Stumbling into the Dark Part 2
Cielle stumbled her way through the interconnecting classrooms, and transversing hallways.
The constant, seemingly never ending stream of dog-sized tadpoles continued to unceasingly chase after her. Their mouths gaped open, tongues hanging loosely as spittle and other substance flew without end. The monsters were persistent, and slowly, but surely, they were wearing down both Cielle’s mental and physical fortitude.
Fortunately for Cielle, she was able to maintain a good distance, enough for her to be constantly outside their attack range. The main reason for this was because of the route she took. The narrow doorways played a big factor, impeding the horde of tadpoles in their pursuit. While some chased her through broken windows and busted up walls, still, the damage was done.
This was especially so for the Mature Wetlanders. Their large frame would almost certainly cause a temporary blockage amongst those that chase her.
At this point, she maintained a good distance of 200 feet away from the first wave of monsters.
Cielle was surviving well, despite her seemingly hopeless situation. Yet, it wasn’t as if her situation was improving, in fact, it was the mere opposite.
Cielle’s most essential weakness was her low vitality. Although her stamina was practically identical to Hide’s, the difference between their consumption was like heaven and earth. Cielle’s original vitality was generally regarded as low, even before the apocalypse. This fact did not change. The only reason she’s been able to persist for so long is because of her natural stamina growth, which increases automatically upon leveling up.
Without it, Cielle would have long since been dead, ripped apart and eaten under the force of hundreds of giant tadpoles.
Right now though, that sort of future was a very real possibility.
Cielle’s breath was coarse and rough, her chest heaved with great effort after each successive step she took, and their was a distinct burning in her throat. She fought with great effort to maintain her vision through a haze of fatigue and a watery layer of tears.
In conjunction with all this, the steady ache in her mind had gradually grown stronger, rising in conjunction with her increasing fatigue. Her migraines grew stronger and persisted at faster intervals. Right now, it was like a constant jackhammer, drilling its way deeper and deeper into her skull with no other option left for her but to grimace and bear with the pain.
On several occasions, she almost lost consciousness due to the pain, but somehow or the other, Cielle managed to stay upright and continue running.
As she ran, Cielle began taking note of the various room numbers she passed. She soon discovered that she was still on the first floor, within the part of the main building closest to the school gymnasiums. If her information is accurate, then deeper down the corridor should lead to the actual gymnasiums and Sports designated areas, while towards the east of her current location, there should be a staircase that leads to the 2nd floor. The 2nd floor directly above her location was part of the Cultural Wing, a series of class rooms designated to the varying cultural clubs within the school.
The literature club room, where the Dwarflings congregated was still a little bit further down the hallway, so Cielle didn’t pay them any particular heed.
She briefly mentally debated whether she should continue down and go directly into the gymnasium, or take a right and head upstairs, when all of a sudden, a piercing screech like that of someone scratching on a chalkboard broke through her concentration.
She grimaced as she threw a brief glance behind her. There, off in the distance, were four bird monsters, lovingly named [Avians], who flew above the group of tadpoles.
Seeing this, Cielle almost jumped back in mid run while her face immediately turned a shade paler. The [Avians] she fought in the past were definitely fast. In fact, they were agility build monsters who had nothing else going for them except for their speed.
They were definitely faster than the tadpoles, and in no time, they were guaranteed to catch up to her.
The closest bird suddenly contracted its wings, and immediately dive bombed towards Cielle’s running figure. She watched with open eyes as the feathered torpedo drew closer and closer. At the last second, Cielle threw her whole weight forward, barely dodging the death blow.
On the floor beneath where she once stood, the tiles cracked, and she heard a low groan of agony coming from the Avian. It’s beak was cracked and it was fairly obvious that the failed dive bomb had shaved off a fair bit of its hp.
Without a trace of hesitation, Cielle rolled forward and continued running. From the palm of her hands, faint traces of [blue gemini] shot off and hurtled towards the fallen bird type monster. The bird momentarily shrieked in surprise before almost a liter’s worth of [black gemini] rolled off and seeped out from its body.
Meanwhile, another Avian was zooming closer towards Cielle’s location. Just as it prepared to contract its wings, the newly formed [Black Gemini] shot upwards. It spread out, like a thin paper net, causing the unsuspecting Avian to crash into it with no time to react or stop.
A bird’s cry erupted from its lungs, as it momentarily lost its momentum and fell down into the streaming mass of tadpoles.
