The light of dawn was beginning to pierce through the eastern gate of Axel. The cobblestones were wet with morning dew, and a crow cawed in the distance. It was still an hour when few people were about. Through this silence, a single figure moved. Silver hair and silver-rimmed glasses. A refined face. Footsteps echoed quietly across the stone pavement. It was Yuga Licht. Behind him, a girl with a silver bob cut swaying gently, wearing a small backpack—Ruri Filtia. Her face was downcast. Each step was painfully slow. "Ruri Filtia!" The voice cut through the silence. Yuga stopped. He turned around. Four figures came running from beyond the eastern gate. Aqua was in the lead. Her long golden hair flew wildly, and she was breathing hard, yet still " [angry] I said I'd be in front! Kazuma's running too slow!" " [angry] You were the slowest of all!!" Kazuma caught up and shouted back. His black short hair was disheveled, and the piercing in his left ear swayed in the morning light. " [serious] I was confirming the final incantation while running, so my pace dropped slightly. No problem, hehe." Megumin answered coolly, her deep crimson long hair swaying. " [gentle] I completed the armor adjustments before we started running. It's perfect." Darkness had her golden hair tied back, carried her large shield on her back, and wasn't even breathing hard. Ruri turned around and looked at the four faces. Her eyes opened wide. Kazuma stepped forward. His breathing was ragged, but his eyes were serious. He pulled out a single piece of parchment from his pocket and thrust it toward Yuga. " [serious] Yuga Licht. That document you submitted—Darkness investigated it. The placement of the Axis Church's official seal doesn't match the formal style. And—the authority of a special believer is direct petition rights to the church leadership, right? There's no legal basis for forcibly transporting Ruri, no matter where you read it." Yuga looked at the parchment. For a moment, his cool silver eyes stopped. But then his mouth curved into an arc. A calm smile returned. " [cold] ...I see. You investigated." " [serious] Whether it's fraudulent or not, Ruri should be with me. I've always protected Ruri. What could you possibly do?" His voice was gentle. Gentle, yet somehow sharp as a blade. Ruri took a small step back. " [sad] Yuga... I..." Her voice trembled. At that moment, adventurers walking along the street near the eastern gate began to stop. Some, apparently heading out for morning quests, whispered to each other: "Hey, what's all this commotion?" "Isn't that Yuga the young man staying at the Silver Horn Lantern, that high-class inn?" Before long, a small crowd had gathered. Yuga's right hand slowly rose. White light gathered at his fingertips. Upper-tier holy magic—an attack spell classified among the higher ranks of light-attribute holy magic used by Axis Church priests. Three blades of light began to form in the air. " [serious] Steal!" *Whoosh.* Something flew into Kazuma's palm. Silver-rimmed glasses. The moment the glasses disappeared from Yuga's face—that calm expression cracked slightly. His true, flustered face showed for just an instant. His refined features loosened, and his eyes narrowed as if searching for something. " [sarcastic] Your true nature's completely exposed." Kazuma tossed the glasses lightly. " [excited] My turn!" Aqua swung her arms wide. "Purification!!" A white light flashed and spread. The blades of light floating in the air around Yuga collided with Aqua's purification magic—and vanished. Like dissolving in water, without a trace. " [serious] If the next wave comes, I'll purify that too." Aqua put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest. "Don't underestimate a goddess's purification." Megumin stepped forward smoothly. She dropped to one knee on the ground. Her deep crimson long hair swayed in the morning breeze, and her red magic eyes glowed faintly. It was the stance for incantation. " [serious] I'm within explosion magic range. I recommend you don't move." Her tone was flat. Emotionless. That made it all the more terrifying. Yuga stopped moving. His face showed he couldn't tell if she'd actually cast it. " [gentle] I'll take all remaining attacks. Please, don't hold back!" Darkness raised her large shield and stood in front of Kazuma. Her voice sounded almost pleased. " [serious] ...You're just threatening, right? You're not actually going to cast it, right?" Kazuma asked Megumin in a low voice. " [serious] I'm ninety percent through the incantation." " [angry] Don't cast it!! Everyone will get caught in the blast!!" Kazuma rushed over to Megumin and grabbed her head with one hand. " [gentle] Taking the impact of explosion magic is also... well... that's..." Darkness muttered something behind her shield. Her face was slightly flushed. " [angry] I'll get blown away too!!" The onlooking adventurers stirred. "That party... they're amazing." "Can't tell if they're amazing or falling apart." "But somehow... they're functioning?" Yuga couldn't move. It was chaos. It was incompetent. But—it was definitely functioning. Cornered, Yuga's gaze turned to Ruri. " [cold] Ruri, let's go. There's nothing good about staying here." He extended his hand. With a calm face. The face of someone who had always been by her side as a childhood friend. Ruri hesitated. She looked at Yuga's hand. She looked at Kazuma. Then she looked at Yuga's hand again. Kazuma searched for words. There was no more logical counterargument. He'd already made the point about the documents. He'd already made the point about legal basis. After that— Kazuma stopped searching for words. Instead of addressing Yuga, he shouted at Ruri. " [excited] I'm not strong. I have no money. The party's full of incompetent people." His voice echoed through the eastern gate. " [excited] But—you