____
By noon, I finally arrived at the city.
Unlike the morning air, which had felt quiet and refreshing, the midday atmosphere was unbearably hot. With the blazing sunlight pouring down, even walking a few kilometers felt genuinely exhausting.
The gate that had been empty earlier was now crowded. The long line stretching outward made that obvious enough. Most of them were probably merchants, if I had to guess.
But the question was — did I need to line up?
The answer was no.
I simply kept walking forward and gave a small nod toward one of the guards.
And just like that, I was allowed to enter.
It was probably because I was an adventurer.
Yeah… a pretty great profession, in my personal opinion.
-
After entering the city, the first thing I noticed was how busy the streets were.
Stalls lined both sides of the road, people passing by them constantly, some stopping to buy things. The shops were no less crowded, and there were quite a few horse-drawn carriages moving along the streets as well.
It was truly lively.
Even so, I ignored it all and headed straight toward the guild to report my quest.
-
It didn't take long to get there. As I'd mentioned before, the guild building was close to the city gate, which made things convenient for me.
I stood in front of the door for a few moments before finally pushing it open and stepping inside.
The interior was filled with the noisy bustle typical of fantasy anime guilds.
Seeing that, a small smile appeared on my face.
For some reason, watching people like them — foolishly enjoying themselves — made me feel just a little happy.
…Though I had no right to call them fools.
The real fool here was me.
With that thought, I walked toward the reception desk.
But—
—the line there was quite long, which immediately killed my motivation to queue up. So instead, I found an empty seat, sat down, and rested my head on the table.
-
Some time later, I woke up when I heard someone calling my name.
"Clement…?"
The voice sounded familiar.
I lifted my head to see who it was.
And yeah—
"…Viola."
Her name slipped from my mouth the moment I saw her.
For some reason, whenever I was near her, the urge to run away would surface.
I couldn't stand being around her.
Yeah… I was probably still feeling guilty.
So I immediately looked away.
"Um… sorry, am I bothering you?" she asked softly, her voice gentle to my ears.
I forced myself to look at her and replied,
"No. I don't really mind."
She suddenly smiled.
"I see. Then… would it be okay if I sit with you?" she asked. For some reason, she'd been like this ever since then.
With an awkward smile, I nodded.
"Sure."
She sat down across from me.
"So, did you just finish a quest?" she asked.
"Yeah," I answered shortly.
And the same pattern repeated several times.
"Clement, how was your day?"
"It was fine."
Again.
"Are you lying?"
"No."
That was basically how our conversation went, and I had to admit — it was painfully awkward.
Even so, Viola kept asking me things for a while longer before eventually stopping, probably because she ran out of questions.
And just like that, we both fell silent at the same table, the awkward atmosphere filling the space between us.
For some reason, I found myself staring at her slightly gloomy expression.
Then I started thinking about something.
-
Unable to endure the silence any longer, I decided to speak.
I wasn't smiling. Only a serious expression remained on my face.
"Hey, Viola."
She brightened instantly when she heard me.
"Mm? What is it, Clement?"
I shook my head.
"Nothing. I was just curious."
"Curious?"
"Yeah."
She smiled confidently.
"Well, if it's something I know, I'll answer. Go ahead — ask anything."
"I see… then I won't hold back."
Even as I said that, I still hesitated a little.
I was afraid I might hurt her again with my words.
But in the end, I said it anyway.
"Hey, Viola… why do you care about me so much?"
That was something I'd been wondering ever since the first time we met.
"…."
"…."
"…."
She stayed silent for a few moments before finally speaking.
She shook her head.
"To be honest… I don't really know either."
"It's just… when I'm with you, for some reason I feel like I have to be a good person."
"Maybe… I just want to see you care about me too."
After saying that, she fell silent again.
Yeah… I think I understood now why she cared about me so much.
A small smile appeared on my face as I spoke.
"I see. Then I guess… that's not really a problem anymore."
"Hey, Viola."
She looked at me again.
"Thank you… for caring about someone like me."
"It really means a lot to me."
…
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