The Search for the Miss Savior (2)

A green land welcomed Brissia and Harris who had spent eighteen hours wading through the ocean. Unlike Archtier, Bouville had hills stretching from one coast to another, allowing anyone to admire the vast blue sea from up there. As for the sky, it was one part of Bouville that delighted every visitor's eyes who had just arrived.

"The blue sky feels different here. Don't you agree?"

"I do, Brissie."

"And somehow the freshness of the blue reminds me of Benjamin."

Harris did not immediately respond to Brissia's words. His memory flashed back to when Benjamin sacrificed himself for the sake of the goal he had to achieve.

The two of them walked until they set foot on a path flanked by trees. Brissia, who no longer heard the sound of footsteps, looked behind her only to find Harris had stopped walking. "What's wrong, Harris?"

Harris stepped closer to Brissia and said, "You were bleeding. Let's take a short break."

"What? No, no, no. It was just a small wound," said Brissia while rubbing her arm. "We have to get there before nightfall."

Seeing the girl continue walking, he let out a sigh. He catched up with Brissia only to stop her from walking any further.

"Our goal may not be close, but maintaining stamina is still our main priority."

Brissia turned to Harris.

"Alright."

The answer brought a smile to Harris's lips.

Both of them might be sitting on the same tree trunk, but they had different thoughts. From the time the two of them walked under the clear blue sky until they entered the forest, the temperature there was higher than they had expected. The girl's increasingly slow steps convinced him that she was not used to walking long distances.

However, Brissia, who appeared to be so, actually carried Madame Ouden's words in her mind with every step she took. And then she asked Harris one question.

"What's your fondest memory of Miss Savior?"

Harris turned at her in surprise.

"What?! Brissie..."

The girl raised her eyebrows when she saw Harris rubbing his face while looking down.

"...Your statement just very... assumptive. Shouldn't you ask me another thing first?"

"Like what?" Brissia asked him nonchalantly.

"Like whether I've spent even a second with her in my life."

Brissia nodded her head then closed her eyes for a moment. "Sorry. I just thought it was your Miss Savior who moved your heart and your feet."

Her casual words elicited a dry chuckle from Harris. "It's alright, but you can't just add possessiveness after her title. She's not mine and I have no intention of making her mine either."

"Why not? Does she mean nothing to you?"

"She means a lot to me, but less than someone's presence next to me."

Brissia's eyes didn't blink at Harris's answer. It brought her gaze to those hazel beads. A glint of amber in his eyes held such an indescribable earnestness as he looked at her.

It wasn't long until Harris stood up, asked her firmly, "Do you get it, Brissie?"

The girl nodded while averting her gaze. Harris, who saw the girl standing awkwardly, smiled unbeknownst to her.

"There were many men trying to get her attention until she was captivated by one guy from the base. But reportedly, he passed away in his attempt to protect her," Harris told Brissia as the two walked again.

His story left Brissia in silence. Instantly, the words of the gray-eyed man at Harris's headquarters rang in her head. Then, the rustling of the bushes shattered her thoughts in an instant.

Swoosh!

Brissia's eyes bulged at the arrows coming toward them.

"Harris!"

Brissia pushed Harris until both of them fell on the ground. As Brissia rolled to the side, Harris immediately got up, looked around warily and loaded the bullets into his handgun.

The six black-robed figures were approaching them slowly from two opposite directions. Brissia got up after pulling out the arrowhead from one of the arrows. She and Harris had their backs to each other while setting up their stances.

"Brissie, can you use a handgun?" asked Harris in a whisper.

"I'd rather fight them at close range."

Harris nodded slightly.

Brissia looked at the three of them who were about a meter away from her. She then pulled the one's collar, prompting their fellows to aim their bow at her. Then she thrust the one's body into them, who were ready to fire arrows at her.

Thud!

Same as her, Harris used one of three black-robed figures in front of him, who had just lifted their bow, as a bait. He shot them in the leg before turning to Brissia.

"They're a group with those at Archtier?"

Brissia pulled the arrowhead from the shoulder of an opponent in front of her before standing straight.

"I guess so," muttered Brissia, nimbly dodging the arrows aimed at her. She got close to the other two, grabbed their bows and kicked their bodies until they fell to the ground.

The worst thing they had to face was that one person's defeat would bring in two more people from an unexpected direction. No matter what moves or weapons they used, more people arrived than before they reached the harbor.

"Brissie, look out!"

Harris exclaimed as soon as he saw an unknown arrow hurtling toward Brissia. When she was just about to dodge, the girl realized the arrow wasn't heading for her. It then stuck into the heart of one of the black-robed figures.

"Ah!"

Brissia held her chest cavity as someone turned their palm toward her back. Right after, a bullet hit whoever it was, obliterating the bluish light emitting from their palm.

She fell limply as the entire troop of black-robed figures collapsed. Harris knelt down to support her, looking at her worriedly.

However, the sound of rustling leaves made Harris look warily at the bushes around him. A man in a dark brown robe appeared before him, taking Harris by surprise. Plus, the person was holding a gun and a bow.

"Does your friend need help?"

Harris flinched at his words. Quickly, he reached into his trouser pocket, showed the man a piece of paper, and said, "Yes, please! She's been injured since before we arrived!

