Chapter 72: A Warm Fire and a Long Story

Summer immediately pulled herself out of the water as soon as she reached the edge of the lake.

Her whole body was shaking, and her teeth were chattering so hard that she could barely speak. The water was so freezing that if Ilya had not helped her get out, she honestly doubted she would have been able to swim back to the surface on her own.

Archer, who had been watching from the edge of the lake the entire time, quickly walked toward her.

Without saying much, he wrapped a thick towel around her body, then grabbed a smaller one and started drying her long hair.

"T-Thanks," Summer stammered. Even her lips felt slightly numb. "M-Maybe I should just learn how to swim again in spring."

Besides, once winter arrived, most of the lake would probably be covered in ice anyway.

"At least you can swim now," Ilya said as he climbed out of the lake too. Water dripped from his hair and clothes as he walked closer. "That’s already good enough."

Summer wanted to argue, but another shiver ran through her body before she could say anything. In the end, they decided to return to the cabin and let her warm up in front of the fireplace.

Ilya heated up some soup for her, while Archer crouched beside the fireplace and added more firewood.

For the next hour, Summer stayed wrapped in a thick blanket in front of the fire while eating a warm meal.

By the time she finished, the cold feeling in her body had finally disappeared. To be honest, she already felt ready to continue training.

"We came here to train too," Summer said when Ilya told her they could just continue tomorrow. "I can’t spend the whole time relaxing."

Ilya stared at her in silence for a few seconds before finally saying, "Isn’t this supposed to be my vacation? I can’t work all the time."

Summer’s eye twitched slightly. Somehow, she had a feeling that he was only saying that because he wanted to keep her inside the cabin.

"Fine," Summer said with a sigh. "We’ll continue tomorrow morning."

Even though she sounded reluctant, by the end of the day, Summer was actually the one enjoying their vacation the most.

She helped Archer light a bonfire in front of the cabin, then went over to help Ilya prepare the barbecue grill so they could grill some meat and have a small barbecue party.

Of course, when Summer said she was "helping," what she really meant was standing at the side and watching them work.

Every now and then, she would throw in a few comments like, "It looks great," or, "You’re doing a good job!"

Even so, neither Ilya nor Archer complained.

In fact, they were the ones who told her not to do anything.

So Summer gladly accepted her role as the person in charge of watching and giving moral support.

By the time night came, the fire was burning brightly in front of the cabin, and they finally started grilling the meat.

The smell alone was enough to make Summer’s stomach growl.

"It’s still hot," Ilya warned as he handed her a plate filled with freshly grilled meat. "Blow on it first."

Summer nodded like she understood, but then she immediately took a bite. The heat burned her tongue a little, but instead of stopping, she kept chewing.

There was no way she was going to let perfectly good meat sit there for too long just because it was a little hot.

It was simply too delicious to waste.

In the middle of eating, Summer’s terminal suddenly buzzed.

[SaddieMckay requested friends.]

[Accept / Reject]

Without thinking much about it, Summer tapped Accept.

[Saddie: Summer! How are you?!]

The moment she saw the message, Summer realized that she and Saddie had not contacted each other at all since the incident in Zone 41.

Summer put her plate down for a moment and quickly typed a reply.

[Summer: I’m good. Just taking a few days off. What happened after I left?]

[Saddie: Oh, a LOT happened! Wanna call?]

[Summer: Sure!]

A second later, Saddie called her.

Summer picked up her plate again and walked away from the brothers. Once she was far enough, she put on her earphones and answered.

"Hi, Summer! Where are you right now?" Saddie asked right away, sounding both cheerful and curious. "Are you still with Captain Noctis?"

Summer let out a small laugh. "Oh, wow. I didn’t know you became a psychic too."

"Well, I found out that Captain Noctis and Mr. Reed are both taking a few days off, so I just made a little guess, and there you—"

"How are you doing now?" Summer cut her off before Saddie could get too interested in her situation. "Did you manage to pay your rent?"

"Haha, yeah! My last stream blew up, and I got a lot of gifts!" Saddie said happily. "Thanks to you!"

Summer kept walking until she reached the lake.

She found a large rock near the water and sat down on it, then went back to eating the grilled meat and barbecue skewers she had brought with her.

"So, what happened after we left?" she asked after swallowing another bite.

"It’s a damn longgg story," Saddie said, dragging out the word in a dramatic voice.

Summer could already imagine the look on her face, but even though Saddie claimed it was a long story, she still told Summer everything anyway.

The moment Ilya and Summer left Zone 41, Archer went on a rampage, not that Summer didn’t already know that part.

With everything falling into chaos, Saddie ended up working with the other medical teams and operating on some of the injured people right there in Zone 41.

"And I also heard your conversation with that young girl, Julie," Saddie continued before Summer could say anything. "You know, the one who got tricked by someone online?"

Summer hummed softly while taking another bite.

"I saved her captain," Saddie said.