"You're rather..." she started, and then trailed off.
"I'm rather?" I prompted, raising an eyebrow.
"Comforting." She finished the sentence.
My brain short-circuited for a moment. Comforting? Me? The guy who just finished turning her tormentor into a human pretzel and promised to heal him only to do it again? The guy who used Myne's own threats against her a minute ago?
"So you mean," I said, letting a note of weary cynicism enter my voice, "a cold-blooded psychopath is comforting?" Because that felt like a more accurate description of my recent behavior than 'comforting'.
She considered the question, her gaze unwavering. "I don't know whether you are a cold-blooded psychopath or not," she stated, her honesty jarring in its simplicity. "But I know one thing."
She took a shallow breath, her eyes fixed on mine. "That is," she said, the truth of it hanging in the air, "you did all that... for me."
Right. The motive. The reason. Simplified down to a basic transaction. He hurt me, you hurt him, therefore you helped me.
"But you were scared of me just now," I pointed out. She had flinched, cowered, expected a blow. That wasn't the reaction of someone who found me comforting.
A flicker of shame crossed her face. "I'm sorry for that," she whispered. "It's just that... I was horrified by how you tortured that prince." She shuddered slightly, the memory of Myne's screams clearly fresh. "But now," she looked at me again, her gaze clear, surprisingly trusting, "now I know... you won't do anything that'll make me uncomfortable."
Oh, for crying out loud. Was she serious? After all that, she was already convinced I was harmless to her? My methods were blunt, yes, and maybe not always cruel without reason, but harmless? That was pushing it.
"Sorry to offend you," I said, my voice flat, resisting the urge to sigh, "but I'm thinking of doing something like that now." Making her uncomfortable. Pushing her away. Testing the limits of this bizarre trust.
She didn't flinch. She didn't retreat. Instead, her eyes narrowed slightly, a spark of surprising boldness returning. "So why haven't you done it yet?" she challenged, her voice quiet but steady.
Then, incredibly, she started to move. Closer. Crawling forward a little on her knees, reducing the distance between us.
"If you decide to do it," she said, her voice dropping slightly, almost conversational despite the intensity, "I don't think anyone can stop you from doing that."
She was right in front of me now. Kneeling way too close. Her face upturned, those wide eyes searching mine, challenging me. What was she doing? Testing me? Daring me? This was absurd.
"Move away!" I snapped, the order sharp, instinctive.
She stopped, surprised by my sudden intensity, and scrambled back slightly, putting a few feet between us again. Good. Boundaries. Necessary.
An awkward silence stretched. She looked at me, bewildered by my reaction. I looked back, bewildered by... her. Her sudden boldness, her challenge, her complete lack of self-preservation instincts around me, of all people.
"By the way," she said, breaking the silence, shifting gears abruptly, "what's your name?"
My name? Did that even matter here?
"I neither have any obligation nor any responsibility to tell you that," I stated, my voice back to its dismissive tone. Information was currency. My past wasn't on the market.
She didn't push for it. She just looked at me, a faint, knowing smile touching her lips. "Alright," she said, accepting the refusal with surprising ease. "So, Mr. No Name."
Mr. No Name. Great. Already getting nicknames.
"You may not know it," she continued, leaning forward slightly, as if sharing a secret, "but we girls' instincts are very strong."
My internal monologue groaned. Oh, here we go. Emotional talk. Instincts. Feelings. Just what I needed. I tuned it out internally. I'm not interested in knowing that.
"We can tell," she insisted, undeterred by my lack of response, "by looking at someone's gaze or by someone's touch... what his intentions are."
She was looking at me, those surprisingly perceptive eyes fixed on mine. Was she saying she could read my intentions?
"Hey naofumi." I used my own name.
And then I delivered the line. The one I knew would work. Coldly. Directly.
"Want me to leave you here alone?"
The question hung in the air, loaded with implication. The soldiers searching. Myne knowing her location. The terrifying wilderness. Her utter helplessness without someone like me or Ryu.
Her eyes widened, filling instantly with fear.
"S-sorry," she stammered, her voice trembling, shrinking in on herself. "I got carried away, please forgive me. I won't do anything displeasing from now on..."
Her submissiveness was instantaneous. A complete shift in demeanor. From challenging confidence to fearful compliance. This was the reaction I was used to eliciting.
"...So please... Dont... Disappear." The final words were a desperate plea, quiet, heartbreaking.
Oh god she's so cute, my internal monologue intruded, completely unbidden, reacting to her sudden vulnerability, her desperate plea, her small, trembling form. I wanna hug her tightly right away and start cuddling her. The thought flashed, sharp and vivid – the warmth of holding her, the simple comfort of presence.
Huh. Control yourself naofumi, I immediately countered internally, shutting the thought down hard. You can't afford to be mesmerized by a woman's charm, especially if she is from another universe. My mission. My world. My existing problems. Focus.
"Yes I will," I said, my voice back to being flat, denying the internal warmth that had flickered. I needed her to go. Now. To Ryu. So I could think. So I could figure out the next step without her staring at me. "Now go, shoo shoo."
I made a small shooing motion with my hand, like dismissing a stray animal. Blunt. Dismissive. Deliberate.
She hesitated for a second, looking between me and the direction of Ryu's clearing. The fear was still in her eyes, but the pleading was gone, replaced by a quiet, compliant acceptance. She nodded, slowly. Then turned, and began walking towards where Ryu was hidden. A small, solitary figure heading towards a giant, silent dragon.
