The Goddess' Champion

"I think you should conceal the blood of sandork, Constantine... it will be bad if we meet werebeasts while you're holding it." Zamira suggested as they walked inside the forest, leaving the plain lands.

The night was coming upon them, it was time to rest.

Rather than follow her advice, Constantine smiled and looked around, "Let's rest, for now, we have been walking for a long time and the journey across the caves was taxing as well... I'll go there to take a piss" He pointed to some bushes away and the group nodded.

He left, leaving the group to their own things as they regarded one another with concealed messages, only Zamira and Andre seemed to be in a different symphony.

Constantine came back shortly afterwards with a gaze filled with relief prepared to give his group a good rest.

"...?"

Zamira regarded him with a tilted head, since when does he care whether they're tired or not? he'd usually stop when they're already falling due to the fatigue and are unable to walk anymore.

Still, they wouldn't reject an opportunity to rest, it was an entire day of walking.

Constantine surprised them even more by laying against a tree and placing the covered blood of sandork by his side!

!!!

The entire group regarded one another for a moment as if unconsciously before they each lay against their own corners, Zamira made sure to stay close to Constantine.

"I will guard as you sleep, in a few hours I'll wake someone up to replace me, sir" Sam said out of nowhere, they needed someone to stay their guard in case anyone came with ill intentions, especially the scarred church or the werebeasts.

"That's a great idea, Sam." Constantine smirked and agreed, further increasing Zamira's apprehension.

The night went normally with Constantine leaning against the tree with his arms crossed, snoring while Andre and Anne also quickly fell as asleep.

During the night, Zamira couldn't sleep, she was staring at the rock by his side all the time, the moonlight shone upon them slightly, it was enough for her to not distinguish when two figures stood up in silence.

By the time she even realised, one of them had already taken the rock and threw it to the other as the two of them ran!

!!!

"Wa-! Hmn!" Zamira was about to run after them when she felt her entire body get constricted by something as even her mouth was blocked!

"Shhhh..." She heard that noise come from Constantine who was smirking to the side, she gasped.

Her body rolled mysteriously towards him and the things constricting her movements eventually released her, the young man pulled her in his arms.

"Sleep, everything is okay..." He caressed her purple hair, eccentric and silky indeed.

Still awestruck, she found reprieve in his caresses and her eyes turned weak, her snores followed until the day would come once again in the form of shiny sun rays.

**

**

When she woke up Constantine was there, smiling at her.

The purple-haired mercenary noticed that she was in his arms, basking in his warmth and having the best sleep she had in a while despite his confusion, certainly... Constantine had used a bit of his magic to warm up the place around them, this forest was slightly cold.

She blushed and moved away from him without saying a word, recalling that her face is still not scarred, and the thought of scarring it didn't appear in her mind as often now.

Andre also woke up only to notice that Anne and Sam weren't there anymore, weren't they supposed to wake him up to guard?

His gaze wandered around until it landed in the place where Constantine had left the blood of sandork, the same one he had glared a lot at before falling asleep.

"Ugh, w-what happened?" He rubbed his head pained for some reason as if something had hit him during the night.

"Why did you stop me? now they have it!" Zamira yelled at Constantine who was still sitting there nonchalantly.

Andre immediately caught up on what had happened, Sam and Anne had stolen the Blood of Sandork!

"Relax..." Constantine yawned, it wasn't much the sleep he had during the entire ordeal, he had awaited the softness of a lady's attributes but what met him was the toughness of the plates Zamira used to constrict them.

How sad.

The pair lamented themselves while Constantine smirked and Zebellia laughed madly inside... he stood up and dusted himself off before walking back to the place where he said he'd pee.

Sinking his hands in the ground, he extracted a pristine piece of Blood of Sandork.

!!!

"W-What?" Zamira gasped and so did Andre, how could they not know what happened? he staged everything!

"How can I possibly keep travelling with people I don't trust? their greed was too evident, yours was too, but they had a scheming glint in it, they spent too much time together and gossiping, I'd rather get rid of them sooner than later." Constantine rolled his head and awaited Andre's directions, he's the one that knows where they're heading after all.

He simply stagged the best scenario for human nature to show itself.

"You know, I felt greed too, if we could sell that in the black market, our lives would be resolved." Zamira confessed with shame while Andre nodded, Constantine simply smiled and patted their shoulders.

"It is normal to be greedy at the prospect of a treasure that can change your life, but only those that can control themselves amidst their feelings and see the greater picture, are worth trusting…"

"..."

In front of them, this person no longer looked like a 'pretty-boy' teenager, but rather, a sage in disguise.

...

[Why didn't you just kill them if you knew they weren't loyal?] Zebellia questioned right away.

'If I had killed them, would Zamira and Andre be feeling respect right now, or fear?'

[...] She couldn't question his reasoning.

'Loyal subordinates feel respect, fickle and traitorous servants feel fear... I need no traitorous bastards by my side, I need people to trust, and these two fit the bill as of now'

Constantine smirked and followed Andre's direction.

Straight to the Town of Loup.