Chapter 115 - Kiss?
On the way to the carriage, in the beginning, no words were exchanged between, Serena and John.
They kept close, as the air around john was warm, and made the blizzard more tolerable, the cloak with the hoodie also helped.
The one who broke the Awkward silence, was serena
"Hey john" She called out
"Yeah?" John replied
"W-When, I said I didn't care... that was a lie..." She muttered
Hearing this, john began trembling while trying to hold back his laugh
"Sorry What was that? Pf-" He asked
"I said, I lied, about not caring..." She said
John thought that serena would get mad but instead, she looked down. Seeing this, john felt bad
"Hm, that's fine, I don't mind at all. Not too far from your daily behaviour." John said casually
"Hey!! I really felt bad!" She said, now annoyed
Seeing this, john let out a chuckle, before he gave her a pat and said
"I know that you don't mean any of that. Did you actually think anyone believed it?" John asked with a smile
Serena who was having her head, patted, slowly pushed john's hand away and turned to the direction of the carriage. But when she did, john suddenly placed his hand on her forehead.
"Hmm, it doesn't look like you have a fever..." He muttered
John noticed that serena's face was a bit red, and was worried that she might have had a fever.
"Wha-wha-wh- I-Im fine..." Serena said as she moved his hand again
John wasn't sure if it was because of the way serena was acting, or if it was because of how he's started getting more conscious around her, but his sudden action, had made him embarrassed
And from the looks of it, Serena was too. But before he could think more about it, they reached the ice cube
"The carriage should be inside" said Serena as she cut open a hole using wind
As they entered, they found out that the horses and carriage were perfectly fine. The horses were drinking water, which John had left there for them.
"Alright, let's get everything, then get out of here"
Serena went on to the back of the carriage, and john followed being. She piled up everything they needed. A cooking pot, vegetables, master's favourite wine, and plates.
After everything, was in a pile, john slowly got up on the carriage, to get it, when all of the sudden, his leg bumped into something, causing him to fall straight on serena
As a soft sensation filled his head, john suddenly realised what had happened and raised his head.
"S-Sorry!" Said John with his eyes closed
Seeing as there was no reply, he opened his eyes, only to see, serena covering her eyes, with her fingertips, trying to hide how embarrassed and red her cheeks were
Because, they had both fallen, her hat slipped out a bit, he could see he cute pointy elf ears which were also red.
John continued to stare straight at her, without saying anything, he too was conscious of the situation and was starting to get red.
It was only them two, in the middle of a cold storm, by themselves, such a situation shouldn't be allowed to happen, but it did.
Since serena wasn't fighting back, before he even realised it, John was moving his face closer and closer to serena's
As he got closer, it felt as if time stilled. serena slowly moved her hands displaying her bright red cheeks, and a small frown formed over quivering silver eyes which stared straight at him. Seeing this, john's face got redder and redder.
He continued to move closer and as her small pink lips were just under his, a voice could be heard close to the carriage
"Boss was right, there was a giant ice cube here" Said a male voice
Hearing a voice, john suddenly sprung up, and realised what he had done.
"Ah..."
He didn't know what to say, but there was no need to. Serena slowly got up, and with her cheeks still red, she said "It's fine" Before jumping out of the carriage, and walking towards where the voice came from
John didn't know how to take that reply, did she dislike it and not mind since they were close friends? Did she like it? All these questions popped up in his head, but he didn't have time to think about it.
The voice they heard didn't come from master, or Ariel, or master's brother. Was it bandits? John wasn't too sure, but there was one thing he knew for sure. He regretted that it ruined his most likely best and only moment.
Serena herself didn't look too happy, as they both walked towards the end of the ice that the voice came from, John began to wonder if it was because of what he had done.
He decided to worry about it after he sorted this out.
As they approached the other side of the cube, a circle was suddenly cut open in it, and 4 guys came inside. The 4 were wearing heavy winter clothes and had their faces covered with goggles
"Oh... Look at what we have here..." Said the same male voice
It sounded like it belonged to an old man
"The boss will be proud once we show him this" Said another male voice
Another old man
"What are you kids doing out here in the cold?" Asked the first guy
Without saying anything, john just glared at him. During the trip, they encountered bandits around 5 times, and boss both quickly and quietly dealt with them
"Oioi, that's not a nice look you have there kid, relax, we just want your things, we'll spare you at least, I don't know about her though... She'd sell for a lot, as a slav-"
The moment he mentioned that word, John's eyes became clouded in darkness as he muttered "posession". And in that moment, a dark cube covered the guy's whole body
"W-What's happening? G-Get me out of here!" Shouted the guy from inside of the cube
The other three were starting to panic
"O-Oh S*** We messed with the wrong guy, I-I'm out!" Said one of them as he ran back out of the hole
The other two, followed behind, Serena was going to stop them, but john let them go. He didn't want to kill them in front of Serena, but he planned on paying a visit to their base as thanks for what they had done.
"Now what should I do with you..." Asked john
The ice melted and the darkness dispersed, the guy in the cloak was trembling, he looked scared out of his mind. John didn't look like he cared, his eyes were dark, like any sympathy or kind emotion he had was gone.
Seeing this serena felt worried, but decided not to mention it.
"Go back to your boss" John said with a smile
"A-A-I-I'll tell H-Him what h-happened, j-just you wait, y-you kids are dead!" He said before running out
John simply waved at him with the same smile
"Are you sure we should let them go?" Asked Serena
"It's fine, I'm sure they won't cause us any trouble" Replied John
The darkness which was around john's eyes, disappeared, he cancelled possession. It turns out he can freely use it, but the reason he collapsed was something that was supposed to happen after doing the trial.
Serena didn't think it was a good idea to let them go, but she decided to listen to john.
"I'll go get the things..." Said John as he pointed towards the carriage
Without saying anything serena nodded, her face was still red, john was really starting to wonder if she really wasn't sick
She was staggering while walking, just to make sure, john walked over to her again and placed his hand over her forehead, when all of the sudden, she collapsed
"Serena? Oi Serena?" Asked john
Her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavily, it looked like she really did catch a cold. But how? He kept everything warm...
His heal spell can't heal fevers, but if she was just sick, it should get better over time, as long as it's nothing serious.
He placed her on his back and muttered "Hold on"
Hearing this, Serena slowly grabbed on to him. After he made sure, it was fine. He got up, lifted up the cooking supplies using wind, and walked straight towards the cave.
It was too risky to be using levite, with serena in this condition, so walking was the best option. John also made sure to cast levite on the supplies making it easier to move around with wind.
When he finally reached the cave, he called out to master
"Master, is there any medicine for the cold?"
"I'll need to check" Said master before teleporting away
Ariel who was still playing with magic, sprung up when she saw serena and made a mat for her to lie down on.