Published: August 10, 2026
My head was spinning from the memories that had suddenly connected all at once, and perhaps because I had been in sync with Ferdinand, I found myself desperately missing my family in the downtown.
I didn't really understand what had happened to Ferdinand, but since hugs from him were very rare, I took the opportunity and wrapped my arms around his back too.
The next moment, Ferdinand flinched and sprang away from me.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Don't look at me like that, as if you're disgusted. If anything, that should be my line.
Couldn't I ask who it was that had hugged me the moment I woke up?
I had that thought for a moment, but if I said something unnecessary, it would only turn into a pointless argument, and with my head still barely working, I had no chance of winning.
"I think it's unfair that Lord Ferdinand is the only one getting hugged and calming down, so I'd like to request an extension of the hug until I settle down."
"...An extension?"
"Because I was in sync with you, and all my memories connected at once, my head and my emotions are both a complete mess."
Instead of arguing, I stated my request, and as a result, I successfully obtained an extension of the hug from Ferdinand, who now looked extremely displeased.
Only then did I finally have the composure to look around, and I realized that we were still in the foundation chamber, and that Ferdinand was holding me while sitting with one knee raised.
So that's why my body wasn't cold.
"Here I go..."
I twisted my body a little to make hugging easier and wrapped my arms around Ferdinand's back.
His familiar scent and the warmth of his body felt comforting, but Ferdinand's heartbeat was very fast, and somehow his breathing seemed shallow too.
"...I feel calmer when we do this, don't you?"
"I am not calming down at all."
Sensing that he might pull away with a sigh, I hurriedly tightened my arms around his back and clung to him.
"Maybe you're not calming down because Lord Ferdinand still doesn't have enough hugs. You can hug me as much as you want."
"That is not what I mean."
Ferdinand said that in a tired, exasperated voice, but he only tightened the arm around my back and started playing with my hair with the other hand.
He definitely doesn't have enough hugs, and yet he's still not honest.
"Then what did you mean when you hugged me first, Lord Ferdinand?"
"...That was... because you suddenly broke off the sync and wouldn't wake up no matter how many times I called you."
He said that in a truly unhappy voice.
Apparently, Ferdinand had been frantic, wondering if I had climbed the stairs leading to the far, far heights.
"...Was I really in that dangerous of a state?"
"I genuinely cannot understand how you can be so casual after walking the line between life and death for days."
The moment the divine power of the gods affected me and my mana returned to normal, I was already as good as dead.
I needed to reduce my mana, but since I couldn't use healing potions, I was constantly in danger of running out of either stamina or mana first.
On top of that, once my mana was depleted, I needed to quickly have Ferdinand dye it with his own mana and restore it as soon as possible, or I might die from mana depletion instead.
For the past few days, I truly could have died at any moment, anywhere.
"I know that. I was scared of sleeping, and I was scared of my mana recovering. But I believed Lord Ferdinand would do something about it, so I wasn't all that pessimistic..."
Since I had thought that once my mana was depleted, things would somehow be manageable, I had been relatively optimistic.
But Ferdinand, who had been left in charge, seemed to have had a much harder time.
"The moment your mana was depleted, I gave you a sync medicine, then had you drink a potion that liquefied my mana, and then I used a magic tool that peered into memories to pour mana into you and call out to your consciousness. And yet you showed no response for a long time. Worse, your memories would not return, and just when I finally thought I had found a thread to grasp onto, the sync suddenly broke the instant all the blessings of all attributes poured down."