A single voice sound, clearly different in tone, interrupts. 'What happened?' the words so decidedly rained down a watery silence. The air was suffocating, like a child who has been found out about a wrongdoing.

　It's a good thing that you're able to get a good idea of what you're looking for. But Loki interrupted her in front of her to stop her from speaking.
　At this point, Alice had noticed. It's not the kind of thing you can hide, although Loki has stopped you from talking.
　If she told the truth about "something" in front of Ars, it would inevitably be exposed. It was not Loki who was unaware of this.

　Alice anxiously turned her head to Loki, who interrupted her.
　She grabbed her arm protectively and grabbed the top of her robe, a bitter look on her face. It wasn't an attempt to hide from the guilt of subtraction or blunder.
　It's an outpouring of deeper, simpler emotions. It's not about demons or anything like that, it's just that Loki himself doesn't want Ars to know what he owes his body.

　That seemed like a terribly girlish thing to do from Alice's point of view.

　But it's not a good thing to keep hidden either. Alice agonized as she looked down.
　But in the end, when it comes to Loki........
　Just as she was about to open her mouth after making up her mind, Loki began to reveal himself, as if to take the initiative.

''I'm sorry. ''Alice-san,'' an apology once came from a small forward voice.

　Then Loki pulled one arm out of his robe and exposed it to the light of day.
　It was darker and more clearly visible on Loki's arm than when Alice had first seen it.

'You've gone,'

　Ars's bare words, which he doesn't tell everyone until everyone else, sound too clerical and chilly to blame her for it.
　Loki can't look straight at Ars, and after nodding once with a cocky smile, he turns over without lifting his china-like face.

　Behind him, a gasping Tesfia squeezes his mouth shut. It's not painful, but its imprint-like pattern is worthy of being called alien. If you look closely, it looks like scales, but the arrangement and the symbolic linkage of each one of them is definitely reminiscent of a certain thing.

It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you can get your hands on a new one. It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for. Even if it wasn't magical, it was easy to imagine what it was attached to, given that this was the outside world.


　A few moments later, Loki began to talk about what he had experienced and seen this morning without wrapping his mind around it. Everything about leaving Alice alone to investigate, and the mistakes he had made.
　The engraving on his arm that he had taken on as the price for that.


'What a wreck.

　In a dumb tone, Ars spat out tiredly. Ars himself couldn't say anything about others because he had encountered the embarrassing situation of not being able to control his magic power.
　This was an experience that had never happened before. He was too embarrassed to speak about the cause of it. It was a painful reminder that magic power is closely related to the mind and emotions.

　Seeing the way Tesfia and Alice fought, it was just what Ars thought, and it really appeared. Furthermore, it was probably not good to use 【Violent Predator (Gura Eater)】 in such a state.
　Was he lonely, resentful of the way the two of them fought, or did he feel a sense of danger? Now that it had been resolved, it was difficult to remember what he thought at the time.

　Regardless of what was on Ars's mind, Loki demanded punishment. If you look at the results, he had disturbed discipline and put his comrades in danger, so it was a natural punishment. At least the troops she experienced were led under such strict rules.

　Loki's actions were, after all, personal. It was for Ars and for his sake. He didn't want to tarnish the achievement of a 100% mission accomplishment rate. He also knew that the expectation that Ars would do so couldn't possibly apply to him.
　Still, I wanted to do something.
　I wanted to be useful in some way. He couldn't suppress the impulse that came from such a frustration.

　Maybe he also felt that that was the only thing Loki had worthwhile to hold him together at the moment. If this was going to happen, such regret...was it the secret that kept him from telling her?

''I'll take the blame.......I've also put Alice-san in danger, and it's my fault.

　I guess it's just tiny jealousy. Maybe it's because I'm aware of it, and that's why I failed.

　I felt depressed and let my thoughts sink to the bottom of my stormy mind.
　Then Loki's forehead was met with a strong decapitation, and he couldn't help but meditate hard on his eyes.
　He looks up to Ars, rubbing and teary-eyed, to see what's going on. It was probably the most painful thing he had ever received from Ars, if not the most painful. So far, he had never made a mistake that would cause trouble for anyone.
　Perhaps that's why the shock felt like it went right to my heart.

