What warms the heart

At the moment of my awakening, I found myself in a rather familiar room, it was the bedroom where I had my first sleep in that world. I was therefore in the residence of Rivorio.

'How did I end up here ...'

I noticed that I did not feel pain along my body, it surprised me not a little, so I tried to sit up, however, as soon as I tried to lift my torso, an excruciating pain ran all over my back.

"AHHKh!" As absurd as it may sound, the back pain I felt at the time was even worse than what I felt during the fight with the chimera. I remembered, then, that it was the same in football, and similarly in all sports, when you recive a foul, the real pain comes at the end of the day when your body has cooled down and the adrenaline in your body is reduced.

Because of that pain, I could not help but lie down again.

*Gurgle

My belly began to grumble, I was incredibly hungry.

Unable to move, I realized that my only chance to get Rivorio to notice me was to scream, although I didn't like the idea of ​​doing so much.

"Rivorio! I'M AWAKE!" 'ahh ... I really don't like screaming ...'

After a few moments, the only door in the room opened, however, it wasn't just Rivorio who entered the room, there was a woman with him. Being able only to lift my head a little from the pillow, it took me a while to identify her. That woman was Marie.

'So she recovered ...'

Rivorio was looking furious and totally skipped the pleasantries.

"EHH, what the hell did you think you were doing, EH ?!" Rivorio started.

I immediately realized he wasn't angry with me for yelling, 'he's angry with me for what did I do yesterday?! Why…'

"Um ... but ... I did it for you ..:" I said in a feeble voice, trying again to lift my torso and failing again. Because of the pain in my back, I let out a faint scream.

On seeing me in pain, both Rivorio's and the woman's faces darkened.

"FOR US?! EEH?!… "The old man raised his voice a little, seeing that he was frightening both me and Marie, he tried to calm down.

'It is true that my mission was to pick some flowers of "Aquatic Flame", however ...'

"But ... if the beast got here … I mean, there are people at the inn, t-there's even a baby there ..." I replied. Marie, at the word child, made a surprised face.

"MMh ... the fact remains that you acted stupidly! If the beast had come here, somehow we would have got away with it… you risked dying, do you understand ?! Don't you even remember why you went there ?!"

"Y-yes, but ..."

"BUT ?!"

"I don't think I did wrong ..." I had to take some courage to answer him.

I caught a glimpse of Rivorio's face, he seemed to have fire in his eyes.

"EHHH ..." Rivorio rubbed his forehead with his fingers.

"You remind me of the me as a young man ..." He said. His comment left me slightly baffled at first, then made me smile. "Hmm, that's not a compliment at all, stupid hero ..." He added, "As a young man I risked my life many times, until I realized something simple and stupid ... even if your intentions are good, if you do not have the strength to carry them out, then they are nothing but nonsense of an imprudent … "

"Um ..." In part, I understood his words, however, I still seemed to have acted for the best.

Seeing that I now had a gloomy face, the old man added a few words.

"Well, but in the end, you managed to kill that Hound Chimera, so ... You did well, Eizo ..." These words warmed my heart. I realized that Rivorio was becoming more and more an important person to me.

"Well, now rest, Marie will take care of you ..." With that, Rivorio left the room.

Rivorio's last words caused unfortunate machinations in my mind, it embarrassed me how perverse my mind could be.

"Finally you woke up ..." Marie approached me, she had a very delicate voice, but which hid a particular strength.

As she approached me, being able to observe her better, I noticed the same kind of force on her face as well. A strength that can only be obtained by surviving so many misfortunes.

She was dressed in a simple light brown single dress, with long sleeves at the top, and ending at the bottom in a long skirt that almost touched the ground. This dress was held tight at the waist by an ocher ribbon, which served as a belt.

She was holding a tray with a bowl whose contents had been perfuming the room for some time.

'Chickpeas and mushrooms ...'.

Beside the bowl, there was a wooden spoon and a cup.

She sat down on the mattress, beside me.

"How are you?" I asked her.

"I'm fine, thank you ... on the other hand, you don't seem to be at your best..."  She replied with a smile that hid some guilt.

"Heh ... don't worry, I'll be fine in a few days ..." Somehow my words seemed to relieve her.

A brief awkward silence followed.

"Can you lift your torso slightly?" She then asked

I did as she asked, though my back almost seemed to break as I did. I resisted the pain, perhaps because I was alone with a beautiful woman, and my male pride did not want to make me look weak, or maybe for other nonsense of this kind.

In the meantime, she took the two pillows placed behind my head, whose job is usually only for beautification, and placed them gently behind my upper back and behind my head, so as to put me in the minimum conditions to be able to eat.

So, she took the bowl containing the soup and the spoon and started feeding me.

"Huh? I-I don't need… " I said embarrassed.

Marie pouted, "Don't even say it, this is the least I can do to thank you ..." She said, thus imposing her wanting to feed me. I couldn't tell her no.

The delicacy with which she brought the spoon to my mouth, not spilling even a drop, and the fact that every movement was accompanied by such a naturalness to reassure me, was enough to make me understand she was a good mother. Part of me found this nostalgic, I'm not sure why.

After the meal, she helped me drink.

'Ahh,  I really needed it, it seems my strength is returning to me… um… wait a second…' Only now that I had a full stomach, remembering Marie's words, a doubt showed up in my mind.

"Marie ..." she, who was still sitting next to me, looked at me. 'Um, now that I think about it, she's really close…' I fidgeted a little.

"Um ... you said a little while ago <you finally woke up>, does that mean I was unconscious for a long time?" I asked her.

"Two days"

"Two days?!"

She smiled slightly, making me blush a little.

"Actually, for the conditions in which you were, two days are also few, consider that Rivorio had foreseen your awakening much later…"

"Ah ..."

The room returned to silence.

Then, Marie, who was staring at the door to the room, and as she nervously rubbed her hands together, spoke to me again.

"Thank you… thank you very much…" Her voice trembled and was opulent with gratitude. I saw a few tears run down her face.

"You saved me and my son ... I can never thank you enough ..." She added. These words made me smile involuntarily, but then I remembered something that darkened my mood.

"Marie… I'm sorry for your husband…" I said, remembering the man killed by the Bear Errant.

"Mmh?" She wiped her tears a little and made a confused face.

"Y-yeah, well, the man I couldn't save that day … I-I'm sorry…" I said stammering a little.

"Ah ... you are talking about Sol ... he was my uncle ... Leo's father left immediately after his birth ... and Y-you don't have to blame yourself ... yeah, well, don't feel guilty about my uncle's death ... indeed, I bet he ould be happy to hearthat he has managed to buy enoughtime to allow Leo and me to save us ... anyway dhanks ... " She spoke in a strangled voice, so much so that her words seemed to me at times to blend in with each other.

With these words, Marie got out of bed, made a kind of bow, thanking me again, and got ready to leave the room.

"So ... I'll let you rest ..." She smiled, her eyes still bright from the tears she had just shed. She then left the room.

{TO BE CONTINUED}