Chapter 35
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To Valerian, who looked uncertain, Collette expressed concern—searching through the Labyrinth to find her must have consumed a great deal of mana, so his circuits would have been tangled beyond measure.
Indeed, in her eyes, she could now see mana energy around Valen’s body that she hadn’t noticed before.
His condition was that bad.
Typically, a mage’s mana is condensed in their heart. Just as the heart supplies blood throughout the body, the mana condensed in the heart spreads throughout the body. But Valerian’s mana was unusually concentrated in his arms.
So that’s why the mana poisoning symptoms appeared?
She didn’t know why she could suddenly see it, but she felt she shouldn’t make Valerian exert himself too much.
“It’s better to conserve your strength. Let’s follow this.”
At Collette’s urging that this would be better than making an exit themselves, Valerian relaxed his grip on his sword.
Following the direction the compass pointed, they soon found the “door.” Unlike the usual oval shape, this square entrance truly looked like a “door.”
“There it is!”
“Don’t run. You’ll fall.”
Collette ran toward the door, its opaque membrane rippling like a water’s surface. Valerian told her not to run, suppressing his unease.
Finding it so quickly—it had been less than ten minutes since they followed the needle, and they had already found an entrance.
Strange.
It was eerily easy, unlike when he had been wandering.
“Hurry, Valen!”
While Valerian couldn’t shake his uneasy feeling, Collette stood by the door and reached her hand through the opaque membrane, calling him. Horrified, Valerian rushed over and grabbed her waist.
“What are you doing—that’s dangerous!”
Even as he shouted in anger, Collette said calmly.
“It seems this really is the entrance.”
Only after confirming that Collette’s hand wasn’t cut off or missing any fingers did Valerian release her.
His pounding heart felt like it would leap out of his mouth. His back was drenched in cold sweat, and the fingertips inside his leather gloves had long lost sensation.
“Please, Collette. Be careful. Try to understand how I felt—I almost lost you right before my eyes.”
“Sorry. You must have been really scared.”
Valerian kept wiping his face dry. Collette gave an awkward smile.
“Of course I was.”
He wanted to give her a scolding—maybe even a light thump on the head—but looking at that small face, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He could only sigh.
“Don’t worry, Valen. We just need to get out now.”
“…Come here. This time, we’re going out together for sure.”
He couldn’t easily shake off his unease. Stressing that she must not be attacked and separated again like last time, Valerian moved to lift Collette—but she waved her hand.
“Let’s hold hands.”
“…Hands?”
“Yes. That way we’ll be prepared for emergencies. This door is different from the ones before, right? We don’t know what’s outside, so it’s better to go through together holding hands.”
Collette held out her hand with an expression that said she understood his feelings.
“…….”
Valerian looked at her small, white hand and hesitated. He had been wearing leather gloves all this time, so she wouldn’t know about his condition, but…
“Valen.”
Seeing him hesitate, Collette spread her fingers wide, urging him to take her hand. Seeing the small scars on her fair, delicate hand made his heart ache. He had been so careful to keep those hands from getting hurt.
It all felt like his fault. Valerian’s crimson eyes darkened.
“Valen.”
Her drawn-out, urging voice was so endearing and lovely that Valerian wiped the grime off his gloves.
“I’ll do as you say, Collette.”
Then he laced his fingers through hers. Her small flinch was transmitted through their joined fingertips. It was their first time interlacing fingers—no wonder she was startled. Valerian smiled faintly.
“Collette.”
Once holding it, the greed to keep holding this small hand raised its head. Valerian pressed gently on their joined hands and spoke.
“Don’t let go. Understood?”
“…Yes.”
At his earnest plea, Collette shook their joined hands, promising she wouldn’t let go.
“Ready? On one, two, three, we run.”
“Okay.”
Nodding at her pretty smile, he listened to her count—one, two—and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.
“…Three!”
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