Chapter 195. Pain for her
Leo and Rin trudged back to the blood-soaked clearing, the air filled with the sharp smell of rotting cultist bodies. Their broken mana cores made the corpses melt fast, flesh sinking into the earth as if eaten by an unseen force—a gross effect of the unnatural mana powering their healing.
Rin’s pink eyes flickered uneasily as she cautiously walked around the remains, her face contorted in disgust. She noticed a single body with its white mask off, revealing a middle-aged man’s unremarkable face devoid of any hint of aristocratic refinement.
His body hissed and bubbled, becoming a heap of bones.
With shallow breathing, Rin knelt down and tries to take the broken mask. She hesitated and trembled before grabbing it, the cold surface chilling her.
Her voice was tremulous as she stood with the mask in her hand. She turned to Leo and whispered, "Who were they?" but then she froze.
Her face turned bright red, like a ripe tomato, her pink eyes wide as she stumbled back, nearly tripping over a root. Her words spilled out in a flustered, high-pitched rush.
"L-L-Leonhardt! W-what are you doing? We’re in the middle of a forest! Someone could—could pop out any second!" Her voice cracked, a mix of nervous embarrassment and something like excitement, her hands gripping the cracked white mask so tightly it might break again.
Her violet hair whipped around as she averted her gaze, but her eyes kept returning to his abs, giving her away.
Leo’s red eyes gleamed with mischievous intentness, and his lips formed a playful, lopsided grin. Like a magician, he twirled a tiny vial of glowing liquid—an external healing potion—between his fingers and held it up.
"Rin," he said in a smooth, low voice, "you seem to be dying for for that." She squeaked as he leaned slightly closer.