Lucifia attempts to grab Andrew's shoulder but he got up from his seat faster than she could try to hold him. She saw the look in Drew's eyes, they're filled with worry as he frantically runs out of the room, shocking Hagurd who moved out of the way of the door and called out to him.
The middle-aged man then turns to Lu hoping that she knows what caused Andrew to suddenly get up running.
"As if I know," Lu bitterly says to Hagurd as she puts her hand on the table, her claws digging gradually into the wood.
Hanging her head down, Lu begins to curse herself under her breath while her lips quiver and her shoulders tremble.
"What happened?" Melissa peeks into the workshop with Aranea right beside her with a cup of coffee.
"Here's your coffee, Mr. Hagurd," Says Aranea as she hands the mug to Hagurd who thanks her and smiles as he takes the mug from her hand.
Taking a sip from his mug of coffee, Hagurd begins explaining the situation that he isn't quite sure of himself.
"-And the lad broke into a sprint without even telling us why," he ends his ramble and it stirred the same kind of reaction from Melissa, but this time Hagurd holds his right arm out to stop the crimson witch.
"I need to go after him! He's walking straight into his sentence!" Says Melissa to Hagurd, but her argument doesn't make the captain budge.
"And you aren't? I forgot to add that a company of knights- Mirian soldiers are preparing to go here since a demon had made a scene yesterday, a strange slew of killings happened last night, and a renegade anti-mage with the witch he saved was seen traveling to here two days ago."
A dead silence comes over the room as Melissa fell short on words that could explain her and Andrew's situation. She dreads the idea of what'll happen to her and Drew now that Hagurd knows who the two of them are. As for Lu, she already knows the weight of what she did, and having to explain herself to a human will amount to nothing, especially now that she cares so little for what might happen next.
Hagurd stood by the door in silence as well, only tapping his shoes on the lacquered wooden floor while he takes sips of his coffee. His rhythmless shoe tapping creates a sense that he's waiting for them to speak up.
Naturally, Melissa thinks that Hagurd wants her to confess seeing as he's looking at them with the same sharp gaze he gave to Andrew and her on their first encounter.
"W, -What about me? I can go after Drew," Says Aranea surprising Melissa who was about to speak up and come clean.
It's not just Melissa who's shocked by Aranea's unexpected suggestion. Hagurd looks at Aranea wide-eyed, he's so staggered that it took him a moment to compose himself.
"Why? Give me a reason. Do you like that kid or something?" Even though he didn't need one, as he's satisfied with Aranea's growth, Hagurd still wants to see how much more confident his daughter has gotten thanks to her new friends.
Hagurd waits patiently for Aranea to answer, his feet no longer tapping to avoid imposing a sense of urgency. For some reason, Lucifia also tunes in on Aranea, wanting to know what the timid witch will say.
"I, -It's not that- I'm unsure! I don't know him all that much, but I like the look in his eyes. Even though he knows that I'm a witch, he's still able to treat me like a person." Aranea's face is turning beet red that it causes her to put her hands against her face. She begins composing herself by pacing her breath.
Hagurd finds this amusing, but he hides the smile forming from his lips by putting his hand over his mouth.
"H, -He's also Melissa's friend! And because she's my friend too, it's normal that I would care about him!" Putting her hands away from her face, Aranea once again looks at Hagurd with a resolve that doesn't match her trembling hands.
'You've grown, I guess you just needed different people to be around you,' is the thought inside Hagurd's mind, and before he could say anything to Aranea, she adds something that takes everyone by surprise.
"He's also s, -seriously handsome! When I saw his naked body last night, I instantly fell in love with his muscles!"
Aranea's unnecessary comment about Andrew's build shocks Melissa into blushing while it debilitates Hagurd enough that he drops the mug of coffee in his hand.
Meanwhile, Lu has an approving smile on her face.
'His muscles are nice.'
…
Andrew finds himself panting as he sprints to the direction of the barracks. He asked for directions from a carpenter who was busy rebuilding the kiosks that were destroyed by Lu from their encounter. He's reminded of the havoc of yesterday while he turns a corner, bumping into someone in the process.
"I'm sorry -Hmph!?" Whoever Drew bumped into, they instantly grab his tie, pulled him in, and spun him around them before finally throwing him against the cold brick wall of an establishment.
The air in Drew's lungs got knocked out, and just as he's about to take in the air he lost, the person holding on his tie pulls tighter while pushing their elbow against his chest.
"You got a lot of nerve still being here. Tell me, Drew, what're you planning?!" Cecil blurts out in anger as she glowers at Drew with her bright yellow irises.
Rather than receiving Cecil in fear because he's been caught, Andrew instead genuinely smiles that it almost brings him to tears. He misses Cecil and seeing her in good health gives him a sense of reassurance that those he does care for are also safe.
"I, -I'm so glad, you're safe -Hghrk?!" Andrew chokes out the words and in hearing those words, Cecil strangles him with his tie.
"Do you have any idea what kind of position you're in? Who runs headlong to a barracks knowing that they went rogue?" Says Cecil while her eyes flare up in animosity. "Now answer my question!"
"My, aren't you treating your old friend a little too harshly, Sir Cecil?" The commotion Cecil made attracts a tall but lanky plague doctor who stood as high as Andrew.
He stood behind Cecil, looming over her that his mask casts a shadow over her head. Having made apparent of her short stature didn't make Cecil any less angry, but she composes herself for this plague doctor and, with a sigh to vent out her frustration, she lets go of Andrew's tie.
Drew begins coughing to which the doctor approaches him and starts petting his back.
"There, there. You're fine. Now, I know this must be rude and I'm merely a doctor, but you're the renegade who let the Cerulean Witch go, yes?" The doctor asks as he steps back to give Andrew some personal space.
Getting a good look at the doctor, Drew can see that he has an air of kindness and gentleness of a model healthcare worker. However, his attire speaks differently as from head to toe he wore nothing but black. His finely woven silk trenchcoat looks sharp, his leather gloves give off a feeling of separation, and of course, the notorious plague doctor mask that he wore along with the typical top hat is more synonymous to death rather than life.
There were only two things that the doctor has which have the presence of good health, and that's his cane which bears the church's divine symbol as its handle and his necklace with the church's cross.
While Cecil just accepts this doctor for the contradiction that he shows he is, Andrew can't seem to do the same, as this doctor's very nature doesn't sit right with him.
"It's rude to keep the doctor waiting, what're you standing tongue-tied for?" Cecil hisses at Andrew which, oddly enough, eases his nerves.
"Now-now, Sir Cecil, you shouldn't rush a person. It's rude," says the doctor while holding his index finger out.
"Yes, I am. I take it that I'm going to be detained and questioned?" Andrew says.
"Unfortunately so young man, ah but don't worry, I was told that you weren't going to be locked in a cell but instead in a guestroom in the barracks." The doctor replies in a soft-spoken tone that does not fit his deep voice.
Letting out a sigh, Andrew turns to Cecil and accepts his fate. He realized that he went about this all wrong, but at least he got a good look at the doctor. As calmly as he could, hiding what he knows about the doctor, he observes Leiger so he could find out for himself what sort of person he is and confirm Adela's words.
'Melissa, Lucifia, please don't follow me,' he hopes while getting taken into the barracks by Cecil with Leiger accompanying them both.