Senia was embarrassed at the sudden compliment as there were not many men who made such straightforward comments in the temple. Most of them tend to watch their words the moment they knew that Senia was a saint.
Senia smiled awkwardly, mumbling a quiet thank you. The sight of her expression that was caused by the intruder made Carr felt a little sick.
“….Carr. I’m her escort. What do you want next?”
“What do I want? Isn’t that too mean? As you can see, I’m broke, so I’d like to accompany you for a moment.”
“….”
“Is that too much to ask?”
Carr closed his mouth and looked at Senia. Following his gaze, Tess looked at her – waiting for her decision.
“No, please make yourself at home. You must be in big trouble that your belongings were stolen.”
Senia smiled, welcoming the uninvited guest to join them. Her words were not beyond Carr’s expectations, after all, she was this kind woman.
“It’s not too much of a problem. There wasn’t anything very important. If you’re still alive, it’s the best outcome.”
“Oh, you’re a positive person.”
“Ah, do you dislike it?”
“No. I like it.”
Tess approached Senia, covering his mouth as his laugh.
“I’m glad you like it. I don’t like hard situations, so I always hope for a comfortable future. Is it okay to call you Senia?”
“Hey, that’s a little….”
Carr was someone that didn’t care about etiquette, but he knew that Tess was being rude by calling Senia by her name. No one that he ever met had called Senia by her name, not even archbishop Arte or even Lu. They would always call her ‘Saint Senia’.
Moreover, Carr had never even called her name by his own mouth. Perhaps that was why Carr felt more ruffled than usual. Carr turned toward Senia, wanting to convince her to stop Tess, but at her eyes glistening with excitement he lost his words.
“Ah…! Yes! That’s all right. I’ve never been called with my name alone before, so… it’s kind of strange.”
Carr knew why it was strange for Senia. She had always been called ‘sister’ or ‘saint’ even by a child since the moment she became a saint. He would be lying if he said he didn’t want to call Senia by her name. He wanted to have the pleasure to do that.
Unbeknownst to Carr’s mixed emotion, Senia grinned toward Tess, enjoying the sense of being called by her name after for so long. The sight only made Carr even more tensed.
“Hahaha, then please take good care of me too, Carr.”
Tess reached out his hand toward Carr, still all too cheerful.
“Don’t look so uncomfortable when we’re going to see each other for a while.”
He added when Carr shook his hand awkwardly.
“….I’m sorry, but my expression is always like this.”
“Really? Life must have been so boring then.”
Carr let of go his hand while Tess just grinned at him. It was true that he didn’t live a fun life, so he didn’t have any will to refute Tess’s claim.
Senia noticed that the two men had a different temperament, clapped her hands lightly to call their attention to her. The two men turned to concentrate on her making Senia smile awkwardly.
“Anyway, Sir Tess did you have a meal already? I will have to cook the soup again, but we have some bread left.”
“Oh, I’ve already had my dinner, so don’t worry. I’m used to just eat anything because I’m a traveller. I’ll ask for breakfast instead in the morning.”
“Then, I will keep that in mind.”
Laughter blossomed between the two which cause the atmosphere in their camp to become more friendly and lighter than ever. Carr did not intervene between the two but looked at Senia’s delighted face before he turned his gaze up to locate the moon.
“….if you don’t want to sleep at dawn, you’d better have some rest now. You said you lost everything, so you can use my blanket instead.”
“Eh? What about then, Sir Carr?”
He had endured the biting cold of winter several times without wearing proper attire before and it wasn’t cold at this time, so he should be fine. However, it was too much to say so Carr just patted Senia’s head lightly – ensuring her that he would be fine.
The worried expression quickly turned into a bit embarrassed.
“T-Then… please use mine. I’m inside the tent anyway, so it’s okay.”
Senia didn’t want to back down and quickly took off the two blankets from her shoulder. The thick one for Tess and the thin one for Carr.
As soon as Tess tried to open her mouth to argue, Carr picked up the thick blanket that he dropped and threw it toward Tess.
“What?!”
The blanket easily covered his head, causing Tess to fluster and without missing his chance, Carr stole a kiss from Senia.
It was short but Senia couldn’t mistake that it was indeed a kiss. She opened her eyes wide when Carr already pulled away, leaving a ghost of hot lips against hers.
“…..?!”
Senia let out a silent squeal as her face turned redder. Carr took the thin blanket, covered her red face with it and pushed her toward the tent. Senia gave up trying to protest, after all, she couldn’t show her embarrassing face toward Tess.
“Tsk, a shame really. I prefer the scent of beauty. Why didn’t you give me that blanket if you weren’t going to use it?”
Tess grumbled once he managed to uncover his head.
“If you don’t want it, you just sleep without the blanket. I have nothing to lose.”
Carr threatened.
“Hahaha, no thanks. I’m quite comfortable now.”
“Then don’t complain and just lie down. There’s a flat surface over there because there are no small stones.”
“Ground? I could just ask to share the tent with Senia.”
Carr, who was looking around to find a perfect place to rest, doubted his ears and turned toward Tess who was walking toward Senia’s tent while humming. Without thinking whether Tess really said the words or not, Carr grabbed him.
“Huh? Are you stopping me? She looks easy, so if I ask a little, I think she will do the favour.”
“Are you out of your mind? It’s natural to stop you!”
“Hahaha. What if I force myself in?”
“Then I don’t have to sleep and just kick you out.”
