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A dim light spread in Erika\'s room. With the magic stone in hand, she activated the communication device she had received from Volfram, and the old general\'s face appeared in the orb.

"The deal will continue. My men are already present there. Do the exchange at the break of dawn day after tomorrow. The crowd from the festival will make it easier to handle."

"And the festival will continue? There\'s a vampire here, we have to stop it at all costs—"

"You don\'t worry about that, hero Erika."

Volfram\'s cold, indifferent voice was the same as always.

"I have already sent my knights. They will handle the situation. There is no need to inform a city that can\'t figure such stuff on its own. Anyway, didn\'t you say it refused to drink blood? The vampire\'s miasma can only cause so much trouble."

"But it can be pushed over at any time—"

"Hero Erika… I am already doing you a favor. It is unfortunate enough that the item landed in your hands, but don\'t think it ends there."

Like a mouse being glared down by a hawk, Erika lowered her head.

"Do as I say. If you want your wish to come to true, that is."

A buzz rang out, and the orb disconnected.

The moon gradually hid behind the clouds, leaving Erika alone in the dark room.

A languid thud resounded as her head plopped down on the table.

"Just a little more."

She just had to hold on a little more.

Erika bit her lips, clenched her fists, and stood up from her seat. The breeze spilling in from her window seemed quite charming, but it was still covered by the other buildings around.

The corridor of the hotel, it had a veranda.

Erika considered going to sleep, but it seemed like she couldn\'t.

A lot had happened.

The craziest of it all.

Was Claude and Elric.

They were alive. Her one best friend, the person she thought she could always lean on wasn\'t gone from her world.

No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn\'t lean on him yet.

She didn\'t want any danger to fall on him, not after what happened last time.

Erika needed some fresh air. She needed to wring her head dry and let it air out on the veranda, to be honest, but she would settle for letting her hair hit the breeze for a bit.

As she picked up her keys and snapped the door shut behind her, she moved past the ivory walls and the red carpets of the hotel. True to its name as a place for the posh, paintings and sculptures filled both sides of the walls.

Soon, she neared the stair case, and the veranda across it.

Leaning against the rails on the veranda up high was a young man with deep red hair fluttering in the wind. His arms crossed, the boy looked outside with a solemn gaze.

Erika stopped and stared for a while.

A scar ran down the side of his face she could see, piercing through his eyes. His neck was riddled with scratches and below the hem of his sleeves were even more scars.

Just what kind of life had he gone through?

No one. Not a single hero of the twenty-one she was with had even as much as a blemish on their skins, let alone a scar. If it even seemed like they would be scratched, they were stopped. If a monster broke their defenses, a dozen knights would swoop in to take their blows.

Erika held in a sigh and turned away. She didn\'t want to disturb him—

"If you want to look out here then don\'t mind me."

She was noticed.

She didn\'t know herself, but tricking both Claude and Elric\'s perception would take people like her ten hard years of training.

Erika stepped back, she almost turned away, but came over to the veranda.

Next to Claude, she rested her hands on the rails too and look up to the sky.

The clouds that had covered the moon started breezing away and a light gust hit her hair, sending them floating behind her like the seeds of a dandelion.

"I didn\'t get to see stuff like this a lot," Claude broke the silence, his eyes stuck at the stars.

"It looks bland," Erika answered. Clouds everywhere, there was hardly much to see.

"It seems you had a good day."

"Excuse me?"

The two spared each other a glance and then turned back to the sky.

The more time passed, the more Erika\'s heart stung. Was it guilt? Or was it the pain of reunion? Did she have any right to feel other of those?

Coming out for relaxation was a bad idea.

"Claude…" she called. "What are you planning to do next?"

"Hm?"

"I mean… what… here… Do you plan to go back?"

Claude looked at her, and then turned away again.

"For now, I just want a roof over our heads and food on our plates. Both Elric and mine."

Erika bit her lips.

Guilt it was.

"After that… I guess I\'d like to open a patisserie."

"A what?" Erika asked.

"A patisserie," Claude held the railings and leaned back. "And then maybe I\'d like to travel too."

Erika was deeply confused.

Those were words she never saw coming.

"D-do you not…"

"I do," the air around Claude changed again. "I want that too. No. I will have it, I just know better than to make it my life\'s purpose."

Erika gulped.

"I treat it, like a chore."

Chilling.

It was deeply chilling.

The gaze that was away from her bore into her soul. The words that were quiet banged in her head.

What kind of revenge was a chore? No, was something like this even on that level?

"I\'ll go sleep for tonight," Claude said. "When\'s the adjusted date?"

No response came his way.

So Claude, walked away.

It was only when his footsteps left, did Erika speak.

"Tomorrow morning," she said.

Just…

Could she really hold on, just a little bit more?