Arthur laughed at their cute eye roll. Then, he approached Lena and took her in his arm. He checked her breathing and heartbeats. They had become somewhat erratic. He could hear multiple heartbeats at the same time. He didn't know what happened when Lena took the healing potion but her breathing is normal and heart is beating quite fast. So, he thought it wouldn't be a problem.
Elena came towards me and the female elf followed her. They watched me like curious children seeing tiger in the zoo for the first time in life. I was really embarrassed by their staring. So, I also looked up and glared at them in annoyance.
"what are you two looking at? Never seen a handsome man in your life.", I asked them, a playful smile hanging in my face.
The elf just snorted while remaining silent but it is Elena who replied to me, "no, I have seen many handsome men but never one who accepts a devil-race as his companion. You are a weird one, Arthur. Also, you are just above average handsome."
I made an expression that I was really hurt by her comments on my face. You can't blame me for that. I am not that handsome that I know but when a beauty like Elena says that to your face, it really hurts one's ego. Lately, I think my ego increased a lot so, it is really a hard pill to swallow for me.
"Elena, you could just skip the last part a bit, you know.", I called Elena by her name unknowingly without any honorifics. Although Elena didn't seem angry or anything, I think she took notice of me calling her casually. But this small thing raised someone else's irritation, the female elf who just kept silent and glared at me all the time, hissed at me furiously.
"hey, you. Why are you acting so chummy with lady Elena? Do not act out of your place? You don't know but lady Elena has a much better standing in the society than you. So, whenever you talk, show some respect. Someone like you isn't even worthy of carrying her shoe's."
"HEY, STOP IT, LUMIA."
Elena snapped at her angrily.
"sorry, Arthur. Don't take her words seriously. Lumia, she is just too passionate when it concerns me. But Lumia is a good girl if you know her and become her friend.", Elena tried to smooth things between us.
"who wants to become friends with them?", Lumia mumbled under her breath.
Elena became speechless at her behaviour. Arthur just sighed and shook his head in a helpless manner. He could not figure out why she hated him so much. But he couldn't ask them also, as they are not so close and he does not want to pry into other people's life.
"OK, let's just focus on the problem at hand. The leader of those black-clothed people is still out there. Your companion is not strong enough to hold him back. Moreover, he is exhausted fighting the bandit leader. We have to help him or ditch him. Your call. I prefer we run now.", Arthur remarked with a face full of worry.
Elena became silent hearing my words. She must be thinking about the pros and cons of her decisions. But I know that she will choose to save him. Although she is not a fighter, she isn't a coward at all. Her courage is more than plenty. Also, with my strength, there's a chance that we can kill the last one. But I don't want to fight now, my priority now is to take Lena to a safe place. She is still unconscious and I don't want to push her into more danger in this state.
But if we don't take care of the last one, he might hunt us down the whole way. There's also the danger of Lena being exposed. If that happens, I will be doomed. So, I want to erase all the evidence here and now.
"I don't want to abandon leader Ramon. He's been my bodyguard for a very long time. Today, because of me, he lost all of his team member. I know he wants to avenge them. But I don't want him to die here for my sake.", Elena responded to me.
I sighed. As expected, she chose to save him. I don't know if she chose differently what my reaction would be.
"OK, I will help you save him. But I want to make something clear. If he is already dead, then we run. don't even think about revenge? Am I making myself clear?"
"yes, I understand.", Elena agreed somewhat reluctantly.
I could understand her reluctance so I didn't speak to her anymore about this. I started to think how can we save him. He ran after the leader of the black-clothed assassin and now, they disappeared from our sight. If we want to search for him, we have to spread out and that will separate us from each other and that will be disadvantageous to us. I can't make this kind of gamble out of our lives for someone who may or may not be alive. Most of all, I don't like that Ramon guy. He doesn't feel straight to me.
"Elena, we will search for him together. We will use our eyes and ears only. That means no shouting and calling his name. if he is dead, calling him will only give our enemy our position. So, keep your voices down and act cautiously. If you notice something, immediately inform us, don't act alone. Also, we will continue to search him for one hour. After that we will leave this place at once. Do you girls understand?", Arthur explained with a serious face.
"wait.. wait.. wait.. , why do we need to listen to you? You should listen to us. We are not going to leave leader Ramon here. We are going to find him as long as it takes.", said Lumia in a determined tone. Looks like this Lumia is quite a hard-headed person. She is not listening to any of my reasons.
"I don't mind if you want to search him forever but I am with you only for an hour. More than that and I am out, you don't want to live but I like my life very much. I have beautiful women waiting for me at home. I can't forsake my life for a barbaric elf like you.", Arthur retorted Lumia sarcastically.
"ba-ba-barbaric elf!!! Who did you call a barbaric elf, you devil hugging pervert? I am going to kill you.", Lumia fumed in anger and her face turned red. She stomped her feet in the ground and lunged at Arthur in an attempt to beat him up. She was not trying to hurt him badly, just wanted to teach him a lesson.