บท 27: Don't fall into a love triangle, please! part 3
At nightfall the whole group meets at a midpoint in between both cottages, usually Ayumi would give her daily report informing us about the amount of supplies available, in addition to the daily advances in construction and technology, but this time it's different. After spending two weeks apart, both groups have a lot to talk about and, although the cold is getting more and more unbearable, everyone is excited to be able to spend time outside.
"We have to go to the village as soon as possible!"
Luke exclaims, insisting again on the need to explore the new world.
"Luke, we've already talked about this, we're not ready yet and there will be plenty of chances to do so"
Ayumi replies in a condescending tone
"I don't know, I think Luke has a point"
Ryu, with black circles in his eyes and a tired expression on his face joins the conversation
"Young Ryu, you too?"
Hiraku seems surprised
"It's true we weren't prepared before, but I think the time has come to expand our area of action. If our goal was just to survive we could stay here for years without a problem. However, if what you say is true, we have a limited time to prevent the end of the human race"
Ryu's words trigger an unprecedented event, something that has not happened since they came to this world, for the first time, Luke smiles straight at Ryu with a sincere expression. This did not go unnoticed by the rest of the group, leaving them astonished.
"But what do we do if it starts to snow in the middle of the road? Besides, the cold decreases our health, if it's dangerous for us your case must be much worse Ryu"
"That's why we've been working non-stop"
Ryu says as he stands up to go get some things from his cottage. Returning, he hands Hiraku a bow and some arrows.
"This is incredible!"
Hiraku says as he slightly tightens the rope, releasing it produces a vibrating sound that draws everyone's attention.
During the period that Ayumi, Bob, Hiraku, and Luke's group spent the majority of their time locked up, they talked, ate, and rested. Their biggest enemy was boredom, some puns and songs had a positive effect the first week, but the entire second week of lockdown was almost torture.
Instead, Ryu's group dedicated themselves to improving their chances of survival. The first thing was that Ryu, with his limited mana capacity, made some small stone arrowheads. While it was a task that could have been done manually, he used it as an opportunity to develop his mana pool. His efforts paid off shortly and he managed to significantly increase his mana capacity, mainly because he was well fed and forced to rest most of the day, thus allowing him to recover about 15 mana points per day.
Mental exertion produced a series of discomforts such as dizziness, headaches, insomnia, among other similar symptoms. Accompanied by the difficult situations in which he was involved by the repeated attempts at seduction by his roommates, Ryu's mental state was on the verge of collapse.
The production of bows is a completely different subject, their success was due in part to perseverance in the face of many failures they experienced. With Helena's help, they managed to create a string strong enough to withstand the tension a bow would require, but finding a properly shaped wooden stick to craft a bow proved to be an impossible task. After many experiments, Ryu finally settled on immersing the wood in water for a while, thereby making it easier to change its shape. Thanks to his analysis skills, he was able to choose the most resistant materials and evaluate in advance whether or not they were suitable for what he needed.
"It should work fine and since your class is Archer, you'll be able to get more out of it than we can. Even so, its important you remember that it will wear out sooner or later and repairing it or making a new one will be difficult. For this reason you should use it only when necessary. Ammunition is easy to make and should be able to be reused many times so at least that is not a problem"
"I'm very grateful young Ryu, with this, I feel safer already… but what can we do about the cold? its not like we can just take a stroll whenever we want"
"Actually, the bow is the solution, we will have to hunt animals to get more skins, we will divide into two groups and go out to hunt in short periods. when the cold starts to affect us we'll come back. But first, we will be the only ones to go, at least until you learn how to hunt properly"
Anne responds to Hiraku
"And I can take care of making the clothes! Anne, show everyone your new shoes!"
Helena waves her arms excited to share her achievement with the rest. Anne lifts a foot out of the snow and, after shaking it with her hand, you can see a kind of leather boot tied with strings that wraps around her foot until it reaches five fingers above Anne's ankle.
"Let me see if I got it right, Anne and Hiraku will go hunting until we have enough fur so we can all go outside without fear of the cold, then we'll go to the town. But what will the rest of us do during all that time?"
Bob asks fearing to be forced to stay inside for another season, finding a fur big enough to keep him warm would be next to impossible and therefore he had little hope.
"We will set traps near the settlement and mark them so that everyone can recognize them to avoid accidents. Also, there shouldn't be a problem with going out occasionally, as long as you're careful to monitor your health points and don't stray too far."
