CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER 42 – FEELINGS

Chapter 42 – Feelings

"..." Jack froze for a moment as he stared at the delirious girl without uttering a single word. His mind had stopped thinking when he heard those words. Blinking slowly, he stopped tapping her face as if he had been put under some sort of spell.

"Oh my~ What did she just say?" Liliana giggled as she looked at Luna. "Did she just say what I think she did?"

"..." Jack didn’t reply as he kept staring at her. Nobody knew what was going through his head at that moment — not even Liliana.

"Ja... ck..." Luna whispered again, clearly not aware of what she said. "Hold... my hand..."

The boy, seemingly snapping out of his daze, looked up and closed his eyes, exhaling a long breath. "This idiot..." he muttered under his breath before looking down.

"Just stay awake. We’ll be moving in a bit," he said as he pulled himself away and sat next to her, running his hand through his hair.

"I don’t want to be that person, Jack. But I did tell you earlier, didn’t I? This girl is still smitten by you," Liliana said. "When someone is under Aether Poisoning, they’re in a lot of pain and can barely think. The fact that she could still utter your name and those words... it means you’re constantly on her mind, every second of the day."

"..." Jack didn’t look at the demoness as he kept his eyes closed.

Liliana, meanwhile, was having the time of her life. ’Aaah, love is such an interesting thing to witness. Their relationship is so intriguing.’ She licked her lips. ’I wonder if he still holds any feelings for her. This boy is a tough nut to crack, after all. But to make her fall that deeply in love, she must’ve seen how special he is.’

Liliana could see why Luna loved Jack that much. After all, he had the traits of a great man — smart, reliable, composed, and soft-spoken when he needed to be.

’His physique is also getting better and better... and he’ll only become more and more beautiful as he evolves.’

After evolving and leveling up, Jack’s facial appearance had also undergone some subtle but noticeable changes. His jaw was sharper, his eyes prettier, and his overall appearance improved.

’As he gets stronger and stronger, he’ll become quite the lady killer. Hehe~’ she thought to herself. "You don’t seem very amused, Jack."

"Do I have to be?" he replied.

"Hmmm, don’t men love it when pretty women tell them they love them?"

"Don’t you see the wide, happy smile on my face?" Jack replied sarcastically as he rested his head against the wall. ’Such a headache. I’ll consider this just one of her hallucinations. It’s pointless to keep thinking about it.’

This wasn’t the time for feelings or love. They had to survive in this harsh environment, and there were many things to do. Feelings were the last of Jack’s priorities at that moment, and he had no intention of changing that anytime soon.

"Ja... ck..."

"Yeah, yeah, I’m here," he replied to the delirious girl who seemed quite desperate for him. "Is she getting better, Liliana?"

"Yes, her body stopped consuming Aether. She should be able to recover in a few hours at most," Liliana replied.

"Good. Then we’ll be moving. The others should be waiting for us nearby."

Saying that, Jack picked Luna up again and looked behind him. The horde had been completely lost in the city. Even their noises had become a distant echo that could barely be traced.

With that, he turned around and started walking toward the meeting point they’d agreed upon earlier. Resting in his arms, Luna seemingly fell asleep as she started breathing softly. Her beautiful face looked serene at that moment, completely stress-free, as if she were having the best nap of her life.

Jack stared at the girl silently. The serious expression never left his face.

"Are you going to tell her?"

"Tell her what?"

"What she said."

"No... she doesn’t need to know. It won’t help her in any way," Jack replied. ’It will also spare her the disappointment. I need her focused on what we’ll do rather than what she’s thinking of now.’

"I see..." the seductive demoness muttered. ’He really doesn’t like feelings at all. Was it because of what happened between them? Perhaps something else?’

Jack was quite a cold and apathetic person in general, and Liliana suspected it was the result of some trauma or bad experience he’d had before.

’A lot is hidden behind those eyes, Jack. You’re only teasing me into looking deeper,’ the demoness smiled to herself. ’Well, we have all the time in the world to unravel your layers. I’ll take my sweet time doing it.’

"There they are!"

"Jack!!"

"Oh my god! What happened to Luna?!"

Emerging at the end of the street, the group saw Jack and rushed toward him with worry on their faces. Seeing the unconscious Luna, their expressions paled even more.

"What did you do to her?!" Evan yelled angrily as he tried to check on Luna.

"She’s fine. She’s just exhausted and needs some sleep. She should be fine when she wakes up."

"..."

The group instinctively looked at their companion again, noticing her chest rising and falling as she slept peacefully.

"Oh... she’s just asleep?" Emi exhaled in relief. "I was almost about to cry."

"We all made it alive! That’s amazing!" Alex beamed with happiness.

Meanwhile, Evan kept staring at Jack — more precisely, at the way he was carrying Luna. His expression darkened, seeing how close they were physically.

"Give her to me. I’ll carry her," he said after a moment.

"..." Jack stared back at him for a second before shaking his head. "No. You get the shopping carts."

"That wasn’t a request. Let go of her," Evan replied coldly.

"This is not the time for your petty arguments. Just get the supplies and let’s move. If you have a problem with this, you can say it later when we’re in a safe spot. Unless you want to disturb your friend’s rest — that’s a whole different thing."

"..." Evan was completely speechless for a second before he clicked his tongue and looked away. "You’re lucky that she needs sleep, bastard."

"Whatever. Let’s go; we can’t wait here any longer."

"We already got the supplies. Here." Pointing back, Evan showed the two large carts waiting there.

"Then we’ll move now."

With that, the group picked up their things and started walking back to the base. Making sure to avoid any major routes where monsters could be, they eventually reached their destination without any problems.

The base was quiet after the battle. Piles and piles of dead corpses riddled the street as the scent of blood filled their noses. The scene was horrific and ugly, making every stomach churn with just a glance.

However, the group didn’t stop. They forced themselves through the blood, guts, and charred monsters until they stood before the walls.

"Are they going to let us in, I wonder?"

"What if they attack us?"

"..."

’It doesn’t seem like they’re on the walls anymore.’

"Is anybody there? Open the gates!" Jack called.

A few seconds later, a response came. "Who are you, and what do you want?"