Absorption (2)
Cristina had devoted herself entirely to training after returning from her demonic realm practical.
‘······He was strong.’
That demon had been so powerful that even with her and Siris working together, they had barely been able to keep up.
Cristina knew that if the sun had been up that day, her life would no longer belong to this world.
‘If only I had been stronger······.’
Could we have avoided getting hurt?
They had only survived because Vincent and Allen had been there. It wasn’t because of her own power.
Even now, the battle against that demon still lingered in Cristina’s mind.
‘······It’s pointless.’
It was a meaningless thought.
What was done was done.
Instead of dwelling on the past, she needed to think about the future.
“······.”
Knowing this, Cristina trained using her radiance with the hope that next time, there would be no victims.
Time passed, and it was Sunday.
‘Since I’m already up, should I go train?’
Having woken far too early, Cristina headed toward the training hall.
‘Huh?’
On her way, she spotted a long-haired man.
The jet-black darkness of his hair had vanished under the artificial sun, leaving only a brilliant, enchanting red glow.
His plain yet somehow light-absorbing black martial arts uniform looked strangely stylish on him.
‘Adel.’
But the moment Cristina saw him, she hid.
‘······It feels a bit awkward.’
She still blamed herself for the fact that Adel and Siris had been injured during the fight with the demon.
Time would probably heal that wound.
“······.”
“······.”
After watching him converse with someone for a moment, she felt puzzled when he moved to board a carriage.
‘Why is he taking a carriage?’
Heroes received a certain discount when using gates.
The price was mostly symbolic anyway, so it didn’t cost much.
Cristina assumed Adel knew this common knowledge and wondered why he would choose a carriage.
‘I’ll follow him.’
Training all day didn’t mean one’s skills would improve dramatically overnight.
Rest—both physical and mental—was important too.
Cristina walked over to a coachman and said,
“Please follow that carriage.”
Having unintentionally decided to tail him, Cristina headed toward Shahin while calming her mind through meditation.
‘So he’s decided to use a sword.’
While Cristina herself avoided meeting others, she still heard the rumors.
That Adel was using a sword and sparring with people. That he had fought Cristina. That he had abandoned her to chase after another woman. That he actually had a secret girlfriend he was hiding… and so on.
She didn’t believe anything except the first rumor, though.
‘······Why do those kinds of rumors keep spreading?’
Cristina had always been straightforward. She could understand people’s twisted motives with her head, but her heart refused to accept them.
After Adel finished the inspection at Shahin and entered, she followed suit.
‘What if I get caught?’
The longer she followed him, the more uneasy she felt.
‘I’ll buy that.’
She bought a random hat from a nearby stall, pulled it low over her face, and continued tailing him.
Gurgle!
How much time had passed?
A thunderous rumble erupted from Adel’s stomach.
It was loud enough that everyone nearby must have heard it.
His cheeks gradually turned red as he hung his head low.
‘How cute.’
She almost wanted to tease him.
With that thought, Cristina watched as Adel entered a tavern and memorized the location.
She waited a little while before going in herself since they weren’t too close.
Ding-a-ling.
‘Will I get caught?’
Cristina pulled her hat down as far as possible and glanced sideways at Adel with a nervous heart.
He frowned slightly but didn’t seem overly suspicious.
‘Well, he probably figured he’d meet someone in Shahin.’
She was wearing her academy cadet uniform.
Even if others wore similar clothes, blonde hair wasn’t common.
Although the large hat hid her face, the combination of blonde hair and cadet uniform would be noticeable if someone stared long enough. But Adel clearly hadn’t expected to run into her at all, so he stopped looking in her direction.
‘······That’s obvious, I guess.’
Even so, the fact that he hadn’t noticed her left Cristina feeling slightly annoyed.
She sat at the table right next to his and watched him.
“Here you go~”
The waitress approached Adel, handed him his food, and didn’t leave.
With flushed cheeks, she fidgeted shyly with her feet. She looked exactly like a girl about to confess her feelings.
“U-um, would you like to go on a d-date with—”
“······.”
Flame Path
Cristina stared at the waitress with icy eyes.
‘A d-date? She’s asking him out, isn’t she?’