All of this happened in an instant, and throughout all of it, Cielle never once stopped running. Despite the sharp pangs of pain caused by her use of magic, she persevered onwards, not a sign of pain on her face, with the exception of a single drop of cold sweat that rolled down her cheek and congregated on her chin.
The fallen Avian, as well as the one that crashed into the tadpoles, caused a temporary commotion in the horde’s march. As for the Avians themselves, they were trampled under the weight of the horde, and without exception, pitifully lost their lives.
Using this opportunity, Cielle further pushed her already strained body, ignoring the muscle fatigue, the mental injury, and her own dwindling enthusiasm, she marginally increased the distance between them as she turned a sharp corner and entered a classroom.
She ran through the maze of interconnecting highways for a while, practically dragging the horde around in a while goose chase. It was after 5 minutes of this ceaseless running, after Cielle increased the distance between them by another 200 feet, did she finally break free from this monotonous routine.
She promptly bursted out into the hall once more and made a mad sprint for the stairs that gradually came to view.
Legs pumping, her blood rapidly circulating in her veins, and her heart beating at a thousand miles per hour, she ran, a sense of desperation inlayed with her every step. Her stomach turned in the process. She could feel what little food she had eaten earlier today come back up the wrong pipe.
She had no energy to force the vomit back down, and in mid sprint, a stream of half digested food along with a mixture of dry saliva escaped her mouth. The bitter taste and pungent odor of bile filled her surroundings, yet she seemingly ignored all of it. With the half dried, blood stained cuff of her sweater, she wiped at the corners of her mouth while she kept running.
Behind her, the monsters were fast on her trail. They erupted out in throngs. From doors and broken windows, they flooded the hall in a mad and equally as desperate dash for her fleeing figure.
The monsters we’re now noticeably more agitated than before. In conjunction to their agitation, their chasing speed was also faster than before. The few fully matured Wetlanders mixed within the crowd, jumped leagues ahead of the tadpoles and began to lead the chase. The two remaining [Avians] also took action and flew ahead, their eyes surging with killing intent.
Cielle was in a desperate situation.
By this point, her lungs rasped like an old respirator, and her arms felt like lead while her legs moved as if they were caught in quicksand. She could not spare the energy nor effort to properly maneuver her body. At this point she was purely running on momentum.
Seeing the approaching Avians, Cielle knew she needed to produce more [Black Gemini], but her arms could not even hold onto the boxcutter, much less move.
Her mind blurred for a moment, before she forcibly glared at the staircase ahead of her. Without hesitation, she bit down on her inner cheek. The sharp pain almost caused her wince, before the metallic taste of blood washed away the taste of bile and filled her mouth.
She continued to grind against the inner linings of her chin, each successive bite hurting more than the previous. Soon, she was forced to cough out the blood that completely filled her mouth. This process stained her lips as well as her sweater in a dark, metallic red hue.
The inside of her cheeks ached, but she ignored the pain. Truth be told, the pain in her cheeks was like a tiny drop in an ocean, when compared to the ache that pulsed through out her mind and body.
Pale blue transparent semi-liquid pooled within her pumping palms before they snaked their way around and filled her mouth.
Just then, the two Avians retracted their wings, and simultaneously, dive bombed towards her. Cielle’s lips slightly parted, before a heavy stream of [Black Gemini] seeped out from her open mouth. Without turning around, the [Black Gemini] coiled and writhed before they shot towards the Avians behind her.
One of the birds slightly tilted its trajectory, narrowly avoiding the incoming stream of black liquid, before it continued forward and tore a huge gash in Cielle’s right arm. She did not even react to the pain, by this point, the aching in her mind was several times stronger than any physical pain she had ever acquired. A thin line of [Blue Gemini] flowed down from her right hand and soon enveloped the new wound.
Meanwhile, the other [Avian] took a direct hit from [Black Gemini]. Its dive faltered, before it came crashing down just a mere foot away from Cielle’s pumping legs.
The [Avian] that managed to gash her arm previously, flew ahead of her before it turned around, expanding its wings, and came to a stop in mid air almost 10 feet away from her. The bird was directly in front of the stair case.
Cielle stared at it, a faint resolution burning within her pupils before the newly created [Black Gemini] that congregated near her arms shot forward, towards the bird.
