“And that's how I first met Yuri. I ended up helping with the escaping. I gave them a false alarm and took Yuri out while disguised as a janitor”

Helgi looked up just in time to see a wet towel fly off from the women's side of the bath.

“Noooo! My towel, stop touching meee!”

A young familiar girl shrieked loudly from the other side of the bath.

Both Helgi and Hikaru have at this point started to ignore the random yelps and cries for help from the girl while the other women played with her like a fun toy.

“What were you doing in that certain facility..?” Hikaru asked.

“I was there for the statue too. That sort of material would be worth a fortune. I ended up helping Yuri since my plan was ruined because of Yuri's sudden appearance, which heightened security, so I helped Yuri out, for my own amusement.”

“That is both unfortunate and fortunate. Unfortunate that your plan failed, but fortunate since Yuri managed to get help from you.”

Hikaru nodded, he could only conclude that fate has always been on Yuri's side. Or perhaps it would be good to call it luck?

“You know the funny part? Yuri has to this day, never realised that it was me who made sure the door stayed open, and gave the soldiers the hint to make them move away from the elevator. Yuri has been so clueless from the start..kind of made me want to be Yuri's friend, since he was such an airheaded trouble magnet..made me just want to help, you know?”

Helgi scratched his cheek, as if unsure of how to explain himself.

Hikaru nodded.

“I understand completely. So Yuri has been like that even since she was a man in a different world..that is a relief..”

“A relief..? Why?”

Helgi asked curiously.

“Well..I have always been..bothered..by the possibility of Yuri having been changed since her acquiring her new body.”

Holding his hand over the water and letting the drops create small ripples on the surface of the water, Hikaru looked away slightly.

“Since that would mean, this world was to blame for killing a part of Yuri...I don't think I would be able to forgive that.”

“You...” Helgi looked at him with slightly wide eyes.

“You...are you for real?”

Laughing loudly, it took a while for Helgi to stop.

“What is so amusing..?”

Hikaru was unsure if he had said anything like a joke.

“No. Nothing..Just what you said, I didn't think guys like that actually existed”

“What do you mean..?”

Hikaru was still confused.

“Oh, nothing nothing~”

(This guy...seriously...is he a protagonist from some story? Who says stuff like that..he seems completely honest too..either that or..he is incredibly good at lying..)

“Oh yeah, now it's your turn. Your goal”

“Indeed. My goal..” Hikaru began.

“I seek the godly relics.” He declared with conviction.

“I assume your question is for why I do so. My reasoning is, if all the relics are removed from the peoples possession. Then true peace might bless this world. If no gods dictate the way their followers should be, there will surely come to be a unification of humanity.”

“Is that so..a very ambiguous dream. And so you teamed up with Yuri, because I assume her goal was to get the most priceless objects in this world.”

Helgi nodded in understanding.

“But tell me..” His tone changed slightly.

“How would you have gone about this, if you didn't have assistance from Yuri?”

Helgi brushed his wet hair back while asking.

“I..had not thought of that before my meeting with Yuri. I didn't have much experience in theft or the like.”

Admitting this, Hikaru realised how foolish he was for not planning ahead of time. Despite the significant time advantage he had over Yuri, he ended up relying on her completely.

“Well, I wouldn't call what Yuri does as theft..more like plundering. Since it always ends with a big commotion.” Chuckling, Helgi looked directly into Hikaru's eyes. His gaze more serious than ever before.

“My question is, why would you care about any sort of unification of the people. You said you were a knight. Wouldn't it be better to to let the world burn, and be recruited by whoever pays the most? Why would you care about the fate of anyone, when you are just a sword for hire.”

Hikaru met Helgi's gaze with eyes devoid of any uncertainty, devoid of any hesitation or questionable thoughts. All they contained was just pure, simple, truth.

“A knight fights not for profit, but for the protection of others. I chose to become a knight in order to protect this world's purity, in order to protect it and keep it in the control of those living in it. I will not tolerate the likes of the arrogant gods who believe themselves to be the owners of everything. That is something that I will free this world of.”

Saying this, the water around Hikaru rippled despite him standing completely still. Even his eyes were motionless while they clashed against the disbelieving questionable gaze of Helgi.

