SWNOVELXO Chapter 43: Unshakable Ideals
Sunny peeked out of the alleyway with a concerned expression. He watched as Seele and Bronya glared daggers at each other, the dislike they have for the other being apparent to all those who pass by.
It would have been an eerily familiar sight if they weren't glaring at each other.
'What a strange thought.'
Keeping a shadow on them to keep watch, he looked back into the alleyway. He raised a brow.
"Alright, what is it?"
Standing in front of him were March and Dan Heng, who had left the clinic in order to talk to him. Sunny felt like he had a pretty good guess about the topic in which they had come to converse with him about, but he would rather hear it from their own mouths. Who knows, maybe they had come to get on their knees and beg for him to take them along.
The pair looked at each other, a silent conversation occurring in front of him as March waved her hand around towards Dan Heng. Sunny had no idea what she was trying to convey, but it seemed like Dan Heng understood the message.
The green-eyed man sighed.
"My Flaw is that I can't betray."
Sunny blinked in befuddlement. He had thought of Dan Heng to be relatively cautious… cautious enough that he wouldn't expose his Flaw. He might do so if it was necessary, but how was his Flaw relevant to anything currently?
"Okay… so why are you telling me?"
Sunny couldn't think of a way that not being able to betray others would have anything to do with their current situation.
Dan Heng shook his head.
"You're probably thinking that my Flaw only applies to betraying other people. In reality, I cannot betray anything. This includes my own ideals and morals."
Tilting his head, Sunny thought about the implications of this Flaw. It seemed like it prevented Dan Heng from being flexible, forcing him to abide by his own principles. Maybe that was why he was so reluctant about killing the Silvermane Guards that were pursuing them — hesitant enough that he was severely injured in the process.
Sunny shrugged.
"So what? If you're going to use that as an excuse for me to bring you along, I'll just tell you now — that only makes you even more of a liability. I'll most likely end up in a fight with the Supreme Guardian. What would you do if it was her life or yours?"
Dan Heng's eyes widened slightly. He shook his head.
"Wait… I think you're misunderstanding something. The only reason I wasn't willing to kill the Silvermane Guards was because they weren't going after us with malicious intent. If the Supreme Guardian is really the source of the problems on Belobog, then I won't hesitate."
Sunny stared at him for a second. He snarled.
"What the hell… you should have said that earlier!"
Honestly, that was much more reasonable than simply disliking the act of killing. That was something that Sunny could actually work with.
Turning towards March, the girl sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
"Well… I don't really like bullying people weaker than me."
'…She was getting pretty brutal against Gepard.'
Sighing, Sunny decided to bring the two of them along. They might end up being useful after all.
Still… he now knew both of their Flaws. Dan Heng's Flaw was something that one could easily take advantage of, while March's Flaw — the real one — was that she can occasionally see the memories of other people.
March's Flaw seemed quite harmless, but he knew better than to think that. Sunny's Flaw took away his most powerful tool: his ability to lie. Seele's Flaw actively went against her desire to protect others, making her the vessel for an entity that seems to crave violence and death. And then there was AR-26710's Flaw… it had a description that seemed similar to an Aspect Ability, but Sunny guessed that it must have been more sinister.
As for March, he knew that she liked to take pictures. Memories were a precious thing to her, most likely because she had no memories to speak of. It was different from Sunny, who simply had a gap in his memories.
Maybe seeing the precious memories of others without consent was a perverted thing for her. Something that wouldn't be a problem for others is a living hell for her.
Flaws were a pain that most others wouldn't understand. A curse that was only effective against the one cursed by them.
Looking between the two of them, Sunny bit the inside of his cheek. He used the pain to make sure that he was thinking rationally. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke:
"My Flaw is that I can't lie. I'll let you two come with me."
Frowning at their surprised expressions, he sighed.
"Just leave mundane humans to me. I won't kill them, so don't worry about it."
He turned around, moving to exit the alleyway. Just as he was about to do so, Sunny felt an arm get slung around his neck with impressive strength, causing him to almost lose his footing. His eye twitched as he turned to see March grinning at him.
"…What?"
There was a strange look of relief in her eyes.
"You really won't kill me for knowing random stuff about you?"
'…Seriously?'
"No, I won't… but you should really keep your mouth shut. If I hear you talking about Rain again… who knows what I might do?"
March blanched, suddenly jumping back.
"Wha— I thought we were besties now!"
Sunny stuck out his tongue. Turning away, he heard an indignant shout and an exasperated sigh — coming from March and Dan Heng respectively. Ignoring them, he walked over to Seele and Bronya.
"Are you two ever going to stop glaring at each other? It was funny for the first… five minutes. Now, it's getting kind of annoying."
The two of them swiveled their heads in his direction, pointing at each other with scowls on their face.
Seele exclaimed:
"Maybe if she got off her high horse!"
Bronya simultaneously added:
"Maybe if she stopped being so rude!"
Frowning, Sunny grabbed both of their hands. Violently putting them together, he commanded:
"Apologize."
Sunny was sure that this would work. When was he ever wrong?
…Instead of doing what he asked, Seele just raised a brow while looking down at their hands.
"Why is your hand so smooth?"
Sunny blinked. Looking at his free hand, he realized that it was quite smooth.
"…Isn't that normal? We're Awakened, so there wouldn't be any callouses…"
Bronya shook her head.
"No… this is quite abnormal. Do you have a special skincare routine?"
"…What's a skincare routine?"
***
"…What's going on with them?"
"Why are you asking me?"
March and Dan Heng watched the unusual scene in front of them. The Supreme Guardian's daughter alongside the girl named Seele were… feeling up Sunny's hands. Their faces were a mix of confusion and curiosity.
Meanwhile, Sunny just stood there with a baffled look on his face.
March stared at his hands for a moment, before nodding to herself.
"I'm going to see what all the hype is about."
Dan Heng simply shrugged. March took that as a green light to do what she wanted, so she happily skipped her way over to the three of them.
"Hey… got room for one more?"
"Sorry, no."
"Nope."
The sharp responses from Seele and Bronya caused March to freeze — no pun intended. Sunny started to mumble something under his breath. Something about reasons, dying, and being born…
"…What am I even talking about? Anyways, don't try to join in March. It'll just make things weirder."
Staring at him for a second, March turned away with a dead expression. She walked over to Dan Heng, who just sent her a look of pity.
"I just wanted to see if Sunny had magic hands…"
"…I doubt that he does."
***
Were his hands really that interesting?
His hands had been restrained, fiddled with by Seele and Bronya. Their fingers traced over his palms, his fingertips, and the back of his hand. The two of them seemed excessively focused on the texture of his skin.
He had simply attempted to end the conflict between the two of them. Although this wasn't what he had envisioned, he had still achieved the desired outcome. By distracting the two of them with his hands, he had somehow caused them to completely forget about their animosity.
Sunny sweatdropped as he looked between the two, completely oblivious to outside noise. His hands shouldn't have been anything special. There wouldn't be any imperfections due to the fact that he was an Awakened, but it shouldn't be excessively soft.
This fact caused Sunny to grow somewhat suspicious. Although there was the possibility of this being a completely natural occurrence, he believed that their was something more to it. With a frown on his face, he deliberated on whether or not he was simply being delusional.
'…Well, I'm always right.'