"…"
Seth stood silent, his eyes trained on the trio of women.
As the author stated at the end of last chapter, the three were no less beautiful than Clare.
Especially the one in front.
Same as every other claymore, her eyes were shiny silver and her long, pale brown hair trimmed in a razor-shag style that reached her shoulders.
All that plus her heart shaped face and elegance placed her a little above Clare in the attractive department.
To her left, a stern face claymore, hair was short, tucked behind her pointy ears, sticking out behind her like spikes.
Unlike them, the one on the right had much taller hair compared to the two, styled in a ponytail with two ends on the side of her face.
Seeing them, Seth could only wonder if all the other claymores are gonna be beautiful or if it's just coincidence that these three just happen to be together.
Throughout all this, Clare wondered why Seth was so silent now since they have finally met more claymore.
Isn't this what they had been looking forward to?
She turned to look up at him to see him ogling at them and felt slightly irritated which confused her as she elbowed him.
"Uh, ah—hey, there! Good morning to you fine ladies…"
Seth caught himself and awkwardly said, taking a step forward, his voice raising slightly.
The razor-shag cut claymore, who was looking at the various state of the monster corpses, eyes landed on him before giving him a nod then addressed Clare.
"…"
"The order was for all four of us to search the town once all of us are gathered—hm? What happened to your eyes?"
Her brows involuntarily rose as she questioned Clare upon noticing the change in her eyes.
Because unlike a claymore's, they weren't silver. And that can only mean she was on the yoki suppression pills.
"Did she really take the pills before engaging the yomas?"
"Is she crazy?"
The two others whispered to themselves, frowning as they stared at Clare waiting for her response.
"…What is the meaning of this?" The claymore's eyes narrowed.
She can't be that foolish, right? The claymore thought, analyzing the situation.
Which claymore would be foolish enough to take the drug and engage multiple yoma by themselves with civilians nearby.
She didn't even consider Seth being able to defend himself as that would because that would be impossible.
"You don't have to worry too much… I did not take the pills—I have no need for them anymore."
Clare said calmly.
"Then why are your eyes not silver?"
The claymore's face furrowed, not understanding what she meant.
Instead of answering, Clare turned to Seth, handing him the reins.
"I can explain everything to you, but not here… We'll need to do it somewhere privately."
They turned back to look at Seth, before examining him for a moment.
"And who might you be?"
"My name is Seth Donovan. I'm traveling with Clare, and this…" with his chin, he gestured to Raki in his arm, "this is Raki. Also traveling with us."
The other claymores frowned slightly as her eyes narrowed at his words.
"So you weren't a civilian?"
"Nope." He then added, turning. "Let's change location shall we. I'd like to speak with the three of you."
He indicated for them to follow him.
"Why should we listen to anything you have to say?"
Seth paused-mid step.
Then slowly turned back to them.
"No one said you have to, really," he replied casually, "But it might be something extremely beneficial to you. And I'd appreciate it if you did."
Silence hung in the air as the claymores began weighing their options.
Honestly… Seth's whole "let me help claymores" thing wasn't coming from any strong emotions or intense motivation.
No. It was far simpler than that.
Rather, it's mostly because he sees it as easy and since he had the ability to do so at practically no cost.
Frankly, it was a mix of casual altruism, a bit of "might as well help if I can," and a strong dose of why not?
If they accepted his kindness?
Cool. He gained brownie points from the girls.
If they didn't?
Also fine.
He wouldn't lose anything either way.
And that showed on his face.
There was no desperation in his tone. Just slight eagerness.(mostly due to them being beautiful. Cant have baddies dropping like flies.)
No need to convince them.
He said his piece—and that was it.
They could either take it or leave it.
The three claymores noticed and of course they did.
Warriors like them were trained to read intent and pick up on these minute details.
And what they saw was someone who almost genuinely didn't care whether they followed or not.
That alone made things strange which in turn piqued their interest.
The ponytailed claymore shifted slightly, glancing at the one in front.
"…Miria," she called.
So that was her name. Seth squinted as he looked at the woman, waiting for her answer.
"Are we actually going along with this?"
The short-haired one didn't say anything, but her eyes were already on Miria as well.
She herself was planning to follow them…
Miria stayed silent for a moment.
Her gaze moved from Seth to Clare's figure, lingering for a few moments on the way she stood.
"…You said this would benefit us, right?" Miria asked once more to confirm.
"Yeah."
"In what way?"
"See? Now you're interested."
"Answer the question."
"Fixing a problem you all have," he pointed at them.
That made all three of them go still.
But something definitely shifted.
"…What problem?" the short-haired one asked, frowning a bit.
Instead of answering right away, he tilted his head slightly towards Clare beside him.
"You've all got the same issue she had," he said. "Difference is… she doesn't have it anymore."
All three sets of eyes snapped to Clare.
Every claymore had a subtle tension they carried. Whether it's from constant danger due to hunting yoma, mental instability and the universal struggle for their humanity, they're always on edge.
Unlike theirs, Clare's presence felt too stable.
"Explain."
Different from before, this time there was no dismissal in Miria's tone.
Seth smirked faintly.
"Like I said before, not here. Unless you want this whole conversation to be heard. I don't know about you but, I would love for what I say not to be carried back to the organization."
His words triggered something in Miria. Her face became unusually serious, confusing everyone there as she decisively said, "Let's go."
"I hope this isn't a waste of time—"
"It won't."
She turned and left in the opposite direction of the village.
The two others followed her.
"…That went better than I expected it would." Seth commented.
"Mhm." Clare nodded.
"Well then, let's go shall we."
…
They moved quickly, leaving the village behind them, the group headed to the nearby forest.
As he walked, Seth was conversing with his system, scanning everything with a one mile radius for any signs of life.
Thankfully, the only thing found were animals.
"Right here is good."
They came to a halt as Seth set Raki's unconscious body down at the foot of a tree and leaned against said tree.
Miria turned to Seth, "Speak."
"Alright."
He rolled his shoulders slightly, like he was about to explain something casual and not something that would completely change their lives.
"You guys got a problem."
The short-haired one frowned immediately.
"We already know that. Get to the point."
"…"
He threw up his arms in defeat.
"The reason why Clare's eyes are not silver anymore, is because I healed her. Her yoma side is no longer a threat."
"Impossible."
Chapter 27 end.
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As you guys could probably tell by my writing, it's hard to be overly descriptive and it's mostly stiff with he said, she said with nothing afterwards. Most time the descriptive words ain't even coming to me until I see them in another novel. An that's why some chapters are taking long to drop cause I'm sitting here trying to force my brain to be a bit more creative.