Chapter 49: Warmth in the Cold
I tightened the last knot around Drane’s limp body and stepped back, brushing the dirt off my hands. The orc hung there, lifeless as a sack of grain, tied to the side of the mount.
[Rune, I might be out for a while.]
"Huh? Why?" I muttered under my breath.
[The reason I wanted Kuro dead is partly because he had a system. But I also have a theory to test. I’ll tell you once I confirm it.]
I frowned. "I see... be back soon."
[Off I go.]
[System shutting down temporarily.]
[All services from the system ’Nexar – The Warlord’s Carnal System’ are halted indefinitely.]
The last prompt blinked twice before fading away. I sighed and waved the glowing windows aside. The air suddenly felt quieter.
"You know," Lydia’s voice broke the silence, her tone flat but her lips hinting at a smile, "it’s creepy when you talk to the air like that."
I looked up, meeting her eyes over the mount’s back. "Oh, it’s just Nexar," I said.
She tilted her head, strands of her brown hair catching the moonlight. "And what’s he saying?"
I rubbed the back of my neck, trying not to look too suspicious. I definitely couldn’t tell her that most of our ’discussions’ were just me and Nexar calling each other names.
"He said he’ll be gone for a while... but didn’t say why."
"Oh..." she said softly, still skeptical about how all this work. She didn’t press it further.
"You done over there?" I asked, checking my things. Katana at my waist, pouch tied securely, all good.
"Yup," she said. And then, before I could even blink, she jumped, light as a cat, onto the mount’s back.
The moon caught her hair for a second, and I had to stop myself from staring.
She looked too composed for someone who’d spent the day interrogating orcs and nearly getting killed.
I took a deep breath and climbed up behind her, carefully.
No leaping for me. I have a feeling this mount won’t be as generous with me if I leap on to it like Lydia.
The mount groaned a little under the shift of weight. Lydia glanced back over her shoulder, a teasing smirk on her lips.
"Are you sure you don’t need to rest tonight?" she asked. Her voice was soft, but there was that familiar hint of concern hiding in it.
"Lady, I slept for nine hours," I said with a grin. "I’m more worried about you. You’ve had a long day."
After all that silver dust, betrayal, and torture sessions... I wouldn’t mind if she wanted to rest and start tomorrow.
"Oh, I’m fine," she said lightly, though the little twist in her smile told me otherwise. Then she added, slyly, "After all, you’ll take the reins if I get sleepy, won’t you?"
I let out a short laugh. "Nah. We’ll just walk."
She shook her head, chuckling softly as the mount began to move.
"By the way... how long do we have until Merin shows up?" Lydia asked, her voice barely cutting through the cold wind.
The night had grown sharper, the kind that bit into your bones. I thought I could handle it, even though shirtless, sitting behind her on the mount, but damn... this body didn’t have much fat or muscle to fight the chill. My teeth were on the verge of chattering.
"I think we still have about five days!" I shouted over the wind. "Merin’s top brass in SBV, and her home branch is in the capital. She’ll need to report and get a permit before taking a subjugation quest!"
The words came out louder than I meant, but the wind ate most of them anyway. I tried to sound steady, to hide the shaking in my voice, but even I could hear the faint tremor in it.
"You’re cold, aren’t you?" she called back, catching it immediately.
"A little..." I lied.
She turned her head slightly, her hair whipping back, and gave me that look. The one that said don’t even try.
"I’m sorry," she said softly. "I couldn’t find any shirt for you..."
Understandable... Drane and Rack never wore shirts, and Kuro’s sleeves had been torn to shreds in the rubble. Not like we had many choices.
"I’ll slow down," she said, concern coloring her tone.
"No, no," I replied quickly. "Don’t. It’s just a little cold. I’ll manage."
"Yeah, sure..." she said, mocking me lightly. The way her voice curved around the words made me smile, even as the wind cut through my skin.
I was a fucking warlord! No way this cold gonna slow me down!!
.....
Ok... maybe.. just a bit..
Still, it bugged me. I at least had my full leather pant covering my lower half. She was sitting in front of me, just a skirt and that makeshift cloth wrapped around her, almost as bare as I was. And yet she didn’t seem half as cold. Where the hell did logic go?
Just as I was silently cursing physics, Lydia’s voice floated back again, smaller this time.
"You... you can come closer," she said. "I mean... it’ll be less cold if we stay close, right?"
The tips of her ears had turned pink, and even in the dim starlight, I could see the blush spreading down her neck. Maybe she was just cold... but the way her voice trembled didn’t sound like it.
"You sure~?" I asked, dragging the word just to tease her.
"You... you did that with Sera... so..." she started, but then stopped mid-sentence, realizing how that sounded.
"Heeekk.." she squeaked as I threw my arms around her from behind in one smooth motion.
And... damn, she was right. It was warm. The cold vanished instantly where my chest pressed against her back.
"You do things too sudden," she muttered, turning her head just enough for me to catch her profile, her black hair falling across her cheek.
"Hehe," I grinned, resting my chin lightly on her shoulder.
She turned forward again, pretending to focus on the road, but her hands on the reins had gone still for a second longer than they should have.
We travelled a bit further. Lydia’s body, which had been stiff against mine at first, slowly began to relax. I could feel her warmth through her back, the tension leaving her shoulders little by little.
"Rune..." she called softly, her voice almost lost in the night air. "Do you think we can still kill Merin? I mean... I’m not doubting you. It’s just..." she hesitated, her tone trembling slightly. "Things are different this time. Variables that didn’t happen in your past life are happening now. And our force... it’s smaller... the captains under me rebelled."
Her voice cracked at that last part.
Without thinking, I pulled her closer to me. She didn’t resist, just leaned back slightly, her head almost brushing my chin.
"Back when I fought Merin," I said quietly, my breath brushing against her ear, "both my output and mastery of aura were still at novice level. You hadn’t unlocked your vampire traits, the ones that heal you on contact with human blood, like what happened during our spar."
She didn’t speak, but I could feel her listening.
"We didn’t have Sera back then either. Drane and Rack were already dead by the time Merin arrived... but before that, they looted most of your artifact stash. Replaced them with fakes."
"And above all..." I continued, "none of us knew Merin was coming. But this time... we do."
Lydia turned her head a little, just enough that I caught the side of her face. The corners of her lips lifted a bit, the faintest sign of hope flickering through her expression.
"So... what happened to us? After the fight with Merin," she asked after a long pause.
I froze for a second. The question hit harder than I expected.
"...I’d rather not say," I muttered. "It might hurt your confidence."
My hands, almost on their own, tightened around her waist.
She looked down, then back to the road ahead. A small, strained smile curved on her lips.
"I died, didn’t I?" she said softly.
I didn’t answer. I just held her tighter, feeling her heartbeat under my palm.
"I won’t let you die this time," I whispered, not to her, but to myself.
*********
"I know." Lydia muttured silently, her lips making a small, soft smile as her hand slowly moved, resting over Rune’s.