He watched as the Sword Princess's face stretched in shock. She was so surprised that she simply froze, and the spoon fell from her hands. For Kopii, this was the sign, and he dashed with all his might.
Flying out of the pub, he ran with all his strength. He ran through alleys, hoping that if there was a chase, he could confuse them; after all, Raven had told him to run with all his might.
At this pace, he reached Raven's house. Going down, he saw Raven, calmly sitting at the table and leisurely sipping tea. He did not understand why Raven had been first; had he run too? Thinking so, he sat down opposite him.
– It's done, I did it, but seeing her shocked face… who is this Aria, that she caused such shock in the Sword Princess?
Setting the cup on the table and looking into his eyes, he said:
– That will be my secret.
Kopii frowned even more at Raven's answer, looking at his smiling face, and, a few minutes later, sighing, he gave up.
«Maybe I should beat him up?»
Looking at his smug face, he thought, but he quickly abandoned this idea.
– Why didn't you do it yourself?
– It had to be you.
– Really? And why is that?
– Just because.
At his answer, his fists clenched, and his smile only fueled his desire. Once again starting to think maybe he should punch his face.
– Are you mocking me, Raven?
He did not hide his displeasure.
– No, why do you think that? – Before Kopii could open his mouth, Raven continued: – That's enough, Kopii, it's already late, let's sleep, tomorrow the dungeon awaits us again. Kopii exhaled in irritation; he did not like it when Raven changed the subject. But he could do nothing about it. All that remained was to agree.
– For fun.
– What?
– You wanted to hear why.
– …
He cast an irritated glance at Raven's back but said nothing, for he had agreed; he could have refused.
Lying down on the bed, he pondered that Raven had been acting strange lately. But Kopii had also noticed something else: he had changed too. Maybe his skill had worked? Because before, he would never have agreed to do this – it had always been hard for him to talk to strangers and, especially, to be the center of attention.
He began to believe more and more that he had indeed copied Raven. With such thoughts, he fell asleep.
Opening his eyes, he saw Raven already ready. Quickly getting up, having breakfast and changing, they spent only half a day in the dungeon.
– Your half, — handing a pouch of money into his hand. The pouch looked rather large. He had already calculated how much they should have earned, but there was even more here. Raising his gaze, he saw no one. He looked around – he could not find the familiar face.
«Where is he?» — continuing to scan the street, he asked himself. Sighing, he headed to the Blue Pharmacy – he had nothing to do anyway, except descend into the dungeon with Raven or help Naaza with the pharmacy's affairs.
Entering the pharmacy, he felt the familiar atmosphere of calm; a sharp smell of herbs struck his nose. But, in principle, as always, not surprised in the least, he approached Naaza. Placing the pouch of money on her table, as if nothing had happened.
– Hi, I'm here again.
– Hi, Kopii… someone was looking for you, — she said, putting the pouch away, and then returning her attention to him; seriousness could be read in her gaze. – What did you do?
– Me? Nothing… – Starting to worry under Naaza's gaze.
– …
Unable to endure the silence and her gaze, he asked.
– Who was looking for me?
He could not even guess who might be searching for him. Maybe it was Canoe who had come to take revenge for that day, or someone else? Maybe it was the princess? Of course, it could be, but he doubted that too.
– The Sword Princess.
Kopii's face stretched in shock, and disbelief could be read in his eyes.
«Why was she looking for me? Maybe because of yesterday's words? Maybe Aria is a very important person to her? If so, how did Raven know about it?» – The more he thought, the more he felt that the peaceful life, which had bored him, but which he still did not want to give up, was beginning to slowly crumble. And all because of Raven.
«I should have refused.» – Beginning to regret that he had agreed.
– What, why was she looking for me?
– I don't know. She decided to wait for you, but she didn't wait and left. She only just left.
«Lucky.»
– Perhaps what she was looking for me for isn't so important. She just wanted to ask how I leveled up so fast, that's all. – He did not believe what he said himself, so he understood why her face showed complete disbelief.
He helped Naaza for the rest of the day and went back to Raven's house. Going down into the basement, he already smelled roasted meat. At this smell, his mouth began to water. But whatever he said to Raven, he cooked very well.
– Raven, what are you cooking? Oh, and by the way, where did you vanish to? Did you go to your familia? — he bombarded Raven with questions, not even having entered the room yet.
– Oh! You're finally back; the meat is already getting cold. You stayed out too long today; did something happen?
– I was helping Naaza. You know that yourself. Oh, and by the way, Raven, the Sword Princess was looking for me. I sense a setup, Raven.
Putting his book aside, Raven turned his attention to Kopii, who was devouring the roasted meat as if he hadn't eaten in a year.
– People eat in silence.
– Don't dodge the conversation, Raven, I want to know what you got me into, — he said with a full mouth.
– Don't exaggerate so much; just tell her that a friend told you, that's all… and, perhaps, she'll calm down. So don't worry.
He looked at Raven, but decided to stay silent.
«Maybe I really am working myself up.» – he thought, finishing the last piece.
---
– Ah, Kopii, I've always wanted to ask you, — picking up magic stones and putting them in his backpack.
– Yes, what did you want?
– Just curious, why don't you descend deeper into the dungeon? Looking into Kopii's black eyes, Raven asked.
– Well… – He did not know what to say. That he was afraid to die because of losing control? He definitely could not say that. He smiled and said in a mocking tone. – Just because, — he answered the same way Raven liked to answer him.
Raven's face did not change at all; he continued to look into his eyes. Silence hung; they both just kept looking into each other's eyes, their wills met.
Raven sighed and looked away, losing the staring contest.
– I understand you. But I have one more question: why don't you kill monsters? You just dodge their attacks, and that's all. You're afraid to kill them!
For a moment, he froze, and his body tensed at how precisely he had hit the mark. But he quickly pulled himself together, trying to hide such a reaction. He immediately came up with a perfect excuse.
– It's so that you raise your stats faster and gain combat experience. Think for yourself, if I helped you, your growth would slow down, Raven.
Looking at him, Raven said nothing. Kopii could only hope that he believed him.
Some time later.
– Kopii, I have a piece of advice for you, — exiting the Tower of Babel, Raven said.
«How much more.» - he thought in irritation, fully turning to him.
On his lips, there was the same smile as always, and then it completely disappeared, and his face became serious, saying that he wanted to tell me something quite important.
– Start keeping a diary of your life, write down every day in it, and most importantly… your changes for the better or for the worse.
«He's mocking me.»
He exhaled in disappointment; he thought Raven wanted to give him worthwhile advice. After all, he had become convinced that Raven knew a lot. But he had suggested keeping a diary.
– Are you serious right now, Raven? – Disappointment could be heard in his voice.
– Yes, I am seriousness itself, believe me? — he replied, returning to his usual smile. Seeing this, he understood for sure that he was mocking him again.
Kopii believed that only foolish people or those with memory problems kept diaries. He did not consider himself foolish, and he had no memory problems. So why would he need this diary?
– I just gave you advice. So whether to follow it or not depends entirely on you. Well, Kopii, it's already getting dark, let's go faster, we still need to cook our food, — he shouted, starting to run. – Come on, whoever is last will cook.
– Hey, that's not fair!
---
– You're level two, after all, and I'm level one, — Raven grumbled, ready to eat.
– I wasn't the one who suggested it, Raven, so do it and accept your defeat.
– No, I didn't lose, I just let you win, that's all. Heroes never lose.
– You mean, a future hero?
– That's not so important. From this conversation, without realizing it himself, Kopii smiled. Perhaps this is what friendship meant.