34. Casual Winter Days

That whole day, Yumino felt like he couldn't do anything productive. He skipped his training, his studies, and his meals. All he did was walk around the house, nervously waiting for some news.

It was only at night that he finally found it within himself to calm down, falling asleep the second his head hit the pillow.

In his dream, he remembered the conversation he held with Lucien during the day.

In a weird twist of fate, he had become close with a member of the species he was hunting down in cold blood. He felt miserable for looking the lord in the eyes, unaware whether he knew of Yumino's actions, since no word about those was spoken.

Yumino took the chance to look for Lucien's ghost in his mind; maybe he could at least find some traces of him.

Oddly enough, nobody was there that night. The elven hero took it as a breath of fresh air, even if the eerie feeling of not having Gauntmere bother him made Yumino feel a little uneasy.

In the end, he had no idea how to reach a trace of Lucien. He tried to picture him in his mind, but nothing came up.

Bothered by his scar acting up out of nowhere, he soon gave up.

Instead, he saw the silhouette of a spirit he had never seen before, yet felt familiar. It was a girl that kept her distance, yet didn't let him out of her sight.

Feeling a wave of warmth coming for her, he tried to approach the faded entity, but for every step he took forward, she took two steps away from him.

His legs moved on their own, as if he was in a trance, captivated by the lady he couldn't reach.

"Hey, let me see your face!" he asked as he started running, but before he could catch up with the ghost, the noise of the entrance door opening woke him up.

"I'm back!" a familiar voice said. It was Nima.

The second he heard her, Yumino's eyes snapped open. He didn't waste any time getting out of bed and opening the door to his room, but by the time he entered the living room, the girl was shutting the door to her own chambers.

"Nima! Welcome back! What took you so long?" he said, placing one palm on the handle of her door and another palm on the scar on his chest.

"Don't come in!" she shouted.

"I'm changing and going straight to bed. The adventure party is gathering tomorrow morning to hop from one bar to another. I won't be home until the evening!"

The way he was cut off confused Yumino. He was happy to hear Nima, but he was expecting their reunion to be a bit more exciting.

"Nima, are you mad by any chance?"

"I'm really tired, and I have an early morning," she replied.

"Besides, don't think I don't know you were the one who sent a rescue party for me. All of this just because I took my time coming back..."

Busted... Yumino thought.

Forgetting completely about the joy of the reunion, cold sweats ran all over his body. With the sudden change of circumstances, he considered it the safest option to let the lady calm down and rest. From the other side of the door, Yumino could feel the danger oozing out.

"Ah... hahaha... about that... Maybe I was a little too hasty..." he said in an attempt to fix things.

"Forget about it! I'll take care of you the morning after tomorrow when things calm down. You better be on your best behavior, and I may at least spare your life!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" the elf said, running back to his warm bed.

In the end, their reunion wasn't the one Yumino had dreamed of. Nevertheless, the elf smiled. She was back, she was safe, and he could finally rest well, knowing Nima was next door doing her thing. In the morning, he may even catch a glimpse of the proud elven lady as she gets out of the house.

The one thing he was sure of was that he had to avoid her by all means the evening she came back from the party. Especially if bars were the main reason for their gathering.

That night, Yumino slept off all of the fatigue. His plan to catch Nima in the morning also fell through, as by the time he finally woke up, it was already closer to noon.

*****

The house was empty again, but this time, Yumino didn't mind it. He got out of bed and prepared a late breakfast while humming a song from his old world.

Suddenly, he remembered about someone he hadn't heard from in a while.

"Someone's been awfully quiet lately..."

Next to him, as if out of thin air, the pale silhouette of a human witch appeared.

"I would prefer it if you didn't speak out loud. Even though you are alone, you never know when someone might visit you again," said the witch.

It was rare for Gauntmere to show herself or interact with Yumino in the real world. Even if her appearance couldn't be seen, heard, or felt in any way by anyone except for Yumino, she still said such feats drained her energy rather quickly.

"I must say, even outside of the dream world, your resolution is becoming pretty high-end!" the elf pointed out.

"I would also appreciate it if you didn't use too many words that are not from this world."

"Oh, come on! You know I barely use them! It's because you're always in my thoughts that you've even heard of them."

"I would appreciate it if you didn't underestimate my knowledge of foreign terms. I was already familiar with this 'revolution' of yours."

"...my what?"

Without returning an answer, Gauntmere tried to take her leave to escape from the uncomfortable situation.

"Wait a second! What's with you trying to slip away lately? Weren't you preparing for a crushing victory and a satisfying revenge?"

"I have to ask you, how come you are so full of joy?" the witch returned the question. "Aren't you worried about what will happen the next time you and Nima meet face-to-face?"

"Haha! Is that what you're worried about? She won't kill me, don't sweat it too much! Wait, can ghosts even—"

"Please stop right there! Let's forget this conversation ever happened. Instead, could you tell me where you are headed?" Gauntmere asked, pointing at the shoes Yumino reached for.

"Oh. I'm just taking a stroll towards the castle. If I see Lucien there, I'll give him my thanks for helping with Nima."

"Is that so... Fine then, be careful, hero."

"It's been a long while since you've called me that. I feel like it's starting to fit!" he said as he opened the front door.

As he was walking and whistling, Yumino couldn't help but notice how warm it was despite it being winter. He took off his green jacket and headed towards the castle, pleased that things had returned to normal and that his curse may soon be lifted.

On the way, distracted checking out his trusty bow, the elf bumped into another hero who was distracted checking out his own sheathed sword.

"Ah! Yumino? I didn't see you there, sorry!"

"Gavin? Don't worry about it! I was also busy with something else," the elf answered between hums.

"Where are you headed to?" Gavin asked. "We were thinking about going out in a couple of nights? Are you in? My treat!"

"Of course! But there's no way I'm letting you pay, not after what you've done for us."

Yumino smiled at the hero as a sign of gratitude, but Gavin only gave back a confused head tilt.

"Did I do anything lately?"

Soon after, Yumino mirrored the man, taking the same confused position.

"What do you mean? Weren't you part of Nima's rescue party?"

"Nima's rescue? Ah! I heard she was late to come back from a mission, right? I didn't go out looking for her, though..."

"You didn't? That's strange. I thought Lucien asked you to go. Hmm, maybe it was another one of you guys—ah!"

As he spoke, Yumino saw a tall, slender, familiar vampire enter the castle.

"Sorry, Gavin! I have to go! Catch you another time! Keep me posted with that night out!" the elf said, running past his friend.

As he watched Yumino run, Gavin held his mouth open. He was ready to say something right when Yumino took off, but since he didn't get the chance, he just shrugged his shoulders and kept walking.

"But both Velmira and Garron were out with me yesterday," the hero said to himself.