"The two of you, just stay put for today," William said as he looked at the two ladies who had fevers.
This was the first thing that he noticed when he woke up in the morning. Lilith's and Raizel's bodies were unusually hot, so the Half-Elf immediately looked for a clinical thermometer to check their temperature.
When the results came out, his hunch was confirmed, so he ordered the two ladies to stay in bed, while he brought them something to eat.
"I thought I was going to die last night," Lilith said as she held her aching head. "What you did was very dangerous. I'm surprised you managed to survive it."
"I thought I was gonna die as well." Raizel had a pained expression on her face because she, too, was suffering from migraine. "I didn't know that it would be that intense."
"Don't tell me that we are going to do that again?"
"We have to. It will raise our chances of winning."
Lilith massaged her temple in order to lessen the pain she was feeling. Although she wanted to get in the way of Morax's plans, inflicting self harm was something she wasn't fond of.
"There has to be a better way." Lilith sighed. "Both of us might suffer from a harsh backlash if we use this method again."
Raizel nodded in agreement. "I'll think of a new alternative after we recover. Thinking right now really hurts, so I'll pass for the time being."
Despite the pain she was feeling, Lilith wasn't able to stop a chuckle from escaping her lips. The usually fearless young beauty was showing signs of backing out after their nearly failed experiment last night.
Twenty minutes later, the door of their room opened and William came in pushing a trolley of food.
"I made some oat porridge," William said. "They're still hot, so let them cool off a bit."
The Half-Elf took two breakfast trays and placed them on the two ladies' laps. He then took a chair and sat beside the bed, eyeing the two girls who were holding their heads in pain.
"I know I shouldn't ask, but what did the two of you do last night for both of you to end up like this?" William inquired.
"You already know that you shouldn't ask, but you still asked," Lilith replied with a glare. "How about you tell me what you and Raizel were doing for the past few days?"
William coughed lightly as he averted his gaze. How could he possibly tell her what he was doing with Raizel? If Lilith got wind of it, she would definitely raise a ruckus.
Raizel who was watching the two's banter wanted to laugh, but the sudden pain that wracked her head made her wince in pain instead.
William sighed as he picked up the food tray on Raizel's lap. He then took a spoonful of the porridge and blew on it.
"Say ah…"
"Ah…"
The Half-Elf spoonfed the young beauty, which made Raizel quite happy. She had only gotten sick once in her life, and back then, her Papa and Mama took very good care of her.
Seeing William care for her like this made her want to act like a spoiled child in order to make him pamper her.
'Just this once,' Raizel thought as she opened her mouth to eat. 'There might not be another opportunity like this again in the future.'
As Wiliam fed Raizel, Lilith could only endure her headache and eat her own food. For her, it was perfectly fine that the Half-Elf was ensuring that the young beauty was eating properly. She didn't feel jealous or anything.
The Amazon Princess even thought that this was only the natural order of things, and it was William's duty to take care of Raizel.
As for her, she could take care of herself just fine, even with her current condition.
As the two girls ate, the other Shelters were hard at work scouring the Deadlands to find the mirrors, including Cathy's group.
Just like always, the remaining members of the Glory Shelter were also hard at work.
"Incredible, I didn't think that Raizel and Lilith would get sick here in the Deadlands," Cathy said. "I hope it's not a serious sickness."
Xenovia scratched her head as she looked in the direction of the Glory Shelter. "Will said that it's just a mild fever. They explored somewhere damp yesterday, so it might have caused them to feel some discomfort after they returned to shelter."
"Good." Cathy nodded. "I don't want her to get sick for a long time."
Suddenly, one of the men in their team shouted because he found something unusual.
"Leader, there is a mirror over here," the man said. "It looks just like the ones that were in the gold crystal!"
Cathy and Xenovia glanced at each other before scampering towards the location of the man who had said that they found a mirror similar to what the Dread Lord was looking for.
"T-This… this is one of the mirrors, right?" Cathy asked as she looked at Xenovia who was standing beside her.
The Death Lord had already activated the golden crystal and a match had been made.
"Without a doubt, this is indeed one of the mirrors that Morax is looking for," Xenovia replied. "Let's take it back to the Shelter, and have William deal with it."
Everyone in the group agreed that this was the best thing to do. Truth be told, they were afraid of dealing with the Dread Lord.
Since William had been one of the experts protecting their shelter, they deemed that it was best that he handled this mirror as well.
—-
The corner of William's lips twitched as he looked at the mirror that was presented to him by an over-eager Cathy.
"Will, this is one of those mirrors that you are looking for, right?" Cathy said with an expression that screamed 'Please, praise me for doing a good job!'.
"Y-Yes," William replied. "Good job, Cathy. You too, Xenovia."
Xenovia nodded her head and Cathy looked at William with eyes filled with expectation.
"Will, don't you think a reward is in order?" Cathy asked with a smile.
William subconsciously took a step back because the pretty girl's gaze was starting to scare him.
"O-Of course," William answered with a stiff smile. "What do you want as a reward?"
"How about tonight we… do the usual?" Cathy proposed. "Don't worry. I'm a very healthy person. My blood regenerates quickly as well. You're already aware of this, right?"
William couldn't refute Cathy's words because she was right. The Half-Elf had discovered her peculiarity when he first drank her blood.
Although William only drank a mouthful, he realized right away that Cathy had already recovered the amount of blood that was taken from her.
At first, the Half-Elf thought that he was just overthinking things, but after he drank her blood for the second time, he realized that what he suspected was true.
That was also that same day that Cathy realized she had this unique trait. She also seemed a bit surprised that she hadn't discovered it in the past.
Simply put, she was like a rechargeable battery that was always at full charge.
Even with this ability, William didn't want to take advantage of her and simply took what he needed. He didn't know if this ability had a side-effect, so he decided to not abuse it for Cathy's safety.
"Understood, tonight then." William relented. Now that another mirror was within his hands, he had no choice but to give it to Morax as soon as possible, so he wouldn't be suspected of anything.
The only problem was that when he handed the mirror to Morax, he would be able to ask the Dread Lord for a favor. Frankly, William didn't know how to handle this situation, so he decided to ask Xenovia to call one of Morax's Undead to deliver the mirror to the Dread Lord for the time being.
Half an hour later, a Death Lord riding a Bone Dragon landed near their shelter. William gave the mirror to it and asked it to pass a message to Morax.
"Tell your Master that I will visit him one of these days," William said. "I am busy right now, so I can't hand the mirror over personally."
"Understood," the Death Lord replied. "Is that all you wanted to say to my Master?"
William smiled. "I am taking care of two sick people right now, so I can't leave them alone. I will also use this opportunity to think of what request I will ask when I go to the Black Tower to visit His Excellency. "
The Death Lord nodded before mounting the Bone Dragon to return to the Black Tower.
William watched it go with a complicated expression on his face. Although the leaders of the shelters might raise an eyebrow due to his lack of interest in meeting Morax, to claim his reward, he had a valid excuse on hand.
Although the Glory Shelter was most likely safe for the time being, he didn't feel comfortable leaving the two sick girls behind. He would rather wait for the two of them to recover before meeting with Morax.
'Should I ask him to kill Swiper?' William thought. The Half-Elf only entertained this thought for a few seconds before tossing it aside. He was sure that even if he asked this of Morax, the latter would not do it because it would complicate his plans.
The Half-Elf sighed before returning to take care of the two ladies who were resting in their room.. For him, their safety was far more important than any favors that he could get from the Dread Lord, whose charismatic smile couldn't be trusted.
