"Miss Mei, what a pleasant surprise. Can I invite you for a refreshing tea at my humble abode?" Senzo asked with a smile that could move a maiden's heart.
Arion's brows wrinkled, seeing how blatantly Senzo was trying to flirt with Mei. He was already having a bad day, but now, seeing what was going on before him, it almost set off the fuse inside him.
"Sentinel Senzo, I presume you have a corpse to report back to the Ward Chief, right?" Arion asked in an innocent tone as if he was genuinely concerned about the Dreadling corpse in the cart.
Each ward had a chief who looked after the entire ward and only reported to the Village Chief.
Senzo's eyes twitched, seeing how a cripple dared to tell him how to do his job. He never even bothered to give a look at Arion from the moment he reached here. His eyes were only on Mei and considered Arion as some contaminated air that surrounded Mei.
He only saw Arion as a leech that was nothing more than a burden for not only the society but for Mei as well.
And now, seeing how Arion had the guts to talk to him, he felt that he needed to purge this contaminated air. But of course, that was just a thought. He never took Arion as a person with a spine.
"Let's go, Sister Mei. We shouldn't impede Sentinel Senzo when he is carrying out his duty. Sir Senzo will understand, isn't that so?" Arion asked with a smile as he looked at Senzo.
His tone was loud enough for others to hear since he wanted to make sure everyone else heard him.
Senzo was speechless and clenched his fists since he was put in a tight spot by Arion.
Since everyone considered Sentinels like him a loyal and dedicated Dreadslayer, he would have to maintain that image by doing his duty the right way, at least in public.
Right now, there was a dead Dreadling behind him, and his job was always to report such things to the Ward Chief and submit his report so that the Ward Chief can take adequate measures.
Even though Dreadslayers were the ones who made the killing and protecting, the Ward Chiefs were the ones who assigned Dreadslayers with missions and coordinated their movements since they would have the best idea of their own terrain and people.
Mei finally spoke, "Arion is right. Sir Senzo, congratulations on killing a Dreadling. We will be on our way and not dare to delay you any further." Her tone was polite and friendly, and everyone seemed to enjoy just listening to her voice.
Senzo could only helplessly smile and nod as he stepped towards the side to let Mei and Arion pass.
However, as he looked back, his eyes couldn't stop trembling, seeing how a cripple made him shut his mouth with just words. Never before had he felt so ashamed and that he had to give way to a disabled kid who also ruined his chances of getting closer to Mei.
But he knew how so many tried to garner Mei's favor but failed. So, he took comfort in that fact and continued on his way.
Arion closed his eyes as Mei pushed his wheelchair. Despite getting one over Senzo, he didn't even bother to think about that matter anymore since he was feeling utterly depressed about himself.
He had no idea what he should do with his life now and how his future would turn out to be.
Seeing his sullen face, Mei couldn't stay silent anymore and sighed, "Ari, don't think too much. Life has its ups and downs. We fall only to get up stronger. Remember how you tried for more than ten years just to form a connection with prana? And yesterday, you were able to achieve a sudden miracle. Just think of today as something similar. Who knows, things might take a turn for the better sooner than you think. I believe in you."
"We fall only to get up stronger…" Arion repeated her words in his mind and felt his mind getting a bit lighter.
A soft smile crossed across his face feeling her faith in him, "Thank you, Sister Mei."
"No need to thank me for stating the truth. When I come back tonight, I will make you something tasty. I hope this time you really feel it's tasty instead of trying not to make me feel bad," Mei said in a petulant tone.
Certain memories flashed in Arion's mind, making him let out a soft chuckle, "I knew you weren't that dense. But I thought I was careful enough."
"So, it was indeed bad!" Mei said as if sounding upset at herself.
Arion let out a soft laugh, "I am sorry, haha. You always seem too eager whenever you cook me food, and I didn't want to dampen your spirits. Besides, you rarely cook food because of how busy you are. We usually let Aunt Yuro cook food for us, and even you praised how tasty her cooking is.
"So, no one can blame your cooking. But...I love eating food that was made with your own hands, and that is not something that will ever change even if I tasted the food cooked by the best cook in the world," Arion said with a pleasant smile, and at the same time, he realized how he was already starting to feel better.
Mei felt happy and didn't expect that she would be the one feeling happy when she was trying to distract Arion from being disappointed in himself.
She knew she was bad at cooking and wanted to use that as a joke to make Arion smile. However, hearing his heartfelt words, she couldn't help but smile that would have seemed mesmerizing if it weren't for her veil hiding such a beautiful sight.
Arion's mind, which was drowning in despair before, got cleared up a bit as he weighed his options. Even though things seemed extremely bleak for him, Mei's words brought back a ray of hope inside his heart.