Chapter 699 To be Saved or Not
When Ryuu woke up, a massive headache attacked her but she shook it off and immediately tried to get a sense of her surroundings. A second later, she realized that Kisuke was carrying her on his back as they moved away from the debris of fallen rocks from the Colosseum.
She tried to get off him but the moment she tried to move, a wave of pain overtook her consciousness, 'Uggghh!!! T-this...'
"Don't move. You have several broken ribs and even if you want to walk on your own, you won't be able to thanks to your leg pointing in an awkward direction.", Kisuke explained with a slightly gleeful tone. While Ryuu was unconscious, Kisuke was studying what just happened earlier and gave him a big boost in understanding and realizing his spells, 'Not just how I manifested the spell, but also how it affected the enemies depending on the intended effect, I was able to gather a lot more data thanks to the earlier incident. Maybe I should do it again sometime later.'
Ryuu, however, didn't notice this weird tone and instead, bit her lips in frustration and asked, "Why...? Why did you come back?"
"As I said, I can't allow you to break my good record."
But Ryuu became even more frustrated, "You should prioritize your life over some stupid record!"
"That's true. However, that's not all the reason. You've taken care of and are good friends with my girls. That alone was enough of a reason. If I'm here just because of a simple commission, I would have left you alone when you threw yourself among the monsters and give my employer a report, 'The target sent me away and died on her own volition,' or something along those lines and be done with it."
Ryuu was stunned for a moment before muttering, "...I don't deserve such kindness."
"What about you? Why did you prioritize my life over your own? I don't think I've done something to warrant such a response."
Ryuu became silent for a few moments before answering, "...It's because you're a good friend of Syr and I think she'll be extremely sad if you were to perish."
"And you think that she won't if you were not to return?"
Smiling wryly, Ryuu replied, "Of course not... It's just that... I don't deserve to be saved. Not after what I have done."
Kisuke stopped walking and said, "Whether you deserve to be saved or not, frankly speaking, it's really not up to you."
Ryuu's eyes widened in surprise and Kisuke resumed walking while adding, "I'm sorry to rain on your parade but the one who can decide whether you should be saved is your savior. If he or she deemed you're worthy enough to risk their lives for you, you don't have a say in it."
"B-but that's... stupid."
"Right? However, that's the reality. It's stupid, but also extremely beautiful, don't you think?"
"Beautiful?"
"Yep. Even though you've already given up on yourself, someone out there hasn't. I think that's beautiful. Though after you're saved, it would be up to you if you want to make it a worthwhile effort for your savior."
Ryuu buried her face on Kisuke's back and thought about the nightmare she had, '...I knew it... I already knew it long ago but chose to ignore it. They sacrificed their lives just to save me but I wasted it... Instead of using my time to make our ideals a step closer to reality, I wasted it on the revenge that they never wanted. And in the process, I also made it hard for the Goddess that took me in.'
A single tear came running down her cheek, 'I'm just using Urahara-kun to justify my worth... If I had died back there, I'm not saving him, but just burdening him with my death. I never changed... All this time, I'm just a burden to everyone.'
Remorseful for the very late realization, Kisuke's warm back was just what Ryuu needed in this deserted and cold part of the Dungeon. But amidst this comfort, she heard a steady pitter-patter on the ground and turned her head around in curiosity.
As she comprehended what she's seeing, Ryuu's face became filled with horror as she shouted in panic after seeing a long trail of blood behind them, "Y-you're bleeding profusely!"
"Hmm? Ah... Don't worry about it. It's not as serious as it looks. I mentioned that I'm in a weird situation, but it didn't mean I became weaker. I just become like this whenever I use a relatively strong Magic."
Of course, Ryuu didn't believe that he's fine, "Put me down now! Even with one leg, I'll be able to manage it! What's important is to tend to your wounds!"
"Save it. Look. A cave in front of us." Kisuke spotted a relatively large cave when they turned a corner and immediately entered it.
Inside the cave is a flickering light and Ryuu thought that someone else was on this floor, but upon closer inspection, it's a pair of skeletons with one of them holding a Magic lamp that was about to use its final fuel.
Nevertheless, the cave was large enough and Kisuke gently put down Ryuu on the opposite corner where the skeletons are before sitting down on his own. It's only now that he was able to calm down his energies sufficiently to start his regeneration.
Ryuu, on the other hand, did her best to approach his side as she chanted her healing magic. But just before she could cast it, Kisuke lifted his finger. All of a sudden, Ryuu saw her chest area glowing and felt the effect of her healing magic, "W-what!?"
Not explaining anything to her, Kisuke replied, "Just heal yourself. I'll be fine on my own. I just needed to rest and all of these wounds would disappear."
And inwardly, Kisuke thought, 'As expected, I can use it like this. As long as I understand my opponent's spells, I can reflect them back to him. I wonder what else I could do?'
Ryuu gritted her teeth and tried again using the rest of her Magic Power but the same thing happened as her broken ribs fully healed, relieving her of pain just from breathing.
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