Chapter 53: ... a sudden farewell commences

There was silence.

Clara looked at Tobias with the most confused, most shocked, most lost expression she had ever worn, as she studied his face, his body, his eyes for any signs of him lying or joking.

But what only greeted her was his absolute seriousness.

“Why?”

The words she said were simple – easy to ask. And yet, she knew that depending on how he trusted her, his answer could be just as simple and light, or it could be heaviest thing she’d come to hear in her life.

Because what if his reason for wanting to leave... was because of her?

The silence which followed after her question left her frozen – terribly still, and yet, her lips and arms trembled as she waited with bated breath for his answer.

“I need to get even stronger.” He finally said, and his words shattered the doubt which formed around her heart like a vine of thorns.

... Even after knowing him for a long while now, Tobias was still really unpredictable, wasn’t he?

“That Dungeon we did earlier... There was a point where you guys could all could handle it without my help. I know that I said this before, but you guys are all strong. I’m probably just a shadow hiding behind you guys, and I didn’t realize it until now.”

But his words only made her body freeze, while her mind tried to process his words. What exactly did he mean by that? They – she was strong? He was only a shadow hiding behind them...?

What he was saying right now... Wasn’t that the exact opposite of what he was doing? It was they who hid behind the pillar of strength he created, after all.

“What... do you mean?”

But she didn’t understand, and she didn’t want to carelessly say anything – not when she didn’t understand the context behind him. But she didn’t want to stay like that, so she asked; and hoped that he wouldn’t take it offensively.

“... I’m not sure how I should say it.” He finally admitted, lowering his head, and turning away from her. “And if you really want me to say something... then I simply don’t feel like I should be here with you guys.”

“That’s... I see...”

“Listen. Clara.” When he said those words, his gaze snapped back at her – and she found herself looking at his pure-earth colored eyes, which almost seemed to burn with an intensity she didn’t know he possessed. She felt those eyes peer into her very soul, and she found herself looking back at him with paused, anxious breath. “If you’re thinking about what you should say to me... then don’t. I’m not exactly looking for pity, and I don’t really want you to tell me about how I’m wrong, and how I should stay.”

She smiled at him, then gently shook her head.

While his words were sharp, and they might have hurt her a bit, she only understood why that was the case.

“No... It’s not my place to say anything about it.” She replied, then carefully scooted closer to him. He only looked at her with a completely blank expression, but didn’t flinch or slide away.

That exact face was the one he made whenever he was truly confused about something – when he wanted to reflect deeply about it.

“I am your Keeper. And it is only my duty to be by your side.”

By now, those words weren’t just because she was entrusted with such a duty by the Abyss. She wasn’t just hesitantly keeping to those words because of some Deity or Entity who was much more significant than her.

She liked Tobias.

Every aspect of him – whether it was because of the strangest things he said, or the way how his occasional concern for her made her feel protected and warm.

Even if it had been born from mere curiosity at first... Even if it had been born from a sense of obligation... This man in front of her had proved himself to be someone truly exceptional, even with all of his strangeness.

She truly had come to like Tobias.

Which is why she had told him that she admired him... And had steeled her heart at the almost inevitable denial from the man who only kept his gaze forwards – ahead of his own path.

And yet... He did not deny her. He only told her to wait for him to complete his path, and to wait for him. And he promised that once his quest is settled... Then he would return back to her.

“... There’s no stopping you now, is there?”

She giggled at his response. “Nope. I hang out a lot with you, so I might have caught your stubbornness.”

“If you’re really planning on going with me, then fine...” He sighed, while he turned away and lightly scratched his head with a grumble. “I’m going to return the Artifact we found to them, along with a note of leave... Maybe I should just talk with Jacques in person... but that guy might just end up persuading me to stay instead...”

She let out a faint smile at his muttered words that she heard. If he was carelessly verbalizing his thoughts like this, then that only meant that he really trusted her, then. “You have a weird way of getting along with Jacques, don’t you?”

She was referencing the fact where they engaged in a duel. While she didn’t know how exactly it boiled down into, she understood that Tobias had won, and Jacques had lost. And the cause of it all... was apparently a thrown linen glove, that Tobias had borrowed from that orange-haired friend of his.

