Artemia: Journey To The Thirtieth Floor

40. Daughter of the White Tigress

"There's something glowing on your back," I pointed out, unable to keep my mouth shut after seeing it. "I don't know what it is, though."

Yuki's eyes widened as she hastily lifted her hair to show me her naked back, asking me to check whether it was real. I tilted my head to the side out of astonishment when a snowflake-shaped tattoo with soft lighting edges appeared. For some reason, I felt like that thing was something good. Yuki seemed to be pleased when I clarified that there was really something like that on her back.

I gave Yuki a thumbs-up to tell her that she could let her hair down already. Although I wanted to ask her about it, she suddenly seemed to be in deep thought. I'm not really sure what she was thinking about, but I decided to leave her alone for the time being. Perhaps I should begin to consider why I have come to this place in the first place. My purpose is to learn more about Artemia's fate, without a doubt. But it can't be everything...

The fact that I see a hazy pattern here suggests that everything should be related in some way, right? Scylla and Charybdis are the first two characters. They are already familiar with Yuki, which indicates that Shiro will be brought to life shortly. It's also important to note that Yuki is Princess Leon's daughter and that she is Artemia's goddess as the second point of interest. I'm curious as to who her mother is. If she's a real person, she's got to be a fairly strong person.

"Ivory..." Yuki's trailed off as she grasped my wrist in hers. "We're going to have to run in a few minutes."

I looked at her with a confused expression, but it wasn't long before I understood why. "Who is it?"

"The man is Shoyo, who is Leon's right-hand man. He has the same amount of power as Kasai. That is why I'd prefer not to engage in battle with him at this point in time."

"Yuki, are you okay?" I asked when I noticed that she was sweating buckets.

She nodded. "Do not worry about me."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I am perfectly fine. As you can see, I am in peak condition."

I sighed, perfectly aware that she was not fine. "You're too stubborn..."

If she continues to remain in this condition, her curse will attempt to overpower her and kill her. I need to get her to the hut as soon as possible so that she can relax. But I'm worried that even if we manage to hide our presence, that Shoyo guy would eventually discover us. Considering how Yuki reacted, he should be rather powerful, shouldn't he? I mean, he is a royal apprentice under Leon's command.

I took a deep breath and dragged Yuki in the direction of the base so that I could carry her the whole way. As far as I can recall, I'm not very heavy, and I believe Yuki would be as well. True enough, she did not weigh that much, which made it easy for me to carry her without any difficulty. But it still had an impact on my pace, posing a significant danger to us.

"Yuki, please cast enhancement magic for me. I need to get back to the camp as soon as possible."

"For what-"

Yuki almost screamed when I went at my top speed, causing her to snuggle herself onto me. This seems a little strange. Seeing Yuki cling to me like a toddler made me realize that this is exactly how I seem whenever Blake or Dylan do anything like this to me. On top of that, I feel like I am carrying myself or something, but now isn't the time to be concerned about it!

Shoyo instantly took notice of us, just as I had expected. Yes, he did notice us despite the great distance between us. He assumed his stance as if he were about to meet us. Yuki quickly placed enhancement magic on me, significantly enhancing my speed and leg strength. I took a chance and leaped, nearly flying into the air. When I was already in mid-air, a pair of wings emerged from my back out of nowhere.

How the f**k did I grow wings? I'm a feline, right...?

"I made those for you! Please hurry!" Yuki cried as she kept trying to divert Shoyo's attention by attacking him.

Although I was staggering, I made every effort to fly towards the camp. I immediately learned how to use the wings on our way and was even able to use a booster...which was made out of water. I bit my lower lip, unable to hide the fear that I felt because of the man that was chasing after us. Even as we got closer to the base, Shoyo continued rushing after us, acting as if his life relied on it. Even though I wasn't afraid of him, I was concerned that Yuki might be wounded if I battled him here, so I couldn't stop.

"Please, Yuki, take a deep breath. We're almost there..." I said when I saw that the camp was already in sight, afraid because Yuki's face grew pale.

Although my legs were aching, I still tried to increase my pace. I was doing this while trying to stab Shoyo in the back with daggers. Because I was concentrating on my speed, they were the only ones I could manage. Fortunately, it seems that my efforts have been fruitful because I was finally able to see the camp's entrance gate. As I increased my speed for the last time, a smile appeared on my face.

I lost control of my body because I flew at a speed I was not supposed to be. I was on the verge of letting go of Yuki, but I managed to keep my grip on her body. We both had a small figure, so it was difficult for me to keep her safe for as long as I possibly could. I held her head as we began to roll about on the ground, trying to bear the pain for her sake. Damn, I'm sure everyone would be quite upset with me for this...

If it weren't for the pile of snow Yuki made, we would have suffered serious injuries. When we eventually came to a stop, I glanced over to Yuki to see how she was doing. Fortunately, Yuki seemed okay! Her frail body did not have any injuries or bruises, but she looked hella pale! Meanwhile, I was battered and bruised from all of the wounds on my body. Fuyumi, please accept my heartfelt apologies for doing this to your body...

I stood up and carried Yuki, still enduring everything. "Princess Yuki is in desperate need of rest. We'll treat her wounds by ourselves, so please refrain from meddling," I said as I carried Yuki once again.

"Ivory, what are you trying to..."

Yuki stopped mid-sentence when I looked at her. "There's something I'd want to ask if it's acceptable, but it would be preferable if we spoke about this privately for now. I would not complain if the twins decide to come along as well. So please tell your people to listen to me."

My legs were trembling, and I was certain I needed to be treated, but I put my dignity above everything else and tried to stan still. The Winter Warrior, Fuyumi, should not be seen as a damsel in distress, and I don't want that to happen. I looked at the twins and gestured for them to wait at the hut. They hurriedly walked away from the scene with a nod. Meanwhile, Yuki made it clear that she didn't want anybody to come inside the house or listen in on our conversations, no matter how important their messages were.

