Chapter 106. Fool

Oh my goodness.

How could such an unbelievable thing happen…

When I opened my eyes this morning, I never imagined that today would turn out to be such a mess.

Not only did Claude suddenly appear like an uninvited guest, but Johann was crossing the sea on a ship, and now, turning around in the narrow alleys of this small village, Mihail was following me?

Even the gods seem indifferent.

It’s hard enough to escape from one person, but how could they send three heroes at once?

Are you truly abandoning me, oh heavens? Sob, sob.

As I hurried my steps to use the emergency contact network, I let out a sigh of frustration. My head wasn’t just blank; it was spinning. The only clear thought was that everything was ruined.

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

Mihail closed the distance with long strides, neither too fast nor too slow. With each step, I felt my breath being gently squeezed.

“Miss Sera.”

He grabbed my hand.

I stood there, dumbfounded, staring at Mihail.

Sigh.

This lunatic is obsessed with hands as soon as we meet. He’ll probably beg to see the light of purification and then salivate over the palm, the source of the light.

I half-resigned myself and watched Mihail bring my hand to his mouth, like a well-trained pet.

Whack!

At that moment, a rough hand intervened.

Claude forcefully grabbed Mihail’s wrist.

“What are you doing?”

He growled at Mihail like a beast.

Ah.

Claude must be seeing this for the first time.

It’s been going on for over two years.

My inner thoughts were immediately voiced by Mihail. He looked at Claude with a slightly raised chin, seemingly amused, with a relaxed smile.

“Why are you acting like this when Miss Sera is just standing still?”

“What are you doing?”

“If you let go of this hand, I’ll show you.”

“Do you want to face something unpleasant?”

It seemed like I was the only one facing something unpleasant here.

This feeling is quite nostalgic.

Like a shrimp caught between whales. Ugh…

Damn it.

Please go fight somewhere without me!

I felt like my lifespan was shortening with the stress. I suddenly felt a renewed sense of urgency to escape from these guys somehow.

But I saw no way out.

Lacking creativity, I reused the method I had employed earlier.

“Ouch.”

Pretending to have sprained my wrist.

But since the guy who was fooled earlier didn’t help, it had no effect.

“Are you pretending to have sprained your wrist again?”

At those words, Mihail hesitated for a moment as if to let go of my hand but then held on tightly again. I was annoyed with Claude for being so uncooperative.

“It really hurt earlier, you know?”

“And yet you ran away?”

“But you caught me right away anyway.”

“And you’re acting all confident about it…”

“Your Grace, you’re the one who should be ashamed!”

I shouted, recalling what had happened a moment ago. Normally, Claude would have exuded a menacing aura, scolding me for daring to defy a superior, but now he just blushed and couldn’t say anything.

That’s right.

Yes, it’s true you were wrong this time!

“I’m not your woman, Your Grace!”

I firmly drove the point home.

Claude, at a loss for words, clamped his mouth shut and then, as if feeling wronged, his face turned redder and redder.

He raised his voice for a moment.

“I told you several times that I didn’t intentionally bury my face in your chest! It’s all because you were squirming…”

“What did you just say?”

It was then that a voice, cold as ice, interrupted.

Mihail was looking at Claude with a smile on his face. His eyes were not smiling at all.

I felt the grip on my hand disappear. That strength was redirected to grab Claude by the collar.

“Let go of me.”

“I think I heard something I shouldn’t have.”

“You crazy holy knight! This is none of your business.”

“What did you do to the innocent purifier?”

“I think I’m more innocent than whatever you were about to do.”

With that, Claude grabbed Mihail’s collar in return.

Watching the two men glaring at each other, ready to kill, I darted my eyes around in confusion.

Wait a minute.

This is…

“A chance!”

I slowly took a few steps back. Both were so focused on each other that they seemed to have forgotten about me.

Oh, dear God…

Thank you!

I quickly turned around and bolted.

Ahhh!

If I get caught this time, I’ll never escape from those guys again! I’ll run all the way to the merchant guild!

“Gasp!”

But then, someone suddenly reached out from the alley and pulled me in with tremendous force. As I was sucked into the alley as if caught in a whirlpool, I widened my eyes in surprise.