　A thin layer of tears seeped through. I immediately held my reddened forehead in my hands and covered my face with my shadowy arms. This decapitation caused more pain than the reddening.

　And Loki, who peered at Ars through the gap in his arms, just cowered in a daze, forgetting the pain at the unexpected sight.

''Hola, you're next.''
..........

　In front of her, Ars, with his hands up in his bangs, bent forward, his forehead sticking out.

'I screwed up too. We both did.'
Al....

　Als, who was trying to be lenient and accepting, was not going to be pleasantly surprised while he was being rushed, "Hurry up.

Are you sure?
Don't make me tell you again. I'll do my best.
I understand.

　Loki bent his fingertips at such close range that they touched his forehead or not, and the force was like an arrow drawn to the point of ripping off the string.
　It's a very good idea to be able to have a good idea of what to expect. It's not just a matter of time before you're ready to go, it's also a matter of when. It was a horrible, heavy impact that struck the skin, or rather, crushed the bones deep in the thin skin.

　The sound alone was enough to make both Tesfia and Alice involuntarily tense up.

''Gaha!

　With a scream like that of a villain being defeated, Ars fell on his back.
　His eyes flickered. Don't go easy on him, he said, but for a moment, he was almost jumping out of consciousness.

　The pain that came after him was exactly to the core.
　Nevertheless, he didn't let the ugliness of struggling get the best of him, and he stood up with patience. Ars doesn't have the slightest bit of space, and he palms his forehead. There was even a risk of bloodshed if it was done poorly.

'Oh, we're even. We're even, aren't we?
Yes. Are you okay, Al?
No problem, I guess.

　Even for Loki, this would have saved him some lumps and bruises. In the end, there is no way to know the right choice. The only consequence is that Loki's decision to investigate has led to an untenable situation. This is a common occurrence in the outside world. It's not something that can be avoided by trying to avoid it.

''All right, so I'll be next,''

　Ars cringes at the unexpected ambush and looks at Tesfia, who rolls up her arms. He may indeed have a point and a right. Still, the price Ars pays is too great.

''Wait a minute!　You will not be forgiven.

Why, man, these things are meant to be reset once in a while, you know?
'If Fia's going to do it, I might as well give it a shot.
Hey, guys, I'm gonna mess you up.

　There was no way that such a threat could be accepted, and after all this, Ars would have to receive a deco pin in one place in a concentrated manner.



　Finally, the partition was resumed, but Ars's forehead was so red it looked like smoke was coming out of it.
　Restart.
　A new start as a squad. Loki blurts out to Ars's back.

If it was Al, would you have given up on the investigation?

　The question was of great significance to Loki. He wasn't looking for the right decision, he wanted to know what he would do that was unique to him.

　Ars replied with a beat to the thinly veiled but hopeful anticipation.

'Depending on the circumstances, I might have given up on it.

　Without turning around, Ars replied. Then, as if he could see through it, he added, "Now I would, but...
　Because it was Loki, he set out to investigate, but like Alice said, Ars gave up and made the choice to put them first.

　Loki was heartbroken just to hear that. As he knew, it was still the same old Ars that Loki knew. It's a good thing that the humanity has increased, but at its core, it's still the same.
　He might say that he is different.
　A wizard who knew him in the past might say the same thing.
　Or they would say that he had changed in a different way after his time at the Academy.

　But the only thing that seemed certain to Loki was that Ars to him hadn't changed at all since that day.
　To little Loki, that meant a lot to him. And now that Alice is aware of this, she's starting to get to know him too.

　Another step, it seemed to Loki that Ars had gone far away - he was the only one who felt like he was going to lead the girls onward. That must be true.

　An unearned impatience was growing in Loki's mind.

'Wait, please don't leave me!

　An unexpected voice that could be taken as a heart cry was moving Loki's mouth. Instead of going far away, the distance between him and Ars was only a few meters, that is. Still, his gesture of reversing in front of him made Loki's mouth open.

　''Huh!　I, no, it's nothing," he says, making a dry smile at himself.

　Loki, who is behaving strangely, makes Ars cower his shoulders in question. Good grief, he took Loki's hand.

''I want to see the place where the [Night Meeting] was once. Please show me around, Loki.
Yes.

　Loki turned his face away from the vague fear, trying to act as cheerful as possible with an awkward smile on his face.