"I feel fine now."
Without waiting for the girls to ask, Shade spoke up on his own, then smiled and praised Emilia's nocturne for sounding wonderful.
Dorothy temporarily put away the abnormal Fire Seed Source and the [Source of Chaos]. While Shade changed clothes, the Dragon Egg slowly descended toward Daniste, the Fire Seed Source on its shell still glowing with a faint glimmer.
Daniste had been holding Shade in the hot spring just now, so she naturally knew his current condition. The other women also understood that as long as Shade had awakened, the problem was not too serious, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Emilia, however, still hugged Shade with red-rimmed eyes. Though she was the oldest person here aside from Winnie, everyone understood her reaction.
Shade smiled and returned Emilia's embrace. Only after the Pointy-Eared Elf let him go with reddened eyes did he take a deep breath. The forest air at night was wonderfully fresh; Vesta Woodland at the end of spring was entirely different from late autumn and early winter.
"Now then, tell me what happened after I fell unconscious."
There were already places beside the hot spring for the women and Shade to sit. The campfire was ignited, and while the others informed Shade of the aftermath of the operation, Winnie and Tifa, who had come along together, prepared a late night snack for him.
But Luvia had only just mentioned that Vanessa had collected the feathers and red sand, and that Iluna and Sister Devlin had gone to deal with the Fourth Layer of the Tomb, when she noticed that Shade had not placed Little Mia on his lap as usual. Instead, he kept glancing at her from time to time.
The cat found Shade's slight coldness toward her rather strange, but