Harem Sync: Divine Edition-Chapter 18: The Only Man Who Doesn’t Explode

The rain stopped.

The child was huddled against that tree, crying softly, but decided to get up and keep walking. To get a little further away. She headed east.

She walked far enough until she smelled something. Food.

It stopped and listened to

human voices. "If there are humans... it’s dangerous," it thought. But it couldn’t remember the last time it had eaten. Days? Weeks?

Hunger won out. It moved slowly and quietly, hiding behind the trees, until it was close enough to see. And it stopped, watching.

There was a fire, and next to it, four guards sitting, eating and talking quietly. And further ahead, near a carriage... A young man arguing with a woman. They were making noise, a lot of noise. By nature, it caught her attention.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" shouted Isabela. "YOU BRAT!" She was holding a wooden skewer with pieces of meat roasting on it.

Haru, with messy hair and simple clothes, was kneeling. Hands together. Face of someone about to cry.

"Please forgive me, Isabela! I can explain!"

"BUT WHY DO YOU WANT TO LICK MY FOOT?!" Isabela shouted, red with anger.

"THAT’S WEIRD!"

"I’m trying to apologize..."

"I just want an explanation!" Her tone softened.

Haru suddenly grabbed Isabela’s foot with both hands and started trying to take off her shoe.

"YOU—!"

Isabela stepped on his face. But Haru wouldn’t let go. Stubborn.

"WHY ARE YOU MAKING THIS SO HARD?!" Haru shouted, holding on tight.

"I JUST WANT TO APOLOGIZE!"

Isabela tried to kick him. Haru dodged, but didn’t let go of her foot.

In all that commotion... The meat on Isabela’s skewer fell straight into the fire.

"NO!"

Isabela reached out her hand desperately, but it was too late, the meat was burned. It turned to charcoal.

"I just wanted to eat in peace..." she murmured, her voice breaking.

And then she felt something wet running across the bottom of her foot. She shivered all over.

Haru had taken advantage of that brief moment while she was looking at the falling meat and licked her foot. He had even taken off her shoe.

"DONE!"

said Haru, getting up quickly. "I LICKED IT! I’M FORGIVEN!"

"FORGIVEN, NO WAY!" shouted Isabela.

Her hand burst into red flames, and she began to chase Haru. Throwing fireballs.

"YOU’RE GOING TO START A FIRE IN THE FOREST!" shouted Haru, jumping, rolling, dodging, but he seemed to be... enjoying it.

Isabela threw another fireball, Haru rolled to the side, and the ball exploded on a tree.

"I’LL KILL YOU!" Isabela shouted.

"I ACCEPT!" Haru shouted back, laughing.

The four guards stood there, sitting, watching, not knowing what to do. One of them sighed.

"My gods..."

Isabela, tired and irritated, gave up. She got into the carriage, slammed the door, and locked it.

Haru stayed outside, smiling, satisfied.

The child watched all this from between the trees, indignant.

She stepped on a branch on the ground.

CRACK.

It broke. Loudly.

One of the guards raised his head. He stopped eating.

"Someone’s there," he said, putting his hand on his sword. He got up and started walking toward the tree.

Another older guard with a gray beard said:

"What the hell are you doing? You’re not a fucking psychic. I’m a psychic and I’m not sensing anything. Go back to eating, rookie."

The young guard stopped, hesitated, then returned, embarrassed.

He sat down again.

Haru climbed on top of Isabela’s carriage and sat on the roof. He crossed his legs and began to work on the system. He gestured in the air, clicking on invisible screens, dragging windows that only he could see.

The child watched indignantly.

The guards also watched, occasionally shaking their heads. To them, Haru seemed crazy. Gesturing into thin air, talking to himself. After all, only he could see the system.

Moments later, everyone was asleep. The guards lay around the fire, snoring softly. Haru was still on the roof of the carriage, lying on his back, arms behind his head. Isabela was inside the carriage, the door locked.

The child waited patiently until he was sure everyone was asleep, then came out from behind the tree. He walked slowly, his bare feet making no noise.

He went to the fire, where Isabela’s meat had fallen, and crouched calmly, hoping to find some leftovers there.

She searched among the embers, carefully, her small fingers searching.

Then she saw it. The shadow of someone crouching on the other side of the fire, looking at her.

"Are you okay?"

She raised her head.

It was Haru.

She was startled and fell backward. She quickly got up and ran straight into the forest, but when she reached the trees... She saw Haru coming out of the shadows in front of her.

"Hey! Don’t run away! I won’t hurt you!"

"NO!"

she screamed, turning back. Almost staggering. "DON’T TOUCH ME!"

She turned to run in another direction, but bumped into something—a guard, the psychic, had woken up. He grabbed her shoulder.

"Hey, hey, it’s okay—"

She held her breath... Sparks began to fly out of her body, jumping more and more intensely.

"I... I didn’t mean to..." she murmured.

The guard’s hand glowed, then his arm, then his entire body.

"I’m... I’m exploding—"

An intense glow began to radiate from him. And then...

Everything stopped... Haru appeared in front of the child, hugged her, pulled her against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her protectively. And then...

Nothing.

Silence, the sparks disappeared, the light went out. The guard fell to his knees, smoking, his skin burned in places, but alive, breathing heavily and frightened.

The other guards rushed over to see.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!"

"Is he alive?!"

"What the hell was that?!"

The child was in Haru’s arms, trembling.

Haru held her tightly but gently.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice low. "Hey, hey, look at me. It’s okay."

She didn’t answer. She just trembled.

The carriage door opened. Isabela came out, her hair messy, wearing her nightclothes, her eyes wide.

"A child?!" she said, running to Haru.

She crouched down beside him. She looked at the girl in his arms.

Her hair was dirty white, her clothes torn, her skin covered in scratches and mud, her eyes shining faintly.

"What... what happened?" asked Isabela.

Haru didn’t answer, just stared at the child.

For the first time... Someone hadn’t exploded when she touched them, and a man about to explode had been saved.

The child looked at Haru and murmured, her weak voice almost inaudible.

"...Papa."

Then she fainted...