239 Chapter 237: A Hug

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Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday

Giliath demands your power stones!

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"Sherryl...", I uttered, seeing a girl sporting lilac colored hair standing before the two of us as we stood by in a certain hallway in the vast Valflame Palace. Directly ahead of us seemed to be a large room while there were a few rooms scattered around. Yet, to our surprise, I saw Sherryl standing idly, as if she was waiting to return, knowing exactly where we would arrive. I couldn't help but raise my eyebrows seeing Sherryl here. It has been a couple years since Sherryl was taken away by Zin to train her in martial arts. We haven't seen each other since the events of Nemeth Island.

I'm sure, similar to me, I could see a sense of longing in her eyes. One which was long overdue. It was only thanks to her own resolution that I decided to let Sherryl go on such a journey, otherwise she probably would have started training back in Grancel Castle right after our return then.

"Big brother...", Sherryl said, looking at us. Before I could do anything, Sherryl entered a dash and gave me quite the hard tackle, proceeding to give me a hug.

I felt Sharryl's warmth spread across my body as she gave me a big hug. Seeing Sherryl suddenly do this, Princess Alfin raised her eyebrows.

"So it looks like what you said back in the changing room was true after all.", Princess Alfin said as she looked our way. "I take it Big Brother is basically your guys' knight in shining armor? Hehe.", Princess Alfin responded while seeing this. She clapped her hands together as she giggled.

"Did you tell them what happened during our time in the caves?", I asked as Sherryl hugged me. Sherryl nodded her head as I her gaze landed on mine while she tilted her head upward to look up at me.

"Uh-huh. Princess Alfin knows. So do those other two noble girls. We've shown them what happened.", Sherryl answered me. I didn't hear her voice waver though. Seeing such clear eyes brought me a smile to my face as I ruffled her hair. I'm curious to see how much Sherryl has told those girls.

I could see her eyes, and they weren't dark and murky like the first time I came across Sherryl. As to how it originally went down, that psychotic doctor hired the Red Constellation to kidnap me, and subsequently brought me over to the cult's main base of operations since he declared I had the perfect body for KeA to take over. Unfortunately things didn't go his way since I had access to my Blood Magic. Sherryl was the first to get kidnapped and was sent directly to the Sun Fort, where I was taken to. Ennea was sent to the Sun Fort shortly after, to which I devised a plan to make them transfer us over to the Altair Lodge.

That base was the same one where Lloyd and his group ventured into as part of Lloyd's training with the First Division at the start of Azure. I acted one step ahead of that crazy doctor, and by the time he realized it, we were long gone. Fortune seemed to have shone upon that crazy doctor though. During my little disappearance act at St. Ursula, I saw Doctor Joachim there in his usual office. While appearing relaxed on the outside, I could tell he was much more on guard, and didn't sport much vigor in his body during the times I came across him.

He was still needed to show the existence of the cult's records to Lloyd's group. The only thing that really changed in this aspect was me saving Tio instead of Guy. However, she was still experimented on, much like Sherryl here during the days spent in the cult. It was likely Tio would still join the SSS based on how things were progressing. I am curious to see Randy's current situation based on what had happened in the past. To my surprise, Van came across Lloyd while he's still in Calvard. All that's left was Elie, she hadn't been writing to me lately but I'm sure she finished her studies in Arteria and made her way back to Crossbell. Given enough free time, I should pay her a visit.

Though from here on, it may be more difficult to move around in the public eye thanks to Father's declaration of our engagement, haha.

Still, I saw Sherryl's eyes were a lot more clear. I could tell her body was quite developed in terms of strength and power too, but the funny thing was that her slim body barely had any visible muscle on it. That was likely because of that unique physique she developed from a side effect of the Gnosis drug. For me, it granted me the Resistance stat, which was still a hidden stat but still showed up as a skill. Despite having powered it up over the years, it just goes to show how terrifying Ace was during that fight. I do want to see how to develop Resistance even further, to see if it can target both physical and magical stats.

But that would have to be tested at a later date.

For now, Sherryl and I just enjoyed this hug that was long since overdue. Princess Alfin bloomed into a smile as I ruffled Sherryl's hair. Sherryl took this moment to close her eyes and enjoyed it. I felt her arms tighten around my back, and I could feel her soft body press against mine. One wouldn't think she went on a martial arts journey since she was still pretty small in height, coupled with this slim body of hers. Seeing Sherryl enjoy this moment of silence, I smiled.

"Do the scars still hurt?", I decided to ask after this moment of silence passed by. Sherryl opened her eyes again and shook her head.

"They don't. Teacher sure was surprised to see them though when we started going around Zemuria. He always wondered why I hesitated trying to mingle with others, especially during bathing times. Thankfully Teacher helped you with that extermination mission, so it's not like he wasn't fully out of the loop.", Sherryl said, explaining a bit from how her end went.

"I see. I need to show Zin my thanks in the coming time then for letting you experience so many places. I'm surprised you decided to enroll at St. Astraia, an all girls school no less.", I answered as I continued to ruffle through Sherryl's hair.

"Teacher can be pretty persuasive you know, but in the end, he said it was for my benefit. I don't regret enrolling in St. Astraia though, even if it is a bit far from home.", Sherryl responded with a smile.

"Home...", Princess Alfin uttered. "Now that I recall, you did introduce yourself as a Crossbellan, didn't you?", Princess Alfin asked, wondering.

"I did. Family's still back in Crossbell. Still, that matter is going to be an entire hurdle to get over in the coming time...", Sherryl said, frowning a bit as she answered Princess Alfin.

"You know you have to come to terms with your family sooner than later you know, Sherryl. You can't push it aside as an excuse.", I responded in a more serious tone. Seeing me do this caused Sherryl to nod her head.

"Sherryl's family huh? Even I found it a surprise learning that your family was once in service of House Bartholomeus back in Remiferia. Don't tell me, did something happen to them?", Princess Alfin asked as worry appeared in her eyes. Sherryl quickly shook her head to deny Princess Alfin's worry.

"Oh no, it's not anything like that. This matter is solely linked to me. After all, I was kidnapped right before their very eyes. They might even see me as dead.", Sherryl said, letting out a sigh as she finally parted ways with her hug. At the same time, Princess Alfin's eyes turned wide in surprise as my gaze remained serious.

Hearing Sherryl say that, an awkward silence spread out from the three. All Princess Alfin did was approach Sherryl, and reached her own arms out, embracing her with a hug. I joined in, and we all shared a heartfelt hug, doused in silence. Sherryl found her emotions bottled up over the couple years she has used to travel around Zemuria. It didn't take long before tears started to form in her eyes, letting them flow down the sides of her cheeks while enjoying the hug shared between the three of us...