Prologue: It Begins, Once Again, With a Letter

Sara hunched her shoulders, burying her face in the collar of her coat. Soon, it would be spring, but the wind brushing her cheeks was still cold, and it was too soon to change from her winter wardrobe just yet.

In the sky, large birds were circling, likely stalking after rabbits or mice or something in the grassy fields just outside of town.

“Thank goodness they aren’t wyverns. Otherwise, they’d be after me.”

She thought back nostalgically to the Dark Mountain. Anything in the sky overhead there would have definitely been wyverns. But this was the town of Hydrangea. It was not the Dark Mountain and not a dungeon.

“Sara! Sorry for the wait.”

“Morning. I just got here myself.”

Sara smiled dopily as Allen ran over from the other side of the road, her hand rising to her chest without her meaning it to. With the weak body she had in her last life, not in her wildest dreams had she imagined meeting up with a friend like this. Sara had always wanted to say, “I just got here myself,” to someone.

She’d learned something else as well. Meeting up with someone she was in a relationship with sent a tickle through her heart, as though there were little horned rabbits jumping around in there.

“Uhh, should we go get lunch, then?”

“Yeah, let’s go!”

Today was the couple’s very first date. They’d first decided at the end of last summer that they would go out. They’d had a fight in spring, and it had taken a long time for them to make up. They were each able to confirm that they felt something special for one another, but hadn’t quite been able to define that feeling until Chris, of all people, prompted them. That the words had come from him had been a surprise to everyone, but this was what he’d told them:

“If you both feel strongly for one another, you should make those feelings clear. Otherwise, it’ll take more than twenty years for you to start going out, like it did with us.”

Allen and Sara had to admit the words were convincing coming from Chris, but Sara had a hard time obeying his advice.

Her feelings were complicated due to her memories of her life in Japan, but when she’d been upfront with Allen about this, he’d said in response, “Would you not go out with anyone unless they’re Liam’s age, then? Or Chris’s? Josef’s?”

Sara had gotten a far-off look in her eyes for a moment when she realized how few men there were around her that could serve as hypotheticals. When she considered who’d be a good fit for her at her age in her last life, though, Chris was a little too old and Liam was actually younger than her. Josef was out of the question. Actually, she’d heard Liam had gotten married the year before, which was a great relief to her, and Josef was a married man himself, as hard as that was to believe. But even if they had all been single, they wouldn’t be a good fit for her since she was a teenager now. However, Allen had no compunctions about Sara’s mental age and couldn’t understand why she did.

“Forget all that complicated stuff and please just go out with me, with marriage in mind.”

When he said that to her face, she realized she had no reason to say no.

“I would be glad to.”

And so they’d officially become a couple. That said, they’d pretty much always been together even before that, so nothing really changed about their relationship. Sara had no complaints about this, but Allen was starting to get antsy by the time they got back to Hydrangea from the capital that fall. And so, he had finally asked her out on a real date.

“Want to go on a date in the dungeon? I think the climate’s perfect right about now on the bottom floor. We can take lunches and make it a picnic.”

“In the dungeon...?”

It was just like Allen to make a not-at-all romantic suggestion, Sara thought with some chagrin, but she ultimately agreed since the bottom floor in Hydrangea’s dungeon was similar to the Dark Mountain, and so she liked being down there.

“I bet it’d be lovely to relax on those hills to the right of the entrance,” Sara commented.

“We’ve both been working pretty hard every day. I think it’d be nice to relax every once in a while.”

They’d invited Kuntz, but he’d declined with a, “I’m not going along on your date,” and so the two of them set off on their own.

As they walked, Sara kept a small barrier around herself while Allen punched away any horned rabbits and hellhounds that came flying at them. It was the sort of stroll only the two of them could have, and Sara found it pretty fun.

Maybe it was because they’d already spent six years together, but they never ran out of things to talk about—dungeons, places she’d been, the difficulties she’d faced, the things that she’d enjoyed—and as they walked down to the bottom of the dungeon with smiles plastered on their faces, the Hunters from Hydrangea who they passed shot them exasperated looks, those who had only arrived there recently doing double takes. The humor of this only amused Sara all the more, and between everything, it felt like they arrived at the bottom of the dungeon—the sixteenth floor—in no time at all.

“Oh wow! No matter how many times I see it, I can’t help but be struck by how much this place really is like the Dark Mountain.”

Wyverns flew in the sky, and a herd of elk moved in the distance. Straight ahead of them, mountain wolves loitered, pondering whether there was any way they could get a bite out of Sara and Allen.

“Okay, let’s use our physical strengthening to race to the hill on the right and see who gets there first!”

“That’s not fair!”

“Ha ha ha!”

“Wait!”

Allen must have gone easy on her, because they reached the hill at the same time. The pair flopped down on the grass, breathing hard, and looked up at the sky together.

“The sky’s so blue.”

“It’s probably just the ceiling of the dungeon, though.”

“Such a realist! Oh, a wyvern.”

Sara hurriedly expanded her barrier.

“Gyeee!”

Wham! The wyvern crashed into her barrier and slid to the ground.

“Mmm, I still would really prefer not to kill them... I wonder if there’s some way I could stop wyverns from attacking me altogether,” Sara grumbled as she put the wyvern away in her storage bag before the mountain wolves could get to it.

“All I can think is that we’re lucky to be alive. And if it hadn’t hit your barrier, I’d probably have had to kill it anyway.”

“We’re in a dungeon, so I know I can’t just cry like I did when I was a kid, but still...”

Sara had no interest in killing living things, but her barrier reflected monsters’ attacks back at them, so they ended up dead when they collided with it. But dungeons were where monsters lived, which Sara knew when she entered them, so she had to accept the fact that doing so would mean causing them harm.

“Worrying about that is just what you do, Sara. It’s who you are, so I don’t think you need to change that. But if it really does bother you, maybe you could come up with some kind of solution. You could color it like Kuntz’s shield or something.”

“Color it, eh? Brown, like a wooden shield, or... No, wait...” Sara gasped, coming to a realization. “I feel like fish are silver on the bottom so that they look like the surface of the water when seen from below, and dark on the top so that they look like the water from the sky. So...”

Sara spun around, observing her surroundings. “I just need to make my barrier look like grass from the sky, right?”

“I’ll go look from the top of that tree! Try it out, Sara!”

“Yeah! Err, it couldn’t be that easy, though, could it?”

Tigers had stripes so that they didn’t stand out in the forest, and military camouflage was the same. The barrier couldn’t just be a uniform green—she’d have to make it a complicated pattern.

“Sara! I’m ready!” Allen called out from the top of a nearby tree. When had he even gotten up there?

“All right, I’ll just try a flat color for now. Grass green! Go!” Sara turned the top half of her barrier to the same green of the grass in front of her. “How’s it look?”

“I can’t see you anymore! But it doesn’t look all that natural. It looks like someone left a green cloth lying out. Sara! Watch out!”

Sara froze when Allen called out to her tensely.

“Gyeee!”

She could hear a wyvern, but it sounded far away. It was all green above Sara, so she couldn’t see it, but it was probably getting closer.

Sara stayed still so her barrier wouldn’t move and glanced over to the tree Allen had climbed. She’d be fine since she had her barrier, but she was worried about the wyvern noticing Allen there. But it looked like he was hiding skillfully enough in the branches that he couldn’t be seen from above.

“Gyeee!”

They waited for a time, and then finally the wyvern went off somewhere else.

“I guess that worked?”

Allen slid down the tree and came over to Sara with a big smile on his face. “Sara! It worked!”

“Oh, thank goodness...” Sara sat down, relieved.

“It definitely saw where you were, but then it turned around and left, so I think it couldn’t find you,” Allen said, having been observing the wyvern carefully from his position in the tree.

“If it saw where I was, then I guess it must have looked unnatural.”

“Maybe it saw us before and came over to check, but couldn’t find its prey, so it left.”

Sara did feel like this was a likely explanation.

“Maybe it won’t look as unnatural if I don’t make it as big. But there’s rocks and exposed dirt and stuff in the dungeon too, so I’ll have to figure out what to do while I’m on the move.”

“What you need is a barrier that adjusts to what you’re walking on, but that doesn’t sound like an easy function to add.”

He was right. The barrier could only do what Sara could picture it doing. It wasn’t all-powerful.

Then, they heard heavy footsteps echoing in the distance.

“Uh-oh. There’s a herd of elk coming this way. The wyvern must have spooked them. Go hide on the other side of that tree!”

“Got it!”

Allen told her to hide behind a tree, but Sara gave it some thought and climbed up one like he had before. She was thrilled to have a body capable of climbing up a tree whenever she wanted to.

With her barrier, there was really no need for Sara to hide simply for the sake of remaining unharmed, but she climbed up the tree in order to avoid injuring the elk. Plus, up here, she could easily see Allen on the ground.

“Whoa!”

He was standing on the grass where Sara had put her barrier up.

“Yeah, solid green would probably look weird on top of all that grass...”

It wasn’t just the color. There was light and shadow, and the grass was swaying in the breeze. If she couldn’t replicate all of that, it would look unnatural.

“Here come the elk.”

Elk were much bigger than mountain wolves. It was quite a sight to see them grouped up and flying along the ground together.

“Allen’s going to get trampled by them...”

He’d probably stayed down there to hunt them. Elk were fast, so it was hard to chase them down. If they were already coming to him, though, she understood wanting to take advantage of the situation.

“It’s okay. Allen’s strong.”

If it were Nelly, she wouldn’t be worried at all. She told herself she didn’t have to worry about Allen either, since he was a regular down here on the lowest floor.

“No need to worry, no need to worry...”

She was only worried because she was watching him. Sara forced her eyes away, looking down at the bottom of the tree instead, and caught sight of some supreme healing herbs.

“Oh, I should pick those.”

Thankfully, these trees weren’t in the elk’s path. Sara slid down the tree trunk and started picking the supreme healing herbs.

“I didn’t notice this when I was surveying the floor for medicinal plants. When we get back to the guild, I should add it to the map.”

The places where plants grew changed, so once a map was drawn, it wasn’t useful forever. They had to be updated sometimes.

As she gathered supreme healing herbs, she kept an eye on her surroundings, trying to determine the full range of their distribution.

“Sara!”

“Oh...”

She stood up hurriedly when she heard Allen’s voice and found that the herd of elk was already gone.

“I was gonna ask if you were watching me, but this is what you were doing, huh? Well, I guess it is your main gig.”

He knew she had little interest in hunting, so she got away with nothing more than a wry smile from him.

“If you’re not worried about me getting hurt, that means you trust me, right?”

“Of course. Oh, Allen, the mountain wolves!”

He probably wanted to show her what he could do. He’d left the elk where they lay after hunting them, and now mountain wolves were slinking up to them.

“I know you can hunt your own, so don’t take other people’s prey, you jerks!”

“Growl!”

“Growl!”

She felt like she could hear them saying, Well, it’s easier to take someone else’s prey.

Allen chased them away and the mountain wolves scampered off.

After that, the two found a spot with a nice view to eat their lunch and then went a bit deeper into the dungeon, enjoying the refreshing autumn fields of grass before heading home.

“Could you appraise some elk for me?”

“I found something I want to add to the medicinal plant map. And I have one wyvern.”

They’d done some hunting and found supreme healing herbs, so they stopped at the Hunter’s Guild at the end of their date.

“I can’t believe you two,” the receptionist said with a sigh, her hand on her forehead. “Kuntz was here earlier on his own. That’s pretty rare, so I got a little information from him.”

Sara and Allen exchanged a glance and grinned, amused to hear that Kuntz had headed into the dungeon as well.

“He said you two were finally going on a date today. He was all happy to be by himself because of that. So what are you doing here?”

Sara cocked her head.

“Let’s just say you did go into the dungeon for your date. It’s crazy to do that in the first place, but we’ll ignore that and say you did.” The receptionist tapped her finger on her desk, looking like she had a growing headache. “What were you doing working down there?”

“Oh.”

“Oh.”

Even together, the two of them did their own work like it was the natural course of action. They had fun and returned completely satisfied, but they were now realizing that they hadn’t done anything different from what they usually did. The only thing different about today was that Kuntz and Nelly hadn’t been with them.

“It’s fine. As the Hunter’s Guild, we always welcome monster parts, and we’re grateful for any updates to the medicinal plant maps too. But do you mind if I give you some advice? You should go on dates where there aren’t any monsters or medicinal plants.”

The receptionist was smiling, but her eyes were scary.

“Yes, ma’am...”

“Yes, ma’am...”

Sara and Allen could do nothing but meekly agree with her.

They got busy after that, so it wasn’t until spring that they got time to go on the sort of date the receptionist had advised.

“It’s always fun to go with you when you’re gathering plants, though.”

“I like watching you have the time of your life hunting too.”

Of course, they were always going to the dungeon, whether it was just them or whether Kuntz, Nelly, or Chris came along. According to the receptionist, however, no matter how much fun they had there, it didn’t count as a date.

If they couldn’t go into the dungeon, Hydrangea also had lakes and meadows. They were perfect places for picnics, but medicinal plants grew everywhere and there were horned rabbits in the meadows, even if they weren’t very common.

Sara didn’t mind that, but Allen gave the matter some thought, which was how they ended up on this date in town.

They walked side by side to Allen’s lodgings. It was an inn for Hunters, but the place had a restaurant as well and took long-term lodgers, so it was popular with bachelors like Allen and Kuntz who didn’t want to cook for themselves. Allen had invited Sara for lunch, wanting her to taste the food he typically ate, and Sara had taken some time to consider whether she wanted to go or not.

“I went there once back when you were injured.”

“You did? I’m really sorry about what happened back then...”

“It’s fine. I’m over it now.”

Neither of them had intended to, but they’d gotten the whole Hunter’s Guild involved in their squabble, and it had taken the two quite a while to make up with each other. At the time, a lady at Allen’s place of lodging had scolded Sara for treating him like a child—a wound which still prickled. But she couldn’t hold a grudge against a person who was looking out for Allen.

“Come to think of it, she said to come back for a meal sometime.”

“Oh yeah? This is perfect, then.”

Allen smiled carefreely. He probably didn’t even remember how much of a busybody Sara had been back then. She’d been a busybody out of affection for him anyway, so there was no reason for Sara to hold on to the matter either. She was going out on this date today to try and change her perspective on things, anyway.

Sara’s chest pounded as she entered the restaurant, only to find that the woman in question was in fact there.

“Welcome! Oh, Allen. You made a reservation today, right?”

“Yep! Two of my usual lunches, please.”

Allen ordered like a regular and then led Sara over to a seat near a window.

“They only ever have one lunch option, but it’s really good and it comes out fast.”

“Oh yeah? I can’t wait.”

Having entered the restaurant without issue, Sara started looking forward to lunch. It was nice to not have to pick between multiple options as well; she’d get what she got.

“Here you are. Thanks for waiting.”

Two plates piled with large pieces of meat were set down before them, along with some soup with vegetables. Finally, a basket of bread with what looked like omelets on top was set between them.

“You can get more bread if you like, no charge. The soup has horned rabbit in it, and the omelets are made of cockatrice eggs,” said the waitress.

Sara thought the explanation was for her, but it seemed it was for Allen as well.

“Cockatrice egg? That’s rare.” He looked down at the food as if it wasn’t what he was expecting.

“We just happened to get some. Thought you’d like to try my hometown’s egg dishes.”

