Chapter 8: A little selfishness

To… leave?

Lortissa took a few seconds to process his words.

“Is it to return to Silent Sun Town?”

At the piercing green gaze fixed on him, Weiss paused for a moment and nodded calmly.

In truth, his thoughts were quite simple.

Setting aside why this Returner’s Dustcloak in his possession bore a golden item name,

he had spent two years painstakingly accumulating Wishforce bit by bit, firing seventy-eight draws just to get this equipment.

No matter what, it was a guaranteed minimum reward, so he had to retrieve it; otherwise, it felt like a huge loss, a sunk cost fallacy binding him.

Of course, Lortissa couldn’t read his mind.

But from her perspective, it wasn’t hard to figure out after a moment’s thought.

“To… complete the commission?”

“Hm?”

Weiss blinked in surprise for a moment.

Why bring that up now?

But to be honest, after waking up, his mind had been entirely occupied with retrieving the cloak’s lost components, almost forgetting the person-search commission altogether.

Now that he was reminded, he cautiously responded while heading downstairs:

“Uh… I guess so.”

Upon hearing the affirmative reply, a complex feeling stirred in Lortissa’s heart.

As expected, the youth before her hadn’t changed inside the least.

He was still the same strange mercenary who would recklessly throw himself into danger for a commission, even if it meant facing the Evil Tide.

Always like this—how could anyone not worry?

After finally reuniting,

after the heavens had sent back the most important person in her life,

this was Lortissa’s selfish wish above all else:

she could never allow anything to take this person away from her side again.

“—N-no. You can’t.”

The words slipped out almost involuntarily.

“Ah?”

The moment she spoke, seeing the deepening surprise on Weiss’s face, Lortissa immediately realized she’d been a bit hasty.

Right, she should have been clearer—

There was no use telling him about danger or forbidding him to go.

If danger could stop him, he wouldn’t be Weiss.

No matter who tried to dissuade him, nothing would change his determination.

The best method, naturally, was to follow him.

But Lortissa was not just herself; she was also the Vanguard Squad Leader of the Border Army Vanguard Squad in the Saint Covenant Kingdom.

Baron Leicester’s warning was still ringing in her ears—

—Do not cross the national border into The Empire without permission.

This was the first time Lortissa truly felt how inconvenient the squad leader’s position could be.

After a moment’s thought, she spoke again:

“I mean… yes, given your current condition, it’s too risky to act alone.”

“My condition…”

Weiss instinctively lowered his head.

“You suffered a severe Disaster Aura injury inflicted by the Soul-devouring True Lord. Although Healing Magic has eased your external wounds and temporarily removed you from life-threatening danger, without purification by the Holy Spirit Arts, the Disaster Aura still lingers within you. So until it’s completely cleansed, you need to be cautious with your actions.”

Lortissa’s expression was serious and cautious.

Hearing this, Weiss did feel he had been somewhat reckless.

Disaster Aura could be considered a type of curse—those affected might be corrupted or die, or at least suffer misfortune.

No matter how strong or brave a person was, facing a fate-related curse was a cause for wariness.

After all, if things went wrong at every turn, trouble would be everywhere; no one could handle that.

Seeing Weiss begin to weigh his options carefully, Lortissa’s deliberate guidance was working, so she continued:

“You should stay here for now.”

“Uh, but…”

“Don’t worry. This is my tent; there won’t be any trouble.”

Lortissa paused, then added:

“If you’re worried about the commission, you can tell me. I’ll help figure something out.”

“Uh…”

Weiss hesitated.

Should he just be upfront about the equipment still left in Silent Sun Town?

But he owed his life this time to others, and it was already a blessing to have the originally carried items retrieved; he felt too embarrassed to ask again.

Besides, saying it outright sounded a bit like “How come you didn’t bring all your equipment back?”

If someone took it the wrong way, it would seem ungrateful.

Still, even if he asked for help, the cloak’s clasp and shoulder design were very common; most people wouldn’t be able to recognize a Wishforce-drawn item, and even the squad leader might not find it.

More importantly, he secretly hoped to see the scene himself.

Maybe what fell was a full set of equipment, not just the cloak?

The Wishforce star glow was gold—surely it wasn’t just this single downgraded cloak with a renamed label?

In any case, Weiss switched to a different reason:

“To be honest, it’s for a person-search commission—a merchant’s commission. His daughter went missing recently around Silent Sun Town, but judging by the situation…”

He swallowed the rest of the words halfway.

Everyone understood that Silent Sun Town was now completely overrun by the Evil Tide; missing people were unlikely to survive, so this commission was probably impossible to complete.

Lortissa spoke with a hint of consolation:

“If you need, later you can give me her name and description in detail, and I’ll dispatch the soldiers to keep an eye out for her within the combat operation zone.”

“Thank you very much…”

Not mere courtesy, but a heartfelt gratitude from Weiss.

At first glance, this squad leader seemed cold and aloof, like an unapproachable highland flower.

But in truth, she was unexpectedly warm-hearted.

To have met her in a crisis might be the luck owed to him for poor fortune with drawing cards.

“—By the way, Weiss…”

“Please.”

Lortissa’s eyes flickered briefly but quickly returned to steady gaze.

“Well then, since you’ll be staying for a while, why not go outside and get familiar with the surroundings?”

To check out the military camp?

Weiss could understand that.

After all, this was the kingdom’s army camp, and as an outsider mercenary, he could cause trouble if he unknowingly entered restricted military areas.

So knowing where he could and couldn’t go was better than getting lost.

—that must be what she meant.

“In that case, I’ll trouble you to lead the way… Tissa.”

“Mm.”

The reply was as light as a feather falling, yet Lortissa felt her heart struck hard by something.

The important person had just called her by the nickname repeated countless times in memories and dreams.

She stepped ahead of Weiss to lead the way.

Raising her hand, she lifted the tent flap and stepped outside.

The noon sun’s warm light shone on her face.

From the angle hidden from the young man behind her, a faint, sweet smile quietly curved at the corner of the girl’s lips.