Pursuers

I've been bathing for a while, unfortunately there's no soap, just cold water and a towel to clean myself, but I'm not in a position to complain, compared to... before, this is great.

Even with the cold water, soaking in the bathtub is still good, washing my tail was strange, having this extra part on my body gives me a peculiar feeling, and my tail and ears are sensitive to the touch.

After just lightly rubbing myself with the towel, I started to feel a slight stinging pain, I think the towel is too rough and my skin is too sensitive and delicate, but I still have to scrub well since I'm dirty.

The door is suddenly pushed open with force.

"Kyaa" I plunge into the bathtub to hide and see Uriel entering with a worried expression, when he sees me naked he blushes even more and comes towards me.

He pulls my hand that is holding the rough towel and takes the towel from my hand, I don't understand anything, I'm just embarrassed to be seen like this.

"Ayla...haaa" He calls my name and then sighs, I still don't understand this strange action of his.

"Ayla, you're not dirty"

"Huh?" I don't understand why he's saying this out of the blue.

"Ayla...did you realize what you were doing? You don't need to do this to yourself...no one would think you're dirty because of what happened to you" when he says this, he shows me the towel that is stained with red.

I look at my skin, and I also notice that the bathwater is slightly reddish.

"Ayla, you've been in the bath for over... 1 hour, I'm sorry for barging in like this, but you weren't answering when I called..."

"..." I realize I've been scrubbing my body for over an hour, time passed so quickly that I didn't even notice, I also didn't hear him calling me, I just wanted to wash my dirty body.

When I see my reflection in the slightly reddened water, I can only think that I'm still dirty.

'I see...' I realize why he said I'm not "dirty", even though I don't want to notice, by reflex I think my body is dirty and repulsive, who wouldn't be disgusted by their own body after what happened to me.

Tears fall into the slightly reddened water, Uriel lifts me out of the bathtub and dries me with a towel he pulled from his inventory, after that he hugs me. I hug him back too, I didn't want to have to think about the past, but by reflex my actions remind me of what I wanted to forget.

"It's okay, Ayla, it's normal to feel this way after what you've been through, it's not your fault...you're perfect, there's nothing wrong with you or your body, you don't need to hurt yourself because of what happened, now the past is the past, I'm here to help you."

"If it's too difficult for you to bear, you can put all the weight on me, whether it's anger, hatred, sadness, or pain, you can pass all your negative feelings to me, if your burdens are too heavy, you can share them with me, and I will be your companion on this difficult journey."

With each of his words, I hug him tighter as silent tears fall. Uriel speaks like a hero, which is kind of obvious since he really is a hero.

"I may not be able to free you from your pain and suffering, but I can be the one who will help you make it smaller until it's no longer a problem for you."

"I will be whatever you need on this tortuous journey, if you need someone to talk to, I'll be all ears, if you need someone to complain to, I'll receive all the criticism."

"If you need someone to vent your anger on, you can vent it on me, if you need someone to cheer you up, I'll do whatever it takes to do that, if you need a shoulder to cry on, you can use mine."

"And if you no longer have hope in anything, you can deposit your hopes in me, I will be the light that will illuminate the darkness in your heart...so don't hurt yourself anymore."

After saying these words, he falls silent. He knows that just beautiful words won't change how I feel overnight, but what he said was exactly what I needed.

The tears don't stop falling as I hug him tightly, I don't feel ashamed to be naked, the pain in my heart leaves no room for shame.

We stay like this for some time until I recover.

"T-Thank you, Uriel...I really appreciate what you've done for me." Uriel gives a bright, sun-like smile, then pulls an outfit from his inventory and hands it to me.

"It's no problem, Ayla."

I leave the bathroom and go to the bed, where Aetheris is waiting for me excitedly. I see two plates on the table, they're cold, showing that a long time has passed since they arrived.

'Uriel waited for me...' Uriel is so kind, is he this good with everyone? Or only with me?

'What am I thinking, of course he's good with everyone...he's a hero, after all.' I climb onto the bed and hug Aetheris, I don't want to eat, I don't have the energy or appetite to want to eat anything, I'll just sleep.

I soon fall asleep, I wanted to say goodnight to Uriel, but I'm mentally exhausted. After what I judge to be hours, I wake up to a loud thud, as if something large had fallen.

"Ayla, wake up, we have to go now." Uriel picks me up like a princess while Aetheris is on top of me.

"U-Uriel, what's going on?...Kyaaaa" Without answering me, Uriel jumps out the window, and in a brief glance I see a body torn to pieces, the death is brutal, the body is divided into 6 parts.

'U-Uriel did this?...' Soon, Uriel answers my mental question.

"Ayla, we've been discovered...faster than I expected, we need to get out of the city now, I'm sorry...I wanted to give you more time, but it's difficult." He says as he runs quickly through the alleys, soon climbing the alley, jumping between the walls.

