It was pitch black. The cold water that pierced my entire body was stealing my body heat in an instant. She didn't know how deep she had sunk into the water, and more importantly, it was as if she couldn't even feel up and down.
　She didn't know which way to swim or which was the surface of the water.

　Still, she didn't panic, probably because the only thing waiting for her if she didn't move beyond the impact of being slammed into the water was death.

　Most of all, right now, in the water, Tesfia's hands weren't grabbing him when they should have fallen together, and he was impatient about that.

''Hah, hah, hah........''

　Tesfia, who managed to get to the surface of the water with the help of the moonlight, immediately took a deep breath and turned back to that darkness again. Tesfia appeared near a waterfall basin with a large amount of misty droplets, and Tesfia couldn't find his - Ars - figure.

　Then Tesfia dived in the pitch blackness. As time passes, the fear that comes at you and the cold premonition that rises in the core of your body. Still in the dark, she continued to search.
　Tesfia's vision, which was desperately searching with her thin eyes open, was not exactly the role that her eyes were meant to play. This is because there is no difference in the color you can see whether your eyes are open or closed, it is a dark color.

　However, when Tesfia suddenly closed her eyes, it was indeed visible. It was a contradiction in terms of visibility even though the eyes were closed.
　The deep water bottom created by the falling water. The vast amount of water that had accumulated there.
　The vivid light mixed with that water and I felt like I was sinking into a sea of stars. At one point in time, it was difficult to tell whether my eyes were open or closed.

　You can feel a variety of grains of light covering the entire area. It was unmistakably none other than the rush of Ars's magical power. When I turned my head to the source of the outbreak, the one that emitted the strongest light was submerged at the bottom of the water.


　After scooping it up from the bottom of the water, Tesfia scooped it up and took it straight to the riverbank. She goes up first and pulls Ars up by pulling on her water-sucking clothes.

''Al, Al!

　He put his ear to his chest and checked his breathing, and shortly after that, Ars spat out water and seemed to open his eyes thinly in anguish.
　However, that interrupted consciousness pulled him into the depths again.

''What do I do...!

　Along this riverside where the moonlight barely shines, Tesfia looks around with a face that looks like she's about to cry. If a demon were to attack us now, we would be eaten for sure.
　It's a good thing that the current Ars and Tesfia are soaking wet in this cold weather. Even if they don't get eaten by the demons, they will eventually....

　The thing that caught Tesfia's gaze as she desperately turned her head was a certain strange scene. As if guided, Tesfia raised her chin and followed the strange light.
　The light source was not the moon.
　At the tops of the highest mountains in the entire area visible ahead, along with the flame-like lights, a dense magical power that was so dense that even space seemed to be distorted was gathering. It was as if it itself was emitting light, just like the magic power of Ars that I saw in the water just now.

''What, what........'' unconscious reaction to the strange phenomenon that spilled out of the pothole.
　But the reason why I guessed it was not a very good thing is because I felt that it was like a characteristic of this place called the outside world. It is a place where human knowledge cannot reach, and that is the second world, the outer world.

　With her petite body, Tesfia put Ars's arm around her shoulders and walked into the trees as she slowly pulled away. It was clear from her eyes that Ars had changed.
　Now she had to find a place to rest as soon as possible.



　After a while.
　The sound of crackling dead trees burning sounded softly in its place. Strangely enough, it was a hollow in the rock wall that Ars had suggested as a resting place. The only difference is that the place listed on the map as a candidate site is, in reality, only enough space for two people at most. The area around here is cluttered with large boulders, as if the rock wall had collapsed, and there are damp leaves and awkward pebbles underfoot.

　Tesfia held Ars in her arms and sought a place to rest in the back, weaving her way through the gap.

　When they reached it, the robe Tesfia must have been wearing was simply stopped at the entrance, perhaps to keep out the wind that was blowing.
　Gritting her teeth against the cold, Tesfia turned her attention in the small space to Ars, who lay next to her. His wet clothes were hanging on a clothesline assembled with branches to dry, or hooked to the protruding rock face of the wall.

　Now Tesfia was in a plain camisole and underwear. But Ars woke up once around the fire that had been magically made, and when he did, he uttered a breathless, "Don't do anything, it'll fit right in," and then closed his eyelids as if he were asleep.


