esw c3 p4 5 6

Part 4

Venus breathed a sigh of relief. After crying for a while, she seemed to be able to face the tragedy caused by her own hands. Carrying the same weight of pain as Lynn, he narrated the scene that only the two of them knew.

"After the mission was completed, I never saw Miss Lynn again. I didn't know where she went. I didn't even get the opportunity to talk to her... I know that nothing could be restored even if I apologized. What she lost were her family members who would never be able to return..." Venus' words became intermittent as a result of sobbing again, "Later, I want to leave the church and spread this matter to Augustus... The empire would definitely do something about it. But I failed... After they sent me back, they locked me up..."

Then what happened was already very obvious. Venus finally escaped the control of the Church by some means and fled to this small town more than a thousand kilometers away.

It sounded a bit impossible, but perhaps it was not that difficult for the knights of the church.

"The Knights of the Church also have rank distinctions. Venus, what rank are you?"

"Blue……"

"Blue clothes? Then it's not surprising that you were able to escape."

Gurley nodded to himself. Seeing that Aker and the others didn't seem to know the meaning of simple communication between himself and Venus, he explained briefly.

"The Church uses uniform colors to classify the ranks of the subordinate knights, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Aqua, Blue, and Purple.  There should be no more than ten blue-clothed knights like her."

"There, there are eight people..."

"Although I don't understand it very well, it sounds very strong." Aker looked at Venus with understanding, causing her to lower her head, "But Venus should be younger than Loulou..."

"Elder Brother, magic talent has nothing to do with age..."

"No, I mean that the Church would actually let children do that kind of thing."

No matter how he thought of it, he still couldn't imagine someone would let a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl see something like that, not to mention that they even forced Venus to do it.

Without personally witnessing the image engraved in the mind of Venus and Lynn, Aker could never imagine how unbearable it was. But the nightmare that might be connected to that incident would make Lynn, such a strong girl shed tears, and make her hate her past self so much. From this, he could now vaguely understand her feelings.

Lynn's low moan came from the room, and she seemed to have woken up.

Although everyone had a general understanding of Venus's situation and knew Venus's own thoughts. But Lynn still didn't know anything about Venus's arrival, and if they rushed to meet each other, there would only be conflicts.

Nia hurriedly picked up Venus and hid behind the sliding door of the room, while Aker and Louloud returned to Lynn's side.

"Um..." Lynn opened her sleepy eyes and looked around. "Where is Sister Nia?"

"She is downstairs busy dealing with the guests who came early in the morning. So she didn't wake you up."

Aker made a smiley face and said.

"Elder Sister Lynn, did you have a nightmare?"

Loulou asked worriedly on the side. If Venus hadn't told her so many things that couldn't be ignored, Loulou would not ask like this before Lynn had settled her mood.

"I'm sorry. Did I disrupt you during the rest?..." Lyn closed her eyes and gently shook her head. "It's nothing, it's just a bad dream..."

The blond hair was so dazzling yet the story behind it was so heartbreaking.

"What kind of dream was it?"

Aker hoped Lynn could express her feelings by herself.

And this time, Lynn didn't find any other excuses to change the subject. It may be that the pressure caused by the nightmare had overwhelmed her. At the moment when she just woke up, she couldn't help but lower her defense. She needed to find someone to talk to.

"I will tell you sooner or later anyway, it doesn't matter if I say it now..."

Lynn did not hesitate, repeating the scene that Venus had told before from her own perspective.

"...At that time, I was seriously injured." Both Venus and Lynn were repeating painful memories. "My father fused the magic gear inherited from the family into my body before letting me escape from the secret tunnel at home. My hair color changed into the golden color of the Light Flame Sword at that time. The person wanted by the church now is me, Aker, you should have noticed it already, right? At that time, you didn't want me to go downstairs to help because of this, right?"

"That's because if it's really the same as I thought, letting you help will put you in danger. No matter what the reason you are wanted by the Church, before I know who is right and who is wrong, I will only decide what to do based on my feelings."

"The reason is that I have what they want. Their goal is the magic gear "Light Flame Sword" of the "Heinz" family. If I stay here, I will bring you trouble, I don't mind leaving now..."

