After a few seconds, Miria turned to face Seth. A peaceful smile adorning her heart shaped face as she uttered the words.
"…Thank you," she said, pulling her torn clothes over chest as she stood up. "And I apologize."
Seth's eyes followed her, confused.
"For what?"
"I doubted you before, and questioned your intentions… For that, I must apologize."
She bowed slightly.
"Don't sweat it…"
Seth merely shrugged, looking at her, smiling slightly as he continued.
"If I was in your position, I'd probably not believe me too. Some random guy showed up saying he could heal me… yea, no way I'd buy into it."
He looked to Clare who was off to the side with her arms crossed, leaning on the tree where Raki was.
"…Clare only believed I could because we were together for a while and she knew a few of my capabilities."
The two made eye contact. He smirked as he said that, making her glance away quickly, screwing her face.
He shook his head wryly.
"You two are very close, huh… if I may ask, your ab—"
Miria faintly smiled, commenting after witnessing the interaction between the two.
Just as she was about to ask Seth about his ability and walk her though the process of what he did as well as ask about the changes to her body, she was cut off.
"Hey! Are you forgetting about us?! If you're finished with Miria, how about doing us next!"
"H-hey, slow down!"
Queenie chipped in, grabbing onto Seth's shoulder and shaking him, finally reaching her breaking point after watching them go off in their own little world.
"I have to agree with Queenie here. It seemed as if we were gonna be distant memories at the rate you were going."
Crystal commented, placing a hand lightly on her cheek.
She and Queenie had been "patiently" waiting on the side for Seth and Miria to finish up and continue.
But it seemed as if, if she had waited for them, they would've continued chatting and completely forgotten about the two of them.
It's no different from dangling food in front of a chained, hungry man.
"Words, young missus."
Seth pointed out. Her words were enough to cause misunderstandings.
But then again, this was a claymore.
"Who cares? Let's get this over with."
They were too inexperienced to even see the connotations.
Queenie rolled her eyes and came forward as Miria grabbed her armor and moved over to Clare's position.
"A drop of blood and remove the armor."
"Yeah, yeah whatever."
She quickly removed her armor and laid down on her back, her face full of excitement.
Seth sighed lightly as he began the operation.
…
"How long have you known him?"
Off to the side, standing next to Clare as they both watched Seth begin, Miria asked, glancing subtly over at Clare who was laser focused on Seth.
She had taken a sudden interest in Seth and wanted to know more about him and who better to ask than the only person who could give her that knowledge…
The lowest ranked member of the organization, number 47, Clare.
Before today, the two never had any sort of interaction as they came from two different generations of claymores.
Even so, Clare's infamy as the weakest among her generation was far and wide within their ranks.
But Miria didn't think that was the case anymore.
As a far more experienced fighter, naturally she is capable of quickly adapting to different circumstances.
She was keenly aware of the drastic increase in strength coursing through her body now that Seth had healed her.
About a sixty to seventy percent increase, she surmised internally…
Even though her senses didn't become stronger, they had gained a sharpening that made her able to feel the might radiating off Clare's figure.
Far greater than claymore's she encountered before.
Without looking away from Seth, Clare answered simply:
"We met a while ago… in Strah."
Keeping it simple.
Miria hummed. "Then… Do you know where he is from?"
Clare shook her head.
"Then does he have any connections?"
She shook her head with an "I don't know" expression.
"Then…"
Miria continued, asking a couple more questions to which she only received "No's" and "I don't know's." (The fuck is the plural of No?)
"What's his likes and dislikes?"
"I don't know. I only know he speaks weird sometimes."
"…"
Miria was at her wits end as she couldn't help but look deadpan at the woman standing beside her.
She doesn't know anything at all! She exclaimed internally before sighing and stopped talking.
On Clare's end, even though her face remained calm, she was experiencing an inner turmoil.
From Miria's repeated questioning, she finally realized she knew nothing about Seth while he knew… basically everything about her.
…What is this feeling? These complicated feelings…
Her fist clenched tightly, hovering over her chest.
She made up her mind to ask him about himself once they are finished.
…
Miria sighed as she turned back to observe Seth.
He was practically already finished with Crystal and Queenie, with them checking themselves out.
In any case… the idea of Seth being part of the organization never crossed Miria's mind.
Ever since an unfortunate incident had been snooping around the organization, plotting her revenge and from what she knew about it.
And the idea of the organization releasing someone like Seth who could heal claymores was something the Organization would never allow to roam free.
Miria's eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Seth.
Someone like him—someone who could stabilize them, remove their biggest weakness, and essentially remove any risk of awakening.
That kind of existence was undoubtedly dangerous.
And not to the yomas or claymores—No! to the Organization.
There was no way they would willingly let a person like that walk around unchecked.
If anything, they'd lock him away, dissect him, or use him in ways far worse.
Unless.
Miria's gaze sharpened.
Unless this was intentional.
A ploy. A very elaborate scheme with a controlled variable released into the wild to observe results.
