/
Lunamaria
*Bam* When the door of the room closed, Lunamaria’s stiffened body was freed like it was released from a petrification spell.
She wrapped her arms around her own body as if she was trying to hug herself.
Her body was still shaking.
When Iria noticed her in such a state, she went up to her and said something, but Iria’s voice did not even reach Lunamaria’s brain even when it shook her ear.
Maybe Iria sensed that something was wrong, so she tried to help her regain some of her energy by casting the miracle 『Invigoration』on her, but Iria’s spell was unable to calm her down.
However, it wasn’t Iria’s fault. Even if the miracle was casted by the highest ranking priest from the holy temple of law, it probably still wouldn’t get rid of the Lunamaria’s fear right now.
Inside Lunamaria’s heart that was like a raging storm, there was only one question occupying it.
The young man who left the room just now…just who the heck is he?
Of course, she knew that his name was Sora. They have drifted apart now, but they were once comrades who went on adventures together. She could still remember the food that he liked and disliked.
She also knew that his name “Sora” was actually written like “空”. They talked together in the past about how the people of the Canaria Kingdom are especially unfamiliar with the eastern letters from the Ad-Astera Empire, so he registered himself in the guild with his name simply written as “Sora”.
In terms of their relationship in the party, Lunamaria got along quite well with him.
Since Larz, Iria, and Miro were a trio that always stuck together, she naturally became the one who hung out with Sora.
Moreover, they both did things like preparation work before adventures and post-adventurer clean ups together. That’s why she knew him much better than the other party members.
But…but she didn’t know that side of him. She did not know about that power he had.
Lunamaria is a spirit user, and the Sora she saw in her eyes was not in the shape of a human.
It was a dark, murky, bottomless darkness. A grotesque shadow that the spirits couldn’t get close to.
It was something ferocious, strong, and full of despair.
Her feet were frozen in fear when she saw it. Her body trembled just from being able to see it. She thought that if Sora felt like it, he could have definitely killed everyone there. She was convinced that he had the “power” to do that.
Within Lunamaria’s knowledge, there was only one existence that she knew of that gave off a massive shadow like that.
「…A dragon」
Seven days ago, she could not see that shadow when they talked at Titis forest.
Just what happened to Sora in these seven days? No, wait… was that really Sora that she just saw, in the first place?
Did some evil monster borrow Sora’s appearance to get into the city? She even had such doubts.
While Lunamaria was like that, Larz’s pissed off voice came flying past her ears.
「Master. That guy turned down your attempts at conciliation. Is it fine to let him get off scot-free like that?」
「That’s no good, Larz. Those are two different stories」
「…Huh?」
「We’re in the wrong this time, so I don’t think we should keep going with this. Normally, I would not have forgiven you guys. Attacking another person with magic and putting the blame on a monster like that; I can’t even blame Sora for calling you guys murderers」
「B-but, master, you just said a little while ago…」
「I protected you guys because what Sora wanted to do would have damaged the stability of the guild, not because I acknowledge what you guys did. Do not be mistaken」
The first-tier adventurer warned Larz with a sharp glare.
Being taken aback by his intensity, Larz took half a step back and nodded.
「Good. Now then, Lidelle-kun」
「Yes, master」
「Did Sora mention anything about what happened in the period he was captured by the king of flies? I read the report of Parfait-kun on Sora’s voluntary questioning, but I only saw three things, “I can’t remember it clearly”, “I don’t know”, “I really have no idea” 」
「No, he did not say anything else other than that」
「I see. It’s unnatural no matter how I think about it… that a level one tenth-tier adventurer or ex-adventurer rather, managed to come back alive from the nest of the king of flies that’s located deep inside the Titis forest. Not only is overcoming that monster’s paralyzing poison and then escaping its nest a hard enough task as it is, it should be impossible to make it out of the forest alive since the scent of blood would attract all kinds of demonic beasts from the forest. I want to hear more about that story but..heh, it’s true that we aren’t in a position to ask since we won’t listen to what he’s saying」
Elgart made a bitter smile, perhaps recalling what Sora had said to him earlier.