“... I guess so.” He agreed, then shrugged. And after that, he stood up from his seat, and hopped away from the wooden table as it lightly creaked. He eyed the moon, as it shifted from the length of their conversation. “It’s getting late.”

She slowly looked up, and agreed silently. The moon used to be on the sky’s zenith, but now, it was somewhere around half the distant horizon. It only meant that they talked for too long, really.

But even if they only exchanged a few sentences and a few words, most of it was consumed by their hesitance and them thinking about their next words to say.

“Mhm. Let’s go, then?”

And with that, he nodded at her words, and wordlessly walked away.

For the shortest while, he seemed like he was running away from something. But even if he was... even if it was selfish... she thought that was alright;

As long as he took her with him. And wherever he went, she would be by his side.

***

Jacques looked up from the desk in their room, as he moved the tip of the ink-stained quill towards the inkwell platter. With careful hands which weren’t stained with ink, he placed the paper he was writing on to a vacant space on the desk, so that it may dry.

And finally, he looked towards Tobias, his mismatched colored eyes idly taking in the sight. For the first time, the man seemed to bear a nervous air, even if it was well suppressed by his indifferent face.

“Can’t say I saw this one coming.” Jacques lazily said, and he stood up from the chair he was sitting on for the past two hours. He straightened his black trousers, before setting his gaze towards Tobias’ eyes. “Alright, pray tell. What made you think of that?”

“... So basically... You guys are too strong.” The Leader blinked at his party member’s words. This wasn’t what he expected. “I’m not getting any stronger when you’re strong enough to handle things on your own.”

Huh.

Jacques understood that Tobias was sharp and perceptive sometimes... But did he figure out that the existence of both of their [Systems] caused each one of them to only receive half of the [Experience] they would have attained?

No... That wasn’t it. Judging from his eyes, he only remembered what happened last time, and probably felt like he didn’t really do anything. After all, Jacques remembered that he had singlehandedly monopolized that Dungeon Boss’ attention for more than a few minutes, after all.

But really... This guy really was strange. What kind of guy stops an entire army of skeletons with nothing but a mundane longsword and a dagger, and thought to himself that he didn’t contribute anything?

Tobias. That’s who.

Jacques shook his head to clear away those thoughts. “What’s going to be your plan once you leave, then?”

“I’m gonna go off to the Bad Lands.”

The Bad Lands, huh.

Those were the places that were infested and crawling with Monsters who escaped their Dungeons after nobody had come to clear them. This is the reason why Adventurers existed to begin with.

With royalty and nobility’s need to keep their finest Knights and Soldiers to themselves for whatever selfish reason they came up with, it was up to the stronger and more skilled than normal citizens to take up the mantle of Adventurer and defend their homes.

Because really... Adventurer was only a fancy term for an ‘Exterminator’. One who exterminates needlessly dangerous monsters and beasts who prowled on formerly human lands, in addition to clearing out potential breeding nests before said monsters came out...

Did that not perfectly define the definition of an Exterminator?

Now... Back to Tobias’ plan of going out there; towards the Bad Lands without any sort of quest whatsoever... Actually, never mind.

On second thought, Jacques idly remembered Tobias’ own personal quest to get stronger. And what better way than to tackle on lands brimming with beasts and monsters?

And while Jacques might find any other man insane for suggesting that – somehow, he knew that Tobias would only survive, at the very least.

This was, after all, the guy who could take on hordes of monsters, and make it look easy, if nothing else.

“Alright.” Jacques shrugged, and for the shortest while, Tobias blinked at his answer. He probably expected their Leader to not let him leave.

But there were two reasons why Jacques allowed this to happen.

First, Tobias is also a [System] User. As he already mentioned earlier, they’re only sharing half of the [Experience], which only leads to sub-effective leveling.

After all, a few minor calculations, and Jacques knew that Tobias should have been around Level 50 or so by now.

But he was still stuck at Level 39, despite the fact that they’ve just cleared a Tier 4 Magical Dungeon... Actually on second thought, his [System] really did function oddly; he had never seen the guy’s level increase by one steadily, and his Level seemed to only suddenly skyrocket the next time he used [Analysis] on the guy instead.

But either way, Jacques himself was still receiving half of the [Experience] that he should have gotten, so there was that.

The second reason... Well, there was simply no stopping the guy. If he forbid him now, Tobias would probably just challenge Jacques to a duel again to earn his right to leave.

