บท 170: Ais: Will you leave me…

Chapter 170: Ais: Will you leave me…

18th Floor of the Dungeon, Night.

Luke sat alone in the open space.

Even on a safe floor, someone still needed to keep watch at night.

Luke, who was sitting here at the moment, had just taken over the night watch duty from Ais.

The recovery of Alise and the others was basically within his prediction.

If they maintained this recovery speed, they would definitely be able to set off and return to the surface in about two days.

Pitter-patter, pitter-patter--!

Just as Luke was keeping watch and letting his mind wander, the sound coming from the tent not far away caught his attention.

Within two seconds, he saw Ais walk out of the tent.

"Hmm? Ais, didn't you go to sleep?"

"...Can't sleep."

The blond-haired girl walked over to his side, sat down, and leaned against him.

Ais herself didn't know what was going on.

Ever since she entered the dungeon this time and confirmed Luke's true strength, her inner emotions had been unable to settle down.

Looking at the somewhat depressed girl, Luke didn't know what was going on, but Ais had already been in this state once during the day.

So he still knew how to solve the problem.

He reached out and held Ais in his arms, then he gently stroked the girl's head and asked her:

"Why can't you sleep?"

"...I don't know."

Ais leaned against his arms, and her originally unhappy expression gradually returned to normal.

"Then let me ask you in a different way."

"When did you start feeling unhappy?"

Luke didn't stop patting the blond girl's head.

Holding Ais in his arms and stroking her head felt like stroking a kitten.

Ais was very well-behaved and obedient in front of Luke.

The two were always so peaceful and harmonious when they were together.

However, this warm atmosphere didn't last long before it was broken by Ais's next sentence.

"It started when you were holding Ryuu in the tent."

Almost all of Ais's current knowledge acquisition came from Riveria, Luke, and the teaching of several other high-ranking members of Loki Familia.

None of them, except Loki, would specifically teach Ais these sorts of things.

Actually, there is nothing that can be done about it.

Who would have thought that these high-ranking members of one of the strongest Familia in Orario were still single themselves?

Compared to Finn and the others, Luke can be considered to be quite experienced.

Regarding Loki, who alone might have been able to enlighten Ais on this matter, she remained silent, holding back her words due to some 'unspeakable' thoughts.

As a result, Ais still had no understanding of the relationship between men and women.

And because of her trust in Luke, Ais, who knew nothing about this aspect, had no intention of hiding her thoughts at all.

So, she directly choked him half to death with just one sentence.

"Uh..."

Luke's whole body froze, and the hand that was patting the girl's head also stopped in mid-air.

"That... Ais... about this matter..."

"Hmm?"

"Well... No, it's nothing."

Luke looked at her innocent look and didn't know how to explain it.

He originally thought that she was depressed because of the deaths of the girls from Astraea Familia, after all, those girls had a pretty good relationship with both of them.

Or maybe it was because she discovered his hidden strength and felt sad about being deceived.

As a result, what Luke never expected was that Ais was actually... jealous?

"When Ryuu just woke up today, I was just comforting her."

"After experiencing such a tragic situation, it's inevitable to lose control of her emotions."

Anyway, Luke thought he still needed to explain.

He really didn't have any other intentions at that time, he was simply comforting a friend who had fallen into despair.

"Hmm, I know."

Ais looked at Luke and nodded inexplicably.

Of course, she knew that Luke was comforting Ryuu.

Ais, who had a good relationship with the elf girl, didn't think there was anything wrong with his actions.

But the problem was that she couldn't understand why she felt depressed because of a normal action.

As silence fell, the atmosphere gradually became awkward…

Luke had no idea how to 'educate' Ais about this kind of knowledge.

He couldn't just tell the girl directly, 'You're feeling jealous'.

But without his explanation, Ais obviously couldn't understand this matter on her own.

And Riveria, who could explain this sort of problem to her, wasn't here at the moment.

Having no other choice, the troubled Luke finally decided to change the subject.

He planned to leave this problem to the trusty mama elf to solve after they returned.

"Did you feel sad because you saw Ryuu crying so sadly?"

Luke's words made Ais fall into deep thought.

She touched the position of her heart with her hand, as if hoping to understand her inner feelings in this way.

After a moment, the girl replied to Luke with some hesitation:

"It seems... there is such a feeling?"

"Her friends died, so she's very sad..."

The brief thought made Ais recall the tragic encounter of the girls from Astraea Familia.

"Luke, will you die too?"

"Will you leave me like my father and mother?"

The girls' deaths brought back memories buried deep in her heart.

Ais stared at Luke with a tense face, feeling very nervous inside.

"To be honest, I don't know either."

But Luke's answer made the girl's face darken at once.

"After all, I can't predict the future. Maybe next year, next month, or even tomorrow, I might die..."

"I don't want that!"

Before Luke could finish speaking, Ais's outburst interrupted him.

"I don't want you to die!"

"I want you to stay by my side forever..."

Luke looked at the girl, who was curled up in his arms, shivering as if she had thought of something terrible.

In the end, he sighed helplessly.

"So be it then."

"I promise I won't die."

"Eh?!"

Luke's compromising words made Ais raise her head in surprise.

"Really... you won't die?"

"Yes, I promise I won't die."

Luke first smiled and affirmed her question before continuing, "But in return, you have to promise me to make yourself happy."

"...As long as I'm happy, Luke won't die?"

Perhaps because she couldn't fully understand the meaning of his words, Ais's conclusion shifted in a subtle direction.

Her strange statement made Luke laugh.

But, looking at her serious expression, Luke touched her head and said with a smile, "Yes, as long as you are happy, then I won't die."

Hearing this, Ais's smile returned, and she firmly remembered these words in her heart.

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