Help! My Overprotective S-Rank Master Who Loves Me Too Much Won't Let Me Go on Quests! - Chapter 45: I Want to Hug Aria-san!

Chapter 45: I Want to Hug Aria-san!

“Adin-kun!? How are you floating in the air—wait, what?”

Just as Aria-san began to speak to me, I lost control of my wind magic because I had used all my magic power to cast my flame spell. I started plummeting… Oh no!

I braced myself, trying to at least break my fall before hitting the ground—when Aria-san caught me in her arms, smiling as she spoke.

“Honestly, Adin-kun, you always do such dangerous things.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“But… this time, I was the one who got saved by you. I’m supposed to protect you… I guess I’m a failure as a master.”

Aria-san looked a bit down, but I had something I really wanted to tell her.

“I don’t want to just be someone you protect, Aria-san. I want to fight alongside you one day… So, I’m going to get stronger so I can help you more. And more than anything… Aria-san, you are the best teacher I could ever have.”

When I said that, a single tear fell from Aria-san’s eye.

“Eh, Aria-san!?”

“I-I’m sorry… I didn’t expect you to say something like that… Before we got here, I said such cruel things to you even though you were just trying to help me.”

“That’s not—”

“—Well, as your ‘best teacher,’ I just need to finish off the monsters on the ground now, right?”

Aria-san wiped her tears, smiled, and while still holding me with one arm, pointed her other hand toward the ground. Although we had managed to wipe out a lot of monsters earlier, there were still plenty left, and with adventurers down there, it wouldn’t be easy to—

“Huh?”

I thought, but the adventurers were no longer fighting the monster horde. The monsters had stopped moving.

And the reason? It seemed to be thanks to Shuteridone-san, who was fighting the horde all on her own, and Milena-san, who had used a wall of trees to stop the monsters’ advance.

I’m sure those two had guided the adventurers back into the town to make it easier for Aria-san to fight.

“Those two can probably survive one big blast from me, right?”

As soon as Aria-san said that, she gathered an unbelievable amount of magic into her hand—far too much for just one person.

“Watch closely, Adin-kun. This is… what your master can do—and for you…”

Aria-san seemed to say something, but I couldn’t hear her final words over the sound of the spell being released. In the next instant, the magic struck the ground, and the large horde of monsters was wiped out in a single blow.

“Aria-san! As expected, you’re amaz—”

Just as I was about to tell Aria-san how incredible she was again, she wrapped both arms around me and hugged me tightly.

“Adin-kun, Adin-kun…! I want to stay like this… forever…”

“F-forever…? That’s… a bit much…”

“Are you saying you want me to stop hugging you? We’re floating right now, you know.”

“Uh… what!?”

I had barely managed to float in the air before, and it was only through sheer force. Now, I had no magic left to keep myself up, so if Aria-san let go of me, it would be a big problem—far more than just her hugging me.

“That would be… even worse.”

“Then I guess I’ll just have to keep hugging you!”

“If you could just put me down on the ground—”

“I used up a lot of magic, too, so I’m tired and really don’t want to move for a while.”

“If you’re tired, wouldn’t it be better to stay on the ground rather than float in the air—”

“Come on! I worked really hard, so can’t I hug you for just a little while longer?”

“…Okay.”

For a good while after that, Aria-san continued to hold me in her arms while we floated in the air.

It felt strange to be held like this in such an unstable space without any solid ground right beneath us, but somehow, that instability also made me feel a sense of comfort. And with that sense of peace, my thoughts drifted back to memories from long ago.