“I can’t believe you caught up to me,” said Fremy. The two glared at each other, panting. She drew her gun and pointed it at Adlet. “I told you what you needed to know. Don’t follow me anymore.”
“What did you say?”
“If you keep following me, I’ll shoot.”
Simmering anger welled up from the pit of Adlet’s stomach. After saying all that crap about him, now she was going to shoot him? “Stop screwing with me! You’re being stupid. What are you thinking? You can’t defeat the Evil God all on your own!”
“You’re in the way. Move.”
“And there are fiends, too. All six of us have to work together, or we’re done. Are you too stupid to understand that?”
“I can fight alone. I can win alone. If you want proof, I can show you.”
“Oh yeah? Just what do you plan on showing Adlet, the strongest man in the world?”
Fremy’s fingertip touched the trigger. Adlet threw the iron box off his back and put his hand on the hilt of his sword. He couldn’t back down now. The two of them squared off for a while. Neither would initiate a fight now, not even Fremy. It was a test of wills until one stepped aside.
“At the very least, tell me why,” said Adlet. “Tell the Braves why you’re going it alone.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Fremy fell silent.
“Say something,” he insisted. She didn’t respond.
“Just so you know, I’m a stubborn guy,” Adlet continued. “I’ll follow you until I get an answer. And then once I do, I’ll follow you until you tell me to go away. The strongest man in the world is the least likely to know when to give up.”
“You’re a character. ‘Strongest man in the world’—yeah, right,” she said.
“Why are you going alone? Why won’t you meet up with the other Braves? You’re stuck here until you tell me.”
Fremy ground her teeth. Her finger trembled on the trigger. Then she lowered her eyes and whispered, “If I meet them, they will most certainly kill me.”
Adlet was stunned. What she was saying was unbelievable, but she was serious. “That’s ridiculous. We’re all Braves of the Six Flowers. Why would we kill an important ally?”
“They won’t consider me ‘an important ally.’”
“Why not?”
Fremy’s visible eye abruptly went cold—and it was nothing like her earlier glaring. She had the look of someone ready to fire. “If I tell you, you’ll try to kill me, too.”
Adlet weighed the situation. If he pressed her any harder, they’d end up trying to kill each other.
“You can hear why, and then we can try to end each other, or you can not hear why, and we can do the same. Pick one,” she said.
“…”
“Or you can say nothing and withdraw.”
Adlet returned his sword to its sheath and picked up his iron chest from the ground.
Fremy lowered her gun, looking relieved. “I will fight the Evil God by myself. You do as you please. If possible, I would like to avoid seeing you again.” Fremy stashed her gun beneath her cloak and turned her back to him.
Adlet agonized. Was it okay to let her go like this? He decided it wasn’t, based on nothing but instinct, and made a fierce leap at the renegade Brave. The moment she turned toward him, he threw a smoke bomb. Under cover of the smoke, he wrenched away her pack.
“What are you doing?!” she demanded.
“You told me to do as I please, so I did.”
“Give me back my things.” Fremy drew her gun once more.
Adlet clasped the pack he’d snatched from her against his chest. It most likely carried bullets and tools for gun maintenance. It looked like she also had travel rations and a map.
“Is this some kind of joke? Or are you an idiot?” she asked.
“I’m not an idiot, and I’m not fooling around. I’ve made up my mind. I’m gonna follow you.”
“What?”
“Now that that’s decided, let’s get going.” Adlet gave the frozen Fremy a backward glance and started walking.
“Who said you could decide anything? Give me back my pack.” Fremy’s expression shifted from confusion to anger. Her finger moved to the trigger of her gun.
“Whoa, there,” said Adlet. “If you attack me, I’ll run away—with all your stuff. Then you’ll be the one in trouble.”
“Do you want to get shot?”
“Or are you gonna steal it back and then run away? You should have figured out by now that you can’t outrun me, though.”
“What the hell are you thinking?” Fremy demanded.
Adlet pondered for a moment, and then spoke slowly, warning Fremy, “I don’t know everything that’s going on with you, but it looks like you’re in some kind of trouble. You’re heading off all by yourself to the Howling Vilelands, where the Evil God and its fiends are waiting, and you say that if you run into the other Braves, they’ll kill you. I think most people would define that as being in trouble.”
“So?”
“I’m not the kind of guy who can just abandon one of my own when they need me. The strongest man in the world is kind. So I’ve decided to help you out.”
“Are you kidding me? If this is some kind of joke, you can knock it off.”
“No complaints. Let’s get going.” Ignoring Fremy where she stood with her gun trained on him, Adlet began walking again.
“I can’t believe it. What? What the hell? What is up with you?” Fremy seemed at her wits’ end, but ultimately, she followed him. The two strolled through the forest in silence.
I’ve been acting on impulse here, just taking things as they come, thought Adlet. Is this really a good idea? He had abandoned Nashetania, and he would never know when Fremy might seriously try to kill him. He glanced back at her. The expression on her face was more than confused—she looked scared. Well, whatever. It’ll work out somehow. “Hey, Fremy.” He turned to her as she trudged behind him. “I don’t know your situation, but right now, I’m serious about protecting you. You’re one