And while he was fairly confident at his chances of winning right now (he had mastered his [Precognition] by now)... He knew that it was simply pointless. There were too many (subtle) advantages and benefits to agreeing with the guy’s demands.

“Huh?” Tobias slowly blinked again.

“You’re free to go, Tobias.” He repeated, then shrugged. His right eye the color of the sky idly met with eyes cast from pure earth. “That being said... You’re not entirely leaving alone, are you?”

“... Yeah.”

Jacques sighed. Those two really were inseparable at this point.

“... Do you have anything of value to trade for her? She is, after all, our party member as well.”

“Yeah.” Tobias nodded, and then presented to him the familiar two-handed [Artifact] Sword, which was capable of creating moonlit forged blades. And he silently offered the handle towards Jacques. “This should be fine, right?”

“Hmm.” Jacques eyed the handle, before humming to himself.

This guy really did offer the [Artifact] he was given. In terms of noble etiquette, it was probably an offensive and insulting move, but right now, Jacques only thought that it really was a symbol of Tobias’ seriousness.

Because really... That guy would have been better off with it. He definitely needed every single advantage that he could get if he wanted to survive out there.

But payment was payment. And in exchange for his selfish desire to not only leave, but to also involve Clara, then this [Epic-tier Artifact] would do.

And besides, even if he didn’t offer that, Jacques would still ask for it. This offer only made things much simpler.

So he took the offered blade, and nodded.

“This would do.”

And with only a subtle nod of confirmation that their business was done, Tobias turned around, and began to walk off. For the briefest moment, he stopped in his tracks, before slightly glancing behind himself to look at Jacques in the eye – with only his right eye, so they could see each other at the same level.

“Good luck.”

Jacques chuckled, and nodded. “I should be the one telling you that.”

“... Yeah.”

Without any further words, Tobias turned back to look at the path he was taking, and walked off. Jacques only stared at him as he opened the door, before shutting the door carefully with a soft click.

His gaze idly fell back towards the hooks hung on the wall. His two coats were nowhere to be found, as well as the dark-blue hand-knitted scarf. His leather belt with the pouches also disappeared, and to seal the deal, the sheathed longsword and dagger nowhere to be found.

He wordlessly stood up, and walked towards Clara’s own storage box. What he was doing was most definitely distasteful, and he understood that. But he only wanted to sate his curiosity and find out if Tobias and Clara teamed up together to form some sort of joke on him.

But really; there was nothing in the box anymore. No more differently colored dresses, no more fabric of any sorts...

So even if he denied him earlier on, they were already in the middle of leaving, huh?

Jacques sighed. Well, it really was back to him and Bastille to Adventure and clear Dungeons, then. It always was like that before they picked up Clara, and a short while later on, Tobias.

Speaking of the Sorcerer, the adopted Noble wondered if Tobias already said farewell to the Sorcerer. Well... maybe he was off to do just that.

But if Bastille came and asked where the both of them went... Jacques would personally find Tobias, and most definitely smack him in the head for being rude towards his supposed closest friend.

Because really; with how much he hung out with Bastille, the Sorcerer didn’t deserve being silently ghosted like that.

***

“Well, would you look at that.” Bastille slowly drawled, as he looked up towards Clara from the book he was reading.

They were currently in the Adventurers Guild Archives, and the Sorcerer was seated on one of the wooden tables and chairs that the Archives had to offer.

Really, it was basically a Library at this point. An exclusive Library reserved to the most behaved, most favored Adventurers, that is.

But right now, it was the perfect place for Clara to tell him about the most recent bullshit that Tobias came up with. Seriously, that guy was too unpredictable at times.

“You finally decided to retire from the Adventuring Life to settle down with Tobias?” He quipped, and his words were met by a harsh glare from the Archer.

“You didn’t need to say it like that...!” She hissed, and he raised his shoulders to shrug. Then she realized who she was dealing with, and coughed to clear her throat instead. She was finally learning what it meant to be mature, it seemed. “Anyways... Tobias wanted to say good bye to you.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured that much.” He replied, and looked around. The only things he could see that moment was Clara, the wooden tables and chairs, and the countless dust-lined shelves with untouched books. “So like... where’s the guy?”

“Well... He’s asking permission from Jacques to leave.” She admitted, and the Sorcerer sighed in dismay.

