บท 17: 『Dorothy's Melancholy』

*Cackle* *Cackle*

A fire burned, generating a cozy atmosphere—two people could be seen sitting together, embracing the solace of the warmth. Despite this, one could see that both of them were still a bit nervous.

"That girl sure is taking her time..."

"Mhm... Dorothy often loses her way at times—she can be an airhead."

Aside from them, the forest was dead silent—though it somehow felt comforting rather than eerie. It seems that Dorothy had insisted that she will be the one to hunt for food—even though they had provisions, albeit bland. It seems she had wanted to show off her cooking skills.

"So... about the other day..."

"What about it...?" Naoki asked.

"That is—"

"...?"

"I got a bit... dramatic and got carried away." Astria looked away out of embarrassment.

She had referred to when she had kissed Naoki—it has been on her mind ever since. She had planned to open up to Naoki about it but has never had a chance, mostly due to the addition of Dorothy.

"I'm sorry, I know it was a bit sudden knowing we just recently met but-"

"I don't mind—in fact, I'm quite happy about it," Naoki reassured her.

"Yeah, that's so like you to say—but I still can't help but be bothered by it."

While it was unavoidable since emotions were running high back then—she'd still felt that she pushed her selfishness onto Naoki, even if he reassured her.

"Then—how about this? What if I do it this time?" Naoki grinned.

"..!? What are you saying!? That's too soon! I'm not mentally prepared!" She retorted, her face flushed.

"Hehe, that was a joke—though, I would have done it if you wanted."

"Stop teasing me..." She sighed.

Naoki laughed, it seems that he was amused by her sudden outburst—which was what he had wanted, he didn't want to see her all gloomy after all.

"But—I understand, we can take all the time to get comfortable with each other, Carol," Naoki said softly, leaning his head on her shoulder.

"Ah... Mhm—Likewise." She followed suit.

"..."

<<----------->>

"My first ever pill!"

"Congratulations. Although It is below the commercial grade, it's still a pill nonetheless."

Naoki had just successfully made his first-ever pill—a Soul Pill, which is similar to soul fragments. He had celebrated—after all, he had nothing but failures since yesterday.

"Urgh... I wasted almost all of my materials though."

"Stop complaining, didn't you waste all of my HIGH-grade materials yesterday?" She retorted.

No one could learn Alchemy overnight—it might even take weeks or months if one is lucky. Although even after knowing that, Leariz had confidence that Naoki will be able to make a pill yesterday with his unique soul—which was not the case.

After that incident, Leariz told Naoki to bring his own materials next time. It seems it was fairly easy to procure them—albeit common and of low quality. Oddly enough, multiple monsters had attacked Naoki and the party, which gave him lots of Soul Fragments to spare.

"Well, at least, that pill will still be better than normally absorbing Soul Fragments—it also takes a very long time to wither aswell."

"Is that so..."

"Don't underestimate pills, even this low-quality Soul Pill is around 10000 Zeals each—I had to work hard back in the day, you know?"

It seems that making pills wasn't that easy, and some people won't even be able to do so even after years of training.

"Back in the day huh...?" Naoki thought.

"Now, go make another one. I'll provide the materials since I'm so NICE." She said smugly.

They continued doing alchemy—with Naoki constantly practicing how to effectively make one.

<<----------->>

"You're back peasant, where have you been?" Dorothy dismissively asked, poking a stick on the campfire.

"Practicing," Naoki said, technically not lying.

"Hmm... I've heard that you don't need sleep—well good for you."

It seems Astria was already asleep after eating the dinner that Dorothy cooked for everyone. Naoki sat perpendicular to her, a long awkward silence befall them.

"...I've heard what you were talking about earlier—when it was just the two of you."

"..?"

"Hey, tell me... am I a bother?"

"Absolutely."

"-! You don't have to be so harsh, peasant!" She exclaimed, glaring at Naoki.

Earlier, It seems that she was about to return—until Dorothy saw that the two were together, cuddling. Somehow, it had irritated her—but inside, she had wondered if she was just being a pushover this whole time.

"I'm leaving... tonight."

"Eh...?"

"I've realized, this is what Astria truly wants, it was foolish of me to think that she was being manipulated—no, I just didn't want to accept it."

"..."

"I'll be going ahead—though we'll still meet at the academy." She continued.

Dorothy stood up—it seems she had been thinking about this for a while. After picking up her things, she began to leave...

"Wait." Naoki grabbed her hand.

*Crack*

"..!"

"Don't stop me, please..." She let go, proceeding onwards.

She had dashed forward until she had faded into the darkness—her specialty was controlling the wind after all.

*Silence*

Naoki had gotten a slight concussion, memories begin to flow into his head—bombarding his brain in a matter of minutes.

"The artifact broke...?" Naoki said, referring to the recently bought artifact that protects one's soul from being peered on.

"Naoki..." Astria woke up.

"I... seem to have Dorothy's memories."

"How... Even I can see them—urgh!" Astria groaned, the flood of memories surged through her mind.

It seems that Naoki had unconsciously activated his ability—which somehow affected Astria. It appears that Dorothy was unaffected based on her earlier response, which was probably because of the artifact, or so Naoki surmised.

<<----------->>

"Oh? What is it Dorothy-chan?"

"Is... is Astria OK?" Her voice was full of concern.

"Hah... you never change. You'd be really good friends if you just properly be like this with her, you know?" Alexandra sighed.

Alexandra had just exited the room. Apparently, when Dorothy heard the news—she instantly rushed towards the Avery residence.

"It's okay, she's just inside with her husband."

"Husband!? So it was true!?" She exclaimed, donning a grim face.

"You wanna meet him?"

"No thank you!" She proceeded to exit, seemingly upset.

"Hoh, she really never changes. And here I thought they'd be friends after coming in Avery."

"-wait, maybe that could work..."

<<----------->>

"This is... outside the room I was in—just yesterday."

"...that girl. I see."

*Rumble*

"What-!?"

"Careful—Carol!" Naoki shoved Astria, dodging an incoming horde.

Afterward, a stampede of various monsters appeared—going past the two, like they were afraid of something.

"They're fleeing...?"

*Howl*

A loud howl could be heard in the entire forest, shaking the trees. It seems that it was the one that scared the monsters away.

"That's the direction that..."

"...Dorothy! She must be in trouble right now! Let's go Naoki!" Astria exclaimed, she immediately rushed towards the sound.

"Right!"

They pressed on, it seems that it was quite a distance away. Nonetheless, they both used all of their Soul Nodes to maximize their speed. While Dorothy was the strongest in their group, she was still alone.

Will they reach her in time? only fate could tell.