I was excited. I had no idea I could move like this. But thinking back on it, I had never fought a big monster before, and I had basically been in a trance when I had fought the boss. Thus, I had no memories of the fight.
I felt invincible. The buffs caused my blood flow to increase, and it was now swirling in my head. I couldn’t really think straight, but man, did it feel good.
I couldn’t get the sensations—of kicking off the floor, floating in midair, and letting the momentum spin my body—out of my head. Nor could I forget the exhilarating feeling of pummeling toward the ground that I had felt through my blade. There was nothing I couldn’t see, and while the world existed outside of me, it was all at my disposal. I lost all sensation of time, and my head was completely blank. My mind wasn’t filled with any superfluous thoughts—I just felt good.
And wasn’t I amazing for defeating a golem on my own? I could proudly proclaim I was on par with a B rank abenteurer and…
“Huh?” No, I couldn’t.
I suddenly came back to my senses. The teleportation circle was right before us, and we were headed back to Filburn with our vanguard at our front.
I stared out beyond the magic circle. It calmed me down as I went through my memories.
“Hey, Heidemarie?” I said, glancing at her. She was standing beside me.
“What? Have you calmed down?”
“Did I get ahead of myself? Was I overly excited?”
“You were.”
“I talked with Camilla, right?”
“You did.”
“What did I say?”
“A bunch of things. You were in the clouds.”
Damn, I messed up. When buffs increased your blood flow, it could lead to all sorts of unexpected effects. That was the first time I had properly used a triple buff, after all.
“Did I say anything rude?”
“Don’t worry. Camilla and the others care much more about the fact you defeated a golem on your own.”
“Oh, then I guess I won’t have to make them worry about me so much. That’s a relief. I’ll definitely do my best from here on out.”
“Worry about you?”
“I mean, it was apparently hard for them since they had to be so gentle with me. If I can fight, it’ll make our next labyrinth dive easier.”
“Well, I guess this raised our chances of proving successful during our next dive…” She trailed off, but it seemed like she had more to say. She really was kind to me.
I had finally calmed down. I felt like I deserved some unabashed praise for defeating a golem on my own, but I had only done so because I had everyone behind me to back me up.
Support casters weren’t efficient in battle, and if they pushed themselves too hard, they would end up immobile for a while once they got back home. My muscles were already starting to feel…
“Huh?”
They…weren’t? I flexed and extended my arms. It didn’t hurt at all. No, maybe all my training had just made me stronger. The real problem was my MP. Casting a triple buff had greatly depleted my magic, and now I was near…
“Huuuh?”
I…wasn’t? How I felt didn’t seem to match reality. I knew I shouldn’t be feeling the way I did, but it was hard to deny my senses. I made sure I didn’t get ahead of myself, but at the same time, I thought it was fine to at least think more about it a little, and I wanted to relax.
In the end, I couldn’t help but think that maybe I had gotten stronger.
✦ ✦ ✦
It was nighttime. Once I heard Wim’s sleepful breaths with my wiretap stone—and they had grown steady and regular—I slipped outside the manor and headed for the guesthouse.
I had the spare key, so I opened the door. Wim didn’t seem like he would wake up so easily and remained peacefully asleep. It seemed like his anxiety gave him a hard time sleeping for a while after he was kicked out of Drachenflügel, so he must at least sort of liked it here.
I quieted my footsteps, snuck up to his bed, and peered into his sleeping face. He really did look adorable when he was asleep. He was always on edge in the labyrinth, but he didn’t look it at all right now. Of course, I liked how he looked then as well, but I loved his face here too.
What Wim did today had once again changed how the others in Nachtlibelle thought of him. Rumors of his skills as a support caster had already spread outside Nachtlibelle to some degree, and I was sure rumors that he could fight would spread in an instant too. Those who used a little imagination would easily connect this to the real state of Drachenflügel.
Camilla had already set plans for our next grand labyrinth dive. Wim wouldn’t see direct battle just yet, but he would be involved in the other aspects. It was safe to say he was the general center of our operations. He was still only a temporary member, but once his non-affiliation period was over, he would definitely be welcomed in as an official member. Depending on how far word of him spread, some of the other big parties might want him for themselves. They might practically try to lure him with competitive salaries.
“The world’s starting to notice you, Wim.”
He groaned in his sleep, almost as if in response to my voice. I panicked a little. Still, I wouldn’t really mind it even if he did wake up. I had almost been found out countless times, but he never questioned me about it, for some reason. Maybe he was always half asleep? In any case, it was fine.
However, I did wonder: Just how long was I going to keep this up? He wouldn’t get mad at me for forcing myself into his room, and we could tell each other how we truly felt. But my words rarely ever swayed Wim. He seemed unconfident, though he could be shockingly stubborn about the weirdest things. At least those things were consistent.
In the end, maybe Wim barely thought about me at all. It was a sad idea.