The World Is Mine For The Taking Chapter 1300 - 197 - The Fall Of Milham Kingdom - Part 3 (7)

It honestly caught off guard that she wanted to co with .

Out of all people, Shredica choosing to leave her post and follow instead was not sothing I expected at all. For a second, I just stood there, staring at her, trying to figure out if she was being serious or if this was just one of her usual impulsive decisions kicking in again.

"Aren’t you supposed to be guarding the heroes?" I asked, raising a brow slightly as I looked at her.

"I think they’re safe enough here," she replied without hesitation. "If anything, I’m more needed in the capital, where there’s an actual battle happening."

Thinking about it, Shredica had always been like this. If there was a fight sowhere, her attention would naturally drift toward it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I vaguely rembered her telling before that she liked battle more than anything else. At the ti, I thought she was just being dramatic, but seeing her now, standing there with that sa unwavering look, it felt real.

Weirdly enough, it was kind of refreshing.

Seeing her like this again, so direct and honest about what she wanted, brought back a version of her that I had not seen in a while. It made things feel... simpler, in a way. Less complicated than everything else going on around us.

Still, that did not an I agreed with her.

"A battle might break out here too," I said. "Especially since the heroes are here. You do understand how valuable they are to the kingdom, right? If the enemy finds out they’re here, they won’t hesitate to attack this place."

I paused for a second, letting that sink in before continuing.

"You’re strong. More than capable of protecting them."

The mont those words left my mouth, sothing shifted in her, with her expression darkening almost instantly, like a shadow passed over her face.

I noticed it.

Still, I did not really care enough to dwell on it.

Whatever she thought about what I said was her problem, not mine. I had already said what needed to be said. There was no point in dragging it out longer than necessary.

So I turned away, preparing to leave.

My body tensed slightly as I got ready to jump off and head straight back to the capital. The distance did not matter. I could make it there quickly if I moved now.

Before I could take that step, though, her voice stopped .

"You’re lying."

I paused mid-motion and glanced back at her over my shoulder.

"Lying?" I repeated, a faint frown forming on my face.

That did not make sense.

What exactly was I supposed to be lying about?

I went through what I had just said in my head, replaying it piece by piece. Everything was straightforward. Logical, even. There was nothing in there that I would consider a lie.

"You don’t... actually think I’m strong, do you?" she asked.

That made turn fully toward her.

Where did that even co from?

Out of everything she could have taken from what I said, that was the conclusion she reached?

For a mont, I just stared at her.

Then I saw it.

That expression.

My chest tightened slightly as sothing unfamiliar yet painfully recognizable surfaced.

I had seen that look before.

Not here.

Not in this world.

Back then.

"You don’t... actually love , do you?"

The words overlapped in my mind, even if the situations were completely different. The tone, the feeling behind it, the way it lingered in the air... it was the sa.

Shredica and Akane.

Their voices blended together in a way that made it hard to separate them.

Back then, it was raining. I could still rember it clearly. The cold droplets hitting the ground, the faint sound of water splashing around us, and her just standing there, looking straight at with that sa expression Shredica was wearing right now.

Her face.

Akane’s face.

If soone told to overlay them, I probably could not deny the resemblance.

This was not sothing I had only just realized.

I noticed it the very first ti I t Shredica.

That similarity.

That uncomfortable feeling in the back of my mind.

I just chose to ignore it.

I kinda pushed it aside like it was nothing.

Like convincing myself it was just my imagination acting up.

That was also the reason why I put up with everything she made do back then.

Right.

Because she reminded of her.

That was what I told myself.

Shredica and Akane.

At so point, I started thinking they might actually be the sa person.

It sounded ridiculous every ti the thought crossed my mind. There were too many things that did not add up. There were too many differences that made it seem impossible.

Yet monts like this made it hard to completely dismiss.

Seeing that expression again, right in front of , made it feel real in a way I could not explain.

Like the past was staring back at through her.

I could have brushed it off as coincidence.

Like just a strange resemblance.

People looking alike was not exactly rare.

But there was one thing that kept bothering .

All our classmates were summoned as heroes.

Every single one of them.

Except her.

She was the only one left out.

That fact alone made it harder to ignore everything else.

Still, even with all that, I did not know.

Maybe it really was just a massive coincidence.

Coincidences could be cruel like that.

ssing with your head for no reason.

The problem was, I had no idea how long I could keep telling myself that.

"Why aren’t you saying anything?" she asked.

Her voice pulled back to the present.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," I said, keeping my expression neutral.

"You don’t believe that I’m strong," she continued. "Just like before... Back then, when I asked you to show your real strength and stop holding back, you never went all out. You held back against the entire ti..."

The tournant.

That was what she ant.

I let out a quiet breath.

It was true that I did not go all out back then.

Still, it was not like I ever promised her I would.

"That only proves it, doesn’t it?" she said. "You don’t actually believe I’m strong."

That conclusion was completely off.

From where I stood, Shredica was strong.

There was no denying that.

If she went up against a group of magic knights, there was easily a fifty percent chance she would co out on top. That was not sothing you could just brush aside. That was already an impressive level of strength.

On top of that, she was still growing.

Just like , it felt like there was no clear limit to how far she could go. Her growth was not as fast as mine, but it was still steady.

Give her enough ti, and she would beco even stronger.

Would she reach my level?

Probably not.

That gap was not sothing that could be closed that easily.

Still, that was not the point here.

None of what I was thinking would matter to her.

Not in this mont.

Nothing I said would be enough.

That much was obvious.

So I stayed silent.

It was the easiest option.

And probably the only one that would not make things worse.

"I see..." she muttered softly. "Forget it. You can go."

She took my silence the way I expected her to.

As confirmation.

Without waiting for anything else, she turned around and started walking away.

Just like that.

With no hesitation at all.

I watched her for a brief second, then let out a quiet breath.

There was no point chasing after her.

There was no point trying to fix sothing that was not going to be fixed right now.

So I pushed the whole thing aside.

For now.

Turning away, I focused back on what mattered.

The capital.

With a single motion, I jumped off and headed straight toward it.