Volume 2 Chapter 4 The Smooth Silver Wolf Girl
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
(Recently, Kian has been acting strange)
Serena had been feeling this way more and more lately.
Something was off; he seemed strangely restless.
Whenever she called out “Kian,” she could hear his heart racing unnecessarily, and even during their sword training, he was always fidgety.
Just yesterday, when she surprised him from behind, he jumped and yelled, “Whoa! ?”.
That reaction was totally abnormal for a regular person.
There was definitely something going on.
Her instincts were telling her that.
(Or could it be that I did something to Kian?)
Serena stood with her hands behind her back, gazing intently at the young Azraelian in front of her who was picking out a new sword.
Kian pretended not to notice her stare and focused on the various swords displayed on the shelves.
”────”
”…..”
Right now, the two of them were at a small weapons shop on Central Street, shopping for weapons.
Tomorrow was finally the day of the Rank 8 exam──an opportunity to be promoted to a lower-rank adventurer.
It was Serena who suggested Kian that it was time to buy a weapon since he was still fighting with just a club and a wooden sword, which led them to this shopping trip.
Serena couldn’t afford to buy anything at the weapon shop, but she had come along to get recommendations for good shops from Kian, who knew the East End town well.
The shop owner and the armor craftsman they had visited earlier joked, “Oh, is this a date?” but she honestly didn’t understand what they meant.
She was just following Kian around to explore the town.
It was weird that it looked like a date.
”…..”
”────”
The sunlight filtering in from outside reflected off the blade of a longsword, creating a pattern of brown and white on his skin.
It looked kind of funny, like a zebra.
Serena was staring at the side of his face from really close, her eyes narrowed.
On the other hand, Kian was definitely trying not to look in her direction.
(Yeah, Kian is definitely acting weird.)
Serena furrowed her brows in annoyance, then hopped over to his side and let her bare shoulder from her sleeveless shirt brush against his arm.
”Are you going with that broadsword? It has a wide blade, and it seems like they could carve a lot of magic language into it, right?”
”────Huh! ? Uh, yeah… I guess so.”
Ssssss──.
As Serena got closer, Kian moved to another display case a bit further away.
(He’s definitely avoiding me, right?)
Though he pretended to act casually, it seemed like he really didn’t like when Serena got too close to him.
This was something she had noticed before, but it had become more pronounced lately.
At first, she thought it was because she might smell like sweat, but she had been bathing at Aliona’s every day recently, and no one had ever told her she had a strong body odor, even when she was sweating.
She figured it probably wasn’t the smell, but if that wasn’t it, she had no idea what could be making him avoid her.
(Hmph…)
As the young man pretended to decide which one to choose, moving away from her, Serena puffed out her cheeks.
She didn’t understand.
It made her angry.
If he wanted to avoid her like that, he could just say directly what he didn’t like about her instead of sneaking away──she thought to herself.
Serena glared as Kian reached for a leather weapon holder at the back of the display case.
He picked it up and, after asking the shop owner for permission, started trying it on.
In the cramped store, he took off his black coat, holding it in one hand while he struggled to wrap the holder around his chest.
He seemed to be trying to unbuckle the strap with just one hand.
Serena knew he was somewhat skilled, but she couldn’t help but feel like she had to say something.
”Let me help.”
”S-Serena! ? Nuhhoo! ?”
(What kind of weird reaction was that!\)
Irritated, she took the holder from his hands and quickly wrapped it around his chest.
Once she was done, she gave his well-defined chest a light pat and stepped back.
”All done. Is it tight enough?”
”Uh, yeah.”
”If you’ve got the money, why don’t you buy that too?”
”Y-Yeah, I guess I will.”
”Thank you,” Kian smiled gently.
He pulled back his shy smile and began struggling to remove the holder by reaching his hand behind his back.
Serena sighed and said, “Wait. I’ll help you,” as she extended her hand from under his armpit to his back.
”Mm…!”
At that moment, the smell of his sweat brushed past her nose.
On top of that, his muscular arm grazed Serena’s forehead, and for some reason, she felt a fluttering sensation deep in her stomach.
(…Not again)
Hearing her heart pounding for some reason, Serena thought to herself.
Recently, whenever she caught a whiff of Kian’s scent, her heart would race.
She referred to this as ‘Sudden Kian Syndrome’.
Thump…
Serena felt an unknown desire rising from deep within her.
(This strange feeling is all because Kian is avoiding me.)
Quickly removing the holder, she pressed it against Kian’s arm, feeling frustrated again.
Something about it didn’t sit well with her.
But it didn’t mean she disliked him──far from it.
”Kian.”
”Yeah, what is it?”
”What do you think of this Falchion?”
”..Ah, it might be good.”
For some reason, Kian stretched out his arm to take the Falchion.
This irritated her as well, but at the same time, looking at his bony, long fingers made a thick, dark desire rise in her lower abdomen.
Serena found herself gazing intently at Kian’s strong shoulders like a predator eyeing its prey.
”Oh, it looks pretty good. Thanks, Serena.”
”Kian.”
”What now?”
”Let’s put all the items back on the shelves.”
”Huh?”
”Just do it.”
Serena raised an eyebrow and said this.
She knew she couldn’t let things go like this.
If they didn’t sort out these little issues, it could lead to rifts within the party during important moments like quests, putting their lives at stake.
With a huff, Serena snatched the equipment from Kian and returned it to the display, thanking the shopkeeper before pulling the timid young man out of the store.
”W-wait, Serena!”
Kian called out in a panic as he was pulled into the wide central street during the day.
Her heart was pounding so hard that she could feel the vibrations through their connected hands.
(Were these intense beats from confusion? Or was it anxiety? Anyway, Kian was definitely keeping something important from her.)
Serena pulled him into the dim back alley between the shops and, despite the height difference, pressed his back against the wall, slamming her hand down next to him.
”Whoa.”
”Kian, I need to talk to you about something important.”
Looking up at the young man, who was stiffening his shoulders against the wall, Serena put on a serious expression.
She held her light blue eyes directly on Kian.
”You’ve been avoiding me lately, haven’t you?”
She puffed up her cheeks.
She knew it was childish, but it was an old habit.
”No, that’s not it…”
”You’re lying. You’re definitely avoiding me.”
Rising onto her toes, Serena leaned in closer to Kian’s face, repeating her words.
”You’re definitely avoiding me.”
”S-Serena, you’re too close… You shouldn’t get this close to a guy.”
”I’m talking to you seriously like this because you’re an important friend to me. Look at me properly. Or is there some reason you can’t meet my gaze?”
”No, it’s not like that.”
”Then look this way and tell me why you’ve been avoiding me. The day before yesterday, you even lent me money, so you’re not considering cutting ties with me, right?”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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