Worries (2)

The village was in a festive mood.

It was only natural that everyone was happy now that the being threatening the village had been captured and the village was safe.

Everywhere I looked, all I could see were villagers showering us with praise.

Unlike before, we had managed to save Lumia before it was too late, so I was satisfied as well.

But why?

I still couldn't forget the expression Lumia had worn when she received the rod from Cecilia after everything had been resolved. How could I forget that wistful expression she had worn even though everything had clearly turned out well?

It was an expression as if she hadn't wanted things to go this way.

Or perhaps it was the expression of someone who hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

This was only my guess based on Lumia's expression, not a certainty, so perhaps it was simply the expression she had made after seeing someone die. If it was the latter, it wasn't a serious problem and I could comfort her, but if it was the former, the problem would be considerably bigger.

Just before the tentacle monster attacked, when I had leaped in to save Lumia, the look she gave me seemed to ask why I was there...