Chapter 210: Apology and Reunion
“Umm…? Where is this?”
“Have you woken up, young lady?”
Lieselotte, who had been lying in a remote area of the campsite, woke up. Initially, she couldn’t recall why she had been asleep but quickly remembered the events leading up to her fainting and hastily sat up.
Looking around, she noticed that Chris was not by her side. Instead, a little distance away stood Tigar, Zald, and the other companions of Antares, encircling the area. Hilda was glaring at them with open hostility, yet there was no hostility coming from them. On the contrary, they all looked uniformly apologetic.
“Where is Chris? Why was Sir Antares so angry?”
“I don’t know either. All I know is that Chris, after nearly being killed by that bastard Antares, seems to have chased after the guy who ran away.”
“……???”
The words that were spoken by Hilda, who continued to glare at the others with a grim expression on her face, only deepened Lieselotte’s confusion. Although Lieselotte was an absolute novice when it came to fighting, she couldn’t help but notice the extraordinary aura emanating from Antares. The mere intensity of his anger had been enough to cause her to faint; it was a sensation she had never experienced in her life before.
Facing such an opponent, it seemed inevitable that even the two excellent guards would be defeated without a chance. Therefore, Lieselotte could easily understand that Chris had been nearly killed.
That’s why she couldn’t understand the second half. She couldn’t understand why Antares, an overwhelmingly strong individual, had fled or why Chris, who had nearly been killed, had chased after him.
“What is happening? Can someone please explain?”
“Let me tell you everything, Miss Lieselotte.”
“Oh my…!”
“This is…!”
Tigar and the others seemed hesitant when Liselotte asked them for an explanation of the situation. Right then, from behind them came a man’s voice in response. As the speaker slowly revealed himself, both Lieselotte and Hilda were surprised for two distinct reasons.
The first reason was the appearance of the responding man. He was a young male with a well-featured face and a slightly thin build. Both of his legs from the knees down were prosthetic legs, and to support himself, he held a cane in each hand.
The second reason was the appearance of the woman supporting the man. She was very tall for a woman, and only slightly shorter than the man, and her swollen belly made it clear that she was pregnant.
However, what truly astonished them was the fact that the woman had twisted goat horns protruding from both sides of her head, and her pupils were vertically slit like a cat’s. Additionally, she had blue skin.
“We’ve heard most of the story from Lappy. We are aware of Antares’s circumstances and can explain what happened,” the man said.
“…Who exactly are you people?”
“These are former Imperial Army demon soldiers, belonging to a unit known as the Special Operations unit. My name is Marcellus. Decius and I, as the regiment commander and vice commander, used to lead them as former Imperial Army officers.”
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“Hah… Hah… Maybe this way.”
Chris, who had been chasing after the fleeing Antares, lost sight of him as he was too fast. She was both amazed and exasperated by his speed, but she did not give up. Using all her knowledge, she began to track him down.
Fortunately, Antares, perhaps due to a lack of composure while fleeing, had left numerous traces behind. Furthermore, as a guard, Chris was well-versed in tracking, especially considering scenarios where her master might be kidnapped.
Traces of someone passing by, such as broken branches and footprints in the moss, will remain if you don’t consciously hide them. Believing that following these clues would eventually lead her to her target, Chris persisted in her pursuit without ever giving up.
“…Mr. Scorpion.”
Chris finally caught up with Antares when the sun was at its zenith. She had been chasing him all morning, and due to that, there was a look of exhaustion on Chris’s face that she couldn’t hide. However, her eyes had not lost their power.
In contrast, Antares, sitting on a large rock with his back turned, lacked the fiery spirit he had shown in his anger earlier. He appeared so weak that Chris thought he might vanish if left alone.
“I’ll sit next to you.”
Chris sat down next to Antares on the rock. Though he seemed unresponsive, when Chris sat down, he trembled slightly, if only just a bit.
It seemed that Antares deeply regretted having hurt her. When Chris noticed this, she realized that Antares was still concerned about her. She felt her heart warming slowly.
Antares, who had been looking down all this time, lifted his face as if he had made up his mind. Then, turning towards Chris, he banged his head against the rocky surface in a deep bow.
“I’m sorry. It’s not something that can be easily forgiven, but I truly regret it.”
“M-Mr. Scorpion… no, Antares. Please lift your head? I’m not angry anymore.”