The man took the paper that Harris showed. He glanced at the black-robed people lying around the two people in front of him.

"Let's get her somewhere else. They'll wake up soon."

Harris nodded firmly as the man turned and started walking. "Brissie, hold on for me," he spoke softly as he put his arms around Brissia's neck, helping her walk.

Brissia nodded slowly, glancing at the brown-robed man who was hiding his hair and eyes under the hood of his robe.

***

"Welcome home."

A woman with wavy, deep orange hair stood in the doorway of a white-walled house with a small flower garden. Her smile, which was as gentle as the morning sky, instantly vanished as she saw two people behind the man in the brown robe.

"Oh? Who could they be?"

"I don't know, but they were attacked by those black crows," the man whispered once he was in front of her. "And this letter says the sender once forcibly pulled me from the grasp of death."

The woman's eyes rounded as he handed her a piece of paper. He then looked behind the man.

"They doesn't look well. Let's bring them in," the woman said, making the brown-robed man frown. However, seeing the demanding gaze of the woman, he nodded and let out a resigned sigh.

The living room of the house was shrouded in silence while the woman treated Brissia's wounds. Harris, who was sitting cross-legged on the carpet near the sofa, kept his gaze fixed on her tightly closed eyes. Sometimes he gritted his teeth as he recalled the group of people who attacked them in black robes and moved like shadows.

"Where do you come from?"

Rage in Harris's gaze disappeared as a deep voice called him out of his thoughts. After he took off his brown robe, he could see the man's dark blue eyes and black hair.

"What's the matter with that?"

Harris's question turned the woman's gaze toward him for a moment. Meanwhile, the blue-eyed man gave him a cold stare for his audacity to question him back.

"They won't attack you unless you're an outsider," he replied.

As soon as the woman finished bandaging Brissia's wound, she kneel before Harris. "Tell me, who asked you to deliver this letter?"

Harris glanced thoughtfully at the blue-eyed, black-haired man sitting on the opposite couch. Beside he didn't see the man in the photographs that captured the Miss Savior, he also had no information about the woman's life partner.

Hence, he answered, "It was a man who saw the arrow of light on a cold night, listened to the mournful hum of the departing crows brought by the gentle breeze."

The woman was stunned, as was the man sitting on the single sofa. But not long after, a cheerful voice from the stairs broke the silence.

"Dad!"

Harris was surprised to see a little girl rushing down the stairs, rushing at the dark blue-eyed man. However, she stopped when her eyes met Harris's gaze.

"Oh! It's Dad's friend who took me to the police station when I got lost!"

The little girl's words called silence back into the living room. Blinking his eyes, the blue-eyed man asked her, "Ashley, why do you call him my friend?"

His amused smile made Harris let out a sigh of relief. However, he instantly held his breath when the woman's inquisitive gaze fell on him.

"He said he knew someone at the police station. With him visiting here, that person must be you, right?"

Between surprise and doubt, Harris looked at the girl in disbelief. But in contrast to him, the blue-eyed man only chuckled softly while stroking the little girl's hair, looking much calmer.

"Alessia, please take Ashley to her room. I'd like to have a small talk with this 'friend' of mine."

The man's smile, that turned thin as he looked at Harris, sent a chill down his spine. After staring for a moment at the woman leading Ashley upstairs, he straightened his back.

"What's your name?"

"Harris."

"You do know about her, don't you?"

Understanding who he was referring to, Harris replied softly, "I do."

"Was it from the letter sender or from your seniors at headquarters?"

His second question froze Harris. When he looked up, he found that icy gaze locked on him without a single blink of his eyes. His heartbeat increased as he glanced at Brissia who was still asleep on the sofa next to him.

"I don't understand what you mean."

"Don't be afraid. I'm Veron, former head of Unit 80."

Harris's eyes widened. Seeing that, the blue-eyed man smiled slightly and said again, "And I was the one who protected her from a gunshot that night."

"Impossible..."

Veron looked casually at Harris, who was standing and bewildered.

"...But that agent has been gone for a decade!" continued Harris, half shouting.

"Turns out they told you everything, huh? Except for the part where I'm alive again."

As soon as he heard it, Harris immediately covered his mouth. He turned to Brissia just to make sure the girl didn't wake up from their conversation.

"Is she also from SURVIVE?

"No," Harris shook his head with his face suddenly becoming serious again. "She isn't even a resident of Archtier, but not from Bouville either, as you might guess."

Veron took a deep breath before looked at Harris with a complicated look on his face.

"Look, you have found our residence which no one should have found," he said in a low tone. "Doubled with the fact that you brought a foreigner and the two of you were attacked by a mysterious troop, you should already know why looking for Miss Savior is forbidden."

"I have saved your daughter."

"I know, I'm grateful for that. Still, coming here isn't the reward you deserve for your heroism."

The man's blue eyes looked around him for a moment as he paused.

"Say," he spoke quietly to him, "why are you looking for her?"

It's a question Harris has been waiting for his entire life as an agent and a police officer. With his back straight, he stood in front of Veron. In one breath, he stated his request that had long been buried deep in his heart.

"I want her to help me look for a member of the Reister family who disappeared when I was a child. And if it's possible..."

Harris glanced at Brissia.

"...I want her to recover quickly."