The sword princess' tale

Volume 3 Chapter 14 - Reunion

Before I knew it, I was lying down with my eyes gazing blankly at the ceiling. The darkness was overlapping with flickering orange light and I could hear the crackling of burnt woods. As memories returned completely as if rewinding a cassette, I sensed... warmth.

"This... place... Is...?" I whispered.

"The 19th Floor. Near the river where I found you." Someone answered.

...Eh...? I rotated my head and from the corner of my vision, a silhouette wavered before settling down right beside me. Once I looked to it, there was deep blue draped by a field of white with wrinkles, which were well defined and could be said as the main traits of cotton shirts and beyond it... was the color of skin shaded slightly darker and a pair of obsidian grey eyes nearly covered by jet black strands of hair.

"...Fei...?" I held my breath once I called out to him.

"...yeah. It's me, Princess." The youth replied.

Prin...cess...? Ugh. Suddenly my head was assaulted with pain and my cheeks felt unbreakable hot. I tried to get up but my vision swayed to the sides before dropping-

"You okay? Your fever is... no. Your illness relapsed again, huh?"

...ah... what... this warmth... I rolled my eyes up and I found myself being embraced by my childhood friend. The heat dazed me and for some reasons, an odd sense of shame exploded within me.

"Wh-wh-wh-what!? Uwaaaaa!! Th-this... that...! Umm..."

"Calm down. You're going to worsen your illness, Princess."

U...Uuu... He's right... B-but... this situation is just awkward and why am I feeling so embarrassed when I'm a guy!? Ah, wait. Technically, I'm a girl now but that's not the point!! Why is he calling me 'Princess' again?!

......

............

..................

"...I see... so there is an Asura and the Kerberos is roaming freely."

'What trouble we're having now.' Fei uttered from beyond the bonfire. He was gazing at the emptiness and complaining. Meanwhile, I was lying on the ground and I wore no clothes under the cloth covering my body. Of course I nearly screamed again when I found out my uniform was in ragtag states and my underwear was being dried above the bonfire but I had no energy to focus on being the straight man.

Also, where did he find this patched up cloth? It's a bit damp but something told me not to question its origin. Still... this reminded me of my first encounter with Fei. When did I ever see him doing the exact same thing again? I broke out a tiny laughter and Fei looked at me.

"What's wrong?"

"No... it's nothing."

"...just rest already. Your fever hasn't even receded."

Yes yes. I know that already. Even so, this guy is a real blockhead to not even notice why I laughed. Oh well, I don't think I can do anything in this state and being conscious is my current limit. As always, this odd illness eats my stamina and strength like a glutton.

Exhaling, I transferred my gaze to the dim ceiling with the color of dark oak brown. Many things happened and I was utterly disappointed about how I got myself distracted so easily. And it led me to this state which could bring anything from [Death Flag] to [Bad End] plus [Game Over] had Fei not found me.

"...ah... now I really want to cry."

"......you already did you know?"

Ha? I looked at Fei but he averted his eyes while saying.