There was no fury, no anger.
At this moment, Erza wore a kind of calm Shane had never seen on her before.
In those deep, shadowed eyes, it felt as if black whirlpools were churning beneath the surface.
Her entire presence was broadcasting one very clear message—
Absolutely, absolutely do not provoke her in this state.
Gulp.
Shane swallowed hard.
Even though the atmosphere was dangerous right now, he still had to clear things up about Ultear sooner or later.
Even if there had been a sense of coercion at the time, he had still responded to her. He had still accepted those awkward feelings of hers.
As long as he explained it properly…
Erza should… probably… maybe… be able to understand and accept it, right?
Shane tried to encourage himself, though he wasn't feeling very confident.
"Um, Erza, actually…"
Just as he finally worked up the nerve and prepared to confess through gritted teeth, Erza suddenly lifted her head slowly.
Her delicate face moved closer without warning… and closer…
Until their noses lightly touched and their breaths mingled.
Her dark eyes filled his entire field of vision. At such close range, Shane could even count the slight tremble of her lashes.
"You haven't…"
Her voice was soft, but it carried a heavy pressure that made every hair on Shane's body stand on end.
"…been bothered by some strange person, have you?"
Maybe it was just his imagination, but Shane felt as though a faint black aura was rising around her.
That utterly flat tone was like the dead stillness of the sea before a storm.
"I…"
Shane clenched his teeth and steeled himself.
"Actually, Ul—"
"If there is…"
Erza didn't wait for him to finish. She simply continued on her own.
In that instant, her voice suddenly turned unnervingly gentle—so gentle it sent chills down his spine.
"I'll take responsibility for it properly, and drive away every strange person who appeared out of nowhere…"
"All of them."
"Huh?"
Shane froze, the word Ultear getting stuck in his throat.
"Drive other people away? You're not… talking about me?"
he asked cautiously.
"Of course not."
Erza nodded as if it were obvious. The darkness in her eyes faded, and they became clear and direct again.
"Because I love you, Shane. If I love you, then of course I have to protect you and not let anyone take you away."
Ever since facing her feelings head-on just now, the girl had somehow become increasingly natural at saying things that made people's hearts race. All the shyness and hesitation from before had completely vanished.
"I-I see…"
Shane's tense body instantly relaxed.
So Erza's hostility was aimed at the "bad women" outside…
And in that instant, a flash of inspiration struck him.
Before, Ultear had used this whole thing as leverage—threatening him, teasing him, and tormenting him endlessly with it.
But now that he understood Erza's attitude was strongly directed outward…
He could actually start looking forward to something:
Next time they met, when Ultear tried the same trick again, only to slam headfirst into Erza's iron wall, what kind of spectacular expression would that awful woman make?
Not only would she lose all her leverage over him, she'd probably also have to face Erza's righteous questioning and be forced to personally explain how she had taken the initiative to "attack" him and confess.
With Ultear's proud, awkward personality, publicly admitting something like that would probably be worse than killing her!
"Heh…"
Just imagining Ultear making that frustrated, humiliated, maybe even furious face made the corners of Shane's mouth rise uncontrollably.
He was so looking forward to it.
So, so looking forward to it.
He was definitely going to get revenge for all the teasing he had suffered—with interest.
He decided not to tell Erza about what had happened between him and Ultear.
In fact, Shane was already impatient to see what would happen when that bad woman came back from vacation and ran into Erza.
I'm really a terrible person for being this mean, Shane thought to himself with a wicked little grin full of malicious delight.
"Didn't I tell you not to smile like that?"
A soft, warm hand reached over and carefully smoothed down the corners of Shane's lifted mouth.
Erza frowned and looked at him seriously.
"You're smiling too badly. It doesn't look good."
"Okay, okay!"
Shane answered quickly, but just thinking about the scene to come made his lips want to curl upward again.
"Mm…"
That was obviously unacceptable to the girl.
When pressing them down with one hand didn't work, Erza reluctantly pulled her hand back, then switched to cupping Shane's face with both hands and kneading it hard like dough.
"Okay, okay, I was wrong… I was wrong…"
Shane immediately raised his hands in surrender.
He had noticed that Erza's possessiveness and urge to manage him had been rising fast lately.
