[CHAPTER 69]
“W what did you say just now?”
“I said we should part ways now.”
Despite my calm tone, Sian looked utterly confused.
“From now on, it would be better if we traveled separately.”
“Explain properly.”
Just as his emotions seemed to be settling, they flared up again.
“Please listen without getting angry.”
“I am not angry.”
You clearly are…….
“I—”
I fully intended to explain things step by step before Sian lost his temper.
However, the words I was about to continue were abruptly cut off by the wet, trembling voice Sian let out.
“…Did I do something wrong? No, no, even if you do not say it… I already know. I keep putting you in danger again and again……”
Sian rambled on, his face looking as though he might burst into tears at any moment.
His reddened eyes and flushed expression were painfully obvious.
“Sir Sian!”
I tightened my grip on the hand holding him.
When I forcefully drew his attention back, the flood of words pouring from him finally stopped.
“Sir Sian, calm down. That is not the reason.”
“Then why is it? Why are you pushing me away?”
Faced with the inevitable question, I found myself at a loss for words.
I had not expected him to be this shocked by the suggestion that we separate.
I knew he would resist.
But I did not expect him to look at me as if he were about to cry.
Was it too harsh to say it the moment I woke up?
Still, I had already met the World Tree and even received a promise that my request would be granted, so I no longer wanted to burden Sian any further.
I thought that putting physical distance between us would be the best way to ensure he would not be shaken no matter when I disappeared.
I gently placed my hand over his fist, which was clenched so tightly that all the blood had drained from it.
Perhaps because of how much strength he had been using, the trembling fist twitched slightly.
“Listen to me, Sir Sian.”
“…Yes.”
“Do you remember what the demon we fought said?”
At my sudden question, Sian looked at me with a bewildered expression.
“The demon that saw me said this, remember? ‘I never expected you to be hiding in the human realm. And in the meantime, you have been fooling around with a holy knight.’”
“And what about it?”
He knew perfectly well what I was getting at.
The Sian I knew was not stupid enough to miss such a simple inference.
The fact that he was pretending not to understand meant nothing more than that he did not want to hear it.
Even if he does not want to hear it, I still cannot avoid saying it.
I continued slowly.
“It means that the one the demon was searching for, even coming all the way to the human realm, was me. As long as I do not return, demons like that will keep coming. So if you stay with me, Sir Sian will be in danger—”
“Does that mean the demon who made you that way is still searching for you?”
By “that way,” he must have meant the fact that I had become a demon.
“Yes.”
No, that was not true.
The administrator of the ant nest I had thoroughly dealt with would spend the rest of his life making sure he never appeared before me again.
Still, agreeing seemed like the fastest way to make Sian accept it, so I nodded obediently.
“…I understand.”
“See, Sir Sian also thinks it is right that we travel separately—”
“No.”
The word cut me off, and there was firm resolve written across Sian’s face.
Just like that day when he had stubbornly declared that he would take responsibility for me.
“I will go and eliminate that demon.”
“What?”
After making that shocking declaration, Sian sprang to his feet and rushed out of the room before I could stop him.
“Sir Sian, Sir Sian!”
……Huh?
What did I just hear?
“What are you talking about? What do you mean it has been three days?”
“It is true. Do you know how worried we were when you collapsed? We could not let the temple officials who arrived late see you, and since it was an internal injury, Ifrit or Ratia’s abilities were no help. Do you know how hard it was to stop the priest who came to heal Sian from insisting that he should at least check on you?”
“No, that does not make any sense…”
So that meant I had woken up after being unconscious for three days and immediately said that I would handle the danger alone because it was risky going forward.
To someone like Sian.
I am doomed.
Now I understood all too well why he had suddenly decided to eliminate the cause entirely.
“What is wrong?”
Perhaps my devastated feelings were plainly written on my face, because Jahar Knox asked me cautiously.
Without moving from where I stood, I merely turned my head to look at Jahar.
“…Jahar.”
“Yeah?”
“I think I have completely messed up.”
***
“Sian, Sian, hey!”
No matter how much Noah called out while chasing after him, Sian did not stop walking.
He knew that Jerena had woken up.
There had been movement coming from inside, after all.
What on earth did those two talk about to make him like this?
Since Jerena had lost consciousness, Sian had not eaten properly and had stayed by her side for days on end.
Noah had been worried they might end up having to deal with two corpses, so he had thought he could finally breathe easy now that Jerena had woken up.
“Sian!”
Unable to keep up with Sian’s speed, Noah finally summoned the earth spirit and created a massive wall of soil in front of him.
With his path blocked, Sian finally came to a stop.
Noah gasped for breath.
Running in the human realm was not an easy task even for Noah.
Unlike the spirit realm, where he could move without bodily limitations, here his physical body itself imposed restrictions.
“Hey, calm down a bit… ha, I am exhausted. What is going on? Why are you acting like this?”
“Please remove this.”
“Talk to me first. What did you talk about that made you like this?”
“Jerena…”
Sian clenched his teeth and trailed off.
He roughly rubbed his face with dry hands.
“She said we should travel separately. She said I might be in danger and that she would bear the danger alone.”
……
Noah blinked without saying anything.
He had thought there must be something serious for Sian to be acting like this, but he ran out over nothing more than a suggestion to separate?
Honestly, is that not reasonable?
If someone unrelated almost got dragged in and killed by staying together, Noah would have said the same thing.
Of course, Jerena herself had nearly died too, but that was her own matter and something she had to handle herself.
Noah looked at Sian with a dumbfounded expression.
When he finally spoke, his words were extremely concise.
“So what?”
“Pardon?”
“Huh?”
“Excuse me?”
As those foolish questions bounced back and forth, the two stared at each other in mutual disbelief.
“What does that have to do with you running out like this?”
“…I have to eliminate the danger targeting Jerena.”
“No, I mean, why you?”
“…What?”
Sian let out a completely dazed response.
His expression clearly said he did not understand why Noah was asking such a question.
Noah was at a loss for words.
“Do you like her?”