“Huh, are you trying to order me around? You can’t do that can you?”
“What?”
Tess looked at Carr, grin widely showing his canines which only made him look creepy causing goosebumps ran all over Carr’s skin. It was different to fear but Carr couldn’t help but anxious about the situation and Tess.
He felt like he was facing a mad psycho killer. His clear green eyes somehow had turned into blood-coloured which only made Carr tensed even more.
“Come on, say it. Shout to the saint that you found a devil.”
At that moment Carr knew that his opponent knew something that he let in.
“….How far do you know?”
Carr asked, managed to keep his voice as calm as possible and control his expression.
“How far do you think I know?”
Tess asked back, admitting that he did hide something but wasn’t planning to share it.
“…..”
“Ha-ha! Don’t be so serious. You’re not very eloquent, are you?”
Tess shrugged away Carr’s grasp lightly while Carr just stared. At first glance, Tess seemed defenceless, but Tess couldn’t take his eyes off Carr who is just like a predator ready to pounce.
If Carr showed his back, he knew that he would die. Tess opened his eyes wide, smiling at the sensation of blood cooling his body because of the sudden chill. When he approached the campfire, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to fight against Carr.
After all, he was still recovering his mana after his last raid. He just thought that he wouldn’t need to defend himself but Carr, despite being a demon with no mana, was someone who had trained beyond his expectation.
“Well, this is good.”
Tess’s voice was trembling, couldn’t stop the glee laugh,
“I haven’t seen a comrade in years, so I’ll have to be honest with you. You’re a demon, Senia is the saint. After my observation in the last few days, I know that you can’t talk to her.”
“And?”
“And? What do you mean?”
“I’m asking what you’re going to do?”
“Huh? That’s it? I don’t know. It’s just interesting, so I decide to keep an eye on it.”
Tess swept back his hair that had fallen over. As soon as his hand passed over his face, his red eyes returned to fresh green.
“That woman knows that you’re a demon, but you keep standing by her and stopping me. What weakness that she has on you?”
“I don’t know why I should tell you. if you don’t plan to do anything then leave right now. If not….”
Carr didn’t finish his words and closed his lips instead. He knew that he didn’t have a leg to stand on Tess, so to threaten and say that he would overlook the situation was absurd.
The moment Tess revealed that he was a demon and tried to make a contact with Senia, he became a ticking bomb waiting to explode. There was nothing strange about a demon trying to attack Senia who was a saint.
A good demon?
Having a conversation?
Those would be useless against Tess.
As soon as Carr saw his eyes, which were filled with madness, redder than blood, Carr’s mind was set.
‘Even if I managed to kick him out, it’ll only increase the risk of an unexpected attack.’
Of course, Carr had thought to get rid of Tess permanently. It was not impossible for him after all murder was something, he was familiar with. It was only because he didn’t want to be hated by Senia that he was reluctant to revert to that method.
Carr bit his lower lip, wondering if murder truly the only way was to protect his identity and kept Senia safe.
“Oh, that gaze in your eyes. I’m warning you that I’m confident I will make you scream though?”
Tess, who seemed to have read his mind, spoked still with that frivolous tone.
“What?”
“I’m saying, you’d better not think about touching me. What are you going to tell the saint, to defend yourself, if you threaten a civilian with a knife? You can’t even talk.”
Carr clicked his tongue, knowing that Tess was right. A man with a sword, another man who was frightened. That would the only thing Senia saw and only one of them could talk to Senia.
Tess smiled smugly, knowing he had won the argument and crossed his arms together.
“Ha-ha. It’s better than me running away and spreading the fact, don’t you think? It’s amazing that you’re so hostile toward your own kind. Treating me just like how human treating demon. So please just accept the fact that I’m going to join you two for a while.”
“….For how long?”
“Well? Until I found out all the secrets you have? Ah, I apologize if you are, by chance, working on it. I think I will be playing with it soon.”
The smirk that was planted on Tess’s face was the face of a cheeky young villain. At that moment, Carr understood both Tess’s character and intention. This man was the epitome of a demon that was ingrained in every human’s mind.
Carr thought for a moment before he slowly moved, causing Tess to flinch. He knew that wasn’t physically able to fight with Carr, because his mana still hadn’t fully recovered after the attack on the small city.
However, Tess was proud of his ability to verbally attack, including threatening and intimidating others so he was sure that he had the upper hand when he watched that Carr looked like he wasn’t going to attack. Unfortunately, the moment Carr moved something hot passed his cheeks.
“…..?”
A few strands of his navy-blue hair were cut short and fell. A sharp dagger slashed through his temple, causing a drop of red liquid to flow in a thin line.
Carr passed Tess, who was frozen on his legs, moved to sit in front of Senia’s tent with his sword on his back.
“I’m defending this woman with my will because I made a promise. Whether you scream or not, the only reason you survive right now because I respect Senia’s idea of wanting to save a demon.”
Carr said in a low voice that seemed to grow stronger toward the end.
“I’ll keep it simple. You are not a person that is interested in a girl like her. If you try to cross a line, I will stop you. If you leave a scar on her, I will kill you. Remember that.”
His appearance was like the fire that burning quietly that even Tess, who had encountered many undead and monsters, was overwhelmed.
“….all right. We’re the same race, but you see me as an enemy, right?”
With that, the two managed to establish their relationship. Tess let out a low joyful whistle, excited about what the future holds for their journey.
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