“Why did you come here, you fool!!”

I shouted towards Sylvia.

At my sudden outburst, Sylvia looked taken aback, her eyes widening in surprise.

“Y-you surprised me, Scarlet. Why are you suddenly like this…?” she asked, her voice flustered by my abruptness.

Her question acted as a trigger, releasing the emotions I had been holding back.

“Why are you asking that? Do you really not understand why I’m upset right now…?”

She looked as if she truly didn’t grasp how serious the situation was, which stirred feelings of frustration along with a mix of other complicated emotions within me.

With a contorted expression, I shouted at Sylvia, “What on earth were you thinking coming here…! Do you have any idea how dangerous this place is…!”

Behind Sylvia, the surroundings caught my eye.

This area, covered in a sea of ominous blackness, was tainted with magic.

No matter how I looked around, there wasn’t a single blade of grass in this land, which felt unfriendly to humans—so much so that it could even be considered malicious.

And yet, Sylvia stepped foot into this place.

But look at her, wearing such a naive expression despite my impending doom.

How could I not feel my insides burning with anxiety?

While I was silently fuming, Sylvia, still staring at me, sighed and shook her head.

“Haah, honestly… I mean, I suppose one could think this is typical of Scarlet,” she said, her expression somewhere between disbelief and resignation as she met my gaze.

“I know it’s dangerous here. But I didn’t come unprepared, you know? Even if it looks like this, I can take care of myself. Look, do you see?”

Sylvia spread her arms wide as if to prove her point.

In that moment, a faint light enveloped her, and I could feel the dark magic around us begin to purify.

“You don’t need to worry. Thanks to a little boost, I can handle myself even in a place full of magic. Even if the lesser demonic beasts attack, I can just fly away.”

She seemed to imply that she was fine.

Despite what she said, I couldn’t ease my expression.

“This isn’t just about your capabilities. This isn’t a place where anyone can live. Even just finding food and water—”

“I came fully prepared for that too.”

As I pointed this out, Sylvia retrieved a water bottle and a small survival snack from the pouch at her waist.

“This is a magic water pouch, and this emergency food provides all the nutrients you need for a whole day with just one bite. I brought plenty, so I can last at least a few weeks with just this.”

While saying this, Sylvia gazed at the snack with a strange expression before squinting her eyes as if to brace herself, she shoved the food into her mouth.

Immediately after, for some unknown reason, she trembled and let out a silent scream.

After swallowing the snack, Sylvia hurriedly drank water, tears brimming in her eyes as she spoke.

“The taste is horrifyingly bad… but you get that I don’t need worrying, right?”

Trying to reassure me, she insisted not to worry about her well-being.

However, no matter her level of preparation, I remained unable to lighten my expression.

It wasn’t just the fact that she had come to a dangerous place that worried me.

It was—

“…I’m okay, but what’s with that look on your face?”

With a pout, Sylvia was frowning as she looked ahead.

What was I supposed to say?

Unable to express my thoughts, I remained silent until she muttered, sounding irritated.

“…I guess I don’t even need to ask. After all, you’re probably thinking that I’m the one who’s causing you trouble.”

I flinched and trembled at her words.

She hit the nail right on the head.

Earlier, the people from Astra mentioned how I had helped her escape the city and made her situation difficult.

They had decided that to protect Sylvia, they’d have to kill me. I had already caused her trouble.

So, I didn’t want to become a burden any longer. And yet, here we were.

Let’s think about this.

Just by helping me flee from the city, she had gotten herself into this predicament, and on top of that, she had rushed out of the city to aid me.

I knew for sure that she wouldn’t be treated nicely by others moving forward. The thought choked me with anxiety.

Not only had I put her in a dangerous place, but when I considered what she had to sacrifice to help me and the sacrifices yet to come—how could I not feel guilt?

Thus, overwhelmed by remorse, I quietly lowered my head and said, “Sorry… for making you.”

Then,

“…Don’t,” Sylvia shouted.

“Don’t even say things like ‘sorry’…!”

“Don’t say sorry,” she insisted.

“Do you think I don’t know why I did this? I didn’t come here eating tasteless food, braving this dangerous place just to hear you say you’re sorry…!”

With a fierceness I had never seen before, Sylvia shouted at me.

“Why did I come here? Because I care about you, of course…! Even when it’s gotten to the point of nearly dying, someone who worries about others more than themselves can’t help but come…”

I simply hung my head and listened quietly to her words.

