39 – Frozen Village, Cold Heart (8)

I didn’t know if Erina really killed all the monsters.

But seeing her blood all over her body, she couldn’t believe she was lying.

“I worked really hard…! It’s late, but I killed all the monsters! East is safe now…!”

She couldn’t pretend she didn’t notice her gestures full of expectations above all else, and the look in her eyes that craved affection.

She didn’t know that she would cling so sincerely to what she half said as a joke.

She and she never expected that she would really do something like a joke.

On the one hand, I felt sorry.

She always wielded her sword undisturbed, and appeared in front of me with a miserable face.

The dagger he held in reverse had teeth missing.

Smoke billowed from the blade, as if the longsword he cherished was overloaded with lightning.

Her worried mind caught her. She stood precariously, her body still trembling.

But Erina was startled and she took a step back.

“I’m sorry! I should have tidied up her body… I’m so dirty now…”

“It’s okay.”

First, I removed the flesh from her face.

She straightened her tousled hair and pulled her towel from her bag.

I thoroughly cleaned her body, from her face to her neck, arms and hands.

When the sweat and bloodstains were erased, the hidden beautiful face was revealed.

Erina quietly accepted my touch.

The face covered in blush showed emotion without even a hint of pretense.

Still, her hands were close to my waist.

It looked like it would attack me at any moment.

If you come a little closer, you will be able to hug me as it is.

But she didn’t care if she knew that her body was dirty.

He just waited patiently for me to clean himself.

I wiped off all the bloodstains on the armor as it was.

There are still a lot of stains, but at least it’s back to look good.

“You really did a good job.”

As soon as I praised her after tidying up her body, the corner of her mouth loosened up.

She was delighted with a purer expression than anyone else.

“I was afraid you might be in danger, so I came as soon as possible. I didn’t even have time to go back to the village and clean myself…”

I was rather fortunate. People would have been frightened if he had walked around town in this form.

Strange rumors might have flowed from the village.

“Aren’t you hurt anywhere?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

I just said it, but I really didn’t expect to annihilate the monsters within today.

I thought it was absolutely impossible.

Me and Kayla also subdued the monsters all day long, but we still haven’t been able to defeat the western half.

But Erina alone swept away half of her snowfield. She wasn’t even hurt.

How strong do you have to be to reach this level?

“…I really missed it. I worked really hard with just that thought.”

It was evident that he was overdoing it, and he showed a rare expression of exhaustion.

I had never seen her suffer before.

I couldn’t even fathom how intense the battle was.

Her eyes, which were always full of vitality, were also drowsy.

His shoulders drooped and he looked exhausted and without energy.

It wasn’t just Erina, it was the same for me and Kyla.

“The sun is setting. It’s dangerous if we don’t get back soon.”

The sun was setting in the sky before I knew it.

On the other side, the twilight moon was rising.

Now that I met Erina, she decided to go back after doing this much.

“Everyone did a good job today.”

“Ah, yes…!”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

After the two men’s words, they turned their steps toward Norton Village.

***

“This, this is ridiculous! You defeated so many yeti in just one day?!”

Colin couldn’t keep her mouth shut for a while.

Atop the table was a pile of yeti’s noses.

Even a cursory count was over hundreds.

I expected this to be the largest amount of loot collected from the requesting office so far.

Beyond surprise, I felt embarrassed and troubled.

Even the hand that received the bag of loot was shaking.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think we can collect all this amount…”

He said that the request fee could not be settled immediately due to the finances of the requesting agency.

She had no choice but to collect the loot and said that she would take measures to collect the request fee from the request office in the capital.

“Okay. Then do it.”

“Thank you. Please let me know if you need anything in return.”

Colin lowered his head in apologetic way.

But she was no one’s fault. Rather, she was grateful.

There was nowhere to spend money here anyway.

It didn’t matter if there were things I needed, since they could be obtained through Colin.

It was more comfortable than carrying around a cumbersome money bag.

“Thank you very much. The village is safer thanks to you guys.”

“No, we just did our job.”

“Still, I didn’t expect you to work this hard. I would like to thank you again on behalf of the village.”

She held out her hand as if no matter how much she said thank you, it wouldn’t be enough.

Of course, I was the only one who shook hands.

Kayla hid behind me and Erina looked at her and she politely declined.

Despite the cold treatment for no reason, Colin only looked at me and smiled.

I’ve never seen a person with such good social skills.

“You did a great job today. Leave the rest of the cleaning up to me!”

That’s how the day’s quest ended.

Colin said he would stay at the agency alone and take care of chores.

It was a bit pity to see him working even late at night.

I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help, but I declined.

Rather, just our presence seemed to interfere.

I came out of the cluttered atmosphere of the requesting office.

Snow was still falling from the sky.

The huge snowflakes didn’t stop, as if they were going to turn the surrounding area white.

As night fell, the temperature dropped further and the cold grew stronger.

I hurriedly ran to the building opposite her to escape the wind.

It took less than five minutes to reach the inn.