　I wonder if she has warmed up somewhat. Confused, Tesfia bit her lip as she curled it up.

'I've only been saved...'

　Tesfia let out a small self-doubt while holding her knees and falling on her face. Immediately after arriving here, she was relieved to be waist-deep in shattering, but she immediately scattered the magic crystals outside and tried to avoid leaving any traces of magic power behind. At that time, she also picked up a dead tree for the fire.


　''Al!'' I heard Ars moan, and then reflexively, I heard him say, "I'm sorry, A distressed voice that leaked from his trembling throat.
　Tesfia, who was peeking out to cover up, took another look at Ars's condition into her field of vision. The tips of his hands were aimed at his body, holding him down as if he were holding on to something.
　Tesfia rolled up her clothes and saw........

'The blood hasn't stopped!　And my body is cold!

　Don't worry, he said, but by all accounts it was nothing short of extraordinary.
　When he instantly took off his clothes, the countless scars running across his body ran painfully. The reason for blocking Tesfia's hand to take it off must have been to hide this.

　It was unwise. Again, Tesfia grits her teeth and grips the clothes she made me take off tightly. There was no way that Ars, who had been protecting me in a bad way all along, could not be unharmed - there was no way he could be okay. The first-ranked magician is also a human being. No matter how much transcendent power he possesses, his body is unquestionably a human body.

　As if clinging to him, and as if asking a question, Tesfia is paragraphing on the lying Ars.

'Why won't you........tell me?'

　Pottery and her own disappointment wet Tesfia's eyes. She didn't know if she was trying to make her worry, or what Ars was thinking at any time.

　Immediately after, Tesfia looked up and forcefully wiped her eyes.
　She had to think. Yes, there is no way that Ars can tell me everything. That's just spoiled.

　So Tesfia thinks about what she can do now. No, she already knew what to do, and there was no hesitation in her mind. Her actions from that point onward were imbued with a determination that didn't make her feel hesitant or anxious.

'I can do it. I have to do it!

　Warming her hands, Tesfia takes a needle and thread for stitches from the sole of her shoe. She wipes Ars' wounds with the clothes she removed.

　--Al may have been fighting alone. Still, this time we're here as one unit -- one team. That's what Al said. It's what Al taught me........

　When the sensation in his biting hand had returned, Tesfia intentionally threaded the needles through Ars's cracked-looking wounds one by one while emitting a white breath.
　Each time, Tesfia struggled to hold her body down as it unconsciously cowered.

　How long had passed, and after carefully treating each one, Tesfia had just finished treating the last wound. Before she knew it, sweat appeared on her forehead and a thin breath of relief was let out.

''The blood has stopped bleeding and I'm probably okay.''

　Tesfia placed her hand on Ars's chest plate at one point.
　But--.

''Lie!　Why are you so cold!

　Yes, Ars's body temperature had dropped to an odd degree, and it was as cold as a rocky surface exposed to the wind.
　He clasped Ars's face between his hands, but the blood was still gone and he was still pale.

''The fire!'' And when she turns around, there is no sign that the flames of the campfire have diminished, and the dead wood that she picked up is well-lit.

　Tesfia stands up, holds her forehead and looks down to think. What should I do in a situation like this? The wrinkles between her eyebrows give her a pained look.
　However, no matter how much you think about it, there is no good way to do it. No, there is probably no good method under the current circumstances. We can't do anything with the limited tools we have, and we don't have the knowledge of it. That's what I've found out. If we could get to Loki's bottom, we would still have the means to do it. That's also an unfulfilled wish.

　Then Tesfia looked down at Ars's face with concern.

''I'm not going to let that happen after I saved you so much, so I won't let you die.......!

　Grabbing the hem of the camisole with her crossed hands, Tesfia vigorously takes it off, followed by her arms around her back and her underwear. She wears as little extra as possible to warm up as quickly as possible. Then he threw on the larger robe of Ars that was hanging, and Tesfia covered him with the robe.

　Skin to skin, sharing body heat.
　With his whole body, Tesfia held the skin close to Ars's body to warm it. Is the small pulsating heartbeat really Tesfia's or Ars's...?
　Layering her cold body into one, Tesfia laid her own hand over Ars's and clenched it.