Antares, who didn’t know how to show more sincerity, still thought he wouldn’t be forgiven. Chris had been that angry at the time. Not only did he strangle her, but he also knocked out the person she was guarding and casually touched her treasure, so it was only natural.
But contrary to Antares’s expectations, Chris was no longer angry. In fact, she spoke in a happy tone while gently patting him on the back.
“There’s so much I want to talk to you about and ask you about. So please raise your head.”
“I’m sorry… no, thank you.”
Antares was about to apologize again, but the force of Chris’s hand on his back grew stronger. Realizing he had probably given the wrong answer, Antares expressed his thanks for being forgiven. Feeling the pressure of the hand lessen, he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Antares, having lifted his head, gazed intently at Chris with his compound eyes. He remembered Chris from the time when he was still a battle beast in a cage and she was a slave. Back then, she was wrapped in dirty bandages all over her body, wearing equally unclean clothes on top.
Moreover, due to poor nutrition, her complexion was bad, and she was so thin that she was all skin and bones. Her hair was full of split ends, and she even had lice on her scalp. This was the image of Chris that Antares remembered.
But look at her now. She had grown much taller from her small stature back then, reaching the average height of an adult woman. She had lustrous, lightly wavy flaxen hair and piercing blue eyes that showed a strong will. Her body had developed womanly curves and well-fleshed limbs… The more he looked at her current appearance, the more Antares, who knew her then, couldn’t believe it.
“Umm… it’s embarrassing to be stared at like that.”
“My apologies. It’s just… well, you’ve become beautiful.”
Originally Antares was a scorpion, but he had been a demon for a longer time than that period. While he still hadn’t completely grasped the nuances of human nature, he had learned to discern beauty and ugliness.
That’s why Antares could see that Chris had grown into a beautiful woman. He was merely expressing his honest opinion, but his words made Chris’s face turn bright red.
“Do-don’t suddenly say things like that, mmm…!”
“Hm, was it unpleasant? It was my honest opinion; was it n-mupgh?”
Antares continued to praise Chris, who had turned bright red. Even though he was unaware of it, to Chris, it seemed as if he was straightforwardly wooing her with his words.
Fearing that if she listened any longer, she might run away, Chris covered his mouth with her hand. Although Antares fell silent at this, he soon began staring intently at her arm.
“What’s the matter… Ah, you’re curious about my arm, aren’t you?”
Realizing what Antares was thinking, Chris removed her hand from his mouth and presented her right arm. On the day of the coup in the Harlasia Kingdom, her right arm had been severed due to the aftermath of a holy knight’s spiritual art. When he saw it at the time, Antares had thought she was dead and, instead of fleeing, annihilated the holy knights in revenge.
The fact that she had both arms was also the main reason why Antares hadn’t connected Chris with the slave girl in his mind. Chris said, “Watch this,” and extended her right arm forward. As Antares watched, her right hand shot out at a speed akin to a bullet.
From the remaining right arm, a wire extended, seemingly connecting to the ejected hand. Antares was well aware of such mechanisms incorporated into armor.
“A mechanical armor…? No, is it a prosthetic hand using that technology?”
“You can tell at a glance. Well, it’s natural, considering you’ve been on the front lines.”
At Antares’s response, Chris nodded with a smile. This was the reason she had stubbornly refused to remove the gauntlets from her arms.
Having only one arm was inconvenient, so Chris preferred to keep her prosthetic right arm attached as much as possible. However, it felt odd to always wear the right arm while her left gauntlet was removed. Therefore, despite knowing it would draw curious looks, she decided to equip both gauntlets whenever she was not in a familiar setting.
When the wire retracted and her right hand returned, it was holding a red fruit. Apparently, she could move her hand even after ejecting it. Chris offered the fruit to Antares.
Antares caught the fruit, lightly tossed it, and then, drawing his white sword from his waist at the speed of a flash, sliced it in half. Catching the neatly divided fruit mid-air, he handed half back to Chris.
“…Hehe. Brings back memories, doesn’t it? Remember?”
“The bread you brought and we shared? Of course, I remember.”
The two of them munched on the fruit at the same time while feeling nostalgic. While the citrus scent hinted at freshness and sweetness, the fruit was almost tasteless, perhaps not yet ripe. Both frowned at the same time, and the similarity of their reactions brought smiles to their faces once again.
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