Chapter 118: Reya's challenge

Chapter 118: Reya's challenge

The room that they’d come from was, unsurprisingly, empty. Arwin hadn’t really expected anyone to be there. That hadn’t stopped him from coming prepared for a fight if need be.

He let himself relax slightly and turned to Reya as he stepped in behind him.

“Looks pretty empty,” Reya said. “Should we head back? Or are we going to stand guard?”

“I actually called you here as an excuse to speak privately. I don’t really think that we’re going to get someone walking up behind us. It looks like the guards at the entrance were pretty good at regulating who went into what path.”

Reya grinned. “Ah. You want to see my new ability, huh?”

“Well, yes,” Arwin admitted. “But that isn’t it either.”T/his chapter is updated by nov(ê(l)biin.co/m

Confusion replaced the smile on Reya’s face and she sent him a blank stare. “Oh. What is it, then?”

“Olive,” Arwin said, nodding over his shoulder. “It seems like something’s going on. You’ve been pretty hostile to her in general, and I was wondering if it was because you knew something. Are you familiar with her?”

“What?” Reya blinked, then shook her head. “No. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“This is serious.” Arwin crossed his arms and held Reya’s gaze. “I got you not really liking it when it looked like Olive might have been freeloading off us, but she’s paid her debts back and is carrying her weight in the dungeon pretty well. You’re definitely trying to antagonize her. If she’s someone from your past–”

“She isn’t,” Reya insisted, running a hand through her hair and groaning. “Don’t worry about it, Arwin. I’d never met her before you did. I don’t know anything that you don’t.”

That only served to confuse him even further. His brow furrowed and he scratched at the stubble that was starting to grow on the underside of his chin. “I don’t get it. If that’s true, what’s going on? Did she do something when I wasn’t watching?”

“No.”

“You’re sure?” Arwin pressed. “She’s not bullying you, is she?”

“No!” Reya caught her voice before it could get too loud and carry down the tunnel to the others. She coughed into a fist and looked over her shoulder at the way back to the others, her feet edging toward it as if hoping to escape her body.

Arwin caught her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “If something is wrong, you can tell me.”

“Would you please just let it drop?” Reya begged. “I’m telling you, there’s nothing.”

“The way you’re acting really seems to imply that it isn’t just nothing. I don’t mean to be pushy–”

“You’re being pushy.”

“–then I apologize, but I need to put all of our safety above that. I can’t just decide that I’m strong enough to handle the threats as they come anymore, Reya. We need to handle them together. That’s the conclusion I came to. The very one that I shared with you. You know my viewpoint.”

Reya bit her tongue and blew up her cheeks, letting it out with a slow groan. “What if I just promised you that nothing was wrong and there really wasn’t any reason for you to bother with this? Would that be enough?”

“I told you my real identity,” Arwin pointed out. He let go of Reya’s shoulders so he could cross his arms and give her the most fatherly look he could muster. “Can this possibly be any more problematic to share than that?”

“Whoa, who said anything about a relationship?” Reya protested quickly, holding her hands up. “I just said she was pretty! I wasn’t thinking about anything else. I really don’t care all that much either way.”

Arwin resisted the urge to look at her out of the corners of his eyes. She was certainly protesting an awful lot for someone who didn’t care too much.

“I meant your relationship as fellow adventurers on the same team,” Arwin said. “Not a romantic one.”

Reya blinked. She cleared her throat. “Uh. Right. Yeah.”

Arwin nodded sagely. They stood in awkward silence for a second. Reya hadn’t tried to actually escape yet, but he couldn’t tell if that was because she was so embarrassed that she couldn’t move or if it was because she wanted advice.

He couldn’t be bothered figuring out which, so he chose the direct route.

“Did you want advice?” Arwin asked.

“What? No,” Reya said. “Definitely not.”

“Fair enough. I’ll drop it then,” Arwin said. “Let’s head back to the others.”

Reya started to nod but paused and caught his eye as he turned to leave. She cleared her throat again. “Uh... if you were going to give advice, what would it be?”

“Oh. I was mostly asking if you wanted it,” Arwin said with a sheepish laugh. “I haven’t the faintest idea. Maybe give her a gift? Or just try to get to know her? I mean, what if you can’t stand her personality?”

“She’s a badass,” Reya muttered. “Have you ever seen someone fight like that with just one arm? And she cut the Mimipede like it was nothing. I’m sure you and Lillia could probably do something like that, but who else?”

I think there might be more to personality than how good you are at killing things, but who am I to point that out?

“Then maybe tell her how cool it was,” Arwin suggested, thinking back to when he’d taught some techniques to warriors that had been part of his personal guard. “Or ask her for advice on fighting since you like her style so much. Most people like teaching small things. It makes them feel appreciated.”

Reya tilted her head to the side in thought, then slowly nodded. “I – huh. I think that makes sense. I guess it could work.”

“It’s a way to at least try to talk to her,” Arwin said with a shrug. “You can both figure things out from there as they come. Who knows what you’ll think of each other, but it’s better than just glaring from a distance. I probably still wouldn’t tell her about your new ability though. Not until we decide if she’s going to stick around or not.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Reya said. She shook her head and drew in a short breath, letting it out through her mouth. “Okay. Godspit, I can’t realize I was this obvious. I’m really embarrassed. Do you think the others noticed?”

“I mean, I didn’t really notice. I just thought you hated her.”

Reya immediately reddened again and buried her face in her hands. “Damn it.”

“Hey, you’ll get there eventually,” Arwin said. “What matters is that you’re trying to improve. Now, shall we head back to the others so they don’t start wondering if something went wrong and come looking for us?”

“Yeah,” Reya said meekly. “That might be a good idea.”

Arwin nodded and clapped her on the shoulder. They strode back down the tunnel. Something told Arwin that, whatever the monster waiting for them in the next room of the dungeon was, it couldn’t possibly be as much of a challenge as trying to help navigate Reya’s love life.