Chapter 19 – [Hero] The Relationship Between the Two
“Tomorrow?”
I was a little taken aback by the sudden offer.
If you ask me to join you in some kind of magic-related activity or something…
No, I think I know.
Anyone can see that there is an awkwardness between the two of us right now.
Seria will know. No, since he himself was avoiding me little by little, there was no way he would ever know.
So you can take this as a kind of reconciliation gesture.
… It was a bit funny to say that we were reconciling even though we didn’t fight.
“Huh. Good.”
Actually, I was planning to practice again tomorrow, but it wouldn’t be a big problem if I skipped her day, and improving my relationship with her was more urgent than that.
“Oh, really? That, then… I’ll come back tomorrow morning!”
She was a bit surprised that I agreed, and then she blushed and ran away.
Her smile leaked out because it was difficult to see her normally.
As it is, it would be nice if she could get along with her as usual again.
What happened in the canal… I hope you can move on with a smile.
Seria came to my room early in the morning.
“Hey, woke up… ?”
She whispered softly at the door.
It was so small I almost couldn’t hear it.
“Ah, yes. I just woke up.”
Why are you talking so little?
Are you worried that your other colleagues will wake you up?
I was a little puzzled, but I was sorry for making you wait, so I hurriedly washed up and left.
“Then let’s go.”
Seria looked a bit impatient.
Being chased by something… No, she was more like a runaway.
“Seria?”
“Hey, let’s get out.”
She grabbed my arm and hurried out of her inn.
“What’s the matter?”
When I asked outside the inn, Seria hesitated as if thinking of an excuse.
“Nothing… It’s nothing.”
I’m not sure why, but she seems to want to get out of here quickly, so let’s guess.
It doesn’t matter if you ask me later.
I decided to quietly follow Seria.
Even Seria didn’t have a plan, she said. We just wandered here and there without a destination.
Originally, it would have been a lively town with many things to see in its own way, but now it is nothing more than a desolate space, as if all the vitality of the city had been sucked out in the few days that the demon king’s army surrounded the city.
Thanks to that, Seria and I didn’t have anything to say, so it was a bit embarrassing.
It’s a relationship that’s already awkward, but there’s no topic to talk about.
All I could see were broken streets and empty shops, not pretty streets and strange food.
“Really… There is nothing.”
Seria muttered as if it were absurd.
I felt the same way.
When Arin dragged me away, she was insane and didn’t even think to look around properly, but when she looked around like this, the situation was worse than she imagined.
Even an empty city would be believable.
The only living things around here were a few beggars in rags, staring at us with sharp eyes.
“Ha…”
Ceria let out a sigh as she noticed that things weren’t going as she expected and she sat astride her chair in the empty shop.
She had no owner, of course, so she had no one to say anything to.
“… It’s really empty.”
She didn’t know what to say, but she didn’t have anything to say. She repeated what she said earlier.
Seria looked around for a moment and then called me cautiously.
“Eric…”
“Huh?”
She couldn’t get her words out, and she hesitated, so I waited for a while.
“Sorry.”
The first thing she said after thinking about it for a long time was an apology.
Apologies for what?
“These days, just a few things…”
Just as I distanced myself from her and her, so did she distance from me and her.
Even though we didn’t hate each other, it became that way.
“It’s not like I hated Eric or anything like that…”
She seldom got to the point and circulated her words around.
She wasn’t like her
What is she so worried about?
What is Seria hiding from me?
I had to ask
So please answer me, Seria.
“Seria… “
“And! It really is!”
But my desperate voice was drowned out by other sounds.
“… UNI?”
It was the familiar voice of Yuni.
Why all of a sudden… No, why at this timing… !
“Oh, did I interrupt you?”
Yuni looked at the two of us and she covered her mouth in embarrassment.
Although the words have already come out.
“Didn’t I tell you to be careful?”
And… Jeren?
The moment I saw him, my heart started racing.
Why, why is he here?
“Hero, Miss Wizard. Hello.”
He nodded politely.
It was as if there was nothing to hold back.
“Ah…”
Seria was taken aback and swallowed her words.
Seeing her bewilderment, it must have been unexpected for her as well.
“Yu, Uni… What brings you here… ?”
When I asked in a trembling voice, Yuni smiled lively and said.
“Today is also training!”
“Training… ?”
When I asked back, she nodded her head and poured out her words briskly.
“I had communion with the spirits yesterday, and it felt good, so I’m going to try it again today. By the way, Mr. Jeren also has something to do. It’s a dangerous place, so I came out with him because he said he would escort me. But am I not stronger?”
“Haha, that’s true, but nobody here knows the lady. Even if I look like this, my face has been sold in this city. There won’t be any weird guy getting seduced for nothing.”
“Oh, you are amazing Mr. Jeren!”
The two of them are talking dorando.
Let’s calm down.
The two of them happened to go outside by chance, so they came out together.