The [Avian] let out a bird’s cry before it flapped its wings and ascended upwards. At the same time it avoided Cielle’s [Black Gemini], it flew a good 10 feet above Cielle’s head before it began to dive downwards, its sharpened beak leading the charge.
As Cielle stared up at the feathered monster, she forcibly willed the [Black Gemini] ahead of her to follow it. A pang in her head blossomed, but she forcibly ignored it.
Watching the [Avian] begin to retract its wings, Cielle knew that with the current speed of her attack, it would not make it in time. The image of her body being pierced by its sharpened wings floated to her mind, causing Cielle to bite her lip in bitter resentment.
She needed speed. She needed her attack to be faster than ever. But semi-liquid could only go so fast. She tried imagining that thin wall of [Black Gemini] compress and zoom forward. She visually imagined it congesting into one. Doing so caused the throbbing in her mind to intensify. There was a wordless wailing in her mind that caused her ears to buzz. Cielle could feel the mana in her body forcibly drain, causing [Mental Strain]’s effects to exponentially rise.
Cielle almost doubled over, before the mental image of a particular person’s face filled her mind’s eye and temporarily dulled the migraine.
Cielle let out a groaning breath before her eyes sharpened. At the same time, the ache in her mind reached new found heights and she found herself struggling both to simultaneously maintain consciousness as well as maintain her running posture.
The [Black Gemini] that trailed lethargically towards the Avian, vibrated for an instant, before it rushed in on itself. In a fraction of an instant, the semi-liquid like substance coalesced into a jagged icle of dark matter.
The jagged spear shot forward, several folds faster than before. In mid flight, the [Avian]’s left wing and its neck were pierced by the black spear.
The bird’s eyes widened for a moment, before the momentum of the attack sent it flying to the right. The black spear that had drilled itself into the deepest parts of the Bird’s body, began to disintegrate, but by this point it was too late.
[Black Gemini]’s inherent properties of pain seemingly tripled the hp loss supplemented by the spear’s thrust damage. To top it off, the jab to the neck undoubtedly came out as a [critical hit]. With that one strike, the Avian died.
At the same time, Cielle’s mana reserves became drastically low. They were like a sliver of what they once were before that new attack of hers. Cielle felt the familiar ding of a system accomplishment resonate within her mind, but the pain from the drastic mana loss as well as the beginning effects of [Mana Exhaustion] kept her too occupied to check.
Cielle barely had the chance to sort out whatever conflicting thoughts were steaming through her jumbled up mind before her foot landed on the first step of the stair case. Automatically, Cielle began climbing the staircase, taking three steps at a time.
Her speed hardly diminished, but the Monster horde behind her were still closing in.
She reached the top of the staircase in less than 3 seconds, but a single full matured Wetlander, cleared the whole flight with a single hop.
It came crashing down directly besides her, just as Cielle was turning her body to the right. Before she could progress any further and dart down into the hallway, a rope like substance blurred out from the Wetlander’s mouth, and roped its way around Cielle’s ankle.
The sudden tug of resistance, caused her steps to falter. The pull itself dislocated Cielle’s frail ankle while the moment she fell, her chin hit the tiled floor with a resounding thud.
Her vision blurred and the familiar taste of blood seeped into her mouth.
The tongue began reeling her back, and Cielle could only watch, helpless.
She knew, she instinctively knew that her end was coming. Whatever luck and grace she had mustered to survive up until now had finally ran dry. Cielle was out of mana, her body, which had been moving purely through momentum, had now been forced to a stop. She lacked the energy to move her limbs, much less struggle under the strength of the Wetlander’s muscled tongue.
What’s more, the mental pain in her mind was now like a thudding heartbeat, but instead of pumping out blood, it pumped out sharp pangs of pain towards the deepest corners of her brain.
Cielle was at her ropes end.
Against the backdrop of the moon, the giant shadow casted by the Wetlander was like the looming premonition of death, fierce, threatening, and inescapable.
Cielle knew, in her mind she knew that she now lacked the power to save her life. She had struggled, she had persevered through everything up until now, but the current her was helpless and hopeless.
Yet, in the face of certain death, Cielle’s eyes were unyielding. Beneath them, the spark of defiance blazed forth, even in death, she was determined to never look away. Her heart beat faster, almost completely surpassing the thumping in her mind. She watched as the Wetlander’s mouth widened, like the jaws of death, eager and willing to take the last vestiges of Cielle’s dimming life.