smile when you're with these guys. When we were talking by the campfire at night, when you fell in the river and got all muddy, when you accidentally triggered magic in the hall at midnight—all of it! You weren't crying when you were with Yuga!!" He threw only the facts he'd witnessed directly at her. Ruri's eyes opened wide. A single tear fell. The next moment—Ruri gently avoided the hand Yuga had extended. She ran forward. One step, two steps. Her silver bob cut swayed. The small freckles around her mouth were visible in her tear-stained, laughing face. Kazuma hurriedly tried to brace himself to catch her—but he wasn't in time. Ruri's both hands gripped Kazuma's right hand tightly. It was warm. " [gentle] I'll stay by Kazuma's side. That's what I've decided." She was crying and smiling at the same time. Kazuma couldn't say anything. Without saying anything, he squeezed back. " [angry] Wait! What about my hand!? Grip the goddess's hand too!!" Aqua pushed her way in between them. " [gentle] ...This storm of jealousy... it's perfect..." Darkness quietly endured something behind her shield. " [excited] Congratulations. For the occasion, shall I cast one explosion magic—" Megumin began to move into incantation stance. " [angry] Stop!!" Kazuma kept one hand on Megumin's head while continuing to hold Ruri's hand. At that moment, someone stepped forward from the crowd. A woman in the Adventurer's Guild uniform—Luna, the receptionist. Her face wasn't the usual one from the counter, but the official face of duty. " [serious] Yuga Licht. Regarding the protection application submitted under Axis Church special believer authority." Luna's voice was quiet and carried well. "It has been confirmed that the submitted documents do not meet the formal style issued by the church, and that the authority of a special believer has been exceeded. This application is hereby invalidated as of today." The surrounding adventurers formed a circle around Yuga. Yuga didn't move. He retrieved the glasses Kazuma had thrown and put them back on. Behind the silver rims, his cool silver eyes became quiet. The emotion drained from his face. That calm mask returned. " [cold] ...I see." That was all. He turned on his heel. He began walking toward the eastern gate. As he left—without turning back, he looked at Kazuma, not Ruri, and said in a low voice: " [cold] Don't think this is over." His back disappeared into the morning light. One of the onlooking adventurers muttered quietly. "That beautiful young man... he's coming back? Sounds interesting." The adventurer next to him sighed. "We're the ones getting caught up in it every time." —— When everyone returned to the Virtuous Stain Tavern, the proprietress Erika looked up. A woman in her forties with guts, her usually kind face was a bit exasperated today. " [sarcastic] Honestly, you regulars are noisy even in the morning. I can pretty much guess what happened, but just sit down." As she said this, she began lining up mugs of ale on the table. The celebration began. " [angry] I said grip my hand too! There's an order to these things! Goddess, hello!?" Aqua was pressing Kazuma. " [serious] I believe permission for a commemorative explosion magic can be obtained if cast outside town. I'll go apply right now." Megumin stood up with a serious face. " [gentle] I'll endure this entire hellscape. Gladly." Darkness raised her shield. " [angry] You guys, please just calm down for a second!!" Kazuma was shouting in three directions. Beside him, only Ruri sat quietly, holding her mug of ale with both hands. She was smiling softly. Her mouth with its freckles moved, her eyes narrowed, and she looked happy. The moment her laughter reached him—something fell into place inside Kazuma. That hollow feeling he'd had that first night in this same tavern, drinking ale alone. That vague heaviness of something missing. It was gone now. (So that's what it was.) He quietly settled it in his heart. He didn't put it into words. But he understood. The feeling of wanting someone sincerely—it seemed he possessed that too. It seemed that was the true nature of what had always been missing. " [whispers] Um... Kazuma, your hand..." Ruri said softly beside him. Kazuma looked and saw they were still holding hands. It seemed they'd kept holding on the whole way back from the eastern gate. " [surprised] Oh, we're still holding? Come on, let go." Kazuma tried to pull his hand away. " [gentle] You don't have to let go." Ruri smiled. Kazuma's ears gradually turned red. Aqua jumped up from her chair. " [angry] Huh!? Huh!? Wait a second!?" Megumin stood with a serious face. " [serious] The commemorative explosion magic is definitely necessary." Darkness raised her shield. " [gentle] ...This jealous hellscape... I'll endure it all—" Kazuma shouted. " [angry] You all sit down right now!!!" Laughter spread through the Virtuous Stain Tavern. —— The celebration ended, and night fell. Kazuma stepped outside the tavern alone. The night sky of Axel had many stars. In the distance, the murmur of the Lutea River could be heard. He put his hand in his pocket. His fingertips felt the texture of cloth. A handkerchief with neat folds. Pale blue embroidery. The one Ruri had washed and returned to him. He gripped it tightly. (Yuga said he'd come back.) He murmured quietly. The night wind blew, and his black short hair swayed. The document problem was settled. But the eyes behind those silver-rimmed glasses—they had told him it wasn't over. And his adventurer rank was still intermediate. He took out his rank card. The word "Intermediate" floated in the moonlight. Unless he rose to advanced rank, Ruri's protection application wouldn't go through. He thought it was a pain. But—at the same time, he thought he'd do it. For the first time today, those two feelings sat side by side with equal weight.