clear-eyed and clear-minded
The boy was not moved by her vigilance and still looked carefree and relaxed.
He leaned his elbow on his knees, supporting his cheek, while his other hand was still tugging at her skirt: "Sit down first, and I'll tell you when you sit down."
Ximu was helpless, thinking that this stalemate seemed meaningless, and finally compromised.
After she sat down, facing her still inquiring eyes, although Ruixia smiled, she no longer had the complacency she had when analyzing the professional content just now. Instead, there was a gentle sigh in her eyes.
"Actually, you should have told me. I still have two..."
"it's useless."
Ximu calmly interrupted his good intentions.
She knew that this was not an injury that could be easily healed by an ordinary healing scroll, and that ordinary painkillers could only treat the symptoms of this pain that was engraved in her bones and blood.
A defective one that needs to constantly consume resources to maintain its combat effectiveness is completely a defective product.
Defective products will be discarded, targeted, and dealt with first at the beginning, so not exposing any of her weaknesses to others is her experience and reliance on which she can escape danger time and time again.
"When did you find out?"
She asked this directly, and her eyes even looked sincere, as if she really wanted to learn a lesson from it and fill in the gaps.
Ruisha's smile faded.
He looked at her deeply for a moment, then sighed and whispered, "Strictly speaking, I didn't 'see' it, I 'felt' it."
Because his parents were both adventurers, he traveled around with his family when he was young.
Although he was uneasy and often got involved in inexplicable disputes, it was also because of this that he was able to come into contact with all kinds of people at a young age, and witnessed all kinds of strange professions and their respective ways of doing things.
People who like mechanical engineering are usually sharp-eyed and good at summarizing and generalizing. They can easily spot problems in a pile of complicated programs. Therefore,
"At first, I just felt that there was something 'incongruous' about you."
Ruixia stretched out a finger and gestured in the air, as if writing some complex calculation: "Based on your attitude, your state of mind, and the level of strength you have demonstrated, it should be 'this'."
The fingers paused at a higher position, but soon fell back down.
"But in actual combat, even though you hit the most precise spot at every turn, I always felt constrained. Your speed and adaptability should have been swifter and more powerful, but in the end, it always seemed to fall just a little short."
In such a fleeting state, could he still find time to observe these things?
Realizing that he might have underestimated the young mechanic, Ximu sat up straight and couldn't help but look serious.
"At first, I thought you might be deliberately hiding your strength, so I didn't take it too seriously... After all, we just met by chance, so this is normal. But then, as the battle became increasingly tense, that feeling of 'dissonance' became stronger and stronger."
The situation presented by not being able to do something and being able to do it but being delayed for some reason is different.
He naturally knew how an injured adventurer would fight, how he would habitually raise his weapon but then have his movements deformed by pain.
After Ximu made several moves, he gradually saw the clues.
This girl still has injuries on her body.
Although he didn't understand why the best healing scroll on the market couldn't completely cure her injuries, and he didn't know where exactly she was injured, he was extremely anxious when he saw her saving him again and again with hidden pain.
"Why did you hide it from me? Are you embarrassed to bother me? If you feel bad about the scrolls and potions, just return them to me after we leave here. It's no big deal. Why force yourself like this?"
As Ruixia spoke, her tone became even more angry, and her cheeks became puffed up like a little dolphin.
Xi Mu had obviously never thought that there was such a simple and clear method of clearing favors as "paying back the money", and he suddenly understood.
Yes, she didn't realize it at all.
From childhood to adulthood, everything about her was decided by others. Her mother and brother always gave her orders, and she only had to obey.
For people who have never handled money themselves and have no social experience, the idea of "if you don't want to owe someone a favor, just pay them back" is indeed a bit unfamiliar.
But...where will the money come from?
Xi Mu, who had no idea how the family business operated, sat there and fell into deep thought unconsciously.
Seeing that she ignored her and seemed to have no doubts about the previous question, Ruixia began to tinker with her own things. In addition to the previous screen, she clicked on several smaller screens, which cooperated with each other. It was unknown what she was studying.
The two were speechless for a moment, with only the faint sound of the monster's footsteps and the rustling sounds of some unknown animal running through the forest lingering in their ears.
After an unknown amount of time, Ximu looked up at the sky through the sparse branches and suddenly asked, "How long does the pain relief scroll last?"
"About an hour or so."
