43 - Astilbe (14)

"Hahahaha!" Eriu couldn't help but feel happy, laughing like the sound of life. Even though there was no key in his hand, he didn't care. Today, he managed to find 001's relic before they left. 

001 had been compensating him all this time!

"Haa." His stomach aching until he couldn't breathe, Eriu closed his eyes and listened to the sounds around him. In this moment of silence, something suddenly occurred to him.

Can birds roar?

Even though the animals here were bigger than the earth and uniquely shaped, their sounds should remain the same, but why did this one roar? Did it have something to do with the 'fox'?

Swoosh!

The wind blew at an incredible speed as the blood clot rushed forward in search of the person it was chasing. Every time it rushed forward, the eyes hiding in the shadows of the trees would appear and disappear in an instant. "Ugh..." Smelling the thick stench of blood, Eriu realized that the demon was almost here, Eriu's face getting uglier the more he breathed in oxygen. He had just arrived here and this demon had already managed to find him. Even though Eriu was still lying down, he felt like he would die if he was told to move again.

No way, she didn't notice the strange things happening around her house.

'Got you!' The eyes around the shadow curved as it found Eriu. The demon was very sure that the boy had intended to tell him 001 from the beginning, he must have done it on purpose to bring out his true power and that way, the divine servants would be even more suspicious, making them confused and eventually focusing on him, who was a dark aura himself.

"....!" Hearing the crunching sound, Eriu immediately opened his eyes wide before turning his head towards the blood, which instantly transformed into a large sword. "Hehe." Eriu grinned triumphantly. 

Sure enough, without the demon noticing, a root appeared from behind him and continued to chase him before appearing in front of the demon, making the sword flinch and just as the sword was about to change direction, he was already ambushed by the roots chasing him from behind. 

Creak.

Amiley appeared from behind the forest, her expression flat, but not with that angry look. Eriu immediately stood up and pointed at the sword, "He's the one who made the suggestion!"

"!!!" Due to the seal that made the demon mute, he was just flailing around to deny the accusation. Amiley frowned and raised her chin, "Explain."

Blah-blah-blah. 

"Hmm..." Hearing the explanation Amiley nodded, she sighed and turned around, "Let's go back first, treat your wound first, then you explain the rest." Eriu was silent in surprise, Amiley was a strict person to her daughter, but to others she was neutral. She wasn't angry, she just asked and showed a displeased face. Not only that, how did Amiley know that he only told her a short story without explaining the rest?

"Hm." Eriu turned his head to look at his knees that had wounds and his left hand that seemed to be bent. He was really hurt and the moment he saw his wounds, he could feel immense pain. As Amiley walked away, the roots surrounding the demon now wrapped around his legs, followed by the pain disappearing. Eriu widened his eyes and stared at Amiley with conviction.

Now he knew why Ariadne and Amiley could be friends. 

Amiley stopped and looked back, "I'll leave you if you stay there."

"Oh! Sorry..." Eriu gasped and walked slowly to stand next to the demon, staring at him deliberately while smiling mockingly in front of him.

This was his chance to taunt the demon that almost killed him twice! Imagine having to be friends with a demon that almost killed Noah and even made him the object of its obsession.

It was so annoying.

He was not a Stockholm Syndrome sufferer, even if that demon told him why, he still would not forgive it. 

He would rather be friends with a robot who still cared about him by saving presents for him than be the master of a demon who had a wild obsession with bad memories.

Speaking of 001, how is they doing now?

Don't tell me they was disqualified because they helped him too much and gave out a lot of spoilers. Normally, in the novels and comics he reads, the system would be disqualified every time it got involved with the MC.

Heh, definitely.

Therefore, it was possible that he might run into 001 again in the future.

"Eri." With Amiley's flat tone calling out to him, Eriu was called and raised his head to look at Amiley walking in front of him.

"Noah noticed you were avoiding her."

"..." Eriu lowered his head and walked slowly but did not answer.

"I know I'm not the right person to say this, but meet with Noah once and give her an explanation."

"..." Eriu opened his mouth but his voice did not come out. After a few minutes of silence, Eriu nodded, "Um..."

