Once the giant lizard corpse was dealt with properly, Luke and the party returned to Gilbadia.
“We’re here to rest for a while, then we get back out there when there’s a good bounty, right?”
“Of course.”
“All right, Master Luke.”
Their party was now used to clearing several bounties in a day, but first, they had to return to the city for their rewards. Luke and the others headed back to the guild, picking up consumable necessities on the way. Many of the citizens of Gilbadia still looked at Luke with fear in their eyes—but as was the case with most things, they were slowly growing used to him.
“Hey, Zack, stop in a while!”
“What’re you sayin’, old man? Sun’s still up!”
Many people called out to Zack and his companions as they walked the streets. The party was particularly well-liked by those in the city, and everyone was eager for their friendship and favor. Zack called out jovial replies as they passed, until eventually they came to the Adventurers’ Guild. Just as Luke placed his hand on the handle to push his way inside, a shrill voice drove its way through the door and into his skull:
“I told you already! I’m here to ask where Luke is!”
Luke felt his heart drop like a lead weight.
“…Zack, listen to me.”
“Wh-what is it?”
“I feel like something…annoying is about to happen.”
“That’s a coincidence, I have the exact same feeling.”
“Then you know what I’m about to say, right?” Luke said, casting him a glance.
“Yeah…it’s up to me to fix it again, huh?” Zack sighed.
Not only had Zack also heard the voice, but he’d reacted the exact same way. He felt similar trepidation about whatever was on the other side of that door, and Luke’s and Zack’s premonitions were generally right. Even so, they couldn’t just stand outside the guild all day. Luke steeled his resolve, then slowly pushed open the door.
“Hey, Lily, calm dow—ah! Luke!”
Abel turned to greet Luke, who could practically feel the question marks popping up above his head as he stared back, speechless.
“S-sorry for the sudden visit. We just wanted to come and see how you’re doing,” Abel said. “To hang out, that’s all!”
“Long time no see, Luke,” said Lily beside him.
Luke had no idea what Abel was talking about.
“You came…to hang out…with me?”
Luke struggled desperately to digest the meaning of the words. He understood them separately, but was completely unable to process them together as a coherent whole.
“Yeah! I was so surprised when I heard you’d become an adventurer!” Abel grinned. “Me and Lily actually went and got our licenses too! Real coincidence, huh?!”
Luke’s brain almost short-circuited at the inscrutability of it all, but there was one shred of information that caught in his mind:
Does this idiot seriously think that we’re friends…?
Luke suddenly felt intensely dizzy.
“Zack…I’m tired. We’re done for the day.”
“Huh?”
“A-are you okay, Luke?!”
Abel rushed over to Luke’s side, with a look of genuine concern for his well-being.
3
THAT WAS THE MOMENT THAT MADE LUKE SURE of it.
There is such a thing as fate in this world. That’s the only explanation. Why else would Abel be here? I just can’t explain it any other way.
Abel gazed at Luke with a worried expression, completely unaware of his inner lament. The sight of the boy only darkened Luke’s heart a deeper shade of black.
And yet…
When did this happen, I wonder? When did I start to accept these irksome aspects of reality as inevitabilities? Nothing I do has assuaged the never-ending parade of annoyances and irritations, and each time the waves rise, they surpass my expectations.
Somewhere in Luke’s subconscious, he had begun to accept the need for compromise—that he must give ground. That was it, he realized.
I’ve been compromising, have I…?
“Mwa ha…don’t make me laugh.”
Luke’s mind, so full of sorrow just moments earlier, was now overcome by rage. All traces of self-pity vanished, leaving nothing but pure anger. He was not just angry at Abel, but at everything in the world that irritated him, and as Luke’s emotions reached a fever pitch, a terrifying amount of mana poured from within him. The air temperature seemed to drop, and suddenly everyone in the room remembered something horrible—Luke. They recalled in vivid detail the trauma he’d inflicted on them, felt his monstrous presence before them, and it sent a chill through the room.
Zack was standing closest to Luke, so he was the first to feel it. A wave of overwhelming terror pressed down on him, and he let out a short wail in response. There was a monster standing by his side, right within arm’s reach and yet nigh untouchable.
“Gaaah!”
“M-Mokkel?!”
The adventurer Mokkel screamed out for the second time that month and ran off into another room. Most of the others were rooted to the spot by Luke’s violent release of mana, unable to move a muscle. The fact that Mokkel had been able to flee at all was, in fact, proof of just how capable he really was.
“When did the two of us become equals?” Luke demanded, focused on the so-called protagonist before him. “Come on. Answer me, Abel.”
“Huh?”
Luke closed in on Abel.
“You seem to have misunderstood, so let me tell you. You and I are not—”
“Hey, cut it out!”
Lily stepped in between the two boys, as if she wasn’t scared of either of them. Luke glared at her for her insolence, only to realize that her hands were trembling slightly.
“You’re both Aslan students,” she said firmly, “and we’re here to hang out! Abel was super looking forward to coming to see you, Luke!”
Lily strained to raise her voice even louder than usual, so she wouldn’t give in to the fear.
“…You—ugh…! What?”
Luke looked at the new dissenting voice standing between Abel and himself, and fresh emotions began to churn within him. Before he could begin to process them, the guild’s alarm bell cut sharply through the suffocating atmosphere to shake him to his core.
Then came the announcement, the man’s voice trembling slightly as his words rung out over the city:
“Emergency!! An S-rank monster, disaster-level, is heading for the city!! It’s an ice dragon!! All adventurers and knights are to arm themselves and gather at the western gate!!”