"I didn't say that." Aker interrupted Lynn forcefully, not allowing her to say that kind of thing, "Anyway, the church wants your magic gear, and you are not going to give it to them obediently. So it becomes the current situation, right?"

"I don't know what they want to do, maybe they just want to get rid of the 'Heinz' family completely. I don’t know what conflict my family had with the church. My family rarely talked about this kind of thing. Our lives had always been stable... But I will definitely get revenge... I must let them pay the price for what they have done!"

Part 5

Sure enough, Lynn's hatred for the church was as deep as an abyss, otherwise she would not easily use life as a bargaining chip.

"Sister Lynn, not everyone in the church is a bad person... There may be people who regret what she had done. She just had to do so because of the orders of other people in the church..." Loulou cautiously said. She knew that this kind of life-related issue was not something that she could talk about as an outsider, so she just chose words as carefully as possible, "I mean, if she is such a person, can you try to understand her. She isn't really the one who should be punished..."

"Are you referring to someone in particular? Loulou."

When Lynn talked about this topic, whether it was to Aker or Loulou, her tone was very cold. It seemed that in her heart, there was only the determination that would not waver no matter what others said.

"No. After listening to Sister Lynn's story, I just thought..."

"Regret?" Lynn snorted unceremoniously. "If you do something like that with your own hands, can you just say that you regretted it at the end as if nothing had happened? I'm not some kind of saint they believe in. If they want to repent, they should go to other people!"

Lynn became more emotional as she spoke, and the messy long golden hair she had after waking up in the morning seemed to show all the agitation in her heart.

Suddenly, an innocent voice rang from the door...

"But I must come to you..."

That was Venus. She broke free of Nia's arm and came to Lynn who was emotionally agitated.

"Do you remember me... I am here now, I won't run or hide, so..."

Although Venus's petite body was shaking uncontrollably, she revealed the determination that she would never escape.

Although appearing in front of Lynn now was a bit reckless, she sincerely regretted the mistakes she had made in the first place, so no matter what Lynn decided to do to her, she would not complain.

The moment Lynn recognized Venus, the golden particles appeared on Lynn's body without warning, and then gathered in her hand into a beautiful but chilly figure with a long red golden sword.

"You are... I obviously believe in you so much!"

Aker quickly stretched out his hands and pressed her shoulders, making her unable to leave the bed. Although Lynn couldn't break away from Aker, she still used all her strength to resist him.

"Why are you on her side? Are you still confused about who is right and who is wrong?"

"I don't know what kind of place the church is, and I don't know what the relationship between you was that day. But I know that as long as you attack her now, it will definitely be you who is wrong! This child is also wanted by the church, and she also hopes to use her own strength to help you. If she and the church are a group, how could she be as wanted as you are now? Internal conflict? Just think about it. Isn't this obvious? Now she has plucked up the courage to stand in front of you, but you are unwilling to listen to any of her explanations and you have to attack her, then what is the difference between you and the group of people in the church you talked about!"

Aker has never been as emotional as today, and he didn't know what he was talking about. He just said these words unconsciously, and his only purpose was to hope Lynn could calm down and listen to Venus's own thoughts.

Perhaps, if he were Lynn, he would naturally react in the same way as her after seeing the person who caused her to lose her family. However, at this time, the people around him, such as Loulou, would definitely stop him.

Lynn and Venus were both key people involved in this incident, so they couldn't see the whole incident clearly. Only them, as outsiders could help them calm down and see things rationally. This was the reason why Aker was here now, he didn't want to see Lynn attacking Venus.

Loulou looked at Aker with a relieved smile, and Nia and Gurley, who were standing a little further away, also nodded in approval.

Lynn was also frightened by Aker's anger and did not say a word for a while.

The long knife shining with golden light shattered quietly, and the golden particles fluttered between the people like fairies.

Tears flowed down the corners of her eyes, and Loulou quickly took out the handkerchief and wiped away Lynn's tears.

Venus walked a few steps closer to Lynn, knelt down on the spot, pressed her forehead against the ground, and spoke with a trembling tone.

"I know... If I wasn't here, Miss Lynn's family members wouldn't die, and your life would not be destroyed... I'm sorry... I have already decided when I escaped from the church. If I can find Miss Lynn, no matter what you decide to do with me, as long as you think it can redeem my sins... But if you can, please let me follow you. I wish I could atone for what I did to you. Even if it is just a little bit..."

