I Can’t Run Away From the Girl Who Saved Me

171 – A Short Break (1)

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Night has come again.

Another day of moving forward at a frightening speed has come to an end.

As I was lighting the bonfire with Pia’s help, I suddenly realized that this was the seventh time I had seen this bonfire.

It’s already been a week since we left the cabin and started trekking through the forest.

I raised both hands, washed my face dry, and let out a short sigh.

“Ha, already…”

Looking back on the past week, it has honestly been very different from what I expected.

I thought there would be many dangers on the journey to the Demon King, but surprisingly there were no major threats.

The bear that almost killed me a long time ago was now something I could defeat on my own, and Sylvia and Alice were so strong that there was no need for me to step forward.

Especially after Sylvia set out first and paved the way, I saw far more dead monsters than living ones.

However, there was a problem I hadn’t anticipated, and that was the limitations of my physical strength.

Even though Sylvia defeated all the monsters and Alice protected them from being contaminated by magic, the journey through the forest was a series of difficult and painful hardships in itself.

The blisters on my feet kept popping and forming over and over again, and a dull pain throbbed in every joint from my head to the tips of my toes.

Sister Alice quietly watched me gasp for breath and treated the blisters and abrasions on my feet without saying a word, but she never slowed down her hurried steps as if urging me to hurry.

If I hadn’t trained hard with Sylvia to build up my stamina, I would have definitely fallen before I could fight.

I muttered as I slumped to the floor.

“Oh, I’m dying.”

There was no answer in return.

Even though I walked so hard today, I still couldn’t keep up with the distance Sylvia had walked.

Sister Alice, as always, went out to search the area for a while to check if there was anything dangerous.

As I sat quietly by the campfire alone, I suddenly realized that my appearance looked unfamiliar and I let out a hollow laugh.

“Look at me, just a few months ago I was so scared of the night, and now I’m waiting for it to come every night.”

If I were me now, I wouldn’t be chased like crazy by a bear.

No, I don’t think anyone would suffer such serious injuries in a carriage accident in the first place.

I nodded slowly and muttered softly.

“If things have changed this much in just a few months, what would it be like in a few years…”

Honestly, I still haven’t been able to get used to Alice’s changed appearance.

The Alice I remember was a strict but shy little lady, but she is not like that at all now.

But even I was already very different from the moment I entered this forest.

Humans tend to change as they experience events.

The bigger the incident, the greater the change will naturally be.

And it was clear that in this world heading towards destruction, there would be no more small incidents.

I blankly raised my head.

“Ash,”

Pia was standing there with her face right in front of me.

I said calmly.

“I was surprised, Pia.”

“I don’t think you’re that surprised.”

“I didn’t feel like being surprised.”

“You must be very tired. What should I do…”

Pia looked at me with an anxious expression.

I already knew what she wanted.

This is something that has been happening repeatedly for the past few days.

I said, spreading my arms naturally.

“are you okay.”

“…really?”

“huh.”

Pia hugged me carefully.

Pia sat on top of my legs as I leaned against the tree with my back to her, hugging me tightly like a puzzle piece and leaning her face against the nape of my neck.

I gritted my teeth against the pain that was to come.

Shut,

Pia bit the back of my neck and slowly began to suck my blood.

It was something I was used to, since I had been repeating it for the past three days.

“Now that I look at it, it wasn’t a fox, it was a vampire.”

“It’s not a fox or a vampire, it’s a spirit.”

“A blood-sucking spirit? That’s a fairy tale you should never tell children.”

“I can’t help it, Ash is using my power recklessly, but he has nothing to give me.”

As Pia said, I’ve been using spirit magic for the past few days.

Actually, I still don’t know exactly how it was done.

Just like a few weeks ago when I teleported to my childhood home in Goldfield, I just asked Pia if she could do this or that.

Pia made my steps lighter, softened the worn-out soles of my shoes, and lightened the weight of my armor by blowing air between it and my body.

Of course, it goes without saying that he was active in several battles.

It was so unfamiliar because it was a completely different type of sorcery from magic, but if you use the spirit magic properly, it must be a very useful technique.

Of course, this also has its limits, and it was said that it was impossible to request teleportation to the Demon King’s Castle or to Sylvia.

What is the standard for what is replaceable and what is not?

