It was a few days after the fighting tournament. As Alina was closing her window at Iffole Counter, she grabbed the bundle of potions she’d brought and briskly walked down the main street. She was headed for the treatment center.
“Jade will be very happy to have you visit him while he’s recovering.” Lululee, walking beside her, was as glad as if she was the one being visited.
Alina averted her eyes from her smile and snorted. “I-it’s fine, I just bought too many potions, so I’m just sharing some.”
As Lululee nodded a bunch of times as she chuckled a meaningful-sounding “tee-hee,” Alina furrowed her brow at her. “Wait, what’s that thing you’re carrying…?”
She had been told that Lululee had something she was giving to Lowe, who was recovering at the treatment center like Jade. She was holding with care a bottle of mysterious green-black syrupy liquid.
“It’s my special medicine!”
It seemed she was referring to that occasionally bubbling, dangerous-looking fluid. Is Lowe going to be made to drink that now…? Her heart aching for the sorrow that awaited him, Alina decided not to mention the special medicine any further.
✦ ✦ ✦
“A-Aaaaaaaaalina came to visit?!?!”
When they arrived at the treatment center, Alina was welcomed by Jade’s cry of shock.
Lying in bed, Jade was in a terrible state, as usual. He had one hand and arm wrapped in bandages and a splint, and when contrasted with the cheer on his face, the degree of his wounds was absolutely awful.
“This isn’t a visit. I just came to give you some extra potions!” Alina said bluntly, placing the potions on the shelf by his bedside. Jade was deeply moved by those few bottles of potion, as if he were observing something holy.
“I…will take the utmost care of these potions…!” Jade said, and he even had tears in his eyes, as at his side, Lowe was swallowing the mystery fluid Lululee had given him in one go, with his eyes rolling back in his head. Lululee looked satisfied.
And then Lululee’s brows turned up as if she’d suddenly realized something. “Oh yes, Alina, the prize was broken, in the end…even though you wanted it that badly…”
Alina’s shoulders jumped awkwardly. “Huh? Ah, now that you mention it, yeah, huh? Ahhhhh, that’s too baaaad!”
Alina was overcome with sorrow, and she covered her face with both hands as she glanced over to check the others’ reactions. Her managing to destroy the strange figure and evidence of her crimes had, with great relief, concluded with that neck-popping incident, in her mind. Having that subject dragged up now made her privately break into a cold sweat.
“I feel so bad, Alina, when you fought so hard during the tournament…,” said Lululee.
“She really did want that victory prize, after all…,” Jade echoed.
“You think? She really sounds completely insin— Ah, no, nothing.”
As Jade’s and Lululee’s hearts were breaking in their naively honest ways, only Lowe tried to make a sharp interjection, which Alina silenced with a glare from between her fingers.
As this was going on, Jade cleared his throat and rummaged around to pull something out of his bag. “…S-so then maybe it was a good idea that I made this. Take this, Alina!”
“Huh? —Wait, egh?!” popped out of her without thinking.
The thing that Jade put on the table…it was the victory prize that Alina had smashed with all her strength in order to destroy the evidence.