A memo that had been hastily scrawled the night before lay slightly curled on the table. Hana smoothed it out in the morning light streaming through the workshop window. The preliminary's second competition was tomorrow. She'd written down several ingredient candidates. Chestnuts. Pears. Brown sugar. And then——after hesitating and crossing out a line——something citrus-based. Honestly, she still hadn't settled on a direction. Yesterday's lower-bracket advancement kept clinging to the corner of her mind, pulling her thoughts toward a defensive approach. (Even if I play it safe, a lower-bracket advancement will just become a mid-bracket advancement.) She understood that much. But she couldn't quite see how to attack, or what to attack with. Hana tapped the pencil tip against the memo's margins. Beyond the window, the amber-colored walls of Kanro Palace gleamed in the morning sun. The perpetually drifting sweet scent tickled her nose as always. There was no knock. The door opened just slightly, and a face poked through. "We're going to Renkousai." He said it flatly and his face disappeared. Footsteps echoed down the hallway. Hana set down her pencil. She glanced at the memo. Then she sighed and took off her apron. ——She had no choice but to follow. When she burst into the hallway, Ren was already about ten meters ahead. Tall, with black hair tied back, his silhouette cast a sharp shadow in the hallway's lighting. His pace was quick. The gait of someone who already knew where he was going. "Hey, wait up," She caught up with him in a quick walk. Ren glanced back at her briefly. There was no sense that he'd been waiting. But once he confirmed she was beside him, he turned forward again and kept walking. "Why are you taking me with you?" "You might develop an eye for ingredients. Might. No guarantees." His tone was matter-of-fact. Not considerate, not overflowing with kindness. Just a judgment that taking her along would be more beneficial——that was the atmosphere he gave off. Hana measured him for a moment, then decided it was fine. Even as she recognized herself being pulled along, strangely, she didn't mind. Renkousai——a district about ten kilometers east of Kanro Palace, reached by walking down the great avenue called "The Ruts of Time," where spice culture from the Age of Exploration through the early modern period had taken root——had an entirely different air from Kanro Palace's settled sweetness. The moment they stepped out of the avenue, the scent that hit her nose was the sharp sting of spices. Cardamom, cinnamon, dried chili, and something Hana couldn't name. Colorful fabrics hung from eaves, mountains of wicker baskets spilled onto the sidewalk, and somewhere meat was being grilled, smoke rising thinly into the sky. There was so much noise. Merchants calling out, voices asking prices, children running around. They blended together into a single, vibrant wall of sound. "Wow," Her feet stopped without thinking. Ren kept moving ahead. Hana hurried after him, turning her head in every direction. Next to a fabric shop was a stall of dried fruit, and beside that, mysterious liquids in jars were being sold. A male peddler slipped past Hana's side, carrying a large basket on his shoulders, his footsteps loud as he passed. Ren stopped in front of the first stall. "Look at this." He pointed to bags of powder lined up. The color was a mix of pale yellow and deep brown. Hana leaned in and smelled it. Sweetness and spiciness came at once, then a floral aftertaste lingered. "It's like ginger. But more——round?" "A unique species from within the second district. When dried, it develops sweetness. In baked goods, it can elevate the base flavor, but use too much and it takes over everything." His explanation was rapid. Machine-gun fast. Moving to the next stall, Ren continued matter-of-factly: "This one's lost its freshness, the scent isn't tight," "This is good, look at the leaf color, it doesn't fade even when dried." His delivery was emotionless, less like receiving a lesson and more like watching a machine sort items. Except for his eyes. The way he looked at the ingredients while talking——serious, and just a little bit pleased. "How do you know so much about this stuff?" She asked while walking. Ren didn't answer immediately. Not until he'd opened the mouth of a bag at the third stall and checked the sugar crystals inside. "I've been walking markets since I was a kid. Finding ingredients and chasing after them." "Chasing after them?" "When I found something that looked interesting, I wanted to know where it came from, how it was used. Eventually I started going far." His delivery was flat. But within that flatness, there was one moment where his tone shifted slightly. "I got lost once. Fell off a cliff inside a cave where I'd found an ingredient." "...Off a cliff?" "I was told it was reckless." Only there did his words carry a pause. His gaze drifted for just a moment——to empty air beyond the stall. Just a few seconds. Then it came back, and he started walking toward the next stall. Hana saw that gap. She didn't press. She just walked beside him. Silence stretched for a while, and it wasn't as heavy as she'd expected. Rather, it felt strangely calm. In front of the fourth stall, Ren's feet stopped. "...This is it." His voice changed. The temperature rose, just slightly. Fruit was arranged in a wooden box at the stall. Smaller than apples, pear-shaped, but with a deep crimson skin. The surface had a glossy sheen, and in the morning light it seemed to glow translucently. "Koushourii——a rare fruit found only in the second district. When ripe, it's sweet enough to eat with the skin on. It has particularly good compatibility with soul-burning technique, and it's said that craftspeople's emotions transfer easily to the material. But the season is short and it rarely reaches the market. Finding it here today is honestly lucky." Hana picked