One Last System

'Huh?'

A single thought appeared in my head when my consciousness started to return.

And I couldn't recognize where the hell I was.

With my eyes still closed and my mana in a resting state, I should still be able to at least sense my position.

Yet, outside of warmth, extreme softness, and a sense of strange security, I couldn't feel anything else.

'Where the hell am I?' I slowly pried my eyes open, only to quickly understand the futility of my actions. Yet, as my sense of vision somehow returned, I also became aware of all my other senses.

And one of them instantly occupied my mind.

'What's this lovely smell?' I thought, moving around my face a little as I sniffed the aroma around. Yet, one of those small movements caused the tip of my nose to rub against something farm and extremely soft.

"Haan!" A small moan reached my ears from somewhere above.

Normally, that should be enough to enlighten me, but my mind was too dizzy to connect the dots.

Eager to find out where I was, I attempted to raise my head...

Only for a sudden force to bear down on the back of my head, pushing it down on some sort of warm and soft pillow.

"Don't move," Mia's soft whisper reached my ears, finally revealing enough truth about the situation for me to understand it.

The soft pillow that cushioned my head wasn't a pillow but Mia's bosom.

'What happened?' I finally asked myself a real question.

The last thing that I could remember was testing the guns with Mia, only to then realize that my guess about the history of this place...

All at once, all the thoughts from before my collapse rushed into my head, flooding my mind.

"Arty?" Mia whispered, tightening her embrace over my head as she rubbed her arms around it and pulled me even deeper into the friendly softness of her breasts.

Surrounded by nothing but Mia's delicate skin, I breathed in her slight aroma to call myself down.

'Why did I collapse?' I asked myself.

It wasn't that it was the first time for me to find out about something shocking. It wasn't the first time for me to discover some secrets about this world either.

"I'm okay," I whispered gently, my lips rubbing against Mia's plump titty. I then pushed my hands forward, and after rubbing them around for a while, I managed to sneak my arms around Mia's back, pulling her even closer to myself.

For at least a short moment, I had to rest while surrounded by Mia's warmth. I needed to feel her as close as possible just to ground myself in reality.

Because what I just whispered was nothing more but a blatant lie.

I wasn't okay.

I was tired to my limits, even when taking the spiritual energy boost into account. My mind was exhausted from the constant scheming, planning, and strategizing, mixed with my silly attempts at discovering the truths about this world.

For but a moment, I wanted to rest while surrounded by nothing but love, appreciation, and care.

"It's my fault," Mia whispered softly, marking the moment when a higher duty stopped me from my oh-so-desired rest.

"Not at all," I said, brushing my face past Mia's chest and up, all for the sake of looking her in the face.

And then I saw it.

While her drowsy eyes betrayed she was asleep just a moment ago, they were still moist with tears.

"Dear..." I moaned, the sight of her worried face striking me down, right into my heart.

"Are you okay?" Mia asked in a soft tone while swallowing her tears and bringing up one of her hands to my cheeks. "Listen, I'm sorry I pushed you into this..."

The second Mia started to apologize, tears once again stood on her face, only to then trickle down her cheek and sink into her pillow.

"What are you even talking about, dummy?" I asked, closing in for a gentle kiss.

I felt Mia's lips with my own, keeping the contact to just a slight brush. "I was just too tired. And when I realized what..." I attempted to explain how things looked from my perspective; Mia lowered her head and closed my mouth with her lips.

This time, however, it wasn't just a gentle peck.

Grabbing my face between her hands, she locked it in place before leaning in for the kiss. Yet, once her lips squashed against mine, she refused to let go.

Her tongue slid down my tongue and entered my mouth, quickly joining in an intimate dance.

Mia's legs wrapped around my hips, locking her entire body in place with my head in her wraps.

"Are you better now?" I asked when our lips parted for a short moment.

"What are you talking about?" Mia whispered in response, her lips rubbing against mine due to how close our faces were. "It's you who I am worried about," she said before once again uniting our lips.

No matter what, kissing Mia felt just insane. Outside of the obvious carnal pleasure, there was the element of domination, the element of ownership expressed by how clingy she was.

Feeling her arms and legs wrapping around me was the greatest reassurance about her loyalty and dedication that I could ask for. And as painful as it was to see a worry poisoning her face, it also made a certain side of me quite happy.

"I promise," Mia whispered gently when we took another break to catch some breath. "I will never ask you about those things again," Mia revealed what she was thinking about, only to then lower her eyes in shame. "If only I didn't ask about these guns..."

Everything finally clicked for me.

Mia was blaming herself for the attack of exhaustion that I went through.

'Given how the things happened, it's no wonder she feels responsible for the development,' I thought, tightening my grasp over her body as I went for a hug instead of yet another kiss.

While joining our lips felt insane, I believed that just a simple intimacy was the best cure for Mia's current state of mind.

"You don't need to blame yourself for that," I whispered directly into Mia's ear. My hands moved up and down on her back as if I was petting some sort of a small, cuddly animal. "It's not that topic or any other that caused what happened. I just ignored my need for rest for way longer than I should," I explained before resting my head on Mia's shoulder and closing my eyes.

I didn't know how long did I waste just sleeping within Mia's embrace. But even without this knowledge, I could tell that I felt now well-rested, as if at least half of my exhaustion had evaporated.

Sure thing, I was still a long way from fully recovering from all the efforts I made to this point on, but at least I was no longer on the verge of collapse as before.

"If that's not it," Mia suddenly moaned, right into my shoulder, making it hard for me to understand what she wanted to say. "Then why did you collapse like that?" she asked before turning silent.

Then, I felt Mia's lips resting on my neck as she sucked onto it.

"It's just like I said," I repeated myself, not judging Mia for clearly missing what I just said.

In her state of mind, it was perfectly normal for some words to fly by her head without her ears registering them.

"I was just tired. I don't know how long did I sleep, but I feel a lot better now," I added, still hoping to ease Mia's worry.

It was a weird feeling, something I had hardly experienced before in my life. To be bothered by someone worrying over me because I didn't want that person to feel troubled...

"Then..." Mia attempted to say something, only for her voice to be cut short when she suddenly turned silent, lowering her face and hiding it in the corner between my neck and my shoulder.

"Then what?" I asked, raising my hand and slowly rubbing my fingers through Mia's long hair.

"Then I know what I can do to help you rest," Mia suddenly revealed, pushing herself away from my chest only to then raise her head and look me directly in the eyes.

"And what is that?" I asked, a small smile forming upon my lips.

Seeing the determination in Mia's eyes, I could feel something warm spreading through my body.

'Such a determination... and all for my sake...' I thought, swallowing down a gulp of saliva.

As much as I hated to see tears in Mia's eyes, having her worry and fawn over me like that was definitely not a bad experience!

"I don't know if you noticed it, but it's something that I had observed a long time ago," Mia explained despite hiding the crux of her words from me. Then, a mischievous smile appeared on her lips as she leaned over my shoulder and brought her lips close to my ear.

"Whenever you creamed me up from inside, you would then rest like a baby, all your usual vigilance nowhere to be found," Mia revealed what she had on her mind, only to then bring her lips on my earlobe and start to suck on it.

Soon, Mia sat down on my lap, pushing her naked body directly against my skin as she continued to diligently eat my ears out.

"Is this what you are planning to do?" I asked, hardly able to hold my own against Mia's new form of playing around.

"I did tell you, didn't I?" Mia whispered directly to my ear, sending a wave of pleasure down my brain. "Once we return, I won't let you sleep at all!"