A singular scene flashed into her mind. It was a memory from the first day of the apocalypse. Of the time when Cielle was still powerless, of the time when she waited in that decrepit art room with her dying sister. Back then, the wallowing sense of despair was endless. She could only rely on a stranger whom she met for the first time.
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Back then, she had felt hopeless. She had felt powerless. Her seconds of waiting, morphed into minutes, then to hours. Back then, that was all she could do. She could only wait.
And now once again, that was the only option available to her. To wait. She could only wait, but the difference was, instead of waiting for her sister’s survival, Cielle was waiting for her death.
Back then, there was someone she could rely on, now there was no one. Back then, there was still hope, now there was none.
Back then, she had waited for Hide, now…
Just as those jaws completely welcomed her into their sloppy embrace, the shadow before her temporarily blurred. A figure, hidden in coiling darkness materialized before her. The figure had its backed turned towards her, but an indescribably sense of ferocity seeped out from his every pore. The mess of black hair that gleamed in the night fluttered with the nonexistent wind, as his hands blurred.
Chink!
In that next instant, the tongue that had constricted over Cielle’s sprained ankle had been severed by a metallic dagger, half of its tip was fully embedded into the surface of the floor.
The figure was kneeling with one foot propped against the ground, facing the almost thrice as big monster with an unshakable resolutness. His back, in Cielle’s eyes was like an impenetrable fortress, safeguarding and protecting her from anything and everything that seeked to hurt her.
Cielle watched with wide eyes. Her lips quivered slightly, as a horse and tired voice escaped out from her lips and spoke one word.
“Hide…”
The figure’s shoulders shook for a fraction of a second before he craned his neck to shoot Cielle a sidelong glance.
He smiled a relieved smile just as the moonlight seeped into the room and illuminated his face. There, beneath a mess of sloppy black hair, was a familiar face. Eyes as dark as obsidian, and a face that wouldn’t stand out within a crowd.
The crooked smile he gave filled Cielle’s wallowing heart with an unshakable feeling of security.
“Hah…” He let out a heavy pant as he turned back to face the Wetlander. “Looks like I made it just in time. Just wait a bit more Cielle, I’ll take care of the rest.”
In the next instant, Hide’s body blurred, and he rushed forward. The knife in his hand gleamed with him, but he did not use it. In less than half a second, he was in front of the Wetlander. Hide kicked out with his leg, hitting the base of the Wetlander’s body right at the spot where its mouth and stomach met.
The monster let out a strained grunt before it flew threw the air. With the added power from Hide’s kick, the Wetlander fell down the stairs and tumbled down into the throngs of tadpoles beneath it. A few instantly died under the massive weight of the monster while its body created a temporary barricade and slowed the horde’s assault.
Hide did not pay the horde any further mind, and immediately turned and sprinted back towards Cielle’s location.
Without saying anything, he immediately lifted Cielle up, supporting her by her shoulders and legs. Cielle, reciprocated and twirled her arms around his neck. A warm, cozy sensation blossomed from the pit of her chest in reaction to Hide’s touch. Her arm’s further tightened around Hide’s neck while a contented smile appeared on her face.
At this moment, the rising feeling of despair and doom completely vanished from her mind. The aching in her body seemed to dim while the migraines were overpowered by whatever sensation Cielle was going through.
She tilted her head back to rest against his chest just as Hide darted forward, down into the hallway and away from the horde.
****
They ran for a long time without stopping.
Compared to Cielle’s running speed, Hide was incomparably faster, and that was even while carrying someone in his arms. All the while, Cielle kept silent, but she did notice a few things.
For one, despite the calm and composed expression Hide had, his breath was ragged, and the arms that carried her were drenched in sweat. The look in his eyes though were as unyielding as Cielle’s back when she was almost eaten alive.
The second thing she noticed was that every so often, Hide would make a motion with his mouth. She could not hear it, but going from the way his lips and cheek moved, he probably produced something close to a clicking noise.
He would do this occasionally while in mid-sprint, and after a few seconds passed, he would either immediately change directions or continue running down the hall with a relieved look on his face. She did not know why he did this, but Cielle noticed that not once did they run into any monsters.
Cielle tried to stay conscious throughout the whole time, but with that added mental and physical fatigue from her recent experience, it wasn’t long before a wave of drowsiness overtook and she lost consciousness.
