“Why did you come here, you fool!!”
I yelled at Sylvia, questioning her sudden arrival.
Startled by my shout, Sylvia’s eyes widened in surprise.
“N-No, you surprised me, Scarlet. Why are you shouting all of a sudden…?”
She asked in a bewildered voice, clearly confused.
Her question became the catalyst for my emotions to explode.
“What do you mean, why am I shouting? Do you really not understand the gravity of this situation…?”
Seeing her acting like she truly didn’t grasp how serious things were, I felt a mix of frustration and complicated emotions bubbling up inside me.
I grimaced and shouted at Sylvia as if I were angry.
“What were you thinking coming here…! This place, this place is incredibly dangerous…!”
Behind Sylvia, the scenery caught my eye.
An area polluted by miasma, covered entirely in pitch black.
This land, devoid of even a single blade of grass, was not only harsh to people but downright malevolent.
She had stepped into such a place.
But look at her expression.
I felt like I was going to lose my mind over this situation, and yet she had that blank look on her face.
Couldn’t my insides be churning with irritation?
While I was simmering with pent-up frustration, Sylvia, who was staring at me shouting, sighed and shook her head.
“Hah, really… I mean, I suppose this is just like you, Scarlet.”
With a somewhat exasperated expression, she muttered, then looked directly at me and said.
“Scarlet, I know. I know that this place is dangerous. But I didn’t come without a plan, you know? I may look like this, but I can take care of myself. Look, can you see?”
Sylvia spread her arms wide as if to show off.
As she did, the faint light that slightly enveloped her body grew stronger, and I could feel the miasma around us gradually cleansing away.
“No need to worry. Thanks to getting a bit stronger, I can handle myself even in a miasma-filled place. If a demonic beast attacks, I can just fly away.”
So she was fine.
Though she seemed to imply that, I couldn’t unruffle my expression.
“…This isn’t just a simple issue. This isn’t a place where people can live. Just think about the food and water—”
“I brought all that too, you know?”
As I pointed that out, Sylvia pulled out a water bottle and a small rice dumpling from the bundle tied at her waist.
“This is a magic water container that creates water and an emergency ration that provides enough nutrients for a day in just one bite. I brought plenty of this, so at the very least, I can survive for a few weeks.”
Saying this, Sylvia looked at the rice dumpling with a complicated expression before seemingly making up her mind and shutting her eyes tight, she popped the dumpling into her mouth.
For some reason, she trembled uncontrollably and let out a silent scream.
But as she swallowed the dumpling and hastily gulped down some water, she said with a pained expression.
“The taste is horrendously awful, but… you know I’m fine, right?”
Sylvia, in an effort to reassure me, insisted that I shouldn’t worry about her.
Yet, no matter how prepared she seemed, I couldn’t manage to ease my expression.
It wasn’t just because I was worried about her being in a dangerous place.
I—
“…I’m fine, but what’s with that expression?”
I saw Sylvia making a pouty face, looking displeased.
What should I say?
Unable to utter a word and remaining quiet, Sylvia muttered in a sulky tone.
“…I guess I don’t need to ask. You’re probably thinking that you’ve caused me trouble or something like that.”
Her words made me flinch and shake my shoulders.
She had hit the nail on the head.
Earlier, Astra’s people said so.
Because I helped her escape from the city, Sylvia ended up in a difficult situation.
They had judged that to protect Sylvia, they would need to kill me, making it clear that I had already caused her harm.
So I didn’t want to be a burden to her any longer. Yet here we were.
Just think about it.
By merely helping me escape the city, she had to go through such hardships, and now, by running out to help me, how would people treat her in the future?
It was certain she wouldn’t be met with good will, making my breath feel tight.
Not only had I led her into such a dangerous place, but when considering what she had given up to help me and what she would have to sacrifice going forward—
How could I not feel guilt?
So, I bowed my head in guilt and said.
“I’m sorry… it’s because of me.”
Then,
“…Don’t, okay?”
Sylvia shouted back.
“Don’t say things like ‘I’m sorry’…!”
“Don’t say I’m sorry.”
“Do you really not understand why I did this? I didn’t come here to hear you say you were sorry while eating this awful stuff and enduring all this danger…!”
She shouted at me with an intensity I had never seen before, fire in her eyes.
“Why did I come here? Of course, it’s natural to be worried! I almost died, and still, even in that situation, I’m the one worrying about someone else instead of myself…!”
