A few minutes after Seth finished his whole makeover, the group finally settled down around the fire as Raki finished cooking.
By now, darkness had completely taken over the forest.
The only light came from the small fire between them, its orange glow illuminating their figures.
Raki quickly handed out the bowls and they began eating.
Seth took his and immediately brought it to his mouth and took a sip.
"Oh." His lips curled up.
Raki looked nervous.
"Is… is it not good?"
Seth lowered the bowl and looked at him.
"It's not that it's not good, I'm just used to eating what you would call luxury, you see. So this is the first time I'm eating something like this..."
"And I must admit… It's quite good. I don't think I could've done any better with just meat and vegetables?"
Raki's ears immediately turned red.
"I-it's nothing special…"
He awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
Clare quietly ate her portion without commenting, but the fact that she finished it without pause was answer enough.
Soon enough, the three of them finished eating.
Seth leaned back slightly
"Ahh…"
Raki yawned as he rubbed his eyes.
Clare placed her empty bowl down.
Then she suddenly stood up and walked away from their little camp, disappearing into the darkness.
Seth merely glanced at her. And then in the direction she headed.
He felt the presence of someone already there, waiting.
"Must be Rubel?" he muttered.
With Clare gone, it left just him and Raki by the fire.
The flames crackled quietly.
Seth looked over at the kid.
"So."
Raki looked up.
"You found Clare."
Raki nodded.
"…Yeah. I did."
Seth rested his chin on his hand.
"So what do you plan on doing now?"
Raki blinked in confusion at Seth's question.
"What do you mean?"
Seth shrugged lightly.
"I mean exactly what I said."
He pointed in the direction Clare had left.
"You said you wanted to see her and I brought you to her. Now that you've seen her, what do you plan to do now?"
Raki was still confused.
Seth sighed.
"Look kid… I'm just saying."
"Clare's job doesn't exactly make her great company for normal people."
He poked the fire with a stick. His expression was serious as if he was about to give life lessons.
Without looking at him, Seth then said:
"Although I don't know what your goal was, I think you should stop here and head back to a village somewhere. That way you can find a nice wife, marry—have kids and live peacefully. That's if a yoma doesn't wander by."
He muttered the end under his breath.
Although the advice he gave was sound.
Simple life.
Normal life.
The kind of life most people in this world were trying to keep.
But Raki shook his head almost immediately.
"No."
"No?"
Seth raised an eyebrow.
"I still want to travel with her."
Seth stared at him for a moment.
Then asked bluntly,
"…Do you like her?"
Raki instantly froze.
His face turned bright red.
"I—I—what—n-no—I mean—yes—I mean—"
He started stuttering like his brain had short-circuited.
"So you do."
Raki looked like he wanted to disappear into the ground.
Luckily, it was only him and Seth here to see his embarrassed state.
"…What do you like about her?" Seth then asks.
His tone was casual, but his eyes were focused squarely on raki now.
Because honestly?
Seth didn't think Clare was the type to attract romantic interest.
While people in this world depended on claymores to save them, the general consensus among regular folks is one of disgust and loathing.
Most people would rather avoid them than to ever sit and hold a conversation.
The only obvious thing Clare had going for her… was her looks.
Cold exterior or not, she was still a beautiful woman.
Seth had no problem admitting when someone was attractive.
And even then, the way this kid was acting about her?
Chasing after her only after meeting for a day ago…
That's some premium stalker behavior right there.
Depending on the kids answer…
Seth would decide what to do with him.
Raki stayed quiet for a moment.
Then he looked down at the ground.
"…She… had saved my life."
Raki continued.
"There was a yoma… pretending to be my brother."
His voice got quieter.
"It killed my whole family."
Raki clenched his fists as his voice trembled.
"It was about to kill me too, after it had killed my last remaining relative. But Clare was there to killed it before it could."
He stared at the fire.
"But even after that…"
"My village kicked me out."
"They thought… I might be a yoma too."
…Ah.
Now that made more sense.
In Seth's head, he summarized it immediately.
Yeah… this is basically a rescue-crush situation.
Kid got saved during the worst moment of his life. Of course he'd latch onto the person who helped him.
Seth nodded slowly.
"Yeah… that would do it."
Honestly, he was kinda satisfied with that answer.