Little by little, the members retreated to their respective abodes, but one among them seemed reluctant to move. Ryu, worried about what might happen next, wanted to extend his time away from his cottage as long as possible. Once he was completely alone, in front of a budding fire, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the sounds of nature.
At the break of dawn Anne and Hiraku met in the center of the clearing in the forest as agreed the day before. Together they entered the forest paying special attention to possible animal tracks.
Thanks to the snow, finding tracks was easy enough, but this time they weren't interested in hunting rabbits. They went quite far from the camp looking for larger prey. To create a single coat they would need dozens of rabbits, whereas with a single boar they would have enough fur to create a complete outfit for Ayumi, especially thanks to their small size. Obviously the most difficult to dress would be a Bob, but that doesn't discourage them at all, it only meant they'll need a bit more time.
The path that lay before them was at once familiar and unfamiliar, had it not been for Anne's exceptional sense of direction they would have been quickly lost. Every once in a while they stop and check their surroundings to see which way to go.
Although they were able to distinguish the presence of all kinds of wild animals from the first day they came to this world, due to the lack of tracking ability, it was almost impossible for them to find prey during all this time. Now they found what they believe are the tracks of a wild boar, judging by the size of its footprints it must be a mature animal.
Meanwhile at the settlement, Luke and Ryu head out to the lake with fishing harpoons. This time it was Luke who invited Ryu to fish and, although they do not talk at all, its not the typical awkward silence that usually formed between them, rather each one focused on their task at hand.
At nightfall Anne and Hiraku return with some rabbits and a boar on their backs, thanks to the ropes that Helena provided them it was possible to drag the prey, however after the great distance traveled both were completely tired and dragged their feet with each step. During the last leg they even lost some health points, but since they were so close to the settlement they decided to stay the course.
"Young Ryu, are you there?"
Ryu comes out answering Hiraku's call with a questioning expression on his face
"Young Ryu, we need a sled"
"That's fine with me, but why do you ask me? Luke is way more skilled with wood and Bob is the only one who can fell trees with ease"
"I went to Luke but he told me that I should ask you beforehand, just in case you needed him for something else tomorrow, you are our leader after all"
An expression of astonishment spread over Ryu's face, but it lasted only a short time. Anne walked past him with heavy steps and her face pale as snow, she entered the room and fell heavily on her jackal pelt.
"You can ask both of them for help. Something seems to be wrong with Anne, I'm going to check up on her"
Hiraku had the intention of following Ryu, but decided against it since there wasn't much he could do anyway.
****
"How are you doing Anne?"
"I feel tired, that's all, don't worry"
"How do you want me not to worry? remember I went through the same thing and I know how it feels"
For the first time since I've known her, Anne looks miserable, she has always taken special care of her appearance, even after exercising or traveling long distances she barely sweated. I sit next to her to use my consider ability on her.
Anne 34/130 (exhausted)
Archer
The situation is bad, but luckily she's out of danger.
"I'll bring you a potion, I'm sure it will help you recover faster"
"Do I look so bad?"
"It's not that, it's just…"
"It's just tiredness, just like you told me last time it's not worth wasting a potion just for this. If you want to help me, why don't you do for me what I did for you last time?"
Anne recovers some color in her face, I highly doubt very much that it is because she's recovering. So it must be her blushing even though she's cold and tired. It's not night yet so Helena must be busy, I don't want her to arrive and misunderstand the situation, that would only cause me more problems. However, to some extent I feel I owe it to Anne.
I carefully lift Anne up and let her rest on my chest as I gently stroke her hair. A delicate smile spreads across her face and she relaxes completely over me.
"I see that you did quite well on the first day of hunting"
"yes, it wasn't all bad, we got a boar! did you see the size of that thing?"
"Thats great. I have a question, how come Hiraku returned with so much energy? It could be my idea, but I think you're in better physical condition than him"
"Wow, are you flirting with me? I think the cold affected me, besides, I forgot to eat breakfast. Ayumi got up earlier than him and prepared something for him"
"and why didn't you do the same?"
After a brief silence, Anne frowns at me
"it's just that the fire wasn't lit and I didn't want to bother you, since we left so early, you were still sleeping when I got up"
I completely forgot!
Ayumi and I are the only ones capable of lighting fire using magic, although sometimes it seems that Ayumi is a little cold towards Hiraku, she actually cares a lot about him. She always checks that he's well dressed before going out and takes care of washing his clothes.
"I'm sorry Anne, from now on feel free to wake me up if necessary"
"I couldn't, I don't want to be a burden"
"Between getting up a little earlier and having to worry about you every time you come home from hunting, I prefer the first option"
"Does it bother you that much to be so close to me?
