As Vector was vanquished, Alvis collapsed forward and lost consciousness.
Ravi, panicked, rushed to catch him and checked his condition.
“Alvis! Alvis, are you okay?! Blood… blood is… ah, no… even from your nose… what do I do…?”
“Damn it…! There’s nothing around here—not even plants—so I can’t use my power! We have to carry him and run!”
“Lenis! Can you heal Alvis? If we leave him like this, things could get really bad!”
“I’m not a specialist in healing magic, but I can provide some emergency treatment. First, his nose…”
As Lenis cast a healing spell, Alvis, who had collapsed with blood streaming from his nose, slowly regained the original shape of his nose.
“I’ve stopped the worst of the external bleeding, but I’m not a professional healer. I can’t completely fix any internal injuries. He needs proper medical attention—”
“This is enough! Lenis, where’s the closest city from here?!”
“I’m not sure how far this barren area extends, but the closest place is the southern town we stayed in last time—”
At that moment, Elfin interrupted Lenis.
“No. If we go back there and find out it’s been devastated like this place, the next nearest city will be too far. Looking at Alvis’ condition, he won’t last that long. Even if the town is intact, it’s too small—we didn’t see any proper medical facilities there. Lenis, wasn’t there a Lunia Church to the east of here?”
“Oh, that’s right! The city of Aldebaran! It’s a large city, and it has a Lunia Church with many priests. Healing him there will be much easier!”
“Thank you, Elfin, Lenis. There’s no time—I’ll take Alvis ahead! Meet me in Aldebaran!”
Without wasting a moment, Ravi carried Alvis on her back and sprinted at full speed toward Aldebaran.
For an entire day, she ran nonstop—without eating, drinking, or sleeping.
Upon reaching the city, exhausted and staggering, she desperately searched for the Lunia Church, pleading for help.
“Please help! Someone’s injured! Please, treat him!”
“What? A Bani tribe member?!”
“Bani tribe members must be treated at their designated clinic.”
Even the priests of the Lunia Church shared the same racial prejudice, and they were about to turn Ravi away.
Desperate, she held up the unconscious Alvis and screamed at them.
“It’s not me who’s hurt—it’s my companion! Are the priests of the Lunia Church refusing to treat a human just because he’s associated with a Bani?! If it’s about money, I have it! I’ll pay however much you want, just please, save my friend!!!”
Only then did the priests hurry to take Alvis inside.
After several hours of treatment, they managed to heal his severely damaged internal body.
Though his injuries were treated, Alvis remained unconscious, his body burning with fever.
Ravi stayed by his side day and night, resting only on the floor while nursing him.
‘Please… you can’t die. Not because of me. You can’t… please…’
Every time she looked at Alvis lying motionless, she couldn’t stop her tears from falling.
She was too weak.
She hadn’t even been able to break the dark energy’s curse that controlled her body, and because of that, Alvis had ended up like this.
It was Vector who had moved her body, but in the end, she was the one responsible for Alvis’ condition.
However, what truly broke Ravi’s heart was Alvis’ actions.
Even when she—under Vector’s control—had attacked him with lethal intent, Alvis had never fought back.
He had simply taken the blows.
It was clear that if he had just cut her down, the situation would have been resolved much more easily.
Even she could see that.
But Alvis refused to strike her.
When she could no longer bear watching him being torn apart, she had begged him to cut her down and eliminate Vector.
And then, the words he had shouted at Vector—who had mocked them, calling it her destiny to fall—were forever seared into her mind.
—”Shut the hell up! Don’t give me that bullshit! That kind of choice doesn’t exist for me! No matter how much you try to screw with me, this is the one thing I won’t yield on! If fate dares to pull this crap, I’ll smash it to pieces!”
Even as he was on the verge of death, Alvis had shouted that cutting her down was never an option.
Despite being a fallen noble, his words were anything but refined.
But at that moment, to Ravi, they sounded sweeter and more beautiful than anything else in the world.
When his sword strike had passed through her without harm, Ravi had felt an overwhelming warmth.
A gentle, radiant glow, as warm as his heart, had enveloped her.
In that moment, she had felt as if she had been saved.
And in reality, she had regained control of her own body.
That was why she was determined to save Alvis.
For three days, she remained by his side, changing his cloths, wiping his body, feeding him potions when his fever worsened, and carefully pouring porridge into his mouth, gently moving his jaw to help him swallow.
On the third day, when Elfin and Lenis arrived, they were shocked to see how frail she had become.
They offered to take turns nursing him, but Ravi stubbornly shook her head—she was determined to do it herself.
