The fireball-spitting bird was dead, and the beast had been quelled.
Once we had finally cleared these two battles on the fifteenth floor, we rushed to our unconscious party member and made our way for the third midpoint.
We desperately needed a breather. Our bodies had been run ragged. We were out of spiritual power. We were at our limit, and if someone had asked me then and there what I wanted more than anything in the world, the answer would have been “sleep.”
Yet, despite that, both Haruka and I felt surprisingly okay.
“Woo-hoo! That was some crazy experience, huh?”
The radiant star seemed almost happy.
To go through such a harrowing encounter and still remain as positive as she had was nothing short of incredible. She truly had a gift for that sort of thing.
But, despite her smile, which was as bright as the sun, the battle had clearly taken its toll on her. I could tell that beneath it all, she was pretty exhausted.
Which is why I ran over to pick up Jupiter as soon as the battle ended. I was hoping to do what little I could to lessen Haruka’s burden.
“Oooh, what a nice guy you are, Kyou.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Haruka smiled at me like she knew exactly what I was thinking. In a flat voice devoid of energy, I cursed and told her to shut it as we headed to the portal gate.
We’d been able to make it through everything without any major injuries.
All in all, the adventure had been pretty successful.
“It wasn’t just pretty successful! This was a huge success!” Haruka corrected me as the jiggly little alien creatures welcomed us with all their jiggly might.
“We have a new friend, we got our revenge on a tough enemy, and we reached an even deeper level of the dungeon! If you can’t be proud of this one, what can you be proud of?”
The radiant star’s face in profile was lit by the pale light of a campfire. It was more beautiful than any star in the night sky.
I swear, this girl. It’s impossible to be glum around her.
You really are the best, Haruka.
“Hey, Haruka. I want to talk to you about what comes next.”
“If your plan involves anything even resembling kicking Jupi out of the party, I’m completely against it.”
She turned her sapphire eyes up slightly to look at me.
She would have looked incredibly beautiful if it weren’t for the fact that she was holding multiple sticks in both hands, each with an unreasonable number of marshmallows for roasting.
“I would never. Quite the opposite, in fact. I want to come up with a plan to make sure she’s never alone again.”
“Then I would like to hear you out.”
I explained my plan to Haruka, and to the Yalda 336 that had gathered around.
“Sure! Sounds good to me. Shoulda expected you’d come up with something great, Kyou.”
“We do not very much understand the plan, but nonetheless we shall help as best as can be!”
The jiggly little guys bounced and cheered as always. I was just glad that Haruka was behind me on my plan.
“All right, then. All that’s left is…”
I cast my gaze over at the wooden bed that the Yalda 336 had created for us. A short distance from the fire, sleeping on the bed, was the silver-haired girl.