"It's good to see someone with her." The deaconess said while she was healing the unconscious Fischl. "Same with you, I'm really happy about you both."
"Huh? Why do you say that?" Bennett was sitting in a chair right next to the bed.
"You don't know? Even if she's one of the top investigators in the adventurer's guild, no one really wants to talk to her due to her.. unique way of talking, so to get info they normally refer to Oz instead of her.. Poor Fischl.." Barbara looked kind of sad.
Bennett didn't know about this. He thought, and hoped, that he was the only one that was shunned away and casted out, but it seems that that wasn't the case... Damn it. His guilt became heavier after knowing that.
"Will... Will she be alright?"
"Yes, don't worry.. I can handle this, she'll maybe need to take some time though."
Bennett nodded, maybe it was better that way, after all, with his bad luck, who knows what'll happen?
"I have to do some urgent things for the church right now, I healed her the best I could, she should be up in an hour or so.. You're gonna stay?"
Again, he nodded.
"Ok.. I'll leave you two alone then, see you!"
Barbara hurried off to another room.
Bennett sighed, what should he say when she wakes up? Maybe apologizing would be the best option, even though he assumed that she wouldn't take it.
He got up from his chair and started walking around the room, thinking about what he would do next. Maybe he'll stop for a while while he waits for her to recover, or maybe he won't let her join the team..
What to do?
After 10 solid minutes of thinking and walking around, he stopped dead on his tracks after Fischl moved a little.
"Fischl?!" He hurried to her. "A-are you alright?"... No response.
Bennett sighed, why was he so worried? Barbara told him she would be alright already...
"Hn-ngh.." The girl started to groan while a pained look started to form on her face.
His heart sank. It wasn't because he thought she wouldn't be alright like the deaconess told him, it's because for him, this was all his fault. The fact that she was in bed right now, after being beaten unconscious by a Mitachurl, whimpering in pain.
"I'm sorry.. I'm so, so sorry.."
He started to whisper those words over and over again, and grabbed the Prinzzesin's hands, holding them tight while he cursed himself over guilt, cursing his bad luck, cursing the fact that if he arrived just some seconds earlier this wouldn't have happened, cursing himself.
After some minutes, he stopped, letting go of her hands not after gripping them tightly a last time. He came to the same realization that Fischl was going to get in some time, he needed to get stronger, so he could protect her, so he could protect her smile and her characteristic smug attitude.
He didn't know exactly why he had such a strong feeling about protecting her, even though they had been friends for quite a while, she only accompanied him once or twice before she decided to join his team. Even so, he thought that it was because he didn't want other people to suffer being isolated from others like he was.. No one needs to experience that.
He looked at her face, it seemed more calm now, was it because he held her hand? No, that was too childish for him to think.
Even so, he didn't have a chance to get a good look at her until now.. She was.. Really pretty-
"No!" He slapped himself, why was he noticing that now of all times, she was whimpering in pain not long ago! He sighed and collapsed on the chair, maybe he needed some rest, after all, he walked all the way from Stormterror's Lair to Monstadt while carrying Fischl, and that's not counting the hours they spent doing the commissions.
He sighed again, closing his eyes and slowly drifting off into a peaceful sleep.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why did she apologize?
He was left standing in the exit of the church when Fischl hurriedly went off on her own, leaving him thinking about her last words before she ran.
Why did she have to say that? He was the one responsible, wasn't he? He's the one that didn't manage to save her, he's the one that due to his bad luck, made Fischl get beaten up by a Mitachurl.. Why did she apologize?
That shouldn't bug him as much as it did, but he ended up thinking about it the whole day, he just couldn't think why, even though it was pretty simple, the boy didn't normally think that other people would think that his mistakes were theirs.
After all, everyone always blamed him for everything bad that would happen while they're with him, why wouldn't she?
Well, he had one thing that he was sure of, he needed to start training so the things that happened last night wouldn't happen again.
"Katheryne! Do you have any high rank commissions? I.. Uh.. Feel luckier today!" He didn't want to say the real reason, though he didn't know why.
"Are you sure, Bennett? I can't stop you if you are, but, think hard about this."
"I am! Don't worry, I'll be fine! I swear!"
Katheryne sighed. "Fine.. There's these ones, look." She showed him a list full of commissions.
"Oh.." He was taken aback by some of them. "Uhm... Oh, This one!" Bennett pointed at one of them.
"The hilichurl camp in Dragonspine? I guess it's one of the easier ones among these.. There were sightings of a Frostarm Lawachurl nearby though, are you sure you want to take it?"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I-it's freezing here.." He found himself on the top of a cliff, watching the camp from above. "I'm getting a déjà vu here.." He started to think about how he would approach this, he remembered when Fischl scouted around before attacking, thus forming a plan.
"Right! Guess I'll have to do that.. Brrr, a-and quick.."
He sneakily went around the camp, only to trip on a rock in the way and fall in the middle of it. "Ouch!... Eh.. Hello?" He found himself in the eyes of every hilichurl around him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I'm not saying I told you, but.. I told you." Said Katheryne, while seeing the boy returning with bruises, scratches and injuries all over his body.
Bennett just laughed, and continued being his usual optimistic self "I managed to defeat all of them though! Even the Frostarm Lawachurl- Ouch.. I-I'm going to see Barbara now, I'll be back later to sign the commission done."
"Don't worry, I already took care of that. Next time at least pick a medium-high ranked one, ok?" Bennett nodded and then proceeded to go to the church, albeit slowly due to his injuries.
"Now.. I only need to keep this up until she comes back." Now, seeing that he at least survived after his task, he was more motivated than ever to become stronger than before.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After a week of barely making it out alive from various commissions, he was ready to fill in the last one.
"Why are you so determined all of a sudden? Taking dangerous commissions like that every day? Ever since you went with Fischl, you-.. Ohhh.. I get it~" Katheryne looked smugly at Bennett, he didn't need her to tell him why.
"I-It's not like that!" He blushed almost immediately while saying that. "It's just.. I.."
The guild receptionist laughed. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Bennett looked the other way.
"I already told you, I-It's not like that.." The woman laughed again.
"Well, that's it for the day, now go see Barbara to get her to treat your injuries and you have the rest of the day free."
"T-thanks, Katheryne.." He went off to the church, still embarrassed.
He just wanted to protect her so she wouldn't have to suffer isolation from the rest anymore, not for any other reason.. Yeah, no other reason.