And what we now meet… Is it just a coincidence?
“Did you know we were here?”
When I sneakily asked, Yuni shook her head.
“No! I just followed in the direction Mr. Jeren was going! I don’t really care where there’s a lot of dirt!”
“I only came here because I had something to do. I never thought there would be two of you.”
“Uh, how…”
Embarrassed Seria. Or rather, she seemed terrified.
… Are you scared? Is she
“Haha, it’s a coincidence. Accident.”
He smiled shyly.
Seria seemed a bit frightened, but she didn’t feel any threat or momentum from him.
Ceria… Why…
“Oh! That’s right Eric!”
Suddenly, Uni came running to me with Dodo.
“Uh? Why?”
“I left this behind!”
Uni handed over something very familiar to me.
… Goddess’ relic.
Confused, I touched her neck, but there was nothing there.
“What if I leave this behind, Eric?”
“Uh, huh?”
Why did I leave this behind?
No, when else?
It was embarrassing, but I received the necklace once.
As she put on her necklace, she felt a familiar texture on her chest.
Leaving this behind
I’m sure I’m not crazy these days.
“Huh?”
Uni suddenly poked her head over my shoulder as if it were strange.
She followed her and looked behind her and saw Seria standing with her back turned.
Why is there only Seria?
“Where is Jeren, Seria?”
Yuni smiled and asked.
“Ah, yes… First, I went first…”
It was an awkward answer.
Did you go first, in that short time?
“Okay? Then I’ll have to go too. Hi!”
Even Uni seemed to sense something strange, but she didn’t ask further.
She ran to the clearing across from her to communicate with her spirit again.
“…”
When the two disappeared again, only silence remained.
“Really, did you go?”
“… The bird, no, the person?”
Seria hesitated for a moment at my question.
For some reason, she looked around anxiously and answered cautiously.
“Huh…”
Why are you looking around?
Is there anything around?
“If that person… Already gone…”
Pressing down on her skirt, Seria said in a trembling voice.
She was wary of something.
“… What’s the matter?”
A disturbing thought came to mind.
I hope it’s not, that kind of imagination.
“I am really nothing. Let’s go faster than that.”
Seria quickly left, and I didn’t want to stay there anymore, so she followed her.
Fortunately, nothing happened.
However, Seria kept looking around her with a worried face the whole time, and when nothing happened, she looked nervous.
Her sharp demeanor made me nervous more than necessary.
Even with empty words, it could not be called a pleasant outing.
We slowly returned the way we came, barely speaking for the rest of the time.
And in front of the inn, Seria stopped her steps.
“Seria?”
She turned her body toward me and bowed her head in front of me.
“I’m so sorry, Eric…”
“…”
As much as she had expected a certain amount, she was disappointed as well, but she did not try to express it.
Because I don’t want to hurt Seria.
“Are you okay. Tomorrow is the day of the operation, so let’s do our best.”
“Oh…”
Seria’s voice was mixed with crying.
It was embarrassing because I thought I was going to burst into tears any moment.
“Seria…”
“I-I really… You idiot… Idiot… Asshole…”
A drop of tear fell to the floor.
I reached out my hand to her and wiped away her tears.
Startled, she raised her head.
“… Eric.”
Various emotions are felt in her eyes.
Anxiety, anger, sadness…
However, more than any other emotion, anxiety was the biggest.
Something she’s anxious about.
… I don’t know now whether my guess is correct or not, but I was sure of this one thing.
She was afraid that I would hate her.
“Seria.”
I grabbed her by the shoulder.
“I’m on your side no matter what.”
I will never betray her
… Even if she betrays me.
It may seem silly, but it was my truth.
“I, I…”
Seria burst into tears and stuttered her words.
“Are you okay. You don’t have to push yourself.”
I want to ask.
I want to ask right now, find out the truth, and do something about it…
It was her thing that hurt her.
I gave up asking the truth about Seria, who started crying in front of me.
“I’ll wait.”
If so, let’s wait.
Until she tells me
“Eric…”
She looked at me with her wet eyes.
If something bad was happening to her, I wanted to stop it somehow, but
I was a fool.
I didn’t want to see Seria suffer anymore.
Maybe her choice now makes her more painful for her, but I believe in her Seria.
“Because I believe in Seria…”
“Oh… !”
Then her body trembled.
“I’m sure I can overcome it… I believe.”
“…”
I hugged Seria.
She didn’t say anything in my arms.
“… Thank you.”
After a while, she whispered quietly.
Her voice was weak because she was crying.
When I let her go and looked at her, she didn’t burst out crying anymore.
It was just a dark face.
… Was it too lacking in consolation?
“I am… I’ll just go in.”
“Seria.”
“Tomorrow… Let’s work hard.”
After saying that, she turned around and went upstairs to her room.
“Seria…”
I watched her helpless back for a while.
