The Last Place Hero's Return
Chapter 238: Mayday (3)
Inside the dorm room shrouded in darkness, wrapped in the night like a curtain, Laneige reached out with her pale white hands and hugged me tightly from behind.
I called her name in an anxious voice. “Laneige?”
However, no reply came.
No. This is bad. At least say something. This is terrifying.
She finally said, “Dale.”
“Y-yeah?”
A quiet sob came from behind me. The arms wrapped around my body tightened, squeezing me harder.
She continued, “P-please don’t a-abandon me.”
“What?”
What was she suddenly talking about?
“I-I’ll be better. Hic! I’ll do everything you ask. I won’t bother you, Dale. S-so please, don’t abandon me.”
I cut her off. “No, wait a minute. What did you even do wrong, Laneige?”
What on earth was she saying? Even if there had been unavoidable circumstances, the one at fault here was me.
“Huh? Wasn’t it because of my actions, um, that you stopped contacting me?” she asked in response.
“The reason I couldn’t contact you for a while was something else.”
“O-oh. I-I thought maybe I had messaged you too much, so that’s why...”
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t turned on my Hero Watch since I got it back. Just how many messages had she sent to end up like this?
I subtly turned my head and powered on the Hero Watch. A red notification screen popped up, displaying the number of missed notifications.
[Sender: Laneige Maram.]
[Unread messages: 7,731.]
[Missed calls: 487.]
Finally understanding why she had been so worried about that, I let out a sigh.
Laneige flinched, her shoulders trembling as she sniffled again. In a voice full of fear, she hurriedly began to ramble. “I-I’m sorry, Dale! I knew it, it really was because I bothered you too much, right? I-I promise I’ll never do that again! I-I was wrong, so—”
“That’s not it.”
The reason I had sighed just now was that I was berating myself for letting things get this far without saying even a single word to my lovers.
I turned around to face Laneige, who had been holding me from behind. “I’m sorry for not contacting you.”
Carefully wiping away the tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, I gently patted her head.
“Dale?”
“There were some circumstances,” I explained.
“C-circumstances?” Laneige flinched and stole a glance toward my lower body.
No. Why are you looking there, miss?
“The reason I couldn’t contact you this time was...”
I slowly explained to Laneige everything that had happened in the Empire. The longer my explanation went on, the brighter her expression became. In the end, Laneige let out a deep sigh of relief upon realizing that she wasn’t the reason I had gone radio silent.
“Ah! S-so that’s what happened,” she said. “I-I thought you didn’t like me anymore, Dale... I didn’t know what to do.”
“Was that why you were in my room?”
“Y-yeah. If I stayed here, I thought you’d come back someday.”
Haah! That’s why she’s been staying here.
I gently hugged Laneige, who was trembling like an abandoned puppy, and patted her back. “You don’t have to worry about that anymore. There’s no way I’d ever come to hate you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” I reassured her.
At first, I had stayed by Laneige’s side simply to prevent her Blessing from going out of control. But as time passed, her presence slowly changed from a bomb that could explode at any moment into my beloved lover. When I thought about it, that was only natural. How could I not fall in love with a woman so beautiful, so unwaveringly devoted, and always doing her utmost for my sake?
“B-but I’m... d-dark and creepy and annoying, and I get jealous easily.”
“And I like you with all of that included.”
Iris’s kindness, Yurina’s sincerity, Elisha’s reliability—those were all wonderful. But Laneige’s gloominess also had its unique charm.
Wait, am I the weird one here? I wondered.
To be honest, if I had to rank my lovers purely on cuteness, Laneige would take first place without question. When she curled in on herself, trembling, it made me want to hug her and comfort her without even thinking. While she could be scary sometimes, the fact that she was adorable never changed.
Laneige stomped her feet, her face burning bright red. “A-auh! A-auu!”
I gently brushed aside the bangs that fell like a curtain over her face. The faint light revealed her lovely features. I leaned down and planted a brief kiss on her forehead. A strange, almost inhuman shriek burst from Laneige’s mouth. She went limp, collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.
I was baffled. “Huh? Laneige?”
There was no response.
Letting out a dry chuckle, I picked up the unconscious Laneige and laid her down on my bed. A few minutes passed, and soon, Laneige stirred and slowly sat up.
She looked around. “Huh? Where am I?”
“Are you awake?” I asked.
Spotting me, Laneige murmured, “Ah! D-Dale. S-So, it wasn’t a dream.”
“Here. Water.”
