When I entered the room through the kitchen door behind the White Wolf Store, I was greeted by Sakura, dressed in plain clothes in the Eastern style.

'Welcome back, Luke-dono. We have completed the cleaning of the visitor's bedrooms, both rooms are completed without delay.
Thank God. Anyway, let's go to dinner.
'Yes!　I will make preparations!

　Sakura took the basket of dinner with a good smile and carried it into the dining room.

　I decided to leave that one to Sakura for now, and I decided to go look at the bedrooms.

　Of the four original bedrooms, two are the rooms that me and Garnett usually use, and the other two are empty rooms for visitors, but Sakura and Noir will be staying there for a while.

　I knocked on the door to check out the room, just to be sure, and was answered by a volume of voice that seemed to disappear.

''...... please .......''

　Noir was spreading a large piece of cloth on the floor of his bedroom, holding a sturdy, adventurer's waist pouch in his hand as he worked on what appeared to be both a sewing and crafting project.

　When the magic power was occasionally glowing in his hand, he seemed to be using skills rather than just manual labor.

''【Magic tool making】?''
What are you making?

　Garnett ducked under my arm as I stood at the entrance to the room and peered into the room.

'Now ...... what Luke asked me to do ......'
Hmm?　You?
I asked, or rather, I asked if I could make something like this, and they said I could try it out with mithril because it sounded surprisingly good.

　I take the working item in my hand and explain to Garnett what kind of use and mechanism the equipment is for.

Normally a magic stone would have to be held in the hand to draw magic power, but a good wizard can also draw it from the tip of his staff. I thought it would be useful if I could do the same thing.

　It's appearance is completely just a waist pouch, with a pocket that can easily fit a standard size and shape magic stone.

With the magic stone in this pocket, when you pour magic power into the magic crests embroidered on the back of the cloth on the lid, it is switched on. When you do that, the magic power flows through the dozen or so mithril metal wires sewn into it, and the magic power is poured into your body. That's correct, noir, right?

　Noir nodded repeatedly in small increments as he asked for confirmation that the description of the magic tool was correct.

'Heh, you can even make these things. That's awesome, White Wolf's.''
'I just came up with the idea, I designed it and actually built it, Noir.
'Oops, that was it. Like the enchantment on my sword, you're pretty good at it, Noir. You look like you've got a hell of a talent for this kind of work.

　After being praised straight away without a single twist, Noir blushed and muttered goggles.

''Well, there's still ...... room for improvement ...... efficiency than directly touching it ...... efficiency, poorly.''

　Not long ago, I was mostly the same, but apparently Noir is not used to being praised for it in a circle.

　Incidentally, since Noir is registered as an official employee of White Wolf Store, he is allowed to play with mithril within the scope of the processing permission I have received from the Royal Palace.

　The combination of mithril and [Magical Tool Making] is a field that I feel has a lot of potential.

''Luke-dono!　Dinner has been served!　Let's get it out of the way before it gets cold!

　Sakura's voice comes flying in, seemingly unable to endure her hunger.

　It's the food that Sylvia prepared for me at great expense. It's a shame to let it get cold.

　That's why I told Noir to take a break from his work and returned to the dining room with Garnett.










　--The entire Green Hollow Town had fallen into a deep sleep at midnight.

　In the vicinity of the quiet White Wolf Shop, a figure, covered entirely in white robes, stood unnoticed.

　It was not someone who had been invited by the landlord, Luke of the White Wolf Forest.

　It was an unwanted visitor who had not been invited by anyone and none of them recognized its presence.

　The white figure noiselessly approached the White Wolf Store and stopped a few dozen paces away.

　Another few steps further on from here, a ward formed by black magic was developing.

　The type of warding is an alarm.
　A defense technique that would instantly become known to the surgeon if someone stepped in.

　It is a ward that can even be called basic, but it is the one that therefore shows the skill of the magician.

　And the wards developed around the white wolf shop have reached a level that ordinary people can't even detect.

''............''

　The white figure walked along the edge of the circular ward and stopped at a certain spot and shot a minuscule magic bullet into the grass at his feet.