It wasn't a complete ass pull of a deduction.
The Organization had likely done much worse. After all, they cut open little girls to plant predators' flesh inside them and groomed them.(they ain't got nothing on Epstein though.)
But even as that thought crossed her mind…
She looked at Clare.
Sensing the change in her.
Then at herself.
At the way her body felt now—light, completely stable and whole.
"…Even if it's a trap," she thought.
It was too tempting.
Far too appealing.
Because if this was real, then that changes everything.
"…I'll take that risk," she decided quietly.
Even if there was a hidden cost further down the line.(your body, mind and soul)
Even if the Organization got involved…
An opportunity like this wasn't something she could pass up.
Her eyes shifted back to Seth.
Watching him casually finish up like what he just did wasn't something that could shake the entire foundation of their existence.
"…Who, and what are you?" she wondered.
He couldn't simply have come from nowhere. And with the ability to bring them salvation…
It's like he was tailor-made for them.
…
"That's it for you guys."
Clapping his hands to get rid of the nonexistent dust, Seth stood up after absorbing the blanket.
"Thank you for your handwork." Miria sauntered over, the corners of her lips upturned into a grateful smile.
Waving her off, before looking past her at Clare whose face was hardened.
"Woah! What happened to you?" He asked confusedly.
"I realized that I don't know anything about you."
"You know my name…"
"I mean anything else other than that."
She snorted.
Seth scratched his head. "Well other than my name, knowing my past is basically useless, since this is a new me."
"Well, I don't know why, but I want to know." She declared.
"…"
"Well," he rubbed his chin for a few seconds as the girls waited. "For one. I'm not human."
"That was kinda obvious, genius."
Queenie quipped not a second later.
"…"
You certainly got a mouth on ya, huh…
They all gave him deadpanned stares.
He coughed to hide his embarrassment.
"What specifically do you want to know?"
"Something personal."
"You mean my likes and dislikes?"
"Especially those."
Seth thought for a moment.
"I guess… I like pretty things?"
"That sounds like you're not even sure."
Crystal raised an eyebrow.
"Ah—no. I definitely like pretty things!"
"So does that mean you dislike ugly things?"
"Pure assumptions, Clare."
"Do you like ugly things then?"
"Not necessarily."
"Doesn't that mean you hate ugly things then?"
"Aaaaahhh…."
His voice faded as the four girls, who now had a singular connection that tied them together.
***
After a few minutes all of them quickly settled down.
The earlier tension between them was all gone, replaced with something far lighter now that they share the same cohort.
Miria took a small step forward, her expression returning to that calm, thoughtful look.
"…Seth," she called.
"Hm?" he glanced at her.
"If what you did for us can be done for others—"
"We already decided that before meeting you guys," he cut in casually. "Helping claymores was already on the list."
"…Then that makes things simple."
She stepped forward slightly.
"I'd like to offer my assistance."
Queenie chipped in.
"I will as well. I owe you my life."
She crossed her arms, looking straight at him.
"You can ask us for anything and we'll do it."
Miria didn't interrupt this time.
But—
Her expression shifted just a bit.
"…There's a problem."
Seth nodded.
"Yea…"
"We're not gonna always be together," she said. "We're usually assigned to different areas."
Crystal nodded.
"…Even for this mission, we were only assigned temporarily."
Queenie clicked her tongue.
"Yeah. We're not exactly a team that sticks together."
Miria looked straight at Seth.
"So how do we keep in contact?"
Silence.
Seth paused.
Then scratched the back of his head.
"Yeah, that's a good point."
Another damn problem.
He thought about it for a second.
"…If we split up," he muttered, "we'd have no way to know where the others are… no way to regroup quickly in case of emergency either."
He frowned slightly.
"…And I can't exactly be everywhere at once."
The girls waited.
"…Hmm."
He looked down at his hand.
Then back at them.
"…Alright," he said slowly. "Give me a second."
He delved within his web of intrigue as he searched for any and all information on his blacklight virus telepathic abilities.
It took a few seconds to find and go through them but Seth got what he needed.
"Yeah… that might work."
The girls leaned in.
"You got something?" Queenie asked.
"Yeah," Seth nodded. "But it's one-way. I can send messages—you can't reply."
"That's fine," Miria said.
"More than enough," Crystal added.
Seth shrugged. "Alright then. I'll leave a small piece of myself in you—it'll act like a receiver."
"It's harmless," Seth followed up. "Just for communication."
"Do it."
Miria nodded without giving it much thought.
"Same," Queenie said.
Crystal followed. "I'm fine with it."
Seth grinned. "You guys really don't hesitate."
Queenie rolled her eyes. "Just get on with it."
"…Yeah, yeah."
They had complete trust in Seth.
Seth stepped forward, his finger shifting slightly.
"Hold still for a moment."
Then he moved to connect them.
Chapter 28 end.
————————————————
Gonna start another fanfic called "Passives" for now. Mc has a system that gives him passive abilities from all types of games. From MLBB to Megami Tensei.