He starts jumping across the rooftops, heading towards the city wall.

"W-Who discovered us?"

"Some greedy mercenaries." I notice a group of at least 10 demons chasing us across the rooftops.

After some time, we reach the city wall and exit, the pursuers are right behind us. Uriel is insanely fast, I have a slight fear of the jumps he keeps making, so I hug him tightly as he runs.

Aetheris seems to have difficulty keeping up with Uriel's movements, so he clings to my dress. We keep running non-stop for at least 30 minutes, soon I realize why we haven't lost them yet.

"Uriel...a-am I slowing you down?" I realize that even though he's moving so fast and aggressively, for me in his arms the movement is gentle and smooth, this would only be possible if he were deliberately adjusting himself.

We haven't lost these pursuers because of my fault.

"N-No, Ayla, you're not slowing me down." Uriel doesn't seem good at lying, it's obvious from his face that he's lying.

'Now, in addition to being useless, I'm also a dead weight...' Knowing that I'm a dead weight hurts my heart, I'm grateful to him for saving me, but I don't want to be a burden. If we get captured because of me...

I don't know what I would feel, if the demon lords find us, they will certainly kill Uriel for helping me escape.

"U-Uriel...y-you don't have to hold back because of me..." Uriel makes a complicated face.

"Ayla...if I kill them, wouldn't you be frightened?" What he says confuses me, but if he can kill them, I don't see why not.

"N-No, I-I would never be afraid of Uriel, i-if I'm being a burden, you can do whatever you want." Uriel stops and puts me on the ground, then draws the [Blade of Infinity].

The 10 demons soon catch up to us.

"Hahaha, look at that, tired of running, you weaklings?" One of them laughs at us while pointing a sword.

"I told you, look at that girl, she's the one on the poster." Another shows the poster to his partner with a greedy tone.

"Hehehe, she's a cutie, maybe we can have some fun with her before turning her in." One of them gives me lascivious looks, I find that repulsive.

"What do we do with the human boy?"

"Kill him, he's not important." Soon they surround us, and one of them charges at Uriel.

"I'll kill this weakling..." In an instant, his body is torn to shreds, cut into strips like a sliced steak, it's so ridiculously fast that it's simply inhuman.

I fall back at the bloody scene. It's a brutal fighting style, one that no one would say belongs to a hero, I realized that although they die quickly, the method of killing is unnecessarily brutal.

"Wh-What the fuck is this...." One of them says as he is completely dismembered and his body is split in two from top to bottom, I see the organs falling along with a lot of blood, the sight is so disgusting that it makes me want to vomit.

In an instant, 7 of them meet the same fate, being killed quickly but brutally, covering the ground with blood, limbs and organs, it's easy to say they were killed by a monster.

"M-Monster, HEY YOU BASTARD, YOU SAID HE DIDN'T HAVE MAGIC!" One of the demons shouts hysterically at his partner, confusing Uriel's movement for magic.

"H-He d-doesn't..." As he finishes speaking, the 3 remaining are killed. It's clear they underestimated Uriel because he didn't have magic, but his other stats are normal.

My body trembles at the bloody scene. It's slightly frightening, but I'm not afraid of Uriel, I know he did it for me, even though the method is savage.

"Sorry for showing you something so unpleasant, Ayla." He says as he comes to me, picks me up, and runs away from that scene, Aetheris is still hugging me.

"W-Why did you kill them in such a..." I ask with some trepidation, seeing him kill like this doesn't seem like that gentle Uriel who comforted me.

"Grotesque? Brutal? I know my way of fighting is not that of a hero..." He speaks with a tone that's difficult to distinguish, carrying a certain sadness.

"You know...the kingdom didn't want to teach me any fighting style since I was a commoner...so I had to learn on my own, fortunately I met a veteran adventurer...he was a cool guy, he taught me this style of swordsmanship."

"There are various monsters with extra limbs or high regeneration...so this style of swordsmanship is used to hunt that kind of monster, this fighting style aims to cause maximum damage and minimize the target's mobility."

"It's perfect for killing monsters...but when used on humanoid beings like humans or demons...it forms a bloody and unnecessarily violent vision."

"I may not have the swordsmanship of a hero...but I think what matters is my intention in using such swordsmanship, I don't mind if others think this swordsmanship is unsuitable for a hero, I learned it with a lot of effort, and I'm very proud of it." He says the last part with a smile.

"I don't think it's bad...in the end, it's thanks to it that you've saved many people." When I say this, he looks at me being carried like a princess and gives a bright smile.

He seems happy with what I said, his smile is beautiful, it makes my heart skip a beat while my face blushes and I look away.

"W-Where are we going..." I try to change the subject.

"We're going to the [Black Forest] although it's dangerous, it's the fastest route if we want to get out of demon territory." He explains as he continues running, I feel safe being carried by him, I hope we can have a safe journey.