Sara’s eyes were glued to the food as the woman conversed familiarly with Allen. She gave a shrug at this.

“Enjoy,” said the woman, swiftly leaving to serve other customers.

Sara could hear cries of surprise similar to Allen’s here and there, so cockatrice egg really must have been a rare offering. Sara reached out to the egg with a grin, glad that they’d come on a good day.

“Oh, there’s a lot of mushrooms in it! And onions... The seasoning seems to be just salt and pepper, but it really brings out the taste of the mushroom. I should try making this sometime.”

Cockatrice eggs had a mild flavor, so they went well with anything, but Sara had never thought to cook them with mushrooms.

“Come to think of it, we went to that mushroom town, didn’t we?” Sara remembered.

“Yeah. The seven-colored swallowtails and white moonlight mushrooms. That takes me back.”

“I’d like to go back there sometime.”

“Yeah, when there aren’t any monsters to deal with.”

The horned rabbit soup was well stewed and tasty as well.

“You can serve stewed food right away, and I never thought about putting such large chunks of meat in my soup. It really is good to eat out every once in a while. You learn a lot.”

Allen and Sara had come a little early, so the lunch rush was just getting started when they finished. The restaurant’s seats had almost completely filled up by the time they were done.

“Should we clear out?”

Sara was just about to stand when the lady from the restaurant called out to her.

“Wait! You’re fine, just stay put for a minute.”

Sara lowered herself back into her seat. Allen hadn’t even moved to get up in the first place.

“It gets busy at lunchtime, but not enough that people have to line up or anything. Here, this is from Allen. It’s bush strawberry juice.”

The lady brought them red juice that smelled sourly sweet on a platter.

“It’s not exactly new, I know,” said Allen.

He seemed embarrassed. Now that he mentioned it, he was always treating Sara to bush strawberry juice. There was something else on the platter too: a plate with a few slices of cake stuffed full with something.

“Oh!”

“And this is from me,” said the waitress. “You may not remember, but I was a bit rude to you last year. I’ve always wanted to apologize, but I never got an opportunity. Sorry for being such a busybody back then.”

“Oh, umm... It’s fine.”

So much was happening so suddenly that Sara didn’t know what to say, so she settled on what she figured was a safe reply.

“I shouldn’t have said what I did. My other customers got on my case about it after. I’m Allen’s landlord, so I guess I felt like I had to stick up for him.”

Allen didn’t seem to know about this, so she ended up explaining the situation to him as she apologized.

“They said I was the one treating Allen like a kid. Even if I were his mother, I shouldn’t have talked to a friend like that who was only visiting because she was worried. And since I’m just his landlord, it was even more rude.”

It seemed their fight had ended up causing trouble that Sara hadn’t even been aware of. Sara felt quite sorry for the woman and realized that the cold looks she’d felt from the room back then had all been in her imagination. She couldn’t come up with anything to say in response right away.

“All the Hunters coming to the restaurant back then were on your side. Ha ha ha.”

She was happy to hear that people were on her side, but she also felt extremely awkward to be such a topic of conversation.

“The cake’s made with chestnuts, picked in fall. Try it. I think you’ll like it.”

It seemed the woman wasn’t expecting any sort of words from Sara in response. Satisfied with her own apology, she left. She was probably the plainspoken type.

“Sounds like a lot happened.”

“It wasn’t a lot! I poked my head in here for just a second. Oh, the cake is good.”

The dense chestnut pound cake was perfect for washing down her awkward feelings.

“It’s all my fault. I’m really sorry about back then.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Why do you look so happy about it, though?”

While Sara was having to swallow all these complicated emotions, Allen just smiled his way through the whole conversation.

“Well, it’s only because we fought back then that we’re on a date now, isn’t it?”

“I can’t believe you...”

He was always looking on the bright side of things. Even their fight, which had been such a huge pain, was nothing more than a stepping stone on Allen’s path forward in his mind. Maybe he was the perfect match for someone so careful and hesitant about moving forward, like Sara.

“Well, now that we’re done eating, umm, next up...” Allen took a piece of paper out from his breast pocket. It had been folded a few times and was pretty big when he spread it open. “There’s a general store on South Street that’s popular with girls.”

“What’s that?”

“I asked everyone what their favorite places in Hydrangea were.”

Allen showed her the paper, which had recommendations on it written in several different handwritings.

“Since I’ve got this, we should check all these places out.”

“Okay!”

She felt a bit bad, but she had assumed Allen was only interested in dungeons. She was seeing him in a bit of a new light now.

“We won’t be able to go to all of them today, so we can save some for another day.”

“Sounds good.”

She was happy both that there would be a next time and that he’d spent so much time looking into all this.

At the end of their date, they bought some cookies from Marcia for the Wolveriés, and that was that.

The receptionist had been spot-on. The dungeon was no place for a date. But going into the dungeon and going on a date in town were both fun for Sara, as long as she was with Allen. That was how she genuinely felt.

“I’ll be tagging along today, if you don’t mind,” said Kuntz a few days later as he did stretches in front of the dungeon.

“You didn’t want to come with us last time,” Allen said, tapping Kuntz on the shoulder with his fist.

“Because you guys were going on a date in the dungeon—which is crazy, might I add.”

Kuntz seemed to share the receptionist’s feelings.

“But since you’re finally going on normal dates in town, I figured it should be fine for me to join you when you’re not doing that.”

“How does that make sense?”

Sara watched the two boys chatting pleasantly, thankful for Kuntz’s consideration. The dungeon was Allen and Kuntz’s workplace. He probably wanted to give them time alone, but he had to work too.

Kuntz hurried down into the dungeon, no longer in need of Sara’s barrier. He was always the type to stay aware of his surroundings, and now he had the shield he’d worked out from Sara’s barrier magic to protect himself from monsters. He could even defend himself on the dungeon’s lowest floor now, and the mountain wolves that had once thought he was easy prey had started to avoid him lately.

“Okay, I’m gonna gather plants.”

Lately, the three of them had been going down together and then splitting up to all do their own work. Of course, when Sara was with them, they made sure to hunt nearby enough to stay within earshot of her.

Sara had started coloring the top half of her barrier bright green like she was carrying around an umbrella, and she had yet to be attacked by a wyvern since she’d started doing so, which was allowing her to maintain her peace of mind.

“All right, that’s my supreme healing herb quota for the month!”

Now that she had finished picking the supreme healing herbs she’d be sending to the Apothecary’s Guild in the capital, Sara stood and stretched.

“Oh, they’re hunting pretty close by. Hmm?”

“Gyeee!”

The wyverns had stopped bothering Sara, but she saw one diving toward Allen and Kuntz. She always wondered why they screeched like that before they dove. Wouldn’t they have better luck hunting if they didn’t?

Sara had enough faith in Allen’s hunting prowess that she could ponder such things, but as she watched, she saw him taking several steps back as if to flee. In his place, Kuntz stepped forward, holding his hand up toward the sky.

With an air-shaking fwoom, a brown shield appeared above Kuntz, larger than his usual shields and farther away than he usually deployed them as well.

Wham!

The wyvern couldn’t avoid the shield that had appeared out of nowhere and fell to the ground in front of Kuntz.

“It’s not moving...”

If the same thing that happened when wyverns hit Sara’s barrier had happened with Kuntz’s shield, then the wyvern had probably broken its neck and died.

Sara ran over as Kuntz thrust his fists up in the air.

“I did it! I did it!” Kuntz repeated a few times.

“Congrats! But if you don’t put it away quickly, the wolves’ll get it.” Sara said what needed to be said.

“Oh, right.”

Kuntz calmed down and knelt to put away the wyvern.

Allen then came forward and announced, “Guess the next one’s mine.”

Either it was after Kuntz or the wyvern he’d taken down, but another wyvern was circling curiously in the sky above them.

“Ready any time!” Allen shouted spiritedly.

At the same time, a familiar voice came from somewhere nearby. “God of Thunder!”

After the unfamiliar incantation, there was a boom! and a bright light, after which the wyvern plummeted to the ground.

Crash!

It hit the ground with a sound that couldn’t even be compared to the last one.

“Sorry! Thought you might be going for it, but you took too long.”

They turned around at the high-and-mighty words and spotted a small young man with black hair, his arms crossed and his chest puffed out.

Allen sighed and jogged over to the young man, giving his shoulder a pound with his fist.

“I know you did that on purpose. Just say ‘Long time no see’ like normal, man.”

“Well, that wouldn’t be any fun.”

“You’re a pain as always.”

Allen looked happy despite calling the young man a pain. Kuntz ran over to them too.

“Long time no see, Haruto!”

“Been a while, Kuntz. When’d you get so strong you could take down wyverns? You had me nervous. I was wondering when I should step in.”

Haruto was a bit full of himself, but he was a good kid. How many years had it been since they’d seen him? It really had been a while. Sara had thought he was still on the Dark Mountain with another Invited, Bradley.

Sara had plenty to say to the Invited who was from the same place she was, but there was something she had to start with.

“Err...”

“Sara! What’s up? What are you doing way over there? C’mere!”

He spread his arms, but she wouldn’t say they were close enough to hug.

“Err, the wolves are getting your wyverns.”

“Huh?”

“Huh?”

Kuntz and Haruto both hurried to collect their wyverns.

“He’s so lame.”

“It’s just like him, though, isn’t it?”

Sara laughed with Allen about Haruto until he strode over and pointed at them.

“Ah! You two!”

“What are you yelling about?”

“You said you were just friends, but now you’re, you know...started going out or whatever!”

“How many years ago was that, then...?”

Sara burst out laughing, remembering the conversation they’d had when they first met.

“You haven’t changed, Haruto.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Pitying me ’cause I’m not popular? Is that it?”

She could almost forget that this was the bottom floor of a dungeon with Haruto here.

“No, I just mean you’re a funny guy, back then and now.”

“I guess that’s okay. I think?”

Haruto cocked his head, and Sara asked him what she was wondering.

“Anyway, what are you doing here, Haruto? Does Bradley know you’re here?”

“Yeah, about that...”

So he doesn’t? Sara almost asked.

“Anyway, this isn’t a great place to talk, so do you want to go to the top of that hill?”

If any other Hunter was listening, they’d probably say there was nowhere in the dungeon that was a good place to talk, but Sara had her barrier. Of course, you could always pick a place with a clear view and put protection cases down to keep monsters from bothering you.

“I’ll make some tea to celebrate.”

“I want bush strawberry juice! Nice and cold.”

Sara laughed and poured Haruto some bush strawberry juice, getting out snacks for everyone as well. There were bush strawberries all over the lowest floor, so she had a lot of them boiled into sweet jam for juice. Of course, it was just as tasty to get it at a restaurant.

“People in Trilgaia are all like, ‘It’s not like we can’t make it cold, but is there really any need to drink it cold?’ Though I guess I couldn’t really have cold juice much in Japan either.”

He spoke lightheartedly, but Sara recalled that Haruto had been sick in his previous life and had spent much of his time in the hospital. Maybe ice-cold drinks were something he always wanted but couldn’t often get.

“It’s been five years since you went to the Dark Mountain... No, it’s almost six now, isn’t it?”

“It was the same time you guys left on your journey, so yeah, five years. I spent my time between Rosa and the Dark Mountain and went to the capital for fun sometimes, but I basically had one place as my base of operations these last five years. We went to the Dark Mountain to get away from people, but it’s a little too lonely for me being up there all the time.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine you’re happy reading books all the time like Bradley.”

“Rude. I like books too. I had nothing better to do in Japan, so I read a lot back then.”

Sara had completely become a Trilgaian by now, so she found it nostalgic when Haruto brought up Japan, but it also felt like a place she hadn’t been in a long, long time.

“Things have gotten calmer on the Dark Mountain, and the roads have been repaired, so Hunters have started going up there from Rosa.”

“Really?”

Sara wasn’t sure how she felt about the fact that she was more interested in hearing about the Dark Mountain than Japan. But considering that the road from Rosa to the Dark Mountain had once been completely unprotected and horned rabbits were free to attack anyone traveling on it, it seemed things really had improved.

“That deputy mayor with the nasty personality, you know, Ted...”

Sara couldn’t help exchanging a glance with Allen. Now there was a nostalgic name. The last time they’d seen him was when they had followed the continental tortoise to Rosa, which was over two years ago. Sara was comforted to know that he was doing enough work for Haruto to refer to him as a deputy mayor.

“I’m sure you three will know what I’m talking about, but there have been a lot of monster outbreaks lately, right? I guess magic stones are a lot easier to come by now.”

True, they had been involved in quite a few monster outbreaks themselves.

“It hasn’t just been happening around you. I guess there are small outbreaks happening all over the place, and monsters showing up where they usually don’t, stuff like that. I heard all this from Bradley.”

They didn’t even have time to catch up properly before skipping straight to the important matters.

“Unless it’s a special outbreak or something irregular like the continental tortoise, we Invited don’t usually need to get involved and can leave things to the local Hunters, so it isn’t anything we should be concerning ourselves over,” Haruto added, perhaps for the worrywart Sara’s benefit.

“So Rosa—or Ted, really—took the initiative to repair the roads since magic stones are so easy to get ahold of now.”

“Ted did, really? I know he’s a talented apothecary, but frankly, I didn’t think he’d put his talent to use anywhere else.”

Sara considered who Ted was to her and settled on something like an older relative with an annoying personality. So she thought it was nice that he was working so hard, but it was unexpected.

“You’re not wrong. I mean, can you guess why he’s repairing the roads?”

Sara gasped. “Silver dragonmint! Is it for Chris?”

“He still goes on about ‘Master Chris, Master Chris’ constantly.” Haruto laughed. She assumed he must interact with Ted a lot.

“Ted comes to the Dark Mountain to gather plants all the time. He can’t come on his own, so he comes with guards, but because of him, Hunters think of the Dark Mountain as a place you can go as long as you’re careful and well prepared now.”

“I guess he’s grown some. He could barely even get to the base of the Dark Mountain before.”

Sara could tell that Allen thought of Ted the same way she did.

“Hunters come more often now, so the caretaker’s cabin is a bit more lively.”

“Is Bradley okay with that?”

“He’s more okay with it than you might think. Since they don’t come all that often, he just has to make the occasional small talk with them.”

“That’s good.”

It would have been nice if it were that lively back when Nelly was there. Sara enjoyed living there together with her, but she felt like it would have been too lonely for her now. Plus, if other Hunters had come by back then, Sara would have learned a lot more about this world a lot quicker.

“So, since Bradley’s doing okay, I thought it was about time I set out on my own. I left the Dark Mountain about six months ago and have been traveling all over since then.”

Haruto rubbed the bottom of his nose smugly. He was over twenty now, but he still looked like a kid.

“So where did you go?”

“Well, first...”

It was getting late, so Sara tidied up her tea set, and they continued their fun conversation on their way home.

“Oh yeah, have you figured out where you’re staying, Haruto?”

“No, not yet. I got here in the morning and came straight to the dungeon. I thought I could see Sara if I went to the Apothecary’s Guild later, and I assumed that Allen and Kuntz would be on the lowest floor, and look what I found!”

Sara thought he should probably have figured out where he was staying first.

“Our lodging house is an inn too. Wanna stay there?”

When Allen invited him to stay at his place, Sara hurriedly added, “If I tell them a friend of mine is visiting, I’m sure you can stay at the Wolveriés’ mansion. Actually, they’ll probably be happy to host you.”

“Wow, I’m so popular!”

