Dimensional Descent

Leonel willed himself to calm down and he entered his own room, leaving Aina to herself.

Now that he thought about it, he really had left her alone for quite a while. It made sense that she would find something to do. Who knew when the last time she had a time to relax was?

Leonel couldn't help but smile.

Back in the Joan Zone, Aina never needed to bathe due to her military-type uniform. Its self-cleaning function made sure she wouldn't need to worry about it. So, this was the first time Leonel had experienced this sort of feeling.

What started as him forcefully suppressing the lewd thoughts of a young man became him appreciating the sound of the moving water in a silent but sweet peace. It had become less about the fact Aina was washing herself and more about that she trusted him enough to do so.

Maybe he was just overthinking it. There was always a chance that he was. But, the thought still brought him peace of mind.

"Oh… You're back, I hope you don't mind I…"

Aina's voice woke Leonel from his odd peaceful state.

He looked up toward her and smiled. The slight embarrassment on Aina's face made his smile somewhat brighter. He could see that she hadn't really thought about it before choosing to bathe here. Knowing Aina, if she had thought it through, she wouldn't feel embarrassed in the slightest.

That realization only made him happier. It was like an unconditional trust even she wasn't aware she had for him.

Leonel's brows raised as he stood from his bed and walked to the door he had left open.

"The swelling, it's gone down. Were the waters helpful to you?"

Leonel realized this immediately. Before, the swelling and inflammation of Aina's scars was quite bad. It was to the point that it seemed they might burst with a foul liquid at any moment. In fact, he could hardly see the features of her real face because of this.

Aina used the effect of the curse to help her training. The impact was even more exaggerated

the swelling to eventually die down. But, this time, it didn't seem to want to go away at all and left her in a perpetual state of pain and itchiness. Surprisingly, though, the Cleansing Waters of the Segmented Cube's Abode Setting quelled

head,

"… Mm."

at all. In fact, he was even happier that he could

water in the Segmented Cube comes out as Cleansing Waters,

can't do that,

Abode seems to make an

speechless toward Leonel's

looked up with a glare Leonel was familiar with seeing. Usually, she only used

special Innate Water Force Node. Even for such a person, it's

blinked, not really understanding what much of that meant, especially the Seven Purities part. All he knew was that he used

he was pretty sure his toilet water was

waved a hand. "Never mind that. Seriously, take as much as you want. There's no need to

moment as though she

getting lost in

to convey his meaning and determination through

the swelling lessened, Leonel could see the true structure of Aina's face. He burned the image into his mind, not only because he was infatuated with her looks, but because this was the first

that he had

didn't know the exact reason. But, didn't they say that in this new world the future could influence the past? Leonel liked to believe that maybe he was less crazy than many believed and that an undying devotion his

if it wasn't a future love that caused his current feelings, but a

lost Aina in the future? What if the feelings of hurt, anger, and helplessness were so powerful that they pierced through the

the first time Leonel even admitted these things to himself, but something was screaming to him that it wasn't just love that