Erika: My Friend Is Obsessed with Me
Chapter 14
Erica - When a Friend Obsesses Over Me
Riding a flying monster in midair—she truly had no fear.
He had never seen anyone shoot a bow with such insane skill.
As if paying no heed to air resistance, her core strength was so immense that she looked as calm as if standing in a quiet forest rather than high in the sky.
While she drew the bowstring, not a single line from her straight shoulders to her fingertips wavered in the slightest.
What made it truly impossible to look away was her rapid fire, executed in swift succession without a single mistake.
Her youthful face had made him wonder, but to think she really was an underage girl.
Judging by her skill alone, it defied belief.
“…….”
Chaud’s probing gaze slowly rested upon Erica.
Pale, soft-looking skin. Long eyelashes trembling with tipsiness.
Light brown hair that tempted him to run his fingers through it like a comb.
Subjectively and objectively, she was exceptionally pretty, but it wasn’t her delicate face that piqued his interest.
‘What kind of girl—’
He observed the scar on her collarbone trailing from her shoulder line, and the fingers marked by prominent, rough calluses.
The aura of a seasoned veteran who had weathered every storm in the mercenary trade seeped completely from her.
What caught his attention most of all was her flawless physical build.
Some of it might have been innate, but looking at the lean, defined muscles visible past her sleeves, she had clearly undergone rigorous training since childhood.
‘……How could someone like that exist?’
It felt like looking in a mirror.
Aside from himself, he had never seen such an exceptional talent among his peers.
A perfection he had never witnessed in his life stirred an impulse within him.
“Erica.”
A low call.
Erica, thoroughly drunk, couldn’t answer right away.
“Wake up. Look at me.”
Only then did their gazes meet. They looked into each other’s eyes.
“Erica.”
“……Yeah.”
“Want to pair up with me?”
Erica blinked slowly, her eyelids fluttering open and shut.
Her thoughts turned at a crawl. Her brain was completely soaked in alcohol.
‘……Did he say pair? Did I mishear him……?’
There was no way anyone would propose a permanent pair to a mercenary they’d met only a day ago.
That was as unthinkable as proposing marriage after knowing someone for a single day.
He must have confused a pair with a temporary party.
Erica decided to overlook the mistake of this hulking man who clearly didn’t know mercenary terminology.
“Pfft, heheh…… You little rookie from the West.”
“The East. I said the East.”
“You’re a country bumpkin, so you don’t know…… In the south, people have to line up to take commission requests with me.”
“Why?”
“’Cause I’m super popular…….”
“Is that so? Then why were you alone today?”
“……Because it’s a wyvern…….”
“Are people lining up to hunt wyverns with you too?”
“……Sniff, nooo. Nobody will hunt wyverns with me……. They’re all just cowards.”
“Sounds good.”
Chaud suddenly rose slightly and leaned forward over the table.
“Then do it with me.”
His upper body drew close across the table, looming over Erica.
She stared blankly at him as he drew near like a shadow.
Chaud smiled, brushing away a stray food crumb from the corner of Erica’s mouth.
“Work with me tomorrow, no matter what. Once you see what I can do, you’ll like it.”
“……?”
“You probably won’t ever want to pair up with anyone else again.”
She had no idea what he meant.
His tone was dry, yet somehow it sounded strangely tender against her ears.
He really did have a voice that was chillingly good.
“…….”
Erica vigorously rubbed her itching ear.
She soon mumbled something, but without even knowing what her own answer was—
Thud—! She slammed her head against the table and passed out.
* * *
The next morning.
“Ugh.”
Erica was suffering from a terrible hangover.
She had guzzled down Shurin’s Special Hangover Cure from her backpack, but it hadn’t kicked in yet. She should have brought a few more bottles.
The sky was spinning.
Even the cool breeze blowing across the wide grassy field was of no help.
Standing ahead of her with his arms crossed, Chaud clicked his tongue.
“Are you going to be able to ride a wyvern?”
“I don’t know, hurrk—!”
“…….”
“Cough, wheeze!”
“…….”
