"Ugh!..."
Kazuki groaned, his throat felt raw like a sandpaper.
"Water..." he rasped.
His fingers dragged weakly across the wooden planks, blindly searching.
Then, something pressed against his lips—a nozzle. He tilted his head back and drank in greedy gulps, water spilling down his chin, soaking into the ground beneath him.
A weak voice echoed nearby.
"...Kazuki..."
His eyelids fluttered, barely managing to open. He caught the faint outline of a black-haired woman. Shadows swirled around her face, distorting her features.
"Lillan?...where are we?"
Lillan shook her head—a blur of motion—and murmured something under her breath. He couldn't make out the words.
Suddenly, she jerked upright, rising to her feet. With deliberate steps, she moved away, just out of sight—almost too quickly to catch.
