Chapter 104. I’m Sorry

Swoosh…

The sea breeze blew.

The sound of waves crashing seemed to come from a very distant place.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the man, standing frozen like a statue. With his already stern expression, he looked even scarier than I remembered, as if he was very angry.

“You’ve managed to hide in a place like this.”

Saying so, he took off my hat.

My long brown hair fluttered in the wind, brushing against his cheek. Perhaps because it tickled him, he waved his hand in front of his face and then swept his black hair back.

His blood-red eyes, visible beneath, held me captive like chains.

“How did you… find this place…?”

He, who should be guarding the Grodes Mountains, was in this southern seaside village.

A man who should be standing against a backdrop of white snow was in this warm scenery, making it feel unreal.

However, judging by my trembling voice, I seemed to be accepting this as reality.

“Miss Chloette.”

Just then, a voice of salvation came from somewhere.

Both mine and Claude’s heads turned simultaneously.

It was Cyril’s subordinate.

I didn’t know his name, but at this moment, he felt like a dear friend. I couldn’t have been happier to see him.

“Why, why?”

“Could you come here for a moment?”

“No.”

The answer came from Claude.

He growled with a beast-like intensity, as if warning that further interference would not be tolerated.

Cyril’s subordinate looked at us with a troubled expression, and when another warning came, he had no choice but to turn away.

“Don’t interfere and get lost.”

“……”

This man was consistently foul-mouthed.

I watched the man, who might have been my savior, walk away helplessly, then turned my gaze back to Claude, cautiously.

He let out a hollow laugh as if he found it absurd.

“Chloette? What a name…”

I bristled at his mocking words.

What, what’s wrong with my name!

But having abandoned my duty as a purifier and run away without following proper resignation procedures, I was in no position to say anything, even with ten mouths. I couldn’t help but lower my eyes.

While my mouth remained silent, my mind was racing.

What happens now?

What did the newspaper say earlier? Even with Aveline appearing, the three heroes still needed me, right? Why? When it seemed proven that Aveline’s purification abilities surpassed mine?

“Even as a woman.”

As those words dropped above my head, my thoughts came to a halt.

What, you jerk?

I snapped my head up with a sharp, angry gaze…

Huh?

I blinked in confusion.

It wasn’t that my body instinctively remembered something and couldn’t defy him. It was just that Claude’s expression seemed… embarrassed.

“Dressed up, you look quite pretty.”

“……”

What did I just hear?

My ears felt numb.

It seemed like there was something wrong with my hearing.

When I said nothing, Claude, perhaps feeling embarrassed, cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Ahem.”

Then he turned his head towards the sea. His cheeks were flushed.

“Is there a place selling dresses in this backwater? If I knew you liked them, I could have bought you a few.”

“……I made it myself.”

“I thought you were only good at purification, but you’re quite handy.”

“Thanks for the compliment. But…”

I became a bit serious.

Claude had become a different person since I last saw him.

“What, what is it?”

Worried, I reached out and touched his forehead. Claude flinched but didn’t avoid or shake off my hand.

Turning his head back towards me, he stayed still, allowing me to thoroughly examine his forehead.

“Strange. No fever.”

“……”

“Your cheeks are a bit warm. Are you feeling unwell?”

“What are you doing, Purifier Seraphina?”

“Oh, you’re back to your usual self.”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

I quickly withdrew my hand from his cheek.

They say people change when they’re about to die, but seeing him back to his original self was reassuring.

Claude scratched the back of his head irritably and then glared at me with his fierce eyes.

He truly was back to his old self.

“Purifier Seraphina.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how much I’ve suffered looking for you?”

“Well…”

Frightened, I hunched my shoulders.

Then, thinking I might be dragged back to the Grodes Mountains, I snapped back to my senses. If I stayed dazed, I might find myself being slapped by a snowstorm when I came to.

“Did you see the newspaper?”

“What?”

