The faint light of dawn fell across Ryuu. Amid the flawless beauty of her slightly worried face, a few golden strands of hair stood out sharply. Bell's wounds had fully healed, and she had gently set him down on the ground. The monster's shrieks mixed with Heith's mournful cries, hollow and distant.
Hurry and run.
That thought seized the boy's mind, freezing everything in place. Who should run? Bell Cranel. Why? Because he was a burden. Reason and emotion clashed like the staff and the writhing tentacles, neither side gaining ground.
Bell looked at the elf girl so close to him and thought: From the very beginning, the monster had been after him. Ryuu hadn't just stepped in out of justice—she had literally taken the blow for him. Even while being pushed back, she never once considered fleeing. She must have been worried the monster would rampage through the town. Her resolute emerald eyes held immeasurable conviction and justice.
And what about him? Because he was weak, he wanted to run. Because he was weak, he thought he should be protected. How could he accept that? If that were how things worked, every tale of heroes rising against the odds would have to be rewritten.
Bell Cranel was a newcomer. A failure that adventurers didn't think much of. A burden, weak, useless… He knew all of that. But so what? No matter how many mocked him, right now, two girls were fighting for him. What could be more inspiring than that?
He had to help them. He couldn't let them suffer because of him. He couldn't let them get hurt or cry for his sake.
Move.
As the weak one here, what should he do? The wise would run. The hero would charge ahead, ready to die. He could do neither. He couldn't abandon the two girls and flee, nor could he recklessly throw himself forward and drag them down. All paths before him were blocked.
But as the sun crept over the horizon, its morning light swept the gloom from Bell's face. The answer was simple. It had been clear from the start. Bell Cranel was a man aiming for a harem. So whether he was wise or heroic didn't matter—he just had to surpass both.
In a single instant, his thoughts surged. He made up his mind and shouted to the girls:
"Please hold on!"
Before the words even faded, Bell turned and ran toward the town.
...
A terrifying maw dripping with slime snapped its fangs at Heith. Massive tentacles slammed against wooden blades as Ryuu dodged and wove around each strike. Anyone could see the two of them were fighting a losing battle.
Yet when they caught sight of Bell's fleeing silhouette, both girls smiled in quiet relief. This battlefield was far too cruel for him. That he understood the situation and chose to escape alone was admirable. Only after he disappeared around the corner did they finally let themselves relax.
"Can you… think of something?!"
Heith braced herself against the monster's fangs with a look of disgust, unable to hold back her complaint.
"Its outer skin is too tough. Other than chanting Magic, there's no way to break through."
Ryuu called back loudly.
She had already tried several times. Each time her magic began to gather, the monster would immediately switch targets. Even with parallel chanting, Ryuu struggled against the frenzy of rampaging tentacles. This Viola was likely on the level of a Level 5.
The battle grew more strained. That vividly colored flower, seemingly coated in deadly poison, rampaged with wild ferocity. Only because Heith was sharing the pressure could Ryuu barely maintain the situation. But the two of them were already fighting tooth and nail just to hold back the onslaught. They had no way at all to break through the monster's defenses.
As their stamina slowly drained, a figure appeared at the far end of the road.
!
"Wait—wait, you idiot! Why did you come back?!"
Heith shouted in shock.
"Cranel-san…" Ryuu knit her delicate brows, equally confused.
The boy had been gone less than two minutes. There was no understanding why he had returned.
"I'm here to help you." Bell stepped back into the battlefield without hesitation.
"..."
Ryuu didn't know what to say. She could only keep swinging her wooden sword, trying to chase away the sudden, inexplicable worry in her chest.
"It's unnecessary. You need to get out of here immediately," Heith said. Her body was stained with traces of blood, yet she paid no attention to her own wounds. "I'm really sorry for lying to you earlier!"
With that apology as her beginning, Heith seemed to open her heart, pouring out her true feelings without stopping.
"Truth is, I'm a healer from Freya's familia. The reason Allen attacked you earlier was because I approached you without permission, which made him sense something off. He followed me and took advantage of the opening he found."
Whips and fangs alternated in their assault. Heith's long pink hair was as chaotic as her heart.
"Bell, it's all my fault you had to go through something so cruel. But when I saw you stand up again… I was really happy. And you even hid the incident—surely you did that because you were thinking of me."
At some point, Heith's voice had begun to tremble.
"Anyway, I lied to you. I'm a Level 4 Golden Witch. A monster like this—I can defeat it quickly. So you should run now…"
What she truly wanted was to defeat the monster in one blow, then look straight into the boy's eyes, take his warm right hand, speak her heart, and beg him to forgive her. But all of that was just wishful thinking. Even if her heart leapt with joy, the fact didn't change: she had dragged the boy into danger.
"Please, leave this place right now. If something happens to you, I…"
Heith couldn't continue.
She had to hide Freya's divine will. She couldn't express the tangled feelings she held for him. At some point, a clear tear clung to the corner of her eye. Under the morning light, it was strikingly bright.
"Heith-san, thank you for being honest with me. Please don't worry. I promise I won't act recklessly."
Bell replied without hesitation.
The rising sun lit the sky. Ryuu parried the incoming tentacles, her cold expression seeming to be coated with frost.
How could this boy be involved with Freya's familia? Was his first visit to the tavern connected to the incident that girl mentioned? Of course, these were only meaningless guesses.
What truly bothered Ryuu was the sense of familiarity in those words.
What the human girl said—if phrased just slightly differently—could have been Ryuu's own thoughts. Deceiving the boy, hiding her level, putting him in danger, and even feeling happy when she saw him stand up again.
Those words had all belonged to her. Yet now, as if reflected in a mirror, they'd all been taken away by the Golden Witch.
The words she had spoken to him during lunch remained clear in her mind.
The elf girl suddenly understood. Nothing had been taken from her. The secret that had belonged only to her and the boy had simply found its way—through another path—into another girl's hands.
Watching Heith bare her heart to the boy, a wave of irritation ran through Ryuu. She and the boy weren't even close. How could she care this much?
As if to chase away her frustration, Ryuu turned toward the rising sun and swung her wooden sword again and again at the monster's rigid yellow-green tentacles.