Author's Note: Yes, I am finally back, my dear faithful readers! To cure my inability to write, I've started writing in the morning instead of writing at night so, I should be able to make sure that there will never be gap between releases unless those gaps are the scheduled gaps. So, the last time I was alive, we saw Shu having a sus vision so, let's see what happens next! Enjoy!
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Oh my Death God!
What the hell is happening to Shu right now?!
She was literally just hugging me tightly while shouting that she will call me Teacher so happily and energetically and, all of a sudden, she collapses!?
Alright, let's analyze the situation as calmly as possible and then take the necessary precautionary measures to make sure that she is alright. So, it looks like she only fainted which is a reason to panic in of itself but, she didn't sound panicked at all when it happened so, it may be natural to her somehow?
I feel like the ability she just described is at work here. Does this mean that she faints every time it activates? Well, I can worry about that later. But, if this isn't related to her ability at all and is instead some sort of medical condition she has then, I must do this properly!
So, when a person faints, it usually means that there is a lack of something in their body, right? I don't know what that certain 'thing' she is lacking right now so, I'll assume that it is blood. I grab her legs and raise it upwards and then use my shadows to hold it up in that position. I don't know how long she'll be out so, I might as well shrink down first so that I can hold up her legs for as long as possible.
The next thing I should do is... yeah! Of course! I should check if she is still breathing normally. I lie her down with her back on the floor and then open her mouth to make sure she has access to oxygen. I put my hand over her mouth and feel her still breathing.
*Sigh*
I sigh out in relief.
So, she is completely fine for now and there is no sign of something abnormal happening within her body so, I may as well continue our journey back to the city. But first, I should make let the blood settle down to the new positioning before I lift her up with my tendrils.
I run my tendrils over her body and find no areas where blood might be getting constricted so, I wait for a few minutes before slowly lifting her straight up with my tendrils, with her legs still raised up, of course.
(Shu is okay, right?)
(Yeah, she should be.)
(Hopefully. This may sound weird but, I have already grown an attachment to her.)
(Really? Why?)
(Well, it is a child who is in need of help so, I want to help her. If it was the old me, I definitely wouldn't have even noticed her so, I think your need to interfere with everyone in trouble is infecting me.)
(You say that but you are the one who convinced me to let her stay with us.)
(Um, well, you know. Touché, I guess.)
I talked with Calido a bit while walking slowly. There is still a long way until we reach the city so, we have time to talk... wait.
I just realized how bizarre this situation would look to an uninformed person who happened to stumble onto this scene. I physically can't see it but, the ensuing awkwardness would make me feel weird. I mean, I'm carrying a young girl behind me, who is unconscious so, I won't disagree with anyone who says it is weird.
(Isn't this sort of weird?)
Damn.
...
Damn.
Our thought processes are starting to match! This is slightly worrying. Hopefully, Calido doesn't become the self-conscious idiot out of all of the Divine Beasts. (Insurance: no. However...)
(I feel like you are somehow insulting me right now.)
(Sorry.)
(Hey, I didn't say that you were! That means you actually were doing it right now, weren't you?!)
(Again, sorry.)
(Oh well. I'm not in the mood to be offended for too long so, can you let me go for a while?)
(What do you mean?)
(Since walking all the way back will take some time, how about you let me go free?)
This is so obviously one of his ploys but, I'll just accept it. After all, he is kind of like another me so, who am I to deny what he wants?
(I'll let you go fight some monsters around here.)
(Yes, thank you! I will make sure to hone my skills even further and gain more battle experience.)
(With a few conditions, of course.)
If I let him roam around, beating up every monster he sees then, many other adventurers would be inconvenienced. Another thing is that the natural ecosystem might be damaged when a foreign Divine Beast comes in and starts indiscriminately massacring all of them. Lastly, I barely even benefit from this at all as he will most likely move on after killing monsters, which means that I won't get sort of proof of killing those monsters.
I don't intend to use him like that either, if you were wondering. I'd like to kill monsters with my own two hands, plus sword, and then present those bodies. I won't use someone as powerful as Calido to do it for me so, I'll let him do what he wants.
(Don't kill them.)
(What!? Isn't that the point of what adventurers do?)
(You're just training, right? Find a monster with an attribute that you are weak against, like a Droplet Slime. They are pretty much everywhere near this river so, find a big enough one and fight it. You can even forcefully fuse multiples ones together to make them more powerful. Then, go ahead and fight it until you win or are satisfied. Just keep doing that until you decide to come back. However, you can't just kill off their entire population as they are beneficial to the environment so, just keep in mind to not kill too much.)
(Hmm, yes. I understand. Fuse Droplet Slimes to make them stronger but don't kill too many. Gotcha. Alright, bye!)
I felt Calido instantly jump off of my shoulder with those last parting words. He may be running off for now but, I can feel his excitement. Both through his words and through my skin as I can feel the heat of his flames all the way from here.
(By the way, don't scorch the landscape too much!)
(Understood! Don't incinerate everything, got it!)
If people find gigantic burn marks on the ground with no known cause then, there may be a widespread panic. There may even be conspiracy theories or rumors as to what caused those burns to appear.
I smile at the thought of Calido single-handed creating a new legend about himself. I really love him a lot. If he was a human then, we would probably be family. I would have liked a younger brother who acts exactly like him. We could go off and train together all the time when we were serious and spend quality bonding when we weren't.
...
Family, huh?
I hope mother and father are coping just fine without me, even though we may never meet again. I hope Corvin, Max, and Jaysen are still pursuing their dreams together as best friends. I hope Ray has been able to find uncle and aunt and, if not, I hope she is living a nice life with Mister Glaive. I hope Luscia is doing her best with what she is doing and that she was actually able to make some friends. I hope Miria is still out there killing monsters with her own way of fighting, without caring about what others think of her. I wonder what Shu wants to do with her life.
...
Hey, wait a minute.
Isn't there something wrong here?
According to what Shu said earlier about her friend, it was almost like she wanted to become like her friend, whose name I think was Chroma. She described her as someone who was cowardly and indecisive but was helped by someone. Before she stopped talking, she said that she wished for something before cutting off.
Did she also want to become someone like her friend?
If so then, all of the people I have just mentioned are all living their own lives, without me interfering. All of their actions are still going, even though I'm practically gone from their lives, which further implies that I... am not... spe-
*Sobbing*
...
Huh?