She hesitated, felt delighted, moved, and relieved—and now, the only thing she felt was happiness.
A sweet tremor ran through her chest.
Along with the scorching heat, the ache, and the numbing rush of emotion as potent as a drug, it spread from the depths of her heart to every corner of her body.
"…After giving me this kind of happiness, how am I supposed to go back to enduring the sort of life I had before… You're really unfair."
That was the only way she could grumble bitterly—by using those words to belittle the boy, and warn herself at the same time.
But Ryuu could not say a single word.
The arms wrapped around herself felt unbearably precious.
"I…"
Heat rushed uncontrollably to her cheeks. She squirmed ever so slightly, as if reaching for something.
A trembling breath escaped her lips, and for some reason, it felt indescribably sweet.
She wanted to call out to him, to the boy walking ahead of her, yet she could not bear to disturb that not-so-broad back.
Her heart whispered as much.
She wanted to catch the gaze of those beautiful brown eyes just ahead of her.
Her heart was anxious for it.
She wanted to stand close enough that, with the slightest movement, she could reach him.
To look into each other's eyes.
Ryuu could not resist that desire.
She did not retreat. She did not suppress it. She simply cast aside the chaste heart of a fairy.
"I… love him…"
Her pale golden hair swayed as she reached her hand out.
With eyes glistening and cheeks melting red, she closed the distance between them to zero.
His arms did not reject her. His body came to a slow halt.
He did not turn around. He only silently accepted the warmth leaning against his back.
He could not reject the fairy who chose to stay by his side.
At that moment, all she wanted was for time itself to stop.
Upon the broad city wall, washed in warm shades of sunset, there were only the two of them.
In that breathtaking scene, where no people and no monsters intruded, their shadows overlapped.
What they did not know was that there was one more witness to that beautiful moment meant only for them.
Far away, within a tower, stood another elf—one with striking emerald-green hair and hands clenched so tightly that blood welled from her palms.
Riveria seemed to understand something.
There was relief in her expression… and pain.
In the end, after giving the two figures one last look, she quietly left the tower, as if she had never come at all.
"I have officially started working as a Guild employee, just as I told you before, and…"
In the single room assigned to her in the staff residence provided by the Guild, Eina was writing a letter.
It was a letter to her family, updating them on her current life, with a few playful lines about her hopes for the days ahead.
She had only been here a year.
It would have been a lie to say she had felt no anxiety at all about adapting to a new environment.
At times, she still found herself wanting to hear the sweet voices of her father and mother, and of the younger sister whose face she could barely remember.
But at the same time, Eina was also full of anticipation.
Choosing to join the Guild had never been solely for her family's sake.
In Orario—the center of the world—she had hoped to broaden her horizons through Guild work.
Countless people. Countless adventurers. Countless great deeds.
In this city, Eina would be able to see for herself the feats she had once only read about in books—or even discoveries and wonders no book had ever recorded.
Sitting at her desk, the feather pen scratching softly against the paper, her long tea-colored hair swayed down her back.
A faint but genuine smile curved across the young half-elf's delicate features.
At last, Eina signed off the letter with loving words and sealed the envelope.
Then, as she thought of her mother's face, she suddenly remembered a certain promise—and the face of a certain boy.
It was almost impossible to believe.
In less than half a year, he had gone from an ordinary person not so different from herself to one of the hottest "Hero Candidates" in the city, his level having already reached the astonishing height of Level 3.
It was nothing short of a miracle.
She herself had also benefited from him in more ways than one. One of the goals she had set for herself had already progressed tremendously because of him.
To be honest, her coworkers were all quite envious of her now.
Because of that boy alone, her wages were already higher than some veteran advisers who had worked there for years.
According to the Guild chief, it was a small reward for having guided such an outstanding adventurer.
That single fact had brought light into her life.
She could afford to be just a little more extravagant now.
After taking care of her own expenses, the money she could send home had more than doubled.
Not to mention—he had even promised to visit her mother and treat her.
One kindness after another had gradually made that boy into the "sun" in her heart, guiding her forward and helping her keep improving.
"…All right. I'll keep doing my best."
The sunlight streaming through the window made her squint. Eina straightened herself and restored her spirits.
Then, suddenly, a thought struck her.
"…Shouldn't I prepare some sort of gift for him? Wait—oh no!!!"
That boy had already reached Level 3.
Though for him it had happened absurdly quickly, among adventurers, every level-up was a major event.
Friends would usually present some token of congratulations, and within one's familia, there would generally be a celebratory gathering. That was customary.
And only now did Eina realize something terrible.
She had no idea what he even liked.
"Ahhh, this is a total failure as an adviser…"
For all the confidence she had felt in her work until now, she was suddenly overwhelmed by shame.
Compared to how she had once handled her very first adventurer, Xien had truly been unbelievably kind.
Her first consultation had been an utter disaster.
After receiving some introductory guidance from her superior, she had greeted the first adventurer assigned to her in the consultation room.
That adventurer was a newly registered rookie named Maris Hakkard, and Eina remembered her vividly.
The very first thing she had heard from the girl had been complaints.
Something about how she had wanted a gloomy dwarf old man instead, and how getting saddled with a greenhorn half-breed like Eina was the worst luck imaginable.
Her rude words and openly scornful expression had made it clear just how little respect she had.
And Eina—being just as stubborn—had snapped immediately.
From there, it had devolved into a full-on shouting match.
Within the soundproof consultation room, the two of them stood face to face, yelling and firing insults back and forth, completely forgetting their proper roles.
It had ended in something like:
"Don't go getting so smug just because you're a little more developed, half-breed!?"
"Where exactly are you looking when you say that!? I'm perfectly normal—it's just that Maris is flat as a board!"