Right. Back to pragmatism. The emotional rollercoaster of the past hour was over. Time to focus.
Half an hour. It was just enough time to clear my head slightly, walk a perimeter around the clearing to ensure we were still alone, and bringing some rations.
I walked back into the main part of the clearing. Ryu was still curled up by the rocks, a massive, silent guardian. And sitting near his head, her back resting against his scaled hide, was the Shield Hero of this world. Naomi.
She wasn't huddled in fear. She was sitting up, knees drawn slightly to her chest, looking comfortable. And she was talking. To the dragon.
"And then," she was saying, her voice quiet but clear, "he just started beating him all over again!"
Ryu's massive head was lowered, his glowing eyes focused on her, or rather, the words. He let out a low rumble, a sound I was starting to recognize as something other than a threat – maybe agreement, or just acknowledging he was listening.
"Looks like you aren't scared of him now," I said, announcing my presence as I approached.
She turned her head, surprised, her eyes widening slightly. Then, she smiled. A real smile, not forced or fearful. It lit up her face, pushing back the shadows of trauma
"Oh! Mr. No Name!" she said, using the ridiculous moniker. "You came back! And no," she looked back at Ryu, who gave another low rumble, "this dragon... he seems scary, yes, but he isn't."
Ryu looked at me then, his gaze holding a flicker of... amusement? Was my dragon companion finding my life choices entertaining? Great.
"Here," I said, cutting through the lingering awkwardness. Immediate needs. I reached into my Shield's Expansion Bag skill, pulling out items. The familiar shimmer of magic as objects materialized. A simple, sturdy set of adventurer clothes I'd bought in Seyaette – dark trousers, a tunic, a cloak. And food. Dried rations, some preserved fruits, hardtack. Not a feast, but filling. "I have brought some food and new clothes for you. You can wear them either now or after bathing."
Her eyes fixed on the food. The simple, unremarkable rations. Her eyes widened again, but this time with pure, unadulterated delight. It was like seeing a child presented with a mountain of candy. All trace of fear, of trauma, even of the terrifying situation she was in, vanished for a moment, replaced by simple, desperate hunger.
She looked up at me, her expression earnest. "Can I eat first?" she asked, her voice soft, almost shy, asking permission like a well-behaved child.
"Yeah." I said. Of course. It was obvious she was starving.
While she was busy unwrapping the rations, tearing into the food with a quiet urgency that confirmed she hadn't eaten properly in days, I took the opportunity to approach Ryu.
He watched me come, his gaze steady. His scale felt warm as I neared him.
"Thank you, Ryu," I said quietly, speaking to the massive creature who had waited for me, and more surprisingly, had apparently spent the past half hour providing company and conversation.
Ryu let out another low rumble, shifting slightly. "You don't have to thank me," he rumbled back, his voice deep. "I didn't contribute to the conversation at all. She was just asking about you, and I was answering."
My brain stalled again. Answering? About me? "What?" I asked, genuinely surprised. "He told her about me?"
Ryu seemed to sense my sudden, mild panic. "Dont worry," he added quickly, his voice softening slightly. "I haven't told her anything about your personal information. No names. No where you're from. No why you are here."
"So what did you told her about?" I pressed, my curiosity piqued despite myself. What could a dragon possibly tell her about me?
"About kind of person you are," Ryu stated, matter-of-factly. "About what you like, and your habits etc."
The kind of person I was? Likes? Habits? What the heck did Ryu think he knew about that? Was this some kind of dragon-based psychological assessment?
I glanced back at her. She was hunched over the food, eating with focused intensity, her face smeared with crumbs, utterly absorbed. By looking at how she's eating I can tell that she haven't eaten for days.
She was really cute in that moment, lost in the simple act of survival, her earlier terror forgotten for now. And smart too, judging by her questions and observations. Uhh, she's just my type. The thought surfaced, unbidden, unwelcome. Smart, resourceful, surprisingly resilient, and... yeah, physically attractive.
Alright, stop these thoughts. I suppressed them hard. No time for that. No place for that. She was a mission. A responsibility. A complicated problem. Not a romantic prospect. Not here. Not ever, ideally. I've to set up the stage. My mission. Clearing her name. Getting her strong. And that required information.
"You can do anything," I said, turning back towards her, interrupting her meal without preamble. "I'm going somewhere right now, and will probably return by tomorrow, so I hope you'll-"
She looked up from her food, her eyes wide again, not with fear this time, but with alarm. She put the food down instantly.
"I won't ask where are you going, since you'll get mad," she said quickly, cutting me off, already remembering my previous attempts to leave. "But... but can you try to come back sooner as possible?"
She sounded genuinely concerned, genuinely hopeful. It wasn't the desperate plea from before, but a soft, earnest request. Like a... like a partner asking you not to be late for dinner.
She really knows how to make men fall for her, my internal monologue supplied, observing her earnest expression, the hopeful light in her eyes. It was a cynical thought, yes, a jaded acknowledgment of how easily others could be charmed, how easily I might have been charmed in another life.
"Yeah," I agreed, sighing internally. No point in arguing. I'd be back when I was done. Sooner if possible.
But before I disappeared again, before I left her here with the dragon, I needed something.
"Yeah," I said again, more firmly this time, pivoting the conversation sharply. "But before that, I want to hear exactly what happened between Myne and you inside the inn."
Her face, which had brightened with hope, fell slightly. The memory was clearly painful. But the reality of the situation, the need to fix things, seemed to outweigh her reluctance. She looked at the half-eaten food, then back at me, and nodded slowly.