“Is that so.”

Was all Helgi said, slowly closing his eyes and washing his face in the warm water.

“I will be honest, I don't like you.”

He said simply, his tone not carrying any ill will or hateful intonation.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

“May I ask why...?”

Hikaru was confused over this statement, since up till now, Helgi had seemed fairly pleasant to him.

“Because you're too naive. Your goals are childish.”

Standing up, water dripped along Helgi's lean muscled body, flowing along his contours.

“Is that really it..?”

He was somewhat disbelieving toward such a simple reason for disliking someone, so Hikaru asked, to make sure.

“No. Your goals are your own. But this all changes when you get close to Yuri.”

Untying his wet hair, he let it flow down onto his shoulders, the golden blonde shining like spikes of gold due to the wetness.

“Yuri is naïve, and has always been childish. She doesn't need more of the same. She needs someone to make up for what she lacks. Someone who can see past peoples eyes and into their hearts. Who can make the truly unwatchable decisions that Yuri can't do.”

His eyes are cold, despite the hot water and steam, they sent a chill through the bath.

“You lack that. If Yuri continues to be with you. I fear something unfortunate will happen. No. I know it will. You are unfitting for Yuri.”

Hikaru slowly stood up and met his gaze.

“Myself and Yuri have managed fine so far. We have even done good progress on our goal. You have no basis in your claims. Besides. You do not decide who is fitting for Yuri or not. That is for her to decide, and so far, it has been me.”

Retorting, Hikaru's usually relaxed but attentive demeanour turned stiff and on edge. The water around him seemed to let out more steam than the rest of the bath.

“So far, yes. But not for long. Since I am now by Yuri's side, I will make sure I am the only one. You are unnecessary. You are a stranger. I have known Yuri since long before you, our friendship runs deep.”

Helgi sneered slightly. All the friendliness from before was completely gone like it was never there. No it was gone similar to him taking off a mask. The Helgi right now, was the real Helgi. Whose emotions ran colder than ice once something important enough came to his attention.

And currently, it was one of the most important something's.

“You may have the advantage of time. But I have also experienced many things with Yuri. And we have deepened our bond sufficiently. That is not the issue. You are acting arrogantly and unbecoming, speaking as if you were Yuri's guardian. I will not betray Yuri's trust. And will stay by her side until we accomplish our goal.”

Declaring it so, Hikaru took a step toward Helgi through the water.

“Deepened your bond? Are you serious? It's you who is acting arrogant and unbecoming. Can you actually even call what you and Yuri have as friendship? Or any sort of bond? Then tell me. What is Yuri's favourite dish. What does Yuri do when she is lonely. What are her deepest fears? How many members are there in her family? …....Do you even know Yuri's last name?”

Helgi took several steps toward Hikaru, the water flowing perfectly around his legs. No ripples formed where he moved, the water avoiding his body in fear.

“I...”

Bombarded with these questions. Hikaru tried to remember the answers to them.

“....It's..”

No matter how hard he tried to remember. He could not. It wasn't due to his memory. It was because that information was never in his memory to begin with. He had simply never bothered to ask.

He slowly realised.

He barely knew anything about Yuri. He couldn't answer a single one of those questions.

The weight of Helgi's statement slowly sunk in into his mind and heart.

He had all this time with Yuri. Why had he never bothered to ask?

Seeing Hikaru freeze in place, Helgi slowly shook his head in disgust.

“You're pathetic. And you wanted to be by Yuri's side...you don't even know who Yuri is, how can you stand by the side of a stranger.”

Helgi slowly walked out of the bath, Hikaru still standing in the water, unmoving, the shadow cast upon him hiding his facial expression.

“You..you have no reason to be with Yuri any more. I will assist her and find all the relics like she wants. So you don't have to look for them any longer. Since they will be collected by me and Yuri.”

With this said, Helgi walked out of the bath and into the dressing room.

“...and I thought he was planning something..what a fool..I must have imagined there being something between him and Yuri. So stupid.”

Muttering to himself, Helgi dressed himself and exited.

Hikaru kept standing in the bath, all alone. He continued to stand there, asking himself questions in his heart, asking himself of his bond with Yuri.

