SAE 13

Chapter 13

It was a thin voice that cut off awkwardly, bit by bit.

But I could understand clearly what it was saying.

“It can absorb poison?”

I had never even imagined that a wandering spirit could have that ability.

I paused, a little stunned, and it seemed the spirit thought I hadn’t understood, because it spoke again.

―Poison… absorb… me… possible.

I pulled myself together and asked,

“Really? You can really absorb poison?”

At my question, the spirit nodded vigorously.

―Ye… yes.

As soon as I heard that, I quickly returned to Isael.

I instructed the spirit to suck the poison out of Isael’s body.

The spirit glided smoothly toward Isael. After a moment, Isael’s body and the spirit’s form completely overlapped.

“W-what just happened? Did an evil spirit possess the prince?”

Felix muttered, clearly unable to believe it.

I clasped my hands together and looked at Isael’s face.

After waiting for a while, I noticed Isael’s complexion improving.

The Isael who had been frowning and closing his eyes just moments ago was now breathing evenly, as if peacefully asleep.

The spirit silently left Isael’s body, just as it had when it first entered.

“Thank you.”

The spirit nodded at my words, and then disappeared as if its work was done.

I quietly stared at Isael’s much calmer face for a long time.

Let’s rest well on this island this time. Then we’ll move on to the next one, I thought.

The spirit could do far more than I had imagined.

First, exploration.

This was the second island, so it wasn’t as large as the others we would visit, but it was still bigger than the first island.

The forest in the middle of the island was quite wide, but since it was just the spirit and me exploring, we finished quickly.

“There’s a lake in the forest.”

After the spirit confirmed that the lake water was ordinary and not like the river, I told Isael and Felix.

“Oh, so we can wash up now?”

“Let’s take turns and wash one by one.”

Before I could finish speaking, Felix, looking extremely excited, ran off, saying he wanted to go first.

I watched his retreating figure in disbelief.

I was just about to decide the order… and that guy…

I clenched my teeth at the cheeky Felix, and Isael asked,

“Are there no monsters in the forest either?”

“No. Monsters can’t come up to this island in the first place.”

There were no living animals on the island except us.

The forest was dense with vegetation, and it seemed we could even find food there.

Isael had recovered, and we had a way to get food.

It was promising in many ways.

Like the saying goes, after hardship comes joy.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’m just happy you’re all better, that’s why I’m smiling.”

“……”

“You’re really not hurting anywhere anymore, right?”

Isael looked at me silently for a while, then nodded.

“…Thanks. I appreciate it.”

This guy could even say something moving now…

He’s grown up, really.

I looked at Isael with a satisfied gaze.

He met my eyes for a moment, then suddenly said he wanted to practice swordsmanship.

“Why here?”

“No, I kind of want to be alone.”

“……”

“I’ll be back.”

…He’s grown up too fast. Now he even needs alone time, like a teenager.

“I won’t go far. Won’t be long.”

“No, no.”

I waved my hands as I sent Isael off.

“It’s fine, so train as much as you want.”

Then I sat on the soft pile of leaves Isael had made and looked out at the scenery beyond the island.

The monsters were still fighting each other mercilessly, endlessly.

I stared toward the direction of the third island we needed to reach.

Once Felix returns, I’ll wash next, then Isael.

After that, we’ll all get some rest, wake up refreshed, and move to the next island.

This time, I have to make sure Isael doesn’t get seriously hurt, so I’ll put in more effort and kill more monsters.

While mentally organizing this plan, Felix came back.

“Oh, you’re alone? Where’s the prince?”

“He went to practice swordsmanship for a bit. You’ve washed already, right?”

“Yeah.”

Felix smiled, looking refreshed.

Even though we’d get dirty again on the way to the next island, keeping clean as much as possible was important.

“Then I’ll go wash too.”

“Okay, go! I’ll be here waiting.”

Before I could even stand, Felix slyly took my spot.

When Isael was around, he wouldn’t have dared sit there.

If he was envious, he could have just made his own comfy spot with leaves.

The audacity to wait for the chance to take someone else’s place was impressive, in a way.

I clicked my tongue and headed into the forest.

On the way to the lake, I called the spirit.

Now, calling the spirit was easy with just willpower.

The amount of magic required to control the spirit had gradually decreased.

So I could maintain it longer.

Communication is possible too.

I seemed to be getting more skilled at using this power.

If things kept going like this, I might soon be able to summon another spirit successfully.

I gave the spirit instructions.

“While I wash, check the area to see if there’s anything edible around.”

The spirit slowly nodded and walked off into the distance.

After parting ways with the spirit, I quickly walked to the lake.

I took off my dirty clothes, laid them neatly on the ground, and entered the lake, swimming and enjoying a long-awaited bath.

But soon,

“Rozette!”

I heard Felix’s urgent shout.

Without thinking, I immediately got out of the lake, quickly dressed, and ran out of the forest.

“What is it? What’s going on?”

Felix pointed somewhere, looking flustered.

“Look over there, look.”

I turned to where he was pointing.

We could see the first island we had passed.

The first island.

On it, a group of figures we hadn’t seen before had gathered.

It was Leonard and his companions.

I guess you really can’t ignore protagonist buffs.

They had arrived here faster than I expected.

Not only that, but counting them, everyone except Felix was on the island.

They had made it here with no casualties.

“What do we do? It looks like they’ve noticed us too…”

“What do you mean, what do we do?”

Leonard would continue to go through trials smoothly.

And he would leave the tower.

But it won’t be easy.

Right now, I was ahead of him.

And I planned to stay ahead.

I would take all the items that Leonard should have gotten and continue to move forward.

So Leonard would fall behind.

I said firmly to Felix, who was nervously biting his nails,

“I’m going my own way. Whatever they do, it doesn’t matter.”

“……”

“Oh, and if you want to go back that way, I won’t stop you. Just go.”

Or he could wait here and join them later.

As soon as I finished speaking, Felix jumped back in surprise and waved his hands frantically.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that…”

“No matter what your intention is, do as you please. I don’t care.”

I left Felix frozen in embarrassment and sat down.

Then I turned my gaze back to the first island.

Leonard and his companions were looking in this direction as well.