“Seriously... that guy didn’t even bother to say goodbye to his teacher. What kind of person spent hours and hours learning different sciences and subjects to learn how to cast Magic at its most effective level, before they suddenly decide to disappear without any advance notice.” He groaned, before giving another heavy sigh.

“That’s... So that’s why you’ve been hanging out with him a lot.” Clara said, and he only sighed and nodded in turn.

“Yeah. I gotta admit, he’s really quick at learning, and he would’ve been ready to cast Magic in a week or two or something like that.” He said, and he idly rested his head on top of the desk. “A shame, though. But if he wants to leave now, then I won’t be able to do anything about it. Tobias could probably knock me out before I could even cast a single spell.”

The Archer frowned at his words. “Why do you sound like you’re antagonizing him?”

“I am?” He tilted his head with confusion, before humming. Then his eyes widened slightly, and he blinked. “Oh. My bad. I kinda am now that I think about it. Anyways, you two are going to leave for those lands claimed by dens of monsters, is it?”

“... That’s definitely one way to put it.” She nodded. He let out a small hum at her words, but didn’t say anything else, and only gestured for her to keep speaking. “I guess this is good bye, then?”

“Probably not.” He said, as he stood up from his seat and closed the book he was reading with a sharp thud. “I can see that you guys would return in the near future. Tobias might be Tobias, but even he won’t be able to survive for long in those kinda places.”

Especially not when he’s got the girl to worry about as well, Bastille silently noted to himself.

“That might be the case...” She slowly admitted, her gaze kept to the floor. “But don’t you think you’re underestimating him as well?”

“Maybe, maybe not.” He shrugged. “Point is, you two should return here at some point, you got that?”

Clara slowly blinked at his words. Then her face morphed into a frightening grin. “Are you worried...?”

“Just this once.” He snapped, then took a small, shallow breath to calm himself down. “Just this once, I won’t deny that I’ll probably miss you guys.”

She smiled at him – something sweet that she usually reserved for Tobias. But for the first time, she showed it to the Sorcerer. But there was something off about it...

“So, how’s it feel to be honest for once?”

Bastille sighed. Of course she would say that. It was, after all, payback for all the times they’ve bickered in the past; and that statement was him being generous with his words, because it was usually a one-sided teasing on his end. But in his defense, he did stop whenever she had a good enough retort, at least.

“Feels good.” He replied. “But it would feel even better if you get that ominous smirk off your face.”

“Heh?” She snarled out. At this point, she wasn’t even trying to hide the malicious intent she had on her face. But then, she thankfully realized what she was doing, and she composed herself with a slight cough. “... We’ll be gone for a while, then.”

He stared at her blankly. “... Was that supposed to be your attempt at sounding like Tobias?”

“S-shut up...! I just wanted to try to say good bye to you like how he would do it!”

“I’m flattered.” He deadpanned, as he sat by the wooden table and opened the book he was holding. “Really captured his doesn’t give a fuck energy.”

“I knew it was a terrible idea to say good bye to you!” She huffed, and quickly turned around to storm towards the door. When her hands touched against the doorknob, Bastille sharply whistled, and she turned around with a subdued glare. “What do you want?”

“Do stay safe out there, hear me?” He said, and turned to read the passage he was reading.

“... Alright.”

“Now that sounds more like Tobias.” Bastille grinned. Now that he didn’t see her expressive face, what she was said really did sound like what he would say, complete with the trademark hesitation before speaking.

Those two hung out too much, really.

And she didn’t say anything else, and the soft thud of the door closing only indicated that she left. How Tobias of her to simply do that.

But in the end, he gave a single chuckle. She really did embody his energy at the last part, and he was sure that she understood that as well, and seemed to want to capitalize on that.

It really was a bitter shame to not personally bid Tobias goodbye, much less actually teach him Magic... but that’s alright. He knew they would meet again at some point, anyways.

The skies outside of the window showed him the image of clouds. Those floating, aimlessly drifting things pushed around by the winds... Somehow, it just reminded him of that Soldier who seemed to follow his own wind and path, if nothing else.

... Speak of the Devil. The door opened once more, and Bastille came face-to-face with a very familiar friend of his, and he grinned at the sight of his steel-colored hair.

It seemed like Pierre was right; Tobias was sentimental in his own way, after all.