The Reward for Saving The World is a Husband - Chapter 3
As I pulled out the earring, the man looked at me with even greater surprise than before and moved his lips.
“Is she a crazy woman, perhaps…?”
“…..?”
Blinking in confusion, I tapped the earring. It seemed the translator was malfunctioning.
Realizing there was an issue with the translator, I had no choice but to shut my mouth.
‘It’s better not to cause any unnecessary misunderstandings.’
So, I decided to be patient, even if it was a little frustrating.
In the meantime, I rummaged through my inventory and pulled out the highest-ranked item I had, an S-class ring.
As expected, the man looked surprised again.
I cautiously reached out and took hold of the tips of his fingers.
‘The calluses suggest he’s a swordsman.’
Pleased with this realization, I tried to slip the ring onto his finger, but suddenly he jerked his arm back.
“What are you doing?”
The ring clattered to the ground.
“….”
Following the ring with my eyes, I nodded inwardly.
‘The more vigilant you are, the better.’
It would increase my chances of survival. Not a bad idea, I thought, and reached for the ring.As I reached out, my body suddenly collapsed forward.
“Ugh…”
I hadn’t realized how there was no strength left in my body. I didn’t know how long I had been asleep, but it seemed the severe injuries and lack of food over an extended period had taken their toll.
‘It’s a strange state to be in if you’re not dead.’
It was almost a miracle that none of my limbs had necrosed and could still move. Perhaps I had unconsciously practiced mana cultivation in my sleep.
Regardless, the important thing now was to gift the S-class ring to my pair.
If we talk about that ring, it was an item spat out by the very cause of the Wave Disaster, which killed hundreds of thousands of people. It was the first-place reward for contribution. Naturally, the options were the best of the best.
‘I need to pick it up…’
I glared at the ring that was just out of reach of my fingertips, trying to make it move, but it could only squirm like an earthworm.
After a moment of silence, a large, thick cloth fluttered down over me. The man wrapped it around my body and lifted me effortlessly.
“The ring…!”
I blurted out unintentionally, and a sigh-like sound poured down over my head. Fortunately, the man silently bent down, picked up the ring, and handed it to me. This time, it seemed the translation had worked.
I pondered briefly what to do, then decided to keep the ring for now. I thought it best to give it as a gift after a proper conversation, as the cautious man might be more willing to accept it then.
‘But now what?’
In this world, the only thing left that could serve as food was the dragon’s corpse. If I didn’t want my newfound other half to starve, I needed to do something with it…
‘Wait…?’
It was gone.
The massive body of the dragon had disappeared. Why had the lizard that was supposed to become a year’s worth of jerky suddenly vanished?
No way…….
Did it survive?
No, it couldn’t have. I’d clearly completed the quest to kill it, and I’d gotten the reward.
But then, why was it missing?
“What are you looking for? Have you lost something else?”
Distracted by the sweet voice above me, I responded, forgetting that the translator was broken.
“The dragon has disappeared.”
Upon hearing my words, the man’s body tensed up.
“There really was a dragon here? You were with it all this time?”
As I tilted my head in response to his rapid-fire questions, our eyes locked.
I found myself staring intently into the man’s eyes, which were now much closer to me than before. He didn’t avert his gaze either, so we ended up looking into each other’s eyes for a long while.