Pen and Paper Translations

Right after learning that the sword’s existence had been exposed to Reinhild, Xion laid a very light seal on the door leading down to the cellar.

Even a curious Reinhild wouldn’t try anything if he saw the cellar was sealed.

What if Rein starts wondering about that sword, though?

Luckily, Reinhild seemed not to have noticed a thing and wore his usual bright expression.

Xion relaxed and focused on repairing the house.

He wanted to finish as quickly as possible and put Reinhild to sleep in a warm, soft room.

But when the villagers showed up, he couldn’t be simply pleased.

Help was help, but he didn’t want their presence cutting into time alone with Reinhild.

He also didn’t like them looking at Reinhild.

Not even for a single second.

Xion, who had never held any particular opinion about the people of Root, found them irritating for the first time that day.

So when everyone went to say farewell to Philip, he didn’t take Reinhild along.

Because he didn’t want others looking at him.

Xion moved quickly, intent on getting back to Reinhild as soon as possible.

He meant to brush off offers to help with some excuse and head back alone.

While those who’d arrived at Philip’s house first took their turns offering goodbyes, Xion waited impatiently for his own turn. That was when he felt a surge of mana from the direction of his home.

A kind of mana that shouldn’t be detectable… shouldn’t be there at all.

“…Rein!”

Without looking back, Xion sprinted for the house.

“Hey? Xion! Where are you going? Xion!”

“Whoa, I didn’t know Xion could run that fast.”

Their shouts didn’t even reach his ears.

“Rein!”

When Xion arrived, Reinhild was thrashing, unable to hold himself upright, caught in a whirl of tangled, chaotic mana.

Xion caught and held him, calming the mana that was tearing through his body.

“Shi… on…”

As the rampaging mana abruptly stilled, Reinhild’s body slackened, strings cut, and he lost consciousness.

When the faint heartbeat he’d felt through that cool skin vanished entirely, Xion panicked.

“Rein… Reinhild, no. Open your eyes. Please.”

Reinhild lay motionless, as if he’d breathed his last.

Xion laid him on the makeshift bed he’d put together the day before.

An uncomfortable bed and a drafty room wouldn’t do a collapsed Reinhild any good, but there was no time to worry about that.

Xion poured his own mana into Reinhild’s body.

He knew this wasn’t good for him. But to prod a heart that seemed ready to stop, there was no other way.

Xion took Reinhild’s hand and pressed several kisses to his rapidly cooling lips.

With all his hope that he’d recover quickly. As if that would truly make Reinhild wake with a smile.

Xion never left his side.

Not for a single moment, until Reinhild came to and opened his eyes.

❖ ❖ ❖

Am I… alive?

Reinhild regained consciousness late at night, two days after collapsing.

He had no sense that time had passed.

Nothing in the house looked different from before he’d gone down.

The wall, broken and crudely blocked up; the flimsy cot; the half-finished repairs—everything was the same.

The rolled-back carpet Reinhild had moved and the kitchen he’d left in a shambles when he fell were exactly as they had been.

Good thing I wasn’t out long. Xion must’ve been worried.

At the faint rustle Reinhild made, Xion reacted first.

“Rein!”

The expression Xion wore when he opened his eyes startled Reinhild.

It was like he’d just been reunited with the most precious thing in the world.

He looked so worn that even Xion’s normally healthy face seemed gaunt.

Seeing him like that made Reinhild’s weakened heart pound fast again.

“Xi— cough.”

His throat was so dry he could barely speak.

Xion immediately stood to fetch water.

My hand feels empty.

Why?

The hand that had lost Xion’s warmth felt hollow, as if they’d been holding hands for days and it was only natural to be doing so now.

Reinhild fidgeted with his fingers, waiting for Xion to return.

“Uh…”

“Don’t talk.”

Reinhild nodded instead and drank.

He kept the empty cup in one hand and, with the other, took Xion’s hand again.

Naturally, Xion drew it closer and brushed a light kiss over the back of it.

“I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Yeah.”

He really thought he was going to die.

He thought he’d never see Xion again.

I should stop doing the things Xion tells me not to do.

Xion had told him not to go down to the cellar for his own sake. Reinhild had puffed himself up to dispel the curse and nearly died.

It was a relief it had ended with just him collapsing; if he’d mishandled the door and let the curse leak out….

Ugh.

Just imagining it was awful.

If their happiness had been shattered by the curse, it wouldn’t have ended with a few hours’ collapse.

He wouldn’t be getting to savor the feeling of Xion watching over him like this.

Thinking that, he felt grateful and glad Xion had stayed by his side.

Hoarse, unable to speak properly, Reinhild wriggled where he lay and rested his head on Xion’s arm.

A Demon King does not apologize to a human.

But Reinhild wanted to apologize to Xion for acting on his own.

“Sorry.”

“There’s nothing Reinhild needs to be sorry for.”

Xion’s voice was as gentle as ever.

Just from the state of the kitchen he must have realized Reinhild had tried to enter the cellar, yet he said nothing.

He didn’t scold him for disobeying, didn’t ask why he’d opened the door.

Normally Reinhild would have been shamelessly relieved not to be found out, but this time he recognized Xion’s consideration.

After a long hesitation, he opened his mouth to offer thanks.

“Xio…”

Grrr.

Unbelievable.

Just when he was about to say it, his stomach got there first.

It hadn’t even been that many hours since he’d last eaten. How could he be hungry already?

Face blazing red, Reinhild yanked the blanket up and hid underneath. He could hear Xion laughing through the covers.

He heard Xion move, and the blanket over his face sank a little. Apparently he’d pressed a kiss to it.

“I’ll prepare something light.”

Very softly, Reinhild mumbled, “It’s fine.”

He would refuse, but only in a voice faint enough for Xion to barely hear or not hear at all.

Whether he didn’t catch the muttered protest or ignored it, Xion brought back a very thin rice porridge.

Reinhild didn’t leave a drop.

With a solid bite in him, his body warmed, and his sore throat eased.

Finally able to speak comfortably, he set the bowl down and asked:

“Did you get to say your goodbyes?”

“Goodbyes?”

Hadn’t he gone to see off that man Philip just now?

Maybe Xion’s shock at Reinhild’s collapse had wiped out the memory of events from only a few hours before.

He shouldn’t have felt pleased, but the idea that Xion’s thoughts had been entirely on him put him in a good mood.

He didn’t care about farewells to someone who was already gone.

Grinning to himself, Reinhild patted the space beside him. When Xion lay down, he immediately pulled him into an embrace.

Side by side with Xion, even the bed wasn’t so bad.

“Looks like the repairs won’t get finished today either.”

“I’ll make sure you can sleep on a soft bed tomorrow.”

“I like it like this.”

Xion worried the flimsy bed would be uncomfortable for Reinhild, who’d been lying there so long.

Normally he would have arranged a better bed and laid the collapsed Reinhild on it, but when he thought Reinhild might die he hadn’t had the luxury.

He wanted to fetch a new bed immediately, but he didn’t want to leave Reinhild’s side now.

Nor could he take the suddenly weakened Reinhild outside.

Xion slid an arm around his back and pulled him close.

So that this place might feel even a little more comfortable.

“Sleepy… I’m going to sleep a bit more.”

Perhaps his care had done the trick; Reinhild settled his breathing and closed his eyes.

Even after being unconscious, drowsiness washed over him again with surprising speed.

Was that all because of mana depletion, too?

In a haze, with the soft feel of a kiss on his forehead, Xion’s voice drifted faintly to him.

“Sleep well, Rein.”

His body still prickled and ached like sore muscles, but with Xion beside him he felt he’d be fine soon.

As always.