CH. 77.23

"For real? Well in case you haven't noticed yet, I came back, running in fear that you may get hurt after I knew that the demons were coming here, and here we are.", Said Elviera while looking annoyed.

"Which was your mistake from the beginning, you were literally trying to correct your own mistakes and now you're talking like I owe you a favor, a favor for looking me up, wow, do you think that I'm stupid? Look around, maybe I don't have the divine spells but that doesn't mean that I don't have the means to protect myself and the people I care about.", Said Nigel angrily, Elviera was annoyed too by Nigel's uninhabited attitude but also surprised, she has never seen him angry or talk back to anyone like now.

"I did that to protect you from going after me, you can't tell me what to do and what not to do, you're not my father for the gods sake! What's wrong with you? And what happened to the gate of the research department?", Said Elviera before shifting her serious gaze towards the destroyed gate behind Nigel at the end of the hallway.

"That's a side effect of your doings.", Said Nigel seriously, Feika gradually revealed herself from behind Nigel's hair, she was looking at Elviera in annoyance.

"What? This is just a simple glacial spell, it doesn't have any side effects, and absolutely not a destructive side effect enough to destroy a giant double gate!", Said Elviera in surprise.

"A non-divine side effect, from your irrational doing.", Said Nigel calmly but still maintaining his serious manner, Feika nodded positively at Elviera after Nigel finished his words then she crossed her arms and averted her eyes away from Elviera.

Elviera wasn't understanding anything.

"You destroyed the gate, right?", Asked Elviera.

"Didn't have much of a choice though, not even enough time to think of a simple way to get out of the research department, I told you I was against the idea of you joining the elven forces outside.", Said Nigel seriously.

"So you decided to destroy a very important and expensive gate just to follow me.", Said Elviera seriously.

"Yes, by the way, our friends here wouldn't have been able to enter the research department because of your spell, destroying it made me able to help them or they would have trapped, just admit your mistake and apologize.", Said Nigel seriously.

"Do you even know the consequences of what you have done? The academy won't let you go easily after this.", Said Elviera angrily.

"Definitely better than leaving my friends alone, I guess.", Said Nigel boldly, Elviera just closed her eyes and placed her right hand over her forehead while taking a deep breath then sighing calmly, she opened her eyes and looked at Feika which was still crossing her arms and adverting her eyes away from Elviera.

"And why is Feika acting like that?", Asked Elviera.

"She's disappointed in you, just like me, we never thought you will be doing this to us.", Said Nigel calmly before averting his eyes to the side, Elviera looked down and closed her eyes then sighed again.

"Nigel, listen to me, we don't have time for this, I left Gorwin alone to hold the incoming demons while I return to help you and the others, he told me that he knows a way to deal with the demons but I'm still worried, so it's better to drop this conversation for now before we break the friendship that we have built together during the academy years and get back to Gorwin, okay?", Said Elviera calmly while still looking down but after finishing she looked at Nigel again who was still averting his eyes.

"Friendship, yeah!", Said Nigel in a bit of a frustration, Elviera started feeling a little guilty for what she did.

"Let's go, then, if Gorwin used all his divine scrolls then he would be in danger.", Said Nigel before he started walking past Elviera without even looking at her, the three elves looked strangely at Nigel who didn't confess as they were expecting, Elviera turned back and looked silently at Nigel for a moment.

"What's wrong with you?", Asked Elviera seriously, Nigel stopped, he looked down, the stuck elf waved secretly for him just to gather the courage to say it.

"Lately you've been acting strange around me, precisely since I told you about my departure back to my kingdom, and I kept trying to persuade myself that this is just my imagination but no, something is wrong with you, Nigel, we have never shouted at each other like that before, for the gods sake, it's even the first time I see you angry, I talked to you about my departure and you insisted that everything is fine although I can easily notice that you're lying, if I have done something that annoyed you or hurt you then please tell me, I don't want things becoming complicated between us.", Said Elviera calmly, she was maintaining her distance and not putting any pressure on Nigel who was still silent, she noticed that the female elf was raising her thumbs up for Nigel as if she was trying to encourage him to say something, but of course she doesn't understand, suddenly, Nigel has already turned to look at Elviera, his face expression was a bit sad.

"Did you notice anything?", Asked Nigel calmly, Elviera thought about Nigel's question for a moment.

"Something like what? Nigel, this is not the best time to play puzzles, I really don't understand what's wrong with you but I would really like to help, just tell me what's the problem and everything will be fine, trust me.", Said Elviera seriously while trying to smile, she is hoping that he would finally tell her what's going on with him lately.

"That's the problem, Elviera, it's better to keep things like that for now, I'm just having rough days, okay? I-I'm sorry for yelling at you, I didn't mean to be harsh with you.", Said Nigel calmly while avoiding direct contact with Elviera's eyes.