Lieren watched with unmasked horror Haraki—his aegis—mercilessly slit the bandit girl's throat with his bare hand.
His bond, the pact between Lieren and Haraki, pulsated within the lanky boy, sending a wave of ease within the boy.
As if in tandem with Lieren's heartbeat, his panic and anxiety subsided, even if by just a little bit. Lieren breathed slowly and carefully, savoring the sensation. As much as Lieren tried, he could not get rid of the fear in his heart.
"…!" Haraki, apparently finished with his task, turned over to Lieren, making the boy flinch in surprise.
The man, Lieren's aegis, pulled out a handkerchief from his inner pocket, wiping the blood on his face and arms.
The rune under his eye has stopped glowing, Lieren noticed, has it been deactivated? Maybe he can't keep that up for long, or, more likely, he simply couldn't.
Haraki walked over to Lieren, offering a hand.Lieren accepted it willingly.
For some reason, the suspicious air around him seemed to have disappeared, though not completely, as Lieren still held his doubts about the man in question.
With a casual yank, Lieren was back up to his feet.
Haraki, noticing the mud and grime on Lieren's face, pulled out a handkerchief, wiping on the boy's face.
Lieren slapped the man's hand away. "Ah, don't wipe my face with that. It has blood on it!" Lieren pulled on the collar of his shirt, wiping away both the blood and the grime.
"Oh…right." Lieren glanced up as he was wiping away the grime, noticing the blank expression on Haraki's face.
The man, confident and mischievous, looked a bit out of it—for the lack of a better word. His green eyes looked somehow blander, the bright glow of it having dimmed greatly. The man's facial expressions, always changing, looked to be at rest, like he was making great effort to make it so.
"H-Hey, are you okay?" The man looked tired to Lieren, very tired.
As Lieren reached for the man's face, a spark brief but painful, shot through Lieren's arm. "Ow!" He grunted, confused and frustrated. "What was that?"
"…Huh?" Haraki blinked repeatedly, looking confused. "What just happened?"
"That's what I wanna know." Lieren complained, clutching his arm. Though pain had come and gone, he swears that he could still feel it.
Haraki scratched the back of his head. "Huh…"
"Hey, the pretty boy over there! Oi~" A woman in sensational leather armor walked over to the two of them, waving her hand, yelling at the top of her lungs.
Haraki was the first to react. "Yes, yes, I know my beauty more than anybody, no need to shout it to the world. Though, I'm not saying you shouldn't, either." The man, bearing bright colors and a tinge of blood, casually walked over, putting himself between Lieren and the woman.
"Ugh, you shouldn't have said that. Look at what you did." Another woman groaned from beside the first, and the first woman, Lin, nudged her companion.
"Shut up." Lin muttered bitterly, covering her face. "I didn't know he would react like THAT."
"Well, you should have expected him to. Can you not tell from the way he dresses himself?" The other girl scolded Lin, her hands on her waist, looking particularly sassy.
"Whatever, Rin." Finally, Lin gave up, rolling her eyes and ignoring her companion.
Harita raised a brow. "Are you sisters, perhaps? You look very similar to each other."
"Oh, we are." Lin said. "Twins, in fact. And I'm all the worse for it. Can you imagine being stuck with this nagging potato ever since birth? It's a freaking nightmare, I tell you." Lin looked frustrated, but not serious, Lieren noticed. She meant her words, but not in the way one would expect at fist.
"Right back at you, sis." Rin returned the insult, flipping her brown hair.
The two continued bickering like a cat and a dog, barking and hissing at each other. It was amidst this heating debate that a man covered head-to-toe in steel-plated armor stepped in between the two, pushing the two away from the other.
"Now, now, children. Not in front of our guests." The man, Brad, said in an almost motherly—but mostly teasing—voice. A grin remained on his face as he ignored the two's complaints.
Harita remained in place, putting Lieren behind him. "What can I do for you?" He said in that casual tone of his.
As Harita questioned him, the man took of his helmet—which covered the top side of face—revealing a middle-aged man in his thirties. Rugged, handsome, bearing sharp features and a few battle scars, each baring their own stories. His expression, cordial and hearty, immediately turned ice-cold upon meeting Harita's gaze.
"What. Are you embarrassed?" Harita remained his usual cheery self, though his eyes told other wise.
He's wary, Lieren thought, sensing the mood that hang in the air. Even he could tell that the adventurer, Brad, had a couple of problems with Harita. Do they know each other? Doubtful. If that was the case, I'm sure Harita would be much more open. That much I could tell, for sure.
Lieren decided to wait and see. He walked to Harita's back clinging to his aegis' shirt as hid behind the lean man.
Harita patted Lieren's head.
"…No, nothing." Brad muttered in an almost unrecognizable voice. He turned on his heel, his helmet to his side, and pivoted away, to where a couple of people, passengers, Lieren recognized, where huddled together, talking about the massacre they had just seen.
Harita eyed the walking man suspiciously.
"Ugh, forget about him." Rin said, walking closer to Harita. "He's just jealous because you stole his spotlight."
"Yeah, he gets like that sometimes, especially on guarding quests." Lin shrugged. "But, he's not a bad guy, deep down. He's just…grumpy. I wouldn't worry about it too much. He'll be fine after a couple of drinks."
Harita just waved and gave the twins a blank smile. "Just make sure he doesn't kill me in my sleep." Harita grabbed Lieren's hand and walked over to the rest of the group.