I simply kept my head down, quietly listening to Sylvia’s words.
I knew where her feelings were coming from.
I understood.
She must have known that I was worried and came to help.
But I didn’t want Sylvia to do that.
I would rather face a harsher fate than have her sacrifice like this to help me.
So I wanted to tell Sylvia not to do that anymore, but when I lifted my head—
“Buh… I thought you were dead, Scarlet… Do you know how much I… how much I…”
I couldn’t help but stop my words at the sight before me.
Sylvia’s eyes were red as she cried heavily.
Her feelings of anger, sorrow, worry, and frustration blended together as she cried more heartbreakingly than anything I had seen before.
Seeing her like this made my heart soften instantly, and I realized.
In the end, I couldn’t be harsh with her.
Having swallowed my words, I gently reached out and pulled her into a soft embrace.
Then, as if she had been waiting for this, Sylvia buried her face in my shoulder.
I could feel my shoulder getting damp, and I heard her choked voice close to my ear.
“Buh… Who are you calling a fool…? The foolish one who doesn’t understand anything is you, Scarlet…”
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Sylvia. I was wrong…”
“Don’t tell me you’re sorry, okay…?”
Sylvia mumbled with her head still buried in my shoulder, clutching my arm tightly as she continued.
“Do you want me to do this, Scarlet? Every time I receive help, I’m just going to keep saying I’m sorry…?”
“…No.”
“Then you know you’re in the wrong, right…?”
“Yeah, I see… I’m sorry… ah…”
Just after she told me not to say I was sorry, I accidentally blurted it out and was caught off guard, making Sylvia let out a faint laugh.
“Now that’s a proper apology… Because that’s something you should be wholly sorry for…”
Maybe she felt that my actions were endlessly aggravating.
Holding onto my arm tightly, Sylvia spoke.
“…Yeah. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
“…Next time, please don’t do this. It’s a promise, okay?”
I hesitated for a moment.
Over her insistence that I not do this anymore.
But when I felt her hand trembling slightly due to my lack of response.
I could only pat her head and give my answer.
“…Alright, it’s a promise.”
Hearing that, Sylvia seemed relieved and nodded gently.
After a moment of waiting for her to calm down.
Sylvia, who had stopped crying, looked embarrassed with her swollen eyes and buried her face as if shy, then suddenly realized something with an “Ah!” and opened her mouth.
“Speaking of which, Scarlet, are you speaking casually to me now?”
“Ah… I guess I am.”
Realizing I had been speaking casually, I was taken aback.
I must have been so flustered that I forgot to use honorifics with Sylvia.
As I thought this, I responded politely, but Sylvia shook her head vigorously and exclaimed.
“No, I actually prefer it this way! Could you please just keep speaking casually? Please…?”
With eyes sparkling like a cat in rainboots, she pleaded.
Seeing her like that, I couldn’t help but chuckle.
Until now, I had used honorifics with Sylvia hoping that she would feel a sense of distance from me.
However, thanks to today’s events, I realized.
Sylvia already regarded me as someone incredibly close.
In fact, considering this situation, honorifics no longer held any meaning, so I slowly nodded.
Then, with a shining gaze, Sylvia clenched her fist in victory and asked me a curious question.
“Um, Scarlet. The reason you’ve been using formal language until now is because you felt we needed some distance, right? Just like how you said we shouldn’t become friends.”
“Well… yeah.”
When I responded, Sylvia hesitated for a moment before asking.
“Can I ask why you drew that line so consciously?”
At her question, I smiled ruefully and replied.
“Sylvia, it was because I was afraid this would happen today.”
“Huh…?”
She tilted her head as if confused, so I explained.
“Remember I told you before? I thought if I got closer to you, it would put too much of a burden on you, so I couldn’t become friends. You went out of your way to help me, even sacrificing a lot. I just wanted you to avoid doing that.”
“Clearly… you said you didn’t want to owe me and that you didn’t want to burden me, right? Is that really all there is to it?”
Asking if that was really everything, Sylvia questioned me.
And at that moment, I found myself deep in thought.
I indeed gave that reason to keep a psychological distance from her, but was that really the only reason?
There was a sense that it wasn’t, but I couldn’t pinpoint why.
After mulling it over, I soon realized.
Oh, I see.
And so I shared the real reason, which I hadn’t even realized myself.
I—
“I think I was just scared.”
It seemed I was truly a coward.
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