"Don't say such a foolish thing. Except for ‘revenge’ and ‘atonement’ can't you think of anything else? Are you telling me that you will be happy if you rush into the church and wipe them all out now?" Aker let go of the hands that pressed Lynn's shoulders, and flicked each of her and Venus's foreheads, "This kind of action by the Church wasn't approved by the Empire, right? Venus, you said before that you wanted to inform the empire of this matter, right?"

"Yeah, it is very unlikely that they will get the approval from Augustus. Augustus is composed of the royal family and the Senate. Let alone the royal family, the relationship between the Senate and the Church is not harmonious at all. Although the Church is nominally part of the Empire, in fact, the two have long been separated."

Gurley replied on behalf of Venus.

Part 6

Aker pondered for a moment. He didn't know much about the empire and the church and he couldn't think of a good way to solve the troubles Lynn and Venus faced together, so he could only choose a compromise solution now.

"Now both of you are wanted by the church. Whoever is caught by them will drag the other into trouble, right? So, now you two need to put aside the idea of ‘revenge’ and ‘atonement’, and get along with each other temporarily, and live like ordinary girls, is that okay? After we clarify the matter, we will consider together what we should do."

Venus still didn't lift her head from the ground, and all her choice was in Lynn's hands.

Aker had already let go of Lynn's shoulders. Feeling the warmth gradually dissipating from her shoulders, she took a breath.

"Fine... But you have to remember that I will never forgive what you did!"

"Mhm..." Venus raised her head in joy, "I didn't ask Miss Lynn to forgive me, I just hope that I can help you a little..."

Although Venus's face was still stained with tears, she still showed the cute smiling face that appeared in front of everyone for the first time since she stepped into the pub.

Gurley took the lead to stand up and clap his hands, and then held Venus's little hand quite naturally.

"Well, this matter is resolved temporarily. Miss Venus, I will take you down for a drink. If you have any pressure in your heart, it will be easier to talk to me."

"Don't try to make her drink! She is still just a child!"

"I won't, it will only be juice."

I didn't know if he wanted to enliven the atmosphere or simply wanted to strike up a conversation with Venus, Gurley became a very "thoughtful man" again.

"Hey, who is going to pay for the drink? Venus's drink can be free, but not yours."

"Sister Nia, can't you make an exception for this time? Please~"

"I didn't allow you to call me sister! This time, I will allow it to be put on your tab."

"Okay, Sister Nia, you finally have a bit of humanity!"

"Did you just say something?"

"No no, I am just talking to myself."

Gurley obediently admitted his mistake so that Nia would not take the fruit knife out of her burgundy cheongsam.

Venus was surprised to see Nia and Gurley bicker like this. She was suddenly not used to the relaxed atmosphere. Then she secretly glanced at Lynn, probably wanting to observe her reflection.

The moment their eyes met, Lynn immediately turned her head to one side, deliberately showing an attitude of ignoring Venus. This made Venus become dispirited again.

But it was also because Lynn didn't say much. It seemed that accepting Gurley's invitation would not make her angry, so Venus held Gurley's big palm in fear.

After Venus and Gurley left the room, Aker remembered the question that had been asked before.

"Did Venus come here by herself?"

"No. She was brought here by a girl who was a little older than her, with chestnut hair and a pair of round glasses. "Nia gestured, "By the way, she also asked me if you are here, and when she left, she asked me to tell you to take this girl in. Is that person someone you know?"

"Sort of..."

After Aker heard Nia's description, a girl who fit these characteristics came to his mind.

But why would she let him take in Venus, with whom he had no intersection in the past? No matter how Aker thought about it, he still couldn't figure it out.

"That person seems to be confident about everything. She seems to already know about your work here." It was the first time Nia met someone like this, "but from your reaction, there shouldn't be any problems, right?"

"Ah, it's not a big problem, she's just a friend I met after I came here..."

Aker's words suddenly stopped.

He didn't think Tara was a bad person. When interacting with her, he could feel that she really only cared a little about everyone.

But how much did he know about Tara? Except for her current job, he knew nothing about her.

Aker really wanted to meet Tara right now and solve all the confusion in his heart.

"Sister Nia, I am going out for a while."

next 

previous