It was just like him to be so carefree.

“I’d like to see where Allen and Kuntz live, but I think I’ll take the local lord up on his hospitality tonight.”

It was an honor to host an Invited. It might have even been rude for an Invited to visit an area and not stay with the local lord.

“That’s Haruto for you.”

“I started out staying with nobles when I got here, so.”

They headed home in high spirits, and when they arrived at the Wolveriés’ mansion, the whole family came out to welcome Haruto with open arms.

“I’m honored you would visit, Lord Haruto! My, you’ve grown, haven’t you?”

Since Haruto had worked as a Hunter in the capital and taken part in the migrating dragon hunts, Ri, the former knight commander, had a very favorable impression of him.

“Oh? So you’re Haruto.”

Elm was very interested in any Invited who was working as a Hunter as well. He was supposed to be a traveling Hunter himself, but he must have really liked Hydrangea, because he was still there.

“Miss Nelly!”

“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?” Nelly said with a wry grin. She and Chris both gave Haruto affectionate looks after such a long time apart.

Allen and Kuntz joined them for dinner, and they all had a lively, fun evening.

When dinner was finished and they were about to have some tea, Ri cleared his throat.

“Now, perhaps it is the guidance of the goddess that Haruto has visited us at this exact moment.”

The Invited actually were something of a boon from the goddess, but the people of Trilgaia weren’t exactly the faithful type, so it might have been the first time Sara had heard someone say something like, “the guidance of the goddess.” It was all the more surprising coming from a Wolverié, since they were all about carving their own path in life. Sara was on alert immediately.

“Here’s the thing...”

Ri took from his breast pocket a single letter.

“Another letter?”

Now, where had this letter come from?

Things always started with letters.

Chapter 1: To Gardenia, to Pick Up Ann

“We got a letter from Lati. It’s about Ann.”

Ann was an Invited who had arrived after Sara had. She’d been dropped into Gardenia, where Nelly’s sister Latifah lived. She was six years younger than Sara, so she would be twelve now.

“She’s pretty small, but I suppose twelve is old enough to register at the guild.”

“Yeah. Well, regardless of whether she’s registering at the guild or not, it seems Ann knows what she wants to do when she grows up now.”

Ri tapped the letter against the table. He didn’t look upset, so it must not have been anything troublesome.

“Wait a second.” Allen interrupted Ri before he could continue. “Haruto can stay since he’s an Invited too, but Kuntz and I will step out.”

He and Kuntz stood at the same time.

“Going to act like you’re strangers after all this time? Just listen first.” Ri stopped them with an exasperated look on his face.

“But...”

“You became friends with Ann in Gardenia, didn’t you? And since this has to do with the Invited, it involves Sara as well. You really don’t want to hear it?”

“Please let me listen, then.” Allen immediately returned to his seat, as did Kuntz, with a wry smile.

“I’ll pass the letter around so you can all read it, but to summarize...” Ri took the letter out of the envelope and told them the most important part. “Ann has turned twelve and wishes to become a knight.”

An impressed whistle came from somewhere. It was probably Haruto.

Sara knew that Ann was interested in the knights, so she wasn’t surprised, but joining the knights would mean leaving her guardians and going to the capital. She was worried about Ann leaving home when she was only twelve, and about Lati, who would have to let her go.

“The Greifs are the lords of Gardenia, so it would be difficult for them to accompany Ann to the capital. Also, the knights have no women’s dorm, and even if they did, entrusting a darling girl of the age of twelve... Ahem, this part is a little long, so I’ll summarize again.”

Ri’s eyes traveled all the way to the third page of the letter before stopping. Sara smiled wryly. Lati must have really been worried about Ann. It was a hard habit to break.

“She wants Ann to stay at the Wolveriés’ townhouse in the capital. That’s fine, but Lati’s real request is this.” Ri looked straight at Nelly, expression flat. “A twelve-year-old child needs a guardian. They can send a servant with her, but they’d prefer she had a real guardian. They want us to send a member of the family. She named Neffie personally.”

“Me? I suppose I do get along with Ann.”

When they were staying in Gardenia, Nelly had a lot of fun with Ann, who seemed to have some potential for physical strengthening, so it didn’t seem like she was opposed to looking after the girl. Sara was happy that Nelly could come out and say it when she got along with someone now.

“I have my role as vice guildmaster here, though. There are a lot more Hunters visiting Hydrangea lately after the discovery of the new floor last year. I’m concerned about Ann, but just as my sister can’t abandon her work, I have the same issue. I’ll have to decline.”

“Yes, I thought it would be difficult for you to accept as well.”

Ri knew that Lati was asking something difficult for Nelly to accept, and Lati likely had known it, even as she wrote the letter. But no request would ever be accepted if you didn’t ask.

From Sara’s perspective as a Japanese person, Lati’s request was a bit selfish and didn’t take Nelly’s circumstances into account, but the Wolveriés were the type to help out whenever they could and to refuse clearly when they couldn’t.

Nelly had turned her sister’s request down, but there wouldn’t be any hard feelings. She had made her stance clear, and now the family would just have to work together to think about what they could do to help Ann.

Chris raised his hand immediately. “My family would be happy to look after an Invited, naturally, but that would extend to any person under the Wolveriés’ care. I could ask the Deltmonts.”

“You’re family to us, but the Greifs don’t have much of a connection to the Deltmonts. They may prefer to ask a family they have a personal connection to. Still, I’ll consider them an option, if that’s all right with you.”

“Of course. And if she wants to join the knights, I’m sure House Hills will volunteer.”

House Hills was the prime minister’s family as well as that of the vice commander of the knights, Liam, and the prodigy apothecary, Noel.

“She wrote about that as well. Uhh, House Hills volunteered, but they have a son around Ann’s age, so she turned them down to avoid any trouble. I guess she doesn’t want Noel getting confused for Ann’s fiancé.”

“I’m sure that’s exactly what House Hills is after.”

Chris had always been very pro-House Hills ever since they were interacting with Sara. Sara thought Noel was a really good kid, but she also thought House Hills wasn’t worth the trouble, since everything ended up being about marriage with them. At that age, couldn’t kids just be friends, regardless of gender?

The conversation moved on while her head was full of these pointless thoughts. The next person to speak up was someone she wasn’t expecting, however.

“What about me?”

“You, Elm?”

Elm was called a wandering Hunter since he didn’t tend to stay in one place for long, but he’d been operating out of Hydrangea ever since the dungeon collapse incident a year prior. He took short trips away sometimes, but always returned to the Wolveriés’ mansion before long. Nelly had just been telling Sara how rare that was for him, and how she expected him to wander off somewhere else any day now.

It must have been so unexpected that Ri had no idea how to react. He raised his hand and lowered it again meaninglessly before Elm spoke up once more.

“I spent some time in the capital last year with Allen, Kuntz, and Sara, and it wasn’t all that bad.”

“And by that, you mean...?”

“Well...”

The phrase “wandering Hunter” brought to mind an antisocial, self-centered type, but Elm wasn’t like that at all. He had saved Allen when they first met and introduced Allen to a knight instructor. He’d even traveled to the capital with them. He was more talkative than one might expect, and kind, with a good amount of common sense.

“Being with people and supporting the next generation. Plus, I stayed in Hydrangea for almost a year and never felt like leaving to travel somewhere else. I guess I’ve been thinking it might actually be nice to settle down somewhere lately.”

Ri and Nelly were both too surprised to say anything in response.

“If Ann, this Invited is twelve, then I’m old enough to be her father, and if we just want someone from the Wolverié family to escort her, then I should work, shouldn’t I?”

“Would you...?” Ri didn’t seem able to make a decision right away.

“Status-wise, there’s no issue. But as an unattached man, will you be able to support a twelve-year-old girl in an unfamiliar place like the capital on your own?”

Chris voiced a very reasonable concern. When I was a twelve-year-old girl in an unfamiliar place like Rosa, you weren’t particularly supportive yourself, Chris. Sara kept this criticism to herself, of course. She decided to be satisfied with the knowledge that it was thanks to her that Chris had been able to mature this much.

“Well, I’d appreciate it if Sara came with, that’s true.”

“Me?”

The subject turned to Sara at an unexpected time. The moment Nelly turned the job down, Sara had figured that this had nothing to do with her, so she wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Don’t just rely on Sara. Just as Nef has her work, Sara does too. She’s a full-fledged member of Hydrangea’s Apothecary’s Guild. And she has the crucial role of gathering supreme healing herbs. You can’t ask her to accompany you so easily,” Chris replied to Elm’s request on Sara’s behalf.

“Ha ha ha, who are you, Sara’s dad?” Nelly teased.

Sara was aware that people had an easy time asking her to do things and that she tended to go with the flow. It was probably because she wasn’t opposed to helping people out when she was able to. When it went too far, however, people could take advantage of her, and that did annoy her.

Sara was happy that Chris had stepped in before she went along with anything she didn’t want to do. And Nelly’s relaxed reaction seemed to indicate that she would support whatever decision Sara came to. So as an Invited under the care of the Wolveriés, Sara figured she should think about this in the Wolverié way. In other words, decline if she didn’t want to and accept if she did.

She hadn’t been expecting to be asked to accompany Ann to the capital, but she didn’t hate the idea or anything, and no one was taking advantage of her to get her to do it. First, there was the fact that she’d interacted with Ann enough while staying in Gardenia that they’d become friends. Then there was the fact that she didn’t find the capital unpleasant anymore, despite having had nothing but negative feelings toward it originally. The Apothecary’s Guild in the capital was practically her second workplace, and her research buddy Noel was there, as well as her friends Mona and Heather. Even Josef was little more than a slightly nasty superior to her at this point. She wasn’t particularly close to Elm, but she knew that he was a good person, and she was used to staying at the townhouse in the capital now. Liam had gotten married last year, so he had no reason to bother Sara anymore.

Then were there any negatives to accepting? Well, she would have to leave the Apothecary’s Guild in Hydrangea, which was a very comfortable place for her now. She wouldn’t be able to continue providing a regular supply of supreme healing herbs anymore. And more than anything else, she would be leaving Nelly’s side.

Sara looked over at Nelly. Nelly smiled warmly at her and nodded slightly. A sign to do what she wanted to do.

Then, Sara looked to Allen. Allen gave her a firm nod as well. If she went, he would come with.

In the past, Sara might feel too bad to get Allen involved in her own circumstances, but she knew better now. If he didn’t want to do something, he would make his feelings clear. If he told her he would go with her, it was because he sincerely wanted to do so.

So what did she want to do? Sara looked down at her hands where they sat on her lap and thought. She had no complaints about her life right now, but maybe that meant it was the perfect time to try something new. The only thing that pricked at her heart was leaving Nelly, but she always knew they would have to part eventually, so she was somewhat prepared for it.

Sara looked up at Elm. “Even if I do go with you, the most I can do is serve as a friendly face for Ann. During the day, I’ll have to work at the Apothecary’s Guild in the capital. Is that okay?”

“Of course. But just like Chris said, I’m being selfish here, so I’m not expecting you to accept. If you want to stay here in Hydrangea, feel free to say no.”

“That’s right,” Ri added. “Don’t forget that I’ll be lonely if you leave!”

Their warmth almost brought a tear to Sara’s eye.

“Let me give it some thought.”

Ann’s decision to join the knights was looking like it would affect a lot more people’s lives than she might have thought it would.

“Allen, Kuntz, I know it’s late, but can we talk a bit?”

They were having their after-dinner tea, so it was already pretty late in the day.

“Of course.”

“You don’t even need to ask.”

“I’m here too!”

Haruto was still there as well. He had listened quietly to the whole conversation earlier.

Sara had decided to talk things over with Allen, Kuntz, and Haruto before going to Nelly. She’d traveled with Nelly all this time because she wanted to be with her forever, but this felt a bit like becoming independent, and she felt a little guilty about it.

“That was sudden, huh?”

“Yeah.”

The Wolveriés dispersed, leaving the young adults to their conversation. It was their way of being considerate.

“Do you want to go, Sara? Or do you want to stay?” Allen asked without wasting any time, so Sara answered without wasting time either.

“I want to go.”

“Okay. I’ll go with you.”

It wasn’t “Can I come with” or “I’m not sure if I want to come with;” it was “I’m coming with.”

And so just like that, Sara and Allen had decided what they were doing, without even having a discussion about it.

“I’m coming too. It is my hometown, after all.” Kuntz immediately announced his intent to accompany them.

“Guess I’ll go too, then.” Haruto was also coming for some reason.

“What do you mean, you guess?” Allen jabbed.

Haruto grinned but quickly wiped the smile off of his face. “If there’s a new Invited, I obviously want to meet her.”

“I don’t remember you being that eager to meet me.”

Part of that was because Sara hadn’t been publicly announced as an Invited, but even after he learned that she was one, she didn’t remember him having any particular interest in her.

“I think I probably felt like a Japanese person going to a foreign country for the first time back then.”

Sara had never been to a foreign country herself, but she immediately understood what he meant.

“There’s people who are happy to see other Japanese people and people who’d rather avoid them since they came all the way to another country, right?”

“Yeah. It was only after that I realized. We were the only two people in this world from the same place, so why didn’t I try to get to know you more? I regretted it for a long time. Also, I was probably just nervous to talk to a girl.”

Allen nodded emphatically. “You were pretty unfriendly back then.”

“Lay off it.”

If he could laugh about it now, he must have processed it enough.

“We could talk normally after that, come to think of it.”

“Right? We were already friends at that point, but I did some real maturing too.” Only Haruto could be so self-aggrandizing. “I thought it would be a bit awkward to go all the way to Gardenia by myself just to meet her, so if I’ve got an excuse, why wouldn’t I go with you?”

“I’m an excuse, eh?”

Of course, she had no complaints about Haruto coming along. It was rather convenient in her mind actually, since she wanted to introduce Ann to Haruto and Bradley as soon as she could.

After having a good laugh with everyone, she got them all back on track.

“So we’re going to Gardenia to pick her up?”

“You think we should?”

In their earlier conversation, they’d only decided that Elm would go to get her as her guardian, and he would prefer it if Sara came with him.

“Well, let’s go, then.”

“Even though we’re still deciding if we’re even gonna go to the capital?”

Haruto was being a bit hasty in Sara’s opinion.

“Well, I was planning on going to Gardenia after Hydrangea, even without all this Invited stuff.”

“So it’s just convenient for you!” Sara exclaimed. She was so exasperated that she couldn’t help it.

“I’ll have seen pretty much all of Trilgaia then.”

“Would you listen to me?!” she couldn’t help exclaiming again, but it was just like Haruto not to listen, and she had to admit, she was having fun.

Unlike Sara, Kuntz didn’t let Haruto distract him and asked, “Haruto, you keep talking about what you’re going to do next, but do you not need to go back to the Dark Mountain first? I’ve been wondering for a while now if Bradley might be worried about you.”

“He’s not.” Haruto turned his face to the side with a pout that did not look like the expression of a person over the age of twenty. “No, seriously, he’s not. He was even impressed when I left, saying he was surprised I stayed cooped up in such a boring place for so many years. Especially since I was so restless before.”

True, Haruto had been a restless kid, and not one to listen to others. He still didn’t listen, but from how quiet he’d been during tea earlier, Sara had to admit he had matured.

“We’re not fighting or anything. I’ll go see him at some point, but whether I go to Gardenia or not, it’s true that I was thinking about settling down in the capital for a bit, so this is perfect.”

