The late-night Ginkgo Tavern was filled with the scent of demon boar bone broth and the quiet sound of a knife. 　黒木悟 stood in the kitchen, preparing for the next morning's mise en place. It had been two days and over ten hours since ドルグ・ハーヴェン said "wait three days." The remaining time was filed away in a corner of his mind like a sticky note. It was peeling off, but that was fine. Tonight, adjusting the salt balance of the bone broth was the more pressing matter. 　At the counter seat, イリーナ was curled up asleep. Her long silver hair draped over her shoulder, her breathing steady and even. Her sleep seemed slightly deeper than yesterday. Not the sleep of fear, but the sleep that comes from exhaustion. 黒木 thought that was a good change. 　It was the moment 黒木 lowered the heat on the soup and stretched. Goooooooong!!!!! 　A heavy metallic sound echoed from the north end of the village. Then again, and again. The sound of a gong. The emergency bell installed by the Steel Lattice Water End branch—the highest-level alarm signaling a large-scale monster invasion—rang out across the remote village in the dead of night. 　イリーナ's head snapped up. Her gold and blue heterochromatic eyes widened in the darkness, and溶素 poured out from her body all at once. Three teacups lined up on the counter floated gently into the air. 　Outside the window grew chaotic. Figures carrying溶素 lamps raced across the stone pavement. The sound of armor clinking, shouts, horses neighing. Water End's peaceful night transformed in an instant. 　That was when the Ginkgo Tavern's door burst open with tremendous force. Crash!!!! "Waaaaaahhhhh!!!!!" 　Sand-rank adventurer A slammed his foot hard against the threshold and tumbled spectacularly across the floor. The large-framed man lay completely spread-eagle on the stone pavement. "…Are you alright?" 黒木悟 "I was in the middle of a full-speed formation check, no problem!!" Sand-rank adventurer A 　A shouted without even getting up. There were plenty of problems. 　Just as 黒木 thought that, sand-rank adventurer B burst through a different door. He ran past while knocking over the Ginkgo Tavern's sign that had been leaning by the entrance, "The sign! I'll fix it later!! Going now!!!" Sand-rank adventurer B 　And disappeared. It was impossible to tell if he actually intended to fix it. 　Then three seconds later, sand-rank adventurer C appeared from the opposite direction. He wasn't carrying a single weapon. "C." 黒木悟 "Getting it now!!!!!" Sand-rank adventurer C 　He ran back the way he came and vanished. 　黒木 quietly surveyed the kitchen. The large pot. The fire. The ingredients. The bone broth mid-preparation. Then he pulled out a piece of paper that said "Temporarily Closed," stuck it on the entrance, stared at it for three seconds, peeled it off, and tore it to shreds. (I'll cook after all.) 　He didn't particularly think about why. In his previous life, he'd never left the kitchen early, no matter how busy things got. That was all there was to it. He retied his apron strings and began stoking the fire under the large pot. 　Recovery food. Portable rations. Hot soup for stamina replenishment. Three menus ran simultaneously through his head. His experience preparing meals for athletes in his previous life came in handy for calculating the calories and salt content needed by humans fighting monsters. "…What are you doing?" イリーナ・メルヴァ 　イリーナ asked in a small voice from the counter seat. She gently caught the three floating teacups with her hands while staring intently at the chaos outside the window. Her expression was rigid. The mark on her neck—the seal that apparently bound her magical power—glowed faintly. "I'll prepare some recovery food. Please stay seated." 黒木悟 　He answered without turning around. --- 　As the sun began to rise, the Ginkgo Tavern's door opened again and again. 　