Reina's Tears and the Shadow of an Abandoned Alliance
Irene?
It's really you… If you hadn't been here… Hic…
Reina finally broke down and let the tears fall, her hand never leaving Irene's embrace.
Wait, wait. Calm down, please.
Looking closer, Reina's appearance was a complete mess.
Her combat uniform was covered in mud in many places, and blood stained it as well, her hair disheveled.
The moment Irene saw her, it felt as if all the blood in her body was draining away.
But she quickly regained her composure.
Reina had never thanked her, had she?
Irene turned to Cynthia, who looked unsure of what to do, and asked for help.
Cynthia, could you close the door for me?
Feeling the need for a towel, she added, I'll bring one right away.
Cynthia had a sharp sense of timing.
Realizing Irene didn't want others to see this scene, she quickly closed the door and rushed off to the bathroom.
In the meantime, Irene tried to soothe the sobbing Reina.
Here, sit down. Stop crying. What happened? Did you somehow enter that high-grade dungeon?
No. Here's what happened…
Reina explained everything that had occurred.
***
…So we went straight to find Irene.
Reina used the towel Cynthia handed her to wipe away the last of her tears.
Reina recounted the events in detail.
Both of them had hesitated for a long time before deciding not to enter the high-grade dungeon after Irene's advice.
Instead, they joined a small-scale raid in a medium-grade dungeon and safely defeated it.
Felix hadn't shown an especially great performance, and the reward wasn't particularly generous, but they hadn't received much.
But since this was the beginning, they decided not to rush things and consoled each other before heading back to the fortress.
Just as they tried to enter the high-grade dungeon, a few people who had gone inside emerged in a pitiful state and shouted out.
Request support from the fortress! This isn't a normal high-grade dungeon! It's the Ice Prison Dungeon…!
As if to prove the words, the Ice Prison Dungeon began crawling out from outside the dungeon.
Immediately, the nearby knights rushed to confront the monsters.
Felix barely managed to block the attacks. After I told him about it, he was worried and said he had studied the Ice Prison's attack characteristics and practiced alone a lot.
Thanks to that, Felix not only protected Reina but also managed to kill several of them.
Meanwhile, support troops arrived from the fortress, and the incident was finally wrapped up.
Among them was luckily Michael, who helped sort out the high-grade dungeon quickly. And he brought out the people who died or were injured inside…
At that moment, as if remembering the incident, Reina's eyelids turned red again.
If Irene hadn't warned us, Felix and I would have died inside that dungeon.
…
Really, thank you so much. I don't know how to repay this kindness. If there's anything you want, tell me anything.
Kindness? I just gave some advice. It's amazing that you two followed my words without hesitation. Moreover, Felix went out of his way to learn about the Ice Prison.
But…
It's really fine. Besides, have another cup of tea. You still seem to be shivering.
As if agreeing, Cynthia quickly poured tea into Reina's cup.
Thank you. But who is this person? His name…
Ah, I'm Cynthia Myers. A 7th-rank purifier.
I'm Reina Ortega. A 2nd-rank purifier.
Cynthia seemed worried that Reina might dislike her upon hearing her rank.
But Reina didn't seem to care at all and smiled while taking her hand, immediately relaxing her tense shoulders.
You two were talking when I suddenly barged in and made a mess of the surroundings. Sorry about that.
No, I'm the one who should apologize. I was just taking a breather here after Irene helped me.
Helping? Did you have dungeon problems too?
Ah, no, it's not that…
Seeing Cynthia subtly signal, Irene shrugged as if it was fine to speak.
Cynthia, probably still harboring bad feelings toward Princess Cecilia, portrayed Irene's help as incredibly great and wonderful, along with the princess ignoring her.
It's not like I did anything that great. If it weren't for Irene, I would still be sitting there staring at the floor.
Yes! Irene doesn't even realize how great her help was!
Both of them speaking in unison made Irene feel embarrassed.
I only did it to make my heart feel lighter, yet they're thanking me so much.
More than that, I worry about how Irene couldn't attend the princess's gathering because of me. If you don't belong to the gathering at the fortress, there are many inconvenient things that happen.
Once again, Cynthia's voice sounded hollow as she spoke.
Reina, listening carefully, cautiously opened her mouth.
Umm, about that gathering. As Cynthia said, it's comfortable if you belong to the gathering. But actually… What if we created our own gathering?
Eh?
Irene's eyes widened at the unexpected proposal.
Actually, I was invited to the princess's gathering, but I couldn't enter in the end. There was some problem with one of the other 1st-rank purifiers besides the princess. So it seems she opposed me joining the gathering. That's why I wasn't concerned about the princess's gathering either.
Saying this, Reina looked at the blood on Irene's clothes.
But looking at the high-grade dungeon incident now, it wasn't something to ignore. That dungeon was one that those with conflicts involving the princess's gathering had entered, so none of the knights from the gathering came.
Thinking about it, when the high-grade dungeon was being purged, all the strong purifiers, including the princess, attended the gathering.
That meant the paired knights also didn't go into the dungeon and stayed at the fortress.
Only Michael could move alone.
Without a purifier, other knights wouldn't dare approach the dungeon at all.
Since it was a gathering of strong purifiers, the paired knights were also skilled individuals who stood out at the fortress.
Entering a high-grade dungeon without them.
No matter how many people you gathered, purging it wouldn't have been easy.
Moreover, even though we requested help, everyone made excuses and didn't move. If not for the few knights and Michael, the raid would have been wiped out for sure.
Cynthia agreed with Reina's words.
Probably the gathering deliberately didn't move. They must have planned to use this opportunity to clearly tell us that if they weren't here, they wouldn't even dream of going into high-grade dungeons.
Irene also empathized with their words.
In the past as well, the princess had done the same.
At first, when others went to purge dungeons outside the princess's gathering, she never helped.
Then, when big damage occurred, the remaining people eventually lowered their heads to join her gathering.
So perhaps that's why she became more obsessed with Michael.
Michael was the only knight who could ignore the princess's gathering, so she might have been trying to drag him in.
When Irene was lost in thought, Reina secretly glanced at her and cautiously opened her mouth.
Everyone needs a gathering, but I don't think we can all join the princess's gathering. So, the conclusion is that we have no choice but to create a new gathering?
Reina's words made Cynthia quickly chime in.
Yes. Reina is a 2nd-rank purifier, and Irene is Michael's pair and owns the Unlabeled Healing, after all.
As the two's eyes sparkled with excitement, Irene felt troubled.
Umm, I should say this in advance, but Michael doesn't really need my purification much.
But at the Night of the Contract, didn't you urgently ask me to become his pair?
That was a special situation at the time, and we barely see each other normally. Look, today he went to a high-grade dungeon, yet he's here.
But if we create a gathering, wouldn't you help at least once?
Felix, being so close to Reina, asked with a face that seemed to question how paired people could do that.
If it's a difficult situation, I'd always help, but I'm not sure if I'd grant a personal request.
Irene thought of Michael.
He was someone she could talk to a bit more comfortably and see more often than before.
But the fact that he still wandered alone in the dungeons hadn't changed.
Moreover, since she was planning to somehow break the pair with him, asking for help would be shameless, right?
At that moment, a voice came along with the sound of knocking on the door again.
Irene, your pair Michael wishes to see you.