Chapter 42:
Your Healer
Carefully, I crawl out of bed and try not to wake Miko. She fell asleep immediately after her brief burst of energy yesterday. On my way to the bathroom, I collect all the wet clothes that are scattered everywhere, from the pool to the bedroom. I mentally apologize to the landlord of this beautiful house. When I arrive in the bathroom, I grab a towel to wipe up the wet spots on the floor where the clothes had been lying.
“Gotcha.” I flinch and shoot a panicked glance in the direction of the bedroom where the voice came from. Miko gives me a big grin and approaches me.
“Did I wake you up?”
"As always. I feel it when you're missing.”
“Don't worry about it. Shall we jump under the shower and head out for breakfast?”
Miko looks down at me and sees the towel in my hand.
“Were you planning to take a shower by yourself? I get it. You've had enough of my body last night.” She frowns and marches past me into the bathroom. Without commenting on her dramatic performance, I go back to the bedroom and get our shampoo out of my suitcase.
After the shower, we brushed our teeth, did our hair, and put on a little make-up. Dressed just in our underwear, we now stand somewhat at a loss in front of the large bed on which we have scattered our clothes.
“The weather report says it will be 26°C.”
“Will you be putting on a bikini?” I ask somewhat skeptically. I don't know if I want to go swimming.
“There's no harm in wearing one underneath. I'm more wondering what I'll put on over it.”
“Shall I choose something for you?“
”Only if I can choose yours.“
”And that's easier than for yourself, or what?”
“Obviously.”
“Fine.”
It takes less than two minutes to get us both dressed and ready for the day. I chose a black dress for Miko with short sleeves made of thin fabric that can be unbuttoned widely, making it relatively easy to take off. Miko has picked out black shorts and a simple gray T-shirt for me. She can't hide the fact that she just wants to see my legs.
“Happy?”
“I think so,” Miko says, looking at herself in the large mirror that hangs in the hallway. With her waist tightened by the belt that is attached to her dress, Miko's body looks criminally attractive. She was always slim and fit, but in the last few months, she got even hotter.
“Shall we go? I'm starving,” she says, staring at me in the mirror while I still check her out, slightly absent-minded. Thanks for the meal, Miko. Thank you very much.
From the house, we can quickly reach the city center, which is practically one huge pedestrian zone several kilometers long, lined with a wide variety of shops and restaurants leading to the beach at the end. It's off-season, but there are still a lot of people around. Overall, the vibe here is rather rural, which reminds me of home, but oddly enough, in a positive way. For a long time, I thought that I considered our area boring, but after a few trips to big cities, I'm starting to see the charm of more relaxed surroundings. Perhaps I'm getting old.
“You wanna hold hands?” Miko asks when we arrive in the city center. Slightly irritated, I look at her and grab her hand.
“What kind of question is that? I told you to just go for it.”
“Sorry.”
I know that it is still not so easy for her to live out our relationship in public. I think I know that it's not because we're both women but rather that she is generally a bit reserved, unlike when we're alone together, where she is quite unhinged and sometimes a hell of a lot more demanding and needy than I am.
Only occasionally, when she is somewhat emotionally charged, she blocks out the world around us and takes everything she needs, as long as we don't disturb anyone with it. Holding hands is harmless compared to that.
“Why are you blushing, Kayla?”
“Just remembered something.”
While I'm actively looking for a nice place to have breakfast, I spot something else that seems a bit out of place at first glance. Though it looks a bit like a school and schoolyard at first, I recognize a mage guild building when I see one. Especially because of the large sign at the entrance that marks it as such. Rather subconsciously, I stop and glance in the direction of the entrance. When I realize that, I notice Miko, who is also watching the guild building.
“Wanna go peeping?” Miko's choice of words is a little weird, but she knows me too well.
“Why not.”
Like your typical tourists, we walk the few steps straight to the entrance of the area, which is surrounded by a relatively high stone wall. The gate, which can shut off the property, is open so that we can look inside. The place is huge, I don't know how many members they have, but even with our small guild, I would have loved to have a base like that.
The moment the urge to just march onto the grounds grows inside of me, I see a group of people jogging out of a building further back. Miko and I step to the side and wait until they walk past us. While my eyes are fixed on the ground, Miko is standing there with her arms folded, staring at the group of mages jogging in the direction of the beach.
“What do you think they're doing?“
”Probably training.“
”Makes sense.“
”Shall we move on?“
”Yep.”
My curiosity about this guild on a leisure island is by no means satisfied, but we will be here for the next few weeks, which means this story is not over yet. And neither was our search for breakfast. It's not as if we hadn't already walked past ten bakeries, but we are waiting for the one true place, the shop that speaks to us, that literally draws us in.
