17 - Knock on the door [2]

"You attacked her?"

Silence followed.

"Why, Wendy?"

Wendy couldn’t give me an answer. She simply lowered her head even more.

I could tell that she was ashamed of her action, but only because I wasn’t happy with it.

I crouched down, meeting her gaze on the same level.

She still didn’t as much as raise her eyes to meet mine.

"You shouldn’t have done that, you know."

As I spoke, I caressed her hair, trying to get her to be more relaxed and calm.

"Dr Grace said she had saved my life by doing that," I added, making her understand the errors of her ways. "Maybe I would have kicked the bucket if she hadn’t intervened."

Wendy’s head suddenly lifted and she frantically shook her head.

"Nothing will happen to you, Link!"

She quickly rejected the idea of my death.

Before I could say anything further, Wendy embraced me tightly, pressing her body firmly against mine as if not wanting me to go anywhere.

She sniffed. "I’m sorry... I’m sorry, Link. I didn’t mean to."

I smiled. Finally, the situation seemed to have been defused successfully.

I stroked her hair gently, urging her to stop crying.

"Now now... you are not about to ruin your beautiful face with tears, are you?"

I pulled back, holding her by the shoulders and looking into her eyes.

"Look at me..."

She struggled but eventually, she summoned the courage to look me in the eyes.

I ran the back of my hand under her eyes, cleaning her tears and reassuring her as I said:

"Don’t worry about it. I’m not angry with you or anything," I said. "Just that I wanted you to understand that her action bore no ill intentions towards me or you. She simply wanted to save my life and somehow, she did. I owe her one and attacking her was not in my list of options of repaying that favour."

Wendy rubbed her hands together. Having understood that her action was indeed wrong, she was nervous.

"She just wants to talk. Nothing more."

I propped up her face and planted a gentle kiss on her soft lips.

"Don’t worry about me. I will be fine."

"O-Okay," she answered, slowly nodding her head.

Finally, peace has been achieved.

There was no way I was going to let an Intermediate Heroine get involved in a fight with a Greater Villainess, and I will be right at the centre of it.

Geez! Thinking about it made my whole body itch.

Even if that were to happen, at least not this early or not in this circumstance.

Most importantly, not in my room!

I stood up and exhaled.

Wendy seemed to have been sorted out and now she was quiet.

From my point of view, it was better to leave her and her thoughts alone right now.

I walked over to my wardrobe and took out a white shirt and a pair of loose brown trousers.

They were free and comfortable.

Sliding my feet into my sandals, I made my way towards the door.

It was Eris’ turn to have my attention.

I opened it and she was still standing there.

Looking her over, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was a stone statue.

She seemed to have maintained the same stance since I went in to handle Wendy.

"So stiff..."

My voice was no different from a whisper but she picked it. What sharp senses.

"What was that?"

I looked at her and raised an eyebrow as if challenging her sanity and what she heard before stepping out fully and shutting the door behind me.

Eris took a brief pause, subtle looking around.

I didn’t need a soothsayer saying to know this was her way of telling me that where we were wasn’t a good place for this discussion.

"Let’s go somewhere else then..."

Eris nodded.

****

We had left the third year hostel and walked to a park that was close by.

All the while, Eris didn’t bother to strike up a conversation or even hint at why she had come to look for me until we got to the park.

Such a rigid and upright creature. I wouldn’t have believed she was this stiff if I wasn’t witnessing it myself.

Yes. I knew of her character but I didn’t expect it to be to this extent.

As soon as we reached the park, I moved to a stone couch to sit down when I felt the cold tip of steel kiss the corner of my neck.

—Shing!

I glanced to the corner of my eyes, looking at Eris while turning around completely.

She had drawn her sword, a move to probably express how serious the situation was or for whatever reason.

My eyes rolled down, taking a glimpse of the blade pressed to my neck. "What’s the meaning of this?"

Eris said nothing.

Her grip on the sword’s hilt was firm and her eyes were suspecting.

Right there and then, I could tell she was studying me.

’This definitely had to do with the incident.’

There were no two ways about it.

"You may not remember..." she started to speak, "since you passed out in the middle of using your ability but you froze the entire area. The assailants who had attacked us didn’t have any chance to counter your ice technique. Even for me, that level of output came with a straining demand on my essence."

My eyebrows lifted. "So..."

She pressed the blade even further, making a nick on my skin.

"Even the two guides who had sold us out felt the coldness right where I had found and slain them, and all the while, they believed it was my doing.

"And you, Link Remington, known to be a Sabre class awakener with average skill, suddenly is able to use not just any ability but one that appears to be similar to mine."

"Where is all of this going?"

I was starting to get irritated. "I didn’t take you for a verbose person."

Her face scrunched from hearing this.

My words stung unexpectedly.

She was about to make another move when I placed my fingers on her blade.

"Are you, Eris DeLorentis, by any chance accusing me of something?"