'He… he cares about her. That's rare. Very rare…'
This was the first time Levine had heard Eren say he trusted someone completely. She could also sense the rare form of affection Eren had for Nina when he talked about her.
'Hmm. I wonder how close he is to this "aunt Nina" he talks so affectionately about.'
Levine had a random thought as she watched Eren get away from her vision. She snapped out of her reverie soon enough and concentrated on her next set of tasks.
Eren inadvertently sensed a bit of jealousy from Levine for a fraction of a second as he flew further away from her place. But he ignored it and focused on getting to Nina on time.
***
Amory Stowage seemed desperate to achieve a forced breakthrough.
He had been chasing a Monster King for days on end. But the Ogre in question decided to run away instead of accepting his duel. Nina had been trying to help him by keeping track of the monster using spells exclusive to her. However, she eventually lost track of the monster and both of them were forced to halt in their tracks.
Ror, on the other hand, doubled back on his steps after he realized that his presence wouldn't get detected by his pursuers. He waited for his king to arrive at the scene. Meanwhile, he was given the task of safeguarding the very pursuers who wanted to use him as a guinea pig for the old man's breakthrough.
Ror could only sigh at the irony of protecting someone who wanted to kill him. He was then reminded of Eren making his son Kaalmahen a chieftain of a huge Ogre tribe and decided not to complain anymore. Ne could say that the quasi-Ogre King had undisputed affection for his son and his king by proxy. After all, he was oath-bound to follow everything Eren commanded him to do.
Unaware of their prey's situation, Nina wasn't happy when Ror got away from their pursuit. This monster was just what Amory needed to achieve a breakthrough. Losing him now meant Amory losing his chance to achieve a breakthrough anytime soon.
"It's strange. It feels like the Ogre suddenly grew brains and started messing up my tracking spells."
Nina felt extra frustrated for some reason. It seemed like there were more mental stresses at play than just helping Amory break into the Grandmaster rank. She looked at the seniormost guild member on her team before saying something with a bit of hesitation.
"Uncle Amory, I think we should go back and check up on the guild master. It's too late to…"
Nina stopped what she was about to say midway for some reason. She clenched her fists and looked at Amory with a pitying look in her eyes. The old healer chuckled when he understood what she was trying to say to him.
"It's too late for me to achieve a breakthrough, right? So you want me to give up and leave this place? Lass, I know why you are saying this. However, will it help the situation if I return and meet the guild master while still being the same old Master ranker?
That girl needs me to break into the Grandmaster rank. Only then can she ask the kingdom of Edinburgh to make moves on those damn cultists."
Amory looked frustrated and angry. It seemed his breakthrough was not a personal matter anymore. He had another, more compelling reason to break into the Grandmaster rank.
Nina didn't know what to say to Amory that would make him turn back. Both of them needed to go back to the city of Curar as soon as they could. They had already lost so much time in the Badlands because of the unnatural space-time continuum of the place. She couldn't contact Eren because of it.
Nina could understand why Amory wanted to achieve a breakthrough. She had also tried to help him as much as she could. But she had come to realize that Amory had gotten even weaker than at the time he had entered Monster Canyon. At this rate, he would just be throwing his life away for nothing instead of having a shot at a forced breakthrough.
Nina was about to say something to Amory when she sensed someone approaching them from a distance. Her surprise turned into joy and her joy turned into worries before a lot of other emotions were added to the mix. That's because she recognized the presence of the ranker heading their way.
"Hmm? Who's this brat approaching us in such a bold manner…"
Amory was about to cast a detainment spell on the approaching ranker when he heard Nina's voice.
"Wait, Uncle Amory. I know him."
Lightning struck and Eren appeared in front of Nina with a light smile on his face. The latter ran into him as soon as he did, being embraced by him right away.
Amory raised his eyebrows when he saw Eren and Nina reunite with each other. He had never seen the B-Ranked Master healer get so close to any other ranker. The two of them didn't even talk for a while. They seemed lost in each other's embrace.
"What are you doing here? And how did you find me?"
"I came looking for you."
"You… you shouldn't be here. This is a zone meant for B-Ranked entities."
"And you were supposed to call me."
"I…. I can explain."
"You should. But there's no need to do that right now. What's today's color?"
"Color? What color?"
"The color of your pan…"
"Aaah! Little rascal…"
Amory saw the couple engage in a peculiar way of conversing with each other. He then saw Nina pushing the young man away from her with great force like he had done something indecent to her.
Eren was pushed by Nina so hard that he flew toward a bunch of trees and ran through their trunks before destroying them. It took a few moments before he managed to stop himself from acting like a wrecking ball. The butcher sprouted Wind-Fire Wings behind his back and killed his momentum before taking to the air.
"Hahaha. You are as impulsive as always, Aunt Nina."