“Perfect, eh? No, wait a second. Now that I think about it, it’s not like there’s anything wrong with going to Gardenia to get her.”

This stuff with Ann had been so sudden that Sara’s head was full with it. There hadn’t been any room for Haruto’s suggestion in there, but now that she got a chance to think about it, she realized it wasn’t a bad suggestion at all.

“The only real issue would be that it’ll cost money and time to go all the way there before heading to the capital...”

But was that really an issue? Sara looked up and saw three boys who couldn’t hide their excitement, just the same as they were when they were kids. Why not let momentum make the decision for them?

Sara sucked in a breath. “Does everyone have money?”

“Yep!” came a chorus of three.

“Do we have time?”

“Yep!”

“Any problems?”

“Nope!”

Sara had to wonder what the people in the mansion thought when they all erupted into laughter together.

And so, the day of Sara’s surprise reunion with Haruto was also the day she decided she’d be leaving Hydrangea.

Of course, that didn’t mean they were leaving the very next day. They’d send a letter back to Gardenia and wait for a reply to see if their proposal was accepted. Even if they rushed the letters, it would take over ten days for the round-trip correspondence. During that time, the Wolveriés could contact their townhouse in the capital and have it prepared for Ann, Elm, Sara, and Allen. Kuntz and Haruto each had their own places to stay, so while they would likely be frequent visitors to the townhouse, they would be there only as visitors. Sara also had to contact the Apothecary’s Guild to let them know she’d be moving, as well as finish up any work she had remaining here in Hydrangea.

“It’ll depend on the reply we get from Gardenia, but I’m thinking of going to the capital for a while,” she told them.

“You’re so busy every year, Sara.”

Caren, the guildmaster, smiled wryly. There probably weren’t many apothecaries who traveled as much as Sara.

“We’ll be there to chaperone a twelve-year-old girl named Ann, so I honestly have no idea how long it will take. I figured I’d take the opportunity to officially relocate to the Apothecary’s Guild in the capital. Would that be possible?”

“You shouldn’t have any problems doing so. Josef’s acknowledged your skill, right?”

“Hopefully.”

While she was uncertain, when she’d worked with Josef the year before, things had gone pretty well.

“I feel bad that I won’t be able to gather supreme healing herbs anymore, though,” Sara continued.

“Yeah, that’ll hurt. You don’t have to feel bad about it, though. Could I just ask you to do some plant-gathering research from now until you leave?”

“Yes, I can do that.”

Caren looked apologetic herself. Why was that?

“I know I shouldn’t just rely on you and Master Chris for supreme healing herbs,” Caren started. “So I’ve been thinking for a while that I should send some other apothecaries down to the bottom floor with Hunters as guards. I’d like to ask you to organize this as well.”

“Eep, what a heavy responsibility!”

If the other apothecaries were just gathering along with Sara, she could keep them perfectly safe with her barrier, but this was a request to make it so that they could gather even without her there. Even Hunters who were good at escort missions could screw up. Essentially, Sara’s mission was to teach other apothecaries how to gather supreme healing herbs without relying on her barrier. In a way, it was a very difficult task.

“If they aren’t able to gather them, then we’ll just have to give up on regularly supplying the capital with them. I’ve never been in support of the current rate we’re making supreme potions at anyway. If it’s not possible, then that’s fine.”

Caren smiled, and Sara thought she could see a hint of darkness in her eyes.

Sara had put together a report on the use of supreme potions the year before, but her findings didn’t change the fact that they were a difficult medicine to use. Caren was of the opinion that they shouldn’t be crafted recklessly.

“Also, about transferring to the Apothecary’s Guild in the capital...” Caren returned to the initial subject of the conversation. “I don’t think there’s any reason to have to tie yourself down to one location in particular. You can be an independent apothecary like Master Chris is now. We don’t restrict your movements when you need to travel somewhere temporarily for work, right?”

“An independent apothecary... I never thought about that.”

Sara supposed it was her Japanese sensibilities that made her want to stay in one place in a stable position rather than move around between temporary workplaces.

“And of course, we’ll happily hire you back again, no matter when you come back, so don’t worry about that.”

“Okay! Thank you.”

It had been a balm on Sara’s soul that she could call herself an apothecary of Hydrangea up until now, and a point of pride as well. But Hydrangea had now told her that it would always welcome her, and if she became an independent apothecary, she wouldn’t need to worry about how long it took her to get to the capital.

Freed from her misconceptions, Sara was feeling much lighter. Still, she now had a difficult task before her. No one was sure if Hunters would be able to protect apothecaries gathering plants on the bottom floor of the dungeon. However, to Sara’s surprise, there were now several Hunters who could use Kuntz’s shield spell, and they were all veterans who could brave the deepest floors of the dungeon.

“I can’t do it as well as Kuntz, but there’s no better magic for protecting yourself.”

Even the casters who had given up on imitating Sara’s barrier could mimic Kuntz’s technique, which was far more forgiving when it came to mana consumption.

“I thought I was done improving, so it’s been fun actually learning a new skill.”

People were learning Kuntz’s shield magic for reasons like that. And the ones who were able to master it most quickly were the veterans.

So, with the Hunters’ improved ability to serve as guards, they were able to manage bringing apothecaries down to the lowest floor. When they finally made it to the areas where the supreme healing herbs grew, the apothecaries’ motivation shot up, and with ample use of protection cases, they were able to do some gathering.

“There’s gonna be no one to do this but us now, so we’ll just have to use whatever we can to make it work. I feel really bad that we were putting this all on you up until now,” one of Sara’s coworkers told her, and Sara was so happy she almost cried.

“Gathering in a dungeon is fun!”

When she saw the apothecaries looking up at the sky that was just like the Dark Mountain’s, she regretted not getting everyone else involved in this sooner. Maybe she’d just been convinced that other apothecaries couldn’t possibly go into the dungeon. In other words, she hadn’t had faith in them.

She was determined to learn from this regret in her future life as an apothecary.

“I’m sure you’ll come back to see Nelly. It’s not like you’re leaving Hydrangea forever, so there’s no need to be so serious about this.”

Sara was psyching herself up, but Caren admonished her, seeing right through her.

“Right. But Hydrangea is where I got my start as an apothecary, so it will always be special to me.”

“It’s special because the guildmaster is so exceptional,” Caren joked. That confidence was proof more than anything else that she was Chris’s genuine apprentice.

Losing talented youngsters like Allen, Kuntz, and Sara was quite a blow to Hydrangea’s Hunter’s Guild, but other Hunters had been steadily growing stronger after the discovery of the new floor, so it seemed like they would be able to leave on good terms.

Sara had assumed that Haruto would spend his time while they waited for a response from Gardenia running wild in the dungeon, but he surprised her. Apparently he was holding lectures with Allen and Kuntz at the Hunter’s Guild while Sara was down in the dungeon with the other apothecaries. She found out when she popped her head into the Hunter’s Guild for something one day.

“I can’t connect the words ‘Haruto’ and ‘teach’ in my mind.”

“Really? I’m a pretty charitable guy, you know.”

Haruto was the same as ever, his head held high.

“So what were you teaching? Stuff like ‘Stardust’?”

“Hey, don’t bring that up!” Haruto cut Sara off, looking faintly embarrassed. “I’m done with that part of my life.”

Sara thought that couldn’t possibly be true, but then she remembered how they’d been reunited.

“Now that I think about it, your incantation was pretty short when you took down that wyvern!”

“God of Thunder, right?” Haruto held his head even higher. “I think it’s cool when the name’s only one word, but if I just said ‘thunder,’ then how would you be able to tell it apart from other electric spells? It was pretty tough to think that one up.”

“So it still has to be cool.”

“That’s important, right? It’s super important!”

Sara didn’t really get it, but Kuntz was nodding, so maybe coolness really was important to casters.

“Electricity is hard, though. Vince used static electricity as a reference, so I was trying to teach it using that, but there’s still only a few people who can do it. And it’s really weak, so it’s more for defense than offense, but Kuntz’s shield is better for defense, so I’m not sure my lecture really did much.”

“You’re really thinking about your students when you teach, huh?”

“Of course I am. Oh, I think I just heard my name. Better go.”

Someone must have had a question for him. Haruto walked over to the Hunter who’d called his name. Haruto had always had a bright and cheerful personality, so he must have blended into Hydrangea’s guild in no time at all. How strange, since he was still essentially the same person who’d been treated like a problem child back in Rosa.

“He’s the same as us,” Allen murmured. “Back when he first became a Hunter, he was too focused on himself to think about anything else. Now that he’s confident he can get by, he can think about other people. That’s probably what’s going on, right?”

Sara herself would have thought this request was a bother and wouldn’t have wanted to get involved two years ago...no, even one year ago. But things were different now. She wanted to help if she could. Just like Allen had for her back when she was twelve, or like the Hunter’s Guild in Rosa had.

“Honestly, though, does Ann even need help? She seemed pretty strong to me,” asked Allen.

Sara thought this was a bit harsh. “That’s why we’re just going as friendly faces,” she said.

“Yeah, I think that’s probably good. I’m not going ’cause you or Ann roped me into it, I’m going ’cause I want to do some hunting in the capital.”

They might not be going until they heard back from Gardenia, but they’d all already decided they were going to the capital. It was just a matter of whether they’d go straight there or stop in Gardenia first. In the meantime, Sara felt like they were all packing in as much as they could before they left.

When they finally got a reply, it came about as soon as it possibly could have. They were sad that Nelly had declined, but heartily welcomed Elm serving as Ann’s guardian, with Sara coming along as a friendly face, and the group coming to Gardenia to pick her up.

“I mean yeah. When you think about it, each and every thing we suggested is ridiculously convenient for them.”

Sara had been waiting like she was getting test results back, but when Haruto said that, she finally relaxed.

“Elm’s a talented Hunter and the second son of a count. A guy of his status is going all the way to the capital to look after her. He’s even providing a place for her to live and someone for her to talk to. And he’s escorting her there personally. With two other Invited.”

“Seriously. It’s way different from how things were for Sara at twelve,” Allen said with some irony, but Sara wasn’t bothered by that at all.

“It’s good if she doesn’t have to suffer any trouble like that. Plus, this is a good opportunity for me to do some stuff as an apothecary in the capital that I’ve been wanting to do. I’m not just going for Ann.”

This conversation took place during evening tea on the night they received the reply from Gardenia.

Someone unexpected spoke up next.

“Ann will probably be more comfortable, if that’s the case. I have a feeling my sister organized all this and Ann would prefer not to bother people if possible.”

“Nelly...”

Sara had been together with Nelly all this time, but they would be spending some time apart soon. Yet Sara had been so busy she hadn’t been able to sit down for a real chat with her about the situation.

“Okay, I’m gonna go back to my place.”

“I’m gonna head to bed too.”

Allen and Haruto were gone in no time. They must have been being considerate. It was just Sara and Nelly now.

“Will you sit next to me, Sara?”

“Okay.”

They moved their tea and snacks to the couch by the window.

“It’s just like you not to forget the snacks, Sara.”

“I know you’re gonna eat them too, Nelly.”

“Of course. I shouldn’t say this too loud, but it’d be even better if it was stuff you made.”

The snacks the chefs of the mansion made were delicious, but Sara understood wanting the simpler treats she made herself every so often.

Sara snuck some sweets out of her pouch. It was cake with a lot of dried fruits in it.

“This takes me back,” said Nelly.

“Yeah. I used to make it all the time back on the Dark Mountain with the dried fruits you bought for me.”

“It was hard to find the fruits you wanted at the store, but dried fruits were easy, since Hunters like to snack on them.”

“You never mentioned that before.”

She thought Nelly was just buying food that didn’t spoil easily since she lived up on the mountain, but then she remembered that you could put fresh food in storage bags, so it hadn’t been because of that at all.

“In Hydrangea, I can just go into any store and ask them for some fruits you would like, and they’ll figure it out for me. It was hard even going into stores at all in Rosa.”

“If you’re alone for long enough, you forget how to even talk to people.”

She knew that, yet she still had to grin wryly at just how odd Nelly had been when she’d first met her.

“Besides, I know Rosa isn’t a great place everywhere. I’m sure there were places that would have helped you find what you were looking for, but there were a bunch of places that wouldn’t too, right?”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true. I figured out that you don’t really want to go back to a place, when they treat you coldly the first time there.”

Sara felt a little like crying when she thought about back when Nelly had been on her own.

“You might think it’s weird for me to say this since I’m part of the Apothecary’s Guild now, but it wasn’t just Ted that disappointed me in Rosa.”

“Really?”

They were sitting next to each other on the couch, so Nelly’s voice came from right beside her. It made Sara happy to hear it like that.

“None of the other apothecaries did anything even though they knew that Ted was being nasty to us. I bet Chris wouldn’t have even noticed that I existed if I wasn’t your friend too.”

“The worst part is I can’t even say you’re wrong about that...”

Chris was a good person, but Nelly was well aware that he didn’t have the best personality.

“No matter where I go, there are good people and bad. Even apothecaries aren’t all nice. You just have to do your best to get by one way or another.”

“You really have gotten strong, Sara.”

Nelly reached behind Sara’s back and pulled her close.

“Nelly, I might not be back for a while.”

“I know. I’m prepared for you to stay away for years, or even never come back.”

Sara looked up at Nelly in surprise.

“When you’re finished with what you want to do in the capital, the next thing you want to do won’t necessarily be in Hydrangea, right?”

“Well, maybe...” Sara hedged. Not even she was thinking that far into the future.

“Who knows how long I’ll stay in Hydrangea either. I might find something I want to do or feel like I should be doing. And the same could be true for Chris.”

“For Chris...”

“He’s with me for now, but he’s a talented apothecary. Plenty of places could use his help.”

Sara clung tighter to Nelly.

“If that happened, would you go with him?”

“I would. By that time, Hydrangea will probably have brought up the next generation.”

The Hunters that had come to guard the apothecaries were veterans, but they’d all laughed, saying they still had things to learn when they were imitating Kuntz’s shield. Hydrangea was already changing.

“It’s the same for you, Sara. You’ve been the one getting caught up in things up until now, but it might be Allen next time. He’s grown into a capable Hunter, after all.”

The way she was so proud of everyone reminded Sara of Haruto.

“If Allen was invited somewhere, what would you do?” Nelly asked.

“Go with him.” Sara was surprised at how fast she could answer that question. “Only if I didn’t have any work I was abandoning, of course. And wherever I went with him, I’d work as an apothecary there too.”

“See?”

Nelly and Sara said the same thing, and Chris and Allen would as well.

“I’ve been so happy spending the last few years with you, Chris, and my family.”

“Yeah.”

It had been fun everywhere they’d been, but it was in Hydrangea, with the support of the Wolveriés, that Sara learned how rewarding being an apothecary was.

“This time, it’ll be my turn to support Ann as a Wolverié.”

“And when you’re done, you’ll go wherever life carries you next.”

The possibility of a future where she didn’t come back to Hydrangea settled heavily in Sara’s heart. But this parting wouldn’t be for forever.

“I’ll come back sometimes.”

“I’ll come to visit too.”

“I’ll come back no matter where I go.”

“And I’ll come see you no matter where you go.”

The story that had started on the Dark Mountain would continue for a long time still.

They set out a mere two days after receiving the reply from Gardenia.

“Protagonists are always wanderers, after all. No preparation needed. They go where the wind takes them.”

Haruto was in top form, but Sara was sweating as he said all this in front of an actual wanderer.