An adventurer with an arm wrapped in cloth. An adventurer holding his shoulder as he walked. An adventurer dragging his leg as he entered. The Ginkgo Tavern had somehow become a supply base for Water End's defense. "You're not closing this place?!" Sand-rank adventurer A 　A, who had rushed in first, shouted. "There's no reason to close." 黒木悟 　黒木 answered while stirring two large pots simultaneously. "There's a reason!! Monsters are coming!!" Sand-rank adventurer A "There's a reason—!!!!!" Sand-rank adventurer B "Reason! There's a reason!!!" Sand-rank adventurer C 　Three simultaneous retorts. Their coordination improved every time they came to the Ginkgo Tavern. 　黒木 poured soup without concern. 　That was when イリーナ, in the back of the kitchen, leaked溶素 from tension. This morning, every time the impact sound from the defense line reached them from a distance, her body wouldn't stop trembling. Green light seeped intermittently from her fingertips, and the plate she was plating—four of them at once—floated gently into the air. They continued to rotate peacefully. 　One of the wounded adventurers, reaching for his soup, saw the floating plates. "…Am I hallucinating? Did I get hit that hard?" Wounded adventurer 　He began checking his head and examining his wounds. "It's a side effect of the staff." 黒木悟 "A side effect?! That's a side effect?!?!" Sand-rank adventurer B "…I'm sorry." イリーナ・メルヴァ 　イリーナ apologized quietly. The plates descended slowly. All four, without spilling a drop. 　Sand-rank adventurer A looked at the finished plate. Despite having been floating, the plating was still perfect. A cautiously picked up the plate and took a bite while standing. "Whoa!" Sand-rank adventurer A "What do you mean 'whoa'?" 黒木悟 "It's delicious! I might die but it's delicious!! Why!!" Sand-rank adventurer A "It'll sustain you for seven minutes." 黒木悟 "That's too specific!!" Sand-rank adventurer A 　A headed back to the front lines while still eating. Seven minutes later would be worrying. 　Soon Gotts came in. Among the regular adventurers at the Ginkgo Tavern, Gotts had an especially large build and usually wore a composed expression, but not today. His right gauntlet was shattered, and a thin wound ran across his forehead. "…How many are there?" 黒木悟 　黒木 asked while placing a bowl of soup in front of Gotts. "Thirty…or so? That's outside the defense line. There are intelligent ones mixed in." Gotts 　黒木 nodded. He turned up the fire under the large pot. He placed another pot over the flame. "Then I'll prepare fifty portions." 黒木悟 "Why fifty?" Sand-rank adventurer C "To be safe." 黒木悟 　One word. The room fell silent for a moment. B muttered "safe, what do you mean safe" under his breath. C answered "but somehow I'm starting to trust him." 　黒木's eyes caught イリーナ in the back of the kitchen for just a moment. 　イリーナ continued plating silently. Every time溶素 leaked from her fingertips, she bit her lip, but her hands never stopped. Her gold and blue heterochromatic eyes were narrowed hard. She was afraid. Every time the outside sounds reached the core of her being, her face looked like she was remembering something. "Are you alright?" 黒木悟 　He asked in a low voice. A voice the other customers couldn't hear. "…I'm fine." イリーナ・メルヴァ 　イリーナ answered. But the color of the溶素 overflowing from her fingertips wasn't the usual calm green—it wavered faintly white. 黒木's eyes saw it. He said nothing. He returned to his prep work. --- 　When the sun began to climb higher, sand-rank adventurer C came rushing in, breathless. "An intelligent one bypassed the defense line!! It's heading this way!!" Sand-rank adventurer C "Why is it heading toward the tavern?!" Sand-rank adventurer A "I don't know! But it's definitely coming here!!" Sand-rank adventurer C 　That voice transformed the Ginkgo Tavern's atmosphere in an instant. 　黒木 was about to say "go to the back of the kitchen." 　イリーナ took one step back. Stopped. Turned around. 　