And on the night of the third day, at last, Alvis opened his eyes.
Ravi hugged me tightly, her tears falling like raindrops as she buried her head in my shoulder.
Her tears soaked the shoulder of my pajamas, but her sobbing showed no sign of stopping.
She held me so tightly with her Bani strength that I was almost worried she might break a bone.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Alvis… I was too weak to even break that restraint… and because of that, you…”
“Ugh… Where are we?”
“Sniff… We’re in a city called Aldebaran. Lenis gave you emergency treatment, and the priests here healed you. They said your life wasn’t in danger, but you wouldn’t wake up, and I… I thought I lost you… Hic…”
Ravi hugged me even tighter, crying even harder.
“I’m sorry, Alvis… I’m completely useless… No, worse than that, I was a burden… a worthless idiot…”
Still trembling, she slowly loosened her embrace and forced a smile.
“But… I’m just glad you’re okay, Alvis.”
“Did you take care of me?”
“Yes. After what I did, of course I…”
“That was Vector, not you.”
“…Even so, thank you, Alvis.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks again.
She took a deep breath, as if making a decision.
“Alvis… now that you’re awake and healed… I’m leaving.”
“Leaving? You mean you’re going back to the Carrot Principality?”
“Yes… I got ahead of myself, thinking I could be part of an investigation team, and now look what happened. Pfft… Haha… Isn’t it funny? Back at the academy, I never even liked you, but you’ve been doing all these incredible things—wiping out that strange dark spirit at the goblin camp, breaking the barrier stone in the Presia Mountains, finding the gargoyle cave… and now, even defeating Vector. And then there’s me. I didn’t just fail to help—I almost killed an ally.”
It was clear the events of that day had left Ravi drowning in guilt.
“I was greedy, Alvis. I wanted to prove that Bani aren’t weak, that we don’t need anyone’s protection. But that was just my pride. This is the reality. Without your help, I was just a mind-controlled puppet, a useless burden… Maybe this is why people discriminate against my kind…”
“Ravi.”
I called her name and gently took her hand.
“You don’t really believe that.”
“…!”
Ravi was always proud of her Bani heritage.
The fact that she was degrading herself and her people like this meant her spirit was utterly shattered from what had happened.
“And I don’t believe it for a second, either.”
“But… but I…”
“I’m not as strong as you. I’m not as fast as you. I don’t have your sharp senses, your incredible endurance, or your keen sense of smell. I can’t hear tiny sounds from far away like you can.”
“……”
“You can do things I could never do. And in this battle, I just did what you couldn’t. My injury isn’t your fault—it was Vector’s. I didn’t know about his power, and I had no idea how to break free from it. But you resisted him, didn’t you?”
“That’s…”
“If you had attacked me with everything you had, I would’ve died instantly from your first strike. But you held back. You resisted. That’s why your attacks were weaker and slower than usual. Am I wrong?”
“……”
“You don’t need to blame yourself. And you definitely don’t need to look down on your people. I’ve said it before—I think Bani are far stronger and more amazing than most humans. You know the story of the elephant tied to a stake? An elephant that’s been tied up and mistreated since birth grows up believing it can never break free, even when it’s strong enough to rip out the stake with ease. I think the Bani are in a similar situation. But no matter what, an elephant is still an elephant.”
Ravi lowered her head, her body trembling.
“There are things only you can do—things that neither I, Elfin, nor Lenis could ever replace. So don’t let one misfortune drive you away. Stay with us. Those underground creatures, whatever they are, won’t be the last. And not all of them will be like Vector. One day, we’ll face an enemy that only you can defeat. If you’re not there when that happens… we might really die. So please, stay and protect our backs.”
“Sniff… sob… Huaaahhh! Waaahhh! Alvis… Alvis…!”
As soon as I finished speaking, Ravi broke down, sobbing loudly as she clung to me.
She cried for a long time, until her tears finally began to subside.
Moonlight streamed in through the window, illuminating the two of us.
Her rabbit ears twitched, and she lifted her head to gaze outside.
“The moon is beautiful.”
“Yeah… it is.”
Her tear-streaked face looked even more beautiful in the moonlight.
Something about the way she looked stirred a protective instinct in me.
Without thinking, I reached out and gently cupped her cheek.
Normally, Ravi would’ve recoiled, but this time, she didn’t push me away.
Our eyes met, and I saw her pupils tremble.
“…Ravi.”
“…Alvis.”
Before I realized it, I was leaning closer.
Our faces drew near until our noses nearly touched.
Ravi slowly closed her eyes.
I stroked her cheek with my hand and moved in even closer.
And then, our lips softly met.