“I’m the protagonist, eh?” said Elm.

“Aren’t you? Your Ann’s guardian, right?”

Haruto was casual even with a much-older veteran Hunter. But Elm wasn’t upset. He was a magnanimous guy.

“The rest of us are just extras.”

“I’m comfortable with that.”

They would go pick up Ann and then have fun working in the capital. Their job this time was as simple as that.

They parted with everyone at the Wolverié mansion and gathered at the entrance to Hydrangea. The group consisted of Elm—who was apparently the protagonist—Haruto the Invited, Allen, Kuntz, and Sara.

There was nothing else. No carriage, no luggage, and no servants.

“I didn’t think we’d be going on foot...”

The last time they went to Gardenia, they had Hunters dispatched by the guild with them, and they’d gone by carriage. Sara had walked some of the way because she got bored, but she’d ridden in the carriage for most of the journey.

“Look at this group. It’ll be faster to run.”

“So we’re not even walking...”

Elm was a veteran Hunter, of course, and Haruto, Kuntz, and Allen were all young Hunters with a lot of promise.

“Huh? It’s almost all Hunters...”

“You’re registered with the guild too, so you’re pretty much a Hunter yourself, Sara.”

It seemed Allen still hadn’t given up on Sara becoming a Hunter.

“So it’s all Hunters.” Haruto nodded and raised his hand up high. “Okay! Let’s go!”

“Hey, wait a second! Isn’t that something the protagonist should say? You’re smiling, Elm. Is this okay?”

“I don’t mind.”

“Isn’t it a little early to be rushing like this? We can take our time a little more, can’t we?”

Sara’s shout may or may not have echoed down the morning streets of Hydrangea. And so, the four boys, excited about their first journey in a long time, ran off. Naturally, they were lectured by an out-of-breath Sara sometime later.

“I can’t believe you. And I think I’m rather impressive myself for being able to keep up with you.”

“I’m sorry, I mean it,” Allen said, his hands together in apology. Sara was his girlfriend, so he should treat her a little better, as far as Sara was concerned.

“I’m sorry too. I’ve been traveling on my own for over half a year, so I was having too much fun being with everyone.”

With Haruto apologizing glumly as well, Sara couldn’t very well stay mad, could she?

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t stop them.”

All Sara could do was agree with Kuntz.

“Same here.”

“No, you could, couldn’t you, Elm? In fact, you’re the only one who could, aren’t you?”

“Sorry.”

Elm had saved Allen and had brought him and Kuntz to the capital the year before, but Sara hadn’t interacted with him much herself. She hadn’t made an effort to get to know him, so she didn’t feel close to him, but from how he let Haruto influence him and parroted Kuntz’s excuse, maybe he wasn’t really the levelheaded adult Sara thought he was.

She cocked her head looking up at him, and he tilted his head the same way.

“Pfft. Gosh.”

Elm looked relieved, and Sara didn’t get any angrier at him after that.

“I’m used to physical strengthening, but I’m not a Hunter and I don’t have as much confidence in my stamina as you guys, so I’d prefer a slower pace. This will be a long trip too, so let’s make sure we take breaks as we go.”

The boys all agreed, whether or not they meant it, but if it came to it, she’d just have to keep up. They must have gotten the excitement out of their system, though. The rest of the trip went well, with them all being considerate of her. She’d left the preparations to Elm, who had decided on several inns where they’d be staying on the way, so they didn’t even have to camp out as much as she’d been expecting. The first time they had to sleep outside, it was in a meadow where flame bats showed up.

“This brings me back. What was it, two years ago? I’m glad I can see this nighttime scenery again with you, but I’m really happy we could show it to Haruto too,” Allen said.

He and Sara were sitting inside a large protection field, watching Kuntz fend off attacking bats with his shield while Haruto swung a sword around under Elm’s instruction. Each time Kuntz stopped a bat with his shield, wisps of flame puffed up in the air around him. The flames were all the same size, like little lights in the sky.

The bats Haruto took down with his sword were more like fireworks, bursting around him, sometimes big, sometimes small.

“He’s not just good with magic, huh? All those sparks mean he’s not hitting the bats in their center, though. It looks showy, but he’s using a lot of wasted movement. That’s probably what Elm’s telling him.”

“I was wondering what he was saying.”

Allen couldn’t hear them, but he probably knew exactly what was going on just from watching Haruto hunt. Impressive as always.

“On the other hand, look at Kuntz. Unlike your barrier, he says you have to hit monsters at a precise angle in order to reflect their attacks back on them.”

“Oh, so they slide off instead.”

“Still, it can protect you at whatever angle. But reflecting a monster’s attack does a lot more damage to them. He’s been practicing that so much that he’s knocking back every flame bat from the same angle. It looks really cool.”

“Yeah.”

The lights shining in the night sky were the flames of monsters’ lives being extinguished. Still, watching this scene with Allen at her side was so beautiful that it made Sara shiver.

“Hey! Some people are on a date over there while we’re working so hard!”

And Haruto’s comment completely ruined it.

“Ha ha ha. Well, if he’s gonna get mad about it, I’m gonna go join them for a bit.”

“Okay. Kick their butts!”

All on her own now, Sara quietly watched the fires flying around Allen from the safest place in the meadow, her barrier. The bats burst into flame and fluttered to the ground before even coming into contact with Allen’s fists.

“That’s another application of my barrier. Stretching out your physical strengthening, right? Allen called Kuntz’s shield precise, but he moves efficiently too.”

Even an amateur like Sara could tell how good Allen was at hunting. She was sure he’d improved by leaps and bounds from two years ago as well.

“I’m glad we came here.”

Just getting to spend the whole day with everyone like this made Sara appreciate going on this journey with them.

From the meadow with the flame bats, they entered the mountains. There was a road carriages could take that passed through, so it was easy enough to continue walking.

“Last time we came, it was a hotter season, so the scenery feels new to me.”

It was spring now, and still a little chilly, so the greenery was just beginning to sprout. There were many trees with no leaves on them yet, so they could see far off into the distance through their branches.

“Oh yeah, there were a ton of dragonflies last time. That was a real pain, wasn’t it?”

“We were able to take out the green grass locusts thanks to them, though.”

Haruto’s ears perked up at Allen and Sara’s conversation.

“Tell me more.”

“We didn’t tell you about this already?”

The last time they’d seen Haruto had been during the continental tortoise uproar, so the only thing he knew about Gardenia was that Ann the Invited had appeared there.

“I want to hear more about it too.”

As for Elm, he’d had a whole year to ask about it, but Sara decided not to mention that.

And so, they told the whole story of Gardenia, rather than run through the mountains or stop to gather plants.

“Haven’t you been all over the place, Elm? You don’t know much about Gardenia?”

“I’m all over the place exploring dungeons. There’s no reason for me to visit Gardenia for long since there are hardly any monsters there. And...” He looked away, like it was hard to say what came next. “If I let Lati catch me, I wouldn’t be able to leave.”

“Ah...”

Allen and Kuntz were mostly dealing with the green grass locusts, so Lati’s intensity hadn’t left as big of an impression on them as it had on Sara. That was why she was the only one who really understood what Elm meant.

“If there’s something I can do for her, I don’t mind doing it, but if she just wants to talk or lecture me about being more social, I can’t really deal with that...”

“Oh yeah, during the welcome party, she had all these people there to meet Nelly. Same with Ann. There were a bunch of nobles there around her age.”

When she remembered that, she figured Lati’s way of thinking must have changed for her to write about not wanting to rely on the prime minister’s family so that people didn’t think Noel was Ann’s fiancé.

“Hopefully there isn’t something like that again this time...”

“It’s fine. If something happens, we can just leave for the capital, right?”

He was ready to flee before they even got there.

Maybe because it was still spring, there were no large dragonflies around on the mountain paths, much to Sara’s relief.

“Wow, all the flat ground over here is fields. Yeah, it’s definitely a different feel than west of the mountains.”

“It’s safe to work in the fields too, since there are hardly any horned rabbits. I think they said they have cotton sheep in the north, though.”

“Those are monsters! So there are monsters here.”

It was Haruto’s first time in the east, so he was interested in everything, but these were paths Sara had already traveled. Still, the fields were at a different stage in their seasonal cycle than the last time she had visited, so even if the mountains were the same, the plains gave off quite a different impression.

“Using physical strengthening to travel like this, we’re like foot couriers.”

“Foot couriers?” That was a rather old-fashioned concept. “Come to think of it, I think I’ve heard that postmen would run for three or four days to get all the way from Edo to Kyoto back in the day.”

Unfortunately, Sara’s trivia was of little use in Trilgaia.

“We’re about to arrive in just five days. We’re totally on the level of those guys.”

They were having so much fun on their journey that even going at Sara’s pace, they were still arriving at their destination at the pace of super express mail.

“I mean, Elm’s carrying Ri’s letter saying we’re coming to get Ann.”

Now that she thought about it, wouldn’t the Greifs be bothered by having five people show up out of nowhere? It was a bit late to worry about that, but it seemed she had no reason to be concerned.

That same cheerful gate guard they had met before sent a runner to the mansion and Lati was there like the wind to greet them, hugging Elm tight. It was quite the distance from the gate to the mansion, so her excitement at their arrival was very apparent.

“Elm! It’s been so long! Let me see your face!”

“You’re gonna have to let go of me if you want to see my face.”

“I’m so glad you’re here too, Sara!”

Lati didn’t listen, but Elm stayed cool. It was a conversation that clearly illustrated both of their characters. But rather than Lati, Sara found herself staring at Ann, who was running beside her, careful not to overtake her.

“Ann! You’ve gotten so...”

Not only had Ann grown in height, she’d gained quite a bit of muscle as well. That girl who had been so frail she seemed like she might disappear when they’d first met was gone. From the smile on her face and her lively energy, it was obvious just how much fun she was having every day.

Sara was so happy she felt tears brimming in her eyes. She couldn’t very well criticize Lati for worrying too much over the girl, now could she?

Ann gave Sara a gentle hug. When Nelly hugged her, she felt happy, but with Ann, there was a bit of embarrassment mixed in there. Still, she was happy, so she wrapped her arms around Ann as well, which was when she froze in shock.

“Ann...”

“What is it?”

Ann pulled away and gave Sara a curious look, to which Sara lifted her head slightly and stared, mouth agape.

“You’re taller than me...”

“Oh. Hee hee hee.”

It was so cute how Ann tilted her head slightly and fidgeted, her hands clasped behind her back. It was cute, but hadn’t she grown a bit too much?

“I think I’ll get even taller. I was originally over 170 centimeters, you know.”

“You’re still growing...”

“You’re so funny, Sara.”

Sara was a little embarrassed that Ann was laughing at her, but it was no time to be getting so surprised at her height.

“You know Allen and Kuntz, so... I’d better introduce you to Haruto.”

Sara turned around, flustered. Really, she should probably introduce Elm first, since he was going to be her guardian. No, maybe she should wait for Lati to introduce Elm. No, they should go back to the mansion first. No, maybe she really should start with Haruto.

Sara’s head was spinning with Ann’s unexpected growth. Before she could decide what to do, Haruto stepped forward.

“Forgive me for speaking before I was introduced.”

Haruto had a rare serious look on his face, so Sara kept quiet and left things to him.

“I’m an Invited. I’ve been in Trilgaia for over ten years now. My name is...”

Haruto. Sara belatedly realized that she’d never heard him called anything other than Haruto.

“...Haruto Gallagher. I’m under the care of Count Gallagher. My Japanese name is Nishiya Haruto. The characters are ‘western valley’ and ‘a great leap.’”

“Umm, nice to meet you. I’m Ann Greif. My Japanese name is Yoshikawa Anzu.”

“Anzu, eh? Can I call you Ann?”

“Yes, that’s fine.”

So that’s how you write Haruto’s name, Sara thought as Allen and Kuntz came into view out of the corner of her eye. She worried for a moment that they’d been left out of the conversation, but when she turned to look, she saw that they were both staring slack-jawed at Haruto.

She thought Ann’s growth was more surprising, but when she looked back at Ann and Haruto, she was reminded of when she’d first met Haruto. Back then he hadn’t even been able to look her in the eye. He’d been rude and he hadn’t introduced himself. But the Haruto who stood here now was closer in age to Liam or Ted when she’d first met them—an actual adult. Sara realized that she’d been dragging around her first impression of him all this time. Allen and Kuntz must have just realized the same thing.

“I’ll be accompanying you to the capital, and I’m thinking of staying there for a while. Feel free to rely on me for anything as a senior Invited.”

“Thank you.”

The two continued exchanging proper greetings as Sara, Kuntz, and Allen were standing there speechless. Afterward, Haruto turned around and looked right at Sara, who had to resist the urge to take a step back.

“I’ve been regretting it all this time, Sara. Not being able to greet you properly the first time we met, I mean.”

“Really?”

Haruto and regret just didn’t seem to go together to her. Once again, she realized she was dragging around her old impressions of him.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Haruto, an Invited from the capital. I’m under the care of Count Gallagher. My Japanese name is Nishiya Haruto. You write it with the characters for ‘western valley’ and ‘a great leap.’ Let me know if you ever need anything. I’ll help you out as best as I can as your senior Invited.”

“Umm...”

It was the same thing he’d said to Ann. He must have decided that he would greet them like that the next time he met an Invited.

At the time, Sara hadn’t introduced herself as an Invited. She’d known that there were Invited in the capital, but Haruto hadn’t known that there was an Invited in Rosa. It wasn’t like you’d get along with someone in a similar situation right away unconditionally. Sara understood well what it was like to regret not saying something you should have. So she responded to him in kind.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Sara. I’ve finally arrived in Rosa after landing on the Dark Mountain. Nelly, the caretaker of the Dark Mountain, is looking after me. My Japanese name is Ichinokura Sarasa. My last name means ‘the first storehouse,’ and my first is the fabric, chintz.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Same here.”

As soon as their greetings were done, Haruto’s face flushed red like it was on fire.

“Gaaah! This isn’t like me! It’s so embarrassing!”

He crouched down, holding his head, back to the old Haruto.

“There are a lot of strange Invited, aren’t there?” Lati watched Haruto curiously next to Elm.

“No, there aren’t.”

“You’ve got it all wrong.”

Sara and Ann spoke at the same time, then exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.

“What? I just wanted to do it right.”

Haruto stood, his face still slightly red, then turned to face Lati.

“I apologize for showing up unannounced when I wasn’t even asked to be here. I’m an Invited under the guardianship of House Gallagher, Haruto. I’d heard about Ann and wanted to meet her, so I took the opportunity to accompany my friends here.”

Sara was impressed he knew how to talk to people of high status like this.

“We get a lot of visitors, so there’s no need to worry about coming unannounced. Besides, it’s an honor to receive a visit from one of the Invited. And I’m thrilled that you came all the way here just to meet Ann.”

Lati smiled a beautiful smile just like Nelly’s, but where Nelly’s was more cool, Lati’s was gentle and ephemeral. Maybe the differences stood out all the more the better you knew someone.

“Wow, you really do look just like Miss Nelly!”

Should Sara speak up for Nelly and tell him not to call her ‘Miss’?

Haruto’s eyes had gone wide, and he’d completely dropped the polite tone he’d been using, but Lati just smiled with amusement.

“It makes me happier than anything to be told Neffie and I look alike. If you’re an Invited, you’re something like Ann’s sibling. There’s no need for any formalities.”

