Heroes of the Holy War

When the heroes reach a small inn nearby, they rent a room and begin to treat the girl's wounds.

"Lay her down on the bed; I'll heal her in a moment," says Gamble, unpacking his backpack with his potions.

When everything is ready, Gamble approaches the bed where the girl lies and sits on a stool next to it.

"Akira, fetch a double glass of water and a cold cloth; she has a fever," he says, unbuttoning the girl's shirt. Akira, without saying a word, goes for the water, and Kaido asks Kaen, "Should we do something?" to which Kaen replies, "First, let's not get in their way." He then sits on the edge of the bed and continues reading the book.

When Gamble has prepared the girl for treatment, Akira brings the water and cloth.

Gamble pours water over the girl's abdomen and, after setting the glass on the nearby table, utters an incantation. "As my wish, grant strength to my goal... Aqua Heal." He then undresses the girl to her underwear and hands her clothes to Akira, saying, "Wash these; I'll unpack our stuff". Akira takes the clothes to the bathroom and starts washing. Meanwhile, Gamble says to Kaido and Kaen, "If you want, you can go to sleep."

Kaido asks, "What time are we leaving tomorrow?" Gamble replies, unpacking the clothes, "In two or three days, as there are no stops in the towns until the Half-People's Territory." Kaido responds, "That's great! We'll be able to train tomorrow. Won't we, Kaen... Kaen?" Kaen is already asleep.

When he wakes up, it's late at night. Thirsty, he goes to drink some water, then lights a candle and continues reading. As he reads, the girl starts to wake up. Kaen puts down the book and goes to check on her, making sure everything is alright. When the girl wakes up, she tries to get up but feels pain and lies back down. Kaen reassures her and explains the situation, saying they want to help her. When the girl calms down, she asks Kaen, "Who healed me?"

"Healed? I think it was Mr. Gamble," he answers.

"Alright, if that's not a problem, I'll lie down again," she says, lying back down and almost immediately falling asleep. Kaen decides to continue reading, but he starts to feel strange. In the blink of an eye, he finds himself in a dark place with water on the floor up to his ankles and nothing else.

As Kaen walks around this place, a mysterious voice speaks to him, "I sense great determination."

In response, Kaen shouts, "Who's there? What am I doing here?"

"This determination will give you great strength... Never let these flames extinguish and nurture them... And this determination will join your flames," the voice says.

Then Kaen wakes up on the floor. When he looks out the window, the sun is already rising. Reflecting on what happened and what the mysterious voice said, Kaen couldn't sleep and sat on his bed until morning.

When Gamble wakes up and goes to get some water, he is startled by Kaen, who is sitting still.

"KAEN, DON'T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!" frightened Gamble shouts.

But Kaen doesn't react. Kaido, who is also startled by Kaen's behavior, doesn't scream but taps him on the back. Kaen seems to wake up and stretches, saying, "Good morning... What's wrong with you guys? Why are you staring?"

"You were sitting there like you were dead and staring at the blanket... and you scared me," says the frustrated Gamble.

"Oh... sorry," replies Kaen, lying down to sleep.

"AND NOW YOU ARE GOING TO SLEEP?!" shouts really annoyed Gamble, waking up the girl.

"And who are you?" the girl asks.

"Actually, that's my question," says Gamble, handing her clothes. "Your clothes, they're washed."

The girl realizes she's only in her underwear, blushes slightly, takes the clothes, and quickly goes to the bathroom, covering herself with a blanket. The only one still asleep is Akira... but he's gone. Gamble looks around the room and wonders, "The room is supposed to accommodate four people but it's not that big... so where did he hide?" Scratching his head, he looks up, sighing, and sees Akira lying on the beam.

Without saying anything, Gamble uses wind magic to rotate the beam, causing Akira to fall off successfully. He lands on the floor.

"Get up already," says Gamble, kicking him in the head, but Akira continues to sleep soundly. Turning his gaze to Akira, Gamble releases a water ball that lands on Akira's bare back. He then wakes up with a scream, "COLD! TOO COLD!" realizing it's already morning as if nothing happened, with a smile on his face, he says, "Good morning, everyone."

When the girl exits the bathroom, Akira also says hello to her.

The girl, not entirely trusting them, responds, "G-good morning."

"Why are you so tense?" asks Akira, approaching her.

The girl, blushing slightly, replies, "Because I'm in a house full of boys, and I don't even know how I got here."

"Why? don't you remember?" Akira asks, then turns to Gamble and says, "Explain it to her because if I would do it, she won't understand."

Gamble sighs, explaining, "You were beaten up on the road, and he here saved you because I didn't even notice you."

The girl seems to remember everything and immediately apologizes, bowing and thanking them for saving her.

"You don't have to thank us... but tell us what happened and why you ended up like this," says Akira, shifting from a smile to seriousness.

The girl explains that she is an adventurer named Aki, on her way to the Half-People's Territory in search of an artifact. While passing through the forest, she was attacked by the "Golden Wolf" group, also adventurers, They took her food, money, map, and most of the equipment. They also tried to assault her, but she managed to escape, only to fall from a cliff and end up on the side of a road.