Chapter 100 The Waking Dinner

On the night of the fourth day after the incident, Shizu had invited Rulu, Nosuri, and Ougi for dinner as Rulu offered to make Shizu a meal to help lift her spirits. While Shizu wanted to help cook for everyone she was not allowed into the kitchen due to Rulu's insistence, so Shizu was relegated to setting the table.

Her mind was still on Azi as he still showed no signs of waking up anytime soon, but after placing down the last of the plates Shizu caught a whiff of the food and felt her mind calm a bit. She then saw that the meal was ready as Nosuri and Ougi were walking over with plates of food in hand.

Taking another whiff of the delicious smell in the air, Shizu sighed in relief and she stated.

"Your cooking always smells so good Rulu, I truly wish I could eat your food everyday."

Shizu then proceeded to rub her cheek against her younger sister's as she gave a forceful hug charged with sisterly love.

"T-Thank you Sister, but please not in front of the others. P-Please?" Sputter Rulu.

"OH SO ADORABLE. MY LITTLE RULU IS SO SWEET!"

Shizu continued her cuddling of Rulu while Nosuri and Ougi looked on with wry expressions, but underneath they were relieved that Shizu was in a better state of mind. The pair of mercenaries were serving as Shizu's assistants throughout the relief efforts.

Every day, Shizu worked till dawn till dusk to ensure the relief efforts were completed in a timely manner. While Shizu kept her steadfast attitude throughout the days, Ougi and Nosuri noticed the indications of stress that was building.

So, not wanting to spoil Shizu's good mood, Nosuri and Ougi opted to just look on with smiles as they stayed seated at the table.

After getting her fill of Rulu, Shizu pulled a chair out for Rulu who accepted it begrudgingly as she felt as if she was being treated like a child.

Rulu attempted a retort but was summarily shot down by Shizu overbearing logic which got a stifled laugh out of Nosuri who attempted to hide it with her hand on her lips.

This got the tableside banter going as Ougi started by sharing about an "amusing" past moment of his twin sister. Of course, Nosuri tried to deny such an embarrassing past but was unconvincing as slight stuttering of her words were enough to tell that she was not giving the entire truth.

They ate as they talked and eventually landed on the topic of Izuru as Rulu asked.

"So what is Izuru like?"

"It's smaller than Kujyuri and there is less snow as the temperature is more mild. There's always fresh fruit to be picked as the nation is mostly covered in dense forests." Answered Ougi.

"And our people are either constantly training or working. But my father, King Genho, is the exception as he can be quite the slacker at times." Said Nosuri, her hand making an offhanded gesture.

Shizu and Rulu were surprised by the blatant jab Nosuri made at her own father and king. They had previously known about the pair's backgrounds from a letter from Ozen but they felt like Nosuri had a sorted relationship with her father.

Ougi, whose arms were under the table, nudged Nosuri's side with his elbow.

"I believe that was uncalled for sister. While your statement is true, it's best that we do not berate those who hold standing that are above our own."

Nosuri, realizing her slip of the tongue, panicked.

"I, well, er. *Ahem* A king needs his rest. Leading a nation's worth of people is hard work. Yup, Yes, Indeed."

"Yes, I agree as well." Said Rulu, who attempted the best support for Nosuri's panic. "My father as well takes time to rest when he can. So I see your reasoning."

With Rulu's agreement, Nosuri puffed out her buxom chest with pride and laughed proudly.

"I'm glad you see my great reasoning. Bwahahaha."

Cutting in, Shizu then asked.

"Well it's all good and fun that we talk about these kinds of topics. But, it's best that we change over to a more serious topic. Soon, we will be heading to Kujyuri and I would like to offer another contract to you two. Would you be interested?"

Brought down from her high horse, Nosuri slumped a bit but changed to a posture of inner contemplation. Nosuri and Ougi had reviewed the contract Shizu had given them the day before and it came with many benefits. The pay would be good and the merit they would gain in Kujyuri would establish better relations between Izuru and Kujyuri.

But even with all the benefits, Nosuri had a problem with this as it mostly piggybacked off of Shizu's already higher standing and past merits. Her silver seal was one indicator and the rumors only added to her notoriety.

Taking a few more moments to think, Ougi continued to look at Nosuri with his usually stoic expression of two squinted eyes. He wanted Nosuri to use this moment as a learning experience as he believed his sister could do many interesting and amusing things, but this only scratched the surface of his reasoning.

Nosuri heaved a sigh to steady herself before giving her answer.