Everyone left the area after that, even though they were concerned about Yuki. At long last, I was able to walk away from the scene. I did all I could not stagger since I was certain that everyone would pry again. Yuki's beloved warriors would undoubtedly point out that I'm not physically strong enough to be serving the queen. That's exactly the last thing I'd want to happen at this moment.

"Ivory, you need to be treated! Are you sure you can go on?" Yuki asked, concerned about my present condition.

I smiled at her and tried my best not to wince in pain. "Yeah."

"No, you are not..." she murmured as she looked away.

I'm not going to lie, I'm not. As soon as I walked inside the cabin, I fell to the ground, almost losing my grip on Yuki. I'm just lucky that the twins caught both of us in time. Kasai placed Yuki on the bed, and Enkai brought me to the sofa next to the bed. As soon as he saw my condition, he put his hand in front of my injuries, attempting to heal them. My skin tingled when the water he generated came into direct touch with it. I kept flinching whenever I felt something against my wounds.

He looked at me with a concerned expression, but I closed my eyes and put my arm over my eyes. It was f*****g painful, but Enkai was attempting to be as gentle as possible. He even stopped whenever I flinch so he could make sure that I was okay. Kasai was also trying to assist Yuki by giving her medications and a few concoctions. She fell asleep immediately, most likely because of a side effect of the curse. My wounds were still hurting, but my legs were already numb from what happened. Kai was undoubtedly aware of it, so he applied a remedy on it.

"The potion burns. It hurts..." I whimpered while trying to keep my tears from streaming down my cheeks.

"Please accept my apologies. I will stop if you can't take it anymore. So can you still endure the pain?"

I nodded as I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat. "Yes."

No...

My legs were numb, but because of the potion, I began to experience terrible pain in my legs. I couldn't do anything since it was really painful, but Sai let me hold his hand instead. I took it and gripped it while Enkai was still trying to heal me. Shoyo might have placed a spell on me that produced this...unbelievable anguish, but I'm not sure why it was so excruciatingly awful.

As soon as Kai finished healing my wounds, I was able to relax a little. It was still terrible, but the intensity of the suffering was gradually decreasing. As I drew my arm away from my eyes, I took a long breath and exhaled. Damn, I really cried because of something like that. This doesn't make any sense at all, does it? So, how painful is it that we simply rolled about on the ground...?

"Did you happen to run across Shoyo?" Kai asked as he was organizing the potions.

I nodded as I looked at him. "Why?"

"He can inflict wounds even if you can't see his assaults because he depends on the sound," Sai, who was wiping the tears that streamed down my cheeks, replied.

"Did Yuki not realize what was going on?" I asked because I was confused as to why Yuki did not tell me anything about it.

"Because they've never met, Princess Yuki is completely unaware of Shoyo's power and influence. She just knows that Shoyo is his father's right-hand man, and that's about it."

"Why? When did he get the position of Leon's right-hand man?" I asked with my brows furrowed.

Kai shrugged as he examined to see whether I had a temperature. "It's possible that he's been trying to conceal his army the whole time since we've been meeting folks that we hadn't previously seen before the uprising started. It is indeed inconvenient."

Sai groaned and touched the bridge of my nose. "Please give yourself some time to recover, Young Lady. Quit asking questions and lie down. Give yourself a break, hmm?"

"What do you mean, young?"

"Fuyumi, you've received a lot of injuries already. Not to mention, you have been pushing yourself to the limit by defeating three generals today. You even faced a king's apprentice!" he replied, but he stiffened when he realized that the name he mentioned was wrong. "Ah, I guess I've made a mistake, so please forgive me. Your name is Ivory, am I right? I suggest that you take some time off. You have accomplished plenty of achievements within one day," Enkai told me with a smile on his face. He ruffled my hair as he assisted me in lying on the sofa. "Although, I would like to ask you to forgive us for making you sleep in such a small space."

I cracked a grin. "Thank you for your consideration, but I respectfully decline."

"Ah, you're so stubborn..." Kasai muttered as he massaged the bridge of his nose, stressed out because of my behavior.

"If there's anything particular you'd want to talk about, let's postpone it until you recover from your injuries. For the time being, you and Yuki must take it easy. There is nothing to be concerned about since we will be keeping an eye on things for you."

"But there's something important that I need to know right now, so please bear with me. I'm assuming the two of you are familiar with Yuki's past," I began as I tried to be as careful as possible. I didn't want to sound insensitive or disrespectful while asking about Yuki.

The twins nodded, which led me to believe that it was not a delicate subject. Their facial expressions didn't stiffen or anything like that as well. I didn't want to bring up this subject while Yuki was sleeping, but I'm not going to be able to sit still if I don't know what's going on. I'll merely ask for the other details after Yuki has recovered completely. But I'm not sure whether or not it would be okay...

"Please do not hesitate to ask away, Ivory. Everyone is aware of the whole scenario, so there anything you want to ask will not be that sensitive. Yuki feels that you, as well as the rest of the group, should be aware of certain things about her life."

"I see. Then, could you tell me who Yuki's...mother is?" I asked, still hesitating.

Sai gave a faint, mournful grin that looked to be a sign of regret. "I know what you mean now...you have a better grasp of the whole picture. You're really keen. That was quite an impressive observation, Ivory."

I backed away when he leaned in. But as it turns out, he was just going to tussle my hair. Blake, this is your fault!

"Yes, but I'd want to get confirmation," I replied before looking away.

"Yuki is the daughter of the first White Tigress, Shirayuki."