Kunelle let out a sound close to a scream at my remark. “Come flying over?! What do you plan to do to me?!”
“Well, that depends, right?”
“Hey, stop making your hands glow like that!”
Her reactions were really great. I’d tease her on Titee’s behalf as well. That would serve as my tribute to her.
“I’ll do it properly! I promise! Just don’t forget to thank me in return!”
“Of course.”
“Fine. Since I’m getting a reward anyway, I’ll be extra demanding. What kind of reward should I ask for? Maybe a shopping date with you for the first time in ages. That would be nice. I’d like to talk about clothes together again. After all, your otherworldly designs are incredibly useful. No, wait, I want a way more outrageous reward...”
“Ah...” A chill ran down my spine. It was a warning alert from my long dormant Responsiveness skill. Even though I’d been under constant surveillance, Responsiveness seemed to be warning me of the danger posed by Kunelle when she uttered that ominous word “date.”
“Huh? Is something wrong? You can’t back out now!” she cried.
“No, it’s nothing. I won’t lie, so relax. You can ask for anything.” This was the kind of situation where I’d normally have to cover up my reactions as much as possible, but with Kunelle being practically immortal, it shouldn’t be a problem. In that sense too, she really was a rare friend who was incredibly easy to get along with.
“Okay, then, let’s make it a date. Well, given the situation, stabilizing the mainland should take five to ten years, right? I’ll try and get it done quickly.” Kunelle casually took on a feat that would likely earn her another page in the history books. Given her abilities and lifespan, it must truly feel like a change of pace for her. She seemed relaxed enough to joke around about her reward being a date.
“Well then, I’m going to head to where Dia and the others are. I’ll probably leave Viaysia from there. See you.” With that, there was nothing left to worry about. This time, it truly was goodbye.
“See you, great hero!”
“Have a safe trip! Make sure you wrap things up properly this time, so you don’t bring any more trouble back with you!”
Waving goodbye to the two of them, I headed in through the garden and straight for one of the castle’s guest rooms. Rouge had prepared the finest guest room for me, so I’d been staying there all week. My companions, who’d returned ahead of me, were waiting there.
I made my way to the room and pushed the door open. “I’m back now!”
Snow, who’d likely known of my return from eavesdropping, was waiting just inside. “Welcome back, Kanami! You must be exhausted. Want to eat? Take a bath? Oh, or maybe—”
“No, you don’t have to say that every single time...”
For the past week, Snow had greeted me with the exact same welcome every day. The truly terrifying part was that even though she would ask which one I preferred, she hadn’t once prepared dinner or a bath. On the first day, when I’d said dinner sounded good, she’d just given me a very sweet smile and told me she hadn’t actually prepared it. Since then, I hadn’t expected anything.
“Uh-uh, I won’t stop. My plan is to gradually build the atmosphere, so I’ll patiently keep at it. I’m going to set the mood now and wreck your relationship with Lady Lastiara.”
She was still the same weirdo with misguided ideas. I couldn’t understand why she didn’t try to make herself more likeable instead. And I knew better than anyone that her efforts were futile.
“I think it’s already on the verge of collapse, so I don’t know that there will be anything to wreck.” I couldn’t imagine there was anything left between me and Lastiara worth destroying. After all, I’d been rejected incredibly harshly. Honestly, just remembering it made me want to laugh and cry at the same time.
As soon as I entered, Snow had launched her mental attack on me, and I stumbled slightly before reaching the table in the center of the room. At the table sat Dia, drinking tea. And there was Hitaki, asleep yet still seated.
“You look tired, Kanami. Are the troubles finally over?” Dia asked first, setting down her teacup. Right now, Dia and Hitaki sat together on a large chair, their hands clasped the entire time.
While thinking of an answer to Dia’s question, I also considered Hitaki’s condition. After the battle with Apostle Sith had ended, Hitaki still hadn’t regained consciousness. Ide’s top-tier condition-recovery magic had dispelled every abnormality, including curses like “attack everything that approaches,” but even Ide couldn’t cure the illness that Hitaki had carried since birth. After all, even masters at the peak of their powers a thousand years ago had given up on curing that illness. It was understandable, really. It was the sort of thing where you might finally have hope of a cure only after pushing your body’s stats all the way to the max value of ninety-nine.
So from now on, I planned to level her up slowly and steadily in this sleep state, gathering magicbane and magic gems without rushing. If I had any unease at all it was that Hitaki’s sleep was... No, that wasn’t something to think about now. Either way, at least it was no longer something to do with Viaysia.
“Yeah, Dia. I guess there’s nothing left to do here. We’ve been through a lot, but it’s over now.”
“I see. I’m glad it’s over... Unlike Sith, I can’t really help with this sort of thing...” Dia smiled in relief, satisfied that we could leave Viaysia without issue.
My heart soothed by that smile, I recalled all the struggles leading up to today. There had truly been many trials. But thanks to those hardships, I could now speak normally with Dia. After defeating Apostle Sith a week ago, the very first thing I’d done was clear up the misunderstandings between us. Naturally, the words exchanged during the battle with Sith hadn’t been enough to fully resolve things. Immediately after, we’d talked through everything that’d happened leading up to that day.
Recalling our conversation wasn’t difficult. The first thing we’d talked about was Dia’s anguish and what it meant for her to be herself. I gradually recalled our postbattle conversation, including the reason Dia still hadn’t left Hitaki, and continued to hold her hand.