(...is he right...did I imagine us having any kind of bond...can I even consider Yuri my friend..I..I don't know..)

–

“Uuuuuu...that was horrible..”

Yuri groaned sadly, walking out of the dressing room.

Her hair was neatly done and brushed, with two braids added on the front sides of her hair.

Her dress wasn't her usual white, but a pink tinted dress that she was given.

Even her shoes were replaced with a slightly heeled variant of her basic shoes.

“Ughh...damn those older women...acting like I'm their toy...actually...if I was in my old body, I would probably be older than them..and they treated me like a kid...unforgivable..!”

Shaking her fist in rage, her face reddened slightly when she remembered all the embarrassing things the women did to her.

“Hah...I was so embarrassed that I didn't even pay attention to the most important part...I barely even got to look at their bodies..”

Sighing, she looked down at her own body curiously.

“Somehow..when I looked at their bodies..although it did excite me slightly..I just mostly felt jealous..?”

Making a thinking sound, she thought back to a comment one of the women said when they saw how Yuri was staring at their uncovered bodies.

“It's okay, you will also look like us when you grow up, so don't feel sad!” She said.

“I wonder why that made me kind of happy...no, no, I must have felt happy that I saw their bodies, that must be it!”

Nodding at her own logical conclusion, she headed to the waiting area.

Her presence was noticed by Helgi, who stood up from his seat and walked up to her.

“Ohhh, Yuri you're looking really beautiful today, more pretty than a flower in full bloom”

Helgi said with more emotion than what was necessary.

“Shut up.” Yuri threw a punch into his stomach which almost made him bend over in pain.

“Wasn't by choice, those other women forced me.”

Grunting in annoyance, she looked over at the already completely dry Helgi.

“Have you been waiting for long...?”

“Not at all, I just came out a minute before you.”

He had in fact been sitting there for nearly an hour, but he played it off as nothing. He didn't want to tell Yuri the reason for his early leave of the bath.

“Hm..? Alright, where's Hikaru? He didn't leave with you?”

Yuri asked curiously, looking around for him.

“Ah, Hm, no, no he didn't. He told me he was going to take his time and that we should go ahead.”

Lying as if it was the most natural thing for him, which it perhaps was, Helgi gave Yuri a slightly awkward smile and a shrug, as if to say that there was nothing he could do about it.

“Hm..? That's weird...he usually always comes out from nowhere when I look for him. Maybe he is being slightly laid back since you're here..? But that's so unlike him..”

Muttering slightly, Yuri wondered if she should go call on Hikaru to hurry up.

Noticing her glance towards the men's bath, Helgi quickly moved in front of her.

“Now now, we should probably let him relax for once, he can always catch up when he's done, so let's go browse the markets, it will also be a chance for us to catch up.”

Helgi made an excessive movement of lightly hitting his own palm in realisation.

“Hikaru must have said that so we could have a chance to hang out alone, that's pretty decent of him. It's a win win, he gets to relax and we get to hang out.”

“Mm..well alright..I just felt that something was wrong for a second..It's probably just from the heat of the bath, and the unstoppable chatter of those women..”

She shuddered remembering her bad experience.

“Yeah let's just go, in case those women come back..Hikaru can find me later, he always does”

Nodding, Yuri and Helgi walked out of the bath house building and headed toward the busy market.

Hikaru was left alone in the baths with his disarrayed thoughts and confused heart.

(Surely this is good news...Helgi can take care of Yuri now..I'm not needed any more..and with Yuri's skill, she should be able to get all the relics with Helgi's help...like he said..I realise it now..I never tried to get close to Yuri..it was purely a professional relationship. I took care of her because she was my partner..that's all there is to it.)

He could not organise his thoughts, all his actions before were always clear in meaning and purpose. But this was different, this was difficult.

(That is how it is..surely..then why..why am I unwilling to do so..to part with Yuri, despite all evidence pointing for it to be the best and safest coarse of action. If I leave Yuri, I can focus on taking care of my sister properly. Which would give Yuri and Helgi the independent ability to collect the relics with ease. That should be the best course of action..indeed..it must be the best coarse of action..it must..be..)