Volume 1 Chapter 13 (1/2)

[You drank too much. Remember to pace yourself next time when you are drinking.] (Youya)

Phil was dead drunk. Even though she should be aware of her own limits, she still ended up getting drunk. Well I’m not completely free of blame this time. It was a reunion after such a long time and I ended up being careless. I nearly got myself drunk as well, but I managed to sober up and drank plenty of water.

[I’m sorry.] (Phil)

[Is this the right place?] (Youya)

[Yeah, this is my home.] (Phil)

I could feel the warmth of Phil’s body on my back. It’s a nostalgic feeling. I used to carry her like this so often back then. Although Phil is a first class adventurer right now, back when we just started adventuring together, it was so different. I was tired of carrying her back then. She would often fall down in the middle of the streets, or get injured unnecessarily.

[In the past I often carried you around like this. It was tough work considering how many times I had to do that.] (Youya)

[Uhn. How nostalgic. Youya’s back is as comfortable as always. It feels like I’m safe so long as I’m here] (Phil)

Phil started to place more weight onto my back, transmitting more of her temperature and even her smell onto my body. She’s been trying hard, and I kinda get the message. Although Phil’s outer appearance hasn’t changed that much because of the elves’ racial characteristics, the Phil I knew and the Phil I know now are different. She has grown up to be a wonderful woman.

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I carried Phil towards her room. It was clean and neatly organized. She was always the one in charge of housework, even back when we were living together. She was a great cook too. Back then I often told her she would make a good bride, earning me weird looks from her.

I placed her down onto her bed and loosened her clothes by removing the buttons on her shirt. Now that she is home safely, it’s time for me to get back to the inn. There are various things that I have to teach till before her special course. The only time we have left is tonight and tomorrow morning, which isn’t a lot of time since we will be entering the dungeon immediately after her class selection. Although that is if I get to leave the room.

[Phil, could you please let go of my hand?] (Youya)

Phil forcefully turned my head and gently gazed into my eyes. Thanks to the level reset, I do not have the power to resist her force. It’s impossible for me to escape unless she lets me go.

[Why, why do you leave me back then. You left without a word, just leaving a letter for us to read Do you know how sad. How lonely I was when you left?] (Phil)

[If I remained, we would had definitely failed to complete the Tower of Trials. There was no way we weren’t going to attempt it with how enthusiastic Leonard and Lyle was about the tower. I couldn’t bear to drag you and Leonard behind, who could become stronger. Because if it was someone who was stronger than me in the party, you guys could definitely clear the trials.] (Youya)

The Tower of Trials has a survival rate of 2%. It is impossible to survive the tower with someone like me back then. Especially when the tower was designed to only be cleared by a party of four people who had reset their level. Clearing the tower yields multiple rare items and increases the level cap to 70, so that degree of difficulty is natural. In fact, Leonard was the ridiculous one who managed to clear the tower without the bonuses from a level reset.

[You know that is not what I meant. Why didn’t you ask me back then? Why didn’t you take me with you? We were always together weren’t we? If you didn’t want to attempt the trials, I would had followed behind you. I couldn’t care less about aiming for the top. That wasn’t the reason why I was in that party.] (Phil)

Phil’s eyes starting to become moist. She had never shown those eyes when we were together back then. She is properly growing up, both in heart and body.

[I have always longed for the Youya who rescued the village, who introduced the idea of being an adventurer to explore the outside world. The same man who saved me when I was about to be taken advantage of by other adventurers. The same person who I’ve spend forever with. As time went by, my feelings just grew stronger and stronger. I thought that we would be together forever. Thanks to Youya, I felt like the happiest person in the world. But even then. Even so. Why did you abandon me? ] (Phil)

It felt like my chest was stabbed by her words. At that moment, I wanted to tell Phil everything.

[I didn’t think about what I wanted to do after leaving the party. All I wanted was Phil to be happy with Leonard. If I were to consult the party about me leaving, Phil would surely leave with me, to me that wouldn’t make you happy.] (YOuya)

I thought that it would be best for Phil to be together with Leonard who had loved her deeply. Together the two of them would be able to soar to greater heights. So I decided to leave only the letter behind and disappear on my own.

[Don’t go off deciding people’s future on your own. We were always together, so why didn’t you notice? It was not Leonard. It was never him.] (Phil)

Her voice carried a strange tone while her jade eyes caught my eye without relinquishing control. Her entire body seemed to carry an alluring tone. I swallowed my saliva in nervousness

[I’m sorry.] (Youya)

[Are you still going to pretend not to notice? I’m not a child anymore.] (Phil)

I didn’t notice anything back then because I have always treated Phil as a daughter. Now that we haven’t met in a long time, I couldn’t help but notice how mature she has become.

[Phil, do you know what you are saying?] (Youya)

[I do. Thats why.] (Phil)

You told me so far, I understand what you are trying to say. However..

[Ouch~] (Phil)

I did a hard flick onto phil’s forward with my finger.

[I’m not desperate enough to lay a hand on a drunken woman, nor am I hungry for a woman.] (Youya)

[Meanie..] (Phil)

[Sorry.] (Youya)

[But I’m relieved. I thought that you had come to dislike me that’s why you left me behind. I was anxious thinking that I had done something bad. That’s why, could you sleep together with me tonight? Just sleeping. It’s lonely to sleep by myself.] (Phil)

[Alright. I will.] (Youya)

[You have always treated me as a daughter, and I was fine with that. Because Youya was always taking care of me. You were always my first love.] (Phil)

Phil closed her eyes, leaving herself defenseless with a man like me. I smiled nervously. I didn’t expect to be shaken up this much with her confession.

I had a hard time falling asleep.

Phil wasn’t the cute little girl I knew back then. She has grown up into a fine woman. An idea suddenly popped back into my mind.

I could tell everything to Phil. Have her reset her level and fixing her status gain to the maximum, and go on adventures together again. It was extremely tempting. I spent most of the night watching Phil’s sleeping face and before I knew it, I fell asleep.

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