IPDT 17

“Your face is red. Is it because our lips bumped?”

“…”

“Don’t be embarrassed. I liked it!”

“…You liked it?” Yul asked, covering his lips.

I nodded and smiled brightly.

“Yup yup. I didn’t know, but I think I like kissing you. Do you dislike it?”

“…”

After a moment’s hesitation, Yul gave a small shake of his head. The displeasure I had felt from realizing there was a Yul I didn’t know vanished as if washed away.

If Yul doesn’t dislike it either, then I can kiss him whenever I want now. I smiled softly and kissed the back of Yul’s hand that was covering his mouth. Yul’s shoulders jumped with a start. Ugh, so cute. I held onto Yul and didn’t let him go until he muttered “don’t” in a voice that was barely a whisper.

Night came quickly to the volcanic island. I went with Yul to the lodging the dwarf chief had prepared for us. The lodging, made of stacked stones, could have been hot, but with the addition of dwarven technology, it maintained just the right temperature. It was obviously not as good as my lair, but it was an okay place to stay for a few days.

After eating, I decided to treat Yul’s wounds. I tore off the medicinal herbs I had brought from the elf village and put them in my mouth. As always, they were bitter and tasteless. After chewing a few times with a sour face, I placed the well-mashed herbs on the wound.

The wound from the arrow was almost healed and seemed like today would be the last day I needed to check on it. The wound on his palm was still deep, so it looked like I’d need to monitor its progress a bit longer.

I narrowed my brow as I looked at Yul’s palm. I wondered just how hard he had gripped the arrowhead, and I was worried that it might leave a scar. Of course, I could get rid of something like a scar… but it would have been better if he hadn’t gotten hurt in the first place. As I was sighing, huu, in lament, Yul’s head suddenly rested on my shoulder.

“Huh?”

But the cheek touching my shoulder was hot. I whipped my head around to look at Yul.

“Yul, you have a fever.”

I quickly placed a hand on his forehead and felt a warm heat. It was certain that he had a fever. Moreover, it wasn’t just his forehead; his nape and cheeks were also flushed red. Is he sick again? As I grew anxious, Yul quietly rubbed his head against me.

“Yeah. I have a fever.”

“Should I go grab a human healer? Or maybe Lauren…”

I was really about to go grab Lauren, but Yul suddenly grabbed my wrist.

“Stay by my side.”

“If you’re sick, I’m no help… I can protect you, but I can’t make you better.”

“I’ll be okay if you’re here.”

Yul buried his face deep into the crook of my neck. His hot forehead met my cool skin and became lukewarm.

“It’s cool.”

Is he not that sick? I hesitantly observed his condition, then carefully touched Yul’s hair. Yul quietly accepted my touch and then fell asleep.

When morning came, Yul woke up with a clean face as if he had never been sick. Just in case, I placed a hand on his forehead, but there was no fever either.

“You’re really okay, right?”

Yul, who nodded, leaned his cheek against my hand. Then he quietly closed his eyes, looking so cute it was lethal. To the point where I wanted to give him a big bite! But since I couldn’t actually bite him, I pressed my lips to the bridge of his nose and then pulled away.

I just smiled as I saw his black eyes widen in surprise. At that, Yul quickly averted his gaze, then soon looked back at me.

“Oh.”

This time, Yul pressed his lips to my palm. Without taking his eyes off me. Stunned by Yul’s unexpected reaction, I then broke into a wide smile.

“Yul, you wanted to kiss me too, huh?”

As I brought my head close to Yul’s face, my own face was reflected in his dark pupils. I could see that my green eyes were curved in pleasant crescent shapes.

“You’re allowed to. Because I’m going to do it whenever I want to, too.”

Smooch. I pressed my lips to the bridge of Yul’s nose once more. Yul, who had been still, copied me and pressed his lips to the bridge of my nose, then bared his teeth. He bit the tip of my nose firmly.

“Ouch. This isn’t a kiss.”

I clutched my nose and looked at Yul with eyes full of betrayal. Yul, who let out a small laugh, soon smiled brightly. The corners of his lips rose in a refreshing curve, and his eyes half-closed. At the sight of that face, I averted my gaze without realizing it. …I guess I can forgive him for biting my nose. It didn’t seem like he bit me to attack me.

As I stared at Yul’s smiling face, I ended up bursting into laughter too. It felt like it had been a long time since I had laughed so brightly.

After breakfast, I planned to go to the open space with Yul. Not to spar again, but this time I intended to teach him how to use mana. Based on my continued observations, it seemed Yul didn’t know how to handle mana.

“Huh?”

As I opened the door of the lodging to leave, I saw someone standing in front of the door. It was the dwarf chief.

“Why are you here, Chief?”

“There is something I must report. The people of my tribe said they wish to hold a festival for you, Mr. Balancer.”

I looked at the chief’s wrinkled face with narrowed eyes. A festival for me? Hmph. Did he think I wouldn’t know the dwarves’ ulterior motive of wanting to throw a drinking party using me as an excuse?

The dwarves didn’t just like alcohol; they were a race that loved it. So, whenever they had a chance, they would drink themselves silly, claiming it was ‘so-and-so’s birthday’ or ‘so-and-so’s anniversary’. It’s the same this time, too. I snorted and was about to pass by when my gaze suddenly went to Yul.

“…?”

