A week had passed since the riot Yuri raised. City management officially announced that Navie Ionesca and the twelve closest to him were sentenced to exile.
Yuri, Athena, and Fram were given a three-day house arrest and a harsh reprimand, while Haring’s case was properly dismissed and he was released without issue.
And—
“Alright! Let’s start Mr. Haring’s welcoming party into Team Eniastar!”
The members had all gathered around a table on the terrace of Café Argent.
“So anyway, it’s a pleasure to work with you!”
“Yeah, I don’t really mind that part, but...”
Haring was already starting to feel tired, his head propped up by his hand as he stared fixedly at Yuri.
“Fox, spirit, are you always like that?”
“Mn? This is the norm for us,” Athena immediately replied.
“Yes, these are normal operating conditions,” Fram added.
They had set up camp around Yuri, stuck fast to his side.
“I mean, these days, Yuri’s only paying attention to Haring, Haring, Haring! As his Big Sis, I have the right to hug him as much as I want!”
“It’s an obligation by this point. An obligation imposed upon us of admiring Yuri up close.”
“...Oi, Yuri, ain’t it hard to breathe like that?”
“I kinda got used to it by now!”
“You’re pretty adaptable, ain’t you.”
Too enervated to say any more on the matter, Haring painstakingly began stuffing his cheeks with food.
“Well, I’m on the team, so I’ll do my work. I know better than to stick my mouth where it don’t belong.”
“Yeah, you’d better not! A croissant isn’t going to get in the way of sisterly love!”
“Hey, you know those delicious-looking horns on your head? Have you ever tried taking them off and eating them? I’m talking about emergency situations, of course. But what do they taste like?”
“Aight then, dueling it is. We’re gonna have to lay some ground rules here...!”
“Oh, a duel!? Then count me in!” Yuri exclaimed.
“You ain’t even a part of this, butt out!”
As they began getting worked up and making a ruckus, Elias quietly stepped out from the back of the shop.
“Quiet. You’re bothering the other customers.”
“Ah... I’m sorry, Mr. Elias,” Yuri apologetically replied.
“Also, if you’re going to duel, wait a bit. A duel between you guys will definitely attract some customers,” Elias added.
“You’re all up for using us, aren’t you!” quipped Yuri.
“Just like you keep using my store. Hey you, Haring, was it? You seem comparatively decent, so if these kids start making a ruckus, please stop them.”
“You’re seriously the only person to call me decent upon meetin’ me for the first time...”
Feeling satisfied after complaining to them, Elias returned to his job. They couldn’t quite raise another uproar after that, so they kept their voices just a bit more subdued.
“Anyway, we have a new member now! That’s one step closer to making it through the Babel Roulette!”
“Well, he may be Haring, but he’s definitely strong!”
“And having Haring will strengthen our front line. We can finally implement some real tactics.”
“Tactics? What’re you talkin’ about? There’s plenty of stuff you coulda done, just the three of you.” Haring doubtfully tilted his head. “That firefox has her white flames, so instead of just bein’ a vanguard, she can also act as a diversion and disrupt enemy lines. The ice spirit can just stay in the back if she wants, but if you start by showin’ off her high firepower, you can use her as a decoy after that. After doing some work on the front line, Yuri’s the sorta fighter who can help out whatever part of the battlefield’s at a standstill.”
Haring chewed on his food, arbitrarily spinning his fork around as he explained.
After they heard his piece, the three of them gathered their faces to the side.
“E-Eh? Wasn’t Haring an idiot like us?”
“He just said something surprisingly decent.”
“That’s why I told you. Unlike what his face suggests, Mr. Haring is good at using his head.”
“I can still hear you, you know. If you’re gonna lower your voices, at least insult me or somethin’.”
Haring took a disgruntled bite of meat before going on.
“Anyway, the point is, there are plenty of plans we can write up as we are now. If possible, I’d like one more person, but you can still recruit members after the preparation period, so that can wait. What we need to do now is see how well our team can operate.”
“Oh, in that case I do have a lead—”
Before Yuri could say any more, Eleanor dropped in from who-knows-where with, “Yuri! Sorry keep you waiting!” and hugged him with her greeting.
