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What happened while I was collapsed?

Zion lay sprawled over me, not moving an inch.

At first glance, it looked like she was sleeping, but her body was tense, indicating a very dangerous condition.

“Zion!”

I needed to stimulate her somehow to bring her back to her senses.

If I suddenly tried to lift her, she might resist and tense up even more, so I decided to wake her up with my voice first.

“Zion! Wake up! I’m right here!”

But what comes after the voice?

Sure, it was sound, but I couldn’t think of anything more I could do.

My hand was pinned under the blanket…!

“Hop… Teacher?”

Huh? Did Zion just…

“There you are.”

Zion seemingly understood my call all at once; she slowly turned her head to look at me.

“Yes. I’m right here. Are you awake?”

“Teacher… Hop Teacher…”

With her gaze fixed on me, Zion crawled slowly toward me, pulling her body with her arms.

Eventually, she covered my body with her own and lay down.

“I’ve been looking for you for ages. Sob, where on earth were you…?”

She slipped her arms around me from behind and hugged me tight.

Since Zion was still covering my body, I couldn’t pull my arm out from under the blanket, but I turned my head toward her and rested my face against hers.

“It’s okay now, Zion. I’m here.”

“Don’t go anywhere, Teacher. Don’t disappear, don’t leave me.”

“I won’t go anywhere. Don’t worry.”

“And you can’t get hurt or collapse. And, and…”

Before long, the pillow I was resting on started getting wet.

Zion was crying buckets.

She shook her head, pulling me in even tighter, burrowing deeper into my side.

As if she couldn’t let go, she held on to me, crying until it felt like I couldn’t breathe.

“And you can’t die. Absolutely.”

“……”

Die? I only fainted from overwork, does she really think I’m dying?

Goodness… if she keeps this up, I won’t be able to comfortably collapse anymore.

“Who’s dying? Stop worrying so much and rest easy.”

“Wah, sniff…”

Through the ear that was pressed against my cheek, I could feel Zion’s heartbeat, her tears soaking the wet pillow, and the warm air of her breath against my neck.

The hero Zion, who had always been everyone’s support and hope, was now clinging to me, crying.

Relying too much on a doctor is usually not a good thing, but I couldn’t push her away or refuse since I was the one who brought her here in hopes of seeing her like this.

**********

As time passed, Zion calmed down, and we had the dinner prepared at the hot spring.

I, too, had become a patient, so wandering around at night was out of the question.

In cases of overwork, the only way to ease symptoms is to rest and recover from fatigue, and I wouldn’t be fully rejuvenated from just a half-day fainting.

At least during this rehabilitation period, I needed to focus on my own recovery, so when we returned to the kingdom, I could safely resume my duties.

“Um, Hop Teacher.”

“What is it?”

“We’re supposed to go into the hot spring together, right?”

“Of course! What if you pass out in there?”

“Hah…”

Zion, who was being carried on my back, sighed heavily and hung her head down after hearing my response.

To make sure she didn’t drown while struggling to stay upright in the water, someone had to be there to watch over her, and I was the only one available in this place.

“You really don’t need to sigh like that, do you?”

“Somehow, you urged me to come to the hot spring for that purpose, didn’t you?”

“Just what do you think that purpose is?”

“In the end, you’re targeting my body…”

“If you think that, fine, but don’t hit me. I don’t want to faint again.”

“What?! I was joking, and you really meant it?!”

“Let’s just not talk.”

This hot spring was a huge place with four baths.

As it wasn’t used much, there was no particular division between men’s and women’s baths, and we entered the changing room of a small hot spring that was just right for two people.

I set Zion down on a shelf in the middle, and we decided to undress while turning our backs to each other.

“Absolutely don’t look over here!”

“Fine, I’ll see everything anyway…”

“I’ll cover up with a towel!”

“Don’t look over here either, Zion.”

“I have to look.”

“Why?”

“I need to see if Hop Teacher turns around or not.”

“But we agreed to turn our backs and change.”

“I can turn my head.”

“And what about me?”

“Pervert?”

“No…”

Honestly, I didn’t have to see Zion’s naked body, but it felt unfair to be observed unilaterally, so I just kept saying something back, while Zion diligently countered each of my words.

In the end, it became a situation where turning showed no hope, so while feeling Zion’s burning gaze on my back, I removed my clothes and wrapped a towel around my lower half.

“I’m done, Zion.”

“Not yet! You can’t look!”

“I was trying to play it cool and didn’t say anything because I thought it wouldn’t be funny if I got serious, do you think I really want to see you that badly?”

“Teacher… have you forgotten how you’ve acted until now?”

How I’ve acted until now?

