My Harem of Dangerous and Crazy Women as a Reincarnated Necromancer-Chapter 72: Not Even a Good Morning?

The following morning Mark opened his eyes slowly, and the first thing he saw was the sky.

Mark blinked several times while his brain tried to start up.

’I shouldn’t have fallen asleep on the grass...’ Mark thought as he felt every part of his body reminding him of exactly that.

His back was stiff, his neck was twisted to one side, his shoulders were tense, and his lower back hurt as if someone had slipped a rock under him while he slept.

’Everything hurts... this sucks.’

Mark tried to move his neck and a crack came from somewhere in his spine that had no business cracking.

"Ugh," Mark groaned, wincing at the pain.

Mark sat up on the grass with an effort that required more willpower than should have been necessary for such a simple movement.

Once sitting, he raised both arms above his head and stretched.

"I miss the big bed in my dungeon... sleeping on the ground sucks," Mark said out loud as he finished stretching.

"Then we should hurry up and get back there as soon as possible."

Rose’s voice came from one side, and hearing it Mark turned in her direction.

Rose was sitting on the ground next to Alice and Vorax.

The vampire had her legs crossed and her back straight, no dark circles on her face, no signs of exhaustion.

Whether Rose had slept at all during the night, Mark couldn’t tell. And if she hadn’t slept at all, it didn’t show. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Good morning to you too, Rose," Mark said in a sarcastic tone.

Rose didn’t respond to the greeting and simply kept looking at him with that calm expression that was her default state.

"But you’re right," Mark said, running his hands over his face trying to finish waking up. "Hopefully we can all get home soon."

Mark stayed sitting on the grass for a moment, letting his body finish adjusting to being awake, then began looking around.

He quickly noticed it was still just the four of them there, no sign of Yuki or Alice’s companions.

’Looks like they still haven’t come back,’ Mark thought as he finished scanning the area.

Yuki had headed out the previous afternoon with Alice’s five companions to explore the area and try to figure out what part of the continent they had ended up in.

That had been before dark, and now it was already morning, meaning they had been out all night.

Mark frowned slightly.

"Yuki and the others still haven’t come back," Rose said, as if she had read exactly what Mark was thinking.

"Do you think something bad happened to them?" Mark asked.

"Probably not," Rose said calmly. "In fact, I think the fact that they’re taking this long is actually a good sign."

Mark raised a confused eyebrow at that.

"If they had come back right away, that would mean they found nothing in the area," Rose explained. "No roads, no villages, no landmarks. The fact that they’re taking this long probably means they found something and are investigating it."

Mark thought about what Rose had just said.

It made sense.

If Yuki had scouted the surroundings and found absolutely nothing, she would have returned to camp relatively quickly to report the situation.

The fact that she had been out all night suggested she had found something worth investigating further.

At least that was what Mark wanted to believe.

"I hope you’re right," Mark said. "And that I’m just worrying over nothing..."

Mark sat for another moment, then decided it was time to get up.

He rose slowly, grimacing when his knees cracked from having spent the whole night on the ground, and began walking toward where Alice, Rose, and Vorax were.

He wanted to see how the mana transfer had gone while he slept.

When he got there he saw Alice still lying on the ground with her eyes closed, in the same position she had been in the night before.

Vorax was still on her chest, though the slime’s glow was considerably fainter than before, a sign that he had been expelling mana throughout the entire night.

But that wasn’t what surprised Mark. What did was seeing the state of Alice’s body.

’Wow... this turned out better than I expected,’ Mark thought as he studied Alice’s body.

The night before, the nun’s body had been practically wrecked.

Alice had wounds, cuts, bruises, burns, and her skin was covered in damage that made clear she had fought until the absolute limit of what her body could take.

But now, those wounds had disappeared.

Not all of them, there were still some minor marks here and there, but the vast majority of the injuries covering her body the night before were simply gone.

Her skin looked far less battered, and her breathing was much more stable than before.

Mark blinked a couple of times, making sure what he was seeing was real and not an effect of his brain still being half asleep.

’Looks like my idea worked,’ Mark thought, looking at Vorax on Alice’s chest. ’The demoness’s mana that Vorax had stored was enough to heal most of Alice’s damage... heh, two problems solved with one solution.’

Mark couldn’t help feeling satisfied, for once, something had gone exactly as he’d expected.

"Is she still unconscious?" Mark asked, turning to look at Rose.

But before Rose could open her mouth to answer, another voice spoke.

"I’m awake, my lord," Alice replied.

The nun was still lying on the ground with her eyes closed, in exactly the same position she had been in this whole time, her expression identical to that of someone in a deep sleep.

But apparently she wasn’t, and Mark startled slightly at hearing her speak so suddenly.

’How long has she been awake? Did she hear everything I said? Was she awake when I complained about sleeping on the ground?’

Mark looked at Alice, who still had her eyes closed as if nothing were happening.

"Good morning, Alice, glad to hear you’re feeling better," Mark said with a smile.

Hearing him, she simply nodded with her eyes still closed and said nothing more.

’Seems like saying good morning isn’t really a thing people do in this world...’