Chapter 43: Return to the city (VI)
"Berry, are you okay?" Phil asked, looking down on me concerned. He looked at me with a concerned gaze. I was on the ground staring up into the sky.
"I'm okay." I let out a sigh. This whole hacking into the magic itself was a lot more difficult than I thought. I felt quite a bit drained.
With a clatter, the first collar broke apart and fell onto Siva's open hands.
"I-I-I," Siva stuttered. Her eyes began to tear up from shock and relief. A burst of tears erupted from her face, and she wailed in happiness.
"Siva? A-a-re you okay?" I couldn't help but stutter. I mean, she is crying. I honestly don't know what to do, mainly because she was crying so hard.
Throwing out her arms around me, she bawled. "T-t-thank you!"
The words gave me a warm tingle in my heart, and I could not help but feel happy. Was this what it felt like to help someone who is in dire need of help? The blissful feeling was something that I could not easily forget.
"I promise to repay you for everything that you have done!"
"Well, you don't have to go that far. I wasn't expecting anything in return." I bashfully replied. I wasn't so used to this extensive amount of compliments.
"No! I will follow you till I die!"
"Woah, calm down. I expect you to have a family that you want to find, don't you?"
Siva's smile faltered. "All of us who are captured do not have a family to go back to. They have died in the raids made by the slave traders."
I couldn't help but feel anger boil inside of myself. Not only did the slave traders force them into slavery, they even killed their family. I was glad for once that Porky got what he deserved: Retribution.
With a gentle kiss to my forehead, Siva smiled. Her hair smells like chamomile and lavender. I couldn't help but be embarrassed at her loving display.
"You are now free, though I don't think you should leave right now. I strongly suggest you keep the collar back on till we leave. You don't have to worry about it activating or anything like that. It's broken anyway."
Siva nodded with understanding. She picked up the collar and hooked it back into place. Nothing happened when Siva put on the collar; everything was the same. The name written on the collar was still visible for everyone to see, but Siva could take it on and off without any worry.
"How?" asked Phil, amazed. "You just undid a high-level magic. This is unheard of."
"It's Berry; everything doesn't make sense when you are around her." Don chuckled. He was busily drawing us on his sketch pad.
"You're right. I should've just expected as much."
"It's not that difficult." I threw the Hacking Magic Stone towards Phil. "Why don't you try it?"
"Are you sure?"
"Why not?" I handed him the stone as if nothing bad would happen. Honestly, I kind of wanted to see him struggle for once. Everything about him was too perfect. So far, I had never seen his stoic face crack.
"Alright."
"Oh, and a small advice look for the red word. All you need to do is touch it, and everything seems to unravel itself."
"That's the simplest way she can explain a difficult understanding of magic, isn't it?" Don asked as he looked quizzically towards Phil.
"Better than nothing."
"It's your life." Don shrugged.
Phil turned towards Seth. "Seth, you don't mind if I try it on you?"
Seth shrugged his shoulder. He walked over towards Phil and flopped down onto the floor. Phil raised his Magic Stone and placed it on the collar. For the next five minutes, I could see Phil breaking out into cold sweat, but not a single break in his perfect posture and face.
"Haaaa," Phil let out air from his mouth. Even the way he used his magic made him look cool. How is this possible? I mean, do all Demon Lords look this cool when they are doing a difficult task? What does it take for them to see some resistance or something?
Click. The collar fell onto the ground in Seth's hands.
"That was a lot more difficult than I thought. I used up half of my magic just doing one. How the heck are you not tired?"
"I don't know."
"Okay, then, I can do a couple more before I'm wiped out like you." I went over and picked up the Magic Stone in Phil's hand. Walking up to the next group of Beast-kin, I tirelessly worked on freeing the collar. I only could do five more before I too hit my limit and was crawling on the ground too weak to move.
The five cried out in happiness, and they all shook or hugged me. The others were shocked at what they saw. They all stated that they wanted to stay with me until they returned the favor, but even still, I told them I didn't mind if they left here and now.
"We cannot." The last Beast-kin spoke. "An oath to pay back a favor is of the highest importance that all our kind upholds."