He had a bad habit that even he pretended not to notice. The habit to run away from problems. Not once or twice, but it was a habit that made him lock himself in his room for years. He knew how bad it was, but he couldn't stop it.

At first he distanced himself from the new parents, he didn't trust them at all. What if they found out that he had stolen their child's body? They would be very disappointed and hate him. That's why he didn't want to get close to them, but since they left him at Quella's house, he realized that they both thought he was sick and were looking for medicine for him.

This made him feel even more guilty towards them.

The second time was when Eros realized that he was afraid of him. He was afraid that Eros would judge him immediately and tell his parents, that's why he avoided Eros.

The third time, while the hallucinations were slowly appearing, he was actually very aware of every odd thing that was happening. He suddenly met her in a dream and she told him that she knew everything. Even the faces of people changed to the faces of people he knew. That's what made him shut himself up even more and trust himself even more. 

He trusted her more than he trusted Eros and the people around him. 

He realized he was a coward, unwilling to face the reality in front of him. Even now, he avoided Noah and Amiley out of guilt and extreme caution.

He didn't dare to face the harsh reality, he would rather be sent to the happy world as a villain in a novel and change the story of the novel so that he wouldn't die than face the fact that everyone in this world lived and thought like humans.

001, who is very childish and full of pranks, Eros is the loving type but filled with a mysterious aura, Louise is the thinking type but has a simple life, Ariadne is filled with freedom and likes to collect every sword in the world, Amiley is very calculating and very firm with her principles, Noah, who is shy but confident, Quella, who likes to give kindness but rejects any good or bad intentions given to her, Axel looks like a drunk man but is actually very cunning. 

Even the demon is seen as an arrogant type.

It was strange that he still thought they were just data. 

That's why he often wondered if it was right to deceive them and make them care about people who thought of them as characters in a game.

Without realizing it, they had arrived at the front yard of the mansion. In front of the forest, Noah, realizing their existence, rushed to meet them. Because Eriu had been in a daze, he didn't notice his surroundings, which caused him to gasp in surprise when he saw Noah. Eriu immediately walked behind Amiley and tried to stop Noah from approaching him.

Sigh...

Amiley sighed and held Eriu's shoulders, "Go talk to her."

"Aren't you an adult?"

Eriu looked away and walked forward.

When we first met, you smiled brightly while I had a frowny face.

"Let's play together again." Eriu lifted his head slightly and tried to look at the girl's expression. Of course, the child was smiling brightly.

On the first day I met her, she hid behind her mother while looking at me with a displeased look. I don't know what kind of expression I have now, but I definitely have the same expression as the girl's first expression. An expression of displeasure, but actually she was very happy to see me.

"Um..."

Amiley looked at the two of them and spoke after they both stopped, "...A week ago, I sent a proposal letter to your family."

""!"" Both of them turned their heads towards Amiley in unison. Eriu froze while Noah blushed.

"Then the reply letter came very quickly with the rejection of that proposal."

"It says you like someone and want to marry him."

Noah's face turned pale.

Amiley let out a disappointed sigh, "I thought you two were very compatible." When Amiley looked at him with a searching look, Eriu smiled.

"What a disappointment."

"Haha, you're right, too bad I like my 'friend'." Eriu immediately realized Amiley's way of thinking. She would get whatever she wanted. Even though she knew very well that this person was an uncle wearing the skin of a child, she still wanted to arrange a match between them? 

It was unbelievable.

"..." Noah clenched her hands into fists, opening and closing her mouth, she sighed before hesitantly asking, "What kind of person do you like?"

"Hah!" Eriu immediately turned around with a panicked face. Noah looked at him and asked the same sentence with a serious look.

"What kind of person do you like?"

Eriu blinked a few times, trying to understand that Noah was looking at him like a child in love... Like a child looking at Eros, as if their world was in Eros' hands.

"Ah... hahaha, l-let's go home..." Eriu made a fake laugh, trying to find an excuse to escape this strange conversation. "I'm not kidding!" Noah stared at him intently.

Eriu instantly felt his body turn into a painting of a scream. 

Amiley was watching them and when Eriu looked up, she grinned.

See, it's your own doing.