Before dawn, the Ginkgo Tavern was filled with the scent of simmering demon boar bones. 　黒木悟 stood in the kitchen, trying to spare a corner of his mind to think about the Steel Lattice——a continent-spanning administrative organization overseeing adventurers, with a branch even in Water's End——and how to handle it. He tried. 　The pot bottom nearly scorched for three seconds. 　His thoughts got pulled that way instead. From high heat to medium. One sweep of the wooden spatula around the bottom. Yeah, safe. The collagen from demon boar bones had to be coaxed out slowly over low heat. Even in the three-star kitchens of his past life, rushing the stock meant defeat. （The Steel Lattice thing——well, a sticky note will do.） 　He opened his research notebook and jotted down several hypotheses about solute. Watching イリーナ・メルヴァ's solute rampage the other day——that phenomenon where control slipped when emotions spiked——he'd noticed a few things. Solute arts were supposed to be a technique of drawing in atmospheric particles and converting them through willpower, but in her case, emotion moved before will. Something felt fundamentally different about it. 　He wrote "Irina Problem" small at the notebook's edge and stuck a note there. 　Procrastination complete. 　That's when he sensed a presence in the back of the kitchen. Silver hair caught the corner of his vision. イリーナ・メルヴァ had woken earlier than 黒木, checking outside the window. She'd been doing that several times since last night. Every time she heard hoofbeats——or even without hoofbeats, just wind blowing from an odd direction——she'd grip her hands tighter on her lap. 「Good morning」 「……Good morning」 　Her voice was low and small. She answered without taking her gaze from outside the window. Her mismatched gold and blue eyes kept watch over the dimly lit cobblestones before dawn. 　黒木 said nothing and continued preparing breakfast. イリーナ came to help. As she reached to arrange plates——five plates floated up about five centimeters all at once. They hung suspended. Solute leaking from tension had become a morning routine by now. 「They're floating」 　He said it without turning around. 「……I'm sorry」 　The plates descended slowly. Five plates lined up on the counter, not a single one out of place. 黒木 pulled out his research notebook. He wrote: "Landing precision: Good. Solute control showing stable trend." 「Today's goal is breaking two plates or fewer」 　イリーナ turned around. Her gold and blue eyes narrowed slightly. 「……Two is too many」 　It was a protest. Small, but definitely a protest. 黒木 opened his notebook and added a line. "Speech volume: Increasing trend. Particularly proactive in objections." 　He tried not to think too deeply about what he was recording. --- 　An hour after opening, three regular sand-rank adventurers——muscular A, talkative B, easygoing C——rushed in together. 「We're here, we're here, the usual set meal——」 　Just as all three were about to sit, B lowered his voice. 「Hey, you see the branch headquarters toward the north end earlier」 　A's face hardened. 「……The Steel Lattice banner flag, right. There were several horses」 「Not the usual branch crew. The numbers are different」 　The air in the shop shifted slightly. Adventurers at other tables naturally lowered their voices. 黒木 continued the demon boar stew while watching from the kitchen. 　At the counter, イリーナ stood frozen, cloth in hand. 　黒木 quietly moved to the kitchen entrance and gently pulled イリーナ's shoulder. 「Come here for a moment」 　Behind the shelves in the back of the kitchen. イリーナ nodded. No words came out. Her hands trembled slightly. 黒木 said nothing, checked the soup's heat, and returned to normal operations. --- 　Before noon, the Ginkgo Tavern's door creaked. 　It was a heavy sound. Not the sound of an ordinary customer opening a door. A slow, deliberate, pressurized opening. 　One step inside. 　Everyone in the shop stopped talking. Reflexively, naturally, without anyone ordering them to. Three adventurers half-rose from their seats. 　Salt-and-pepper gray short hair. A black eye patch covering the left eye. A Steel Lattice emblem on the chest——a shield with chains coiled around it, the badge worn only by branch commanders. About 188 centimeters tall, with an unusual thickness to his frame. The remnants of his gold-rank adventurer days still seeped through his gait. 　ドルグ・ハーヴェン. Steel Lattice Water's End Branch Commander. 　The stone Ginkgo Tavern seemed to increase in volume for just a moment. 　Silence filled the space——except for the sound of a knife being sharpened. 黒木 kept moving the whetstone normally in the kitchen. Shick, shick, a monotonous sound that rang out of place. 　Sand-rank A pointed at 黒木's back with his elbow, moving only his mouth. "That's the branch commander!!" 　黒木 set down his knife and looked up. 「Welcome, how many guests」 　His voice was businesslike. Completely normal customer service. 　ドルグ looked at 黒木. A heavy pause hung between them. 「……One」 　A low voice. But that was all he said before slowly settling into a counter seat. 　黒木 offered the menu. ドルグ took it and began reading carefully from end to end. 　One minute passed. 　Two minutes passed. 　Sand-rank B mouthed "scary" to A next to him. A mouthed back "shut up." C just kept drinking soup. 　ドルグ opened his mouth without taking his eyes from the menu. 「黒木, what are the ingredients in the sauce for this demon boar stew hamburger」 　An interrogation. Completely an interrogation tone. 「A base of fond made from simmering demon boar bones for seven hours, diluted with broth from rehydrated dried mushrooms, simmered over low heat for ninety minutes, then finished with high heat for five minutes. The root vegetables arrived this morning from the Garben farm」 　He answered matter-of-factly. ドルグ nodded. 