542 Elizabeth's Concerns
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Once we were done having lunch in the cafeteria, we quickly made our way back home. Erika’s mother had classes today as well, so she couldn’t accompany us back home as usual. In the way, we had our time to talk and discuss our strategies.
Eric and Chris kept talking about the dungeon’s dangers, while Erdrich pointed out stuff he didn’t understand from the dungeon guide. Evelyn helped him while Alberta and Elfriedden joined the conversation from time to time. Erika was constantly talking about beating monsters, while Elizabeth seemed… oddly silent.
As I found her walking by my side, I gave her a glance. She quickly noticed me, glancing me back with a smile. She seemed slightly nervous, despite how willing she looked to fight inside the dungeon. I wondered if there was something troubling her. Perhaps she disliked closed spaces?
“What’s wrong?” I asked her.
“Ah… I guess nothing can escape you.” She sighed. “I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened in the first day.”
“Which of the many things?” I wondered.
“Well, the whole fight you had against the cultists. We were all… so clueless. We didn’t felt a single thing. Yet you were the only one that could sense them.” She sighed. “I realized that if you didn’t, we could had all fallen into their machinations, perhaps a lot of people would had died in the middle of the panic. And Erika too…”
“Hm, I guess it makes sense you would be this worried.” I sighed. “Don’t worry, it has been a week from then and security has become better. And even if they show up again… Well, we’ll just kill them.”
I couldn’t help it, as I smiled faintly. Elizabeth noticed the bloodlust I held within my very self, which I kept hidden from anybody. The more my physique advanced, the more these emotions were heighted as well.
“For years I thought I already knew you, but every time you keep surprising me with a new facet of you…” Elizabeth sighed. “But I guess it is good, because that only makes me more interested.”
“Huh, being flirty at this time of the day, young lady?” I asked teasingly.
“I’m just saying~” Elizabeth said. “But… the whole thing about the cult and their relationship with Erika’s past… It filled me with so much frustration. I wanted to do something about it yet… I couldn’t even said a word. I felt frustrated I couldn’t help my papa back then either… Always so weak and pathetic, I can’t ever get anywhere myself without having others carrying me.”
“I see, so that’s how you’ve been feeling lately.” I sighed. I decided to give her a small head pat, calming her down for a bit. “You’ve got your own set of valuable talents, I didn’t originally kept you at my side because you’re weak and pathetic, I would call you strong and useful, in fact. Just because you can’t beat a group of assassins doesn’t mean you’re the worst out of the blue.”
“Blake…”
“If you really want to help Erika and her mother, then instead of thinking so much about the things you couldn’t do, how about you concentrate in ways you could improve yourself and grow stronger?” I asked. “I know I am being slightly rude, but we’ve been friends for a while now. I know you more than you think.”
“Heh…”
Elizabeth giggled a bit, looking at me with her bright eyes.
“You’re amazing, I guess you’re the only one that would say something like that to me… Even between our friends, they’re always trying to be respectful. Maybe it is how I look or the origin of my powers…” She sighed. “You’re the only one I can really talk carefreely.”
Elizabeth seemed to have cheered up a bit more now.
“I kind of like you a lot…”
She blushed a bit, looking into the horizon.
“Well, it wasn’t hard to say it, right?”
“Ah… Geez, teasing me even now?”
“It’s the only way I know that could cheer you up. Come on, Elizabeth, you look prettier when you smile.”
“H-Hey now, you’re flirting back? That’s new! Have some mercy with my heart please…”
“You’ve gotten cheekier as we grew up, I guess you’ve grown up a lot as well. I don’t know if in the right way…”
“I guess I’ve absorbed a bit of my papa’s nature. Maybe his spirit orb did it or something?”
“Nah, it’s just you as you are. And I like it too.”
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows a bit, feeling flustered.
“Let’s have a blast in the dungeon, then I can invite you to somewhere. How about it?”
“Oohh…? T-This is certainly new! Okay? Sure!”
Elizabeth suddenly got pumped up.
“We can keep walking straight through the path we want to go through, but it doesn’t mean we can’t stop and take a time to relax and think about things. Even I need these times. Every day when I talk with you and everyone else, I consider it my time to relax.” I sighed. “If you haven’t gotten the message yet, I really need you guys at my side.”
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“Okay, got it.” I nodded. “You’re our most important member, a healer, you keep everyone alive. Never think of yourself as useless. Alongside Erika, you two are the stars of our Party, you cheer up everyone with your smiles. Never forget it.”
“Heh, okay~” Elizabeth smiled, suddenly giving me a kiss in my cheek. “Thank you, I guess you’re the only one that can make me smile in just a few words like that.”
“Well, at your service, Lady Saintess.” I laughed.
“By the Holy Spirits, I am so tired of everyone calling me like that at the Academy!” Complained Elizabeth.
“And you think I like how everyone calls me the “Summoner Hero” or whatever? It’s just as cringe.” I laughed with her.
In between laughter, we made our way back home and prepared ourselves for the dungeon.
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