“It's 10 o'clock, and we haven't eaten yet. I saw a WcDonalds earlier, and I'm not ashamed to order the full breakfast menu there just so you know.” A hungry Miko is a truly special creature, but I love her anyway. But in the end, just to be on the safe side, I chose a small café that serves breakfast where a table has just become available.
A waitress comes over and gives us the menus while she clears the plates and cutlery that are still on our table. “Take your time choosing, I'll be right back.” I understand the hidden message that she is busy, and we shouldn't stress her.
As if from nowhere, several sirens start to sound loudly, similar to a fire alarm.
“Attention, attention. A Dungeon Gate has appeared on the beach. Our guild is already securing the area. Please respect and follow the instructions of the mages on site.”
That's why this group was heading towards the beach earlier. While Miko continues to study the menu, calm as ever, I look around to see how the other people in the area are reacting. Meanwhile, the announcement is being repeated. I don't know if it's because they're already familiar with such announcements, but everyone seems deeply relaxed.
“I'll have the sweet breakfast, and you?” Miko asks as the loud sirens finally quiet down. I look over at her and see an awfully big grin on her face.
"You want to go and have a look, don't you?"
Miko just shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know what you are talking about."
“We're here on vacation. Dungeons and magic are off limits.”
"I have no intention of helping them."
"Looking is forbidden, too."
"I have no desire to."
She definitely used to be better at lying.
◆◆◆
“We can lie down here.” I put my backpack on the sand. After breakfast, we went straight to the beach and, in my opinion, walked along it a little too long before finally coming to a halt. I know that Miko was hoping that we might spot the Dungeon Gate somewhere, but the beach is huge. From our spot, you can gaze quite far into the distance, and yet there's nothing to see except sunbeds, parasols, and lots of people in swimwear.
Miko looks dejected and starts to unbutton her dress. Instead of undressing, too, I just stand there and watch. Out in public, it has a different impact, I tell you.
“Can you stop staring?”
“Nope.”
She's wearing a black strapless bikini. I don't know where she got the courage to wear something like that. Maybe it's because her breasts build up enough tension to keep the top in place. A thing like that would slide down me like a fireman on a pole.
When she has finished and starts to spread out her towel, I get rid of my clothes aswell. My bikini is probably the most grown-up thing I've ever worn. For a long time, I was a swimsuit advocate, but since I've swapped a bit of fat for muscle, my belly area actually looks quite decent. The fabric is colored light blue, and the top is bound together in the middle, so the smaller the breasts, the bigger the excess material... at least this way, I was able to tie a cute bow.
“I'm going to take a nap,” Miko announces and lies flat on her back. When I see her lying there like this, I want to put a blanket on her to protect her from other people's gaze, or I could put up a sign and take some money for it. But for now, I sit down next to her on my towel and take out my phone. I take a few photos of the beach and then switch to the front camera and take a quick snapshot of Miko and me. I post the pictures on my status. Perhaps someone will see them.
It takes less than two minutes for the first messages to reach me. Most of them wish us a nice vacation, but then Luna replies with a photo of her own. I have to check the picture three times before I fully realize what I'm looking at. It's a photo of Kajsa sitting on a camel, and they are definitely in a desert. Of course, while we were just visiting the seaside, the two of them fled the country... Nevertheless, I wish them a lot of fun on their trip.
Strangely, I'm not at all surprised that the two of them are traveling together. As far as I know, they're just flatmates, and they rarely seem to be more than that. Eliza once explained to me that you can tell that Miko and I are getting it on. The two of them definitely lack this aura, at least if you ask me.
“Excuse me.”
I flinch when I hear a voice that snaps me out of my thoughts. My eyes wander from the phone screen to the person standing in front of me. I shudder for a moment when I see the woman's beautiful face. It's my inferiority complex that makes me freeze in front of pretty people. She has dark skin and super long white hair. Only then do I notice her extremely long ears, similar to Jora's.
"Hello, how can I help?"
“My name is Reena. I don't know if you've heard of it, but a Dungeon Gate appeared on this beach. I just wanted to see if everyone was okay. I can definitely reassure you. Our guild has everything under control.” her voice is surprisingly cute. Her looks make her seem so mature, but with a voice like that, she is actually quite adorable.
I try to check her out a little while I think of an answer. Her legs are super long and slender, no wonder she's wearing leggings, but what's wrong with her jacket? The pink looks a bit out of place.
“What rank is the dungeon?” In the end, Miko begins to speak.
“Oh, I'm so sorry I woke you up.”
"I wasn't really asleep. So, what rank is the dungeon?”
