Humanity Return

Ch. 6 – Promise and Kindness of Heart

“Wawawa-Enter! Extinguish that fire-” Aura leapt to her feet and began swinging her hands in panic, trying to extinguish the white flames in front of her without success.

“Look down, I don't feel - oh she's out” Leinn said casually as she looked at her recently burned hand.

He examined his hands carefully and did not find any burns.

“Wow, your fire really didn't hurt me at all. Cool also” Leinn turned his attention from his hand to the girl in front of him.

“K-cool...? t-but this never happened before..” Aura was still staring at that hand.

He was still confused by what had just happened.

“Ya already, just eat first. The meat is ripe”

Leinn lifted one large meat skewer and gave it to Aura, who received it involuntarily.

“...”

Seeing Leinn disregarding her recently burned hand, Aura looked at the skewered meat in her hand, then sat down on the stone and started eating her dinner as well.

“Om nom nom..” that chewing sound was suddenly heard before Aura could take one bite on her skewer meat.

He lifted his face and found Leinn holding an empty skewer, with his mouth full of flesh. He had already finished one skewer and started picking up the other skewer meat.

After admiring the speed of eating the young man in front of her, Aura began to bite the skewered meat in her hand.

The aura could feel a texture that was not too hard, making it easy for him to chew the meat. A hint of salty and spicy flavor emerged along with the sweet taste of meat that filled his mouth at every bite he took.

The taste he did not expect would come from ordinary grilled skewered meat, making him increase his eating speed.

“Enak..”

...

The moon seemed to have already reached the peak of the night sky, and the only sounds that could be heard were a few Beasts in the distance.

A very cold, bone-chilling midnight breeze started to blow, but the bonfire in front of Lenin and Aura was still enough to warm their bodies.

The two of them had already finished eating some time ago, after Leinn took out the same meat from her big bag twice after that.

In the end Aura ate three meat skewers and the young man ate the remaining twenty meat skewers.

The full stomach and the warmth of the campfire created a silent atmosphere without any awkwardness between them...

“Hm... You've told me so much about yourself, this feels unfair..”.

And the mood just disappeared.

“E-eh... t-it's okay, I-I chose to tell you this...” Aura so remembered herself who told Leinn her problem for no reason and started to feel ashamed again.

Hearing this, Leinn simply looked at Aura's face and got an idea.

“Then I will also share a story! What do you want to hear? I have many stories from my past, just ask!” leinn smiled as she patted her chest.

Hearing this Aura almost rejected her offer, but closed her mouth and lowered her head. After a while he just lifted his face.

“K-If I may like to hear about... Your promise..?”

Hearing this request, Leinn's wide smile seemed to have partially diminished. He also seemed to be emitting a different atmosphere.

“You don't have to tell it if you don't want to! I-I was just a little curious.” said Aura who became panicked after seeing the change in Leinn's face.

Leinn was seen looking at the bonfire in front of him and did not immediately reply, and after a while had passed,

“Ya... no problem for me to tell you, this is just a childhood promise I made with an old friend” a small smile can be seen on his face.

Leinn grabbed into his pocket and pulled out the same blue necklace as before and started looking at him.

“When I was walking without direction and purpose, someone grabbed my hand and pulled me out of that dark and lonely place. It could be said that I could live until now was the result of his actions” his eyes that saw the necklace in his hand look like he was looking at another scene.

Leinn grasped the blue stone tightly.

“Not only am I myself helped, because there is one other person also saved by him. A rival, a friend”

Leinn's eyes suddenly changed. Previously he looked like he was reminiscing about old memories, but now he looked like he was holding back a great excitement.

“We both heard he was going to enter this academy when he reached the age of 16. So we both promised we would become stronger so as not to be left behind by him, then meet again in this academy”

Leinn raised his gaze and looked at Aura.

“Hearing your explanation earlier this afternoon I realized the two of them might have run different tests with me, so our reunion was a little delayed” He put the blue necklace back in his pocket and stood up from his seat.

Aura did not know what to react to after obtaining this information. He only saw Leinn who started walking towards his big bag without being able to say anything.

“Wear this” she starts walking around the campfire and gets to the side of Aura.

Leinn put the sleeping bag in Aura's hand and returned to her seat.

Aura looked at the sleeping bag she had just received, then looked back at Leinn.

“B-how about you?” he realized Leinn had only pulled out one of these sleeping bags.

“Hm? Oh, you don't have to mind me, I won't sleep” Leinn replied as she grabbed the wooden branch beside her.

“E-eh..”

“Yes, I'm used to not sleeping in the middle of hunting, three or four days without sleep is common to me” he throws the twig into the bonfire in front of him.

Seeing Leinn not saying anything more after that, Aura could only accept this sleeping bag reluctantly.

“K-then..” Aura got up and started walking away from the campfire.

He put the sleeping bag four meters from the campfire and entered it. His body turned its back on the campfire and Leinn was sitting beside him.

Leinn started grabbing some other twigs and throwing them into the campfire.

Time went on for a while in silence again, until suddenly...

“Are you okay running this test with me.” a whisper comes out of that sleeping bag.

Hearing this little voice, Leinn raised his face. She could not see Aura's face from her sitting position.

“...The promise you have sounds very important...” word by word came out slowly in a voice smaller than a whisper, like he was talking to himself.

But Leinn could hear that clearly, he could also see a small tremor from the sleeping bag in front of him.

“...if if we.. fall in a dangerous situation... I will not be able to... give a fight at all...my apiku this....” his voice has been continuously cut off by his short sobs.

The negative thoughts of that Aura had already reached a dangerous level, he could not see himself as anything other than a burden to those around him. And to the girl with such a way of thinking, the answer given by Leinn was...

“I've heard an interesting theory” he said casually, starting something again.

He started swinging the twigs in his hands up and down, like helping him remember something.

“If not wrong... ’Gift is the embodiment of the essence of the identity of living beings’, interesting is not it?” he said with a small smile.

He threw a twig in his hand into the campfire.

“Your white flame must be the result of your Gift affecting the fire property of your creation. A fire that can't burn anything, and can only heal wounds. When I heard your explanation, did you know what I first thought?”

“...” the sleeping bag looks to have stopped vibrating.

“Excellent strength hearts”

Leinn said that while looking at his right palm.

Aura did not reply giving any answer or reaction, and Leinn did not stop talking.

“I've never seen Gift someone who could turn a highly destructive fire magic into a healing magic like yours during my travels. I thought it was so great” her hand grabbed the two small twigs beside her.

He threw the two twigs into the bonfire in front of him.

“...”

“...Aura?” Leinn looked at the sleeping bag in front of her that did not move at all during her speaking.

Seeing Aura not reacting after some time had passed, he realized that Aura was already asleep.

“...”

...should.

Time passed quickly and Leinn just sat still, occasionally throwing twigs into the campfire.

“Hm..” Leinn suddenly turned his attention from the campfire towards one of the trees that was 200 meters from his seat.

He did nothing, just stared at one of the branches with a big smile on his face. After a few seconds of doing this, a shadow suddenly leaped from the branch and began to move away from Leinn who was still following her movements with her gaze.

Some time passed and Leinn finally turned his attention to the girl in the sleeping bag in front of him, who was already sound asleep.

“Big Brother Jenius... yes?” with one final smile, Leinn closed his eyes.