However, Lara didn’t accept Zich’s suggestion right away. She had never thought of distancing herself from Glen—not even once. Zich continued, “I apologize if I come off as rude, but what are you doing right now, Ms. Browning?”
“Me? Ah… I am patrolling,” she said in a quiet voice with her head lowered. Patrolling wasn’t such a lowly task that she should speak of it so meekly. Furthermore, from what Zich knew of her, Lara Browning was someone overflowing with justice to the point of rigidity. There was no way such a person would be embarrassed about having to patrol; instead, she should’ve placed great importance even on the most menial tasks and felt proud about doing them.
‘It’s probably something related to Glen Zenard,’ Zich thought. Perhaps, Glen was ignoring her, and Lara was patrolling and wandering around the city aimlessly. Zich stroked his chin as if he was in great thought.
“Ms. Browning, you weren’t part of the investigation to search for Til, right?”
“…Yes.”
Lara would not be wandering inside the city if she was. Everyone with an artifact had already all gone outside the city to search for Til.
“How strange. From what I know about your skills, you certainly meet all the requirements to be part of Til’s search team.” Even those with a lower set of skills compared to her had taken artifacts to participate in the search. Of course, the reason for her non-involvement was obvious: it was because Glen didn’t want her to participate, and Zich spoke in a more roundabout way because of that.
“I mean, there’s no way Mr. Zenard didn’t recommend you, especially with your skills.”
“…”
Lara lowered her head slightly more.
“Oh my, it seems I have meddled into matters I shouldn’t have. This is for Mr. Zenard to resolve with you and not for me to say,” Zich said and pretended to be deep in thought. “Then, how about this, Ms. Browning?”
Lara lifted her head slightly and stared at Zich.
“Hans also participated in the search through my recommendation,” Zich began, and Lara’s eyes darted to where Hans was. Although Hans had brought Lara here, he didn’t intervene in their conversation; he just simply listened.
Lara felt a twinge of jealousy that Hans had gotten the same mission as Glen, but she easily accepted it. After all, she recognized Hans and thought his skills were more suitable to take on the mission.
“Why don’t you go around with Hans for now? It will allow you to distance yourself from Mr. Zenard too.”
“Sorry?” Lara’s head shot up in surprise. Hans also looked surprised as if he hadn’t expected this turn of events.
“I highly value your skills, Ms. Browning. You seem to especially have a lot of talent in swordsmanship,” Zich said.
Lara felt conflicted. She was happy to hear that she had talent in swordsmanship, but Zich wasn’t the person she wanted to hear these words from at all. Yet, Zich had made her a good resolution. She no longer had to wander around the city aimlessly or the excuse of patrolling. Lara finally could do something that would make her feel like she was helping others. Yet, even if she had met Hans a couple of times, it seemed too much of a jump to wander around with a man that she had almost no relationship with. Thus, she was about to reject Zich’s offer when his following words made her clasp her mouth shut again.
“Also, I don’t think Mr. Zenard would care much even if you went with Hans to complete the missions.”
“…”
* * *
‘I ended up agreeing.’ Lara sighed. She was aware that she had been feeling cornered these days. Thus, she had been determined to not get drawn into strange delusions and to keep a tight grip on her mentality.
‘Look at me now.’ She thought she was so pathetic for wavering from Zich’s single statement. Was her resolve too weak?
‘No, I might have felt more cornered than I thought.” In conclusion, this situation wasn’t all that bad since she was able to realize the seriousness of her current situation. Now, she had to face the result of her decision. Lara looked forward and saw the back of a young man. The man was walking forward with light footsteps and a white sword hung on his waist. It was Hans, and she would be working with him for at least the next couple of days.
In the end, Lara had agreed with Zich to join a temporary party with Hans. He also didn’t seem to protest, and thus everything went along smoothly. Since Hans had made most of the preparations, all she needed to get were her sword and some extra clothes; before she realized it, she was already heading toward Hans’ patrolling area with him.
‘It’s not too late still. Should I just go back?’ Even if she refused now, she knew Hans wouldn’t mind. After all, he had done a fair job by himself. Furthermore, his skills were much superior to hers.
‘He could be similar or even stronger than Glen,’ Lara thought, and it dawned upon her how astounding Zich’s party exactly was. Although she thought her party with Glen as their leader was considerably strong, they couldn’t compare with Zich’s party at all.
‘But what should I do if I refuse?’ If she backed out now, then she’d just continue patrolling around the city meaninglessly. Furthermore… she recalled Glen’s cold eyes.
‘Urgh!’ It hurt her heart to even think of it. Her heart thumped and kept pleading for mercy, but she kept agitating it with a continuous current of emotions. She recalled Zich’s words again.
[Also, I don’t think Mr. Zenard would care much even if you went with Hans to do the missions.]