When I went inside, there was no one inside the inn.

The owner must have been away for a while, so it was quiet.

Unfortunately, we had to postpone ordering food until later.

Before tidying up, I decided to finish the last thing I had to do.

“Good work everyone. Let’s rest comfortably from now on.”

“Yes. You did a great job.”

“Okay. Thank you for your hard work.”

At my words, Erina organized her armor and equipment.

Kayla took off her robe and put her things in order.

While busy doing maintenance, Erina was stepped on in her eyes.

She showed signs of tiredness for the first time as she always behaved confidently and confidently.

It was impossible to wipe out all the monsters on the plain in the first place.

But Erina did it.

With a single-minded desire to see me, she somehow accomplished the impossible.

“Erina. Can you come for a minute?”

She was trimming her longsword, and at the sound of my voice, she jumped up and approached me.

He always looks the same.

“What are you doing?”

“I have something else to say. Let’s go outside.”

“Yes…?”

His expression suddenly hardened.

His face had lost its vitality, and his complexion was pale.

He backed away from her nervously, wrapping his arms around her body.

It seems that he thought that he was summoned separately to say something bad.

She smiled impatiently and grabbed her arm before she had a strange misunderstanding.

“Don’t worry. You’ll know once you follow me.”

Erina nodded her head, avoiding her gaze.

She followed me with careful steps.

Kayla looked at us with her sloppy stance.

As she got up from her seat, she was staring back and forth.

It’s a gesture that I want to follow, but I waved my hand.

Right now, I had something to say to Erina alone. Accompanying was not necessary.

“Kayla, wait a moment.”

“…When will you be back?”

“Don’t worry. I’m not going far, I’ll just talk for a while and then I’ll be back.”

Kayla sat back in her seat, apparently agreeing with me.

He had a slightly dissatisfied expression on his face, but he followed my words without saying anything.

“Then follow me.”

“Yes, yes…!”

I took Erina out of her room and took her to a corner of the inn.

I wanted to go outside and talk, but the weather was too cold.

The strong wind was so strong that the windows were shaking.

Instead, I found a place that was more comfortable for conversation than outside.

I was brought to the fireplace where warm energy spreads.

The sound of burning firewood could be heard in front of the swaying flames.

We stood facing each other in front of him.

Erina bit her lip, revealing her nervousness.

The way she fidgeted with her fingers and averted her gaze was like a student waiting for her corporal punishment.

She couldn’t hide her expression in front of me.

The cold impression you show in front of others is gone, and only the pure image of a child remains.

Which one is the real one?

Or, it could be that both of them were one side of Erina.

I was always confused whenever I met her.

Still, she decided to put her doubts aside for now.

“Did I do something wrong…?”

In the past, he would have smiled and tried to hug me, or approached me to hold my hand.

But now I was very depressed and anxious, looking for what I had done wrong.

I didn’t want to see him tremble with anxiety like this.

It’s not good to just accept it, but I didn’t want to treat it coldly every time.

From noble mtl dot com

Erina was physically strong, but mentally weak.

If she continued to push herself, the stress she had accumulated could one day explode.

No matter how much I hated her, I couldn’t leave her alone.

“I didn’t call you to say that.”

“Really…?”

His uneasy gaze still did not fall.

To alleviate her anxiety, she took out a prepared object from her pocket.

Showing the necklace I bought at the store earlier.

Her jewelry, which had a brilliant blue light, shimmered beautifully in the light.

It was a gift prepared for Erina from the beginning.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes…?”

As if she didn’t know why, she was staring blankly at the jewelry on her hand.

It seems that you can’t believe it even if you see it yourself.

Without hesitation, she approached her directly and hung it around her neck.

Then he held her hand and met her gaze.

“You did a great job today. And thank you for being with me until now.”

“Are you really giving it to me…?”

“Yes. It’s a gift.”

Erina froze in her seat, unable to close her mouth.

It must have come as a shock.

Unknowingly, my hand went to her head. Her soft hair swayed at her touch.

Suddenly, a cry was heard.

“Huh… Hmm…”

Erina was covering her face.

At first she was struggling to put up with it somehow.

But she couldn’t go far, and tears ran down her cheeks.

An endlessly sad cry rang out.

She started to shed tears as if she were clearing out all the things she had accumulated over the years.

“I never thought I would ever get a gift like this… Again…”

Her shoulders were shaking and her legs were shaking.

Her hands were wandering without a place to go, looking for a place to lean on.

Then he pulled me by the arm. Hugged her without saying a word.

Through her hug, I could feel the complex emotions Erina had.

She knew that she lied to me, and she was very troubled.

She had doubts about favors.

When she fights monsters or goes wild at the inn, she gets scared.

But she never thought about abandoning Erina.

Previously, it was just a warning.

I actually had no intention of kicking him out of the party.

“Please take good care of me in the future.”

“Yes… I’ll take care of you too…”

In front of the fireplace, we shared a warm hug.

I shared my body temperature without falling for a long time.

Without realizing that Kayla was watching them all.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like