"Everybody's here." Tetsuya looked around, a bitter expression hanging on his face.
It has been a little over a week ever since that incident with the Behemoth causing Loganel to lose his arm. However, Tetsuya could still cannot get used to the fact that Loganel was gone. First it was Azura, and now Loganel, two vital members of the party were no longer with them, which greatly reduced the party's combat abilities. Due to Loganel's absence, the party now no longer dared venture into the more dangerous areas. Rather, they merely roamed the safer areas, taking on Snow Wolves and Goblins in the forest.
Tetsuya frowned and sighed. He looked on at Kaz and Marilin that had gathered before him. Ever since he was summoned into this world and had taken part in combat, he had forced himself to accept the fact that people get injured and some die. However, it does not make it any less painful. Juliana is rendered brain-dead by the curse in that expedition, Azura is lost to the tyranny of societal norms, and now Loganel is lost to a crippling wound. Now, only he remained from the original party. It saddened him quite a bit as the reality finally came to him, a reality that is that no one stays forever. Therefore, with a depressed and battered look on his face and head hanging low, Tetsuya turned and started towards the main gates of Astalan.
"Lets go," he whispered in a voice that lacked any livelihood to his two remaining companions behind him.
There's still that quest to hunt Vampires, he thought. That will be coming up soon...How will I even complete this mission? Tetsuya peeked over his shoulder and at Kaz and Marilin. It's suicide if it's just the three of us. We won't stand a chance.
Then, Tetsuya spotted a figure moving towards them in the not too far distance. The sight of the boy caused Tetsuya to immediately halt in place and turn around to face the advancing boy. A smile appeared on Tetsuya's face as he saw the energetic expression on Loganel's face as he approached. However, his gaze was immediately captivated by the mysterious left arm that had regrown on his friend.
What is that? He looked on, eyes trembling in terror as he recalled what the priest had said to him regarding regenerating limbs. This can't be...It must be a prosthetic limb...That's right. It must be. But...it looks so real, almost like a real hand. Man, technology really has been advancing huh? Loganel is human. Right?
"Woah!" Kaz exclaimed as he saw Loganel's left arm. "It's really grown back!"
"Grown...back?" Tetsuya repeated in a bitter and defeated voice.
"That woman is truly a miracle maker," Marilin walked up and greeted Loganel.
"So you're coming with us today?" Kaz asked with excitement and enthusiasm overflowing from that large smile of his.
"Yeah," Loganel responded with a nod of his head. "Sorry for making you guys worried about me."
"Hm?" Kaz looked over and realized the abnormal reaction on Tetsuya's face. "What's wrong Tetsuya? Why is it that you looked as if you've just seen a ghost?"
"N-nothing," Tetsuya immediately gained control of his facial expression and distorted it into a friendly smile. "Glad you could be back Loganel."
"It's been a while," Loganel chuckled.
Something's not right with him...Tetsuya observed. That smile of his seemed somewhat forced. And his hair...it used to be jet black. So why is it that there a =re a few streaks of a dark crimson?
"Loganel," Tetsuya then bean speaking. His hands were clenched tightly into fists and beads of sweat formed on his forehead and on the back of his neck out of nervousness. His legs felt like rubber as they trembled and struggled to support his weight. In addition, he realized that his heart was racing at an unprecedented speed as his breathing became more and more rapid and frequent. "Don't mind if I ask, how does a human regrow a severed limb?" he said, placing a heavy emphasis on the word human.
Please prove me wrong, Tetsuya prayed. Please say that it's just an illusion or something that grants you temporarily the arm and that it is actually still gone. Please...Please Loganel.
Loganel paused and gazed at Tetsuya with a cautious expression on his face for a split second before a forced smile replaced it, making that look of caution seem almost as if it was never there at all. However, Tetsuya was entirely focused on the issue at hand and could swear that he had seen that oddity in Loganel.
"What're you talking about?" Loganel responded with that forced smile of his as he tried to conceal something from Tetsuya.
At that moment, Tetsuya felt as if his heart had just sunk into the abyss as he felt as if he was one step closer to the truth.
You're a bad liar, Loganel, Tetsuya's hands trembled as he engaged in a mental conflict with himself regarding the issue involving his best friend. Why can't you be a better actor. Come up with an excuse...Please. Then, I might still be able to do something about it.
