The World Is Mine For The Taking-Chapter 1300 - 197 - The Fall Of Milham Kingdom - Part 3 (7)
It honestly caught me off guard that she wanted to come with me.
Out of all people, Shredica choosing to leave her post and follow me instead was not something I expected at all. For a second, I just stood there, staring at her, trying to figure out if she was being serious or if this was just one of her usual impulsive decisions kicking in again.
"Aren’t you supposed to be guarding the heroes?" I asked, raising a brow slightly as I looked at her.
"I think they’re safe enough here," she replied without hesitation. "If anything, I’m more needed in the capital, where there’s an actual battle happening."
Thinking about it, Shredica had always been like this. If there was a fight somewhere, her attention would naturally drift toward it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I vaguely remembered her telling me before that she liked battle more than anything else. At the time, I thought she was just being dramatic, but seeing her now, standing there with that same unwavering look, it felt real.
Weirdly enough, it was kind of refreshing.
Seeing her like this again, so direct and honest about what she wanted, brought back a version of her that I had not seen in a while. It made things feel... simpler, in a way. Less complicated than everything else going on around us.
Still, that did not mean I agreed with her.
"A battle might break out here too," I said. "Especially since the heroes are here. You do understand how valuable they are to the kingdom, right? If the enemy finds out they’re here, they won’t hesitate to attack this place."
I paused for a second, letting that sink in before continuing.
"You’re strong. More than capable of protecting them."
The moment those words left my mouth, something shifted in her, with her expression darkening almost instantly, like a shadow passed over her face.
I noticed it.
Still, I did not really care enough to dwell on it.
Whatever she thought about what I said was her problem, not mine. I had already said what needed to be said. There was no point in dragging it out longer than necessary.
So I turned away, preparing to leave.
My body tensed slightly as I got ready to jump off and head straight back to the capital. The distance did not matter. I could make it there quickly if I moved now.
Before I could take that step, though, her voice stopped me.
"You’re lying."
I paused mid-motion and glanced back at her over my shoulder.
"Lying?" I repeated, a faint frown forming on my face.
That did not make sense.
What exactly was I supposed to be lying about?
I went through what I had just said in my head, replaying it piece by piece. Everything was straightforward. Logical, even. There was nothing in there that I would consider a lie.
"You don’t... actually think I’m strong, do you?" she asked.
That made me turn fully toward her.
Where did that even come from?
Out of everything she could have taken from what I said, that was the conclusion she reached?
For a moment, I just stared at her.
Then I saw it.
That expression.
My chest tightened slightly as something unfamiliar yet painfully recognizable surfaced.
I had seen that look before.
Not here.
Not in this world.
Back then.
"You don’t... actually love me, do you?"
The words overlapped in my mind, even if the situations were completely different. The tone, the feeling behind it, the way it lingered in the air... it was the same.
Shredica and Akane.
Their voices blended together in a way that made it hard to separate them.
Back then, it was raining. I could still remember it clearly. The cold droplets hitting the ground, the faint sound of water splashing around us, and her just standing there, looking straight at me with that same expression Shredica was wearing right now.
Her face.
Akane’s face.
If someone told me to overlay them, I probably could not deny the resemblance.
This was not something I had only just realized.
I noticed it the very first time I met Shredica.
That similarity.
That uncomfortable feeling in the back of my mind. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
I just chose to ignore it.
I kinda pushed it aside like it was nothing.
Like convincing myself it was just my imagination acting up.
That was also the reason why I put up with everything she made me do back then.
Right.
Because she reminded me of her.
That was what I told myself.
Shredica and Akane.
At some point, I started thinking they might actually be the same person.
It sounded ridiculous every time the thought crossed my mind. There were too many things that did not add up. There were too many differences that made it seem impossible.
Yet moments like this made it hard to completely dismiss.
Seeing that expression again, right in front of me, made it feel real in a way I could not explain.
Like the past was staring back at me through her.
I could have brushed it off as coincidence.
Like just a strange resemblance.
People looking alike was not exactly rare.
But there was one thing that kept bothering me.
All our classmates were summoned as heroes.
Every single one of them.
Except her.
She was the only one left out.
That fact alone made it harder to ignore everything else.
Still, even with all that, I did not know.
Maybe it really was just a massive coincidence.
Coincidences could be cruel like that.
Messing with your head for no reason.
The problem was, I had no idea how long I could keep telling myself that.
"Why aren’t you saying anything?" she asked.
Her voice pulled me back to the present.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about," I said, keeping my expression neutral.
"You don’t believe that I’m strong," she continued. "Just like before... Back then, when I asked you to show your real strength and stop holding back, you never went all out. You held back against me the entire time..."
The tournament.
That was what she meant.
I let out a quiet breath.
It was true that I did not go all out back then.
Still, it was not like I ever promised her I would.
"That only proves it, doesn’t it?" she said. "You don’t actually believe I’m strong."
That conclusion was completely off.
From where I stood, Shredica was strong.
There was no denying that.
If she went up against a group of magic knights, there was easily a fifty percent chance she would come out on top. That was not something you could just brush aside. That was already an impressive level of strength.
On top of that, she was still growing.
Just like me, it felt like there was no clear limit to how far she could go. Her growth was not as fast as mine, but it was still steady.
Give her enough time, and she would become even stronger.
Would she reach my level?
Probably not.
That gap was not something that could be closed that easily.
Still, that was not the point here.
None of what I was thinking would matter to her.
Not in this moment.
Nothing I said would be enough.
That much was obvious.
So I stayed silent.
It was the easiest option.
And probably the only one that would not make things worse.
"I see..." she muttered softly. "Forget it. You can go."
She took my silence the way I expected her to.
As confirmation.
Without waiting for anything else, she turned around and started walking away.
Just like that.
With no hesitation at all.
I watched her for a brief second, then let out a quiet breath.
There was no point chasing after her.
There was no point trying to fix something that was not going to be fixed right now.
So I pushed the whole thing aside.
For now.
Turning away, I focused back on what mattered.
The capital.
With a single motion, I jumped off and headed straight toward it.
