Chapter 71: An Unfamiliar Journey

We continued through the forest, with Lilina and Alisha doing most of the fighting.

No matter how far we walked, however, we couldn’t escape the Forest of Lost Paths. Once we’d made a reasonable amount of progress, we decided to camp.

Continuing through the forest after dark would hardly be wise.

Yet we’d fled in such a hurry that we had no camping equipment. This would be genuine sleeping under the stars.

Simply being falsely accused had driven us into an extraordinarily harsh situation.

After lighting a fire for light, I dropped roughly to the ground.

“Whew. We’ve walked a long way. I wanted to leave the Forest of Lost Paths today, but I suppose that was impossible.”

Lilina sat down beside me with a tiny plop. Alisha settled an equal distance away on the other side.

“There we go. Still, I think we made a lot of progress today!”

“People say crossing the Forest of Lost Paths takes five days. Even if we defeat the monsters easily, covering the full distance in one day is impossible.”

Unlike my exhausted voice, theirs sounded rather cheerful. They even appeared to have energy to spare.

“You two look pretty lively. You aren’t pushing yourselves, are you?”

Could the same distance truly tire us so differently? Perhaps they were pretending to keep me from worrying.

When I asked uneasily, both shook their heads.

“I’m not pushing myself at all! I’m beastkin, so I’m accustomed to mountain paths and forests!”

“I’m an elf. I’m accustomed to terrain like this too.”

They said it as though it were nothing and smiled calmly.

Compared with Lilina, a beastkin, and Alisha, an elf raised in the forest, naturally I—Lloyd, who had no exceptional physical strength—would be the first to flag.

“I see. So I’m the softest one here. Sigh.”

It was pathetic when I was already the reason they had to endure this hardship.

I released a deep sigh, lowered my brows, and looked at them.

“I’m sorry. I’ve put both of you through so much. You should have been relaxing in town right now.”

It had been a rare day off and a joyful festival. Then I’d suddenly been falsely accused, forcing them to flee with me.

Feeling that I was scarcely useful even in battle made the guilt worse.

Lilina leaned her shoulder against mine and linked her arm through mine.

My heartbeat quickened faintly at the sudden gesture. Her silver ears bounced cheerfully.

“I don’t mind at all! Besides, running away together like this is kind of exciting.”

Seeing her, Alisha followed suit and linked arms with me on the other side. My pulse quickened again as I turned toward her mature smile.

“I don’t mind either. If I can remain with Lloyd-sama, I will accompany you anywhere.”

Facing their words and actions, I could feel my heart undeniably beating faster.

Was this the power of heroines?

After looking from one to the other, I cleared my throat.

“…Um, girls. If you press that close, I probably smell. I think I sweated an awful lot today.”

“That doesn’t bother me at all. Not in the slightest—sniff, sniff.”

Lilina smiled loosely, then suddenly began smelling herself as if she’d remembered something.

She immediately released me, silently slid a little distance away, and waved both hands frantically.

“It doesn’t bother me at all!”

"That's not the reaction of somebody who isn't bothered."

After retorting, I turned to Alisha. She had already moved away and was frowning as she smelled her clothes.

When she noticed my gaze, she pretended nothing was happening and looked away.

“It doesn’t bother me in the slightest either.”

…Their words hadn’t changed, but the distance between us certainly had.

Neither had tired or sweated as much as I had. Even with them pressed against me, I hadn’t noticed any odor. They probably had nothing to worry about.

Still, both were girls of that age.

Thinking that, I discreetly smelled my own clothes too.

Odor aside, I wanted to wash off the sweat somewhere, but there was no chance to bathe leisurely in the Forest of Lost Paths.

I rubbed my aching legs and sighed.

We spent the next several days in the forest, sleeping outside without equipment and repeatedly fighting monsters.

Days of walking through an untended forest had left me considerably fatigued, and the sweat from the journey was making my scalp itch.

…I wanted to wash my whole body and my clothes.

As I thought that, Lilina, who’d been walking a little farther away than usual, twitched her ears.

Then she excitedly pointed somewhere.

“I heard water! There may be a lake or river nearby!”

“Water… Really?!”

Since entering the forest, we'd been able to secure drinking water with basic magic. However, without a tub, it seemed difficult for me to keep producing enough water for bathing, so we hadn't washed.

That made Lilina’s suggestion intensely appealing.

Alisha looked up at me hesitantly.

“Lloyd-sama, could we stop and rest for a short while?”

“Yes. Let’s do that. I want to leave the forest quickly, but arriving at the village in our current state wouldn’t be wise.”

I wiped away sweat and glanced down at my clothes.

If we asked to board a carriage while covered in sweat and mud, a coachman might refuse us even without knowing about my wanted poster.

According to Alisha, we were close to leaving the forest, so we needed to make ourselves presentable first.

“Lilina, can you guide us?”

“Leave it to me! This way, Lloyd-sama!”

Her tail wagging, Lilina cheerfully led us toward the sound of water.

After a short walk, a lake large enough to see from a distance gradually appeared.

Its surface glittered in the reflected sunlight, and the water was so clear that we could see the bottom.

I exclaimed in admiration, knelt, scooped up some water, and nodded.

“I never expected to find such a beautiful lake here.”

“Lloyd-sama, Lloyd-sama! Let’s bathe! I’ll wash your body!”

“Yeah, let’s—what?”

I froze halfway through agreeing.

Had she just said she’d wash me?

I looked at Lilina, wondering if I’d misheard. She blinked and tilted her head.

Why was she reacting as though I was the strange one?

“L-Lloyd-sama. If Lilina is doing it, then I will join her…”

Alisha said it with faintly flushed cheeks.

Having an innocent Lilina and a slightly embarrassed Alisha wash my body…

No, no. That crossed several lines.

“Wait, wait. We can’t all enter together. I appreciate the thought, so the two of you go in first. I’ll light a fire, and you can tell me once your clothes are dry.”

Waving my hand, I stood and began walking away from the lake.

“Lloyd-sama, where are you going?”

“Um… I’ll gather firewood. If a monster appears, call me immediately.”

It would be improper for me, a man, to remain beside the lake while two young girls bathed. I went to collect firewood for drying their wet clothes.