Visiting
The two women strolled toward the empty lot where Ahin often hung out lately.
Er, with her shimmering blonde hair that reached her shoulders flipped back over one ear, emerald eyes scanning the surroundings as the Silver-rank adventurer and party leader, was the one walking there.
She had been chasing after a man she hadn’t seen in days, ever since he’d vanished from her life like smoke.
After declaring a break because the last request had been too tough, Ahin had stopped showing up at the guild and even at the tavern.
Er let out a small sigh, recalling a tiny secret she’d shared with him.
“Maybe he got tired of me…?”
“What?”
“…Nothing.”
Ahin shot Er a terrifying glare as she tried to play it off.
Like always, with her black hair tied into a ponytail, Jina asked in a voice full of suspicion.
“…Is something wrong? Did something happen?”
“No, nothing happened.”
“Nothing happened, my ass! You think I can’t tell the subtle vibe still lingering between you two even after you went to the underground graveyard?!”
“Why ask if you already know? What a strange person.”
“GYA-AH!!”
Er caught Jina’s hand as the junior disciple burst toward them with a shriek that no woman—hell, no human—should ever make.
After a brief scuffle in the middle of the street, the two finally let go of each other’s hands.
“…You’re a male healer, but you’re way more fox-like.”
“Ehehe, I guess I am pretty charming, aren’t I?”
“Your personality’s changed lately!!”
“Yes, my personality is what it is when I meet people. It’s all thanks to Ahin.”
“GAAH!!”
Just as Jina was about to lunge again with another shriek.
“Jina, stop sulking like that and look over there.”
“Sulk?! Right now?!”
“Hey, isn’t this the spot where Ahin used to hang out?”
At the mention of Ahin’s name, Jina reluctantly dropped her anger.
“Ahin, you, and all of you will die at my hands. What’s the point?”
“Stop bullshitting and look already.”
“What the hell is going on…?”
As she said that and turned her head, Jina’s eyes widened at the strange sight in her view.
“…What the heck is that?”
That empty lot where Ahin had set up a tent every single day and slept through the night.
Someone lay collapsed there, as if they’d been camping out, the faint remains of a campfire still glowing.
Due to the oversized robe swallowing her tiny frame, she looked like a doll tangled in fabric.
Her light-blue hair peeking out from under the hood would have been the only clue, otherwise no one would have recognized her.
She was sprawled right where Ahin used to stay.
“Haru!?”
“Did someone attack her…?!”
“…Flop.”
“…Flop?”
Haru stirred slightly at the voices, lifting her head with a dazed expression.
“I’m so hungry…”
“…”
Er and Jina exchanged a look of disbelief.
“If you’re hungry, just go to the restaurant. Why come here?”
“There isn’t any food place nearby.”
“If you want to see Ahin, come this way.”
As she spoke, Haru struggled to lift her head again, sinking it back down.
“But Ahin isn’t here… Why isn’t he here…? I’m so hungry…”
“…First, let’s get something to eat.”
“I have some dried meat in my pocket. Want some?”
Haru accepted the dried meat Jina offered and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing contentedly.
“Ahin didn’t come here yesterday… So I’ve been starving…”
“If he doesn’t show up, just go somewhere else on your own.”
“Then I’ll lose Ahin… There’s something I have to do…”
“Something to do?”
Er’s eyes widened in confusion as Haru swallowed the meat and spoke.
“I have to dissect…”
“…Maybe Ahin ran away because he was scared of Haru?”
“That crossed my mind too… But the tent and campfire are still exactly as they were, right?”
A shabby tent and a long-dead campfire—yet Ahin had left behind such blatant traces of his stay.
“And if he wanted to avoid me, he would have come to me instead of leaving.”
“Exactly. Since he didn’t come to me, it must mean he ran away.”
“…Now you’re ignoring me completely?”
“Should we ask at the guild?”
Er grabbed Haru’s ponytail and lifted her up, explaining.
“Ahin wouldn’t have gone far. Maybe he left because he didn’t have enough living expenses and took a request alone.”
“He’s got a lot of money though…”
“Even if that’s true, better to be safe than sorry. He’s been waiting at the guild the whole time and hasn’t even asked the receptionist or staff.”
As party leader, Er could have easily asked about a member’s whereabouts.
She just hadn’t done it because it felt like snooping, and she herself needed time to prepare mentally.
After days of mulling it over, Er was ready to face him without hesitation.
“On the way, drop Haru at the restaurant and let’s go look for Ahin…”
“WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE!!!”
“Ahin!”
A man’s shout cut Er’s words short.
