There’s Something About Esme

"Let's go, Esme."

Rey took her hand and drew her close to him as he flew away from the scene.

With his Spatial Skill, he could have easily teleported the two of them out of there, but instead, he chose to ascend to the skies with her.

They both floated in the air, the ground far beneath their feet.

"W-what about Aldred? What will happen to him… and them?"

A single glance at Esme's face showed that, despite being hurt by the Elves, she still cared about them. Rey didn't understand if it was some kind of racial camaraderie, but he found it odd.

'Would I have been the same if the humans treated me like shit?'

He wasn't sure, but he doubted it.

Even when he was considered the weakest of the Otherworlders, and he sort of still was, the Royal Council didn't treat him with any kind of bigotry.

The only reason they separated the students into two classes was in order not to rush the training of the lesser skilled students and also to prevent the impediment of the growth of the more talented students.

It was a pragmatic approach, and Rey wasn't even the only one who was in Beta Class. Most of the students were there.

Promotions and demotions also existed, so it wasn't a strict hierarchy.

There were initially nine students in the Alpha Class, but they eventually got whittled down to seven. If Trisha continued her intense training, Rey had a feeling that she would have undoubtedly reached Alpha Class.

All of that was in the past now, but the bottom line was that he wasn't harshly treated by the humans in H'Trae. Lucielle and Brutus—as well as any other trainer in-between—were pretty fair to him.

He was treated pretty much the same as everyone else.

In fact, most of the scorn he recieved was from his fellow Otherworlders. A lot of them made fun of him in the beginning, but eveb that didn't last very long.

Everyone had their own thing, and so they soon ignored him.

No one really bullied him. Perhaps that was due to the influence of Adonis, but Rey also felt like they simply had their struggles and challenges to keep busy.

"I haven't really had it that rough, so I wouldn't know how you feel right now… Esme." Rey said as he looked at her.

For a moment, they stared at each other in silence.

Then—

"It's fine, Rey. They don't want to have anything to do with me, and I understand that." Esme spoke calmly.

Rey thought she would cry or display some kind of emotion, but her slightly stoic demeanor was not within his expectations.

"I also don't want to have anything to do with them."

"A-ahh… I see." Rey chuckled in slight embarassment.

It seemed like, rather than Esme, he was the one who took things too seriously.

"Thanks for having my back, though. I really appreciate it, Rey." She smiled, slightly using her fist to bump him on his shoulder.

"Jeez… it's no big deal."

Rey rubbed his shoulder as he muttered the words.

Of course, he didn't feel any discomfort from her action.

It was the opposite, actually.

He was blushing underneath the mask, so thankful that she couldn't see his beet red face.

"You're a good friend, Rey. I'm lucky to have known someone like you."

Rey felt something move in his heart as she said those words. He felt a bittersweet sensation within him as he heard those words.

'Friends, huh? I guess… we are friends.'

"I still remember the first time we met. In that dark room…" Esme's voice was soft and sullen, but it wasn't sad at all.

She smiled despite bringing up the terrifying event.

"I had to strain my voice to call your name, you know? I said nothing initially, since I thought you would save everyone. Imagine my shock when you just started walking away with those two."

"Haha! I was going to report to the authorities, and they would have rescued you." Rey responded with a nervous smile as he watched Esme shake her head.

"That's not what I thought back then, though. I was like… 'This jerk is just going to leave the rest of us like this? I can't believe he has a Good Alignment!' that sort of thing."

"Pfft! Well, I won't deny being a jerk." Rey laughed even harder.

"Yeah. You made a fragile girl like me struggle just so you could save me…" Despite saying that, Esme's smile only grew broader.

"Who would have thought that jerk would end up being such an amazing friend?"

The two stared at each other for what felt like a minute, allowing the winds to blow on them as they shared the silence.

"You're not half bad yourself." Rey finally spoke up, replying in a playful tone.

Esme giggled the moment she heard that. "Well, isn't it very rare to have such a pretty friend like me? You can show me off to your other friends, you know?"

Rey didn't have a lot of friends, so only one image really came to mind once Esme said what she said.

'Alicia…!' He gulped the moment he thought about what would happen if he tried to show Esme off to her.

'What will she say, I wonder?'

The right answer would have been that Alicia was going to be happy for him. Making another friend was not an easy task for Rey, so—naturally speaking—she would be glad to see him bonding with someone else.

But…

'That didn't work out last time, with Trisha.'

Somehow, the thought of introducing any female as his friend gave Rey goosebumps when he imagined Alicia's reaction.

'That means she likes me, right? Maybe I can ask Esme about that!'

"Don't look so dull, Rey." Esme's voice brought Rey back to reality. "If it's for your sake, I can pretend to be your girl so you can look cool."

"H-huh…?"

"I understand, Rey. My friends also made me feel a bit jealous when they had boyfriends and I had none."

'E-eh? Esme didn't have guys fawning for her?! Impossible!' Rey's thoughts echoed.

"But wait… you have a girl, right? Ah, yes… the one you got the Amber Ring for. I almost forgot about tha—"

"S-she's not… my girlfriend."

"Yet." Esme completed Rey's sentence and winked at him.

"Yeah… yet." Rey muttered, laughing at himself as he scratched his head in embarassment.

Esme really caught him off-guard with all of this. But, Rey didn't mind it at all.

In fact, he quite enjoyed every moment.

"Can you tell me who she is? This girl that my friend is so in love with." Esme nudged, raising her brows a few times so Rey could spill.

It was so funny that he wanted to laugh, but he swallowd it instantly.

"W-well, you've met her before…"

"I have? Hold on… was it one of the two people you saved back then?"

"Yes."

"I couldn't properly see their faces since it was dark, and I was weak." Esme began rubbing her chin as she thought back to the incident.

Then, a wide smile formed on her face.

"I see. Well, I look forward to seeing where this goes." Rey nodded and replied with equal fervor.

"Me too."