"Uwaaaaaahhh! I'm never forgiving you for this!!!"
That night, Eina had even gone to a tavern near the upscale Guild housing district and vented for hours to her coworkers.
Compared to that, that boy was on an entirely different level.
Modest, polite, practical…
The more she thought about it now, the more she felt how lucky she had been to meet him.
It had to be the gods smiling upon her.
That was why she had resolved to treasure him properly.
Bathed in longing, the young half-elf found herself thinking that the boy was like a hero—someone who had lit up her once-bleak life.
But that brought her back to the same problem.
How was she supposed to figure out what he actually liked?
Staring out the window, the moon offered no answers at all to the little adviser's dilemma.
The next day, Xien enjoyed the rare luxury of sleeping in.
The night before had been memorable enough.
As soon as the two of them returned, they had been met by everyone's collective death stares, followed by an earnest interrogation.
The reason was simple: after noticing all the suspicious little signs and deducing that the two of them had gone out together early that morning, everyone had immediately regretted not giving them a proper crash course on "common sense" and "emergency precautions."
After all, both of them were still underage. As their seniors and guardians, it was only natural to take such things seriously.
In the end, the blame had somehow landed squarely on Astraea and their captain.
Astraea herself had been fine with it, but Captain Alise had loudly protested the unfairness of it all.
Heavens above, she was still a young girl herself! How was any of this her fault?
Shouldn't the blame fall on the two youngest members for somehow getting together in the first place?
And in the middle of that heated argument, the pair in question had finally come home.
After enduring a barrage of questioning and checks, and after everyone confirmed that the two of them had merely gone out shopping and sightseeing—and had done nothing too indecent—the goddess had finally relented and let them go, though not before giving them a serious lecture about minors.
When Xien produced the clothes from his subspace, everyone had been astonished.
And Ryuu, naturally, had gone as red as a tomato.
The others were amazed at Xien's strange new ability—Lyla, in particular, instantly started thinking about all the ways it might be useful in future operations.
Ryuu, on the other hand, was far more worried that everyone would think she had shamelessly made Xien buy her all those clothes.
In the midst of all those lovely misunderstandings, the group had finally settled down and gone to rest.
Once back in his room, Xien exchanged a hundred interference points with Orange Cat for a beginner's guide to illusions and began studying it.
It was cheap, so he bought it without hesitation.
He had a feeling that such skills would prove very useful in the future, so it was better to get familiar with them sooner rather than later.
The next morning.
Waking up more than an hour later than usual, Xien headed to the training grounds—and found a familiar figure waiting there.
"Yo, Xien, finally awake? Have fun yesterday?"
It was Captain Alise.
Rarely did she have a day off. Usually she was the busiest one of them all.
Everyone's morale had been soaring lately, and even patrol duty had become much easier. Thanks to Xien's growing fame, hardly anyone caused trouble anymore, so she finally had some time to do what she personally wanted for once.
That said, there was definitely a bit of a pointed edge in her tone.
Her resentment over yesterday's unjust treatment clearly had not fully faded.
Xien chuckled.
"It was pretty good. Mostly because Ryuu was just too adorable. Captain, you have no idea what her expression looked like when the shop assistant dragged her into the fitting room all shy and fidgety. That memory deserves to be treasured for life."
"Ahhh, stop, I'm so jealous! Now I want to see it too…"
The moment she heard that, Alise immediately forgot her grievances from a moment ago. She looked like she might actually drool.
In some ways, as Ryuu's closest friend, Alise was also the one most shamelessly infatuated with her.
Xien had deliberately aimed for that weakness.
"So, Captain, do you want it? Well… I guess it's not impossible. You know how good my technique is, don't you?"
What he meant, of course, was the speed-drawing skill he had shown during the expedition when he sketched the map.
And because their captain had a talent for focusing on exactly the wrong details, she connected the dots immediately.
"…You mean you can draw them? All of them?"
Alise's eyes sparkled with delight.
A fashion portrait collection of Ryuu.
That temptation was absolutely irresistible.
"Of course…"
Before he could finish, she was suddenly right in front of him with such terrifying speed that even he barely caught it.
"My dearest little Xien, your captain raised you with tears and suffering, so you can't be ungrateful now. I'm only asking for one tiny thing. Just give me a full set of Ryuu's fashion portraits, okay?"
Clinging to his arm with fake tears streaming down her face, Alise delivered the most shameless plea of her life.
Xien could only rub at his aching forehead, feeling his skin crawl.
"…Captain, I always thought your lack of dignity was impressive, but I never realized that shamelessness was your true specialty. Your skill at taking something for nothing is downright masterful."
"What are you saying? How can you talk to your captain like that? My poor little heart has suffered irreparable damage. You have to compensate me, or I'll go tell Ryuu you bullied me."
Alise had truly given up all pretense. For Ryuu's precious photo collection, she was willing to throw away her pride completely.
Xien could only sigh helplessly and pull his arm free from the somewhat bony softness pressed against it.
"All right, Captain. Let's spar. Win or lose, I'll make you a set. Fair?"
"Really? You're not allowed to take it back."
Her eyes went wide with hope, terrified he might be tricking her.
"A promise is a promise."
"Good! Then come on! I'll show you just how amazing the Flame Breathing technique you taught me has become—I've already mastered it, you know."
That was right.
Xien had taught Alise a breathing style too—the one most suited to her nature: Flame Breathing.
Once mastered, it was far more convenient than magic and cost far less energy, greatly improving her combat strength.
And just like that, all traces of the shameless freeloader vanished. In their place stood once again the sunny, reliable captain, wearing her bright smile as if nothing had happened at all.
....
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