When Seiya woke again, he found himself aboard a pirate ship. Beside his bed sat Erza, her body wrapped in quite a few bandages.
As if sensing the movement, the sharp Erza woke at once. When she saw that Seiya was awake, a delighted smile appeared on her face.
"Thank goodness, Seiya. You finally woke up."
The newly awakened Seiya had his head excitedly hugged by Erza. The icy touch of her armor made him immediately remark that it really was hard.
"Was I asleep for a long time?"
He had not suffered any real injuries. His sudden collapse had merely been fainting caused by excessive magic power consumption. Seeing how emotional Erza was, Seiya thought he had been out for a long time.
"About a day and a night."
"That is not that long, is it? No matter how you look at it, you are more banged up than I am, right? The side effects of magic power depletion have gradually recovered already. I am basically fine now, so this bed should be left to a seriously injured patient like you."
Seiya jokingly tried to get up, but soon realized that Erza, who was holding him, had not let go.
Moreover, in the dimly lit cabin, Seiya could feel several slightly warm "droplets" fall onto his face.
"Thank you so much. Thank you for saving Jellal, saving Millianna and the others, saving Natsu and the others, and saving... me. If it had not been for you, I do not know when I would have been able to move on from this past."
Feeling the body holding him tremble, Seiya did not struggle. Instead, he reached out and patted her back, speaking in a firm tone.
"We are comrades, and childhood friends who grew up together. Even in the entire