Erika: My Friend Is Obsessed with Me
Chapter 43
Chapter 43
“……?”
All four members of Tenearha widened their eyes at once.
It was such an unexpected statement that they froze in unison.
“……What.”
“What did you just……”
At the commoner girl’s sudden declaration, a wave of shock and murmurs rippled through the room.
Whether it was true or false remained to be verified, but—
“Commander, it might be a lie.”
“We must check her Aura immediately……!”
If the girl before their eyes was truly a swordmaster, the entire situation changed.
How long had it been since a new swordmaster appeared? She didn’t even look twenty.
Marquis Nokbel studied her with a cautious expression.
“A swordmaster? Can you take responsibility for those words?”
“Yes.”
“Can you show us your Aura?”
“Please answer my question first.”
Erica spoke, clenching her fists lightly on her lap.
If all they wanted was any swordmaster and not specifically her master, this would work.
“On the condition that I join Tenearha…… could I receive the Holy Grail?”
Erica was more than willing to enter their ranks.
Count Herace, a man she didn’t even want to look at, was right in front of her, but she didn’t care even if she had to serve under him.
Her foolish biological father, who recalled nothing upon hearing her name and seeing her face, no longer mattered to her in the slightest.
Anything was better than never seeing her master again.
“I am Pechenik Ripelsiyan’s disciple. My master will vouch for my skills.”
“……!”
“Pechenik’s disciple……”
“Saintess, is everything that child saying true?”
“……Commander, we must check her Aura first……. The Aura……”
“You, be quiet for a moment.”
Thinking it might help their decision, Erica rattled off a few more details.
“I’m currently an S-rank mercenary. I’ve been active in the South for quite a long time, so I have plenty of combat experience. I have ten traits in total, all S-rank.”
“…….”
“I’m confident in combat against humans and monsters alike, and wherever I go, I pull the weight of dozens. I’ll do well in Tenearha, too.”
“…….”
“…….”
Marquis Nokbel and Count Herace looked thoroughly dumbfounded, as if struck on the back of their heads.
As Erica fumbled around and placed her S-rank mercenary plaque on the table, they stared at it in disbelief.
“…….”
Hielia, sitting beside her, was just as flabbergasted.
“Wait a moment, Erica. This isn’t something to decide like this. If Pechenik finds out, he won’t let this stand.”
“It’s fine, Saintess. I grew up getting scolded by Master anyway.”
“This is absolutely not something to take lightly.”
“It’s not that complicated either.”
“Please…… shouldn’t you think about this a little more?”
“I won’t.”
Erica drew the sword at her waist.
With a crisp scrape of metal, Aura vibrated through the air.
Hummm—
A brilliant blue light burst forth. The reception room was illuminated in a dazzling glare.
“Please lend me the Holy Grail.”
“…….”
“I will join Tenearha. I will swear allegiance to His Majesty the Emperor.”
“…….”
“Please ask His Majesty if he can send the Holy Grail right away.”
Hummm—
“…….”
Marquis Nokbel let out a deep groan of awe.
Count Herace beside him did the same.
They were utterly captivated by the light of the Aura Erica displayed.
Aura of such high purity was rare even within Tenearha.
“…….”
Erica’s proposal was the perfect solution to this negotiation.
A clever girl.
His Majesty the Emperor only wanted Pechenik because he was a swordmaster.
The Imperial Family was always hungry for new talent for Tenearha.
A swordmaster at such a young age.
On top of that, a disciple raised directly by Pechenik.
An Aura so pure it made one want to clash blades with her this very instant.
What more needed to be said?
“……I shall send word to the Imperial Family immediately.”
He could already anticipate His Majesty the Emperor’s reaction with excitement.
Even if the price was a precious sacred relic, he would grant it without hesitation.
“A reply will likely arrive in no time.”
Marquis Nokbel was certain of it.
A hallway in the Great Temple of Light.
Chaud leaned his upper body out of the window.
‘Where did she go?’
