Chapter 158: The Former Marquise Shines a Light, and the Dagger Sparkles 1
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Somehow, Erica was starting to find this rather fun.
If she ran, Shin would chase after her.
What is this? Isn’t it more rewarding the more I run?
Right now, it feels like I’m running for free.
For a moment, she felt as if her calmer self was holding its head in its hands, but Erica’s inherently somewhat clunky maiden circuit ignored all of that.
It was also good that, before she knew it, the Knights of Hecate were guiding residents everywhere, making it easier to run.
It must have been her imagination that their faces looked terribly exhausted for some reason.
Shin’s voice calling her name caressed her back.
Each time, how should she put it, she felt like she could fly through the sky right now.
Maybe Shin’s voice was magic.
It was a mystery why the Knights, upon hearing that magical voice, would groan and mutter, “Both of them are too absurd.”
Even while running amidst a sense of euphoria, feeling like she was definitely tossing something important aside, Erica was still Erica.
Was it because of the blood flowing within her?
When something precious to them is harmed, a Solntsalri unleashes fire.
That inferno instantly incinerated even her own clunky maiden circuit.
How many times had it been? At least, it wasn’t the first time.
It happened when she circled around the town and passed by Luu; her best friend’s face caught her eye.
Her best friend looked sad.
She didn’t know the reason.
With movements that seemed impossibly graceful for someone using Physical Enhancement, Erica killed her speed and stood before her best friend.
Seeing the surprise on the other’s face, Erica realized she hadn’t expected her to stop so suddenly, and gently took her hand.
As if to reassure her, as if to tell her that as long as she was within sight, she would never lack a fire to warm herself by.
“What’s wrong, Luu?”
Her red hair, streaming from inertia, fell, pulled by gravity.
Like cascading flames.
“Did the Prince (Idiot) say something to you? If so, you should just tell him off clearly. There’s no need to hold back, you know? You have a strong Sense of Responsibility in strange ways, so I worry about you.”
Erica worried about Luu so genuinely that it made her own intense frustration from just seeing Luu exchange words with Shin seem foolish.
Certainly, Luu was the one Shin cared for, the person he thought so much of that he’d throw away his own life for her.
But what did that matter?
What did that have to do with Luu being her best friend?
That is that, and this is this.
Erica arrived at a thought process truly befitting an adventurer: thinking about rationality and logic is what makes things go wrong.
Slamming a clenched fist into someone’s face or gently enveloping a hand with an open palm—neither is something you do after thinking logically. Though you might think up excuses later.
Her best friend, who had frozen with a surprised expression, blinked rapidly as if confirming that what was before her eyes was real.
“Eri-cchi, that’s just how you are, isn’t it?”
Maybe we’re surprisingly similar.
Muttering this, Luu gently removed the hand Erica had placed over hers.
“You’re bad at letting yourself be spoiled, yet you try to spoil others like that. That’s no good.”
Erica briefly lowered her gaze to their separated hands.
“Forgive me. I was just reminded of when I first saw you at the academy and got carried away.”
A teasing smile appeared, born from nostalgia.
“I’m going to get scolded again, aren’t I?”
“That’s right. Commoners have their own Sense of Responsibility and self-awareness, y’know?”
Luu’s words felt incredibly nostalgic.
That day, in front of the academy’s Flower Bed, when Erica first saw Lou Memphis, Luu—who had suddenly been thrust into the role of the Maiden of Light—looked just like a lost child to her.
And in response, she herself had said something quite arrogant and received a sharp counterattack.
Nostalgia prompted her to make a lighthearted remark.
“In that case, I shall say this again. If that is so, let us become friends. If we are friends, then is it not inevitable that we shall cry together and laugh together?”
Luu laughed.
Just like on that day when neither of them had completely shed their childishness.
“Isn’t it improper to suddenly try and woo me like that?”
The same answer as that day.
At that moment, on that day, they had become friends.
“I was unaware that such things existed between friends, though perhaps I am ill-informed. Lou Memphis, my friend, please rely on me to your heart’s content. I am Erika Solntsalri.”
Erica spoke just like she did that day.
Puffing out her chest, with strong eyes that hinted at insolence, and lips holding an elegance just short of arrogance.
“I shall burn away everything that troubles you.”
Having said that, Erica added as if suddenly remembering.
“Although, I am Erica Longdagger now. But for you, I shall specially become Erika Solntsalri, alright?”
In her whisper, which she made no effort to conceal, one could see the remnants of the childishness from days past, which she felt she had lost for trivial reasons.
Maybe it was alright for her to cling a little more to the things that slipped away, even if she couldn’t be like Shin.
The things she had hastily discarded, using the excuse of being nobility, now felt precious.
For Erica, perhaps Luu was the symbol of those things she had cut away and discarded as useless to herself.
The light of days gone by.
That warmth was her.
Luu laughed at Erica’s joking words, just like that day.
Laughing with an unadorned voice, so different from her noble self, she seemed incredibly dazzling.
“That’s a wonderful way to woo someone.”
Erica smiled back again at Luu, who offered this assessment.
She felt like she could smell the fragrance of the Flowers from that day.
“Erica-san, so cool.”
She ignored Shara, who was muttering something incomprehensible a few steps away.
＊＊＊Author’s Note＊＊＊
Huh?
Weren’t the protagonist and heroine supposed to be starting their lovey-dovey time?
There are no plans to build a tower, you know?