She did not know how much time passed before she woke up again. She found herself lying on two connected desks, within a decrepit old classroom. A couple of feet away from her, standing by the doorway, was Hide. His breathing was noticeably more even now, but his vigilance remained the same. He glared out into the window, staring at nothing in particular within the dark receding hallway.
The moment she woke up, it was as if Hide instinctively knew. He turned around and floated a relieved smile upon seeing her.
“We’re a just a bit further away from the library.” He spoke. “We should make it back there within 5 minutes. I didn’t want to arrive while you were unconscious, so I waited for you to wake up. How are you feeling?”
He spoke while making his way towards her. He pulled up a chair and sat directly next to her, all the while his eyes were locked onto Cielle’s face, a worried crease knotting in between his eyebrows.
At first, Cielle did not say anything, but simply stood up and brought up her own status window to assess her current condition.
She made note of her hp, stamina, and mana. Her hp was full, while her stamina and mana were at least outside the danger zone. Looking over at her hp, she knew that Hide had used an hp potion on her.
In addition, she checked for any status effects. She noticed that she still had [Mental Strain], but its demerits were considerably lower than before. In addition, something like [Fatigue] was also present. Remembering the events from earlier, she wasn’t all that surprised about acquiring [Fatigue]. What did surprise her was that she somehow developed the new stat, [Mental Fortitude] as well as [Perseverance]. Seeing this brought a brief smile to her face, before she opened up her skill to check [Blue Gemini].
[Gemini Blue] (Active)
Skill Type: Unique Magic
Skill Rank: Intermediate
Skill Level: 2
Skill Experience: 10.50%
Effects:
Creation of [Light Gemini] and [Dark Gemini]
[Light Gemini] - Directly heal a person’s physical wounds and injuries. Healing physical wounds will subsequently cause the hp bar to regenerate.
[Dark Gemini] - The leftover residue after the healing process. It is a concentrated mass of pure pain. While it won’t cause physical injuries to occur, it will result in loss of hp.
Mana capacity will lower until all residue is used up.
Condensation of matter into solids will consume more mana than normal. Rate of consumption dependent of individual.
Mana Cost:
Creation - 50 mp per liter
Manipulation - 5 mp per second
A portion of [Blue Gemini]’s information was updated to reflect the move Cielle pulled of against the [Avian]. It was now possible for her to compress either Blue or Dark Gemini into a solid substance.
Cielle was somewhat satisfied with these changes. At the very least, it increased her variability and utility to some extent, which, in her mind, would surely make Hide happy.
Cielle refocused her gaze onto the as aforementioned guy, and closed the window panel before her eyes. She stared for a second at Hide’s complexion with whimsical eyes before she bobbed her head up and down, and said, “No problem. My condition has already improved.”
Hearing this, Hide’s tight expression loosened as he nodded to himself. “That’s good. that’s good. I have a couple things to talk to you about, but that can wait until we meet back up with Hina and the others. I feel a bit bad for forcing you, but we should get going now.”
He turned to walk away, but unexpectedly Cielle moved a bit faster. Almost stumbling over herself, Cielle practically leapt off of the desk and lunged towards Hide.
A look of surprise floated up to Hide’s face. Although he had gone through numerous life or death experiences in the past month, this move, one filled without the faintest bit of killing intent, had caught him off guard. Unable to react fast enough, Hide toppled to the floor with Cielle following shortly behind.
They landed onto the floor with a bang. In the process, they had knocked down a chair, and unsettled a layer of dust from the floor.
“Ouch…” Hide groaned inwardly, as he shot a glance at Cielle’s night clad cranium. “Hey… Cielle?”
Cielle on the other hand, had her arms firmly around Hide’s frame. Her thin, willowy legs were intertwined with Hide’s own, almost unwilling to separate. Her head was nestled in the crook of his shirt, and she could not help but take in a deep breathe. Hide’s lingering scent caused a wave of security and familiarity to wash over her mind.
She maintained her position for a good while, ignoring Hide’s probing questions. After a moment passed, Cielle finally looked up. Her eyes were shining with a look of affection, while her arms further tightened around Hide.
“... Thank you.” She spoke in a voice as quiet as a whisper. “Thank you for saving me.”
“...” Hide was caught off guard by the statement, and reflexively turned away. He scratched his head awkwardly, unsure how to take her words. Amongst the many weaknesses Hide had, social interaction was his biggest one. This was natural, considering his life prior to the apocalypse. As such, Cielle’s actions had caused Hide’s usual facade to crumble.
