We’ve hung around the party for a few days now, but for some reason it doesn’t feel right for me and Kazuya to join in, so we hang back. After a few seconds, I notice Molozov is also hesitant to go join them.
“Go ahead,” Kazuya tells him, and Molozov gives a brief apology, drops his shield, and enters the celebrating circle.
Good for them. I dunno, accomplishing a big task together looks kinda fun.
“That guy’s seriously brilliant. He cut it in half!” Even Kazuya sounds like he can’t believe it. I turn to see him smiling excitedly. Oh, yeah. He and Luke have been on good terms lately. Maybe he’s happy his friend knocked it out of the park.
“He’s cool, isn’t he?” I ask.
Kazuya’s smile clouds over at once like I just chided him and he replies curtly after a pause, “Yeah.”
“You were cool, too,” I say. “You’re the reason Leila stopped the wind magic.” I mean it. Kazuya’s amazing. He always knows things I don’t and comes up with all kinds of stuff. Nothing like me, who always acts first and asks questions later.
Kazuya looks startled. “I swear, it’s because you say things like that sometimes…”
Luke cuts him off with a hug. “Kazuya! I heard you’re responsible for stopping the wind magic! Thank you!”
“Ugh, get off of me!” Kazuya protests, but he seems to enjoy the praise.
Those two get along so well. I smile fondly, happy that Kazuya’s made a friend when he usually struggles to. Luke meets my gaze and lets Kazuya go, then comes over to me and hugs me as well.
Wha—…?! Wh-whaaat?! L-Luke is h-h-hugging me right now?!
“Sakurako, thank goodness you’re safe.” He pulls me closer.
What?! I’m not used to this sort of passionate embrace! My heart’s gonna explode! “L-Luke, my chest!”
Kazuya hooks his hands on Luke’s shoulders and peels Luke off of me. Oh my God, my poor heart! It’s beating like a bat out of hell. I’ve got palpitations and can hardly breathe!
“Look, Luke, we weren’t raised in a culture where people just hug one another,” Kazuya gives an impromptu, stern lesson on Japanese etiquette, in complete contrast to his happy attitude a minute ago.
Luke hurriedly takes his remaining hand off my shoulder. “I’m sorry, both of you. I just couldn’t hold back… I really am glad you’re safe, and I was able to beat the monster because you were watching, Sakurako. I got stronger than usual when I thought how I had to protect you.” Luke shoots me a shy smile.
Ack! What do I say to that? I’m over the moon. No one’s ever worried about protecting me before.
Yeah… I think I might like him. Luke, I mean. But what would he think if he knew I wasn’t actually weak? Would he not want to protect me anymore? Does he only think of me as worth protecting because I’m little and fragile?
“Sakurako? I-I’m sorry, please don’t be troubled by it. I’m sorry I hugged you out of nowhere,” Luke says, worried by my sudden silence.
I anxiously shake my head. “I’m not bothered! I was surprised, but I’m fine now! Really!”
“No, I apologize. I’ll be more careful from now on.” Luke smiles softly. Man, he’s cool!
“Let’s send up a signal to show the quest’s over,” Ganzi says happily.
“A smoke signal?” Kazuya asks.
“Yeah. Once you complete a quest successfully, you need to send up blue smoke to let everyone else know it’s over. Although our original target was an owl demon, it’s possible people mistook the Owl Demon Lord for that, so we’d better clear things up as soon as we can.” Ganzi rummages through his bag and takes out a powdery blue rock. “Kazuya, do you have a flint?”
Kazuya is peering grimly into the distance. “Hey, Ganzi. You said blue smoke indicates a quest is over, right? What does red smoke mean?”
“It means you’re dealing with a monster that’s out of your league, or your party’s about to be wiped out. It’s an SOS signal.”
Kazuya raises his arm and points at the sky. “So that’s bad.”
A thin trail of red smoke is rising in stark contrast with the blue sky.
Ganzi’s frown matches Kazuya’s and he mutters in a low voice, “Yeah. That’s bad.”