“It's a B-rank, but we have everything under control. Are you a witch, too, by any chance?”
"We both are," Miko says, straightening up so that she's now sitting beside me.
"Lovely, so if we do need help, I know who I can ask," Reena says with a laugh and gives a slight bow before saying goodbye. "Pleased to meet you, and sorry again for the intrusion."
“Don't worry about it,” I say with a smile and wave it off.
"Thank you," she replies and turns around swiftly, her long white-blonde hair waving in the air as she shows us her backside. In a fraction of a second, I have to decide whether I dare to shoot her a quick glance, which could earn me a stupid comment from my girlfriend.
“Nice ass,” Miko whispers a moment later. Hey, since when does she make statements like that? I always thought she wasn't interested in women but only in me? Not that I hold it against her, but I also can't help but appreciate this well-shaped butt.
“Anyway, she came from the right. If we go there, we should end up at the dungeon. Pack your things.”
“Huh? We just sat down.”
“Come on.”
I don't know why Miko is so keen on seeing that Dungeon Gate. I never thought she'd miss stuff like that in any way, but apparently, she needs the excitement. Still dressed in our bikinis, we march across the pleasantly warm sand in the direction Reena had come from. We were only ten minutes and a single curve on the beach away from being able to see the Gate. Miko sighs in annoyance when she realizes it.
"What are all those people doing there?" I ask myself aloud. Usually, I would expect the area around a dungeon to be completely closed off and that civilians would not even be seen in the immediate vicinity.
The barrier tape is no more than ten meters away from the entrance to the dungeon. There are a few mages at the gate; some are talking to the people watching, and it seems calm and harmonious. I always assumed that you had to stop people from just running into the dungeon and putting themselves in danger. Maybe we were just too skeptical. I like this other approach. They really involve the residents and vacationers. I can't grasp any separation between mages and non-mages.
We stand still for a few minutes and just watch quietly as the guild goes about its work, and the spectators come and go. It seems like a normal gathering, but suddenly, the murmuring gets a little louder, and I see Reena, who enters the closed-off area. She beckons briefly to the people before an elderly lady waves her over. The woman hands Reena a basket in which I see lunch boxes and some fruits. I feel like I'm in the wrong movie. What exactly is going on here, and in what world have I been living up until now?
Shortly afterwards, Reena makes eye contact with me and comes over to us.
“Well, were you curious?”
“A little. It's really nice how you guys do things here."
“I know, it's different on the mainland. But believe me, I've worked hard to be able to cooperate with the people like this."
"What's your role?" Miko asks, crossing her arms, suddenly looking rather grim.
“I'm the guild leader.”
Before I can say anything, a murmur goes through the crowd, and we turn our focus to the Dungeon Gate, from which several people have just emerged, some of them visibly injured.
“Sorry,” Rina says and goes to her guild members. They talk quietly to each other, and the crowd begins to leave the place on its own. More and more, this scene seems unreal to me. No one is gawking or intruding.
Miko looks at me and nods to the back, indicating that we should also leave. I agree, and just as we turn around, I hear Reena's voice. “Wait, please.”
The grin on Miko's face gives me goosebumps all over my body. It's as if she's been waiting and hoping to be involved somehow. Wait, wait, wasn't she the one who said only two days ago that we were on vacation and I shouldn't meddle in anything?
We walk under the barrier tape, and I turn my eyes to the injured, who are staring past me and quite clearly ogling Miko. Yes, I know she looks really attractive! But that's my girl!
I kneel down in the field of vision of one of the injured men and look at him, annoyed.
“I'll heal you, yeah?”
“Okay.”
My mana begins to flow through my body. It feels like it's been ages since I've used this magic, and somehow, it has a nice nostalgic feeling. I mustn't let Miko realize that I've missed it.
As always, it's all over after a few seconds. I take a look at the wounded area and notice the clean cut on my patient's clothing.
“What attacked you?”
I look up again and see the guy in front of me spacing out as he stares at one of his comrades. With a sigh, I get up and walk over to the other wounded. Just don't answer my question, idiot.
Meanwhile, Miko is in conversation with Reena. When I see the two of them standing there, a sudden realization dawns on me. I don't think Miko is that keen on helping the guild, but rather on working with Reena, who, as a elf, probably knows more about the world Miko comes from.
After I've finished my little round, I join the two women and look around questioningly.
“What does it look like?” I ask before Reena glances at me with a slightly too serious expression.
“I know this is sudden, and we've only just met... but would you consider helping us clear this dungeon?"
My eyes wander to Miko. We are on vacation. We wanted to relax. But my girlfriend just smiles apologetically at me and shrugs her bare shoulders.
“Of course, we'll help you.”
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