Erza supported her body with "Flowing Water," the sword tip sinking deep into the soft mud by the creek.
She gasped for breath heavily, cold sweat sliding down her forehead, soaking a few strands of scarlet hair. The clothes on her back had long been soaked into a dark color by sweat, clinging tightly to her skin.
The girl lowered her head, her gaze falling somewhat unfocused on the pebbles rounded by the water flow by the creek.
The scene just now played repeatedly in her mind uncontrollably.
That grave of thousands of swords, the field of continuous flames...
Not sword skills, nor like magic, but more like something humans shouldn't master...
When Shane walked out from the flames, her entire body's Magic Power seemed to freeze instantly. Her combat instinct screamed crazily, issuing warnings, making her completely lose even the courage to lift the sword tip.
At that time, she stood stiffly on the spot, surprisingly not even having the courage to swing her sword at that power, and chose to admit defeat.
This had never happened before.
For the first time, she felt substantial confusion about whether she could catch up to Shane's footsteps.
"Erza."
Shane's voice woke her from her memories.
He walked a few steps closer, just blocking the somewhat dazzling morning light, and reached out his hand to her.
"Correctly recognizing the size of one's own ability is a precious quality that most humans cannot possess in their entire lives.
I don't think your admitting defeat just now was a wrong choice. This is also one of the reasons why I showed you that ability."
His words were rational and calm, trying to analyze the pros and cons for her.
But Erza looked blankly at his outstretched hand, feeling as if there was a layer of water film in her ears, only feeling the other party's voice was blurry.
She understood the logic, but... if she was afraid to swing her sword because the enemy was despairingly strong, then when her comrades needed protection, why should others feel safe entrusting their backs to her?
Seeing that the girl not only didn't cheer up but drilled deeper into a dead end, Shane regretted showing the true form of the Noble Phantasm to Erza so early.
He took a step forward and grabbed Erza's hand without explanation.
That pair of hands had several cuts on the fair skin due to the fierce battle just now, stained with faint red.
Reasonably speaking, pulling so hard would definitely make the wounds hurt, but Erza's fingers just curled slightly, without much reaction.
It seemed the blow she received was more severe than imagined.
Shane frowned, feeling that this girl's requirements for herself were really ridiculously high. It was clearly just an ordinary spar, yet she couldn't tolerate any thought of retreat in herself.
He paused, and suddenly a plan came to mind.
His shoulders slumped, his head tilted to one side, deliberately imitating the tone of those rusty-jointed magic puppets in the market, dragging out his voice in a flat, monotone reading style:
"Ah—so that's how it is. Erza is the kind of person who gives up resistance when encountering a strong enemy."
His tone was deliberately mixed with an exaggerated disappointment.
"Mhm, mhm. Then if I encounter danger in the future, it would be really terrible. You'd probably be the first to run away, right? Sigh, it really makes one feel uneasy staying with you..."
These words were like a stone thrown into stagnant water, finally stirring up Erza's reaction.
"Impossible!"
Erza jerked her head up, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, exploding instantly.
She reversed her grip and clenched Shane's hand tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force.
"If it were Shane, I would save you even if I die! Absolutely! How could I possibly run away!!"
Her reaction was unexpectedly intense, her chest heaving violently, her black crystal-like translucent pupils even welling up with tears due to agitation.
Then, she saw that expression of a successful plan on Shane's face.
The other party was looking at her with a faint smile.
"...He's joking?"
"He was actually joking just now?"
In an instant, Erza understood. Shane was deliberately provoking her, wanting her to cheer up.
But... even knowing it, she felt this wasn't funny at all!
Angry, really angry!
A nameless fire shot up from the bottom of her heart, squeezing in her chest. This was the first time Erza got angry at Shane.
Usually, jokes were fine, but this kind of thing... how could this kind of thing be used to tease her? How could she possibly betray Shane?
She flung Shane's hand away violently, the force so great that he staggered.
Immediately after, without saying a word, she turned abruptly, strode out, and walked quickly toward home with almost venting force, stomping on the ground.
Shane looked at her suddenly departing back and froze for a moment. Eh? The reaction seems a bit wrong? She didn't glare at me fiercely like usual.
He thought Erza was still drilling into a dead end, so he hurriedly chased after her, chattering beside her.
"Well, what date is it today?" He rubbed his chin, pretending to be relaxed, trying to use his super EQ to ease the atmosphere.
"Let me think, December 9th, X776? Hmm... how about designating today as 'Erza's Runaway Day'? We can commemorate it every year in the future..."
Before he could finish, Erza in front suddenly stopped in her tracks, braking her body.
Shane was still surprised when he saw the girl turn around abruptly, her clenched fist carrying the sound of wind, smashing mercilessly onto the bridge of his nose!
Bang!
A dull thud.
"I. Am. Really. Angry!"
Erza gritted her teeth, squeezing this sentence out through them word by word.
After speaking, she didn't give Shane any chance to talk. Without looking back, she rushed home at a speed faster than before, her scarlet long hair whipping out a trail like a flame tail behind her.
Caught off guard, Shane took this hit solidly, covering his nose and retreating half a step.
Fortunately, his constitution was far beyond ordinary people. The bridge of his nose was safe and sound, not even bleeding, just sore and numb, tears almost spurting out.
He covered his nose, looking in the direction Erza disappeared. Not only was he not annoyed, but he chuckled happily in a low voice, rubbing his sore nose bridge.
"That hit was really ruthless... But at least that lifeless look was beaten away." He talked to himself, his tone carrying a few points of pride. "Helping a companion walk out of psychological shadow—my IQ and EQ are indeed both high; boundless merit!"
He completely didn't take Erza's declaration of "really angry" to heart, only feeling that the other party was embarrassed to thank him.
"Hmm, is this what's called 'tsundere'? Indeed very interesting." Mr. Shane came to such a prejudiced conclusion, nodded to himself, and strolled back home leisurely in a good mood.
Then, he was blocked outside the house by a tightly locked door.
Looking at the heavy wooden door that wouldn't budge an inch, Shane blinked.
As everyone knows, Mr. Shane is a senior shut-in. Unless necessary, he never goes out easily, so naturally, his pocket wouldn't contain the convenient tool named "key" used to open his own door.
"Hey! Erza! Open the door! I'm still outside!"
Shane thought Erza was agitated and forgot he hadn't come in yet, so he shouted into the house.
However, the house was silent; not even footsteps could be heard.
If Shane hadn't seen Erza go in with his own eyes just now, he would really think no one was home.