… I took a very good nap, it seems

“After the battle, you were to wounded, so Gorm-san revealed that he was working for Percival-san this whole time, acting as some sort of safety measurement in case we fail somehow”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“I actually never expected you to pull such trick. I thought…”

“That we will stay here, waiting to be attacked? I think that, if we were to do this, a bunch of assassins would attack us, and, if my theory is correct, all of them would be hired by you, and the next assassin would stronger than the previous one. In the end, it would still be us facing you, isn’t it?”

At her words, Gorm-san started to sweat a lot. He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, trying to laugh it off.

“Was I so obvious?”

Marie only hmph-ed at him, crossing her arms. Well, I wasn’t expecting such outcome, so you quite well?

Meh, it doesn’t matter since we still thwarted the original plan in the end.

“However, it was a surprise for me to hear about this crazy auction of yours. I mean, what kind of insane mind would it take to plan that?”

“Are you calling me crazy? It was mostly common sense, though”

“Taking down ninety percent of this city’s organized crime with a team consisting only of two people is what people call common sense now?”

“I rest my case”

After this, Gorm-san took his leave, saying that he still has some business to deal with, leaving us alone. Again, he winked at me for some reason I don’t want to think about. Honestly, what a strange guy…

He also left me to deal with Marie… Bastard!

I look at her, trying to see if she is mad at me. However, because her face is hidden by her bangs, I can’t see what kind of expression she makes right now.

“Idiot…”

Shit! It looks like she is pissed off, after all. I have to run! I have to…

“Don’t you ever dare to do this to me!”

… I

“How… Just how could you do something so stupid! I-I mean, I was so worried, there was blood everywhere and you… you”

… I am sorry…

“I feared you wouldn’t make it! I-I thought that you would die!”

I am sorry, so please stop crying! I am fine! See! I am all patched up, but I am alive

“Please, don’t do this again, Alan!”

I embrace her. She looks so small and hurt and…

“I won’t. I promise I won’t”

She hugs me tighter. Heh. How long was it since the last time Marie acted like this? It was about three, maybe even two years ago. I nearly died that day, and gramps said that Marie stayed by my side the whole time I was nursed back.

“You better keep it, then, gigantic idiot”

Damn…

She smells really nice…

Bad Alan! Bad thoughts!

A/N: Guess who pulled an all-nighter!