Gasping for breath, Ahin burst into the empty lot, voice dripping with irritation.
“Wh-why… Here…!”
“First, take a deep breath. You’re going to pass out.”
“Right now… that… urgent thing…!”
“Why are you so rushed? Did a chimera pop out?”
Jina giggled at Ahin’s desperate look.
Ahin, still on one knee and struggling to catch his breath, finally spoke in steadier tones.
“A chimera would have been easier.”
“…What?”
“My master is coming to Carpe.”
Ahin’s face was so pale that Jina felt an unknown dread and asked in a tense voice.
“…Who?”
“That person.”
“That person? What do you mean…”
Jina blinked in confusion.
“My master.”
“KYAAAAAHHHH!!!!”
Instant panic, Jina let out a shriek.
She leapt up like she might fly, then flopped back down as her legs gave out.
“We both got targeted and he put in a specific request just for us. This was deliberate.”
“H-how are we supposed to handle this, Ahin?!”
“Why are you so shocked? You said you got permission, right?”
“I only got permission to catch you! My master didn’t know I was going to become an adventurer!”
“…You really are an unreliable idiot.”
“You’re just as bad!!”
Er watched the two bicker and widened her eyes.
“Things won’t be solved by fighting. What’s the problem?”
“…The fact that person is coming here is the problem itself.”
As she spoke, Ahin scanned the area with hollow eyes, unable to hide his unease.
“If he catches us, we’re dead. He’ll kill us saying things like ‘You ran away and ruined my face?’!”
“There’s no way my master would kill his disciples for a reason like that…”
“The woman who threw a few cigarettes off a cliff just because she was angry! That’s the kind of thing she can still do!”
As he muttered that, Ahin’s legs gave out again and he crouched, biting his nails.
“We’re dead… We’re dead… We’re dead… We’re dead…”
“…Jina, your reaction is way too intense.”
“I’m not that bad, but Ahin might actually die.”
Even if there was a reason, it was true that Ahin had fled the temple right before his coming-of-age ceremony and formal priest ordination.
“Lots of eyes are watching Ahin. There were complaints about why a Holy Knight would choose a weakling like him as a disciple…”
“A Holy Knight?”
“…That’s just the old heads thinking.”
Probably the same people who gave him impossible tasks or kept switching his reasons to match his whim.
By making him go from hot to cold water like that, maybe Ahin would have grown tired of his master and left on his own, or his master would have kicked him out herself.
Just a pointless thought.
“You know it too, right? There are a lot of people who would want to take Ahin for themselves.”
“That’s true. I’m one of them.”
“…That’s why they did the bare minimum at the ordination ceremony. They brought Ahin, still a novice priest, to the formal priest interrogation team.”
“He almost fell?”
Er asked, knowing Ahin’s formal priest status.
“Commander Vener from the Holy Knight Order helped. Otherwise that kid would have been dragged away by the Inquisition.”
“…I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t need to. It’s internal Church business.”
With a sigh, Jina turned to the still-crouching Ahin and said.
“Ahin, running away isn’t an option anymore. You need to prepare.”
“…Prepare?”
Ahin tilted his head in confusion.
Jina smiled brightly.
“Even my master can’t kill a pregnant disciple and her baby father, right?”
“W-wait, what nonsense are you spewing now…”
“Come together, Ahin.”
“KYAAAAH!! SAVE ME, SAVE ME!!!”
“Everyone, stop messing around… Ahin, when is he coming?”
“…A few days, I heard. Why does that matter?”
“We have to prepare.”
Er grinned as she spoke.
“I didn’t mean to, but since we’re two disciples of his, I should at least greet him…”
“It’s fine, I don’t need that.”
“No, I wanted to ask you to bring one of them for me to greet him. Especially…”
Er glanced at Jina.
Jina narrowed her eyes at the look in Er’s gaze, and Er smirked back.
“Honestly, you’re an obstacle!”
“…Good. Let’s see who’s really interfering with whom?!”
Ahin just laughed helplessly as he watched the two women ready to come to blows.
“Ahin…”
“…What are you doing here?”
After Er grabbed his collar and pulled him up, Haru tugged at Ahin’s sleeve from the ground.
“I’m hungry…”
“…Am I your restaurant?”
“Ahin, I waited… But he didn’t come…”
“…”
Though Ahin had no real fault for not keeping the promise, he couldn’t just brush it off.
Ahin glanced sideways at Er and Jina and said.
“Those two will take a while. Let’s go get food first.”
“Yeah…”
“Ah! Ahin, where are you going?!”
“Let’s all go together!!”