And stepped forward. "It's coming because it's looking for me." イリーナ・メルヴァ 　Her voice was low and calm. But it didn't tremble. "Everyone is being chased because of me." イリーナ・メルヴァ 　Her silver hair swayed. Her gold and blue eyes looked straight at 黒木. 　黒木 opened his mouth to say something— Crash!!!!! 　An impact on the outer wall. The stone wall shook from the inside. The溶素 lamps on the window rattled and shattered. The soup on the table rippled. 　Ash-covered claw fangs—a group of intelligent monsters that regularly emerged from the Forbidden Tower—had reached the front of the Ginkgo Tavern. 　イリーナ closed her eyes. 　She held both hands in front of her body. 　The溶素 that had been leaking intermittently until now was incomparable. Green light—white, dazzling—began to expand explosively from イリーナ's body. From her fingertips, her arms, her shoulders. The mark on her neck glowed intensely. "Irina—" 黒木悟 　The door was blown away. Crash!!!!!!!! 　The溶素 flashed and exploded outward. Tables overturned. The large pot tilted. All the floating plates fell to the floor and shattered. Two counter chairs flew to the wall. 黒木 crouched low, shielding his head, and in that moment, something flew several meters beyond the outer wall. 　Silence. 　黒木 looked up. Beyond the shattered door frame, there was no gray shadow. "…I drove it away." イリーナ・メルヴァ 　Her voice was hoarse. 　イリーナ collapsed from her knees. 黒木 rushed over and caught her. Her silver hair spread across his arm. Warm, but without strength. Her heterochromatic eyes slowly closed. She lost consciousness. 　Fragments of broken plates scattered across the floor. Soup flowed from the overturned pot, spreading across the stone pavement. At the sight of the devastation, adventurers who rushed in from outside fell silent one after another. "Take Irina to the back room." 黒木悟 　黒木 said quietly. 　Sand-rank adventurer A, hearing that voice, noticed something. 黒木's voice, for the first time tonight, was trembling—ever so slightly. A said nothing. He simply nodded and carefully lifted イリーナ. --- 　ドルグ・ハーヴェン appeared shortly after. 　His 188-centimeter frame passed through the shattered door frame. Gray hair streaked with white. A black eye patch over his left eye. The Steel Lattice emblem on his chest. His sharp single eye surveyed the devastation, then turned toward the back room. "I told you so." ドルグ・ハーヴェン 　His voice was heavy and matter-of-fact. "That girl's power cannot be controlled. Unless she's placed under protective management, next time the village will—" ドルグ・ハーヴェン 　That was when 黒木 stood up. 　He turned around. 　ドルグ stopped moving for just a moment. 　黒木悟 doesn't usually get angry. He doesn't raise his voice. He's a calm, composed man. No matter how much the adventurers shout, no matter if plates fly through the air, no matter if the emergency bell rings, he reties his apron and returns to his prep work. That's the kind of man he is. 　But now, his face was different. "Two days ago, you ate our braised hamburger steak and cried." 黒木悟 　His voice was quiet and serious. "…It was dust—" ドルグ・ハーヴェン "We don't use onions. I said that three times." 黒木悟 　It was immediate. ドルグ closed his mouth. 　Sand-rank adventurers A and B exchanged glances in the hallway shadows. "Is it okay to laugh?" "I don't know." 　But 黒木 wasn't laughing. "How can someone with enough heart to cry over food talk about people like they're tools?" 黒木悟 　One sentence. 　ドルグ fell silent. The remaining light from the broken溶素 lamp flickered on the stone wall. The floor where the soup had spilled slowly cooled. "She's not a key. She's a dishwasher." 黒木悟 　He continued. "She breaks an average of 2.7 plates a day. She's the most troublesome staff member we have." 黒木悟 　A in the hallway covered his mouth with his hand. B bumped his head against the wall. Neither could quite sort out what emotion they were feeling. 　ドルグ was silent for a long time. 　His single eye looked at the floor. The stone pavement where the soup had spilled. The overturned pot. The shattered plates. Then toward the back room. "…I understand." ドルグ・ハーヴェン 　It was short.