"It's the healing powers of that woman," Marilin explained to Tetsuya, drawing him out of that internal conflict of his. "She says she's a scholar that invests her time in relearning ancient healing spells and that she had discovered a spell that might restore his arm. Therefore, she tried it on Loganel and it worked!"
"I-is that so?" Tetsuya asked with a wavering voice as his eyes shifted uneasily to Loganel.
"R-right," Loganel agreed, taking the advantage that the moment had offered him to get himself out of that predicament.
"T-then that's awesome," Tetsuya forced a laugh. "I must meet this woman if given the chance."
"You will," Loganel then said. "She's my fiancee now."
"Fiancee you say?" Tetuya's eyes widened from surprise. "You sure move fast."
"It's...complicated," Loganel explained.
"I would guess it is..." Tetsuya lowered his head and gazed at the ground.
As he did so, Loganel observed him with a fixed gaze, taking in every single hint from his body language.
Does he know? He must know, right? Otherwise why would he ask me those questions? Loganel thought as he observed his friend before him. What is your choice, Tetsuya? What will you do now?
"What's wrong with the two of you?" Marilin frowned and pointed out. "You both seem quite weird."
"it's nothing," Loganel chuckled. Although on the exterior he acted as naturally as he could, like a calm ocean with no waves or ripples to be seen, on the inside he was experiencing a heavy hurrican with whirlpools. There were no calm seas and clear skies. Rather, a world of panic and concern.
"Yeah," Tetsuya agreed.
However, he still did not lift his head up. Instead, he maintained looking down at the ground, subtly expressing his uncertainty and the pain and turmoil this meeting with Loganel had caused him. He knows that he should be happy for Loganel since his arm was regenerated. However, just the possibility that his best friend had become the being that he is tasked to kill gnawed at his sanity, rendering his mental state a complete mess. However, Tetsuya had not given up hope in its entirety. He must see the evidence that Loganel was now a Demon before he can even start persuading himself to even act. Therefore, Tetsuya awaited for the opportune moment to test if Loganel was truly a Demon or not. However, the odds aren't in Loganel's favor since Tetsuya knows of the history of Loganel's response to Holy magic such as healing spells and blessing spells.
Please Goddess, if you truly exist, Tetsuya began praying silently in his mind. Please don't take my friend away from me. Please don't make it so that we have to be enemies. Please...
"Alright!" Kaz attempted to boost the unusually low morale of the party with his energetic voice. "Now that Loganel's back, let's get right back to business!" Then he turned to speak to Loganel. "I hope you still got it after that long break."
"I'll have to get used to battle again, but I think I should be fine," Loganel responded, this time with more confidence in his words.
"Alright then!" Kaz said, pumping his fist into the air. "Let's go!"
He then started walking in the direction of the main gate. He used the motion of walking to conceal the trembling of his legs and his heart beat rapidly inside his chest. The reason why Kaz had chosen to walk in front of everyone else was that then they can not see his face. On that face of his, that energetic smile was gone. In its place was a frown. He had realized that something was seriously wrong, and he believed that even Marilin knew as well judging off of how Tetsuya had behaved. However, Kaz knows that he knows one thing that Marilin does not, and it is the information his demihuman sense of smell had bestowed him. Loganel smelled..different. It's a non-human smell, a smell that frightened Kaz somewhat.
"Let's go then," Marilin smiled in order to relieve the awkwardly tense situation and jogged after Kaz, leaving Loganel alone with Tetsuya.
Tetsuya clenched both hands into a fist tightly, and then slowly released them as he understood that he could do nothing at the moment. And even if Tetsuya wanted to act, he would prefer if he had more evidence before he did so. Therefore, Tetsuya decided that it would be best if they continue on as before and see if he could gather any information that way.
"Let's go," he said, smiling faintly at Loganel.
"Yeah," Loganel responded and walked beside him as the two caught up with Kaz and Marilin.
I'll just have to make sure by our interactions, Tetsuya thought as he glanced over at Loganel. But as for now...Please...please just let me experience the serenity our friendship brings into my daily life.
Author's Note:
I see that the view count for Arc 2 is way lower than Arc 1. However, I will not stop writing as long as those of you that continue to read my book decides to continue to read on.
Please vote and comment if you've enjoyed. Thank you!!!!