“Thank you very much, ma’am.”

Haruto had charmed the mistress of the house instantly and become the main character of the scene. Sara was more and more impressed.

“I’m happy to see you too, Allen, Kuntz. Thank you so much for your help last time.”

Lati went out of her way to name the two of them as well. They’d only been here as Hunters last time, so Sara thought it was unlikely she would remember them just from that. She must have learned their names just to welcome them here.

“We’re just here to accompany Elm and Sara, but thanks for having us.”

“Yeah, thanks for having us.”

If the way that Lati was acting now, so considerate to everyone, was how she typically was, then it was obvious just how out of sorts she’d been the last time they met.

“But I’m getting so lonely thinking about Ann going off to the capital... Part of me wishes you hadn’t come so quickly to fetch her. And joining the knights is so dangerous, oh, I just can’t take it! For the record, I was against Neffie joining as well. I just wish Ann could settle down with someone nice, you know?”

Sara narrowed her eyes a bit, thinking this was exactly what her problem was. People’s values didn’t change overnight, though, she supposed.

“Then why didn’t you have her stay with the prime minister’s family? Chris said their third son Noel is the best candidate for her fiancé right now.”

Sara was a little surprised Elm would say that. She hadn’t thought he’d be interested in the topic. She got a bit of a faraway look in her eyes at the thought that Chris really did seem to favor House Hills.

“I want her to marry someone nice, but I don’t want her to decide her future right away! She can decide who she’ll marry a little later.”

Sara wouldn’t go so far as to call Lati selfish, but she was still faithful to her own desires and valued Ann above all else.

“Ann’s future can wait. And what about you, Elm?”

“There it is.”

Sara had to hold in another comeback at that.

“Lati, I came out all the way to the gate ’cause I was so excited, but it’s still a little chilly out here, don’t you think?” chimed Ann.

“Oh my, you’re right! Let’s head to the mansion in the carriage. Could we get a ride with you?”

Lati almost fainted when she found out that they’d come on foot instead of by carriage, but thanks to Ann’s quick thinking, Elm was able to avoid any further questioning.

Sara knew Ann wanted to join the knights, but there were all sorts of things she wanted to ask her about the matter, such as why now, but there wasn’t time at all to talk during their stay. Not only had family come to visit but so had two Invited as well, so social gatherings and parties were hurriedly thrown, and in between these, Ann had to get ready to leave, and Lati had to prepare herself emotionally for Ann’s departure. They’d taken just five days to get there, but they didn’t expect being in Gardenia to take up so much time.

Elm’s eyes were completely dead each time Lati dragged him to these social events. Haruto and Sara got out of them as soon as they could after performing the bare minimum of social niceties expected of them as Invited.

If they had all this time to socialize, Sara would have rather heard about how things were with the green grass locusts after last time. But they would be passing the location where they’d dealt with the locusts on their way to the capital, so she could just hear about them there. This meant that all she could do at the lord’s manor was talk to the lord, Ed, and the apothecary, Keiligh.

“Long time no see, Sara. You’ve grown even more beautiful.”

“Thank you. And thank you for what you did for Nelly and Chris last time. They managed to get married and are living together happily now.”

The worldly Keiligh was a type Sara didn’t usually have around her, but since she knew that he’d played the fool in order to bring Nelly and Chris closer to one another, she felt like she could accept his compliments without worrying about whether or not he was being sincere. She had to make sure she thanked him and gave him her report as well, as Chris’s apprentice.

“Sorry for the abrupt change of subject, but what happened with your green grass locust experiments?”

She’d heard from Ed that the green grass locusts had appeared again the next year, but there had just been a few more of them than usual, and they’d gotten through it just fine. Apparently they’d left behind a lot of eggs as well. He’d been worried about their harvest since there was a lot of damage to their crops from the year before, but they hunted the locusts early and avoided too much trouble. This year, they were simply continuing to be cautious.

“To do much real experimenting, we’d have to starve the green grass locusts to the point that they turn black, but as an apothecary, I’m not crazy about doing something like that, personally.”

“I get it.”

Even if they were just bugs, Sara didn’t like the idea of making them suffer.

“From the experiments we conducted the year of the outbreak, our best bet is probably to be more aware of the circumstances that can lead to the green grass locusts starving, which we’ve been trying to do since last year. That and stocking up more.”

“Stocking up?” Sara tilted her head. Stocking up what, she wondered.

“On the grass the locusts eat, on different types of potions, and on extra food in Gardenia in case our crop harvests suffer.”

“Makes sense.”

It sounded like they had a lot to do.

“Still, it’s not like storage boxes are infinite, and they’re expensive, so the idea to stock up on grass for the locusts was canned.”

Keiligh grinned wryly, but that part of the plan did seem rather unrealistic.

“Since there aren’t many Hunters here, there’s not much demand for potions, so we haven’t had much of a stock of those either, but we’ve at least changed that policy. We’re working on keeping a stock of ingredients for paralytics and antiparalytics as well as the completed potions.”

“Well, that is the role of an Apothecary’s Guild.”

It seemed the green grass locust outbreak had greatly changed the direction of the Apothecary’s Guild in Gardenia.

“Stocking up on food will take time, but we’ll work on it. There’s no way to get a ton of it all at once, so Ed’s going to stock up gradually.”

“That’s reassuring to hear.”

“Yeah. We’ll keep an eye out for irregularities and request aid as soon as we can when we find them. Gardenia will do whatever stocking up they can. Short of us finding some way to change the weather, I’m sure we’ll continue to have more green grass locust outbreaks in the future, but we’re making sure we’re as prepared as we can be for when that happens.”

“Right.”

All the trouble they’d been through had been worth it.

Sara told Keiligh about the supreme healing herbs; after her report, it seemed they might start ordering them from Hydrangea as well. She was endlessly grateful for Caren’s suggestion to work out a way for other people to gather them instead of just Sara doing it. It really felt like her influence would extend beyond Hydrangea.

Finally, the day of their departure for the capital arrived.

“Don’t push yourself, Ann.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll have Elm and Sara, and Haruto and Allen and Kuntz too.”

“I know, but still...”

“And Vice Captain Liam said they would welcome more female knights. Plus, Nelly was a knight once. That gives me some peace of mind.”

“Still...”

Even on the verge of their departure, Lati was having a hard time letting Ann go. Still, everyone kept their mouths shut and simply waited for the farewells to be over. Lati was definitely a worrywart, but it was understandable to find it hard to part with your twelve-year-old daughter when she was going somewhere far away.

“Come, Lati. Let’s get as much work done as we can so we can find some time to go to the capital ourselves.” Ed put an arm around Lati’s shoulders. “Your mana always used to overflow at times like these, so it was hard to comfort you even if I wanted to. Look at how much the two of us have grown as well just from Ann coming here.”

Sara recalled how Lati had been the same as Nelly, with a lot of mana and difficulty controlling it.

“You know how wonderful it is to be able to find what you want to do with your life. Let’s give thanks to everyone and see them off with a smile.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

All Ed’s time spent supporting Lati as her husband wasn’t for nothing. Ed was doing good work here.

“I’ll make sure to come back at least once a year.”

“You’d better. We’ll be waiting for you.”

With a tearful farewell, their journey finally commenced. Incidentally, the group was actually taking a carriage this time.

The cheerful gate guard saw them off, and when they’d made it to the road, Ann let out a heavy sigh.

“I don’t have to bring as many people with me, thanks to you guys not coming in a carriage of your own.”

There were two carriages, one with their group and the other with luggage and servants. The only servants coming were two young coachmen and a maid, so there were at least no more than three. When Sara thought back to her travels with Ri, he’d definitely brought more servants with him. Not just for the journey, but to help out at the townhouse as well.

“So you’d still be taking two carriages even if we didn’t come to get you?”

“Yeah. Seriously, though, why would I even need so many servants?”

“There’s nothing strange about it. A noble lady would never travel alone. You’d need guards as well.”

Elm explained, since he knew a thing or two about the nobility. She’d been able to cut down on guards because their group was serving as her security.

“Plus, it’s fine and all if they want to come with me, but people from Gardenia don’t tend to want to go to the capital. It takes time to make the journey, and if you stay for a long time, you’d be separated from your family, right? I feel bad asking them to come.”

“Yeah, that might be awkward. I don’t think you need to worry that much about it, but I get where you’re coming from.” Sara nodded in agreement.

“The maid you’re bringing looked pretty young.”

They’d been introduced to the servants who would be accompanying them.

“She’s sixteen, so I guess she just became an adult. She works at the mansion, but she was real upfront about coming with ’cause the pay’s good. She said she’s excited to buy her siblings souvenirs in the capital.”

Ann laughed when she talked about her, so she seemed to have a good relationship with the maid.

“I know staying at the mansion and doing what I could there would cause the least amount of trouble, but I want to get out more and do something that helps people!”

Ann clenched her fist. She hadn’t changed at all from the girl she’d been two years ago.

“I didn’t think this would become such a big deal, though. I’m really sorry about that.”

She deflated, but Haruto said cheerfully, “Well, we Invited are supposed to have the blessing of the goddess in this world, right? No matter what we do, it tends to end up being a big deal. Your treatment is pretty typical for an Invited, other than being outside of the capital.”

“It is?”

Haruto had told Ann she didn’t need to worry about being polite with him since they were around the same age on the inside.

“Sara’s an exception since she was dropped on the Dark Mountain.”

“I really am.” All Sara could do was agree with a wry grin.

“That reminds me! There’s something I want to do first when we get to the capital.”

Sara waited for her to continue, wondering if she meant something other than joining the knights.

“Umm, I want to get a license at the Hunter’s Guild.”

“A license at the Hunter’s Guild?”

It was so unexpected that Sara reflexively took her own Guild ID out of her storage bag.

“One of these?”

“Yeah! Can I see it?”

“Sure.”

Sara’s Guild ID was nothing more than a metal plate the size of a business card with her name engraved on it. It didn’t change color depending on how strong you were or list a rank or anything like that.

Ann took Sara’s ID with both hands like it was very important and looked down at it, all smiles.

“I’ve wanted one of these ever since you told me about yourself, Sara.”

Sara wasn’t sure there was anything enviable about her story. As far as she was concerned, it was just dealing with a bunch of monsters and getting roped into trouble.

“I wasn’t told I should join the knights at any particular time, so I was thinking when I got to the capital I’d save up some money and get my Hunter’s license.”

“Ah, that part.”

Now that she thought about it, back when Sara had been earning money for her Hunter’s license had probably been the hardest her life had been but also the most fun.

“I actually had plenty of money back then, though. If the Apothecary’s Guild had bought my plants from me, I would have gotten my license right away.”

“Well, I have money that Ed and Lati gave me, but it feels wrong to buy it with that.”

Haruto crossed his arms thoughtfully. “I’m guessing you just want to do that because you have Sara as a reference. I got it with the money from my guardians myself, since I didn’t think anyone would expect a twelve-year-old to work. They bought me weapons, armor, a carriage to go to the dungeon, and people to go down in there with me.”

“Well, look at the little lord!”

“Pretty much,” Haruto said with some chagrin. At this point, he probably regretted letting himself be so spoiled.

“That was only obvious for me too, so I’m not sure I get where you’re coming from either.”

Elm was another rich kid.

“Even in Japan, it takes money if you want to get lessons in something or do club activities. If you’re twelve, your parents would pay for that, right?”

Sara had been in the go-home club, so she hadn’t cost her parents too much money, but Haruto was right. From what she knew of her brother and her friends, at least, that sort of thing did cost money, and it naturally fell to the parents to pay for it.

“When you think of it like that, it’s sort of like everyone’s nobles in Japan, isn’t it?”

“True.”

Everyone else seemed convinced that using her guardians’ money was fine, but Ann was still putting up a fight.

“But this isn’t Japan, and I’ll only have one chance to work my hardest to get into the guild!”

“I guess that’s true.”

Haruto seemed to be on the fence, but it was more likely that he just didn’t care.

That was when Kuntz, who’d been silent this whole time, spoke up. Incidentally, Allen didn’t seem interested at all in the conversation.

“What do you think about what Ann wants to do, Elm?”

Sara wasn’t sure why he’d asked, since she thought Elm had already spoken up, but then she remembered he’d only said he didn’t understand where she was coming from.

“I don’t understand how she feels, but I think Ann should do what she wants to do.”

“Really?!”

Oh, I see. Sara understood what he was getting at and gave Kuntz an impressed look. “Wow.”

“It’s nothing like that. It’s simple, really.” Kuntz scratched his nose, embarrassed. “Everyone’s got their opinions, but Ann’s guardian is the only one who has a say about what she does.”

“Oh, right...”

Everyone was giving her their opinion to try to save her from going to too much trouble, but they were just being busybodies if she’d already decided what she wanted to do. If Elm, her guardian, had no objection to this, then she could do it, end of story.

“Sorry for meddling like that.”

Sara couldn’t help wanting to protect a girl who was younger than her, but acting like this, she was no different from the overprotective Lati.

“Oh, no! I know you’re saying it for my sake. Besides, I’d do what I wanted even if everyone else was against it anyway.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Ann had decided she wanted to join the knights, even going so far as to convince Lati to let her. There was no need to worry about her; she’d find her way with or without anyone’s help.

The group enjoyed a fun chat after that until they reached the place where the green grass locusts had swarmed, and Sara asked if they could stop. She didn’t want to see locusts or anything; she just wanted to see the landscape that had been utterly covered in them before.

“Ugh, it’s totally destroyed...”

It was the beginning of spring, but there was still far too little greenery. The ground was nothing but exposed dirt and rock. She’d heard there were a lot of green grass locusts the year before too. Maybe that was why.

“They haven’t hatched from their eggs yet this year, though, have they?”

Sara glanced around nervously and Ann came up and explained things to her.

“They said the black green grass locusts eat the plants down to their roots, so it takes a while for things to get back to normal. But that’s not all. Look carefully at the dirt and the rocks.”

“The rocks?”

She walked over to one of the exposed rocks and saw that part of it was white where it had been scraped away. Once she spotted one mark like that, she realized there were scratches on all of the rocks nearby.

“Huh? I feel like I’ve seen this before...”

While she was trying to figure out where that was, Allen came up next to her, and she recalled a sight that they had shared before.

“Oh, cotton sheep!”

“Yep.”

Once she looked back at the scenery with cotton sheep in mind, she felt like she could see the line of where they’d moved through the area. From the width of that line, it seemed like a much smaller herd than the one she’d seen in the meadow east of Rosa.

“Cotton sheep are monsters, but they have them in the north of Gardenia, I guess. There’s not that many of them and they move in groups that are too small to really call them herds. People think they came from the west, over the mountains,” Ann explained. “But I guess ’cause the green grass locusts ate up all the plants, they’ve consolidated into one big herd. And I guess it’s a problem when they move in big groups like that.”

“I feel like when it happened in Rosa, people called it a natural disaster. I think they said you have to just wait for them to pass by?”

It had definitely left an impression, but it had happened quite a long time ago. The thing that came to mind more readily for Sara was the cotton sheep candy Josef had given her.

“I guess they went north, where there aren’t as many people, so there’s no need to worry about them for now. I’ve been following Ed around Gardenia and learning about all this stuff.”

Ann crossed her arms with a proud, adorable hmph.

“We’ll be going north to get to the capital, so I wonder if we’ll see the way they went.” Ann looked worriedly at the road before them. She really had gotten used to Gardenia in the two years since Sara had last seen her.

