After so many days in one place, they were finally leaving. Morning had come. Jhed had already swung his satchel onto his back, ready for the road ahead.
"The training actually made a difference. This bag felt heavy before — it doesn't anymore." He was genuinely happy about it.
Nain was wringing out her hair — she'd washed it for the first time in days. Shine was doing what he did every morning, cleaning his sword. His armor was on. A few days ago, they'd been sleeping and eating in this same small house. Now it was just a memory. The kind that would probably fade in a few years — maybe just a vague recollection of a house they'd built from felled trees, and an open field where Jhed had run himself into the ground.
"Why do you clean it every single day, Shine?" Nain said, still wringing her hair. A few drops of water flicked off and landed on Jhed's face.
"Nain... you did that on purpose," Jhed said. He'd been standing there with the satchel for a while now, waiting for the other two to be ready.
"Why would I do it on purpose — don't be ridiculous. Why do you always assume everything I do is deliberate?" Nain said. There was clear irritation on her face as she looked at him.
Jhed was irritated too. They'd been wasting time for a while now, and his patience had run out entirely.
"You only came along to make our lives difficult. Every single time, someone has to save you. You shouldn't have come with—"
"Let's go, Jhed," Shine said, cutting him off.
He slid his sword into its sheath.
But Nain had already heard enough to understand what Jhed was about to say.
"I never asked you to save me. If you felt this way all along, you should have told me earlier. I wouldn't have come." She was furious. She turned and walked out immediately.
"Nain, wait—" Shine said.
She was already gone, the door slamming hard behind her.
Her eyes had been glistening. But the tears hadn't fallen.
"He never should have said that to her." Nain walked fast, hair still loose around her face. The cut on her hand had spread further. She hadn't cared about anyone when this journey started — but all these days on the road together had made her attached to them, quietly, without her noticing. And they'd come so far now. Going back to Mariana alone wasn't something Nain could do anymore.
"What was that, Jhed?" Shine turned on him.
"Don't raise your voice at me. You're a servant — act like one." Jhed said loudly. He was angry — but there was no reason to be this angry. Snapping over something this small showed he was still emotionally fragile, even after everything.
"Let her go wherever she wants," Jhed said.
Shine was his slave and had to follow. They both came outside. Shine kept glancing around, worried about Nain.
Jhed walked ahead. Shine followed.
Shine was mature enough to know — Jhed had said all of that from a place of anger, not from his heart. He didn't take it personally. That maturity, that steadiness, is exactly what made him S-Class.
But what about Nain now? Would Jhed go after her — or just keep walking, with his obsession about returning to his old world driving him forward?