CHAPTER 7: NOT ALL FOR NOTHING

"You can look back now, I’m dressed," the girl called out from behind.

Allen was snapped out of his never-ending chain of thoughts by her voice, and then turned around to face her.

Her skin was no longer bare. She wore white and blue clothing, along with silver-plated protectors on her legs, hands, and chest.

She no longer held the sword she’d been using till now, and upon a closer look Allen saw it quietly tucked away in the sheath attached to her waist.

Well, this really is a fantasy world I guess.

He thought to himself, impressed by the unique dressing sense.

It wasn’t unfamiliar to him, no. He had read about it in his history books and seen dozens of similar outfits in manhwas. But seeing it up close was in no way comparable to any of that.

It looked so out of the world that he just wanted to relax and stare at it for a while. The fact that the girl’s beauty also increased the elegance of the outfit didn’t help either.

Still, he knew what he had to do. He had already made up his mind.

Therefore, he decided to pull himself together and pass her a respectful smile.

"That was rather quick," he remarked.

"I’m trained to suit up for battle as fast as possible," she replied, her tone professional. "Anyway," she continued, "I apologize again for how I treated you. I shouldn’t have been so suspicious without proof."

Allen shook his head. "Don’t worry about it. My life was on the line, too. Being cautious is natural. No offense taken."

His words seemed to work. The tension in her shoulders eased, and a small, relieved smile touched her lips.

"I see. Then let’s leave it at that." She took a step forward, holding out her hand. "I just realized, I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Luna. Luna Revoltstar."

"Allen," he replied, taking her hand. Her grip was firm. "Just Allen. No family name."

Not one that matters anymore, anyway.

"I’m grateful to you for saving my life, Allen. I must admit I had been careless. If you had not stepped in and taken out that last assassin, I would have been dead for sure," she accepted.

"Oh, don’t flatter me please. I know you would have taken care of it easily without any problem. While I have only met you a mere moment ago, even I can see the level of skill you have," Allen disagreed respectfully.

Well, obviously I’m not gonna accept that yes I saved your life and you must be singing songs of me right in her face. That’s gonna backfire way too hard.

A slight smile played on her lips. "Too much humility isn’t a good thing either, Mr. Allen. You should accept the credit you’ve earned."

Her tone was light, just casual conversation. He knew it wasn’t a trap.

"If you don’t mind me asking, and I have been wondering about this for quite some time now, by the way. What is someone as skilled as you doing in this forest?" Luna asked.

Allen hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ah...hmm. It is a bit embarrassing to admit this to be honest. But well, the reason I’m here is because I don’t really have a good sense of direction and have ended up lost in this fores—actually no, that’s a lie."

"The truth is, I have just barely escaped being killed just like you," Allen said, his eyes looking straight into Luna’s eyes.

"...What do you mean?" Luna asked, a little taken aback by the sudden change in the tone of his answer. She was not expecting something like this from him.

"Ahm...I don’t mean to brag, but you have seen that I possess some rather special abilities. And there is a group of people, who were...well, used to be my ’friends’ if I may say so.

"Though in reality they just wanted to use my powers to increase their influence and control, they wanted me to fight their wars.

"However, after I refused them again and again because I did not wish to fight someone else’s war. They laid a trap and decided to ambush and kill me, so that in the future I don’t end up conspiring with their enemies.

"In the end, I somehow managed to avoid being killed but ended up in this place. And quite honestly, I have no idea where I am right now. I have travelled quite far while I was trying to escape."

With that, Allen ended his explanation. His gaze was a bit lower, glancing at the ground. The light they had contained moments ago was gone, they just looked like empty shells.

His voice had slowly lost all emotion, and it felt as if you were listening to an antique record player. One that only recited a song, not sang it.

In a matter of seconds, the air around him had turned gloomy.

Luna listened, her expression shifting from curiosity to sympathy.

He could see the conflict in her eyes. She clearly felt like she’d overstepped, prying into a painful past.

They had just met after all. But then again, he didn’t seem like this before. He gave off quite a charismatic aura, in fact.

"...I see..." she said after a pause of a few seconds, finally managing to get some words out of her throat. It wasn’t that she was new to people having tragic pasts.

It’s just that it was unexpected this time, too sudden and out of the blue.

"That must have been rough," she said softly. "I won’t pretend to understand everything you’ve been through. But I know what it’s like to have people hunting you."

She met his gaze, her red eyes filled with a new determination. "You saved my life. So, I give you my word. As long as you are with me, I will protect you."

Allen looked up, a little surprised. "Huh...? But—"

She offered a small, reassuring smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"Don’t worry. And you don’t have to be so formal. We’re in a similar situation, aren’t we? The least we can do is help each other."

"W-Well...I guess you are right. I’m grateful you feel that way," Allen stammered a bit.

At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It went perfectly, for now at least. He thought to himself.

It had worked. The art of faking his emotions, he had perfected throughout his childhood, to create a facade of being a small and weak child so that people would take pity on him and not hurt him.

So that his relatives wouldn’t nag him anymore. So that his sister would not beat him anymore to take out her frustration after getting harassed by their uncle.

It wasn’t all for nothing after all.