Chapter 38: Learning to Lean on Others (1)

Since the moment she got her strength back, Maeve insisted on walking by herself. She had even refused when Ikarus tried to carry her again.

In her mind, now that she was feeling better, there was no reason to keep relying on other people. But somehow... her determination to walk seemed to be causing even more trouble for everyone else.

"Can you walk any slower?" Maeve asked between breaths. "Why do all of you love running so much?"

The triplets exchanged glances, and then Axan was the one who replied. "Running? We’re not running."

Cerus nodded in agreement. "We’ve been walking at our normal pace this whole time."

Of course they had.

Just like when she had followed Ikarus on the way to the Heart of the Forest, she still couldn’t keep up with them, especially with her short legs.

No, they weren’t even short!

This was entirely the fault of these aliens for being ridiculously tall.

"Maeve, let me carry you again," Ikarus said, trying to reassure her. "The road is still very long, and I think it would be better if you saved your energy by doing nothing."

Maeve finally stopped walking and took a deep breath. If she were being honest, she didn’t even know why she was being so stubborn about this.

No one was forcing her to walk, no one was asking anything from her, and yet, every time she sat back and let the others do everything, a small feeling of guilt would creep into her chest.

Maybe...

Maybe it was because she had spent most of her life being scolded whenever she wasn’t doing something useful, especially when she lived with her uncle’s family.

If she rested, she was lazy.

If she sat down, she was wasting time.

If she wasn’t helping, she was a burden.

Those words had followed her for so many years that even now, she couldn’t seem to escape them. So even when nobody expected anything from her, she still felt the need to keep moving, to keep helping, to prove that she wasn’t a burden, which was honestly ridiculous.

Because neither Ikarus, Cerus, nor Axan had ever treated her that way.

"But I think we’re already close to our destination," Maeve said as she straightened her back and tried to catch her breath.

Unfortunately, the moment she looked ahead, the endless stretch of land in front of them didn’t seem very convincing.

"But the sun symbol... it really doesn’t look that far from where we’re standing," Maeve said.

She looked around for a moment before lowering her gaze to the map again, carefully comparing their surroundings to the markings on it.

From what she could tell, they were already standing at the very edge of the dead forest. Only a handful of withered trees remained scattered around them.

Beyond that, the land stretched out in a wide, open expanse.

According to the map, the Heart of the Tomb should be somewhere nearby.

In fact, the sun symbol marking its location looked surprisingly close, close enough that Maeve couldn’t understand why the triplets kept talking as if they still had a long journey ahead of them.

At least from her perspective, it felt like they were almost there.

[Remember, Host, the scale on the map.]

Pinky’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind.

Maeve blinked, and then she looked down at the map again.

The fluffy pink creature continued, [The sun symbol may look close, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is close. A single finger’s width on the map could represent several kilometers in real life.]

Oh, of course. Of course!

How could Maeve forget something so important?

Well, if she was being honest, she probably hadn’t forgotten. Her brain had simply been trying very hard to convince her that they were almost there.

Unfortunately, reality didn’t seem interested in helping her.

"It’s not just about the distance," Ikarus explained patiently. "The sun will become much hotter at noon. If you keep walking under it, you’ll get thirsty and tired much faster."

Maeve slowly lifted her head and looked up at the sky. The sunlight had become noticeably harsher.

The bright rays poured down from above, heating everything around them. Although she had wrapped a cloth around her head for protection, it wasn’t doing much against the growing heat.

"I think..." She swallowed hard. "You’re right." A few seconds later, she added, "It’s really hot."

Even her feet were starting to hurt. The simple sandals made from woven wood fibers protected them from the rough ground, but they couldn’t stop the heat.

"So," Cerus said, smiling at her, "do you want to be carried again?"

Maeve fell silent. She really didn’t want to admit defeat, not after insisting so confidently that she could walk on her own.

But at the same time... the heat was unbearable, her legs hurt, and they still had hours of walking left.

After taking a deep breath, she finally nodded. "Alright."

The word sounded as though it had cost her a great deal of pride, then she immediately raised a finger and pointed it at the triplets.

"But this is only because I’m not in good condition right now." Her expression turned serious. "Next time, I’ll definitely be able to walk farther than this!"

The triplets exchanged glances. Axan nodded solemnly. "Of course."

"You definitely will," Cerus agreed.

Ikarus smiled. "We believe you."

Maeve narrowed her eyes. For some reason, their expressions looked suspiciously similar to the ones adults used when encouraging a stubborn child. And somehow, that made accepting the ride feel even more embarrassing.

"Since Ikarus carried you for so long before, now it’s my turn!"

Before Maeve could even react, Cerus scooped her up as if she weighed no more than a kitten.

"Hey—!"

However, unlike Ikarus, who usually carried her in front of him with one arm around her waist, Cerus preferred carrying her on his back.

In one smooth motion, he shifted her onto his shoulders and secured her legs with his arms.