"A party of nobles is to be held in the Seventh Ward City. So, my mission this time is to escort someone in secret.


　Early morning. As usual, we came to the briefing room and the mission that came to us was different from the usual. As usual, I thought it was going to be a dusk mission, but I didn't expect it to be a party escort. I thought that this might not be a simple matter.


'Who's your escort target?'


　Eira senior asked that. Then what came out of the colonel's mouth was a familiar name.


''The main target of the escort is the Third Princess Liane. The other humans, such as the Military Police Department, will also cooperate with them. ''Whatever it is, it was originally going to be held in the First Boundary City, but this time it was to be held in the Seventh Boundary City. Probably because they want to keep it away from the First Boundary City.


　The First Boundary City. It's been a while since the attack, but the scars of that time are still evident, and a traitor may still be behind the scenes. Moreover, a traitor may still be working in the dark. It is certainly a reasonable choice to leave that place.


''Furthermore, it seems that from now on, the nobles are planning to settle here.... It seems that they're going to move to each boundary city, but the seventh boundary city is a bit more numerous than the others. It seems that the reason for holding the party this time is to have a social gathering.......
What is it, Colonel?
''This time the nobles, and even the royals, are moving. This is the perfect opportunity for them to target. You're going to be able to get a lot more than you think. That's why we've been sent out here.
I see...


　There would be an option of not holding a party in the first place...............................but apparently that's also meant to appeal to the general public. We will not succumb to the demon tribe and so on," he said to Dusk. Even if that attack happens, we will continue to move forward.


''Yet another special-grade anti-magician will come to replenish our ranks.
'What?　That would mean there are four people in the Seventh Boundary City, right?


　I genuinely wondered. I wondered if it was okay to have four people concentrated in one city.


'But it's only for one day. The top seems to have decided that's fine. Incidentally, the one coming, by the way....


　The colonel was about to say this when he heard the door open with all his might.


'Ta-da!　It was me!　How about that, are we all surprised?
It's not Claudia.


　Eira-senpai looked at her and muttered abominably. Yes, the one who came was Claudia-san, the seventh in the pecking order.


''Huh?　It's not very responsive. It's not just Julia-kun. The one with a nice face.
Haha ... hello, long time no see...



　Therefore, Claudia-san was going to accompany him on this mission.



　◇



Long time no see, Julia.
Oh, yes. Thank you.....
'What?　What's going on?　It's kind of tangential.
"Well, you see...


　It's not that I don't like talking to Claudia-san, or that I'm nervous or anything. It's true that she's a beautiful woman and nervous about many things, but right now, more than anything else.......Eira-senpai is in a great mood.


''What's wrong, Eira?　You're in a terrible mood today.
It's your fault. Claudia, of all people, is coming to you...
Oh, come on, don't say that... you're so cute...
What?　Get away from me!


　Saying that, senpai hates to hug you. What can I say, at first glance, it's a funny sight but.......the way senpai dislikes it is quite serious and I only get the impression that they dislike it in general.

　Well it's true that some people don't like it when you're too sticky about it.


　By the way, only three of us are left in the briefing room right now. The other members have moved away as soon as the meeting is over. It seems to be the consensus of the whole thing. And senpai and I were unlucky enough to get caught, so here we are.


'Hmm?　Eira, is it possible ... progress?
No, no, it's just for a second.
What are you talking about?
It's called Twilight Syndrome.
Oh, you're moving on, senior?
....


　Senior Eira looks away. Progress?　But there's no pretense of that at all....


''Eira and Yulia-kun are progressing exceptionally fast, aren't they?
Is that so?
'Normally when you get to a certain level 5, your progress stops. But you guys keep going.
It's already going to reach my chest.
I hope it won't do any harm.
''I'm fine for now but come to think of it, Claudie, you're level 0, aren't you?
Hmm?　Oh, yeah. I don't seem to be infected for some reason. I've been fighting in the twilight for some time now, but not at all. I've heard it's rare. I've heard that there are uninfected individuals among humans.
'It seems so.......what is twilight really like?

　Despite going to twilight on a regular basis, there are people who don't get infected. That's not particularly unusual in the military. People who are making progress and people who are not. What is the difference between those who are advancing and those who are not?

　While he was talking like that, he remained silent. He kept looking down, as if he was avoiding the topic, as if he was turning away from it.


''Well then, you two, I'll see you tomorrow.


　Finally, with that, Claudia-san left.



　◇



'Senior, wait a minute!'
What ... Julia.
It may be none of my business, but...well...what's the matter with you?
It's nothing ... nothing at all.
Hey, hey!


　It's been strange since a while ago. It's a good idea to get away from my side as if you are running away, as if you are somehow frightened. If this is true, I should probably just let it go. But my intuition tells me that's not a good idea. I can't leave my seniors in this state of mind.


''What, Yulia. Let me go!
I'm not letting go. Senior, what's going on?
Nothing....
Is the Twilight Syndrome getting worse?
....


　He turns his face down again. Twilight Syndrome 《Twilight Syndrome》. It is the fate of human beings. As long as we are out in the twilight, we have to face this phenomenon. Recently, I've been going to the hospital for regular checkups, but I don't know what's happening now. This is because there are no other similar cases. I'm proud to say that I probably have the highest level of Twilight Syndrome 《Twilight Syndrome》 among human beings. But is that........could it be that.......senpai is too?


Julia, come here.
What?
If it's Julia I'm fine. If you go that far, I'll show you.


　I arrive at her room with my senpai taking me straight to her room.


'Wait, what?　If you want to change, I'll go outside!
...just look at it.


　As soon as the senior entered the room, he took off his clothes. When he took off his upper body clothes, he took off his underwear as well. And what I saw was not the beautiful soft skin of my senior. If you see a woman naked, you have some idea of what she looks like. But right now I wasn't thinking about that at all.


''Senpai.......this is........''
That's how far we've come since the attack.
No, because this is ... me and ...
Yeah, about the same as Julia.


　What was there was a red-black imprint. But it wasn't just on my senpai's chest, it was invading it, spreading from his chest to his entire body. If you only look at the extent of it, it was about the same as mine. I've seen my Twilight Syndrome 《Twilight Syndrome》 before, but this is indeed........


''Is it okay?''
Will Julia be okay?
Yes, sir.
'It's rather overflowing with power. Doesn't it feel like that?
It's...


　I was feeling it faintly. I was aware that every time the symptoms of Twilight Syndrome 《Twilight Syndrome》 progressed, it was increasing in power.


''Hey Julia ... aren't you afraid of me?''
I'm not going to be scared...
Yes. We're the same, we're the same but....


　The senior continues to walk slowly and snuggles up to me.


''Hey Julia.......we........''


　I don't really remember what happened after that.