It would be nice to know everything that was possible in the first place, but there was no way to find out other than asking Pia, “Is this possible?”

Even if I asked her too many questions, Pia would get angry and say that I thought she was a wish-granting machine, so I couldn’t ask her many questions.

“The absence of a teacher is so painful.”

“huh?”

“If the green lady hadn’t taught me even a little bit, I would have never been able to do anything in my life.”

“Ugh-”

Pia grumbled, sinking her teeth into the back of my neck.

Thanks to that, my blood spread all over the nape of my neck in the shape of Pia’s mouth.

I sighed and patted Pia on the back as if I was helping a child digest food.

Pia sucked a little more blood and then slowly fell away, rubbing the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Yeah, this is enough.”

Although I had been sucking blood for quite some time, I showed no signs of becoming anemic.

As the saying goes, she’s not a vampire, but surprisingly, the amount of blood Pia ate was very small compared to the amount of time it took.

To begin with, Pia’s diet was closer to sucking out the magic flowing through my blood rather than my blood itself.

Even this wasn’t something Pia told me, but something I learned from experience.

“Did you make other spirit sorcerers drink blood too?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen another spirit sorcerer.”

“How do other spirit magicians learn spirit magic in the first place?”

“From the spirit?”

I stared at Pia, who was speaking shamelessly.

Pia tilted her head curtly as if asking why she was looking at her.

“why?”

“… Even though you’re a spirit, you don’t know spirit magic.”

“Well, I don’t know, but what can I do? Ash has no other spirit than me.”

“…”

“Why, are you dissatisfied?”

Pia said, puffing out her cheeks.

I shook my head and patted Pia’s head.

“No, I’m glad there’s even a piara.”

“Even so?”

“I’m so glad I have Pia.”

“yes.”

Pia nodded and giggled.

After moistening my lips with the water bag and taking a short break, I still didn’t feel any sign of Sister Alice.

I carefully unbuttoned the pocket hanging from my waist and put my hand inside.

Then I slowly took out the items that were safely inside.

“How on earth do I use this?”

It was the necklace that Sister Alice had given to Malice at the cabin before they left.

“Sister Alice says it has the power to save people, but I have no idea how to use it. Do you think Pia knows something? It seems like it’s something related to spirit magic.”

“Even spirits can’t bring the dead back to life.”

“It’s not like Pia can’t do it?”

“Whether it’s a person, an animal, a tree, grass, or a spirit, the dead cannot be brought back to life.”

“You’re too decisive.”

The image of Layla flashed through my mind.

Now I’ve become so numb that I can’t even feel sadness, but the sight of me burning Layla with my own hands after she woke up as an undead will probably never be forgotten.

I muttered softly.

“I know that too.”

Bringing the dead back to life,

That is the realm of sorcery and magic.

However, undead are never human.

Can never become human.

“I can see traces of some other spirit…”

Pia pricked up her ears and sniffed the necklace with her nose.

As Pia approached, it seemed as if she could see Leila for a moment.

Suddenly, I remembered what I had heard from Sylvia about Sister Maria’s theory that magic follows the shape of a person’s soul.

I think maybe Pia’s transformation from a fox to a girl was due to my longing for Layla.

Looking at it that way, Pia’s appearance was fixed as that of a girl around Layla’s age.

Even though I fed it blood for the past few days, it hasn’t grown any further.

ah,

I thought I had overcome a lot by now, but without Sylvia and Alice by my side, I still find myself ruminating on Leila like this.

I watched Pia wagging her tail as if concentrating, and barely resisted the urge to pet her.

Then he slowly asked Pia back.

“Uh… really?”

“Yeah, but something feels different. It’s definitely something connected to spirits, but it doesn’t smell like spirits.”

“…Well, at least if you feel that way about Malice’s things, then it must be true that he is a spirit sorcerer.”

“Of course it is true, the green lady said so. The spirits don’t lie, Ash.”

“You tried to throw a rock at Sylvia while she was sleeping last time, but I caught you and you denied it.”

“It is not a stone, but a pebble of justice.”

“So what on earth are you talking about?”

I sighed and put the necklace back in my pocket.

Pia muttered as she watched the necklace disappear into her pocket.

“Something… Rather than being a tool to save people…”

“huh?”

“It looks more like a tool to trap spirits…”

“… Huh?”

.