“It’s alright, Cecilia,” Alnea said, letting out a heavy breath, as he saw life fade away from the beast’s eyes. Withdrawing his Aspects from his sword, he walked over to his tense friend, and patted her shoulders in reassurance. “It’s over.”

Cecilia was too tense to heed his words though. It was not until she had personally confirmed the beast’s death that she finally released her hold on the beast, just as she let go of the breath she was holding. Pushing the beast away from her body, she tried to regain her balance as she got back onto her feet. From the way she was wobbling though, she had probably used more of her strength than she had intended. Nonetheless, she was not so weak that she could not even stand properly.

“Finally,” she said, crackling her bones, while stretching her arms to loosen her tight muscles. “That took an awful long time. Couldn’t you have slashed at it a few more times to make it die earlier?”

“…It was already dying as it was.”

“Which is why you should have killed it earlier, ending its misery.”

“…Were you scared?”

“Scared? Who? Me? Right, keep dreaming!” Cecilia said with a snort, just as her eyes went down towards the robe she was wearing. “Great, another robe wasted.”

“It is just some blood,” Alnea said, as he wiped his sword on the panther’s fur, before sheathing it. “It is not like this is the first time your robe has seen some blood, right?”

“Right, like the time you put a hole in my armpit,” Cecilia said, giggling to herself. In contrast, Alnea only winced at the memory.

“…It was not my fault,” Alnea mumbled, before grabbing on to the beast’s leg. “Let’s go. We should not stay here for too long.”

“Urgh… another panther,” Cecilia grumbled, but she followed his example anyway, helping him drag the beast towards Yuri. “Let me tell you, I am not cooking this time.”

“Fine, fine. I will do it… Just don’t puke afterwards.”

“…Or maybe I should be the one to cook, after all.”

“…Then I will have to be careful to not puke afterwards.”

“You—

“We can decide who will cook once we get back to the cave,” Yuri said, as they reached her side. From the way she was looking at them, she did not look very pleased. And though she had already put back her Glyph Disc, and carving knife back into her storage bag, somehow, she looked even more dangerous than before. “Right now, there are other more important things to discuss. Don’t you think so?”

“…I think it is even more important to leave the area.”

“Don’t worry. As long as the Wall of Corrosion is up, no Oren Beast would dare to get near this area.”

“Right,” Alnea said, glancing back towards the menacing wall of grey fog in the distance, as he let go of the leg that he was holding. “…The Wall of Corrosion.”

“So? Do you two have anything to say for yourself?”

“…It was my fault,” Alnea said. “I should have attacked it from a direction that would have kept it trapped between Cecilia, and me. Instead, I attacked it from Cecilia’s side, allowing it enough room to escape.”

“No,” Cecilia interjected, shaking her head, as she dropped the leg she was holding as well. “It was my fault. Alnea would never have made that move if I had not put myself in that position.”

“It was still me who made that choice. The fault lies with me. I—

“You two,” Yuri said, pinching her forehead. “There is no need to take responsibility for each other. Because neither of you are guilt free. And like you said, Cecilia, everything started with you. If you had not committed yourself completely to your first attack, then Alnea would not have been forced to support you regardless of all other circumstances.

“Did you truly think that you would be able to take it down with your first hit? It was a Black Lightning Panther for Faein’s sake. Don’t you know how fast they are? Even I would not have the confidence of taking it down in a frontal attack like that with my first hit. And even if I committed myself to that attack like you did, I would have made sure to reserve enough strength to control my retreat. You…”

“…I am—

“Let me stop you there, Cecilia. I am not seeking your apology. I just do not want you to make any mistakes again. Especially not the same mistakes.”

“…I will keep that in mind.”

“Good,” Yuri said, nodding in satisfaction, before turning towards him. “As for you, Alnea. Your mistake was, by far, the greatest.”

“I…”

“What was the plan that we made?”

“…That we will attack the Black Lightning Panther, and not let it escape.”

“And how were you supposed to do that?”

“…By keeping it busy, and surrounded.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Yet you chose to ignore all that we had discussed. It does not matter why you did it, the end result was that you ignored our plan, and acted on your own. That is not how a team works. Even if you are forced to adapt, you cannot abandon the task that you are supposed to do. Because the whole team depends on you. Or else, with everyone doing what they think is the best, what we will have will no longer be a team, but just a collection of rogues. Can you understand what I am saying?”

“…I am.”

“Yet you do not regret your actions, do you?”

“…Maybe.”

“If we face the same situation, you will do the same thing once again, won’t you?”

“…Should I say the truth, or should I lie?” Alnea said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. “How am I supposed to ignore her when she is in danger? And even if it was not her… if the panther had changed its direction, and charged towards you… how was I supposed to ignore it?”

“…You are such a fool,” Yuri said, shaking her head. “Let me put this in another way. What was your role in the fight?”

“…To keep the Beast—

“No, not that role. But which kind of Wanderer you were fighting the Oren Beast as?”

“…A Warrior.”

“What about me? What was I fighting as?”

“…A Scholar.”

