Something had changed in Reina, making her fight recklessly. Not only had she interfered in Rin's fight, but she was also performing surprisingly well.
Reina had always been strong and she had kept up with physical training even after she had joined her medical program. So Rin knew that Reina was strong enough to look after herself.
But knowing this in his mind and seeing it for himself were two different things.
Reina was decimating the horde of monsters Rin had left behind at an impressive speed. She was a blur across the battlefield, constantly healing herself and restoring her stamina.
But she had her limits.
Reina had been tired before Rin dragged her along and the potion he had given her could only temporarily boost her stamina and awareness. Her movements had already started to stagger and Reina's healing had extended to Rin as well, and using his newfound strength.
This all forced Rin to start running. A few monsters noticed him and tried to catch him, but he easily disposed of them. The difference between facing two monsters and a dozen was like night and day.
Reina's healing had extended to Rin as well and using his newfound strength, he ran toward the sacred object.
[Tsk, user, are you a coward? You should be sorry to call yourself a man after this. How can you let a girl fight in your place? Don't you have any honor?]
The system sounded disappointed with Rin and for good reasons. Even he felt like a piece of shit for leaving the fight to Reina.
But he made himself feel better by thinking of the results.
"The sooner I get my hands on the sacred artefact, the sooner Reina can rest."
The system did not reply this time, but Rin was sure it would have called him a coward if it could. But Rin did not have time to think about all this. The artifact he needed was right in front of him and Rin threw himself forward.
He was seconds away from grabbing the artifact when he sensed a monster rushing toward him.
Rin could dodge that attack, but it would cost him precious time. So he decided to ignore his own safety and focus on grabbing the artifact first.
The moment he felt his fingers closed around the cup's handle, he felt an intense burning in his arm.
The monster that struck Rin snarled and raised its claws to attack again. One second it was growling angrily, the next, a knife twisted into its insides.
[You have acquired the sacred artifact. The dungeon will conclude now.]
The monsters started to fade away slowly but their blood remained, splattered across the area and all over Rin as well.
But it was nothing compared to the amount Reina had on her. Her clothes were stained red and and even the tips of her hair were tinged red. The only part of her that had escaped the fate of being red was her face and the top of her blond head.
Reina's face had a soft smile and she looked like an angel when she extended her hand toward Rin. But despite her open and helpful nature, Rin swore he could see a hint of darkness.
There was no reason to fear Reina, but his instincts were still screaming at him to run away.
"Rin, hurry up and take my hand. My arm has started to feel numb."
Reina complained and Rin immediately grabbed her arm and allowed her to pull him back to his feet. Nothing happened, and his emotions slowly settled. But he still could not help but feel uneasy.
He felt like Reina's true nature was just lurking beneath her façade and he had yet to see it. Not that it mattered to him. Whatever her true nature was, he was willing to accept it all anyway.
Reina's powers felt cool and refreshing as they healed Rin's injuries. He instantly felt energetic but Reina's expression was not looking good.
"I'm feeling a little dizzy. Can you lend me your shoulder for a bit?"
Reina asked but did not wait for Rin's reply as she pressed herself against his side. She was doing more than 'leaning in a little' but Rin did not have the heart to point it out.
He allowed Reina to lean against him for a little longer before his side started to feel numb. He sat down with Reina by his side and allowed her to rest.
After half an hour, he finally dared to look down, only to see Reina's closed eyes.
It was hard for him to tell whether she was asleep or just resting her eyes. But having her hair fall all over her face could not have been comfortable.
So Rin decided to push her hair back. But the second his fingertip touched Reina's face, she woke up and looked at Rin with flustered eyes.
Rin was just as surprised to see her open her eyes and he pulled his hand back immediately.
"I was trying to push your hair back so that you could be more comfortable. But I won't do it anymore if it makes you feel uncomfortable."
Reina's face flushed a deeper shade of pink but she did not pull away. Instead, she leaned just a bit closer to him and rested her forehead against his shoulder.
"I am just a little shaken. Just let me stay like this for five more minutes and then we can leave."
Reina's voice was the softest he had ever heard her speak and the resulting silence felt stiff. Rin looked at her softly for a moment before he decided to fill the awkward silence by speaking.
His eyes fell on Reina's hair, especially at the reddened tips and he unconsciously spoke.
"Those shades look good on you. Not the red, but maybe a softer pink in your blonde hair."
Rin realized that he was too biased to the color pink but he had been with Shelly too long to not grow fond of it.
Thankfully, Reina did not seem to take his words the wrong way and hummed as she clutched her long and untidy hair.
"My hair is too long and hard to maintain, so I think I will cut it soon. Maybe I will even dye it pink because you said they looked good on me. But don't count on it too much."
Reina joked back and Rin gave her a genuine smile.
He liked Reina's smile and her easy attitude. It felt wrong to see her in her weakened state like this when she was usually so strong.
"Well, I hope you have rested enough before it's time for us to get going. Is there anywhere you would like to go?"
Rin asked and Reina chuckled as she used him to get up this time.
"Well, this is a date but we have not done any fun stuff yet. So let's go have some fun now. I would like to have a proper memory of at least one date."