Chaud had been searching for Erica.
Thinking she might be somewhere high up, he tilted his head back and cast his gaze upward.
Erica loved high places, after all.
She loved flying through the sky on the back of a wyvern.
Even when hunting the basilisk, rather than being nervous, she had enjoyed riding atop its towering head.
And she had climbed the outer walls of the Great Temple of Light to the upper floors without the slightest hesitation.
‘Hmm.’
Chaud had exceptional eyesight.
When he looked up at the sky, he could spot the pupils of birds flying far in the distance.
Yet Erica was nowhere to be seen on the railings of the Great Temple of Light’s numerous spires.
‘Not a high place?’
Chaud suddenly realized his assumption might be wrong.
Though Erica favored high altitudes, she wouldn’t always be in such places.
She was never a girl who fit into a mold.
A willful, unpredictable tomboy who never acted according to expectations.
To fathom Erica’s thoughts or predict her actions, one had to calculate several moves ahead.
Going in circles, having even come all the way to Erica’s guest room—
“…….”
was to carefully recalculate the range of her movements.
“Erica.”
Yet, as always, he had failed.
“What are you doing here?”
Chaud crouched down beside the bed.
He saw Erica’s long hair spilling out from beneath the bed.
“Are you playing hide-and-seek?”
“…….”
Chaud lowered his head to peer under the bed.
It was so dark he could barely see her face.
Why was she lying flat on her stomach under the bed?
‘Did she like low, dark places too? Doesn’t seem like her at all.’
Chaud folded his body and crawled under the bed.
He lay down side by side next to Erica.
Cramming his large frame into the space made it tight and stifling.
The dust smelled musty.
“Why are you lying here like this?”
“I’m hiding.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m afraid Master will scold me.”
Erica wriggled around and turned to face him.
In the cramped space beneath the bed, her eyes met Chaud’s.
“…….”
“…….”
Even in the dim light, Chaud’s distinct, sharp features made his face clearly visible.
Erica thought he truly was handsome.
The shaded bridge of his nose. The blue-green eyes reflecting a soft gleam.
She gazed blankly at the beauty mark resting beneath his eye.
Then, she quietly lifted a finger.
She gently poked the beauty mark.
“……?”
Without moving an inch, Chaud simply lowered his gaze.
The skin beneath his eye, assaulted out of nowhere, had done nothing wrong.
He realized Erica was not in a good state at all.
“Did something happen?”
Erica tried desperately to keep her wits about her.
She felt as though she would completely crumble if she let her guard down for even a second.
“……I’m fine.”
Master can be cured. She repeated it to herself again and again.
The Saintess had said so, so she would take responsibility somehow.
Whether it took one year or two, she could endure anything as long as Master recovered.
Erica steadied her resolved heart.
‘I’m so glad…… that I’m a swordmaster.’
She had never been more relieved about anything in her life.
Tears welled up again from sheer relief.
What would she have done if she hadn’t awakened her Aura in time? Just thinking about it made her dizzy.
Thanks to becoming a swordmaster, she had seized a chance to save her master.
‘I hope they give us the Holy Grail right away.’
With a distinctly thrilled expression, Marquis Nokbel had confidently proclaimed that His Majesty would be delighted.
A disciple painstakingly nurtured by none other than Pechenik for so long. A young age with a bright future ahead.
Come to think of it, it made sense.
Though she had never seen His Majesty the Emperor’s face, she figured she would score quite well in his eyes.
‘Tenearha.’
The place her master once belonged to. The place where her biological father was stationed.
Erica had never once imagined that she would join Tenearha.
Even so, it was fine. There was no problem.
Count Herace hadn’t recognized her even after hearing her name, which was actually a relief.
Erica had only one worry.
‘Once Master finds out, all hell will break loose.’
He was not the kind of man to quietly stand by and watch his disciple bind herself to the Imperial Family like a sacrifice.
It was obvious she would get an earful from Pechenik once he found out later.