“And what is the job of a Scholar in fights?”

“…To provide support.”

“To provide support,” Yuri said, nodding along with his words. “Then did you ever stop to think that if I saw Cecilia in danger, I might provide support for her?”

“…No.”

“Forget about me acting as a support. Let us just talk about it from the perspective of Wanderers, or even just normal humans. From the perspective of friends… Did you really think that I would just sit back, and do nothing, as I watch the Oren Beast tear into her?”

“I did not think that much…”

“And that is why you are a fool,” Yuri said, shaking her head with a sigh. “If I had not stopped in time as I saw you move to defend Cecilia, then the Glyph that I was about to activate would have hit you instead. And though your body is stronger than normal humans, it cannot be compared to Oren Beasts yet. Can you guess what would have happened next?”

“…I would have screamed in pain?”

“…You would have to remain conscious to scream. All my Glyphs are from the lineage of Decay. Do you think that your body can bear the corrosive effects of the Mysteries of Decay?”

“…No.”

“Then what do you think would have happened if the Beast saw you both lying on the ground, and unable to move?”

“…It would not have let the chance pass,” Alnea said, shivering at his own words, and thoughts.

“Though Black Lightning Panther prefers retreating, and taking revenge over a long period of time, if they see a chance for an immediate revenge, they will not hesitate for even a moment.”

“I did not know…”

“Of course, you did not know. You thought that you were saving Cecilia. But the truth was that you were only hurting her, and yourself.”

“…That’s a little too harsh, Yuri,” Cecilia said, finally unable to hold herself back. “He made a mistake, but there is no need to dig into him like that.”

“This is not about just a simple mistake, Cecilia,” Yuri said in response. “This is about working as a team. If we cannot even trust each other, and try to do everything on our own, then we will never become a team.”

“I understand that, but this was only our first fight.”

“It does not matter whether it was our first, or our hundredth fight. When it comes to matters regarding our existence as a team, we cannot be lax in any way.”

“But—

“It’s alright, Cecilia,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “Yuri is right. It was my fault. I… I tried to do everything by myself. And it is not just this time… I have always tried to do everything by myself. It is no wonder that I always end up in difficult situations. But I… I am not alone anymore. There is no need for me to act on my own. We… are a team. And we need to act as team.”

Taking a deep breath, Alnea turned towards Yuri, and looked at her crystal blue eyes. Only someone as clueless as Cecilia could not see the pain hidden behind those eyes. The emotions that were lying in clear sight… Saying all those things, without the slightest hint of mercy, was harder on her Heart, than it was on him. But she said those things anyway. Because she was the leader of the team. Because it was her responsibility to ensure that they worked as a team. Responsibility… Another burden on her shoulder… Another burden on her Heart.

“I am sorry that I did not trust you enough, Yuri.”

“Like I said, I do not wish for—

“I know, I know, you just need me to not make that same mistake again. Don’t worry. I will never make that mistake.”

“…We will see about that. With how you usually behave—

“But what about the mistake you are making, Yuri?”

“…What mistake are you talking about?”

“I know that I try to do everything by myself, but aren’t you the same?”

“…I do not remember doing anything like that,” Yuri said, still refusing to shar her burdens. “I was just supporting you from behind, while you were the ones fighting the Beast.”

“I am not talking about that,” Alnea said, shaking his head, before pointing his thumb at his chest. “I am talking about here… About trying to bear everything by yourself.”

“…Did you hit your head, or something?”

“Maybe,” Alnea said, laughing to himself, as both Yuri, and Cecilia looked at him with weird eyes. “I, Alnea Oathkeeper, take an Oath that—

“Wait—

“I will bear all the burdens that Yuri Faed has to bear—

“Stupid Oathkeeper,” Yuri cursed, as she rushed towards him, trying to stop him by putting her hands on his mouth. But without her Aspects, and with him using all his experience gained from fighting Oren Beasts to twist his body in time, all she could put her hands on was his chest. Coupled with the force she had put behind her actions, both of them went tumbling down to the ground. Still, at the very least, his mouth was free.

“It does not matter whether it is creating a team, or anything else, as long as it is a burden that she is bearing, I will bear it with her.”

“You fool. Why did you take an Oath?” Yuri grumbled, while Cecilia looked at them in confusion.

“…What is happening here?”

“Why are you still standing there in a daze?” Yuri said, urging Cecilia to help her, as she tried to fight off his hands to reach his mouth. But that did not make any sense to Cecilia. She did not know the price of his Oath, after all. To her, it was just an Oath. Still, she could feel that something was not right, and so she answered Yuri’s call for help, and rushed to help her seal his mouth. However, her actions were a little too late.

“As long as it is something bothering her, I will help her get rid of it,” Alnea said, as he stopped struggling, and looked back towards the white haired girl, sitting on top of him, staring at her right into her crystal blue eyes. “That is my Oath.”

“Fool…” Yuri mumbled, biting her lips in frustration. “Why did you do that?”

“Because, like I said, I want to share your burdens. And I want to see you smile.”

“…You are such a fool.”

“I may be a fool, but I am…”