When Fio wakes up, he finds out why Nowa's there...?
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The moment he woke up, he observed a perfect starry sky. The crystal clear desert sky was filled with shining stars to the point of overkill.
He no longer knew how much time had passed since he parted with Leina. He couldn't feel any sign of the Sword of Unicorn.
Tears started to wet his cheek.
“Ah, seems you woke up again!”
The girl with brown hair and pigtails on both sides peeked into his face when he least expected it.
“Uwah!”
Fio let out a startled yelp.
“Hey, do you hurt anywhere?”
“I-I don't hurt anywhere, but...”
He wiped away his tears.
“Is that so? Your tears did look a bit lonely...”
The boy was embarrassed that someone saw him crying. Still, given that they were in that dry of a desert, still having tears to cry came as a bit of a surprise...
“I’m Nowa. And you?”
“I’m... My name is Fio... You helped me a lot.”
He switched to a more feminine tone straight away.
Considering their previous interaction, it was better to let Nowa keep thinking he was a girl for the time being.
He had fainted and gotten nursed back to health by her twice now, but his clothes looked undisturbed, so it wasn’t likely that she had stripped him. In other words, Nowa had yet to see any definitive proof that Fio was indeed a boy.
“Yup.”
When he carefully looked at her sweet smile, he noticed than her ears were longer than an ordinary human’s.
“Nowa... you are...”
She noticed what he was looking at, and nodded.
“Yup. Nowa’s an elf. Or more like, half-elf.”
The elf tribe was a beautiful and long-lived clan with strong bodies, different than human’s.
[If she’s really elven, she might be able to cross the desert.]
Her eyes shining with curiosity, she sat down by his side.
Moonlight and starlight were reflected on the surface of the small lake, casting a pale light on the two figures.
[It’s not cold yet, but we’ll probably need to make a fire in a few minutes. If we can’t get warm, we’ll have to move around so we don't freeze.]
Scorching during days, extreme cold during the night. For humans, the desert was the one place on earth that didn't welcome them.
“Fio, what are you doing in this kind of place?”
Her question made perfect sense.
“I was on my way to recover someone important to me...”
“Another kidnapping by Devil Setra?”
Fio couldn’t hide his surprise when he heard that name out of her mouth.
“If so, Nowa’s goal is the same.”
With that bright smile, she extended a hand at him.
“It’s Nowa’s job to help people in need.”
He grasped it back, and slowly got on his feet.
“That’s why I was able to save you too, Fio.”
“Thanks, Nowa.”
When he looked at her to express his thanks, he couldn’t help but notice that long staff from before was a weapon.
Her appearance probably belied her actual age - typical of an Elf - but still, he could only come up with one reason why a girl like this would be armed:
“Are you going to enter Queen’s Blade, Nowa?”
“Of course. Captain told me I should participate. That’s why I’m traveling around the Continent for training. I came here because I heard rumors in the capital.”
“Just like Leina.”
“Leina?”
“The one I said was important to me... She fights in Queen’s Blade like you. She goes around the Continent to train, getting rid of monsters and thieves, helping people in need... But she lost to Devil Setra, and was taken away.”
He closed his eyes and thought of his partner. Strangely enough, it felt like he was able to sense some signs from the Sword of Unicorn—that had gone quiet since some time ago—for a brief instant. The kind, comfortable warmth was a welcome relief for him.
[I haven’t lost her yet.]
“Okay, Nowa has made up her mind.”
To encourage him, she threw out her chest in pride. A little mound—or if he had to say, something the size of an outie belly button—popped up. Rather than throwing out her chest, it was a coquettish motion more akin to stretching her abdomen, which almost made him burst into laughter.
“Meeting you must have been fate, Fio. Nowa came to save the people kidnapped by Devil Setra, so I’ll help Miss Leina as well.”
“But, Devil Setra is...”
[I’m happy, but... despite how proud the elves may be about their strong bodies, it’ll be hard for her to beat Devil Setra. And there’s also that sand doll, Nubia, that's immune to weapons.]
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