“What is this?”
“Looks like you’re finally awake.”
At some point, the cave had brightened with light filtering in through the cracks in the rocks.
“How long have you been doing this?”
“About two hours?”
If the sun had risen, he could’ve just woken him up. It wasn’t like he was trying to show off his strength—so why carry someone like baggage? Well, to be fair, he was holding him with both hands, carefully, almost respectfully. Still, that didn’t make it feel any better.
“Put me down.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m awake. I can walk now.”
“On that foot?”
Delroz tilted his chin downward. When Banteon shifted his body to look, he saw that his ankle had swollen even worse than the day before.
The heat he hadn’t noticed upon waking now pulsed up in a delayed, throbbing wave.
“So damn dull. You didn’t even notice the swelling overnight.”
He’d thought the bone wasn’t damaged. But this looked worse than expected. The emergency medicine he’d packed must’ve dissolved when he fell into the water. He hated to admit it, but Delroz was right—he was completely oblivious. Sleeping soundly through the night while his ankle ballooned like this.
“You’re too weak for a man.”
“……”
He held back the words that nearly burst out, wanting to argue from the bottom of his heart. It was pointless. Delroz wouldn’t buy it anyway. He usually never got hurt, so why did he always end up scratched and bruised whenever he was around Delroz? In Delroz’s eyes, Banteon must’ve seemed like a soggy, crumpled paper doll. Given the current situation, Banteon had no grounds to refute that image.
He let out a quiet sigh at his own pathetic state.
“The bone’s not broken. It’ll get better in a day or two. I’ll just need your help for today.”
“It better. I’m not in the habit of hauling stiff-ass men around for days.”
“……”
Even when saying the same thing, he sure had a way with words. Banteon had been about to thank him despite everything, but that thought vanished immediately.
Delroz walked across the uneven cave floor without the slightest difficulty. His pace was barely different from walking on flat ground, and soon, a small light appeared in the distance.
Luckily, they had found an exit before nightfall. Once Delroz cleared the surrounding rocks carefully to avoid causing a collapse, bright sunlight and a mountain path covered in thick vegetation came into view.
Under the sunlight pouring in from all sides, they scanned their surroundings. It was a rough mountain trail with no sign of human presence. Even though nothing had changed, the mere fact of escaping the dark cave gave them a sense of liberation.
Delroz examined the direction of the sun and the surrounding plants.
“Looks like we came out on the opposite side.”
With a practiced hand, he pushed aside the dense underbrush.
“These don’t grow on the kingdom’s side. We must’ve crossed the center of the mountain range.”
This land had once been a single vast continent, but the rampage of the first Esper had split it in two. The southern region of the kingdom, once its heart, had turned into an untraversable desert. To the east lay the sea; to the west, a wall of towering mountains.
Before the kingdom existed, the southern kingdoms that once ruled the continent had all perished when the desert was formed. Occasionally, relics of those ancient civilizations were excavated, but there were no known descendants.
The mine they had explored was located on the border between the south and west. After getting disoriented in the cave, they had ended up walking straight toward the west.
Still carrying Banteon, Delroz found a suitable rock and sat him down. He then began to inspect the swollen ankle.
“Can we call for rescue?”
The flare they carried for emergencies had been soaked and was now unreliable. The communication device had been destroyed in the fall. The only thing still intact was some jerky, which was meant to be rehydrated before eating.
Even that was only enough for the two of them to last maybe two or three days.
Delroz gave a slight shake of his head. Looked like they didn’t have any working supplies on his end either.
He slowly unwrapped the cloth binding Banteon’s ankle. The soaked fabric hit the ground with a wet plop.
“Ugh…”
Pain that had been dulled until now surged all at once. His ankle was visibly swollen to the size of a plum. As he furrowed his brow and lowered his head, dizziness swept over him.
“You’ve got a fever too.”
Delroz’s large hand covered half of Banteon’s face. He rummaged through the belt around his waist, then angrily threw it to the ground.
“All the meds are soaked. Shit.”
A rising fever meant an infection. Without painkillers or antibiotics, things were only going to get worse from here.
As Banteon’s face flushed red from the heat, Delroz’s expression darkened. The sudden disaster had left them without even a blanket or cover. With a grave expression, Delroz rewrapped the cloth around Banteon’s foot. He tied it tightly to prevent movement, then rose to his feet.
“First, we need to build a fire.”
