Erifell’s apartment was located on the second floor of a three-story complex, not too far from the guild.
We (obviously, Leen) took her key from her skirt pocket and opened the creaky door. Apparently the building wasn’t in too good shape.
“Hm?”
I could’ve sworn I saw something inside there moving at the corner of my vision. Must’ve been my imagination.
“Down ya go!”
Leen was first to enter, and as soon as she located Erifell’s bed, she didn’t hesitate to chuck her right down on it. Our patient bounced a bit before slumping down onto her face. Just what had caused her momentary spurt of kindness earlier...?
“Don’t look at me like that. I’ll take good care of her,” Leen said. “Blue, if you please.”
“Of course. It has been a while since I last was an ice pack.”
The slime had been riding atop Leen’s head while she was carrying Erifell, but now it leaped down onto Erifell’s head. It wobbled as it expanded, growing to cover not only Erifell’s forehead but the whole top of her head. If you didn’t know better, you’d think that she was about to become its meal. If Erifell herself were conscious to witness this, she’d probably scream.
“This isn’t good, my lady. Her temperature is rather high. All I can do is delay the worst.”
It was clear that Erifell’s condition had deteriorated. This was no longer a simple case of her feeling under the weather, but just well enough that she could hide it. It seemed more like she was cursed or something...
“That will be fine, Blue. Oh, Hakura? Turn around for a moment. I need to change her clothes.”
“Sure. I’ll be outside.”
“Could you boil me some water while you’re at it? I need to wipe her down.”
“Gotcha.”
I hated the feeling of trespassing in someone’s house, but the logical part of my brain decided that it would be best to follow Leen’s reasonable request and turn on the tap. Water was provided to all residences from a tap in the garden—as long as you paid for how much you used, of course, and it wasn’t super cheap. I had internal reservations about cranking up someone else’s water bill, but this was for her benefit, so I’d hope she’d forgive us later.
As the water poured from the tap, a small mechanism to the side started to turn as the cost ticked up. I filled up the bucket about halfway, pulled out a small red stone from my pouch, and tossed it inside.
“I can charge her for this later, right?” I murmured to myself.
Firestones were a type of processed mana crystal, and handy items that reacted to the liquid and easily heated it up. Even a small stone could heat up this much water in about five minutes. It saved the hassle of burning wood, but they were pricey little things and usable only once. Once used, you would get an inert piece of mana crystal.
“Man...”
While the water boiled, I scanned the room. It was pretty spacious and represented its owner well with how well clean and organized it was. Everything seemed to be where it ought to be. Upon a shelf was a large number of books neatly arranged by volume. The other things that caught my eye were a few decorations and leatherwork wall ornaments hanging up on pins.
It went without saying that an adventurer without permanent residence had few personal belongings. While they might have a number of possessions when staying at one location for an extended period of time, most adventurers could fit everything they owned into a bag on their back. I wasn’t sure, but this was probably the reason I felt so uncomfortable being in a room where the owner’s personality was so on display. It was a strange kind of persecution complex where I was being shown all these things I couldn’t have—heightened by the fact that she was a single woman.
“We entered without her permission, but we didn’t really have a choice, did we?” I said.
I heard the rustling of fabric coming from the other room. It was impossible to feel calm when I imagined what was happening in there.
“Oh!” After a few minutes—about the time the water had been boiling—Leen let out a cry.
“What’s up?”
“Look at this, Hakura!”
If she wanted me over, then she’d probably finished changing Erifell’s clothes. When I entered the room with a bucket in one hand, I saw porcelainlike skin completely drained of blood. In other words, I saw Erifell...with nothing covering her top half but her underwear.
“H-Hey...!”
The shock of the situation meant I couldn’t look away. I should’ve known, but, man, was she stupid?!
“Ohh... I thought it wasn’t likely...”
Leen was pointing at Erifell’s chest. In particular, to a mole on the right side of the soft mounds covered in white fabric. Actually, it was a bit too big to be a regular mole. And the shape was weird too, like three hooks lined up to form a circle...
“I’m pretty sure this shape is of Beelbel, but there’s no distinguishing feature to it, so it’s probably from a lower level... Does this look familiar to you, Hakura?”
Leen gave me a puzzled expression as she asked this. She looked at Erifell then back at me. Erifell, me, Erifell, me. Eventually she got mad.
“What are you looking at?! Don’t stare, you perv!”
“You are being so absurd right now!”
“Ugh! Go away!”
This situation was so unfair that I would’ve fought back under normal circumstances, but I felt so bad seeing Erifell like this that I couldn’t react as I usually did. Confusion plugged any words shut. I decided to look away, only to suddenly hear a bang. The door had been flung open.
“What?!”
The person at the door was a tough-looking guy with a sword at his waist. His clothes were clean and well-kept, but his muscular frame and chiseled face bore a number of scars that suggested he was a warrior. That face was twisted in anger as he glared at us.
“Ngh...”
I felt another rush of heat from my Sphere. My senses were awfully acute today.
“What in the world are you two doing?” he said in a powerful voice that suited his appearance. A palpable rage bubbled underneath. His trembling hand suggested that his anger had reached a peak.
“Um...”
I was about to ask who the hell he was, but I bit my tongue.
Both Leen and I had assumed Erifell lived alone. Or at least that she wasn’t married. Thinking about it now, it wouldn’t be strange for her to have family members or a partner. The man in front of us could be a brother who lived elsewhere, or even her boyfriend. Looking at the situation from an objective standpoint, we were the criminals who had snuck into someone else’s house and partially undressed the owner. That was enough for him to put a hand on his weapon.
“Step away from her. Immediately.”
“Hey, we’re just—”
“I said get away from her!”
I tried to explain, but he wasn’t in the mood to listen. The room creaked underneath his booming anger. The atmosphere was positively prickly; I knew if I moved one inch, he wouldn’t hesitate to draw his blade.
Ugh, what a pain...
I didn’t know this man’s relation to Erifell, so I couldn’t dare harm him. But I wouldn’t sit and take it if he attacked me. Judging from the lack of holes in his stance, it was clear that he was a battle-tested warrior. I glanced at his right hand; the lack of a Sphere indicated that he wasn’t an adventurer. All the same, I didn’t want to eat an attack from someone that big head-on.
“Oka—”
“SHUT UP!”
I was about to start negotiations and tell him that I got it and wanted him to calm down, but Leen yelled.
“We have a sick person here and you’re both being far too loud! Shut up! Be quiet! Hakura, where’s my hot water? And you, mister! Don’t just stand there—bring some towels!”
“Mister? Wait? Me?”
“Who else is here?!” Leen shouted back.
With our conversation so abruptly interrupted, I looked at the man, who was just standing there, dumbstruck. Leen was being terrifying today, so it seemed that, for now at least, both of us would have to follow her instructions without knowing who each other was.
The twinging pain in my right hand had vanished by now.