Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 106

His faint, different kind of smile crushed her heart again. Eir, realizing her face must have given everything away, quickly pushed him away.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Of course, Rubel was too busy admiring his artwork on her face to notice the transparent emotions that had briefly flickered across her expression.

He tilted his head slightly, taking in her strange behavior. If he had pushed a little further, he might have figured out why she was acting so oddly.

But then…….

“Huh?”

Rubel’s face stiffened as he sensed something unusual.

The sound of something pounding the ground. And the aura of shadow magic.

He suddenly leaned forward, pressing his ear close to the ground. Soon, he realized a group was approaching from afar. When he straightened up, he had fully returned to being the holy knight Rubel Shinote. Sharply focused, he grabbed Eir’s shoulders and helped her up.

“Someone’s coming.”

“Huh? Already?”

“‘Already’? What do you know?”

Rubel raised an eyebrow as he looked at Eir. She tried to answer calmly.

“Aren’t they coming to rescue you? A witch kidnapped you, after all.”

“But it’s too soon for them to be here. And that’s the aura of witches.”

“The aura of witches?”

That contradicted what Chrome had said. Rubel grabbed his sword and donned a light leather armor. He had brought it to deal with mountain beasts, but now it would serve a different purpose.

“Follow me. I saw a shed on the way here.”

Eir tensed at the ominous news. She grabbed Rubel’s sleeve to stop him.

“Let’s just go together. You said it might be a group of witches.”

“Can you use magic right now?”

He asked like a superior checking their subordinate’s readiness. Eir couldn’t answer. She was well aware of her current inability to use either magic or divine power.

Rubel noticed her face darken and let out a faint sigh.

“I’m sorry for leaving you behind, but this is the right thing to do. If I’m distracted worrying about you, our chances of survival will only decrease.”

“I understand.”

She lowered her eyes, looking somewhere below, as if she had fully accepted it but was all the more depressed because of it. Without thinking, Rubel cupped her face and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

“And like you said, they might be here to rescue me. You’re a witch, so meeting either priests or witches would be bad for you, but for me, there’s at least a 50% chance one side will help.”

“But you said it smells like witches.”

“Well, I’m not always right. It could be a mistake.”

He deliberately downplayed his abilities. Of course, Eir wasn’t naive enough to believe that.

They ran to the shed Rubel had found. Eir, whose condition wasn’t great, kept falling behind, but he waited for her every time.

The old shed seemed to be a place for storing firewood.

Dust flew up as soon as they opened the door, making Eir want to cough, but she held it in. Rubel clicked his tongue, clearly unhappy about leaving her alone in such a place.

No matter what, if she couldn’t follow, she had to at least pretend to be fine on her own.

“I’ll be back soon.”

His warm arm briefly wrapped around her shoulders before pulling away. Eir blushed at his embrace, then quickly went inside and closed the door.

As soon as she was left alone, she worried that Chrome might pop out of the darkness again and say, “I knew you liked him,” but it seemed he was busy too, as no one appeared.

The dark night.

After all, every cliff’s edge is dark.

Eir’s rationality told her to run now, but her emotions kept holding her back.

‘Rubel went to fight alone, even though he thinks I’m a witch. What kind of person would I be if I ran away like a coward here?’

Of course, whether she stayed or left wouldn’t make much difference to Rubel, but it was a matter of her own conscience and loyalty. Eir took a deep breath and resolved to stay.