"Mmh! I-It's so... hot...!" Eve cried out, blowing a hot, steamy breath.

Seeing her pained expression, eyes tearing up, Axel quickly pulled back, apologizing.

"Oh, sorry. That was my bad."

"No, it's fine... I can bear with it... One more, please..."

But Eve stopped him, grabbing his wrist with her other hand.

"Really? Then, let me blow at it a bit first..."

"P-Please..."

And then…

Axel blew at the piping hot gruel, cooling it down significantly before bringing the spoon to her mouth. "Open wide."

Eve carefully chewed the soft grains before swallowing them.

"I couldn't tell from the first one but... this is delicious! It's not losing to the chef's food back in our castle!" She smiled as she gave praise.

"Is that so? Then I'm glad it's to your liking." Axel smiled back.

It had been about half an hour since Eve woke up. By then, a lot of things had happened. She was now dressed in a set of comfortable pajamas Axel bought—ones without passives, just simple clothes for her.

After she was dressed up, he decided to let her eat something to regain some energy before taking medicine for her fever. Although he hoped she could do it herself, she insisted she could barely put strength in her arms, forcing Axel to feed her.

And thus, the current situation.

Yes, they weren't doing, or had done, anything they'd be ashamed of... at least, not yet.

After a while, Eve finished the bowl and lay down on the bed once again.

"Eating something warm made me sweat..." she commented, feeling beads of sweat fall from her forehead.

"Of course you would," Axel nodded. "It's gruel mixed with ground ginger. It's healthy and warms your body. And with the medicine you took, your fever should go down by tomorrow."

Eve pulled the blanket up, covering half her face as she glanced shyly at Axel.

"Sorry, Sir Axel. If I hadn't caught a cold, we would've been back at the camp by now..."

Her sense of responsibility was good, but Axel shook his head.

"Silly. You got a cold saving me from peril. There's no way I'd blame you for it."

Then he recalled something. "Speaking of favors, do you want something in return? My life isn't cheap, so don't worry and ask for something big if you want!"

"Something... I want..."

Eve's expression turned solemn for a moment before, as if in a feverish dream, she muttered absentmindedly:

"I... want to take back our castle. I want to recover what we lost... to revive our kingdom..."

"Eve..."

Axel felt a twinge in his heart.

Seeing such a small girl work toward such grand ideals was something worth supporting.

"But that's not what I'm asking. That's something we'll do sooner or later anyway. Anything else?" He gently pulled the conversation back, away from the depressing thoughts.

"Something else..."

At that moment, Eve's gaze focused on Axel, scanning his body from head to waist. Then, her face flushed red as a small whisper escaped her lips.

"...same..."

"Huh?" Axel asked, unable to hear her properly. "Can you say that again?"

Eve closed her eyes, as if enduring the embarrassment, before raising her voice louder than before. "I...! I want you to do the same thing you did to Teruria to me...!"

"...Huh?"

Hearing her wish, Axel's brain came to a halt.

'Teruria? Same...? What does she mean...?' He tried to recall any favors he had given Teruria specifically. Only then did he remember one thing.

That time they spent alone, thinking nobody would be listening in.

"You mean... that thing a man and woman do...?"

Eve's face was as red as a ripe apple, but even while hiding half her face under the blanket, she nodded ever so slightly.

The moment she did, Axel placed a hand over his face. He was troubled as to how to answer.

Honestly, Eve was too young in his eyes. But more than that, he had the "promise" with Maria to keep—the promise of not touching Eve in exchange for Maria giving her own body to him.

However, he knew how fickle a girl of Eve's age was.

If he refused her here, Eve could end up thinking she was unwanted, become broken-hearted, or worse. It was a sensitive, complicated topic he'd rather not be involved with.

"I..."

Just as Axel was about to respond—

"Wait, shh!"

He raised a finger to his lips, listening to the sound he thought he heard. A low moaning sound. A familiar one he heard every night.

He glanced toward the cave's entrance, now protected by the modified wall, and narrowed his eyes.

"They're here." He explained quickly. "Zombies."

Eve tilted her head for a moment, confused. "Zombies...? Zombies?! It's night already?!" She finally understood.

Axel nodded as he moved, heading toward the wall and checking the viewports. Just as he predicted, zombies were already covering the entire view.

Thankfully, there were only two of them right now, meaning only about two hundred zombies should've been summoned. A number Axel could handle easily.

"S-Should I help...?" Eve asked, her voice filled with fear and indecision.

Axel just smiled at her.

"You're a patient, so just lie down and sleep. Leave these trash mobs to me."

He grabbed a wooden spear nearby before raising it and stabbing through the slits he had made. The sharp tip hit a zombie easily, piercing its head and melting it into goo.

"One down...!"

And just like that, the countdown began.

Axel continued poking the spear like a machine. All the zombies that got in line died without knowing what hit them, opening space for more to crawl forward.

Of course, while Axel was doing that, he was also keeping an eye on the map.

After all, he could see the red blips of zombies overlapping with something else. In short, a different kind of monster was somewhere out there, watching as the zombies were slaughtered helplessly.

"Sixty-two...!"

Just as he reached that count, a shadowy figure suddenly swept past his view.

The wooden spear cracked, and the tail end even slapped Axel slightly on his ribs. It hurt, but more than that, he was perplexed.

"My weapon was destroyed!" Axel gasped.

A move done with clear intent.

In short—

"The new monster... is smart enough to use tactics!"

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