AUTHOR NOTE: - I DO NOT OWN DRAGON NEST

- FEEL FREE TO REVIEW etc.

A week had passed uneventfully thus, Satoru felt urged to meet the elf once more hopefully without the company of Takeshi. In the past few days he had seen the same scene over and over, Takeshi tending to the elf in the infirmary. Not knowing what they had talked about since the day before, when he accused Takeshi as he did the same. Yet he felt he had the right to say those things after all she did say he was part of her telejia. He had overheard that the elf would be allowed to leave that very morning and to his surprise, the elf had wandered alone before Takeshi came.

He followed her in silence. Upon his gaze he saw she had wandered into a clearing in the forest, sitting on a tree stump gaze transfixed. Takeshi had not come thus Satoru took his chance. He appeared from behind the foliage and greeted her "hello, what brings you here today?" The elf responded "hi" not yet looking at his direction. After that she did not say a word, Satoru catching on fast did not say anything else as well instead he drew closer towards her. He bent down and placed his head beside hers to take a look at what had been her focus. She was not fazed by his presence even though his body was right behind her and his face was right next to her. Satoru simply smiled and soon found what had distracted her, a small bug on a tree branch perched unmoving. Satoru straightened his posture, walked up to the tree and perched the bug on his finger. The archer's gaze followed it not saying anything until he brought it close to her face. She cringed "what are you doing" Satoru let out a small laugh "does it bother you?" The archer re adjusted her position as the cleric stepped back "I never found comfort when encountering one, yet I could never bring myself to kill it" the cleric looked confused "then why do you kill monsters when you will not kill a creature as small as a bug?" the cleric said while taking a seat behind the archer. They both sat on the same tree stump back to back.

The archer responded easily to the clerics question "I draw my bow if it brings peace to this world, that creature is innocent". They both sat in silence until the arched finally decided to ask "why do you fight in this world, a better question yet would be why did you follow me the other day or do you just happen to know where I go and when" they both smiled. The archer smiled because she knew she had asked an interesting question and the cleric because he had an interesting answer "well I fight to protect others for that is what the goddess commands me much like your telejia. The reason I followed you is because I am in debt to you". The archer smiled again "you mean you were in debt to me. Now it's much the opposite" the archer looked gloomy once more, the same as she did on her birthday. The cleric decided to say something, hoping to change her mood "but you had saved me the day before that, does that not mean we are even". The archer's expression did not change "the mayor could have saved you, Takeshi could have saved you, my master archer could have or maybe it was the will of the goddess as you say"

They were both silent until the archer spoke once more "why do you call it the will of the goddess? Do you mean destiny?" the cleric looked confused not because of her question but the fact that she mentioned Takeshi. She never introduced him. He dismissed it and responded "the goddess decides our destiny thus what happens is her will".

They were both silent once more until Satoru asked a quite personal question "who is that warrior that is always with you?" they were both silent. The archer was hesitant to answer but she did because it was no secret and after all Satoru was not a stranger to her.

"He was assigned to me"

"Assigned?"

"Yes, the elves had agreed with the humans on the partnership, to help me complete my telejia. I had to travel through human settlements for five years now, those years I spent with him. He was assigned to me to teach my about the ways of most humans and help me gather information among the human colony. In return, the elves would tend to his family thus by doing so he supported his family by helping me. But I have come to realize that 5 years had been 4 too long. He is bound to me for as long as I have not completed my telejia or so long as I am still alive and at the start of all this, I thought I could finish this fast and send him on his way. Here I am 5 years later," the archer began to get teary yet the cleric could not see it "yet I am still on the same quest and I seem to always burden him, depend on him, rely on him" after that she could not speak. The elf said nothing more, instead she began to sob.

Satoru turned around and readjusted his seating position. He sat right next to her and started wiping her tears away with his fingers. She immediately stopped crying, she did not want to trouble him. The cleric let the archer regain her composure before continuing "maybe he enjoys travelling with you" the archer continued in a faint voice "he does it to support his family. He does greet me with a smile but it could all be a mask. Even after five years I still, wonder". The cleric smiled despite what she said "if you have watched you two together for the past week or so, you would know it's not fake or professional" the archer started to giggle. She considered what he said though most people would disregard what a person who had known you for a week said about your friend that he barely knew. They started to feel like they had known each other for years until Takeshi came along.

"Asako, if you were anywhere I knew you would be here" the warrior called out to her. "Asako huh" Satoru said under his breath. "What are you doing here with Satoru?" the warrior queried. The archer immediately stood up and approached the warrior. She held his hand and urged him to return to town. Without looking back she said "goodbye" not knowing if Satoru heard it or not.

Both Asako and Takeshi returned to town. She could feel the tension. She knew what happened yesterday. She knew who was right. She knew which part of it was a lie.

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