up one of the fruits. It was heavy. When she touched the skin, it was cool and smooth. Bringing it to her nose, she caught a scent mixing sweetness with faint acidity. Complex, but not sharp. It seemed like it would go well with something warm. "How much is this?" The stall owner——an elderly man with a round face and large build, wearing a leather apron——looked up. "Five kan-ryuu per fruit." Five kan-ryuu——the currency used in the confectionery world, "kan-ryuu," was worth about a hundred yen in the real world, so five was equivalent to five hundred yen. Expensive for a single fruit. Hana started to reach for her wallet. Ren gently pushed her arm back. Hana was startled and glanced sideways. Ren's gaze remained fixed on the stall owner. "Three kan-ryuu. No damage, but the ripeness is a bit early. If you don't use it within two days it'll get too soft." "Five kan-ryuu is cheap. There's nowhere else with this today." "Exactly why it's three kan-ryuu. If you can't use it, it has no value. You're dealing with a competition participant——there's no point in taking advantage." The two were staring each other down. Or rather, Ren wasn't backing down at all. If anything, during the negotiation, the corner of his mouth rose slightly. He was enjoying this. Hana looked between them alternately. If it were her, she would have said "Five kan-ryuu, understood" and been done with it. Recognizing that about herself, her face gradually grew warm. She felt like she was watching something she shouldn't. "...Four kan-ryuu. Not a sen less." "Three kan-ryuu and five rin." "..." After the silence, the stall owner let out a heavy sigh. "Take 'em," he said, putting three koushourii into a burlap sack and handing it to Ren. Ren paid his kan-ryuu and started walking. Hana fell into step beside him, glancing at the burlap sack. "...What's three kan-ryuu and five rin?" "Five rin isn't a unit used in the confectionery world. But saying it makes the other person move." He said it with completely innocent expression. Hana was silent for a while, then burst out laughing. A laugh mixing exasperation and amusement. "You're strong." "It's just practice." --- They left Renkousai and walked west along the Ruts of Time side by side. Their footsteps echoed regularly on the stone pavement. The midday sun slanted down, casting their shadows long across the stones. The bazaar's noise gradually faded, replaced by the sound of wind and the smell of grass. The conversation had stopped. It was a natural silence. Walking quietly together, it didn't feel unnatural at all. Until yesterday, such gaps had felt somewhat unsettling, but today was different. Strangely, just walking side by side made something feel a little lighter. Hana confirmed that feeling by looking down slightly and stepping on the stones. Then her mouth moved. She hadn't intended it. She just said it. "My grandmother ran a small Western confectionery shop called Kagetsuudou," As soon as she said it, she thought, oh no. It had no connection to anything. But Ren didn't change his pace. There was a sense that he was listening. Hana continued. "By the time I was old enough to remember, the shop was already there, and I was practically living in the kitchen. I loved watching my grandmother make confections. I could spend hours there." Ren said nothing. Just kept walking. No sense of interrupting. That——made it easy to talk. "I loved the smell of the ingredients, the sound of the oven, the color after baking, all of it. And when my grandmother handed someone a confection, their face would change. I wanted to see that face, so I make confections. That hasn't changed even now, but..." As she spoke, she felt her words were too honest. Normally she'd slip in a joke here, lighten it up. But today, for some reason, she didn't. "My grandmother left behind a recipe notebook, and there was a confection she never finished. I made it and gave it to a child, and they said——it tastes like my grandmother's," She stepped on another stone of the avenue. "That day, I got pulled into Tokigama. The timing is——weird, somehow," The last part came with a slight smile. Not laughing it off, but genuine wonder at the strangeness. Ren remained silent, looking ahead. Hana looked at his profile. No reaction. A flutter of anxiety rose——had she said something unnecessary? But Ren didn't change his pace or avert his gaze, just kept walking beside her. Wind blew, and his tied-back hair swayed slightly. After a while. "Then win." His voice was low and quiet. The usual lightness had fallen away. It wasn't encouragement. Not comfort either. Just "win, that's all"——only someone who had truly listened to her words could say it like that. Hana looked ahead but down. Laughter came. Not tears——laughter. She didn't know why, but she was a little happy that she could receive these words in this way. "...Yeah." That was all she said. Ren said nothing more. They walked side by side again. --- They passed through the entrance of Kanro Palace, walked down the practice corridor, and arrived at the front of room twenty-three. Ren said only "Tomorrow" and walked off down the hallway. Hana watched his back for a while, then took out her key. The metal's coldness settled into her palm. She was about to insert it into the lock——when her eyes stopped. The light was coming in differently today. Whether the hallway's lighting angle changed between morning and afternoon, the fine scratches around the keyhole were more distinct than usual. She'd noticed them yesterday too. But today they seemed clearer. Hana crouched down and brought her face closer. They were shallow scratches. But there were several. Marks like something had caught. Not random——they clustered along the edge of the keyhole. (Tried to insert the key but couldn't get it in right——?) She couldn't say it was her own clumsiness. But. Hana stood up and opened the door. Inside, the stone's coldness tra