“Cy…”

“Shh!”

It was Cyril.

He pressed his index finger firmly against my lips.

Because of that, I forgot that I was about to call his name and quietly closed my mouth. Instead, I asked with my eyes.

What is going on right now?

Cyril unfolded a ragged blanket he was holding carelessly in one hand and wrapped an arm around my shoulder, pressing me down to sit.

Against my will, I ended up crouching down. Then the blanket was draped over us from head to toe. Cyril and me.

“It’s a magical tool that conceals presence.”

Cyril whispered very softly.

Sensing the urgency in him, I kept my mouth shut and nodded slightly. We had to wait until Claude and Mihail were gone.

How much time passed like that?

I heard the sounds of the two heroes moving around, realizing I had disappeared. True to their nature, they seemed to be moving separately, eager to catch each other.

“Miss Sera, let’s stop this. I’m sick of hide-and-seek to the point of shivering.”

Mihail’s voice came from afar.

I shrunk my neck like a turtle and held my breath even more. Cyril’s arm around my shoulder tightened slightly, as if to reassure me that I wasn’t alone.

“I know you’re nearby. Come out while I’m still speaking nicely.”

Claude’s voice came from another direction. He seemed very angry. Cyril held onto me more firmly, as though he sensed my fear too.

But…

Why is Cyril doing this with me?

A belated question arose, and I turned my head. He also moved his eyes to look at me. We were so close that I could feel his breath.

Ah…

I want to ask, but I can’t speak recklessly.

I was anxious about being discovered by Claude or Mihail.

However, under the dim blanket, I could read Cyril’s gaze. He had fully understood my question and seemed to promise to answer once it was safe.

I slightly lowered my gaze and then raised it again, nodding in return.

We stayed completely still, pressed closely together like statues. While our presence couldn’t be felt from outside, movements and small noises from outside were well transmitted under the blanket.

After a while, even after the surroundings had quieted down.

We moved slightly to adjust our positions. A small space, enough for a couple of fingers, formed between us.

“Seraphina.”

“……!”

And at Cyril’s words, I was so shocked that my ears buzzed.

If my memory served me right, I had never told him my real name. I should have been called Chloette…

But the pronunciation of the two names was too different for it to be a misunderstanding.

Did Claude or Mihail call my name? Did he hear it? Or did I unconsciously make a mistake? Or is Cyril also someone from the information guild, like the gentleman?

Suddenly, my head felt hot as if it had been burned.

Why, at this moment, did a conversation I had with Cyril one day come to mind?

<Ahem. Seeing Miss Chloette eat so deliciously reminds me of when I was young.>

He said he was from an orphanage.

He confessed that he had to become independent at ten and had to part ways unwillingly.

The small hand that approached him first, offering to become family to the one who was curled up alone.

Whose hand was it?

Like a fish jumping out of the water, a memory from long ago suddenly surfaced.

<I’ll definitely come back. It’s just a short goodbye.>

<Waaaah!>

<Sera, stop! Don’t cry…>

<Sniff, hic, hic…>

<Wait. Just let me say a proper goodbye, please…>

I was young.

Probably six years old.

A child who could do nothing but cry from the pain of a separation that felt like having flesh torn away. I couldn’t stop crying from a sorrow too overwhelming for my age.

But there was no time allowed for the tears to stop, and in the end, someone forcibly pried apart the hands that wouldn’t let go, separating me from my precious person.

Struggling to survive, I barely remembered the face or voice, but… the existence of such a person was faintly, yet vividly, imprinted within me.

“No way…”

My eyes turned red. My nose tingled.

This can’t be.

“Why, why didn’t you say anything?”

My voice trembled finely.

“Why didn’t you tell me right away when we met?”

I unknowingly asked reproachfully.

I didn’t know what kind of face I was making, but it was probably a mess. From Cyril’s painfully distorted expression, I could tell.

“…I’m sorry, Sera.”

He offered only a brief apology. But the feelings Cyril harbored were too large to be hidden behind just a few words.

I naturally understood why he quietly hovered around me.