“I’m sure we’ll see something, so let’s get going already.”

At those words from Haruto, who had no particular attachment to this place, the group started moving once again.

“Okay, I’m going to run now!”

“All right! Me too!”

“Aah! Wait! There they go...”

Ann and Haruto sped off down the road.

“Well, we don’t want to put out the drivers too much, so let’s take our time in the carriage,” Kuntz suggested with a wry grin. He was ever the considerate one. The rest of them all got back into the carriage.

“She’s a lot better than how she was before, all gloomy and low-energy, right? I’m more used to Haruto’s type by now.”

This was Kuntz’s current impression of Ann. She was being lumped in with Haruto, apparently.

“She was pretty assertive back then too. She doesn’t look any different from before to me.”

Allen was a bit harsh as always.

“She’s the type to cut her own path forward, right? She’s definitely a good kid, but I think you should be less worried about protecting her and more worried about stopping her from getting too out of control, Sara.”

Sara hung her head at this advice from Allen. “She’s already beyond my control.”

“Pfft.” Elm burst out laughing. He wasn’t usually so assertive. “Heh. I didn’t necessarily want you along as a chaperone, Sara. I just wasn’t confident I could serve as a friendly face when she got lonely. Sorry.”

“Hee hee. You, not confident, eh?” Now it was Sara’s turn to laugh.

“I don’t think you need to worry about stopping her, so long as she’s not causing trouble for anyone.”

Sara figured being out of control in the first place was causing trouble, but she decided to keep that to herself.

The pair that had run off ran back.

“We made it to the place we’re supposed to stay tonight, but there’s nothing to do there, so we came back.”

Ann and Haruto laughed. They were like little kids, running around for no reason. Sara was just happy they got along.

“The knights are all about stamina, so it makes sense to do some training on our way there.”

With Elm’s seal of approval, Ann seemed to intend to train as much as she could on their way there. And it wasn’t just running. She was still full of energy even when they reached the location where they’d be spending the night.

“Please teach me swordplay.”

“Oh, me too.”

“Same here.”

“Me as well, please.”

Elm, who had been a knight himself, wasn’t just good at physical strengthening but also excelled with a sword. The other three seemed like they were piggybacking off of Ann’s request, but they always did this when they camped out at night.

“I’ll go look for some medicinal plants, then.”

Sara did her usual nightly routine as well. In early spring, all the plants were still small, but that just made the medicinal ones stand out all the more.

This was her first time in this area, but the area north of the green grass locust outbreak was rocky, so Sara was anticipating finding mana herbs as she searched around their campsite.

“Hmmm, these are cotton sheep hoof marks. The grass is all chewed up too.”

Even she couldn’t tell what was medicinal when all that was left was a tiny bit sticking up from the ground.

“No, maybe I could tell from the smell?”

As far as Sara was concerned, she was the very picture of an apothecary, crouched down on all fours and smelling the grass.

“Even if I can’t gather them, if I could find some, I could at least tell Keiligh about them, but I really can’t tell...”

She decided to pay attention to the base of the plants and how they smelled the next time she was gathering.

It was Ann’s first time camping out, as well as that of her servants, so they were pretty nervous, but everything was fine. Sara gratefully accepted the food and cooking tools Ann had been supplied with and made dinner for them.

“I’ll ask you to do it yourself later, but you can just watch for today, okay?”

The group had also been given prepared food in their storage bags, but part of the fun of camping out was cooking for yourself in the great outdoors.

They divided up the cleaning between everyone and set up their tents, Sara calling Ann over after laying out her bedding.

“C’mere. Lie down next to me.”

It was through her bedding, but the ground was still cold underneath her. Night was still chilly in spring; Ann shivered, and Sara expanded her barrier around her.

“Oh, it’s warm!”

“I can control the temperature inside my barrier. It’ll be warm all night.”

“Wow, that’s nice.”

Around Sara and Ann were Haruto, Allen, Kuntz, and even Elm, all lying on the ground. Of course, none of them had any bedding.

“Sara, cover us with your barrier too.”

“You can all warm yourselves up with physical strengthening, can’t you?”

There were hardly any monsters around here, so there was no need for her to put up her barrier. Sara shoved Haruto away when he tried to get into her barrier with them.

“Huh? You can do stuff like that with physical strengthening too?”

“I mean, I think so. Nelly did it, at least.”

Ann leaped up, but Sara coaxed her back down to the ground.

“We didn’t usually use tents when we camped out on the Dark Mountain. You can see the stars twinkling in the sky like this and it’s so pretty.”

“Wow...! I’ve never seen a sky like this!”

When you had so many people around and were having fun hanging out with them, it could be hard to notice your surroundings.

Haruto, who’d been noisier than anyone, suddenly shut his mouth like there was no one around him at all. All they could hear was the wind rustling the dry grass.

Time passed like that for a while before Sara suggested getting into their tents to go to bed.

“Once we’re over the mountain, there’ll be flame bats in the meadow. Huh?”

“Zzz, zzz...”

She looked beside her, and Ann was fast asleep already.

“Well, she ran a bunch and practiced swords with everyone. Today had a lot of firsts for her too, so I’m sure she’s tired.”

She was sleeping so hard that she didn’t wake up even when Elm gently lifted her. Someone must have told her about that the next day, since it took her a while to overcome her embarrassment and come out of her tent.

But having such a fulfilling day that you pass out at the end of it was a good thing, as far as Sara was concerned. It showed how hard Ann was working every day.

Maybe because she was swinging a sword around with him every day, Allen started warming up to Ann, and Sara kept looking for medicinal plants even in arid spots, starting a new experiment when she couldn’t find any.

“If I can’t find any of the plants I know, then I should just look for new ones, right?”

Her inspiration had been the cotton sheep. Their tracks extended in a single line, and as a consequence, all the plants she would have been looking for along that line were eaten up. Fortunately, there weren’t many people living to the north of Gardenia, so they wouldn’t have been doing too much damage to people’s crops.

“I thought there’d be way more medicinal plants where there aren’t any people, though.”

She didn’t think she’d be competing with cotton sheep, rather than other gatherers, for the herbs. Even the cliff face was chewed up at the height of the cotton sheep’s mouths, so there was nothing growing on it that Sara could reach. All she could do was look around, lamenting the fact that the cotton sheep were probably quite hungry.

“Huh? Umm...”

Sara was relaxing in the carriage, unlike everyone else, who was running around using physical strengthening, so she noticed something gazing out at the rocks around them.

“They haven’t eaten the moss on the tops of the rocks. I guess they can’t reach up there...”

She felt sorry for the hungry cotton sheep. That didn’t stop her from taking interest in the moss, of course. It was a deep, purple color, almost black, a variety she had never seen before. The driver was from the area, and he told her that it could be dried and eaten. It was good for upset stomachs, it seemed. He also said it grew slowly, so they wouldn’t be able to harvest much from around here for a while.

“Well, I have nothing to make potions with, so I might as well try this, right?”

Cotton sheep were big, so Sara couldn’t reach anywhere they couldn’t either.

“At times like these, you’d think wind magic, right? But you’d be wrong...”

The Hunters were all gone, so she was only talking to herself.

“The moss is stuck to the rocks, so I think you could only cut a little of it off at once with wind magic. Times like these call for...baaarrieeer!”

She patted her stomach where, if she were a particular sort of cartoon cat, she might have a pocket full of wonderful gadgets, then hurriedly looked around to make sure no one was watching her. All she saw was the carriage, slowly advancing in the distance. It had gone ahead of her, thankfully.

“Stop joking around, Sara. Anyway, I can make my barrier like a shield and stretch it out to scrape the moss off the rock.”

Later, she realized it would have made more sense to picture a small spade or a scraper instead of a shield, but she couldn’t help thinking of what she was more familiar with recently.

“Just scrape it off... There, it fell!”

She picked up a handful of strange moss that was frilled like a mushroom.

“Let’s see... I’ll put some of the sap on my wrist. No stinging. I’ll take a little nibble. Basically flavorless, no bad smell, bitterness, or sharp taste. I’m surprised people thought to eat this. Now I’ll spit it out and gargle.”

If people routinely ate it around these parts, she shouldn’t have anything to worry about, but she figured it couldn’t hurt to be cautious with something she’d never seen before.

On their break for lunch, Sara ground up the moss and boiled it like she would healing herbs to make potions. Some potions had other ingredients or steps you had to do in a certain order, but generally you just carefully ground up plants, boiled them while infusing the liquid with mana, and strained the fluid into a bottle at the end.

“If only I had an ‘appraisal’ spell or something, but that would be too convenient if it existed, wouldn’t it?” Sara murmured, holding up the bottle to the light. She’d just made what was inside, but right now it was just a bottle of moss juice with unknown effects. The moss had originally been purple, but the liquid was a light red.

“‘Mana will empower you in whatever way you imagine. Keep your mana level in mind and don’t push yourself as you picture the magic you want to cast,’ right?”

Kuntz quoted the opening line of her magic textbook. He’d come to understand the significance of those words as well after figuring out his shield magic.

“I’m not sure how appraisal magic would work, but can’t you picture it?”

Sara looked to Haruto and Ann.

“Appraisal magic would be like if you could look at some grass and tell immediately that it was a healing herb or a poison herb. What I’d need is magic that could tell me if this is medicinal or not, but... Hmm...”

Her barrier reflected magic, but that was because the substance known as mana existed, and she could imagine moving and changing it to do so. What about appraisals, though?

“What would I do to find out the name and effects of things I don’t know anything about?”

There was nothing Sara could do with her own imagination. What about the other two, then?

“What about you, Haruto?”

“Don’t think so. All I’ve been able to do is make magic that already exists bigger and more complicated.”

“Ann?”

“I don’t know enough magic to do much of anything with it yet.”

When it really came down to it, using magic “in whatever way you imagine” was pretty difficult.

“When you think about it that way, appraisal really is the best of the isekai big three, and the hardest to manage.”

This was what Haruto had to say on the matter.

“The ‘isekai big three’?” Kuntz asked.

“Understanding the language, an inventory space—no, a storage pouch—and appraisal,” Haruto explained, aligning the terminology to this world.

Storage pouches seemed pretty hard to make too, but apparently they worked by filling a pouch with so much mana that it created a separate magical space inside the bag. Sara didn’t really get how it worked, but she knew how they felt to use, so if someone told her to make one, she might be able to figure it out. She had no idea where to start with appraisal, though.

“Basically, we’d have to use magic to come up with information we don’t know, but I don’t know how we’d do that. How would you access that kind of info?”

Allen and Kuntz just looked confused at Haruto’s explanation, but in any case, he didn’t know how to do it either.

“To figure out how medicinal plants work, the only thing I can think of is trying them out on injured creatures.”

She couldn’t think of a way to test medicines that didn’t involve animal or human experimentation. You’d just have to eat something and see if it worked as medicine, or look for plants of the same type as the ones you knew worked. It would be a long, tedious process.

“I’ll just attach the plant and some notes to this bottle and ask Chris about it the next time I see him.”

Sara bundled up some moss in a piece of paper and put it in a bag with the bottle, stowing that in her pouch.

“If we’re going to the capital, can’t you just ask someone there?” Ann asked curiously.

True, the capital was the largest city in the country, but she felt like Chris was still the best person to ask about potions. Her trust in him, in that area at least, ran deep.

“Is there a library or something?”

“That’s it!”

Sara hadn’t read many books since coming to this world. She didn’t know what the printing technology was like, but there were at least enough books that commoners could buy things like her guide to medicinal plants, even if it wasn’t cheap, and Bradley could own enough volumes to fill a few bookshelves.

“The Apothecary’s Guild has to have a reference room or something. I’ll see if I can look in there.”

She’d graduated from being a beginner apothecary long ago, but there was still plenty she could learn. She was even more excited to reach the capital now.

Ann and Haruto were still running restlessly up and down the road, but they finally reached the mountain path to the west.

“There’s room for one carriage to pass through, just like that road to the south.”

It was a pass through the mountains, so even having a maintained road was a luxury. There were spots here and there where you could pull over so that carriages could pass by one another as well, just like on the southern road.

Ann and Haruto, who’d gone ahead, were waiting in front of the mountain path with grave looks on their faces.

“Can you guys come here and look at this?”

They stopped the carriages and came over to see what Ann and Haruto were looking at.

Since there were people in this world who could use earth magic, even mountain roads were made of hardened earth. This road, however, had collapsed in places, and there were clear footprints from cotton sheep left behind.

“The cotton sheep took the mountain road, eh?”

Elm crouched down and observed the ground, poking something with a stick.

“This dung is relatively recent. I’m guessing they’re crossing the mountains. Or maybe they’ve already crossed.”

The cotton sheep in Gardenia were supposed to have come across the mountains from the west originally.

“They’re going back west because there’s no food for them over here, huh? I know they’re migratory monsters anyway, but going over mountains is pretty intense... And along the man-made roads, no less.”

It didn’t matter to the cotton sheep who had made the roads, of course. They were just taking whichever path was easiest for them.

“This group shouldn’t be as big as the herds in the west, and they’re probably not influenced by the movements of the cotton sheep on this side. The question is if we’ll be able to follow them.”

Kuntz raised his hand. “My father’s a professional earth mage, so I think I can do some emergency restoration of the roads. Sara and Haruto should be able to help too.”

“Huh? Me?” Sara almost tripped when Kuntz named her.

“You made bricks back with the continental tortoise, right? It’s the same thing here.”

“Oh yeah, making blocks with earth magic in molds.”

She remembered practicing in the capital.

“It was easy to make them when the mold was touching the ground, right?”

Sara tapped her temple, recalling, and Haruto burst out laughing.

“We did a little more than making blocks with molds. Who was it who made those giant walls to stop the continental tortoise, huh?”

“Oh.”

It was Sara and Haruto. Kuntz had named them because he knew they’d made those giant walls together.

“I made a mold with my barrier and you filled it in one go. Want to try it?”

“Should we do it?”

They could create a path that went as far as they could see. They both held out their arms, and Sara began preparing her barrier.

“Wait, wait, wait. Wait a second, you guys.”

Sara turned back to Kuntz, deflating at the panic in his voice.

“Roads—especially mountain ones—are made by professionals with careful consideration for the angle of the slope and the way rainwater flows down them and things like that. Let’s be careful here.”

“Oh.”

Kuntz was just as knowledgeable as she would expect him to be with a professional for a father.

“There should be a regular transport service that goes through the mountains. I wonder what happened to them...” Ann stretched up, looking at the mountain path worriedly. “Has somebody reported this to Ed? I wonder if I should go back...”

If the mountain path was too damaged for people and carriages to pass through it, it was a big problem.

“What should we do...?”

Sara felt bad for Ann, encountering something like this when she’d set out for the capital with hope in her heart.

“Calm down, Ann,” Elm chided. “We take stock of the situation and do what we need to do. That’s all there is to it.”

This was just the sort of situation where it helped to have a coolheaded adult with you.

“We didn’t pass any carriages on the way here that looked like they were coming from the capital. Which means there’s a chance they’re stranded somewhere. If they’re just stranded, that’s not too bad, but it’ll be trouble if they’ve gotten caught up in the cotton sheep herd...”

There was nothing they could do for them if that was the case. The situation had gotten rather dire all of a sudden.

Allen stood. “I’ll go back as a messenger. I’m the fastest person here.”

