Shortly after Jhin lay down, he drifted off into a deep sleep despite expecting to stay wide awake.
Kyaru slapped her forehead. "Damn it — I should have had him pull out the Capsule House. Looks like we're roughing it under the stars tonight."
When Jhin woke the next morning, his headache had eased — just barely, just a tiny bit. Then he nearly leapt out of his skin at the mummy lying beside him.
He stared at the single orange ahoge poking defiantly out through a full-body wrapping of bandages, and ventured cautiously: "...Pecorine?"
The ahoge snapped bolt upright and began trembling in rapid, rhythmic bursts — transmitting what appeared to be so kind of mysterious ssage. Unfortunately, Jhin could not decode it. "Rest. Please."
Before long the others woke as well. Kokkoro helped Pecorine off to a discreet spot to "pick flowers." Kyaru and gumin went to deal with the Sand Scorpion King's corpse and harvest its materials. Jhin was under strict orders not to use a single drop of ntal power, leaving him with no choice but to stand around acting as a mobile inventory.
With nothing else to do, he turned the battle over in his mind and catalogued everything it had exposed. He lacked effective tools against large-bodied monsters. His attack repertoire was far too narrow. On the magic front, focusing solely on offensive spells wasn't enough — a proper ancient mage needed to command amplification, healing, and defense as well.
He opened his personal stat panel and felt a genuine jolt of pleasant surprise: both [Elent Control] and [Mana Control] had leveled up to Lv2. He'd taken another step forward in his mastery of elents and magical energy.
He almost reached out to test his improved control right then and there — but Kyaru's warning flashed through his mind and he thought better of it. Any exertion at all sent stabbing pain through his skull. If he strained his ntal power now and dragged this misery out any longer, he genuinely wasn't sure he could take it.
He was still sitting there spacing out when Kokkoro padded over to his side. "Master, does your head still hurt?"
"Yeah. Probably going to be like this for a while."
"Could you crouch down for a mont?"
"Sure." Jhin had no idea what she had in mind, but he crouched down as she asked.
A pair of slender little hands wrapped around his head and pulled gently, pressing his cheek against her stomach. Kokkoro's right hand moved in slow, soothing circles across the top of his head. "Pain-pain, fly away~ Master, does that feel better?"
Warmth seeped through the smooth fabric of her clothes alongside the gentle strokes, working like an invisible hand that drew the pain briefly out of his skull. He even felt drowsiness beginning to surface. His eyes drifted shut and he gave a quiet nod. "...Yeah."
A boy with his face buried blissfully against a young girl's stomach. Kyaru returned from harvesting the Sand Scorpion King's materials, took one look at the scene, and deadpanned with profound exasperation: "If Kokkoro weren't a Spirit Clan elf, Jhin would be getting dragged off by the knights' order for this alone."
gumin dabbed at the corner of her eye. "The maternal radiance Kokkoro radiates moves deeply."
And so the eventful magical expedition ca to a close. The party returned to the guild cottage. Kyaru took the Sand Scorpion King materials to collect the lord's subjugation reward. Pecorine, once safely back ho, was finally liberated from full-mummy status — only her hands and midsection still bore bandages.
Jhin tried to get up and help with the chores. Kokkoro and gumin joined forces to physically press him back down onto the bed, informing him that patients were supposed to rest.
And so, for the foreseeable future, he beca a complete and total invalid. Kokkoro attended to his every need with ticulous care. gumin took charge of looking after Pecorine. Kyaru handled the daily shopping. The Gourt Hall entered a brief period of rest and recuperation.
"Kokkoro, I'm thirsty."
"Of course — please wait just a mont, I'll go get you so juice."
"Kokkoro, I want a snack."
"Master, please open wide — here are the biscuits I bought."
"Kokkoro..."
Kyaru sat holding her cup, unable to bring herself to drink the juice inside it. After a long silence, she set the cup down and turned to gumin beside her. "At this rate, is Jhin going to turn into a permanent invalid?"
"With the way Kokkoro spoils him? I'd say the odds are one hundred percent."
While the two of them were having that conversation, Jhin had already rested his head in Kokkoro's lap and was enjoying a scalp massage from his pint-sized guide.
"Master, is this amount of pressure all right?"
"Mm-hm. You're getting better and better at this."
"Only because Master is such a good teacher."
Kokkoro's softly murmured, modest reply made it nearly impossible for Jhin to hold back the wave of fond warmth in his chest. He rolled onto his side and buried his face into her soft little tummy, voice muffled: "I want to sleep like this tonight!"
Kyaru and gumin set their cups down with perfect composure and utter inner silence — then stood up in unison, sprinted to the sofa, and seized the depraved Jhin by both arms.
"You pervert!"
"Let go of Kokkoro right now!"
"Being a patient does not give you a free pass to act like this!"
Jhin wrapped his arms around Kokkoro's soft waist and refused to let go, righteously scolding their behavior: "You two are abusing a sick person. I'm simply seeking comfort. What exactly is wrong with that?!"
Kyaru was so furious she actually laughed. She grabbed the back of his collar and said coldly: "Burying your face in a girl's stomach doesn't count as perverted behavior?"
"There's still a layer of clothing between us, isn't there?"
"A layer of clothing and it's still absolutely perverted."
Jhin tightened his grip and glanced back at Kyaru with a teasing grin. "I see. So you're the type where the mont you see a bare arm, your mind imdiately jumps straight to the rest of it — and then straight into the gutter. Am I right?"
Kyaru's eyes went wide. She instinctively released his collar and balled her hand into a fist. "Where do you get off slinging that kind of accusation at soone?!"
"Then to prove how pure your thoughts really are, why don't we hug it out? As guild companions, a hug is perfectly normal, right?"
Jhin's shaless offensive sent Kyaru retreating step by step until she fled, leaving behind a trail of: "I am not letting you take advantage of ," "I don't need you to prove anything," and "I just rembered I have sowhere to be," while a cheerful atmosphere settled over the room in her wake.
"Hey — gumin, your friend already bolted. Why are you still hanging onto my leg?"
"Huh?! I — I — I wasn't thinking anything, I wasn't! Oh, right, I haven't cast my Explosion magic today — I'm going to go find Kyaru!" Compared to Kyaru, gumin's reaction right now was far more telling — the kind of person whose head was apparently filled end to end with yellow paint and could wander into the gutter at the slightest provocation.
With no one left to bother him, Jhin had half a mind to keep lying in Kokkoro's lap and embrace his life of total indolence — but all that commotion had actually perked him up considerably, and he felt the urge to get up and move around.
"Master, you don't need the lap pillow anymore?"
"No, I'm going to get so air outside."
"Ah — okay." A small, brief pang of disappointnt flickered through Kokkoro's chest.
Oh well. I can't keep patting Master's head anymore — but it ans his body is recovering. Nothing to be sad about!
She straightened up, rallied her spirits, and quick-stepped to keep pace at Jhin's side. "Master, are you really sure you don't need to help you with your bath?"
"N — no! Absolutely not!" Jhin stumbled and nearly walked straight into the doorfra.
____
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