Chapter 39

The surroundings were filled with light, making it impossible to see. My eyes hurt.

Tears streamed down my face as I blinked repeatedly.

Gradually, my vision began to clear. It was a familiar room.

Ah, I must have made it back safely. I wonder if everyone else is alright.

I vividly remember the encounter with Alecto. It wasn’t a dream.

Now that I think about it, I wish I had asked more questions, but it was sudden, so it couldn’t be helped.

I have a good grasp of the world of this planet. The reason the administrator didn’t mention anything is probably because they haven’t been able to contact me yet.

My throat hurts, and my stomach feels heavy.

As my vision cleared, I saw Riz leaning on my stomach, asleep.

When I looked at her face, her eyes were red and swollen, and she had dark circles. She must have taken a lot of care of me. She looked quite worn out.

"Riz."

When I tried to speak, my voice was hoarse. The pain in my throat and the discomfort made it hard to speak properly. I repeated "ah, ah" in a low voice.

I remembered feeling the same way when I woke up after losing consciousness before. While speaking, I slowly moved my body.

I thought that sudden large movements would be bad for my muscles, so I continued to bend and stretch my arms. I twisted my body around the waist to check for any abnormalities.

There were no major injuries. This means that there was no major battle afterward, and I managed to get through it. There were some minor pains, but they were probably light injuries from being transported.

I sat up and gradually moved my entire body. Ah, Riz rolled off. She’s so cute. What a cute creature. She didn’t wake up even after falling off the bed. She must be very tired.

I performed some stretches I had heard about, and my stiff body gradually loosened up. The last time I lost consciousness, it was for about five days, but I feel better than then. I was quite weak back then.

My body warmed up slightly, and my movements became almost normal. My voice also returned properly. I got out of bed. The moment I stood up, my feet wobbled. I must have been quite weak.

I repeated some foot movements on the spot to get used to it. I wasn’t that weak, so I quickly returned to my normal movements.

I bent down, placed my hand on Riz’s shoulder, and shook her.

"Riz. Riz. Wake up, Riz."

Despite being a light sleeper, she didn’t wake up easily. She must be very tired.

"Riz. Hey. Riz. Riz."

I whispered in her ear. Her eyes opened slightly, and her watery eyes caught sight of me.

"Good morning, Riz."

My lips quivered. Oh no, this creature is so cute. I feel a small animal-like cuteness.

"H... Hiro. Hiro. Hiro. Hiro. Hiro."

She repeated it like a broken record. Her excitement gradually increased.

When she suddenly hugged me, she squeezed me tightly. It hurt. I give up, I give up.

"Why... Hiro, I was worried... I was worried... Hiro, don’t leave me..."

Her words were quite incoherent. As soon as she released me, she started crying and hitting my chest with both hands. It hurt.

"I was worried... I was worried... I was worried... I was worried..."

I grabbed her hands and pulled her closer, giving her a light kiss. It tasted slightly salty, like tears. Ah, I really did come back.

"Calm down, Riz. Take deep breaths. Deep breaths."

After catching my breath and confirming that I had calmed down, I asked about the situation.

"Heartis and the others brought the unconscious Hiro back."

According to her, I had been unconscious for about three days since that day.

As I had requested, they eliminated the group and immediately carried one of the better-conditioned ones, escaping.

Heartis carried the sample, and Dido and Arie took turns carrying me back to the village.

While I was unconscious, the pharmacist guild staff examined me and determined that I was fine due to excessive use of magic, so they let me rest.

Incidentally, they fed me liquid food, which was a good thing I didn’t choke. I’ll ask about the daily rate later.

Riz had stayed by my side and taken care of me the entire time I was unconscious.

"I was really, really worried."

Her cheeks puffed up, and she looked like a squirrel.

After that, Ast and the others also visited the room and were happy to see me regain consciousness.

It was still early morning, just after dawn.

I asked for a soup with no ingredients and some porridge and ate it slowly.

When I told them I was going to the guild, Riz said she wanted to come with me.

I tried to convince her that it was just a tour of the village and there was no danger, but she wouldn’t listen.

With Ast’s help, I managed to convince her to go hunting.

I decided to pay the rent for today and left the house.

"Goodbye. But Riz was quite worried, and I was worried too. Don’t overdo it."

Tisha said with a worried look.

"It’s just within the village, so it’s fine. Don’t worry. Thank you for your concern."

Well, I need to resolve this little Urashima Taro situation.