"I will have to decline. My brother and I will be moving to the capital as we have some business we need to attend to."

"And what would that be?" Asked Shizu, her brows raised.

"I plan to establish a mercenary group composed of my people from Izuru. You see, my brother and I have been a mercenary party of two for a couple years and we chose not to be in a large group as we wanted to grow stronger as individuals." Nosuri then gripped her fist a bit and continued. "But I think we need to change our thinking on how to become stronger."

"I see, Well I wish you well Nosuri." Said Shizu, who then jokingly added. "But be sure to remember that you are still young. so be sure to find a man before you turn too old."

Nosuri blushed and went silent as her face turned red. Ougi placated her by offering her a glass of water which Nosuri drank timidly as she thought about what married life would be like.

Rulu chuckled and was reminded of a certain person.

"Will Azi be able to come with us?"

Shizu's hand stopped mid movement and she placed her utensil down before hesitantly answering. "I don't think we should have him go, but I have been ordered by Ozen to bring Azi."

"But what if he is still asleep the day we start traveling back. He could possibly get sick or…." *thump*

Noticing the loud noise that came from the ceiling of the room, Rulu looked up in confusion. Shizu, Nosuri, and Ougi did the same.

"Did you hear that?" Asked Rulu.

Everyone nodded their heads in affirmation and another loud thump rang out. Soon the thumping became louder and more rapid and everyone pondered what the source of the sound was.

Shizu scrutinized the ceiling for any discrepancy as she thought that something was in the ceiling, but suddenly her eyes shot open as she realized what might be the cause.

Getting up from her seat, Shizu rushed to the stairs. At the first step she heard the first cries of pain from a familiar voice which made her worries rise.

Nosuri, Rulu, and Ougi recognized the voice as well and quickly followed Shizu up the stairs.

Arriving seconds behind Shizu, the trio saw Shizu standing a few paces away from where Azi's bed was.

They could see that Azi was thrashing around in bed as he was breathing rapidly as if he was out of breath.

Worried that Azi would hurt himself, Nosuri and Rulu rushed forward with quick steps to get a hold of him. Shizu shouted for them to stop and successfully halted Rulu by pulling her collar.

Nosuri on the other hand got close and attempted to grab Azi's left arm that was thrashing around in a panic as if it was trying to fend off an attacker.

She was successful in getting a grip but in the next moment, Azi lifted his left arm and raised it over to his right side which caused Nosuri to fall over.

Now atop of Azi's chest, Nosuri lost her grip and was then quickly pushed away from a single swing of Azi's left arm. The impact was so strong that it caused Nosuri to be thrown across the room. Luckily Ougi caught his sister before she went tumbling down the stairs.

Before anyone could ask what just happened Shizu answered in a concerned tone of voice.

"He is likely having a nightmare and he is fortifying himself with magic unconsciously. For now, stand back."

Hesitantly, everyone did as they were told.

Shizu then started to approach Azi and before she got to his bedside, she reinforced herself with fortification magic.

Azi's senses picked up on Shizu's approach and he attempted to swing his left arm to bat away what he thought was an enemy.

Shizu caught his left arm and she was surprised by how strong Azi was in this state. Yex, Azi was able to defend himself if he was using his max magic energy but it seemed that he had become stronger since the last time he tried to resist her.

Luckily, Shizu knew how to pin down a human opponent and this was easy as Azi was already on his back. For some reason, Azi's right hand was not moving to attack Shizu and was instead gripped tightly into a fist that was over his heart.

Shizu used this to her advantage and moved her free left hand to the back of Azi's head.

He struggled and resisted as he felt an unknown touch which frightened him.

Seeing that Azi could not recognize her, her concerns rose as she tried to think of a way to calm him. Remembering that feeling in the medical tent when she kissed him on the head, Shizu focused on that experience and attempted to recreate it.

Shizu, who was knelt down over Azi's left side, leaned down and kissed him on his forehead and intentionally let her magic energy flow out from her body.

An orange red glow formed from Azi's heart and Shizu brought him into her embrace. Azi's cries of anguish started to change into soft breaths and after a minute his eyes flicker open.

Brought out from his nightmare, Azi saw Shizu in front of him and started to cry. Shizu of course comforted him by lending him her shoulder.

His time in that black space was not kind or enjoyable like the last time. He was not able to freely view his memories but was instead subjected to a forceful injection of random pieces of information that made his emotions go out of control.

Shizu, believing that it was only a nightmare, started to hold Azi as he continued to cry. The warmth between them helped them both through this moment as they had both gone through a lot these past few days.