Erika: My Friend Is Obsessed with Me
Chapter 49
Erica – When a Friend Grows Obsessed with Me
They had sent her to bring back the Guildmaster, yet there was no sign of him anywhere.
It seemed she hadn’t been able to find Pechenik, so she had given up for now and returned empty-handed.
Snooore—
Krrrh—
Caron glanced back and forth between the two bandage cocoons sleeping like logs before fixing his gaze on Chaud.
“Have you ever talked to this guy?”
“Who, Chaud?”
“Just wondering what his deal is. Every time I see him, he’s glued to Erica’s side.”
“He’s ordinary. Aside from being an S-rank mercenary, that is.”
“You casually leave out the most important part. Classic Shurin.”
“What does it matter? I’m just thrilled Erica finally has a friend on her level.”
Shurin walked in with light steps, clutching an armful of medicinal herbs.
As she stacked the herbs neatly into the cupboard, something seemed to cross her mind.
“Though, it is a bit strange.”
“What is?”
“I think he said he came from the East…….”
“And?”
Caron stepped beside her and clumsily helped arrange the herbs.
“As you know, I came from the East, right?”
Shurin had studied healing arts in the East.
Though she had wandered all over the Empire, the East was where she had stayed the longest.
“You’ve never heard of an S-rank mercenary kid like that from the East?”
“Of course not. I never hung around mercenaries in the first place……. Caron! That doesn’t go there!”
She gave the back of Caron’s hand a sharp slap as he mixed up the wrong herbs.
“Then what’s so strange?”
The eastern region of the Empire was a vast expanse made up of countless cities.
No matter how famous an S-rank mercenary might be, Shurin, having focused purely on her healing studies, could easily have never heard of him.
However, that wasn’t the issue—
“He doesn’t have an eastern accent.”
People from the East had distinct dialects, yet Chaud had no trace of one at all.
Rather, his speech was flat, refined, and clean.
“If anything…….”
Where had she heard that manner of speaking before?
Just as she tried to recall the familiar cadence flitting through her mind—
“Gaaah—!”
Sitting bolt upright!
One of the white bandage balls shot up.
Then, wobbling precariously, it rolled right off the bed.
Rolling across the floor, the bandage cocoon yelled noisily.
“Gah, what is this!”
It was Erica’s voice.
“Shurin! Unwind me! Why did you turn me into a pupa!”
“Erica, rest some more. You have so much accumulated fatigue.”
“Ugh! It’s suffocating! Let me out!”
At the sound of Erica screaming at the top of her lungs, snap!
The bandage ball on the adjacent bed snapped awake as well.
“……?”
The moment Chaud sat up, he likewise tumbled off the bed.
“Hey~ Chaud~ why are you like that too~!”
“Erica. Why are you so cute?”
“Dammit~ unwind this already~!”
“I think if we just flex our muscles, it’ll break.”
“Should we rip it?!”
“Rip it.”
“Rip it?!?”
The two bandage balls rolled around, then suddenly went dead still.
Riiip!
Tearrr!
They tore through the hundred-odd layers of tough bandages with brute strength.
Like pupae shedding their cocoons, they shook off the remnants and leaped to their feet.
“…….”
“…….”
Caron and Shurin stared at them in a daze.
“……Looks like they’re both completely fine?”
“……Full of energy, clearly.”
There had been no need to wrap them in bandages at all.
Now, a massive pile of wasted bandages lay shredded across the floor.
Shurin shook her head and went back to organizing the herbs.
“Erica, so you didn’t find Guildmaster Pechenik?”
“…….”
Erica hesitated, silently scratching her eyelid.
Then, instead of looking at Shurin who had asked, she turned toward Caron.
Caron was blinking back at her blankly.
Blissfully unaware of the future awaiting him.
“…….”
Caron, a towering, muscular man with a reliable and burly frame.
Yet in Erica’s eyes, at this very moment, he looked thoroughly pitiful.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“…….”
The man currently serving as interim guildmaster was about to be struck by a bolt from the blue.
Because from now on, he would have to formally act as the Southern Mercenary Guild’s Guildmaster.
Until Master returned. For several indefinite years to come!
“……Let’s eat first before we talk. I’m starving to death.”
