Four days had passed since the muddy battle with the Giant Toad. Kazuma still found himself thinking back to that night from time to time. How Ruri had spoken to him haltingly in front of the campfire. Three years in Kalsaad. The nights spent alone practicing incantations. And that one sentence, so straightforward it was almost painful: "I want to be by your side." (Maybe this is bad. It's been four days and I still don't know if it's bad or not.) On an overcast afternoon, Kazuma sat at a window-side table in the Wiltstein Tavern, nursing half a glass of ale while gazing blankly outside. The sky on cloudy days was flat and featureless—not the kind of weather that helped you think. "[serious]Kazuma, are you listening? We're trying to decide who's paying for lunch today" "[sarcastic]I'm not listening" "[angry]Pay up! You're the leader!" "[sarcastic]The leader doesn't have to pay" Aqua was waving her long golden hair and flailing her arms around. Still as loud as ever. Megumin had spread out a notebook with explosion magic incantation charts across the next table, completely lost in her own world. Ruri sat across from Kazuma with her training notes on her lap, staring intently at his face for some reason. Noticing her gaze, Kazuma turned to look at her. "[gentle]……It's nothing" Ruri looked away and smiled softly. Her silver bob cut swayed. The freckles near her mouth were just... there. (This is bad.) When Kazuma reached for his ale mug, Luna—the receptionist from the Axel Adventurer's Guild—hurried into the Wiltstein Tavern through the door. Her usual cheerful receptionist demeanor was gone, replaced by something tense. "[serious]Kazuma, I have an urgent message. Someone claiming to be a special devotee of the Axis Church has come to the guild asking to meet with Ruri Filtia……" Luna trailed off mid-sentence. Ruri's hand stopped moving. The pages of her training notes made a soft rustling sound. "[whispers]……Yuga" It was a small voice. Almost like she was talking to herself. But it reached Kazuma's ears clearly across the table. The smile that had been on Ruri's face moments before had vanished. (That night when Ruri told me about Kalsaad. The training academy where she practiced alone. The other people who were there. They weren't ordinary.) Kazuma set down his mug. "[sarcastic]What a pain. Let's go" "[excited]Wait! If it's Axis Church business, I have a duty to handle it! As the goddess's representative, I should take the lead——" Aqua stood up and pulled her chair back forcefully, only to catch her foot on the step by the entrance and fall spectacularly. A dull thud echoed through the tavern. "[crying]Someone help me……" "[serious]I'll use explosion magic——" "[angry]Don't you dare!! If you use explosion magic in the guild, the whole place will collapse!!" Megumin's staff was snatched away before she could cast, and she pouted with a "tch." The incompetent party's procession still managed to arrive in front of the guild counter five minutes later. --- The man was tall. Over one hundred eighty centimeters, with silver hair neatly arranged down to his shoulders. Behind silver-rimmed glasses were cool silver eyes, and a thin scar ran down his left cheek. He wore a white shirt beneath a subdued-colored overcoat, everything about him perfectly composed. Perfectly composed as he looked at them. Several adventurers in the vicinity were glancing at him. His mere presence seemed to tighten the air around him. The man looked at Ruri and smiled gently. "[gentle]Ruri, I came to see you. Your mother worries about you every day" He spoke in a quiet voice while bowing with practiced grace. Ruri looked down. "[whispers]Yuga, but I……" Her voice caught awkwardly. The guilt was written plainly across her face. The man—Yuga Licht—shifted his gaze from Ruri to Kazuma and the others. His polite smile never wavering. "[serious]As a special devotee of the Axis Church, I have the authority to formally protect and escort Ruri. Please verify my credentials" What he produced from his pocket was a registration certificate from the Axis Church's special devotee roster. Among the church's approximately one hundred twenty thousand believers, this title was granted to only about thirty—those with direct petition rights to the church's upper echelon. A formal credential of the highest order. Luna examined it and nodded slightly. "[serious]……Yes, it's authentic" Yuga turned his gaze back to Kazuma and the others. "[gentle]Thank you for taking care of her. I apologize for the trouble Ruri has caused" He said it with a smile. Refreshingly. Naturally. As if it were the most obvious thing in the world. With that single sentence, the entire party had been reclassified as "the group that was babysitting Ruri." (……What is this guy?) Kazuma said nothing. He had things he wanted to say. But he couldn't figure out what to say. Ruri was wavering. That alone stabbed at something in his chest. "[serious]……Could I speak with you, Azuma?" --- The back alley of the Wiltstein Tavern. The stone-paved passage was dim even in daylight, and the smell of soup drifted from the kitchen's ventilation shaft. Just the two of them. The gentle expression Yuga had worn at the guild was gone from his face. He was still smiling. Still smiling, but—there was no warmth in it. "[cold]I won't hand that girl over to you" His voice was low. "[cold]A failed adventurer has no right to ruin Ruri's life. Do you understand?" Kazuma's mouth opened. He tried to say something. In that instant, Yuga raised his