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Hatsuko's POV!

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With no exact direction of where we were supposed to go, we quietly walked around the woods in case we would reach anywhere. It almost felt like a field trip with many people that I could trust and stay with most of my time.

"Don't you think that it's time to come out, Alette?" Chloe asked after seeing that Alette was hiding inside Ichika’s clothes. Ever since she woke up, she didn't speak another word and hid herself the whole time. 

"N-no, It's safe in here!" She responded back after popping her head just for a bit so she could clearly respond to Chloe.

"You may come out. It's not that I will bite you." Even though Akemi was saying such words, her face showed a smirk of superiority.

"D-d-definitely not! That's what all dragons say and then they enslave us. Also, I already have a master, so he will be pissed if you try to k-kill me." She hid her face once again after giving her response.

"Ah… about that…" Chloe wryly smiled as she was trying to find a way to tell Alette the truth about the rest of the dragons.

"You don't have a contract with a dragon anymore because your master was likely enslaved or killed by angels and demons." Chloe calmly explained to Alette.

"Wha?" But seeing that kind of response, Alette wasn't even responding back anymore. Her mouth remained half open as she was blankly looking at her.

…

It took another hour before that little thing could gather her thoughts around. And she seemed really frustrated by the fact that she spent thousands of years protecting a dungeon without any reason.

"If only I had known much sooner… I would have been back home now…" She was still sulking as she was sitting over the palms of Ichika’s hands.

Even the other girls pitied the fact that she wasn't able to go back to her own home. But since we all had decided to help her, a gentle smile appeared on Ichika’s face.

"Alette, since going on your own is dangerous, we all have decided to help you go back to your home. That is if you don't mind us." Ichika gently said to her.

"Eh? Y-you'll help me go home?" She rubbed her tears away after hearing Ichika say that.

"Yeah, we all would like to visit your home."

But after saying that everyone wanted to see her realm, Alette looked back at Akemi in worry.

"You don't need to worry about Akemi, she's on our side." Chloe assured about Akemi after noticing the hesitation on Alette's response.

“...”

But since everyone was already prepared about their new trip to her realm, they all were excited. Warm smiles were shown on everyone's face as they gave a warm expression of trust to Alette.

Even right now, I could feel myself much lighter than before and my lungs felt much better than before.

It almost felt like I was about to sleep…

"H-Hatsuko?" Hina immediately called out to me as she tried holding me before I could fall to the ground. 

I was a bit weirded out by her sudden worried look on her face, and the way she was holding me. 

And it didn't take long before the other girls came near me and tried holding my body. 

Now that I was looking at them, I could see that they all were above me as they were gathering around.

"What happened to him?" Chloe asked as they were trying to help me up.

Wait, am I laying on the ground? What happened to me?

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Warning!

Condition: Unstable!

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Unstable? But I haven't even used any of my skills, not to mention that my body felt fine just a few moments ago…

"He was fine some seconds ago! What caused this? All of his energy is being drained away!" Even Akemi was wondering about my sudden change of condition as she was trying to analyze me.

What is happening to me? 

"Hatsuko, please be okay!" Even Ichika’s eyes were tearing up since she didn't know what to do.

I wasn't in any pain and my body felt fine other than not being able to move. Even talking was a hard challenge for me now.

Then suddenly, in front of me came Alette as she was floating above my head. From here I could actually see that she wasn't wearing anything from underneath. 

Not that I care about that.

"His body is rejecting all of his energy." Alette suddenly said after seeing my condition.

"It's being rejected? What is causing that?" Hina wondered in worry.

"Wait, maybe it's because he drained too many life crystals." Akemi came up with the theory as they were trying to figure out what was going on with me.

"I don't know the reason why this happened to him, but—" As Alette was trying to say something, she suddenly came much closer to me and gently kissed my cheek.

"—I know how to help him~." 

In the next moment, I felt a warm energy flowing inside me, and I could move myself once again.

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Condition: Healthy, tired.

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"I can move…"

After seeing how I could move and talk once again, Ichika tightly hugged my head. 

"I'm so glad you're okay!!" I could feel her soft breast being pressed against me as she continued hugging me.

"Don't worry us like that again." Chloe let out a sigh after seeing that I was able to get on my feet again.

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..

After everyone was much calmer than before, I wanted to learn the reason why this happened to me.

But before that…

"...um.." 

Alette looked straight into my eyes, wondering what I was going to say.

"Thanks for helping me." 

Everyone looked at me as I was thanking Alette. 

It was thanks to her that I'm able to move and speak again.

"Haha, I'm amazing after all!" She proudly said about her actions.

"Anyway, you said that you knew a way of helping him?" 

Alette awkwardly looked at Akemi after she asked that kind of question.

"Y-yes, us spirits can live thousands of years without dying. And thanks to the tree of life, we can receive enough energy so we can live without dying. If we bring him to my home, he may be able to receive enough energy for his body." Alette explained to us.

"But won't his body reject the energy again?" Hina asked after hearing about her explanation.

"That's unlikely because our tree can produce the purest energy that helps us survive. So I really doubt that his body will reject it." She responded back to her.

"We're already planning on going to her realm. And none of us seem to know any other ways of helping me, so doesn't this work out for us?" 

Everyone looked at me once again after hearing my opinion about this.

"Well, if Hatsuko is okay with that, then that's fine by me." Chloe smiled as she said that in relief.

"I also agree with Chloe." Hina agreed as well.

"I won't allow you to die on me that easily so let's go to her realm." Akemi also agreed on going to Alette's realm.

Since Ichika continued hugging me together with shiro, I guessed that they also were okay with going to the tree of life.

"Then it's decided. We're going to the spirit's realm." I announced this after getting everyone's opinion about this.

While this may seem like a way of helping me, I already felt blessed by having many people who cared this much about me.

That's when I realized that life wasn't that bad…

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