Aether : Calraem

Chapter 19: Change in Route

"That should do it..." Elaine mumbled to herself as she administered the antidote to Hikari.

The crew took the entire morning but because of their numbers they found the herbs they were looking for. The problem was also the fact that they still had to fight beasts in the forest. Luckily, no one received any grave injuries and got off with light scratches. Nothing a health potion couldn't fix.

"How long do I have to stay?" Hikari asked.

Because they had taken some time Hikari had woken up from his sleep. He was now fully conscious of everything around him and was able to talk and see properly as well.

"J-Just u-until y-your fever g-goes down." She answered and then smiled at him.

Hikari blushed. This was a very cute woman. She was shorter than the average person but only by her a little. He first thought she was younger than him but he saw that there was definitely... a lot of development in a certain area around her chest.

Her eyes were like those of a cat, green with slit pupils that make her look otherworldly. She wore a white coat but Hikari could see her tail sticking out at the back. Hikari didn't know why, but the fact that she was a cat girl dressed as a doctor felt oddly familiar to him. Or maybe in a different outfit...

Then a thought came to mind. What is a cat?

"Uh... Elaine?" He called out to her.

"Y-Yeah?" She answered and turned around to look at him. It seems she was busy reading a book on medicine.

"What's a cat?" He asked.

"Hm? I-I don't th-think I-I've ever h-heard o-of th-that, before... You sh-should a-ask Alavara f-for help w-with th-that." She answered.

"O-Oh, okay." For some reason, the way she spoke made him nervous. His heart was racing very fast and he could feel his face redden. She really is cute...

Boom!

"Elaine! Elaine!" Kaizoku had kicked the door open again.

"Nyaaaaah!" She shouted before covering her mouth with her face reddening. "W-What's wr-wrong, C-Captain?!"

"Nothing." He answered. "I just think it's cute when do that." He was referring to her exclaiming 'Nyaaah!' Every time she was surprised.

She was blushing now. As a form of reflex she quickly turned back to her read further but she kept reading the same paragraph over.

"Captain. We still need to talk." Hikari said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Something important, right?"

"No need to sound so irritated about it!"

"I was busy helping with fan service here!" Kaizoku pointed at Elaine.

"Fan... What?" Hikari hadn't the faintest idea what Kaizoku was talking about.

"Never mind." He said and went to sit on a chair in front of the bed Hikari was on. Hikari sat straight up in response.

"Yesterday... I met a band of pirates..." He started.

"It's understandable. Sometimes, although very rare these days. Devil's Peak was considered the centre of the world. Travelling from one continent to another some pirates and sailors used it as a halfway point when travelling. But because it was later discovered to be bogus people stopped using it."

Hikari remembered that that pirate captain also said something about a halfway point.

"Say, Captain. How old is the Independence Fortnight tradition?"