right hand slightly. The air changed. A thin membrane seemed to stretch across the entire alley. A barrier formed by sacred scripture magic—the high-level magic used by Axis Church priests—deployed silently. Kazuma's consciousness reflexively turned toward Steal. His unique skill—randomly stealing items from a target. His only trump card. He tried to lock onto the target—and couldn't. The barrier was blocking the very act of targeting. A complete miss. Nothing happened. Seconds. That was all it took for everything to end. "[cold]I won't tell you not to underestimate me. I never thought you were worth underestimating in the first place" Something burned in his chest. He thought it was humiliation. But no words of rebuttal came. (Why won't they come?) He thought about it himself—and understood. To talk back, you needed grounds. A reason to say "Ruri should stay here." Which meant his own feelings about Ruri had to be clear. And they weren't. That's why the words wouldn't come. "[sarcastic]……I get it. That's enough" The words he forced out were all he could manage. Yuga bowed quietly and left the alley. Watching his back disappear, Kazuma leaned against the alley wall and slowly exhaled. Then, from around the corner, a lock of deep crimson hair poked out halfway. Megumin was waving at Kazuma with a grin on her face. Yuga turned around. "[surprised]……" Megumin said "oh!" and disappeared around the corner at incredible speed. After a long silence, Yuga left the alley without saying anything. "[serious]Don't eavesdrop" "[sarcastic]I wasn't eavesdropping—I was keeping watch" "[serious]Same thing" --- Night fell. The Wiltstein Tavern was filled with the bustle of dinner time, just like always. Adventurers laughed while drinking beer. The smell of roasted meat drifted from the kitchen. Kazuma sat alone at a table near the entrance, surveying the hall. At a table in the back, Yuga sat across from Aqua. Aqua's eyes were shining. She was leaning forward. Kazuma couldn't hear Yuga's voice. But he could tell what they were talking about from Aqua's expression. The growth of the Axis Church's believers. It was a problem that had troubled Aqua as a priest for years. The Eris Church had deep roots in Axel, and the Axis Church's missionary work wasn't progressing as hoped. And if someone told her there were massive church assets in Kalsaad—— "[excited]Is that really true!? If we could use the Kalsaad church assets to cooperate——" Aqua slid off her chair in excitement and grabbed both of Yuga's knees, clinging to him. Yuga's expression became subtly awkward. His smile never faltered, but his expression was subtly awkward. Kazuma stood silently against the pillar by the entrance. There was anger. There was anxiety. And frustration with himself mixed in. (My companions are being turned against me.) But he couldn't move. Moving required grounds again. Something within himself that would let him say "Ruri should be here." Something that hadn't taken shape yet. --- Deep night. The customers had left the hall, and the Wiltstein Tavern had grown quiet. Only the sound of burning wood and the wind passing outside remained. Kazuma sat alone at a table in the far back, drinking ale. Or rather, just holding it. The entire day kept replaying in his mind. Yuga's smile and the voice beneath it. The sensation of Steal missing. Aqua leaning forward. And—the face Ruri made when she whispered "Yuga." When he put his hand in his pocket, his fingers touched fabric. He pulled it out. A white handkerchief. On the first day they'd returned to Axel, he'd reflexively used Steal and taken it from Ruri. He'd been looking for the right moment to return it ever since. Pale blue embroidery was stitched along the edge. (I couldn't say anything to her. And the reason I couldn't is because my feelings aren't clear enough to say it. So why aren't my feelings clear? Because I don't understand them. So why don't I understand them?) He was repeating questions with no answers when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. It was Ruri. She came down in her nightclothes, clutching her training notes to her chest. Their eyes met. Ruri looked a little surprised, then smiled softly. "[gentle]……Are you alone at this hour?" "[sarcastic]So are you" Ruri quietly sat in the chair across from him. She placed her notebook on the table and spent a moment with a thoughtful expression on her face. "[whispers]I'm sorry for causing you trouble, Kazuma" She said only that. Then she opened her notebook and began her incantation practice. A small voice flowed through the quiet hall. A careful, deliberate voice, as if confirming each sound. Thirty seconds later. The wall at the edge of the table glowed faintly. "[laughing]Oh no, I did it again" The light faded away. Ruri looked a little embarrassed and began her incantation again. Kazuma rolled his ale mug in his hands. (This laugh—it reached me more quietly than anything else today. Why is that?) He started to say something. Started to, then stopped. The words wouldn't form. But this time it wasn't because he lacked grounds to speak. He simply didn't know what to say yet. In the dim hall, Ruri's incantation voice continued. Kazuma put the handkerchief back in his pocket and sat at the quiet table, listening to her voice. Tomorrow, Yuga would submit formal documents to the guild. Kazuma couldn't yet see what that would mean in full. But he had a feeling that when this night ended, something would change. Of that much, at least, he was certain.