Reluctant Hero | Amaki Ren

Chapter 16 | You're Alright

"You'll always have someone with you."

"I can't believe you passed out in the middle of a fight."

Sakura sits against the dirt wall of the tunnel, eyes glued down to her slimy figure after Ren cut the frog's tongue to free her. The same time he caught her, Sakura passed out because of her immense fear overtaking her system. The frog brought many bad memories to her that she wished remained buried, but one look at the amphibian and it was all over for her.

She may be seen as a strong woman on the outside, but the simplest things could trigger her any moment and become the cause of her losing her grip on herself. With how she is now and her mental stability, she was sure that she won't remain strong for long.

That is unless she does something about it.

It is a personal matter that she knew she had to resolve herself, but she's too frightened that she opted to forget them rather than fix it. She crossed her arms in front of her and held on to her forearms tightly as her way of securing her subconscious.

Ren collected the drops from the Frog King earlier after killing it off by himself. He stood a meter away from her, sheathing his sword on his back as his eyes stayed on her sitting figure. Lips pursed and shoulders slumped, he took careful steps forward until he was right in front of her. He kneels down on one knee, tilting his head to the side to take a look on her face.

Sakura didn't like it one bit. She turned her head away from him and gritted her teeth behind sealed lips. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I think that thing's the cause of the noise?"

"It appears so. Have you contacted our parties?"

"Yeah, they said they handled the rest of the creatures in their tunnels. They're going to explore until the end for loots."

"I see." Ren looked at the side to see the dark end of the tunnel they have yet to discover. With Sakura's condition now, he cannot possibly force her to keep moving. He was looking for the reason why she didn't want to go to dungeons, but he didn't know that it was this bad. He should escort her out first before he could continue with the search. "I'm going to guide you out first."

"No," Sakura sighed. "Let's keep moving. I can't stay like this."

"But--"

"Ren, please."

Her pleading eyes looked up to send the message to him. She meant it when she said that she didn't want to stay like this. It may involve something that he has yet to know, but he didn't argue any further. "Are you sure?" He asks.

"Yeah. I'll do better if we were to encounter more of them. I'm sorry for being a burden." She stands from the ground and dusted her clothes.

That's right. If they were to face another one of those creatures, Sakura needs to toughen up and help the Sword Hero.

"If you say so." Ren stands in front of her, lifting the torch from the ground. "I think we're close to the loot, anyway."

Sakura nodded, getting rid of the last of the slime that she could take out of herself before proceeding further. She lets Ren take the lead and stayed close to him to comfort herself that she wasn't alone. There is someone with her that she knows. There is no need for her to be frightened.

As they ventured further deep into the tunnel, they began to spot a speck of light peeking from ahead. Sakura's eyes squinted at the illumination. They are drawing nearer towards the end of the tunnel. The light grows bigger.

Before they knew it, they were brought in an entirely different room.

Sakura looks around to see their parties emerging from different ends too. They all looked at each other with confused expressions. "Looks like it all led to the same room." Ren mutters beside her.