IN a daze, I let Ellie drag me for a bit before I snapped back to reality and stopped walking. Although the men had still been alive when we left, what if all that water had entered their lungs and would kill them soon enough anyway?
“Oh my gosh, don’t just suddenly stop like that!” Ellie cried out, turning around to look at me as I stood there in shock. “You almost tore my arm off!”
“I’m going back to make them cough up the water.”
I didn’t know how to save a drowning victim, but my conscience told me I had to check on them. Even when I whipped around and started walking back, Ellie refused to let go of my hand. Apparently, she was willing to follow me despite complaining the whole time.
“Haruka! I told you, don’t worry about them! How are you so dang strong?!”
When we got back to the spot where I’d left the four men on the ground, I pushed one onto his side and vigorously thumped him on the back. I didn’t know if this was the right method, but I’d heard it was how you forced people to cough up whatever they were choking on. With an exasperated sigh, Ellie watched us from a short distance away. Just her presence alone was reassuring.
The man finally coughed, spat up water, and opened his eyes in a daze. Ellie had been right. They had never been in any real danger.
I helped the man sit up against a wall before taking care of the other three in the same manner. Once they’d all coughed up the water in their lungs, I went back to the first man and lightly slapped him across the cheeks. The first slap ended up being stronger than I’d intended and left a red mark on his face. I had failed to control my strength because I was so nervous. I’m sorry.
His lack of response worried me, so I stopped slapping him and instead shook him by the shoulders.
“Hello, hello,” I said. “Are you all right?”
A few more moments of shaking and the man finally started groaning, then his eyes cracked open just a bit. I sighed in relief when his gaze met mine.
“I’m sorry,” I said in all sincerity. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
I apologized to him because even though I had acted in self-defense, my reaction had been excessive. If the men were even the slightest bit angry, I planned on compensating them. Not much, mind you, but it would be better than nothing.
✦ ✦ ✦
TOTTO’S first thought when he woke up was, Shit, she’s still pissed at me. He was still totally out of it, and all he could feel was pain in his back and cheeks. He had no idea what had gone down, but whoever was shaking him had succeeded in waking him up. He slowly opened his eyes, and he saw that the dark elf from earlier was peering into his face.
She spoke to him, her expression as impassive as always. “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” Totto and his boorish friends, all fairly low in the adventurer pecking order, interpreted her words as, “If ya still wanna go, I’d be happy to oblige.”
Unable to hide the quaking of his body, he threw himself on the ground. His intuition as an adventurer screamed a warning at him to apologize, the sooner the better. The pain in his back and cheeks burned something fierce now. He wondered if she’d burned him while he’d been unconscious, too.
“I’m sorry. I was in the wrong,” he said. “I’ll do anything you want, so please just forgive me.”
“Huh?” she responded. “Oh, um, all right. I’m just glad to see you’re feeling better.”
“Yes, I’ll do whatever I can to repay you,” he promised. “I’ll never do anything bad again.”
“Really? That’s good then.”
✦ ✦ ✦
TOTTO’S sudden transformation seemed to scare Haruka, and she hurriedly left the scene. Ellie, the only one who actually understood what had just happened, tried desperately to contain her laughter. With an eye to the future, she didn’t bother clearing up the misunderstanding, instead silently taking Haruka’s hand again and leading her back inside the Guild, leaving Totto still prostrate on the ground. He had yet to move a single muscle. When Haruka glanced back and forth between the two of them in confusion, Ellie stopped fighting the grin pulling at her lips.
From that day on, Haruka unwillingly acquired an entourage of four rugged underlings. They shadowed her wherever she went, barely ever leaving her side. She hadn’t asked for any of it, but she wasn’t strong enough to give them a clear and resounding “No.” It embarrassed her to see the way people looked at them like they were weirdos, so she tried to give them gentle hints so they’d stop, but the oblivious men didn’t pick up on them.
At dinner that night in the Guild canteen, the four giant men, who now referred to Haruka as “Boss Lady,” surrounded her and showered her with adoration. A very small part of her regretted going back to save them.