I didn’t misunderstand her feelings.

I knew.

She understood that I had come to help her because I was worried.

Yet I didn’t want her to do this.

I would rather face something worse myself than have her go through this kind of sacrifice to help me.

So, I raised my head to ask Sylvia not to do this again from now on.

“Ugh… I thought you were dead… I was so—so—”

She couldn’t finish her sentence as her eyes shimmered, red from crying.

Tears streamed down as she sobbed helplessly.

Heartbreak and worry mixed with frustration as she cried painfully.

Seeing her like this caused my heart to soften instantly, and I came to a realization.

In the end, I couldn’t treat her harshly.

Holding back the words I had intended to say, I gently wrapped my arms around her.

Without hesitation, she buried her face in my shoulder.

I felt her tears soaking my shirt, and I could hear her sobbing voice close to my ear.

“H-huuh… Who’s the fool here… it’s Scarlet who’s the clueless idiot…”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Sylvia. I did everything wrong…”

“Say sorry one more time, and I’ll—”

“If you don’t want me to, then I won’t!”

As she mumbled her response with her face buried in my shoulder, she squeezed my arms tightly and said,

“Do you want me to apologize for when you ask for my help? Should I say sorry every single time…?”

“…No.”

“Then you know you’re in the wrong, right…?”

“Yeah, I guess so… Sorry… ah…”

Just after telling her not to apologize, I accidentally muttered a sorry, which made me flustered and Sylvia chuckle softly.

“Apologize sincerely for that… because that really was entirely Scarlet’s fault…”

Did she find my actions that hurtful?

Sylvia held my arm tightly as she spoke, and I responded.

“…Yeah. I did wrong. I’m sorry.”

“…Please don’t do that again next time. It’s a promise, okay?”

I paused for a moment.

Asking me to promise not to do this again, she waited for an answer.

But when I remained silent, I felt her hand trembling slightly.

I couldn’t help but stroke her hair, agreeing to her request.

“…Okay, I promise.”

Hearing that, Sylvia nodded faintly as if relieved.

After waiting a while for her to calm down, Sylvia, having stopped crying, lowered her head red-faced, clearly embarrassed by her swollen eyes, and suddenly exclaimed as if she had realized something.

“Oh, by the way, Scarlet, you’re talking to me informally now?”

“Ah… I guess so.”

Caught off guard by her realization that I had dropped formalities, I realized how disorganized my thoughts had been.

In the midst of all the chaos, I had forgotten to address Sylvia formally.

Thinking along those lines, I replied in formal speech, and Sylvia shook her head vehemently.

“No, I prefer you to stay informal! Can’t you just keep it that way? Please…?”

With her eyes sparkling like a cat in rain boots, Sylvia pleaded with me.

Seeing her like this made me chuckle.

The reason I had used formal speech until now was because I wanted her to feel some distance from me.

But after what happened today, I realized.

Sylvia already considered me the closest person to her.

In fact, since things were like this, formalities held no meaning anymore; I nodded slowly.

With that, Sylvia beamed and clenched her fist as if she had succeeded in something, then asked with a curious expression.

“Uh, Scarlet. The reason you’ve been using formal speech until now, was it because you felt you needed some distance from me? Just like when you said we shouldn’t become friends?”

“Well… yeah.”

Upon my response, Sylvia hesitated momentarily before asking.

“Can I ask why you were so deliberately drawing that line?”

At her question, I bitterly smiled as I replied.

“Sylvia, it’s because I was worried something like today would happen.”

“Wha…?”

She tilted her head in confusion at my statement.

I elaborated, “I mentioned it before, didn’t I? I thought if I got too close to you, I’d end up putting a lot of weight on you, and that’s why I said we couldn’t be friends. You’ve helped me at the expense of a lot, after all. I didn’t want to put you in that position.”

“You definitely said you wouldn’t want to owe anyone or burden anyone. Was that really the only reason? Just not to burden me?”

Asking me if that was really everything, Sylvia sought clarification, and it made me think.

Sure, until now, I had maintained a psychological distance from her for that reason, but was that really the full story?

While pondering, it didn’t take long for me to discover something.

Ah, I see.

I poured out what I hadn’t realized was the real reason.

I said, “I think I was scared.”

I must have seemed cowardly.