「The origin of the dried mushrooms」 「From the market in the lower Meran River region, sourced from the outer edges of Tower Shadow Wasteland. Since that area has slightly elevated solute concentration, I extend the rehydration time longer than usual」 「The basis for ninety minutes on low heat」 「To maintain the temperature range where collagen dissolves slowly. Rushing it introduces off-flavors」 　Everyone in the shop looked back and forth between 黒木 and ドルグ. Not a single fork moved. Because this was clearly a gourmet interrogation. A one-eyed former gold-rank adventurer grilling a cook about ingredient origins and cooking times. What kind of scene was this. 　Sand-rank C whispered to A. "Why's he answering so detailed" "That's just how 黒木 is" "Huh" "He's really just like that" 　ドルグ placed the menu on the counter. 「……Then, the demon boar stew hamburger」 　黒木 withdrew to the kitchen. 　The dish arrived. An oval plate with a nicely seared meat patty and glossy sauce. Root vegetable accompaniments. That was all. No unnecessary garnish or explanation. 　ドルグ looked at the plate. He took fork and knife. One bite, cut and eaten. 　Another bite. 　Another bite. 　The shop was completely still. No one eating. No one talking. The mere fact that the branch commander was eating the Ginkgo Tavern's set meal pressed everyone into their chairs like gravity. 　ドルグ finished eating. He set down fork and knife. He took a sip of water. Facing forward, completely motionless——for ten seconds. 　Something fell down his cheek. 　A single line. 　Expressionless. Silent. A tear. 　Sand-rank A pointed. "The branch commander's crying!!" 「It's dust」 「There's no wind today!!" 「It's solute lamp smoke」 「That lamp type doesn't produce smoke!!" 「Onion smell got in my eye」 「We didn't use onions」 　A quiet correction came from the kitchen. 　ドルグ froze for a moment. Then he wiped the eye not covered by the patch. His expression didn't change at all. Completely expressionless as he cried, completely expressionless as he wiped. 「……One more soup」 　His voice was small. The branch commander ordered seconds in a small voice. 　Sand-rank A laughed so hard he hit his forehead on the table. B and C shook their shoulders while looking down. Every other adventurer in the shop suddenly seemed very interested in the ceiling. Everyone was at their limit trying not to laugh. In front of the branch commander, no one could explode, and that tension filled the shop. 　In the shadow of the kitchen doorway, イリーナ was there. 　Watching quietly, seeing ドルグ wipe his tears. Her expression, just barely——really just barely——softened. 　黒木 brought out the soup. ドルグ quietly drank it all. He set the empty cup on the counter. 　That sound, like a signal, changed the air in the shop. 　The laughter receded. Adventurers naturally took distance. No one made unnecessary movements. The branch commander's work face had returned. 　ドルグ looked at 黒木 directly. 「We have reports that a girl who escaped from the Forbidden Tower is in this area」 　His voice was heavy. Completely different from the gourmet interrogation. 「I would like her handed over」 　黒木 wiped his knife with a cloth. 「I don't know」 　He answered quickly. 「Are you talking about our dishwasher」 　With that single statement, the color drained from sand-rank A's face. Everyone understood in that instant——黒木 was going to protect her. B tried to kick in 黒木's direction but couldn't reach. C quietly closed his eyes. 　ドルグ stood up. 　When the 188-centimeter frame rose, the pressure in the shop physically changed. The aura of a man who once conquered towers as gold-rank, seeping from his entire body. The glasses on the tables seemed to tremble slightly. 　黒木 didn't move from the counter. 「This is peak lunch hour. Could you take your business outside operating hours」 　Sand-rank A pleaded in a small voice, "Stop!!" 黒木 answered in the same small voice. 「We don't allow intimidation in our shop」 「Why are you so calm about this!!!!」 　A buried his head in his hands. Then slumped onto the table. 　ドルグ took a breath. 「……Have you heard the term 'fractured magic key'」 　There was a sound from the kitchen doorway. Small, sharp——イリーナ's breath catching. 　黒木's hands stopped for just a moment. Then resumed. But that instant, ドルグ saw it. 「The girl is believed to be a compatible key for what the Forbidden Tower's master seeks」 　The Tower's master——the entity said to dwell in the deepest part of the Forbidden Tower, whose appearance and abilities were completely unknown——was seeking this girl. 「Handing her over is not punishment. The organization would protect and manage the girl」 　黒木 held a long silence. 「Could you explain the difference between protection and management」 　A quiet question. Not anger, not objection. A voice like he was genuinely asking. 　ドルグ didn't answer. 　Two seconds. 　Two seconds of complete silence. Sand-rank A would later say that in those two seconds, ドルグ lost to 黒木. 「……I'll wait three days」 　ドルグ counted out copper coins precisely on the counter. The cost of the meal and the soup. Not a single coin off from the exact amount. 　The door closed heavily. 　The moment it closed, sand-rank A collapsed from his chair. Thud!!! 「I thought my heart stopped!!」 「I might've been crying」 「Why was 黒木 the calmest one there!!!」 　All three shouted almost simultaneously. 　黒木 turned back to the kitchen. 　イリーナ was gripping the wooden frame of the doorway with both hands, bracing her knees so they wouldn't buckle. The color had drained from her face. 「Please sit. I'll make soup」 　That was all he said. --- 　After the evening customers left, sand-rank C, who'd lingered longest, finally stood up after being told "please go home" for the fourth time. 「Not that I have any particular reason not to want to leave」 「Then you can go」 「Well, I suppose」 　He leisurely put on his coat and turned back once at the door. 「Be careful, Irina」 　That was all he said before leaving. The door closed. Quiet returned. 　黒木 looked at イリーナ. イリーナ was looking at the floor. 　Perhaps the people around them had noticed before 黒木——something. 黒木 decided not to think about it.