Being cared for in every part of daily life and having someone worry about him honestly felt great.
But being "corrected" like this every so often still wasn't something he was fully used to.
"I'm going to sleep!"
Shane finally escaped her clutches and stood up.
He had used Lancer's Noble Phantasm in that last fight, and the physical exhaustion was hitting him hard now. Sleepiness was washing over him like a tide.
"Oh."
Erza stood up too and followed right behind him step for step, clearly intending to walk into the bedroom with him.
"What are you doing?"
One hand on the doorframe, Shane turned around and blocked the doorway with a guarded expression.
"Sleeping."
Erza blinked at him with complete confidence.
"Doesn't the book say… that when two people love each other, they're supposed to sleep together?"
"That comes later!"
Shane's forehead filled with black lines. What kind of weird books had this girl been reading?
Weekly Sorcerer?
Why was it full of stuff like this?!
"Later? But before, we already…"
Erza's disappointment was obvious.
She really liked Shane's scent—that fresh, sun-warmed smell made her feel safe.
But Shane wasn't about to indulge her. The big bed in his room was the last sanctuary of his personal freedom. Erza had already "invaded" it once before, and this time, no matter what, he was going to defend his territory!
Bang!
The bedroom door closed mercilessly, followed by the sharp click of the lock.
"…"
Erza stood there blankly.
She clearly remembered the book saying boys usually liked being all affectionate with girls more.
So why, when it came to her and Shane, was it completely reversed?
Shane definitely wasn't the problem.
That meant the book was the problem.
Pressing her lips together, the girl seriously began to consider whether she should keep subscribing to Weekly Sorcerer in the future.
…
The aftereffects of the soul backlash, combined with the physical exhaustion caused by using Arondight, made Shane sleep especially deeply.
By the time he woke up the next day, the sun outside had already climbed high into the sky. It was well past noon.
Whoosh—whoosh—
The moment he opened his eyes, he heard the familiar sound of something slicing through the air.
Shane pushed open the window.
In the yard, a crimson figure was practicing under the blazing sun, drenched in sweat.
That focused expression, that sharp sword wind—it was obvious she was training seriously, determined to fulfill that promise to "become stronger" as soon as possible.
"Going to find her surname together, huh…"
Watching the girl's back, Shane rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Erza's origins seemed to be deeply connected to "dragons" somehow.
He had never brought it up before because there had always been other things to deal with, and because Erza still wasn't quite strong enough yet.
"When the time comes, I'll talk to her properly about it."
After washing up and eating the breakfast the girl had deliberately left warming in the pot for him, Shane immediately felt full of energy again.
"Time to head out."
He clapped his hands.
Now, for Long Chain Trial II, only Mira was left.
He planned to go to the guild today, drag her out, and make a proper hell-level special training plan for her.
"I'm going too."
The moment she saw Shane getting ready to leave, Erza immediately stopped what she was doing in the yard.
"…You're not practicing swordsmanship anymore?"
Shane looked surprised.
Before this, Erza had practically shut herself away from the world in order to become stronger.
The past two days, he had invited her several times to join Memory Time, but she had stubbornly insisted on staying home to train.
What he didn't know was that this was exactly what Erza regretted most now.
She had already made up her mind: from now on, she didn't care what anyone else thought. No matter where Shane went, she was going to stay by his side.
"I can practice when I come back."
Erza smoothed down her slightly messy long hair and naturally walked over to stand beside him.
"Alright then. We'll go together."
The two of them left the yard side by side.
Although their conversation last night had helped Erza understand the feelings she had never been able to make sense of before, perhaps because they already knew each other too well, the way they interacted hadn't changed all that dramatically.
Just like always, they kept about half a step between them as they walked side by side down the street, chatting here and there about random little things.
Why does this feel… kind of the same as being with Ultear? Shane grumbled inwardly as he glanced at the pretty girl beside him, unchanged as ever.
Talking idly all the way, the two of them arrived at the guild entrance.
Bang!
The moment they pushed open the guild doors, before they even had time to greet everyone, Natsu's signature loud voice rang through the entire hall.
"Everyone, look!"
"It's an egg!"
"I found a weird egg in the forest!!!"
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 120 Chapters Ahead of Others!