These words were like cold icicles piercing deep into her heart, and they felt especially sharp because they were convincing.
“It’s fine if you go back now.” It was then that she heard Hans’ voice. While standing in front of her, Hans was looking at Lara with his head turned.
“There’s no need for you to feel pressured. I can complete the mission on my own. Even if you refuse and go back now, Sir Zich wouldn’t think badly of you either.” Even if Lara refused at the last minute, Zich would respond with nothing more than, ‘Is that so?’ Then, Hans continued, “However, if you have a concern that you can’t solve immediately, I think Sir Zich’s suggestion for you to distance yourself from it is a good idea.”
Hans scratched the back of his head. He seemed to be wondering if he should say this or not, but he soon made his final decision and said, “Moreover, Ms. Browning, I’ve thought this before, but I think you’re much too dependent on Mr. Zenard.”
“I don’t think we’re close enough for us to intervene in each other’s affairs like this.” Unlike so far, Lara responded sharply. Her relationship with Glen was an extremely sensitive matter. Since she currently felt very conflicted about her situation and wasn’t close with Hans, it was natural that Lara reacted this way.
However, Hans was not taken aback. “Yes, we’re definitely not close enough to intervene in each other’s personal matters. However, I’m not talking about your relationship with Mr. Zenard.” Hans recalled the first time he saw Lara. Her expression was completely different when he met her for the first time. In complete contrast to Zich, Lara had followed rules and principles to the tee. Even though this was an extremely tiresome personality to be around, her attitudes and actions were clearly based on justice. However, Hans couldn’t sense that from her anymore.
“The resolve you made when you started on your journey—was that resolve only based on your feelings for Mr. Zenard?”
“…” Lara became silent as if a giant hammer had struck her.
* * *
‘I wonder if he’s doing well?’ Zich stared at the place where Hans and Lara disappeared off to. ‘This is the perfect time to shake Lara’s resolution.’ Glen was focused on a completely different matter right now, and Lara Browning’s current position on the team was precarious. There was no better time than right now to pull Lara out of the party, or at least give her a sufficient reason to leave. It was for that reason that Zich left Hans to convince her. ‘If it’s that guy, they’ll see eye to eye.’
There were probably a lot of similarities between a hero-in-training and a strict rule-follower. ‘Well, I’m a bit bothered that I may have influenced Hans a little too much.’ To a strict rule follower, Zich was an existence that should be avoided at all costs. Since Hans had been greatly influenced by Zich, he might not look too great to a rule-follower either.
‘Nevertheless, their basis is centered on justice, so they must have things in common.’ Moreover, it didn’t matter if Hans wasn’t successful. His plan to pull out Lara from Glen’s party was of extremely low priority and didn’t matter if it turned out successful or not. ‘Now, I should also start finishing up my main plan.’ His main plan had already almost reached the climax. Zich got up from his seat.
* * *
Nick returned to the city to give his periodic reports, and this time he went back to his assigned post. He had never slept soundly since his plan had gone amiss, but he was in a particularly foul mood that day. ‘That bastard wasted my time for no reason!’
Nick’s main source of frustration was Glen. While he was trying to return to his assigned post, Glen suddenly appeared and kept on bothering him. They hadn’t conversed on anything important either. Nick already felt frustrated and anxious, so he grew even angrier at Glen’s pestering. Nick spat insults toward Glen and sat at his usual campsite.
‘I need to be successful today.’ Ever since he obtained the upgraded artifact, Nick tried to follow Til every time Til visited him, because he wanted to eavesdrop on Til’s plans and perhaps find out Ellie’s location. However, Nick had only been lucky on the first day, since his tailing kept failing after the first time. Til used his mana to move, and he was too fast for Nick to successfully follow him. There was even a time when he tailed Til too closely and almost got caught. However, even then, Nick couldn’t give up.
‘I need to save Ellie no matter what!’ With a strong resolve, Nick tailed Til once again. He was lucky this time. Like the first time, Til visited him when it was dark outside. It seemed as if Til had already visited the mountain range as he arrived from that direction. Til scratched at Nick’s pride with pointless conversations like usual and disappeared in the opposite direction of the mountain range. Was he going to finally be successful today?
When Til began to move fast, the artifact would lose its target and spin around. However, the artifact continuously pointed toward the front today. ‘Is he walking today?’ Was it because it was at night, or was there a different reason? It might just be because he felt like it. However, the most important fact was that there was now a much higher chance that Nick could successfully tail Til. Nick narrowed his eyes as he continued following Til.
‘Did this guy just stop?’ When he moved one step back, the artifact began spinning, but when he took one step forward, the artifact pointed towards the front. Had Til reached his destination? But they were still pretty close to Nick’s assigned post.
‘Let’s make sure.’ Even if he had to expose himself to danger, Nick decide to move closer to Til.