Chapter 16. A Cold Woman Melting Is Cute, and I Will Not Apologize

Chapter 16: 16. A Cold Woman Melting Is Cute, and I Will Not Apologize

Alicia came in from his blind side like a gold-haired streak. She had borrowed a crowbar from one of the wagons, and she brought it down on the bracket with all of her new strength.

The metal bent, then cracked, and the first clamp shot off into the trees.

The brute roared and spun toward her, and I stepped into the gap with my sword and took the blow meant for her.

BAAMMM!

"GUGGHH!" It hurt... by a fucking lot, and my left arm went numb to the elbow, but my feet stayed planted.

"NOOOOWWWWW!" I shouted.

Laura’s blade flashed one last time, and it slid cleanly between the second clamp and the plate.

STAANNGGG!

The metal snapped. The crystal fell out of its socket and hit the ground, and the blue light in the man’s armor went out like someone had blown on a candle.

ZWINGGGG~!

He looked down at his hands... feeling confused like a fucking dumbass, and then looked up at me.

"Feeling powerless now, are ya?"

BAM!

I hit him with the pommel of my sword so hard that he went down like a tree.

It was quiet for a long moment after that.

The surviving bandits took one look at their fallen boss, dropped their weapons, and scattered into the woods. A few of them got caught by Alicia on the way out, but most of them vanished into the undergrowth.

I didn’t have the energy to chase them. Or maybe I was too lazy because we just beat the boss?

I leaned on a trunk and breathed. And fuck... I can feel how my arm throbbed, it fucking hurts.

Alicia came over as fast as she could just to check me with her eyes and found nothing worse than bruises, and then she went to check on Martin, who was curled up under a cart with his hands over his head.

Laura started going through the pockets of the unconscious ones with grim efficiency.

By the time I got my wind back, the sun was a dull orange smear behind the trees. We made camp in a small clearing near a stream, and Alicia took charge of cooking while Martin sat nearby, shaking and apologizing for nothing in particular.

I went down to the water to rinse the blood off my sword.

The stream was clear and cold. I knelt on a flat rock, soaked a rag, and scrubbed the blade, trying not to think about how close the fight had been.

I’d survived because of three things... my own training, the stupid system that I covered as a curse that I’d been given, and two women who’d refused to let me do it alone.

A not gonna lie... It was a goddamn excellent combination, and for once I didn’t have a complaint about it.

The system did had a stupid name and an embarrassing job description, but it had also given me the tools I needed to protect everyone in that clearing, and I wasn’t going to waste any more time grumbling about that.

Sometimes... a main character has a ridiculous power up to make them iconic, and so... I’ll shut my fucking mouth about it.

But then... I heard footsteps behind me and didn’t turn around.

"Sit still," Laura said.

She knelt on the rock beside me with a roll of clean bandages in one hand and a small clay pot of ointment in the other. Her face was smudged with dirt, and her short blue hair was sticking up in odd places, but her eyes were as sharp as ever.

And I don’t know why... she looked more beautiful than ever. Maybe it’s because we’re this close, and this is the first time that it happened.

"I’m fine, you know?" I said. "Maybe give it to someone in need like Alicia or Martin."

"No... it’s clear that your left sleeve is soaked and in urgent need of some treatment."

I looked down... and wow, I didn’t know it was that bad.

Somewhere in the chaos... the mace had clipped my fucking forearm, and apparently the bleeding hadn’t stopped as quickly as I’d assumed. But to be honest, I didn’t think the pain was as bad as it looked.

"It looks worse than it is..."

"That is not an excuse."

"Oh, come on now... I didn’t want to slow us down."

"You should have told us." She took my arm in both hands and turned it over, frowning at the damage. "You hid it all through the fight, and I only noticed because you kept favoring that side."

"Wow... You sounded like Alicia there."

"Then perhaps you should start listening to both of us."

She worked without talking for a while... cleaning the wound, spreading ointment, and winding the bandage with quick, neat turns. With what she did to me right now... I can tell that she’s instantly a wife material for sure.

Imagine having a cheerful wife and a cold wife who cared nonstop for you. But then... there’s more to come.

Her hands were steady and gentle, and I found myself watching them more than I should have... The silence between us wasn’t awkward, and I was surprised by that.

It felt like the kind of quiet two people share after surviving something together.

"I thought you were just lucky," she said eventually.

"Sorry...?"

"When I first saw you in Dunmore." She kept her eyes on the bandage. "I thought you were a strong man who happened to arrive at the right moment."

"I didn’t expect you to be the kind of person who gives away his lunch or notices when a clerk is about to collapse... and even leaves the best position to someone else."

"Huh... I think Alicia’s the one who deserves the credit for the last part."

"She said she learned it from you."

"Naahhhh... clearly, she’s lying."

"She isn’t." Laura tied off the bandage and sat back. "You don’t like taking all the credit, do you?"

I thought about that for a minute, watching the water slide over the rocks. "Hahaha... well..."

"For most of my life I was too weak to help anyone," I said. "I spent years watching other people do the heroic things and wishing I could at least contribute... even if it’s just by a little."

"But now that I finally have the strength... I don’t want to turn into someone who only uses it on himself." I looked up at the sky. "That would feel like I’d wasted the wait... and what I was reaching for."

Laura looked at me for a long time. The cold had melted out of her face completely, replaced by something I couldn’t name but that... made my pulse trip a little.

"I think... I understand why Alicia trusts you so much," she said.

I leaned back on my good hand and gave her the grin I use when I’m trying not to look emotional. "Hahaha~! You know... If you wanted an excuse to hold my arm, you could have just asked, and I’ll give it to ya right away~!"

She let go like I’d burned her.

"I regret helping you."

"And yet... it was a beautiful bandage."

"I’m going to cut it off right now."

"Heh. You wouldn’t."

She stood up just to have one last look at my face, then she turned her back and walked toward the camp with her ears pink. Whoa there... I couldn’t see her face, but I saw her shoulders shake once, and I’d bet my second life that she was fighting a smile.

She’s cute... I know that cold women are cute when they start melting and finally show their true feelings.

...

After dinner, Laura went through the pockets of the bandit boss properly and found a bundle tied in oilcloth tucked inside his boot.

We gathered around the fire while she unwrapped it. Inside was a folded ledger sealed with the same jagged-circle mark we’d been seeing everywhere, along with several pages of shipping records.

She read through them with the firelight flickering across her face, and with each page... her expression got darker.

"These are... copies of the original caravan manifests," she said. "They list every crystal shipment that disappeared, and next to each one there’s a note that I haven’t seen before."

"Look here."

She turned the ledger toward us and pointed. Beside each entry was a date, and each date was a few days earlier than the actual departure.

"The routes... they were changed before they ever left," Alicia said slowly.

"Someone in Elarion told the bandits where the wagons would be." Laura’s voice was flat. "This... wasn’t a random robbery, but it was an inside job."

Martin made a small whimpering noise. "Y-yes...!"

"That’s what I told them," he said. "I told my supervisor three weeks ago, and the next day I was reassigned to a storage room..."

"That’s when I took copies and ran."

"What smart you were back there," I said.

"I wasn’t being smart... more like I was terrified."

"Same thing... usually."

Laura turned another page. "There’s more here... Several of the crystals were routed to a location outside Elarion’s official territory."

"A facility with no listed name, but only a number." She tapped the page. "Site Nine..."

"What’s Site Nine?" Alicia asked.

"I don’t know... But I know that no legitimate shipment goes to an unregistered location, and I know that someone in a position of authority approved this."