"I… am…"
Lena’s voice trembled slightly.
Her words stopped there.
But I didn’t rush her.
I wanted to leave it to her own will.
"I… am…!"
"Yeah."
"Uu… kuuuh!"
Where did she find the strength for that?
Lena leapt far back and ran away.
"Lena!"
"I don’t know what I should do…"
"…Lena…"
"I’m supposed to have a mission. I’m supposed to take revenge on the world that stole everything from us. But…"
Lena looked at me with a face on the verge of tears.
"I don’t want to fight Fate."
"Then—!"
"But I… I…!"
Lena lowered her head.
A tear fell silently.
"…See you."
She must have hidden a magic tool.
A magic circle unfolded at her feet…
And then, she vanished.
In the end, what kind of face was Lena making?
I couldn’t tell.
――――――――――
"Oww, ow ow…"
We returned to the Beastmen’s village, where I received treatment.
Even though I had managed to stay standing until the very end, the truth was that my body was battered all over—I’d apparently taken some pretty serious injuries.
First, Licorice used magic to heal me.
After that, I was given some of the beastmen’s special secret medicine, which Sofia was carefully applying to me.
"Honestly, to push yourself to this point… If I hadn’t rushed over, what would have happened to you?"
"Thank you, Sofia. I really appreciate—ow ow ow…"
"If you truly appreciate it, then please stop making me worry so much!"
"Sorry…"
Her words were perfectly reasonable, so all I could do was bow my head.
"Now, now, don’t scold him too much, that’s not fair."
Surprisingly enough, Licorice stepped in between us.
"It was an unexpected encounter, wasn’t it? In that case, there was no helping it. You couldn’t allow the village’s location to be exposed, so holding them off there was the right decision."
"That may be true, but still…"
"Or maybe, Sofia, you’re just jealous? You couldn’t stand the idea of that woman having a secret meeting with Fate, could you?"
"Ugh!?"
Sofia’s bitter expression showed that Licorice had hit the mark.
"Is that true?"
"……"
Sofia turned her face away.
Licorice answered in her place.
"It’s true. Sofia suddenly said, ‘I smell a thieving cat!’ and ran out without a second thought. Protecting the village wasn’t on her mind at all—it was pure jealousy, jealousy."
Maybe not so surprising after all.
Sofia has a pretty strong possessive streak.
It wasn’t strange for her to act that way.
"I see… thank you, Sofia."
"Eh? W-why are you thanking me? I only…"
"But it’s thanks to you that I was saved."
No matter the reason, if Sofia hadn’t rushed in, I would have been dead.
And besides…
"It’s selfish of me, but… I’m happy that you get jealous."
"…!"
Sofia’s face turned bright red.
"…That way of putting it is unfair."
She pursed her lips in a sulky little pout.
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