The two spoke for hours.
It was just like old times… with them babbling on and on about varying topics and stories.
It went without saying that Rey had to explain himself and the reason he was late—apologizing for what he determined to be caused by his weakness.
Of course, Esme would not have that.
"There's no way you could have known about or prepared for such a calamity. Besides, if I was stronger… you wouldn't have had to face it all alone. It's not your fault!"
Her words reinforced what Ater and his friends had told him, yet somehow hearing her tell him this put his simmering heart at ease.
As always, Esme just always had an atmosphere about her that relaxed him.
Not once did he need to struggle with controlling his emotions, and the system also didn't shut them off at any period.
He was worried and cautious at first, but not anymore. Esme was just the kind of person he could be comfortable with.
No… that wasn't quite it.
"I expected you to be a lot more awkward about all this…" Esme admitted at some point as she smiled at Rey.
Her hand was placed on her cheek as her smile broadened.
Merely staring into her eyes made his heart leap, yet there was no response from the System.
In fact, none of his other physiological reactions—since he encountered Esme—triggered the Class Privilege's effects.
'I initially thought I wasn't flustered enough because it's Esme, but the System has intervened for even less displays of emotion in the past. So what's happening here?'
Rey was surprised and confused at this point.
However, he had a theory—or rather, a question.
'Is the System being biased here?' When he thought about it, Esme had always been favored by the System.
Even now, he was being told to help her out.
That was definitely not a sign of a Side Quest, as Rey had already figured out long ago. It seemed, by all regards, that she was being protected by the System.
And she wasn't the only one.
'The other Elves I met also had similar stuff written in their Additional Information.'
That meant, for some reason, Elves were special in this world.
'Maybe the System does not register any emotion generated from me towards her to be harmful, so it filters all of that out. Does that mean it'll be the same with the rest of the Elves?'
He found himself growing ever curious as he stared at Esme, just in time for time to quicken so he could answer her statement.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"Awkward about what? Showing my face?"
"Mhm! You made such a big deal about it for so long that I never expected you'd show it to me that easily."
"Well… perhaps I'm not the Rey you knew from back then."
Esme laughed as she shook her head. Instantly pushing her face forward, she brought it close to Rey's
It was so close that they could feel each other's breaths.
"No… you're Rey alright." She smiled. "Even if I can no longer see your Status Information, there's no way I wouldn't be able to recognize you."
Rey didn't know why he blushed at that very moment.
As if that wasn't enough of a shock for him—
~VWUSH~
A sudden black swirl formed within the room and Ater stepped out of it with a casual sense of formality.
Rey was frozen in place as he witnessed Ater arrive.
Esme's innocent face also turned as she gazed upon the tall, sleek frame of Rey's familiar.
"Mas… ah, apologies for the inconvenience. Please continue."
"Ater wai—!"
~VWUSH!~
Before Rey could say any more, Ater vanished from his position. His disappearance was too instant that even Rey was stunned.
His flustered state was immediately suppressed, reminding him of his current condition.
"Haa… that guy. I'm sure he now has the wrong idea."
Esme innocently turned her face to Rey and gave him a quizzical look.
"Wrong idea how?"
"He… ah… well, he probably thought we were about to kiss… or something like that." Rey looked away, blushing even harder than normal.
Moments like this made him want his emotions to be suppressed, but he also liked that he could feel things this intensely.
"Kiss… huh? I've never had one before." Esme murmured.
"How does it feel like?"
Rey found his heart racing upon hearing that. One glance at Esme's serious and curious eyes made him nearly give out.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Yet the System did not intervene at all!
"W-why would you even ask me that?" For the first time since forever, Rey stuttered, fidgeting a little as he analyzed the question she asked him.
"Well… you've kissed before, haven't you?"
"How can you be so sure?!" Rey swiftly responded, his voice raised a little.
Yes, Belle kissed him at some point, but it wasn't like 'he' kissed 'her'. In fact, wasn't he the victim in that entire mishap?
So, yes… technically he hadn't 'kissed' anyone yet. Someone kissing him didn't count one bit.
"Well, I—"
"It's fine, Rey. I was just asking because I was curious. If you're acting like this, then you've probably never kissed before." Even though this was the excuse he was going for, hearing Esme say it like that hurt his pride.
He could feel something in his chest shatter.
"I'll ask a more experienced person about it."
Rey nearly clutched his chest upon hearing that. Sure, he didn't have much of an experience when it came to these things, but…
"In any case, answer me already." Esme began to shift away from Rey.
Her face departed from his until they retained reasonable distance from each other.
"Why did you decide to show me your face?"
As the question floated in the air, Rey brought himself back to reality. He took in a deep breath, allowing the sweet scent that now filled the room to enter his nostrils and permeate his body.
He was silent for a few seconds, feeling Esme's gaze on him through it all.
Then, he spoke up.
"I just… didn't want to hide anymore."
Surely, Rey had more than enough time to get into disguise and face her with a mask or with any face of his choosing.
Yet, the thought never even croseed his mind.
He simply wanted to see her, and he wanted her to see him as well.
That was all there was to it.
"I'm really happy you're safe, Esme. After everything that has happened… it really is more than a relief to have you right before my eyes."
Esme touched his hand with hers, allowing him to feel her warm and soft touch.
She gave him a glowing smile at that moment.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"I'm not going anywhere, Rey. I've also gotten a bit stronger since last time, so hopefully I'm not a burden to you anymore."
Rey chuckled as he saw her Stats.
"With those numbers… I doubt you will be."
[STATUS WINDOW]
- Name: Esme
- Race: Half-Elf (Human and Elf)
- Class: Grand Elementalist (A-Tier)
- Level: 127 (28.14% EXP)
- Life Force: 360/360 (+360) [500]
- Mana Level: 700/700 (+700)
- Combat Ability: 503 (+503)
- Stat Points: 0
- Skills (Exclusive): [Absolute Appraisal]
- Skills (Non-Exclusive): [Absolute Magic Mastery]. [Absolute Magic Application]. [Absolute Mana Recovery]. [Absolute Elemental Control]. [Grand Executioner]
- Alignment: Chaotic Good
[Additional Information]
A genius, even by Elven Standards… with a special heritage and connection to the World.
She is your ally and friend.
… Help her.
[End Of Information]
Rey smiled as he saw all this.
'As expected.'
*
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