CH 33

Chapter 33: You again

I went to the library to borrow a book and ran into Garen. Garen collapsed suddenly after we exchanged a few words. I had compelled him to come to Crystalia, and he was most likely too stressed to cope with the change in environment. Sarah assisted me in carrying Garen into the room, but he remained unconscious.

“I think you should leave the rest to the others and get some sleep, Mika-sama.”

“Thank you, Sarah, but…”

But it’s probably my fault that Garen collapsed, and I’m not comfortable leaving him alone to rest.

“Mika-sama.”

“…All right.”

Sarah calls my name again, and I return to my room reluctantly.

“I’m not sure if it’s okay…”

Garen’s color had clearly changed just before he collapsed. To me, Astoria and Crystalia are the same. But it was a big change for Garen. Furthermore, Crystalia is Garen’s adversary. That alone should keep him on his toes.

I’m wondering if bringing Garen here was a mistake, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. At the very least, I’ll pay closer attention to Garen the next day. With that thought, I fell asleep.

Because the Demon King is preoccupied with matters involving the Saint, there will be no paperwork for me to work on today. I haven’t heard of the Saint appearing on the battlefield yet, but it’s only a matter of time. I would have been able to help the Demon King if I had gained the Shrine Maiden’s power, but there’s no sign of that in me right now. the Demon King just laughed it off and said that even if I had realized my power as the Shrine Maiden, he wouldn’t want to exploit me, his friend.

I think the Demon King is a little too nice as a ruler, but since I’ve been used as a puppet, it was a very nice thing to hear.

I was reading a book I borrowed from the library yesterday, but I couldn’t concentrate because I was worried about Garen’s condition.

I finally gave up reading the book and went to see Garen.

“Mika, you came all this way. Thank you.”

Garen’s complexion appeared to be better than it had been the day before. But for some reason, Garen couldn’t make eye contact. When I tried to make eye contact with him, he averted his gaze, as if frightened. — It’s as if he’s attempting to avoid seeing something he doesn’t want to see. That wasn’t the case yesterday, I’m sure. Perhaps I did something yesterday. Maybe it was impolite of me to take Garen’s hand and tell him I could now write his name. Perhaps he’s upset because I brought him to Crystalia in the first place, which is why he broke down.

“Hey, Garen.”

“What is it, Mika?”

“I’m sorry; I’m not sure why, but I must have done something wrong.”

“No, Mika has no reason to apologize.”

Despite his habit of denying it, Garen appeared to be on the verge of crying. But now that he’d said that, I couldn’t ask him why.

After a few minutes of silence, Garen says, “Mika, please forgive me. Forgive me for trying.”

“Y-Yeah? I think it’s fine.”

I’m not sure what kind of “trying” it is, but I think it’s a good thing to try.

“Thank you.”

Finally, I met his golden eyes, which were determined rather than scared.

After that, we exchanged a few more words before returning to my room. What was that all about?