Because if Raki had said some bullshit along the line of "she's beautiful" or "I like her face"…
They would just leave the kid back in the village while he was asleep the moment morning came.
No hesitation needed.
Because if the kid was only chasing Clare because of her looks?
He was in for a very rude awakening.
Seth had seen that scar.
Even Seth—who had been experiencing far worse things in his life—had paused for a second when he first saw it.
Hell, for a moment even his third leg lost all feeling.
Now imagine this kid seeing it.
Yeah.
The poor guy might actually rip his own eyes out.
So yeah, if Raki had said he liked her because she was pretty…
Seth would've left him at the entrance of the village and called it a day.
But the answer he gave?
That changed things a little.
Not by a whole lot.
Seth glanced at Raki, who was quietly staring into the fire.
Still though…
It only changed where he was going to ditch the kid.
Not if.
Because Seth had never planned on keeping him around for long in the first place.
Clare might tolerate the kid.
But Seth?
He wasn't running a charity.
Raki was just a normal human. No training from the looks of it and zero survival skills outside cooking.
Dragging him along would just slow them down.
Or worse…
Get him killed.
Seth only had strength going for him as well and had nearly no training.
Fighting while looking over his shoulders is not an option yet.
Seth rested his chin in his palm as he stared into the fire.
Yeah.
I'll drop him somewhere safer later.
The kid deserved a shot at living a normal life.
Even if he didn't realize it yet.
A few minutes passed before Seth heard footsteps coming from the trees.
Clare stepped out from between the trees.
Her face was more serious than it usually is, meaning something had happened.
Seth glanced at her.
"So? What'd the old man say?"
Clare answered simply.
"We leave at dawn."
Seth blinked.
"That's it?"
Clare didn't say anything else.
She just sat down on her log again, closed her eyes, and went completely quiet.
Conversation over.
Seth stared at her for a second.
"…Alright then."
He shrugged.
Then he turned to Raki.
"Kid, you should probably get some sl—"
He stopped.
The spot next to him was empty.
Seth frowned and looked around.
Then he saw him.
Raki was already lying on the ground near the fire, curled up and completely knocked out.
The tiredness must've caught up to him, Seth blinked.
Then he chuckled quietly.
"Kid didn't even last five minutes."
He leaned back and looked up at the night sky.
The stars were scattered across the darkness above the trees.
"Guess I'll be spending the night in silence then."
The fire popped softly.
Clare sat quietly with her eyes closed.
Raki was out cold.
And the forest slowly settled into silence as the night dragged on.
***
Morning came quietly.
Seth had been awake for a while.
Not fully awake—more like half-asleep with his eyes closed, listening to the forest the way people sometimes did when they didn't feel like getting up yet.
Clink.
Rustle.
Metal shifting against metal.
Seth slowly opened one eye.
Clare was standing a few steps away, putting her armor back on.
The heavy plates were already strapped over her torso. She was adjusting one of the arm guards now, tightening the leather strap with practiced ease.
Her massive sword leaned against a nearby tree, waiting.
Seth pushed himself up from the log he'd slept on.
"Morning already?"
Clare didn't respond. She simply picked up the last piece of armor and secured it around her waist.
Seth stretched his arms over his head, joints popping.
Raki was still asleep on the ground, covered by a blanket Seth had tossed over him sometime during the night.(you know what it's made from)
"Kid's still dead to the world."
He rolled his shoulders before looking back at Clare.
"So. Where's the next mission?"
Clare finally looked at him.
"It isn't a mission."
"Oh?"
Clare reached into a small pouch attached to her belt.
Then she held something up between two fingers.
A small black card with a symbol.
Clare spoke plainly.
"It's a request from a companion."
Seth raised an eyebrow.
"…And?"
Clare's silver eyes met his.
"To take down a Claymore."
For a moment, the quiet morning seemed to grow a little heavier.
"…Well."
He glanced over at the giant sword leaning against the tree.
"Guess someone's having a really bad day."
Chapter 12 end.
————————————
Am I the only one who didn't like raki and Clare's relationship in the anime/manga? Oh yeah… I might not bother having clare as a romantic interest. Don't know what to do for next chapter really. Do I info-dumb or just do what I want? I think you guys might need 5 chapters of info-dump.