　After receiving a direct hit from the magic bullets, an object about the size of a palm made of pieces of wood shattered.

　Then a part of the ward was missing, and the white figure entered leisurely through it.

　Normally, forming a ward requires an enormous amount of time and preparation.

　You can cut down on the amount of time and effort by using magic tools in conjunction with it, but as you can see, the magic tools themselves carry the risk of becoming a weak point in the warding process.

　The warding stones used by adventurers are the most extreme example of this.

.............

　The white figure stopped at a certain distance as it moved to a position relative to the main entrance of the White Wolf Store.

　A brief moment passed, and the front door was carefully opened from the inside.

　The one who opened the door and appeared was not Luke of the White Wolf Forest, nor Garnet of the Silverwing Knights, much less even the Shiranui Cherry Blossom, the priestess of the Eastern Cacuen.

It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one. ...

　The black wizard, Noir, was there.

　Dressed in his wizard's attire, he wore a dark and languid expression and faced a white figure at a slight distance.

　The opposite white figure let out his first voice as he removed the hood that completely covered his head.

''Thank goodness. I was wondering what to do if the rumors were wrong about you being here tonight. I'm glad you're looking well, sis.''
'Bran ...... you are the one ......'

　The face that was hidden under the white hood bore a striking resemblance to Noir, as if it were a mirror image.

　The only differences are the color of the hair on his head, which is the exact opposite of Noir's black hair, and his eyes and expression are full of confidence and composure.

　It must be said that it would be difficult to find any further differences between them.

''You know why I came here, sister, don't you?

　Bran quickly stretched out his arm and turned to offer a long-bagged hand to Noir, who stood where he could reach in a few seconds' walk.

'I've come for you. Master Gandalf is a generous man. My sister also said that if you cooperate with the Demon King's army, she won't charge you with escaping from prison.''
"...... Really, you've become ...... a member of the demon tribe. ......
"I want an answer now. We don't have much time. I'm not asking you to follow me right now, but I just want the answers right here.

　It took on the appearance of a proposal, but it was an almost coercive and oppressive statement.

'You knew this would happen, didn't you?　I can see the soundproof wards that cover the building behind me, I can see them all right. I'm so happy for you. I wanted to have a conversation with the sisters, too.

　Noir turned over with a somber look on his face, and after a short silence, he looked up as if he was about to cry.

'I'm ...... working at Luke's, at .......
'So what?　Why don't we just cut it off again?
At first, I thought it was just a guilt trip to ....... But now I'm so grateful that you wanted me to go to ...... to do this for me.
Do I need you as much as you need me?

　Underneath the smiling smile, Bran was blatantly irritated.

　Frustration when a door that usually opened easily, but for some reason today it creaked and couldn't be opened properly - that's the extent of the petty and arrogant emotion.

　Noir was almost swept away by the pressure, but stayed strong and continued to speak in a trembling voice.

'And there are ...... kids who adore me like I'm a teacher, ...... an honest, good girl...' ...thank you for trusting me with the ...... thing.

　I voice every word that comes to mind, even though I'm at a loss for words more than once.

'You know ......, Bran. I'm a coward because I'm ...... not brave enough to ...... so I'm .......
Yes, I know exactly what you mean. We've been together since we were born.
I'm .......
You can go to .......

　The exact same sculpted face is filled with a completely different color of emotion.
　Noir's resoluteness with tears in his eyes. Bran's lecherous smile.

'Someone to believe in!　I can't betray you!
'People!　Wrong!

　Black magic and white magic curled up like a whirlwind, and a torrent of black and white flames collided with each other.

''Too bad. In this situation, we have no choice but to fulfill another order.''

　With the aftermath of the two colored demonic flames canceling each other out like a cool breeze, Bran put his hands behind his neck and pulled out his long, lustrous white hair from inside his robe.

　And without any hesitation or guilt at all, he throws a ruthless pronouncement at his twin sister.

'I'll kill you. I'm sorry, sister. I'm desperate, too.