“Y-yeah. Thanks.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly as I watched her gulp down the water. “Come to think of it, Laneige, how many days has it been since you last slept?”
Earlier, when it was dark, I hadn’t noticed, but now she looked utterly haggard, like an office worker crushed under thirty straight days of overtime.
“About, um, o-one week?”
That basically meant she hadn’t slept at all since we lost contact. No matter how superhuman a hero’s body was, going over a week without sleep would make it hard just to stay upright.
“Haa! For now, go back to your room and rest.”
Laneige shook her head firmly. “N-no! T-today, I’m staying here....”
She clutched the blanket tightly, as if she had no intention of leaving the bed. Judging by that expression, I could tell that no matter what I said, there was no way I would be able to send her back to her room.
I dejectedly replied, “Haa! Alright. Then I’ll just sleep on the floor.”
“N-no.” Laneige lifted the blanket slightly. “Y-you can lie here.”
She wants us to sleep together?
“U-uh.” I stuttered.
When I froze in place, Laneige bit down on her lip, her expression growing anxious. “D-Dale...”
Lying on her side on the bed, she put on what she clearly thought was a seductive look and patted the space beside her. “H-here. Come lie down here.”
I couldn’t hold it in anymore and laughed.
“W-why are you laughing?”
“N-no, it’s just— Pffft.”
Just moments ago, she had been all shriveled up like a dried anchovy. Now, she was trying to pull off that kind of seduction. I couldn’t stop the laughter from bursting out.
She let out a sad groan.
“Alright, alright, don’t cry,” I said.
I gave in and lay next to her. As soon as I lay down, Laneige swiftly used my arm as a pillow and leaned her head against it.
She smiled softly. “Ehehe. It’s warm.”
I let out a small chuckle and gently stroked her hair.
“Dale.”
“Yeah?”
With a hesitant expression, she tugged at my collar. Then she leaned closer and puckered her lips. “N-not on the forehead, h-here. K-kiss me... here.”
Yeah, that sort of seduction was much more Laneige-like.
“Mm, haah.”
Still lying down, I stole a kiss from her lips. Her excited breathing tickled my nose, and the careful, timid touch of her tongue fluttered inside my mouth like that of a baby bird.
When the long kiss finally ended, Laneige gazed at me with dazed, intoxicated eyes. “Dale, I like you.”
She burrowed tightly into my arms. “I like you, I like you, I like you, I like you, I like you, I like you so much.”
She rubbed her cheek against my chest, whispering her affection over and over. “Dale, I’ll do anything you want. I’ll breathe for you, dream for you, live for you. So please! Stay by my side. Forever.”
I nodded quietly. “Yeah.”
A bright smile bloomed across Laneige’s lips. “Haa! Chu.”
Our lips met again. This time, Laneige leaned in first, kissing me eagerly, as if she had found an oasis in the middle of a desert. Soon she began to tremble. Still pressing her legs together, she suddenly jolted and hurriedly sat up.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“N-no, it’s just....”
“Hm? Something feels damp.”
Laneige screamed and swung a pillow at me. “I-I’m going to go wash up for a bit!”
She dashed into the shower room. I could hear the sound of running water echoing from inside. Lying on the bed, I just waited for her to return. Before long, the door clicked open, and Laneige stepped out, wrapped in nothing but a towel.
She snapped her fingers, and the droplets clinging to her body and hair instantly froze into tiny ice crystals, scattering to the floor. “Dale, p-please w-warm me up.”
Lifting the blanket, she slid back beside me. It wasn’t hard to tell what she wanted.
I nodded. “Okay.”
I pulled her into my arms. As I stroked her hair, now completely dry and fluffy, I pressed my body against hers. However, letting out a huge yawn, she suddenly went limp again and collapsed onto the pillow as if she had passed out.
I gently touched her cheek. “Laneige?”
She didn’t respond at all. Soon, soft, steady breathing followed.
Did she seriously fall asleep at this moment?
“Hah.”
It wasn’t hard to understand why. She had gone an entire week without sleep, then taken a hot shower and lain down on a soft bed; of course, she would drift off instantly.
However, that had left me with a problem. I glanced down at the lower half of my body, which was very much ready for action, and let out a deep sigh.
What am I supposed to do now?
There was no way I could wake a soundly sleeping Laneige. So, I lay down beside her. She immediately wrapped herself around me like a koala clinging to a tree. The soft sensations, impossible to conceal with just a towel, stimulated me from every angle.
No, wait a second. Will I have to endure this position until she wakes up? Mayday. Mayday. I don’t think I can hold on.