How long had we all been lying here, gazing up at the sky?
Shh, shh
When I turned my head toward the sound of steady breathing, Anne had already fallen asleep at some point.
Well, I should’ve known from last night when she was too excited to fall asleep on her own.
Really, she’s not even a kid anymore…
But moments like this, this leisurely daytime nap, are probably only possible now.
After graduation, we won’t have the luxury to consider any real activities and, as the ecology professor said, by the time we’re sophomores, there won’t be enough time to indulge in such leisure.
In my case, as the hero, I might be called upon at any time for the official Demon King extermination.
It could be tomorrow, but it might not happen for years after graduation.
The hero steps in once the Demon King achieves full resurrection and begins his true campaign of action.
According to the rough legends passed down, it’s futile to act prematurely, bound by fate or something like that.
If that’s the case, it’s only puzzling why I was marked as the hero so early.
But how can a simple human know the intentions of the great Goddess who resides in the heavens?
I brushed aside those pointless thoughts. As I watched Anne breathe softly and sleep peacefully, I started to feel sleepy myself.
Since classes had just ended, and it was still a long while until 5 PM when we had to submit our ecology survey results, there wasn’t much of a problem.
I turned my head slightly to the other side and saw Selian with her eyes closed, and across from her, Yuli was also making soft breathing sounds.
The way she had her hands neatly placed on her stomach clearly said, “I’m sleeping.”
-Hey, El, what if you just take a nap too? Everyone’s sleeping anyway. You can rest your eyes for a bit and eat the lunch box later.
The only one still awake, Linne floated in the air and spoke to me.
When I thought about Linne being left alone if I fell asleep too, she seemed to read my thoughts and continued.
-I will too! I’m going to take a nap as well. See you in a bit. Sleep well.
And with that, she floated on her back in the air and closed her eyes.
I wondered why a ghost needed sleep, but maybe it was because of the contract she had with Yuli that Linne also regularly rested.
She even had her own “net bed” in our room, so that made sense.
Well, since everyone else is sleeping, there’s no harm if I do the same.
My breathing began to sync with the rhythmic breaths coming from both sides, and sleep started to creep up on me.
Slowly, slowly…
I faintly heard rustling sounds as my consciousness faded, but since my danger detection ability didn’t react, it was probably just some small forest animal passing by.
If there were any real danger, my instincts would alert me, so I let my guard down and drifted into sleep without worry.
“Ugh…”
What’s making all this racket when I was sleeping so well?
I could hear voices and rustling sounds somewhere.
“Umm…”
“Huh!”
“Shh…”
In the half-dream state, I tossed around and tried to open my eyes to see what had disturbed my sleep.
However, just after waking up, the bright sunlight was blinding, and I couldn’t open my eyes, so I squinted.
I slowly tried opening them a little bit at a time to let them adjust.
But by the time I fully came to, the mysterious noise that woke me had already disappeared.
“Why is it so hot?”
Even though the sun was high, it felt excessively warm, almost stifling.
As I tossed around to check my surroundings, I figured out why.
Anne, who had been lying beside me, had somehow moved down and was hugging my thigh like a stuffed animal. Meanwhile, Selian’s hand had somehow found its way under my shirt due to the supposed chill.
Remarkable skills, I must say. It’s hard enough to do this in your sleep.
And to my amazement, Yuli, who was originally lying on the other side, had now moved next to me and was clinging to my hand as though it were a prized treasure.
Anne was known for having restless sleep, but I didn’t expect the same from Selian and Yuli.
Perhaps it’s because they had been tired from preparing meals all weekend for our picnic today, or maybe because we were in the wide-open space of the outdoors instead of the cramped confines of a bed.
But the mysterious noise that woke me remains unsolved.
I carefully pulled my hand free from Yuli’s tight grip and gently removed Selian’s hand from under my shirt.
“Hm? What’s going on here?”
It seemed to be some kind of trend, as both Selian and Presia were sucking on my fingers while they slept, leaving them slightly wet.