"I didn't know that." I learned something new about the beast-kin's culture.
"So please, let us return the favor to you one day."
"Okay," It was difficult to persuade them otherwise. My head and body ached from the ordeal, and I slumped forward from exhaustion.
"Miss Berry!" Siva ran over with a worried look. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," I pushed myself onto my arms. "I need some rest."
"Please, don't push yourself too hard!"
"It's alright, the sooner I get this done, the sooner it will be out of my hair."
"B-but miss Berry."
"My name is Berry. Not miss. Got it?"
Siva nodded. Seth came over and bent down and scooped me over onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Gah!" I squealed in surprise.
"Don't worry. Seth usually doesn't talk much. He only does it when he thinks it's necessary."
My hands and arms were like jello, even though it was not used. I could not resist but stay on Seth's back uselessly.
Seth took me into a tent and gently placed me on the ground on top of fur blankets." He got up, and before he left, he turned around and smiled. "Thanks." His words were light but deep.
I couldn't help but be surprised at how sweet his voice sounded. It was deep and musical but not harsh to the ears. I wouldn't say that he had a girly voice, but to females, it was alluring. His shadow moved underneath the light and stood guard in front of the tent. A second shadow passed in front of the tent, and Phil entered.
"Phil?" I was confused at his sudden entrance.
"You got a new guard situated in front of the tent, don't you." Phil pointed over his shoulders. He was already taking off his shoes and extra accessories.
"What are you doing?" I stared. He was taking off his shirt and grabbing a new pair. I saw his muscles flex underneath the clothes, and I could not help but gulp. Oh man, this is like a striptease eye candy. Whoever sees this might get the wrong idea if you know what I mean. "Don't you have a tent of your own?"
"This is my tent," Phil stated without a care in the world that I was in there.
"I'm a woman."
"Really? Now you are a woman. I swear you're flip-flopping between one to another too quickly. How I see it, you are a girl. I met you as a girl, and you have always been a girl. Deal with it and let me get ready to go to sleep." Phil rolled his eyes. He was phased at my words as he sat down.
"In here with me?"
"Where would I sleep? Outside?" He pointed behind him where Seth was.
"Yes." I bluntly spoke without realizing it. Phil stared at me with an intensity I shrunk in size.
"What do you see me as your servant? Hell no. You can go out and sleep for all I care."
"But-"
"Be quiet and move over. You're sleeping on my blanket."
I couldn't help but close my mouth. Was Phil going to sleep here with me? But then when I looked around, this tent was not mine. This whole time, I thought Coco had packed this tent for me. Then it hit me. She did it on purpose by packing only a couple. I ground my teeth and moved over.
"Fine." I pouted. I picked up a blanket and was ready to go out when Phil grabbed my arms.
"I'm telling you now; the bugs are worse out there during this time of night. Plus, Don has the other one using it for his studies. He already created quite a mess, and I'm not sure if you'll even find space to sleep. Not only that, but we also shared a room before."
"B-b-ugs?" The thought of mosquitoes biting me did not sit well with me.
"You are free to leave. Don't worry. I'm not going to jump on you. I don't like kids; it's not my preference." He casually said as if it was nothing making me conscious of myself.
I stare at him skeptically. He flopped onto his back and covered himself in the blanket. I was in a dilemma: Stay here with a half-naked Phil or go outside and get eaten by the bugs.
Nope, I don't want to get bitten. I had enough of those in the past couple of days, but the trap in front of me was another problem. This is one of those wildest delusions that any young female could have. My heart was beating so fast that I thought it would burst out of my body any second—one wrong move, and who knows what would happen to my weak heart. With my resolution confirmed, I decided to stay.
I breathed in deeply, allowing myself to take control of my beating heart. "I could do this." I kept repeating these words over and over again in my mind. This is just going to be another night of peaceful sleep. Yep.
Pulling up one of the smaller blankets, I cocooned myself and made sure to divide us perfectly in the middle. I wasn't going to take any chances. Satisfied, I closed my eyes and let sleep drift over.
Weekly Power Status
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