To him, who asked dumbly, I kindly bent down to pick up the newspaper that had fallen on the sand and handed it to him.

“They say an incredible purifier named Aveline has appeared.”

“So?”

“Just in case you didn’t know…”

“Do you really think I wouldn’t know that?”

His growling intensity was no joke.

For a moment, I felt my courage shrink, and I flinched. At this rate, I might turn into a turtle.

As I sat there, thoroughly intimidated, Claude stared at me with a complicated expression. Then he sighed deeply while looking at the sky, turned back to me, and repeatedly opened and closed his mouth.

“……?”

What is it?

Why is he doing that?

I blinked foolishly, not understanding. Claude seemed as if he was about to make some major announcement. He looked both tense and embarrassed.

What do I mean by that?

I don’t know either.

What could be going through that big man’s mind to make him have such an expression…?

“Why did you disappear without a word?”

Then Claude finally spoke after a long pause.

In a way, it was a question that should have been asked as soon as we met, but I didn’t understand why he hesitated so much to ask it.

Anyway, I had an answer to that question.

I was scared for my life.

Truly.

“Was it because of me?”

“……What?”

I was weighing how to convey this heavy feeling when unexpected words came out of Claude’s mouth.

He surprised me several times today.

Maybe because it’s been a while since we last met.

Even so, I couldn’t fathom what made him think that way.

“What do you mean?”

I asked, feeling a sense of numbness.

Then Claude looked at me silently with a complicated gaze. His red eyes felt endlessly deep.

“I’m sorry.”

“……”

What is he sorry for?

As confusion welled up, my nose tingled. I didn’t even properly understand what he was apologizing for, yet I felt this way.

The sea breeze, salty and moist, blew in. My hair gently swayed across my face.

Claude remained silent, just looking at me.

Soon, he reached out and tucked my hair behind my ear.

The gentleness of his touch surprised me once more.

A rough hand containing tenderness felt very strange. It was like two incompatible liquids mixing together, resulting in a mysterious and beautiful rainbow.

“I’m sorry.”

Claude said once more.

As he spoke, his hand touched the corner of my eye.

“I’ll try, so don’t cry.”

“Ah…”

Only then did I realize that tears had welled up in my eyes. Moisture clung to his fingers.

I raised my hand and hurriedly wiped away the remaining tears.

It was a strange conversation.

My mind didn’t understand, but my heart reacted… it was such a strange conversation.

“What are you going to try?”

I asked belatedly.

Then Claude hesitated, letting out a groan mixed with a metallic sound.

He turned his gaze to the sea, scratching the back of his head roughly, and then swept his black hair back before meeting my eyes again.

“So, I treated you too carelessly when you weren’t shady…”

“……?”

Claude trailed off and turned his head back to the sea. His eyes, already as red as blood, suddenly became fiercely sharp.

What is he looking at over there?

Curious, I turned my body in the direction he was staring. I did see something.

“A ship?”

It’s possible for a ship to be floating on the sea.

But why is that…?

I tilted my head, looking at the ship that appeared as small as a thumbnail. It was too far away to discern anything special, just barely recognizable as a ship.

However, unlike ordinary me, Claude, one of the three heroes, seemed to have exceptional eyesight.

From his mouth, a sound I never wanted to hear came out with a chilling intensity.

“Why is that bastard Johann…”

…Huh? What did he say?

Johann?

The Johann from ‘Johann Jean Cedric Marseus’?

Feeling a chill up my spine, I tensed up.

I remembered my last conversation with him.

<If you want, Marseus can accompany you.>

<What?>

<I said I’d go with you.>

<…To the Agulena Plains?>

At that time, I certainly responded like this.

<Alright. Go with me.>

And then I bailed, hitting him hard in the back of the head…

I looked at the sea with frightened eyes. The ship’s bow was heading straight toward us.

Even though it was still far away, I felt as if I could see Johann’s eyes burning with intensity on the deck.