They weren’t far from the mine connected to the monster gate. There had been no monsters inside the cave, but there was no telling when one might appear. Lighting a fire might reveal their location.
“It could be dangerous.”
“I’ll handle that myself.”
Worrying about monsters? What a waste of time. Delroz dismissed the concern outright, brushing it off as nonsense. He gathered what he needed from their surroundings with practiced ease. Between the neatly stacked twigs and dried leaves, sparks crackled to life, and soon, a steady flame was burning.
Their clothes, damp and clammy from the dew-soaked cave, dried quickly before the fire. The flickering light reddened their faces, but the oppressive heat that had been rising from within began to subside, just a little.
As the warmth seeped into his body and his tension eased, Banteon leaned back against a rock—only to find Delroz staring at him with clear disapproval.
“…What is it?”
“Your underwear’s probably soaked too. Take off your outer clothes.”
“…Excuse me?”
“There’s no point drying just the outer layers.”
As if to prove his point, Delroz began undressing without hesitation. He stripped off his clothes in order, revealing a muscular torso, then casually unbuckled his pants. Banteon frowned at Delroz’s shamelessness, undressing in the middle of nowhere as if it were nothing.
“Is it hard for you to undress?”
“…No.”
“If it’s because of your ankle, just say so. I’ll help you with that much.”
By the time Delroz had tossed off his pants and stood in only his underwear, Banteon was speechless. Rationally speaking, Delroz was right. Wearing wet underclothes would just keep him cold even if the outerwear dried. Still, it wasn’t easy to bring himself to do it.
To be in nothing but underwear, face-to-face with Delroz in this isolated place—Banteon hesitated, then reluctantly slipped off his jacket and laid it neatly by the fire.
The white T-shirt he wore underneath clung damply to his torso, soaked through. Delroz gave him a sidelong glance.
“……”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
Why was he looking at his body like that? It was unsettling, especially coming from someone who’d probably seen more than enough male bodies to last a lifetime. Banteon’s frame looked lean on the surface, but thanks to steady training, it was actually well-toned with subtle muscle.
Delroz seemed puzzled when Banteon didn’t remove the shirt as well.
“Take that off too.”
“This’ll dry while I’m wearing it.”
It was his only top layer, so the fire should dry it fine. He tugged at the clinging fabric that had gone nearly translucent from the moisture, and Delroz’s brow furrowed.
“It’d be better to just take it off—”
“Sorry?”
“…Forget it. Do whatever you want.”
Upper body settled. But when it came to the bottoms, things weren’t as simple. He’d already unbuckled his belt and tossed it aside, but the pants were tightly knotted around his injured ankle. Bending over would just add more strain to the injury.
Even just lifting himself to pull down his pants took effort. As he moved with a rustling sound, the fabric underneath his hips didn’t budge.
“…Can you help me with this?”
“……”
“You’ve been zoning out for a while now. Weren’t you the one who said you’d help?”
“Yeah.”
Maybe now that he actually had to help undress someone, Delroz wasn’t so thrilled about it. With a clearly displeased scowl, he stepped closer and grabbed the hem of Banteon’s pants. Once he undid the tight knot around the ankle and loosened the cuff, he gave it a tug. But no amount of pulling from below would get the pants off while Banteon was still sitting on them.
“Obviously that’s not going to work. You can’t pull pants off just by tugging from the bottom.”
As Banteon snapped at him, Delroz’s expression grew even more sour. He moved to the front, took hold of the waistband, and then carefully lifted Banteon’s body. The shift in weight forced Banteon to lean into his arm.
Delroz gently slid the pants down and over the swollen ankle, then stepped back quickly. His furrowed brow said it all—he wasn’t thrilled.
“…I misjudged this.”
There were people—especially straight men—who hated even touching another man. Was Delroz one of those? His stiff expression didn’t ease up at all.
Come to think of it, Delroz had been carrying him and supporting him all day. It would be natural if the irritation had piled up. Just like how Banteon didn’t like Delroz, it probably went both ways.
Now completely stripped of his outerwear, Banteon leaned back against the rock again, this time more comfortably.
As mismatched as they were, Delroz had been looking out for him in his own way. Even while carrying him around, he hadn’t shown much discomfort.
With the fire warming his body, his thoughts gradually settled. Banteon couldn’t deny that he owed Delroz a debt. Not that he felt particularly grateful—Delroz’s coarse attitude made it easier to feel annoyed than thankful.
He looked across the fire at Delroz, who sat at an angle, not facing him.
