A small, but small gasp sounded in the cave that had been used as a resting place.
　Ars pressed the edges of his eyes, and that was exactly what he did, weakening and resting his back against the wall.

　Even Ars's insignificant clucking of his tongue sounded as if it echoed in this cave.

　Far from being silent, there must be a lot of agony swirling around. It was certainly not a face Als had ever shown in the outside world before.
　The gurgling of the creek flowed unimpeded by the thin, unobstructed silence.


　Inside the cave, the dead branches prepared by Loki were lit by a fire, crackling with small lights.

　Meanwhile, Alice, seated near the fire, had her gaze vaguely focused on the center of the flames.
　It was roughly how it happened from Loki - right after Loki had told her what had happened after Alice had passed out.

　It must have felt to her as if it had started with Alice's trivial mistake if the original story was to be traced back to her. And Alice still doesn't know what caused Tesfia to be scolded either. No, she can only dimly see that the pitfalls that cannot be expressed in words are leaving a dark and gaping hole.

　It feels like a common sense of another world, something we would never have thought of in the inner world where we lived in peace. That's exactly the pitfall that comes from experience, Alice thinks. So now I don't know. Such an inexplicable lump was left behind, leaking out of Alice's mouth as a small exhale.

　The only thing I'm sure of is that I can't go on like this. Even though Alice doesn't know much about the unit, the current situation is surely not right. It's not so much the same as usual, but with a crack like this, the unit shouldn't be able to function properly.

　As if he already understood Alice's concern, Loki walked up next to Ars, as if he had already understood Alice's concern. And without incident, he huffily rested his back to the wall.



　Loki calls him distant like he used to. Because now Ars is back to that time. The mage training program, the environment and standards they grew up in and the standard of the mages' training program are required of these girls.
　They are thrown out into the outside world without feeling. If they don't seek out their own way of life, there is no future for them. Because they have been brought up in such an environment, in a sense, neither Ars nor Loki knows the right way to do things.

　All they know is how to live, that kind of muddy way of life.

　It's not a matter of desperation, it's not a matter of seriousness. It's just that I'm constantly asking myself the decision to live or die. He just wanders through a maze of thoughts with no way out.
　But even in the midst of such a situation, Ars and Loki may not have been able to say it was the best thing to do, but they did not give up their choice to survive until the end. That's why there is now.

　The art of this technique is what Ars has asked Tesfia for. It's the kind of sense of smell and intuition that is normally acquired as experience in the process of passing through a number of death lines.


　Ars didn't even take a glance at Loki and opened his mouth. It was as if he felt the heaviness of his voice, giving those who listened the difficulty of saying it.

'I know. But this sort of thing comes with being in a crisis.
That one time can be fatal to the outside world.

　Loki lifted the corners of his mouth in a wry smile, as if he were preaching to the Buddha.
　Because it was obvious that this was going to go in circles. It would be an argument that would go on forever.

　A critical situation would be averted by the presence of Ars. But Loki didn't think that the essence of the matter was in the education that Ars had mentioned.
　The difficulty of teaching them was proof that Ars cared about them that much. That was just a little bit of flailing. The world that Ars and Loki have lived in is the exception to the rule.
　It is certain that it is not common...but it is also certain that it is the only way they know how to do and teach. I can only confidently teach Tesfia and Alice what I have experienced myself.

''Al........''

　The one who uttered such a faint voice now was Alice. With a weak sound in her voice that was lost even to the gentle breeze, she turned her soft eyes to Ars on the other side of the fire.

''I'm sorry. I really thought that Fia and I could do more. We believed that we could live up to our accomplishments. We've gotten better at magic, and we've gained a certain amount of knowledge of the outside world. I wanted you to see that we could fight together, even if it wasn't quite as good as Loki's.

　As if to let out all of her heart, Alice spoke with such a heavy heart. So, after all, the first thing Alice uttered was an apology.
　Her dry smile was fragile and hazy, lost in the flickering flames.

　I didn't mean to let my guard down, I tried my best.......but still, I couldn't help it. Far beyond common sense, the outside world mocked the two inexperienced people.

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

　Unable to bear the silent Ars, Loki also continued to speak. It was because he strongly felt that the girls, who he had felt it was okay to abandon so much at the beginning of the incorporation, had now become the stronghold of Ars's heart and part of it.

'Arus-sama, shouldn't we just teach them slowly and hastily?　You've always been reluctant to do this, but you've done it. Maybe not all of the ways we've survived are applicable to Fia and Alice. It's going to take a lot of work, though.

　With a bitter smile, Loki gave a small smile.

　Finally, Ars closed his eyes, as if he was trying to escape reality. At least to Alice and Loki, he must have looked like he was dressed to listen to them.

''Al........''
Lady Arus.

　Alice and Loki call out to each other, as if to say that caution against demons is of secondary importance.

''Ah~ Okay, okay. I admit I was a bit hasty. d*mn, you're really out of shape.

　Ars ruffled the back of his head as usual, trying to disguise his brokenness at the girls' insistence.

　Relieved, Alice and Loki patted their chests, and their tight chemistry was broken. Quickly, Loki detected and reported the location of the Tesfia.

''--!　Master Ars. Mr. Fear's place is a bit far from here, isn't it?
What the f*ck is he doing?
.........?

　Loki wondered at the unnaturalness in Ars's voice, and he felt uncomfortable. Even though he had moved away, in addition to this distance, there was no way that Ars couldn't have grasped it.
　What passed through his mind for a moment was the idea that that was exactly what Ars had given up on Tesfia. But from what he had reconsidered, that shouldn't have been a possibility. If he was going to give up on her in the first place, he wouldn't have hit her hard in the first place.

　So Loki bent forward and looked at Ars's face.

''--!　You look a little pale.......and sweaty....

　It's not Alice or Tesfia. The usual Ars wouldn't be sweating at this level of exercise.
　The modulation was obvious, though he hadn't noticed it before because of the darkness and the orange of the flames.

'No, I'm fine. Maybe I've cooled my liver a bit.
Would you like me to bring Miss Fear to you?
No, I'll go. I'll go with you but we have a general idea of where we're going. It's not too long before we leave for our mission, so we'll have time to get him back.

　Slightly, the edges of Ars's eyes twitched in response, but he put his hand on top of Loki's head like he had always done.

'I understand. But...........be gentle with the prodigal daughter. And.........
I know. I went a little overboard. I'm sorry.

　After taking a breath, Ars walked towards the spot where Tesfia had run off. The voice that was thrown at his back was Alice's, bright and cheerful, as if she had returned to form.

'Please, Al. So, what's up, I'd like you to tell me a lot of things again. Fear with you, too.
'Yeah, I know. It's part of my job.
It's my job.

　It was a laugh from, but it was a smile that made Alice forget for a moment that she was in the outside world.

　Putting his hand on the edge of the wall, Ars brings the dimmed outside into view and turns his eyes in the direction of where Tesfia is.
　And just after taking a step forward, he looked over his shoulder at Loki with disgruntled eyes.

''And you know what Loki....''
'Yes!　What is it?
Don't call me by my title.
Okay. Have a good day, Al.

　The silver-haired girl bowed her head reverently and looked away from Ars.