C63- Finding the Humans (1)

"..."

"..."

"Hehehe..."

In front of the four kids, the two adults were standing with red faces. To find an escape, they looked at each other accidentally, but remembering what happened just a moment ago didn't help to relief the embarrasment, and instead caused their faces to get even redder. The two adults looked away from each other again.

"Why did you two turn away? You can get lost in each other's eyes. We are used to it thanks to Noah and Clair."

"Hey! Corvin?"

"But I guess any more than this might be too much sugar for a teen like me..."

"I-It was your fault! Why didn't you tell us everyone could hear what we said!", said Acherie.

"What? Why would I get between that sweet atmosphere? Even getting hit by that from the sidelines was unhealthy. I am not stupid enough to walk into the crossfire."

"Uuu...."

"Now now, don't be so embarassed. You two are adults."

"Hey! We aren't that old!", retorted Acherie.

"I couldn't say that even if I wanted to... I mean, I can still feel the heat from the hot fires of youth you two exposed me to."

Corvin and fanned his face with his hand, and Acherie's face became even more red. But then, Kharon did an unexpected move.

"-! He-hey?!"

He moved behind Acherie and hugged her with a straight face. He tried to keep it straight, at the very least.

"H-He is r-right... We are ad-adults now, so w-we can express out l-l-love easier. A-and we have known each other for l-long time..."

Corvin gave a thumbs up to Kharon with an approving smile and said.

"That's a real man right here! Good job! But please try again without a face that's completely red like an apple."

"Ugh..."

Amy decided to step in and stop Corvin's assault on the poor adults, who were awkwardly trying to get away from each other with red faces while not wanting to seperate.

"C-Corvin, let's just stop joking and introduce each other once again."

"Right... This is the first time we have talked since I woke up, right? My name is Corvin Mundy."

"Acherie Il-Kuth."

"Kharon Il-Baseer."

"Nice to meet you. I am a normal vector mage, you two?"

"I use biological magic, but ever since Rule Breaking, I can't use it on others properly."

"I saw your magic, it was simple but effective and cool. But I am more curious about Miss Acherie. What magic do you use?"

"Matter magic. I practiced using it to camouflage myself and move fast, and when I was Rule Breaking, it turned into what you saw."

Corvin smiled mischievously and said.

"So both of you were so focused on helping the other one that you forgot to confess to the other and got seperated for a while?"

""-!""

Corvin's smile deepened after seeing the two adults turn red again after hitting the nail right on the head.

"Corvin!"

"-!"

Corvin turned towards the angry Amy with an awkward smile.

"Didn't I say enough?"

"Uh.... Sorry?"

"Sigh~"

Amy started scolding Corvin about his bad habits. Acherie and Kharon turned towards each other and turned back to Amy and Corvin.

"...Was he the one making fun of us just now?"

"...He was..."

"Then what are we seeing currently?"

"...I don't know..."

"...Aren't what they are doing right now, just like us back then?"

"Haha, you thought so too?"

Clair and Noah appeared next to the two adults, and added while nodding.

"You two are right. They are exactly like you, roughly."

"Yes... That guy... Corvin loves projecting his problems on others... No, it's more like he is subconsciously making fun of himself by using other people with similar situations to him."

"What a weird guy..."

*****

"So... The way out of here is gone?"

At Kharon's question, the four kids apologized profusely.

""""We are sorry, it was our fault!""""

"It-It's okay. You don't have to apologize like that."

"We would much rather have you four help us on finding what to do next instead of apologizing."

The kids squinted their eyes at the brightly shining adult couple.

"Guh! This brightness! So this is what an adult is!"

"What?"

"Or are they angels fro-"

"Cough! Can you two stop joking around and be productive? Amy is preparing food and I am preparing other things, so you two should help the adults!"

""Sorry, Clair.""

After apologizing to Clair, Noah and Corvin sat in front of the campfire across Kharon and Acherie. The smell of the silk they used to fuel the fire, which resembles burnt meat, hit their noses.

"So... You two were fighting for most of the way here because of your past, and ended up getting caught by the caterpillar because you were tired from fighting each other?"

"Yes.."

"And that's why you don't know where to go next?"

"Yes...."

"Sigh~ Well... I think we should start with getting to the end of the corridor this room is connected to."

"You do?"

"Yes. Think about it. Were there any caterpillars between the common bugs inside the nest?"

"No, I don't think so."

"There weren't any cockroaches either. Only one. Just like the caterpillar."

"So?"

"The roach was protecting the honeycombs, which I think acted as private rooms to stay in for the workers. And I think this caterpillar is also supposed to protect something. It wasn't a simple monster either, it had a crystal inside of it, you know?"

"Ah... Crystal..."

"Hm? Did something happen to the crystal? Did it disappear?"

"Uh... Yes, well no..."

"What happened?"

"You didn't realize it but, you threw it too hard, so it split into two parts, and only one of them survived the corpse disintegration of the caterpillar..."

"What, that's all? It was too big to carry anyways! And I thought something happened to it!"

"...Ha-ha... Right? It's just that... What was I even worrying about?"

"Well, anyways. We should sleep here and continue tomorrow... Well tomorrow for us, I don't know the time outside. But you are all tired, right? I did get to sleep so I will stay on guard for a while. Do we agree on this?"

"Well, yes. Our lives are at risk, so even if it is just four kids, we have no choice but to cooperate."

"Ugh... Why did you have to say it like that?"

"Heh! It's just payback. Come on, the food must be ready, let's go eat."

The six of them ate Amy's cooking and went to sleep.