Ruixia didn't look up when she responded, and it took her a moment to react: "...Ah, the effect has worn off?"
"Um."
Xi Mu nodded, then raised her hand and pointed at the stars above her head - the fog had dissipated at this time, and the stars were distant and twinkling in the dark night sky. At first glance, there was nothing unusual.
"An hour has passed, but the positions of these stars... haven't moved at all."
Ruisha followed the look, but her expression didn't seem very shocked.
"Yes, the area covered by that unknown magic circle may be larger than I previously imagined... I have good news and bad news now. Which one do you want to hear first?"
The silver-haired girl looked at him with a calm expression, as if she had no desire to know any news.
The boy who wasn't interrupted likely anticipated this, so he wasn't annoyed and instead conscientiously backed off. "Let me tell you the bad news first. The bad news is, my tracking device hasn't been working since we entered this forest. No matter how I try to fix it, it won't work. It seems I won't be able to contact my teammates."
I've heard him mention the malfunction of detection equipment before. It seems that this place has great interference with positioning-related mechanical products.
Ruixia was obviously still a little disappointed about this - he thought he would be able to reunite with his companions soon after coming out, but now he had to leave the safe zone and deal with those strange monsters while trying to leave the dense forest.
"What about the good news?"
Not knowing how long he would remain depressed, Ximu thought about it and decided to speed up the conversation.
"The good news is that my 'Insect Swarm' is still working properly here. I've already found several safe places nearby that are also glowing with golden light, and..."
He zoomed in on one of the images, pointed to a small bright spot, and excitedly announced, "I found my backpack!"
Most of the props and supplies that Ruixia prepared for this trip were basically in that backpack.
Judging from the information transmitted back by the image, the backpack itself was not damaged, the restriction at the opening was still intact, and it remained in a position for a long time, indicating that it had not been picked up by anyone. It should be lying in an inconspicuous corner at this moment, quietly waiting for its owner to come and find it.
"As long as we can find the backpack, we won't have to be so passive when we encounter those monsters next time."
Although she didn't know how many good things he had hidden in his body, Ximu was infected by his confidence and became more optimistic.
and--
"The 'insect swarm' you're talking about, are you talking about those little flying bug-type Mechamons you used to open locks?"
"Yes, the insectoid Mechamon take up little space and are easy to carry. I prefer to bring them with me when I go out. The dungeon was small before, and I had limited resources, so I didn't dare use them to set up a net, fearing I wouldn't have enough resources to go around... Now that we're out there, and the forest is vast, if we don't survey the terrain, we'll be completely blind."
"When were you released?"
"When we separated, you went in another direction, and there was thick fog all around, so I guess I didn't notice you."
It is indeed reasonable.
Ximu nodded. There was no problem anymore. The air became quiet again, leaving only the various symbols on the screen flashing in large and small sizes.
She was no stranger to such silence.
Apart from training and carrying out missions, she spent most of her time sitting quietly in her room, watching the sunlight filter in from the high window. It didn't even shine on her, but only slanted across her head, leaving her with a little bit of furry warmth.
That's good enough.
Such sunshine had no intention, no urging, and would not sting her eyes, but it gave her a little real warmth of still being in the world.
It’s a pity that the dense forest in front of us is gloomy and strange, with only stars but no sunrise.
"Okay, let's go."
Awakened from his thoughts by the call, Ximu turned around and met Ruixia's special golden-red eyes.
At such a close distance, those eyes looked like the rising sun surrounded by a red glow, which made her heart skip a beat.
"……'us'?"
"Yeah, what else?"
The boy smiled, put away the various devices on hand, and then extended his hand to her very naturally.
"Although the density isn't as high as in the dungeon, since this dense forest is also covered by an unknown magic circle, it means we're not completely out of danger yet. I don't want to die inexplicably in a place like this, far away from my family. In short, let's leave here together first and discuss the problems later, okay?"
The girl, who was used to having others make the decisions for her, thought about it for a moment and accepted this reasonable and feasible suggestion.
Although he did not return the other person's handshake but stood up alone, looking at this young man who obviously did not mind and seriously began to check the supplies again, Ximu now developed some basic trust in him compared to the wariness and confusion when they first met.
After losing her mother and brother, she gained an external brain that could give reliable instructions.
very nice.
There are people who need protection, and there are clear things to do—
Then she would be "useful" again.
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