“Well, don’t worry about it.” He mumbled out. “It’s only natural…”
Hearing this, a smile blossomed to Cielle’s face. This smile was one she rarely showed off. It was a smile that came from the bottom of her heart. A smile filled with adolescent vigor, and utmost sincerity. Cielle’s hug loosened, as she maneuvered her posture.
Her arms, which once snaked around Hide’s chest from beneath his arms, now found themselves encircled around his neck. The hug was undoubtedly more intimate than the previous one, and this reflected in the slight blush that could not be hidden on Cielle’s cheeks.
Hide reacted similarly, but before he could utter a complaint, Cielle had already spoken.
“Even if you say don’t worry about it, you still saved my life….”
“...” Hide stared at her briefly before he responded. “Then next time, you be the one to save me.”
He floated a small smile, as he gazed at her eyes through the thin veil of hair that covered her face. Cielle took those words to heart, and stored them somewhere deep within her chest. She responded to Hide’s smile with another one of her own, before her arms began tightened their grip around him. As a result, Cielle’s upper body drew closer to Hide, while Hide involuntarily squirmed, fully aware of the soft sensation pressing against his front.
“You know Hide…” She began, her lips pursing in slight hesitation before she continued. “I… I like you.”
“Ah…” Hide’s face widened, and his mind turned in circles. In all of his life, this was the first time anybody of the opposite gender (excluding his mother) had said those types of words to him. Furthermore, the sincerity in which they were spoken in…
Hide’s inexperienced self did not know how to react. He could only turn away, muttering something incomprehensible in the process.
“I like you.” Cielle repeated, emphasizing each syllable in the process. “I really like you.”
“...I-I think we should get up now.” Hide spoke, his voice a bit shaky and uncertain. A large part of him did not want to get up, but the rational, more in control part of his mind urged him to.
“nn…” Cielle shook her head and further nestled the nape of her chin in between Hide’s collarbone and neck. She was silent for a moment, before she whispered directly in his ear with the softest voice she could muster.
“I really, really like you, Hide…”
“Ah, um, I think that’s just the fear talking. You know, they call it something like ‘the suspension-bridge effect’...”
“No.” Cielle moved her head deeper into the the nape of Hide’s neck. “Even before tonight. I’ve liked you… I really like you Hide, really. Please believe me”
“...” Hide hesitated for a moment. His mind was confused, and his lack of experience was definitely showing. Hide’s face was dyed in a vibrant red, a scene that almost never happens. “...I-”
Before Hide could speak, Cielle’s soft voice once again rang near his ears. Ignoring whatever response Hide might have wanted to say, she spoke in a low voice, “... I don’t really need a response right this minute… just-.”
Under the light of the rising moon, Cielle’s face glimmered in a sort of soft radiance. She unwinded her arms and pushed up against Hide’s chest before she looked at him. Her upturned eyes stared directly at Hide’s own before, from her slightly parted lips, she said, “Do you hate me?”
Almost on reflex, Hide replied back, “Of course, I don’t. I wouldn’t save someone I hated.”
“...Then, for now, that’s good enough.” She faintly smiled before she separated herself from Hide, and got up first. She extended a hand outward in a gesture of assistance.
Hide stared at that cream pale hand listlessly and hesitated. Eventually, with a resigned smile, he took it, and pulled himself upward. Almost instantly, Cielle’s body gravitated onto his arm and intertwined her own. She pressed her body against Hide’s before he could even react.
“Um.. Cielle, it's kind of hard to walk like this…”
“It’s fine like this.” She replied simply. “Besides, I’m still… feeling a bit weak. I need your support.”
“But…”
“It’s fine like this.” She repeated. “It’s fine like this.”
“W-what if we run into any monsters… I won’t be able to react in time with you like this…”
“What are you talking about?” She said in an almost unknowing tone. “Don’t you have a way to detect monsters?”
“What are you talking abou-”
“You did it while you were running… A sort of clicking…”
“Ah!” Hide’s eyes widened as if he suddenly remembered. He turned to glance down at Cielle, only to see a self-satisfied smile blossom on her face. Seeing this, Hide frowned for a moment before he let out a resigned smile.
“Then… I guess there’s no helping it.” He said simply, once again throwing a brief glance down at Cielle’s reddening cheeks. “Let’s get going.”
****
Author's Note: This chapter was a bit difficult for me to write...