Though he didn’t say a word, Chaud wore a look that clearly said she was quite a piece of work. He was definitely finding her pathetic on the inside.
From Erica’s perspective, it was completely unfair.
That bastard was perfectly fine this morning, his complexion not even slightly off.
Chaud had definitely drunk more than she did, hadn’t he? Why was he so put-together?
Irritated, she flopped down onto the grass.
“Ah, I can’t go, I can’t go.”
She couldn’t move an inch without downing another bottle of Shurin’s Special Hangover Cure right now.
She even flung aside the longbow and quiver strapped to her back.
Reaching the Wyvern Colony required a long trek up the mountain slope, but her condition today was far too different from yesterday.
“Then let’s rest a bit before we go.”
Chaud came over and sat down beside her.
Erica lying flat in the grass. Chaud sitting comfortably by her side.
Erica stared up at the sky and took a deep breath of the cool air.
Phew— Haaah—
The sunlight was pleasant, and the weather was crisp.
Lying in the grass, the earthy scent filling her lungs brought a sense of peace.
Ah, this is nice.
She felt like she might recover if she stayed like this just a little longer.
Still lying down, she tilted her chin up to glance to the side.
Framed against the crisp sky was a refreshingly handsome man.
His jawline was a work of art. The bridge of his nose was sharp.
Touch a finger to it and you’d get cut. If he ever lost his weapon, could he just cut things with that nose?
As she stared openly, Chaud felt her gaze and turned to look down at her face.
“Feeling any better?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you naturally bad with alcohol?”
“……?”
Erica furrowed her brows in outrage, flailing her arms and legs as she lay there.
“Unbelievable, what are you talking about? Do you have any idea how rude that is? I’m a total drinker. Nobody can outdrink me.”
“……Sure.”
Let’s go with that. Chaud surrendered before the argument could even begin.
Seeing her unable to easily purge the alcohol, he realized Erica hadn’t awakened Aura.
And yet she possessed such physical prowess. Finding that all the more marvelous, Chaud became uncharacteristically gentle.
“Do your hangovers usually last long?”
“Nope.”
“Are you sure you’re okay right now?”
“I said I’m fine.”
“Riding a wyvern is pretty rough. The altitude is high, so you can get motion sick even when you’re in top shape—”
“Ah, who do you take me for! Nobody in the southern guilds worries about Erica.”
“I can’t tell where the bluffing begins and ends…….”
“I can hear you muttering, you know! And it’s not a bluff!”
“…….”
“Ah, forget it! Let’s go. Time to head out!”
With a sudden start, Erica sat up.
But Chaud, sitting beside her, didn’t budge.
“Aren’t you going?”
“Instead of the sky, let’s go there.”
He propped his arms behind him against the grassy ground as he spoke again.
“The wyvern nests.”
“The nests……?”
Erica repeated the word before realizing where he was referring to.
“That place is strictly off-limits. You need permission from Lygis.”
Ever since the Lygis Knights suffered near-total annihilation years ago, entry had been forbidden.
The ferocity of mother wyverns guarding unhatched eggs was monstrous.
The moment one provoked them, the entire wyvern clan would be whipped into a frenzy, reducing the whole area to ash and ruin.
Erica had only heard of its notorious reputation; she had never set foot there.
“You can’t just carelessly—”
“Erica, you didn’t seem like the cowardly type.”
“What?”
“Why not have a little more confidence in your skills?”
“…….”
Erica was so dumbfounded that the words caught in her throat.
She glared at the man who seemed to provoke people for fun with such transparent tricks.
“Of course I have confidence! But they won’t give us permission! Permission!”
The nerve!
When even the Lygis Knights couldn’t enter, there was no way in hell they’d grant an entry permit to mere mercenaries.
“Erica. Who cares about permission?”
Chaud said casually. He then dusted off his knees and stood up first.
“Let’s go. I know where it is.”
He extended his long arm and offered her a hand.
“…….”
Erica stared blankly at that large hand before biting her lower lip.
A low groan escaped her.
‘Just what is his deal?’
Why did everything he said have to be so annoyingly appealing?