"Don't put words in my mouth, that's not what I meant"
I quickly rub my hand over her silver hair messing it up
"don't do that Ryu, now I must look even worse"
Says Anne with her hair disheveled without any remaining force to fight back
"If you still care more about your appearance than your well-being, A situation like today's could be repeated again, only worse. You need to take care of yourself or I'll worry"
"Maybe it's not such a bad thing, then"
Anne takes my hand and shuts her eyes as she sighs. I cannot reject her advance, as much as it pains me, I remember with great affection the day we traveled to the river.
The shared warmth, the crackling of the fire, and the comfort soon lull Anne's consciousness into a deep sleep. I avoid moving as much as possible so as not to wake her up, although she doesn't weigh much, the position that was quite comfortable before is now difficult for me to maintain. I feel a tingling in my legs so I move slightly causing Anne to moan softly in a cute yet arousing way.
I put my arm around her, pulling her even closer to me, and continued stroking her hair. I really wouldn't know who to choose between them, Helena has been nice to me from the beginning, but since she clashed with Anne, her personality took a bit of a dark turn. On the other hand, Anne has been cold to everyone, but her attitude is noticeably insincere. Now that I know her better, I can see that she's just trying to hide her true feelings behind a poker face mask.
If I didn't have to choose, the situation would be much easier, I would just have to decide if I either want to be in a relationship or not. Though every time I see Hiraku and Ayumi together I wonder if one day I can be as happy as them. The trust between them can be felt, although Ayumi seems somewhat unlearned, she actually always cares about Hiraku. He, on the other hand, is always talking about Ayumi and tries to spend as much time as possible with her.
Neither of them is very skilled, but together they are capable of achieving almost anything. Hiraku has the confidence that Ayumi lacks and she has the ability to read the environment and boost the morale of everyone in the group. I think they are aware of the fact that neither of them can really take on the leadership role, as they are not capable of taking all the responsibility on their own.
To a certain extent I'm grateful that I had the support of both of them, otherwise these incompetents would not even listen to me. Now even Luke respects my leadership position.
Now that I think about it, why would it be that both Anne and Helena took a liking to me? In Bob's case I get it, he's a nice guy and very kind too, but he's not very talkative and his complexion makes him seem like a brute. Luke's case is different, he is a little shorter than me, but he has a more developed physique and even I can see that he is more handsome!
Although Luke's personality is somewhat twisted, if he was interested in any of them he could at least pretend a little in front of whoever she likes.
That day… the first day, when I had to sleep with Helena in her tent, Anne and Luke slept together.
Is it possible that they have been a couple and things have gone wrong?
Maybe that's why Helena insists that they support each other, I'm almost certain that she doesn't want to hurt their feelings by meddling.
So that means that if I accept Anne's feelings, I'm condemning my newborn friendship with Luke. Obviously he would be jealous and things would go back to being as bad as before, maybe even worse. Now I am forced to reject Anne, for the good of the whole group. That doesn't mean I'll accept Helena just yet, but at least it'll make things easier.
But... why does she smell so good? even exhausted and fresh from a hard hunt, I can smell a faint sweet scent. We don't even have soap, how is she doing this?
As I'm lost in thought I hear the sound of the door slowly opening, footsteps, and then a hand peeks through the bedroom curtain pulling it aside.
Helena barges in with her teary eyes as she covers her mouth with her hand.
"Ryu!"
This is bad, as in really bad!
My heart is pounding fast, I know I have only one chance at fixing this or everything will go to hell very quickly.
"It's not what you're thinking"
Is all I manage to do, am I braindead now?
"You don't need to explain anything to me, I see you made your choice. I wish you two have a bright future together, I'll ask Ayumi and Hiraku to switch places with me now"
Oh no! this turn of events is even worse than I expected, being forced to live together with the merry couple is as bad as it can get. This will be the couple's cottage now? the lovey dovey cottage?
Now that I think about it, it doesn't sound so bad. Perhaps I could just let things follow their natural course and maybe I could enjoy myself. I'm not saying I'm in love with Anne but I'd have to be blind to say she's not appealing.
Even after saying those words Helena's still in the room, maybe she does expect me to explain myself. Why are women so complicated? I can't be so selfish thinking only on myself. Everyone will be hurt from this if I don't do something fast. Should I let Anne go?
After taking a deep breath a sudden peace invades my mind.
Calm mind 1%
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