“Was worried when heard about incident, but glad to see doing well!”
“Whoa there... Yes, I should thank you for the blood paste!”
“Was useful? Very good!!”
Eleanor seemed bursting with joy as she took Yuri’s hands in celebration. This promptly caused the silverware to fall from Athena and Fram’s hands with a clang.
“Yuri...brought a new woman...!?”
“It seems we weren’t enough for him...”
“Wait, what are you two talking about!?” Sensing restlessness in the air, Yuri inadvertently took a step back. “I told you two about her, didn’t I!? The elf I met in the dungeon, who looked up to Human Tribe ninjas so much she became a duelist!”
“So in short, a blonde-stacked-loli-ninja-elf,” Fram snapped back.
“Please don’t make her sound like a walking mass of buzzwords...!”
“Aah, for crying out loud! You can’t stick to Yuri too much! Big Sis doesn’t permit it!”
“Really, really!? But Yuri adorable good friend!”
Athena and Eleanor seemed to be exactly on the same wavelength, the former menacingly waving her bushy tail around, while the latter took on a bizarre, intimidating pose.
There was a reason he had called Eleanor here. She had contributed in the matter with Navie, and he did want to thank her for that...but he also wanted her to mediate a certain something else.
“That’s right, Ms. Eleanor! Did you ask your leader?”
“Of course, perfect! Called him here!”
“Eh? What’s this about?” Athena tilted her head.
“I asked if we could have a duel with Ms. Eleanor’s team before the Roulette began. Rate won’t change right now, so we can fight to our heart’s content.”
With all that happened, they had used up quite a bit of their time, and Yuri determined that the most efficient way to grow experienced as a team would be real combat.
“On top of testing our coordination, I thought we could see how other teams move and use it as reference!”
“Sounds good to me. No matter who we’re up against, right now any experience is good experience,” Haring agreed.
All of a sudden, Eleanor turned to the road. “Ah, there you are! Tenebre! Here, here!” She flailed her hand around at the small young boy walking in their direction.
Upon noticing her, the boy jogged up.
“Oh, Tenebre! So slow!”
“Hm. It’s not me, you’re just too fast, or rather, too impatient... Whatever the case, please stop suddenly jumping along the rooftops. I lose sight of you if I rest even a second.”
His dark purple hair swaying, the boy let out a tired sigh. Judging by his hair color and build, he was presumably a spirit.
“Hah... Hm. So you’re Yuri Eniastar. I’ve heard the rumors.”
“Yes! And you’re, umm, err...”
“Hm, Tenebre les Nuits. I’m the leader of team Nebra-Disk,” he said in a polite tone and held out his hand.
Yuri lightly lowered his head and gripped the hand back.
“I’m thankful for your request,” Tenebre went on. “Even if we are still in the entry period, you don’t get many opportunities to hold a proper team duel. It will be a good lesson.”
“That should be my line; thank you so much for accepting! I just hope we can both be a good learning experience for each other.”
Seeing Yuri’s friendly reception, Tenebre found himself led into a smile. “You’re as good of a kid as Eleanor said. How very promising.”
“Fufu, only natural! Yuri good person I recognize!” Eleanor proudly puffed out your chest.
“And, of course, it isn’t only you, Yuri. When I heard you had such famed fighters as the Flame Deva and Ice Jailer on your side, my personal interest was piqued.”
“Ah, by the way, we got another member too!”
“Hmm, hmm, how rude of me. I’ll watch out for your dragon as well.” Tenebre looked at Haring and calmly nodded. “Incidentally—ice spirit, why do you keep your head turned away?”
Hearing that, Yuri also turned to look at Fram. He saw her there, silent, turned away, with a nebulous look on her face.
“A-hm. It appears you didn’t hear me—” Looking at Fram, Tenebre spoke out a certain name. “—Grace Aizberg. I’m talking to you.”
For a moment, Yuri didn’t understand what it was he had said.
“U-Umm... Her name is Fram.”
“Hmm. Is that what she’s calling herself here? Back when we were in the same village, I distinctly remember she had the name Grace,” Tenebre said with conviction, before offering another correction. “And Fram Aizberg is the name of a spirit no longer of this world.”