I had been checking Zion’s muscle mass by massaging her, and although I had watched her in various ways, that was to monitor her rehabilitation training process. When I carried or held her, it was because she couldn’t move. Asking if she was in pain was because I genuinely cared…

“I can confidently say I have never acted in such a way that warrants this kind of treatment.”

“Oh my, is such a shameless person really a member of the hero party? Am I being deceived by an outrageous lie?”

Goodness, she’s getting closer to the truth through my character.

Certainly, based on my personality, I am quite different from the other four members of the hero party, but I never thought Zion would accuse me of lying.

Of course, it must be a joke, so it’s not a dangerous situation where my lies will be exposed.

“I’m done. You can look over here now.”

With Zion’s permission, I could finally turn around.

Zion, sitting on the shelf with just a towel covering her, wore a somewhat embarrassed expression while looking down, but she raised her eyes to glance up at me.

Was she aware that the towel she tied tightly was clinging to her body, revealing a thin line close to naked?

Her arms were slender, delicate, and smooth, with almost no muscle, connecting to her shoulders and deep collarbone.

Her dark hair contrasted with her shining white skin, which was a little flushed, perhaps from the warmth of the surroundings or her embarrassment.

“Don’t stare at me so intently, just hurry up and help me over.”

“…Got it.”

I forced a casual chuckle and nodded, moving beside Zion, picking her up in a princess carry.

She turned her body away, covering her chest with both hands, desperately avoiding my gaze.

I genuinely brought Zion to this hot spring for treatment without any ulterior motives, but seeing her so embarrassed was strangely making me feel odd as well.

“Gah, it’s hot!”

After stepping into the hot spring, I checked the temperature by dipping my toes in while holding Zion.

Of course, it was hot, but…

“Whoa! It’s seriously super hot.”

As I braved myself to step in, luckily, it was bearable.

I gently lowered Zion so she wouldn’t be surprised and checked the shape of the bottom with my feet.

“Oh? Is it this shallow?”

I wandered around the hot spring, but this one was a shallow bath where the deepest part barely reached my thighs.

Did we pick the wrong hot spring?

“It’s a hot spring used by dwarves, after all. Have you really been here before?”

Ah, I see. Since it’s a place for dwarves, the depth makes sense.

From a human’s perspective, sitting on the bottom wouldn’t drown you; it was a very safe hot spring in that regard.

“Ah, right. It was such a long time ago, I forgot. Anyway, it’s good that Zion is safe.”

“Is it hotter than that?”

“I think it’s better to feel it yourself. I’ll let you try it first, so don’t be too shocked, okay?”

“Okay.”

Since I was holding Zion, her body was just barely above the surface of the water.

If I slowly lowered her down like this…

“Wah!”

Zion sprang up, shocked by the heat on her lower back.

I was surprised too; in a situation where I was half-submerged, I somehow managed to hold onto her and keep my balance while she floundered.

“Is it that hot?”

“No, but who dips in feet-first like that?!”

“Ah…”

Ah, right. In this position, the butt would be the first to hit the water.

So that’s why her back arched when she tried to lift her rear out of the water.

“Next time, I’ll start by putting your toes in.”

I raised my right arm, which had Zion’s upper body, high and leaned, dipping her toes into the hot spring first.

Zion trembled all over as she entered, unsure if it was hot or scary, but once she was fully in and leaning against the edge, she finally let out a big sigh.

“Uah… It’s been ages since I felt this.”

Now that Zion was safely in the hot spring, I too sat down a bit away, easing my body into a comfortable position.

The water was so shallow that I had to sit straight without bending my knees to fit in this dwarven hot spring.

“Zion.”

“Yes?”

“If you start feeling unwell, please tell me, okay?”

When I turned back to check on her, Zion’s face was flushed from the heat of the hot spring and filled with a smile.

Is she feeling good?

“Why don’t you worry about yourself, Teacher?”

“That’s true, but if my condition gets worse here, it would be what it is.”

“Why would it be like that?”

“Because if I collapsed, Zion would be helpless.”

“……”

Suddenly, Zion’s smile faded slowly, and she fell silent.

Did I just make a mistake? My spine chilled for a moment, but after a while, Zion let out a small sigh and looked my way again with a faint smile.

“True. If you collapse, I won’t be able to do anything. That’s really the case.”

That one phrase made my head lower involuntarily.

What on earth happened to Zion while I was fainting…?

“So, don’t ever collapse. Got it?”

I had heard that same phrase before. Zion was begging me not to collapse, not to get hurt, and definitely not to die, while crying.

I might not know exactly what Zion had experienced or what she was thinking, but,

“Got it. I promise.”

Telling her that I understood right now wasn’t difficult for me at all.

 

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