Something I’ve never even done?
Cristina imagined the two of them walking together through the streets.
‘······I don’t like it.’
Adel’s appearance was the kind that would receive more than just one or two date requests.
Thump! Thump!
Just thinking about it made her heart pound violently.
“Waitress. I’d like to order.”
Cristina called out before the waitress could finish speaking, interrupting the confession.
It had been completely unconscious.
‘······What is this feeling?’
What kind of emotion was this?
She hated even imagining Adel with another woman.
“······Tina. Siris.”
She flinched!
When he suddenly called her nickname while looking at his beer, her body trembled. But nothing else happened after that.
Ding-a-ling.
Before she could even organize her thoughts, a red-haired woman staggered into the tavern.
‘I feel like I’ve seen her before······.’
The red-haired woman looked familiar, but Cristina couldn’t quite remember where.
Her speech was slurred, and she kept swaying as she stood. It seemed like she was drunk.
‘It feels more like drugs than alcohol······.’
She gave off the impression that medicine suited her better.
‘······Ah!’
Thinking of drugs jogged her memory.
Red hair. Drugs. A woman.
It matched the characteristics of the criminal she had seen before.
‘Kali.’
A criminal who had used drugs in the city, committed arson, and harmed innocent civilians—a witch-like woman.
Rumors said she had burned and destroyed an entire village along with other criminals.
‘What should I do?’
The moment she remembered it was Kali, Cristina felt lost about what to do next.
Fwoosh.
But Kali didn’t give her time to think.
Fwoooooosh!
Flames suddenly burst from Kali’s hands, threatening to engulf the entire tavern.
Her emotions had exploded instantly because of the drugs.
‘······This is bad.’
As Cristina stood up, fierce flames filled her vision.
In just a few minutes, everything would burn to ash.
Scrape.
Adel rose from his seat with a relaxed expression.
Seeing him brought a sense of calm to her heart.
‘Adel is here.’
In his personal training room, he felt heat more intense than anyone else.
No matter how hot Kali’s flames were, they couldn’t compare to his.
“Leave this to me.”
Adel gave the worried waitress a reassuring smile.
“······.”
That smile made Cristina want to get even closer to him.
‘······It feels unpleasant.’
Separately from that, the smile he gave only to the waitress somehow made her feel bad.
“······.”
When Adel looked at her without saying anything, she quietly left the tavern.
‘Because he trusts me.’
She didn’t think Adel would lose to Kali, and in the first place, flames would be easier to handle without her presence.
‘Let’s head to the knight order headquarters.’
Heroes existed in this world.
Most of them lived in the Helen family mansion.
So who defended ordinary cities?
‘The knight orders.’
The knight order stationed in a region would rush out the moment something happened and subdue the threat.
‘I can trust them.’
Since this was Gawood family territory.
Just as Adel had thought, Shahin belonged to the Gawood domain.
If the knight order arrived, everything would probably end smoothly without any trouble.
“······.”
Cristina stared at the tavern door for a moment before walking away without hesitation.
The flames approached me.
The faint heat couldn’t harm me, but I could feel a pure yet impure fire energy.
It seemed the drug had broken its purity.
“Why are you fine? Handsome friend?”
Click.
Kali walked toward me with steady steps and an alluring smile, completely ignoring my flames.
“What’s your name?”
She reached out and touched my face as she asked.
Her hand felt cold, like touching frost, completely separate from the fire energy.
“······.”
I said nothing.
‘What kind of person is she?’
I couldn’t tell if Kali had really taken drugs, if she was truly a criminal, or if this was just random terrorism. Nothing was certain.
That was why I had simply been sensing the heat without taking any particular action.
“Hmm?”
Kali created flames in her hand and pointed them at my chest.
“What could your name be?”
“······.”
From this, I could tell she wasn’t normal.
Fwoosh.
Her flames drew closer to my heart.
The moment Kali’s flames touched mine.
Vooooom.
A strange resonant sound rang out.
“······?”
When I looked at Kali, she simply stared at my face with that same alluring smile, completely unaware of anything.
Vooooom. Vooooom.
As the flames drew closer, I felt them resonating with mine even more violently.