As I stared at him, Yul tilted his head. He had a look on his face as if he had no idea why I was staring at him.

But I couldn’t take my eyes off Yul. It wasn’t for any other reason but the weapon for him. The weapon that I had asked the chief to make, one that ‘only Yul can use’. I put a hand to my forehead.

If I say I don’t need a festival, the chief will be offended, right? Then he might throw a fit and say he can’t make the weapon, or he might make the weapon carelessly, not to the best of his ability. That absolutely could not happen. It was for Yul, not anyone else, so not even a small flaw could be allowed.

I turned my head to look at the chief. The chief, with his small and stout body, had his chest puffed out proudly.

Right, it might be better if a drinking party is held. A drunk chief might suddenly get a flash of inspiration. And if I give Yul alcohol too… will Yul get drunk too? My thoughts suddenly jumped to a strange place.

“Great, a festival! It’s happening this evening, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m going with Yul.”

“Excellent.”

The chief readily agreed. Well, the chief did like having a lot of people at drinking parties. Said it was more boisterous and fun, or something?

I smiled vacuously and knelt down in front of the chief. I wanted to give a good opportunity to the chief who had created a chance for me to drink with Yul.

“Chief, I was just on my way to the open space with Yul. I’m going to teach Yul how to handle mana today.”

“You yourself will, Mr. Balancer?”

“Yeah. Want to come and watch? An opportunity like this doesn’t come easily.”

The chief was the type to be quick and decisive in his considerations. Nodding his head emphatically, the chief answered in a gruff voice.

“Excellent.”

As I straightened my bent knees and stood up, Yul looked at me with somber eyes. He seemed to be in a very good mood just a moment ago, but now it seemed closer to ‘not good’. Why? Gasp, could it be that his fever is back?

“Yul, wait a moment.”

I quickly placed my hand on Yul’s forehead. As I stood still and checked his temperature, no matter how hard I focused, I couldn’t feel any heat. It didn’t seem like he had a fever, so why did his mood worsen?

As I tilted my head and removed my hand, Yul’s expression had changed a bit. The gloomy emotion that had settled over him seemed to have melted away.

“Are you okay?”

Yul nodded at my careful question. Huu, I guess it was nothing. His expression was slightly indifferent like usual, and his black eyes sparkled like obsidian. I smiled as I took Yul’s hand.

“Let’s go.”

As I took a step with Yul, I realized I had momentarily forgotten the chief’s presence. I belatedly gestured to the chief.

“Chief, you follow behind me.”

No sooner had my words ended than Yul’s grip on my hand tightened.

“Today, I’m going to teach you about mana.”

I said, looking at the chief and Yul in turn, who were sitting in the open space.

“Yul, do you know what mana is?”

Yul pressed his lips firmly together. It seemed that not only had he never used mana, but he also had no knowledge of it. I turned my head toward the chief.

“Chief?”

“Mana is ‘the power that maintains the balance of the world’. If you gather it in your heart and process it into a form you imagine, it becomes magic, and if you make it reside in an object through a magic circle, it becomes an artifact.”

“That’s right. To add to what the chief said, if you imbue a sword with mana, an aura called ‘auror’ is created. This means that once you know how to use mana, it becomes useful in many ways. But it’ll be hard to understand what I mean if I just say it like this.”

Yul stared at me blankly. I grinned and clapped my hands. At that, dust-like particles in the air around me began to glow with a golden light.

“To put it simply, mana is like this dust here. When these dust particles are scattered, they can’t exert any power. But what happens if they are gathered like this and given an impact?”

I stretched one hand straight out in front of me. The mana floating in the air gathered into a round ball on my hand. I flicked the mana, which had gathered to a suitable size. Once the golden mass of mana reached a certain altitude, it exploded. Pop.

“It becomes a powerful force.”

“That is correct. If they just learn how to use it properly, not only humans, but even the elves would not dare to challenge them. What would a race that only knows how to shoot some arrows know.”

The chief nodded his head in agreement. The dwarves were bitter enemies with the elves even ten thousand years ago, and it seemed they still disliked them. I looked at the chief, who was snorting so hard his neatly braided beard was shaking, and then approached Yul.

“Yul, what do you think? Don’t you want to try using this thing called mana?”

“…”

Yul, who had been looking at the chief, turned his head to look at me. Then, he answered without hesitation.

“I want to use it.”

“Good. Then close your eyes.”

I covered Yul’s eyes with my hand. Yul seemed to have closed his eyes, as his eyelashes tickled the inside of my palm.

“Close your eyes and imagine that you are feeling the flow that touches your skin. If you concentrate quietly, you will surely feel something.”

How long had I been covering Yul’s eyes? Suddenly, Yul’s fingertips trembled with a start. As if he had felt something.

“Do you feel it?”

Yul gave a small nod. It was astonishing. No matter how much I was helping him, to feel mana this quickly. As expected of the human I chose. I barely suppressed the urge to jump up and down and let my voice out softly.

“If you feel it, try to imagine gathering it in your heart.”

No sooner had my words ended than I felt the mana floating in the air gather toward Yul. My eyes widened. It was because of the color of the mana that faintly rose around Yul’s body.

“Ooh…”

The chief let out the exclamation of awe that I wanted to. I covered my mouth and stared at him. Yul’s mana color was also black. Had I ever seen black mana in my life? No, not once.