The sound of a skull being struck echoes through the laboratory.

　The silence that comes in the atrium hall.

　As Garnett slowly lifted his fist, the blood soaked into Valentine's white mask pulled the thread.

'...... Garnett!'

　As soon as I realized the fight was over, I immediately ran to Garnett's side.

　I knew through my 'right eye' that I wasn't badly injured, but I still had no choice but to be worried.

　Garnett stopped riding his horse to Valentine and stood up, and smiled a smile that seemed both pensive and refreshed.

'It ain't nothing. You look like you're getting a lot sturdier in your clothes and body.
That's fine then: ......

　If the person in question says he or she is fine, and yet the 'right eye' hasn't found anything wrong with it either, then we shouldn't be overly worried about it.

　So for now, I moved my gaze from Garnett to Valentine.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most out of your time with the help of a few of your friends.

　He seemed to be continuing to breathe and didn't seem to have suffered any life-threatening damage, but he shouldn't be safe after receiving such a strong beating.

''Do you need ...... [restoration]?
No, thank you. It'll pass in a minute.

　The reply was surprisingly clear in his voice.

　After all, I decided not to do the 【Restoration】 of the wounds, thinking that I should respect his will rather than forcing him to do so, even against Valentine.

　Instead, I'll poke my hand into the floor of the laboratory and activate 【Restoration】 to fix the floor and walls that were destroyed by the effects of the battle.

　As if he had reckoned on the timing when that was done, Ambrose approached me with a relaxed gait.

'Good work, both of you. I hope you got something out of it.
'I don't know ....... If you can make me understand that I've strengthened it enough, that's good enough for me.
Well, in your case it would be.

　Ambrose agreed for a moment and then turned his head towards me.

'You guys go ahead and get some rest. I want you to leave Valentine in charge. I don't intend to keep you waiting that long.
Okay, ...... I'll let you handle this one.

　I can't think of a single word that could be spoken to Valentine from me.

　It was obvious that it would be wiser to leave it to Ambrose, who claimed to be my friend.

　As I left the lab with Garnet and closed the thick door, I remembered that I hadn't solved the fusion of Garnet and Medallion.

　As far as I can see with the Right Eye of Wisdom, there were no signs that some kind of abnormality was about to occur, and there seemed to be no problem with this for a while, but as expected, I couldn't just walk around in a vacuum.

　The medallion ...... Strictly speaking, the technique of uniting a living human with the monster factor created by pouring magical power into it is still not something that can be made public.

　Anyway, when I stretched out my arm to bring it back with [Restoration], Garnett grabbed my wrist and stopped me.

''The white wolf's. Let's hear it straightforwardly, shall we?　From your point of view, ...... what do I look like now?
What does that mean ...... that the wolf's ears and tail grow back and its canine teeth grow like fangs?
No, man. Don't play dumb with me, you know what I'm talking about.
...... Yeah, I know that.

　He scratched his head furtively with his other hand in annoyance.

　What Garnett wants to make sure of is not some objective explanation.

　It's a subjective evaluation from my own personal perspective ...... more clearly, it's a question of aesthetics and heteros*xuality.

　I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to do that, but I'm going to say that I'm not going to be able to do that.

　But this question was very difficult for me to answer.

　It's not that I don't like it. It's not that I don't like it.
　The only reason I'm stuck for an answer is because I'm embarrassed to put it into words.

　...... but I couldn't not answer.

　I've been concerned about you from the beginning, both Garnett and I have been concerned about you.

　The only question remaining is this, now that the improvement in combat ability has been confirmed as perfect.

"Ah ...... well, that's ......
............

　While I'm swimming my gaze, Garnett is looking straight up at me.

　This guy can't be unconcerned about asking directly, either.

　He's going to have to step over the hesitation and shame and get into the spirit of the questioning.

　Then I'll just have to brace myself for it.

...... I'll be frank with you. The first time I saw it, I have to admit, it was stunning. I'm not saying this one is better than usual, but what a ...... this one is.
I can't understand it. Well, I'm not going to ask you which one is better.

　Even though she said so with a hateful attitude, with her eyebrows furrowed, Garnet seemed unable to control the loose ends of her mouth.

　Moreover, if you lower your gaze further down, the golden tail was swaying busily from side to side behind her waist.

　-- Does it move, that thing?

　During the battle, I couldn't distinguish it from the swaying of the entire body as it was caught in the movement of the entire body, but now it's clear that only the tail is moving independently.

　We're all familiar with the emotions that dogs have when they wag their tails, but what was the case with wolves?

　When Garnet noticed that I was looking at him strangely, he moved his face to follow my eyes quizzically, and then blushed all at once when he realized that his tail was wagging.

'Whoa!

　He grabbed his tail and turned around and stared up at me with vigor.

'Hey, hey!　Don't look at me, just turn it back on!　I'm not used to this body at all!

　Even more inopportune, perhaps because the roar and vibrations of the battle that had taken place in the laboratory had been transmitted to the outside world, there were voices and signs of some people rushing in from across the corridor.

'Are you alright, Commander Luke!　What the hell was the impact like the explosion just now!
'Wow!　There's nothing to see here!　Back off!

　I put my hand around Garnett's chest, who was in a great hurry and making a lot of noise, and immediately activated the 【Restoration】 skill to restore his physical body to its original form at the same time as I pulled off the medallion.

　In the nick of time, 【Restoration】 arrived in time, and by the time Sophia and Mark appeared from the other side of the corridor, Garnet's body was completely restored to its original form.

　However, both me and Garnett were terribly flustered and impatient, so Sophia made me suspicious of what was going on.

''It's fine if it's not a problem, but ...... I also have a role to play as an audit of the Order, so could you report back later?''
...... Yeah, I'll let you know when I'm ready to report it: ......

　If we were to use this power in an actual battle, we couldn't keep it a secret from anyone.

　Promising Sophia a report later, me and Garnett decided to leave the place for once and wait for Valentine and Ambrose.