So I told Erica and Lisa to join Noir and the others and then headed over to Garnett and Layla's place.

　However, Garnett was nowhere to be seen at the table, and Leila was just poking her cheekbones in the air as if she hadn't lost her mind.

'Leila. What's going on with Garnett?
............
You okay?
'...... ha!　Yes, it's nothing!

　Finally noticing my presence, Leila looked up in a hurry.

'I can't see Garnett, is he gone somewhere?'
'The signatory girl of Spring Wakabatei was there and said she would go talk to you for a bit. I think it was ...... just a few minutes ago. I think she was from the kitchen.
All right. I'll be back in a minute.

　It's easy to imagine why Leila was acting strangely.
　It was because Travis had rescued her at the scene of the collapse.

　When Leila first confided in me about her identity and purpose, she made it clear that I didn't meet her preferences for the opposite s*x and that I wasn't physically strong enough.
　And also that the person who comes closest to the ideal is King Alfred.

　In light of this, perhaps Travis fits perfectly into Leila's preferred image of the opposite s*x.

　A strong and large body. A humanity that is admired by young adventurers. A personality that takes it for granted to help a stranger.

　Only Leila herself can tell which one is more to her liking compared to His Majesty's, but as far as I can tell, she's pretty good from an objective standpoint.

　His Majesty looks like a lion, and Travis is a man who reminds me of a big dog or wolf dog (wolfdog) who is used to people, but the impression is that he's pretty close.

　Moreover, he was dramatically saved from a desperate predicament, so it's only natural that he would be strongly impressed in your mind.

'(But he's not good with women.)

　I cower lightly as I head to the kitchen, thinking of my biggest problem.

　Of course, it's not that he doesn't like women, nor does he like men.

　He claims 'I don't know how to handle them' and 'What if I touch them poorly and break them', but he is a man who would not hesitate to carry them on his back if there was a stranded old woman, so I am honestly quite suspicious of him.

　Even I've known him for fifteen years now, and even I'm not sure what causes Travis' dislike - even though he doesn't dislike - of young women.

　It was already that way when me and Travis met, though, so I'm pretty sure it was caused by his boyhood before he became an adventurer.

'' (If Leila is serious about approaching that guy ...... that's still the problem, right? I'd like to support him, though: ......)

　While I was thinking about this, I arrived at the cooking area.

　For now, I peeked in and saw a familiar face employee working at the main store on the ground, so I decided to ask him where Garnett and Sylvia were.

'Excuse me. Have you seen Sylvia-san and our Garnet?
Hmm?　Oh, Mr. Luke. If it's the ladies, they went to the back door earlier.
Thank you.

　I'm sure if I wasn't familiar with the Spring Wakaba Tei, they wouldn't have told me this.

　I went to the back door that I was taught and was about to open the door when I heard Garnett and Sylvia's conversation leaking out.

''Well ...... Alma-san, right? We're talking about your sister, right?

　I stopped in my tracks at the content of this, and let go of my hand, leaving the door half-open as well.

　Alma Argentea--a fictional character who was born as a result of Garnett's disguising her earlier self as her 'sister' in disguising her gender.

　Previously, Garnett had approached Sylvia and Marida for romantic advice under the guise that it was a problem her sister (Alma) was having.

　They read it as 'misrepresenting Garnett's own troubles as being her sister's', and perhaps their assumption was correct.

　However, I was in the position of having overheard the consultation at that time without a diagram.
　It is absolutely impossible for me to show up here and now.

　Nevertheless, I couldn't take the option to stop listening and turn back.

　I know in my head that I should turn back, but I just couldn't do so.

'Oh. Looks like I'm inexplicably bothered by the inevitable again.
What's the matter with you?
No, ...... rather the opposite.

　Garnett clammed up slightly and began to tell the rest of the story after a troubled moment.

'A guy I thought was going to be my love interest fell for another guy so easily.
'What?　Isn't that a good thing?　Does it ever bother you?
You think so?

　There's a hint of someone putting their weight on the wall.
　From the flow of the conversation, it's probably Garnett.

'But. The moment she realized that she'd been relieved and happy, she thought she was being ridiculously shallow. It's a difficult thing to do. It's not just that I don't care if there's someone else, but that I'm worried when they're gone.

　All I can hear is his voice, and I can't even tell what Garnett looks like.

　But even with that, the only thing that came through clearly was an air of depression.

''I can't say that I'm as confident as Marida, but I think it's normal to be happy.

　Sylvia squarely affirmed the cause of Garnet's troubles.

'I don't care if he was happy about his broken heart behind his back, he found love in his own way, didn't he?　Then there's no problem. It's only natural to feel good about it.
"But hey, ......, if people know I'm a woman who thinks like that, they'll go to ......
By normal, I mean it's normal to think that way.

　I hear the sound of two pairs of shoes.
　Maybe it was Sylvia approaching Garnett to crowd him, and Garnett stepped back.

''If someone liked Garnett-san or Alma-san, if their rivalry was reduced peacefully, even that person would be relieved, of course. Unless they're very confident and think they'll be chosen no matter how many rivals they have, that's a different story.
Oh, really: ......?
Of course.

　Yeah - Sylvia was right.
　I agreed wholeheartedly, without saying anything aloud.

'So you can rest assured. Garnett-san should just attack as it is!
"...... I see. You don't have to worry about it, ......!　It's not!　It's not about me, it's about my sister!　Don't make a mistake there!
'Ah!　Sheesh, that was it!

　The noise outside the back door suddenly became noisy.
　I had a feeling that they were about to end their private conversation, so I decided to walk back to the dining room without making a sound.