It’s not that Yuli’s saliva is dirty or anything, but if any of them woke up suddenly and saw me, they might wrongly assume I was sucking my fingers in my sleep. I quickly wiped my hand on my school uniform.
After slipping away from both Yuli and Selian, and leaving Anne hugging my thigh as she was, I cautiously lifted myself up a bit to look around.
I thought maybe some pervert was lurking around trying to sneak a peek at my sleeping friends, but there was no sign of anyone other than us.
Of course, I am an exception to the pervert category.
Though it was peculiar, since my danger alert system was quiet, I decided to let it go, assuming it wasn’t a big deal.
While assessing the situation, I noticed something unsettling had disturbed Selian and Yuli’s sleep. Their breathing was a little rough.
Even worse, both of their faces were flushed red.
I wondered if they were running a fever and placed my hands on their foreheads just in case, but both Selian and Yuli flinched as my hand touched them.
They must have a heightened sense, even in their sleep, being from the Department of Swordsmanship.
I flinched, unsure if I had woken them up, but they remained fast asleep with their eyes closed.
Thankfully, their body temperatures didn’t seem unusually high through the touch of my hands.
Still, despite the girls’ deep slumber, I was now the only one awake.
After contemplating for a minute, I decided that lying back down was the best option.
Judging by the position of the sun, not much time had passed. Even if the others seemed to be having slightly troubled dreams, disturbing their deep sleep seemed inappropriate.
I managed to remove Selian’s and Yuli’s hands without waking them because they only wriggled a bit, but Anne was clutching on to my thigh with both arms and legs—freeing myself would definitely wake her, so I left her as is.
Still drowsy from my earlier nap, I quickly fell back into a dreamlike state despite the slight discomfort.
“El… El!”
“Ugh…”
No matter how deeply asleep I was, I couldn’t ignore someone repeatedly calling my name and shaking my shoulder.
“It’s about time for lunch, so get up, quick.”
“Huh…? Lunch…?”
“Yes. It’s lunchtime. Anne, you should wake up too!”
With a small groan, I sat up as Selian started waking Anne, who was still clinging to my thigh.
Even Anne couldn’t resist Selian’s firm hand, as she reluctantly released her grip on my thigh, rubbing her eyes as she got up.
Selian, who woke me up, and Yuli, who was already setting out our lunch boxes before we woke up, were evidently up for a while.
“Your complexion looks good. I guess everyone had a deep sleep.”
When I’d briefly woken earlier, Anne aside, something seemed off about the other two, so I was a little worried.
But fortunately, despite both of them appearing troubled in their sleep earlier, they all looked like they had rested well. Their faces even had a healthy glow.
“Is that so? I guess it’s the good air here. Right, Yuli?”
“Uh, yeah! I… I guess so! Actually, there can’t be any other reason. Right, Selian?”
“Of course!”
For some reason, the two seemed unusually in sync today.
“Uuung… I’m hungry…”
Anne, still rubbing her eyes, got up with a tired voice full of sleep and rubbed her belly, stating her hunger.
“Okay, Anne! You’re hungry too, so let’s eat quickly. Is everything set up?”
“Yeah! Just come and eat! Before it gets cold!”
Since the only thing we brought as lunch was sandwiches, Yuli’s joke about eating before it cold wasn’t very meaningful.
“Hmm… I don’t hear anything…”
“Shhh!”
“Huh? What did you say?”
Today, for some reason, Selian and Yuli seemed closer than usual.
Right now, they seemed to be whispering to each other so that I couldn’t hear.
“Oh, nothing! Don’t worry about it and eat quickly since you’re hungry.”
“Yes, eat it while it’s still good.”
They brought us sandwiches that wouldn’t go cold anyway.
Well, their jokes aside, it seemed a bit strange to see them conspiring like that, but it was amusing enough to let it slide.
There must be some reason they’re whispering secretly among themselves.
On the contrary, it’s heartwarming to see how close my friends are.
I gave them a small smile before biting into the sandwich that was prepared without my help.
Though it didn’t rival my meat pie, it was still pretty delicious, full of Yuli’s cooking skills and Selian’s care.
