The girl instantly understood the function of the device and nodded in front of Raize, indicating she could hear him.
[...About what I said that night, you haven't given me a clear answer yet. Can you stay here peacefully from now on?]
"..."
For a moment, she said nothing. Eu's beautiful, sapphire-like eyes fixed intently on Raize. Her small lips parted and closed, as if she wanted to say something but held back.
Although she didn't speak aloud, Raize heard it in his mind.
[Wah... How, how should I answer? I should...]
[...Eu, don't let your thoughts run wild. We're currently linked. If your thoughts are too strong, your inner voice will come through.]
Not wanting to hide the function of the nanotech chip from the girl, Raize reminded Eu in a somewhat subtle tone.
This statement from Raize immediately made Eu's face stiffen. She had thought this device was only for telepathic communication; she never expected the thoughts in her mind would be transmitted to Raize without any concealment.
Didn't that mean... everything she had just been thinking was heard by Raize?
"Eek!"
Realizing the full function of the thing on the back of her neck, Eu let out a soft, flustered cry of embarrassment. She immediately reached back to remove and discard the chip.
But how could Raize allow the girl to do that? He was anticipating her answer.
"Don't move!"
Raize quickly stepped forward, reaching out to gently grasp Eu's wrist. As he spoke, he subconsciously invoked his word power ability. A compelling force instantly descended upon the girl, rendering her body completely immobile.
However, a sudden, intense pain also contorted Raize's face grotesquely. With one hand holding the immobilized Eu's wrist, he used the other to support his own forehead.
With a pained expression, Raize, using their height difference, looked down at Eu's eyes, which were filled with panic and shyness. The panic was because of the sudden look of agony on Raize's face.
[Tell me your true feelings right here. I must know. Otherwise... otherwise I'll use my word powers again]
Raize's very serious tone came through her mind. Towards the end, he added a symbolic threat to the girl.
But upon seeing Eu looking up at him with her shimmering, moist eyes, Raize unconsciously softened his stance. The threatening tone sounded utterly lacking in authority or intimidation.
"Aize is a big bully!"
Hearing this, the girl cried out in embarrassment.
Though her body couldn't move, Eu could tell Raize's threatening tone wasn't serious—he was just trying to scare her.
But now, only able to speak through her inner voice, prompted by Raize's question, memories of that night resurfaced. Her thoughts were about to subconsciously spill out again, and on the verge of having her inner voice heard, Eu was so shy she was nearly driven to tears.
Seeing the girl in front of him calling him a bully, her eyes already welling up with tears from shyness and anxiety, the last bit of resolve in Raize's heart crumbled.
Feelings of guilt and affection surfaced. Towards Eu, he instinctively gave ground. With great disappointment, he removed the chip from the back of her neck. Clutching his temple and enduring the severe pain, he used his word powers:
"Release!"
With his word as law, the spell binding the girl's freedom of movement was immediately lifted.
Now free to move and utterly embarrassed, Eu initially very much wanted to flee from Raize's side. But seeing the look of mingled disappointment and pain on his lowered face, her body disobediently came to a halt.
A captivating blush on her face, Eu looked at the now-downcast Raize with deeply complex emotions in her eyes.
Her inner voice hadn't fully transmitted due to her earlier shyness, but Raize's heartache, guilt, and the disappointment of not getting an answer when she called him a big bully had indeed been transmitted clearly to Eu.
This showed he was carefully considering her feelings at every turn, and it also meant Raize deeply cared for Eu.
The popsicle had fallen to the ground at some point, unnoticed. Eu ignored it and instead reached both hands toward Raize, intending to use her healing ability to share his pain.
Raize, knowing the side effects of Eu's healing power, quickly dodged backward. Facing Eu's complex gaze, Raize took out a notepad from his inventory, wrote something on it, and handed it to Eu.
Then, supporting his forehead, he turned to leave. He hadn't gotten the answer he wanted, and because of his own impatience, continuing the conversation now was no longer appropriate.
(I'm sorry for forcing you like that. If you don't want to answer me about... the answer, then just...)
"Aize!"
Eu only read half before stopping. Watching Raize's solitary figure walking further and further away from her, his back turned, she chased after him without a second thought. A nameless emotion and courage ignited within her, overcoming her reserve and shyness.
"?"
Raize's steps suddenly halted. He looked down at the slender arms tightly wrapped around his front and felt the sensation of her pressing close against his back.
He glanced slightly over his shoulder and saw the girl had tightly embraced him from behind. Barefoot, not even wearing her slippers, she pressed her cheek against the young man's back and held him.
In a voice that trembled faintly yet held a gentle, feminine softness, Eu spoke to him.
"...Aize, forcing a girl to state her true feelings so bluntly is too domineering."
(I apologize for forcing you earlier. But... you always silently shoulder everything yourself. If I'm not a bit domineering, I can't interfere with your thoughts and actions)
Maintaining his position, embraced from behind, Raize once again took out a small notebook from his space. He wrote continuously in the notebook, then held it out behind him for Eu to see.
(If you could be like this now, hiding behind me and relying on me when things happen, I would be very happy)
Seeing the words on the notebook, Eu's lips pressed together slightly, and the arms wrapped around Raize's body tightened unconsciously.
Her eyes, like exquisite sapphires, shimmered with a complex interplay of emotions.
Rely on Raize?
How long had it been? How long had it been since the girl felt she could rely on someone else?
Back in the small group of the Seventh Abyss with the King of the Night, she did have someone to rely on, but the final outcome only left painful sorrow.
If she relied on Raize, would he...!?
Just as her thoughts were about to spiral into that dead end again, the girl's eyes widened slightly. Her tangled thoughts were interrupted as she suddenly felt a gentle pat on her head.