Bait

I didn't push myself as hard while enchanting my armor, so it only took a day to recover, during which we received a brief letter from Tooly and Kesh letting us know they were alive, and that the hunting was good… However, despite their original goal they were now adamantly hunting werewolves… So… You know, there was that.' "Hey, werewolves are technically undead, right? Should I go enchant their weapons with silver dust?"

"NO MORE ENCHANTING!"

"That's, uh…"

I suddenly felt a chop on my head, just like what I would do to her whenever she did something "Bad" 'I've never heard her yell before… Honestly, I thought she was mentally incapable of yelling.'

She covered her mouth with her hands as if she thought the same and started crying not long after.

'She still doesn't even wipe her own tears… It's like she doesn't even know she's crying.' "Come on… Come here."

She slowly walked over almost like a golem and I put the letter down giving her a hug. She still didn't return it… But with some practice at least it started to feel less awkward. I also learned that for one reason or another squeezing her extra tight seemed to help a lot, so that's what I did until she stopped crying.

"Sorry…" She muttered.

"It's fine, it's fine. I was only joking so don't worry. I won't be doing any more enchanting for a while. Even though my skill went up… So really I could redo all my enchantments and make them strong–"

One look at her face and my voice suddenly cut out. "I mean, no more enchanting, not for a while anyway… Besides, not all werewolf variants are undead, so it might not even help…"

She let out a soft sigh, snapping her fingers before lightly hitting her fist into her palm and freezing again as if she had done something she wasn't supposed to.

"Hey… It's fine…"

She relaxed again, her shoulders dropping as the tension left. "R-right…"

'Stuttering too? Her voice in that past has only ever been like a calm unchanging river… I can't tell if this is a good thing or not.' "I will be heading out today. I'm recovered, and my new gear is ready to see some blood. Plus I need to make a bit of money to fully pay off the land, and I have some other things I want to do as well."

"Are you sure I can't go with you?"

"How's your earth magic progressing?"

"I just reached tier 4, although my living armor is still a little unstable, I can use the spell…"

"Then I'm sure… Get to tear five, and then if you still want to hunt monsters I'll let you come with me."

"I'll do that then…"

"Right, will you be ok on your own for a couple of days?"

She nodded. "It's just like going back to before we met, I'll be fine."

It was like feeling a knife suddenly jab into my heart. 'If you say it like that it makes it hard to leave… Before we met…'

"I'll just pray if I need anything."

'If only… Unfortunately, if you forget where the lighter is for the oven, I don't think Plutia's going to help you find it… Well, then again I could be wrong…' I sighed. 'I should get out of here before I convince myself to stay… This will be good for her…' I looked back at her to see her smiling… And also crying again… 'Yeah… she'll be fine… Sparks… She will have to learn how to be on her own eventually for her own good right? And the longer she has me around, the more used to me always being there… The harder it will be in the long run… Yeah… This is the right move… Probably…'

I hesitantly left, looking back once or twice, but ultimately leaving, if not only because I wasn't the type to go back on something, no matter how many times I second-guessed it…

Thankfully I ran into Lola at the Beehive… Although she did try to run away from me at first… Considering I caught up to her though she clearly wasn't trying TOO hard. "Did the monster you were hunting give you a fear curse? What's gotten into you? Usually, you're the one chasing me down…"

"Right…" She muttered turning to the side, her ears moving her hood as they twitched.

"You're obviously bothered by something, so hurry up and spit it out." I crossed my arms, standing between her and the door.

"Right…"

'She never has trouble talking about anything? Unless… Someone died again…'

"We used you as bait."

My breath suddenly shortened. "What… What does that even mean?"

"My guild… We worked with Finn on a… Mostly superficial level to be honest. We… I knew what was going to happen from the start after you dropped into the sewer… We used you as bait and let you get taken away so we could follow them back to their hideout."

My face fell flat as a dull annoyance poked at the back of my mind. "How'd that work out for you…"

"Yeah well… Yeah…"

I sighed, suddenly getting a headache, most of my thoughts stopping before they became anything tangible. 'That's why the compensation was so big…'

"I'm sorry…"

'Transported by a high-level mage, and instantly bound in magic damping shackles… Underground too, no wonder they couldn't track me, although I'm surprised when they failed they didn't get a high-level player involved… Thinking about it won't change anything now though…' "Sorry for using me as bait? Or for failing to find me?"

"Both I guess…"

I took a deep breath. "You're apologizing for the wrong thing to the wrong person…" I slowly rubbed my forehead. "Feisty, that dwarf I was with back then, she could have died…"

"I know…"

'How am I even supposed to be mad at her when she's like this… It's like scolding a crying puppy…' "Don't worry about it… This is why you never let yourself get close to me, to begin with… It's fine… I always–" Like a gust of wind suddenly she vanished, as if she was never there at all. "Called you my friend though… And, that won't change… Sparks…" 'This is why guys are so much easier to deal with… I guess I should have led with that last part…'

I took a step outside and looked around, but she was far better than me at running… Well, she was just kind of better than me in general. If she didn't want to be found there was no way I was tracking her down. 'The best thing I can do is have someone give her a letter for me or something… I'll think about what I should say later… I should let this sink in first… Otherwise, who knows what I'll end up writing…'