Apparently the guild master was not very angry with Sora.
Anyway, Lunamaria knew the obvious answers to Elgart’s questions.
No matter what kind of demonic beasts, no, even more so because they’re demonic beasts, they would be no match to the Sora now, let alone some paralyzing poison.
Because the Sora now is a dragon. A mythical being.
…Lunamaria felt that something was amiss from her own thoughts.
Of course, she did not say this out loud.
Everything was her own speculations. And she only had “Sora looks like a dragon” to justify herself.
She has never heard of something like a human harboring the power of a mythical race inside of them from what she learned in the sage academy. It had never been mentioned in the many books that she had ever read.
When she thought about it again, she was the only one who was frightened by him. Larz and the others did not seem to notice anything, and same with the guild master and the receptionist.
In that case, they would probably just tell her to get some rest even if she told them her thoughts of Sora being a dragon.
When Lunamaria looked down to the floor with that in mind, she noticed for the first time that there was a gold coin there…
◆◆◆
「………Sora…-san」
What should she do after she caught up to him? What should she say to him?
She did not think about it. However, she really wanted to confirm something.
She wanted to confirm whether or not the shadow she saw on him in that room was just her hallucinating.
「Umm, these… I wanted to return them to you」
She held out a small pouch as it made clattering sounds.
When he heard that, Sora’s eyes opened wide and blinked as if he could not believe it.
「What? You came all the way out here to bring this to me?」
「Yes. And… I wanted to apologize to you for what happened」
Lunamaria bowed deeply.
In accordance with that movement, her golden, elven hair flowed down to her shoulders like a waterfall under the moonlight.
「I abandoned you when you were in such danger… I’m really sorry」
The streets of Ishka were crowded tonight.
An eye-catching elf was bowing her head down in the middle of the street. She has completely drawn all of the surrounding attention to her.
Normally, Lunamaria would have definitely cared a little about her surroundings and she would have picked a better place to apologize at.
However, she could not afford to think so much right now.
She lowered her head as if something was rushing her. She felt like she wouldn’t make it in time if she didn’t do that.
It was like she was going to be late for something or to meet someone, but Sora did not understand it.
Then, Sora opened his mouth unhappily after seeing her like that.
「Thank you for bringing me back my money. But your apology is unneeded. Rather, it’s kind of unpleasant」
「…Ehh?」
「I want to tell you that if you wanted to apologize to me, you should have done so in the beginning…but considering that you could have been in shock from the monster attack, I could still understand it. I would have been in a similar state if I was in your shoes. But then, why didn’t you apologize to me at the meeting just now?」
「T-that’s…」
She couldn’t tell him “It’s because I was scared of you”.
Sora showed an unpleasant expression when he saw her speechless like that.
「Oh, I think I can understand that too. Because if you apologized to me there, it would have been the same as admitting that Miroslav was in the wrong. How could you lower your head to me in front of Larz and the others before they do, right? There’s no need to worry about me and form a crack in your relationships with your comrades after all. That’s fine too. It was a natural judgement. But why are you lowering your head to me here then?」
「That’s…」
「Hm. Is it by any chance because you wanted to forgive yourself? Whether or not I’ll forgive you, you could still tell yourself that “I’ve properly apologized”. You won’t have to sacrifice your relationship with your party and you can still satisfy your own conscience. As expected of a sage, you sure are smart. However, that makes me sick. Don’t apologize to me for your own sake, do that standing in front of a mirror, you “Faker”」
「Y-you’re wro…!」
Lunamaria tried to deny it, but Sora had already started to walk away quickly and started to disappear into the crowd.
When she tried to chase after him, Sora turned around and glanced back at her.
「…」
She stopped moving when he gave her a cold stare.
Sora did not say anything else to her and just left.
The elven spirit user could only stare at his back in a daze.