It felt like once they started talking, they would be up all night.
* * *
Late at night.
The Mercenary Guild tavern was rowdy and bustling.
Caron taking over as acting guildmaster was decided right then and there by unanimous vote.
Though no one counted precisely, not a single mercenary gathered in the tavern had failed to raise their hand.
Except for Caron, who was slumped in a corner, everyone was laughing and having a great time.
They fabricated an excuse that Pechenik was carrying out a long-term commission for the Great Temple of Light over the next few years.
A direct commission from the Saintess! Top secret!
With keywords no one would dare question, delivered with a conspiratorial “shh—”, everyone nodded in understanding.
‘Whew…….’
Erica grew tipsy quickly.
Ever since becoming a Swordmaster, she could resist the effects of alcohol, but she chose not to.
The Mercenary Guild tavern, noisy enough to make her ears ring.
She realized that once she left for the Imperial Capital, she would no longer experience this raw, vibrant atmosphere.
Knowing this was the end left a strange ache in her chest.
‘……I need some fresh air.’
Erica blinked her heavy eyelids and rose from her seat.
Outside was pitch-black.
Looking up at the sky, the full moon shone vividly.
A sudden desire to touch it came over her. But no matter how far she stretched out her hand, she couldn’t reach the full moon.
Erica abruptly broke into a sprint. She knew the place closest to the sky in Dangtus.
The Clock Tower soaring over the Central Intersection.
She scaled the dizzyingly tall spire with reckless abandon.
‘……It’s been a while since I climbed up here.’
The top of the Clock Tower.
‘……Master and I used to climb up here often to stargaze back then.’
The spire’s rooftop, perched precariously against the backdrop of the full moon.
Erica sat on the railing. Someone sat down right beside her.
Moonlight poured over their heads.
‘So refreshing.’
The altitude was high. A crisp night breeze blew.
High in the sky, all of Dangtus stretched out beneath them in a single panoramic view.
Perched on the railing, Erica swung her legs in the empty air.
“Hey.”
She turned her head to look beside her.
“Why do you keep following me around?”
Chaud, sitting next to her, merely met her eyes with a smile.
The sound of the wind whispered softly.
‘…….’
Erica felt a twinge of bittersweet regret.
In a month, she would have to prepare to depart for the Imperial Capital.
She planned to say farewell to each member of the Pechenik Mercenary Group she was particularly close with.
“Chaud.”
The handsome friend sitting beside her was no exception. It was time to say goodbye.
“We’ve known each other for quite a while now, haven’t we?”
“It’s already been fifty years.”
“……? Wow, I can’t say anything without you joking. We haven’t even been alive for eighteen years, you know?”
“It just feels that way. Because I can’t remember any days without you.”
“…….”
He was always so smooth with his words.
Erica, who had hoped to come up with an even smoother farewell, realized she could never beat him in verbal sparring.
Thanks to you, every single day was fun. Take care……. I hope you live well!
Would such an unpolished, plain goodbye be alright?
As she quietly shifted her eyes, searching for what to say to him—
“Erica.”
Chaud spoke, a hint of laughter in his voice.
“I’m going too.”
“……?”
Looking into her questioning pink eyes, he said it once more.
“I’m going to the Imperial Capital too.”
Erica wondered if she was still drunk. Or perhaps this was a dream.
“I considered joining Tenearha with you, but that’s a bit problematic.”
Chaud was speaking in all seriousness.
“I think it’d be better for me to just keep doing mercenary work while moving my base to the Imperial Capital.”
Erica’s eyes shook in utter disbelief.
“Why? Why would you go to the Imperial Capital—”
“I don’t want to be apart from you.”
“…….”
“Can’t you let me come with you?”
She was struck speechless.
It felt as if her innermost thoughts had been laid bare.
Truthfully, looking at his face over time, she had thought about it a few times.
Since he was a Swordmaster. Chaud was the only friend who could enter Tenearha alongside her.
It would be so much fun if they went to the Imperial Capital together.
Yet the reason she hadn’t voiced that thought was because joining Tenearha meant being bound to the Imperial Family for life.
And yet, not even joining Tenearha—something she couldn’t bring herself to suggest…
‘He’s just going to the Imperial Capital……?!\’