Haruto stood as well. “I’ll head up the mountain and see what’s going on up there. I’m good at physical strengthening and I can use Sara’s barrier too. I’ve got protection cases with me as well.”

Everyone was quick to act in this group.

“That’s right, if they’ve got protection cases, they should be safe from the cotton sheep!”

Sara breathed a sigh of relief. Any mountain travelers might be safe if they had protection cases with them.

That was when they heard a voice calling to them from the mountain path.

“Heeey! Heeey!”

A few people traveling on foot were waving their arms at them.

“Our carriages were totaled! There’s people back there who couldn’t come with us! Please help!”

While Ann and the three boys ran off, Elm stayed behind, crossing his arms in thought. Sara observed the group coming toward them from a distance to see if any of them were hurt, and when she didn’t see any injuries, she waited beside Elm. She could wait for a real emergency before acting.

“Maybe we should send Allen back as a messenger. Either way, it seems Ann’s trip to the capital will have to be postponed.”

Sara gasped and looked up at Elm. Until then, they’d been planning to continue on to the capital while fixing the mountain road as they went, but now that they knew that people were in trouble and that the mail had been interrupted, the situation had become much more serious, involving all of Gardenia. They couldn’t just leave with all this going on.

Sara crossed her arms like Elm and considered things. If they reported this to Ed, what would Gardenia do in response? The cotton sheep had likely passed over to the west, so repairing the roads would be Gardenia’s first priority. But they wouldn’t need Ann to do that.

Sara and Haruto had definitely been useful in creating walls to stop the continental tortoise, but just like Kuntz said, it would take professionals to repair the roads. The most Sara and Haruto could do would be to make a large number of bricks or something. Of course, the repairs would probably go quicker if they did help, but was it their job to speed up something the people around here could accomplish on their own? Sara was an apothecary and Haruto was a Hunter. It might have seemed cold, but it would probably make the most sense for them to just go to the capital after doing the bare minimum to help.

“Elm, can I ask you something?”

Sara told Elm what she’d just been considering.

“I dunno. At this rate, it’ll be hard to get even one carriage across, let alone two.”

True, it would probably be hard to get the carriages over the mountains with just the emergency repairs Kuntz had suggested.

Sara watched her friends coming back down the mountain toward them. She didn’t know how far the group of travelers had come, but some of them were exhausted, so Allen and Kuntz were carrying them on their backs while the other two encouraged the rest on.

If they asked her to help since Gardenia was in trouble, the usual Sara would have a hard time saying no, regardless of how she felt. And there was nothing wrong with helping. But she didn’t really feel like this was a situation that called for an Invited’s power.

What was the goal of this journey again? It was to go pick up Ann and take her to the capital. And to support her in her journey to become a knight.

“Let’s leave the carriages. We can just walk. Like we did on the way to Gardenia.”

“What about the servants and luggage?”

“We’ll leave them behind. Or rather, let’s have them transport the people coming down the mountain to the lord’s mansion in the carriages. We can ask them to explain things to Ed too.”

“And we can just head to the capital on foot, with what we have on us.”

Sara had made her proposal. Now she just had to do what she could in their current situation.

She asked the servants to help her and laid out bedding, pulling out tables and chairs so that the travelers could rest. She didn’t forget to set out food and drinks as well, of course.

It turned out the people Allen and Kuntz had on their backs were the drivers in charge of the regular carriage service through the mountains.

“We were on our way across the mountains like usual when a herd of cotton sheep came out of nowhere. We had no idea what to do...”

They explained the situation, sitting down and gratefully drinking some tea. Apparently, they’d sensed something strange and sent some people ahead to scout, and when they’d spotted the cotton sheep, they’d pulled the carriages over and hidden their passengers in the mountains.

“Our passengers were safe then, but there was nothing we could do about the carriages. Fortunately, we were able to pull some protection cases out of the luggage and set them up to keep everyone safe, but the carriages wouldn’t fit.”

For how panicked they said they were, they seemed to have been able to take action pretty calmly. They even had the tenacity to come looking for help on foot.

“There’s just one road, so we took everyone who could walk since there’s no way to get lost, but an old woman with bad legs and her daughter stayed behind. Of course, we left them with food and the protection cases.”

“Do you know where they are?”

“Half a day’s walk back. About halfway to the peak from here. There’s only one road, so you shouldn’t be able to get lost up there.”

Haruto stood again after hearing what they had to say. “I’ll go.”

“Wait.” Sara stopped him. “Wait just a second. Let’s make a plan and make sure we’re moving effectively.”

It was nice that he was so proactive, but he could take a second to wait for now.

Elm had been carefully considering their plan of action before, but once he’d heard what the drivers had to say, he made up his mind quickly.

“We’ll use one of our carriages. After you rest, could you take one of these carriages back to the lord’s mansion in Gardenia? I’d like you to explain the situation to him.”

“Got it.”

That solved the issue of the people who’d just come down the mountain.

“As for the people still on the mountain...”

“I’ll go.” Sara raised her hand right away.

“Won’t it be hard for you to carry that old woman back, though? Oh...”

Elm realized something and Sara grinned.

“I can make stretchers with my barrier, remember? I can take the old woman and all the luggage back.”

“I’ll go too.” Kuntz was the next to raise his hand. “I’ll go with Sara and see what the damage to the road is like.”

Allen stood silently as well.

“Sounds good. The three of you will handle that.”

“I’ll...”

“I’ll...”

Ann and Haruto spoke up at once, then exchanged a glance.

“...run to the lord’s mansion,” they both finished.

They were thinking the same thing, it seemed.

“No, just stay here for now, Ann, Haruto.”

“Why? I’m way faster than a carriage,” Haruto protested with some frustration. He must have been desperate to do something.

“Listen, Haruto. If you go, they’ll want to use your power as an Invited, and you’ll be stuck here for a while. And if Ann goes, they’ll want her to stay home because it’s dangerous.”

They both gasped.

“If no one’s life is in danger, it doesn’t matter if the news gets to them a little bit later. You should stay here for now.”

It seemed Sara had gotten through to Elm. Haruto and Ann sat down reluctantly and Sara, Kuntz, and Allen gave them a look before hurrying up the mountain.

“Even with the road all messed up, we should be fine walking.”

The ground was bumpy, but they could walk just fine if they were careful. No carriages were getting through here, though, and anyone with weak legs would be exhausted right away.

“There’s no landslides or anything, so they might actually be able to repair the road pretty quickly.”

The cotton sheep didn’t want to fall off the mountain either, of course, so the edges of the road were more or less intact.

Along the way, the three of them got used to the uneven road and sped up, so they were able to make it to the site of the carriages in less than half a day.

“Whoa, they’re in splinters!”

Not just the parts that were made of wood. Even the metal parts were bent and warped.

“Excuse me!”

A woman around fifty years of age stood and called out to them. Next to her were some storage boxes and bags, and an old woman perched on one of the boxes.

“We heard from the drivers and came to help.”

“Oh, thank goodness. Umm, did you come in a carriage?”

The only rescuers in sight were three young people who’d come to help, and one was a woman. The daughter realized right away that they had no carriage with them, so she didn’t wait for their answer.

“I can walk, so could one of you please carry my mother?”

“Of course. You’ll be fine now, it’s only a few hours down to the base of the mountain. Just wait one second...”

The luggage was all together in one place, so she slid a thin barrier underneath it all and solidified it. Then she covered it all with another barrier and lifted it up. In other words, she just made her stretcher big enough to fit all of it inside.

“Here we go. Yeah, I can do it.”

Sara lifted the luggage and then looked at the woman who was shocked to see the items floating beside her.

“I’ll make another stretcher to carry you two. Hmm, it might be hard to make it down that rough road controlling two barriers, though. I know!”

If they sat on storage boxes like the old woman was doing before, she could carry them all at once in one barrier. Sara gently set the luggage back down on the ground.

“Umm, I can carry you all at once, so could you both sit on storage boxes like before?”

“Err... All right.”

Though they had no idea what she was doing, the old woman and her daughter sat on storage boxes, and Sara put her barrier around them once again, this time coloring it on the bottom for their peace of mind. She made it brown so it might feel like they were riding in a carriage.

She moved back and forth a little to make sure the barrier followed her, and the people and luggage inside trailed after her just like she was hoping they would.

“Is it steady?”

“Yes. Though the scenery is moving a little strangely...”

“If it becomes difficult to take, go ahead and tell me at any time.”

It was pretty late in the afternoon at this point. She wanted to get back quickly.

“I’ll lead the way and make sure the road’s still safe.”

“And I’ll keep watch from behind.”

Kuntz led the way, hopping down the path before them. They managed to make it before it got too dark to see where they were going, much to Sara’s relief. Of course, she could use magic to make light, but she wasn’t confident she could concentrate on that and carrying the people and luggage all at the same time.

Sara turned around and carefully lowered the luggage, the old woman, and her daughter to the ground.

“Th-Thank you.”

“Thank you, dear.”

They both stood up somewhat shakily—though Sara wasn’t sure if it was because they’d been sitting this whole time or because of the swaying scenery—and thanked her sincerely.

“It’s already late, so we’ll send you on your way in this carriage tomorrow. You’ll have to camp out here tonight,” Elm explained to the women, taking charge of the scene.

Just as he’d said, the next day, the carriages left early in the morning for the lord’s manor. Remaining there were Ann, Elm, Sara, Haruto, Allen, and Kuntz.

“We just ended up with one more than we came with, huh?”

Sara laughed. She’d been so surprised when they’d set out for Gardenia on foot, and now they were heading to the capital in the same way.

“Umm, I...”

Ann was still hesitating, so Elm turned to Sara, looking exasperated.

“She won’t be convinced, it seems. Can you say something to her, Sara?”

“Huh? Me?”

Now that she thought about it, it had been her plan to proceed on foot.

“Well, umm...” How could she explain?

“Listen.” While Sara was thinking, Allen spoke up. “I’ve been with Sara for a long time, so I know the Invited aren’t just powerful, they’re all softies. If you help out because of simple goodwill, they’ll just take advantage of you.”

As far as Sara was concerned, he was exaggerating. She’d only helped of her own volition up until now.

“That’s why two years ago, Sara was used by the lord and lady of Gardenia, and she was hurt.”

“Oh...” Ann went silent, likely remembering how Lati had acted the year before last. She hung her head, dejected.

Ann and Nelly had both stood up for Sara then. They’d even taught Lati how to better control her emotions, so Sara wasn’t holding a grudge about that or anything. She was about to say so, but Allen held a hand up to stop her.

“Haruto and Bradley are the same. That’s why they holed up on the Dark Mountain for a bit.”

“Yeah, I guess so. Then I left, since I’ve reflected on letting myself be used like that.”

Haruto had always been like this. He didn’t blame the people who had used him, instead making an effort to change himself.

“I guess I kinda ran around trying to help out again this time, so I reflected on that a bit too. I wondered what it is that makes me feel like I always have to be doing something for someone or otherwise be useful.”

It seemed he’d done some thinking when he was left behind with Ann earlier.

After Haruto, Allen continued, “Sometimes when you help someone, it robs them of the ability to do things themselves. Listen, Ann...”

Ann must have realized that Allen, who didn’t often interact with her, was giving her some serious advice, so though she still looked dejected, she listened carefully.

“It’s more normal for there not to be any Invited in Trilgaia. Trilgaia needs to be able to function without Invited, and it’s done so just fine in the past. Do you get it?”

“Yes.” Ann nodded and Elm shrugged exasperatedly.

“And Lati needs to learn to let you go. Don’t take that opportunity away from her.”

Everyone tried to convince her in their own ways, but that ended up being the clincher.

“I didn’t even get to say anything in the end.”

She’d been brought along as someone for Ann to talk to, but Sara got the feeling Elm might have been perfectly fine on his own.

“Ha ha ha. Okay, let’s go. If it’s just us, I bet we can cross the mountains in less than a day.”

Allen was already facing the road.

“Now, let’s get to the capital.”

They were finally moving on.

Chapter 2: Ann Puts in the Work

“Aaah, I was hoping I could get a better look at the vegetation on the top of the mountain.”

They’d finally finished crossing the mountains, but Sara’s heart was still up on the peaks.

“The cotton sheep ate everything you could have seen anyway. Eyes forward.”

“Yeah... I guess I just want to take it slow since we already sent a messenger to the capital.”

Her apothecary’s curiosity had gotten the better of her as soon as they didn’t need to worry about the cotton sheep anymore.

In part as physical strengthening practice, they’d sped along the mountain roads, and when they’d arrived at the foot of the mountains on the west side, they’d run into another passenger carriage service that didn’t seem to know how to proceed. This group was safe, so they must have avoided a run-in with the cotton sheep.

Incidentally, the herd’s tracks extended north to a less populated area, so that was at least a weight off of everyone’s minds.

“You can make the trip on foot, but carriages are a no-go. If you could go back to the capital and let them know, that’d be great.”

The carriage drivers reluctantly agreed with Elm’s request.

“The lord on the other side of the mountain should be arranging repairs. But if you absolutely need to get to Gardenia before then, you’ll have to go on foot.”

Even with a carriage, it would take over a week to get to the capital from the base of the mountain. Those stuck en route could either return and wait for the mountain path to be repaired or push on to Gardenia on foot.

After a short discussion, the drivers decided to return the carriages to the capital. They said they would explain things to the other drivers they encountered along the way as well.

“We’ll probably get there first, so we can wait until we arrive to contact the townhouse.”

It was definitely better to move faster rather than slower, but there was no reason for them to go out of their way to interfere in other people’s business.

“Should we stop here for the day, then? We’ll make camp, then head to the closest town tomorrow to report about the roads.”

Unlike the road to Hydrangea, the route between Gardenia and the capital saw a lot of traffic, so there were plenty of places to stay overnight. There was of course a small town not far from here either, so there was nowhere where they would have to camp out. But this was all the more reason for them to make camp out here in the meadows, where monsters sometimes appeared. Ann needed to get some experience with them, after all.

“When we came from Hydrangea, there were flame bats in the meadows, but we’re too far north for them now.”

“They’re around,” Elm asserted immediately. He knew best as a wandering Hunter, Sara supposed. “You can usually find them near the mountains to the east of the capital.”

Still, it was far more efficient to hunt monsters in dungeons. There probably weren’t too many people who came all the way out here just for hunting.

“We’ll be traveling along the road, so we shouldn’t be attacked by any monsters, but if you go out into the grass, you’ll find horned rabbits, and we might even run into some cotton sheep. Ann, it’s not like Gardenia over here. You’re not always safe outside of towns.”

“Right!”

It was good that she was so enthusiastic, but Sara was already bursting just thinking about that night.

“If there’s flame bats around here, we can finally show them to Ann!”

Ann had only seen a dead flame bat from a storage pouch before, so Sara really wanted to show her how they looked flying around in the sky.

“I want Ann to try camping out somewhere where monsters will actually show up. We’ll be putting our tents up outside of the clearing. Sara, remind her how to use protection cases.”

“Okay!”

Elm’s role was to support Ann as she tried to become a knight, and Sara’s role was to be someone she could talk to if she needed it. But at some point, their traveling had started to double as physical strengthening training, rest time had become sword practice, and tonight, they were practicing camping. It was a rigorous journey that would be harsh for any other girl.

“Ann, just let me know if you need a break.”

“From what? It’s so nice having all this free time, don’t you think?”

From Sara’s perspective, this trip had ended up packed full of nothing but training, so what was free about it?

“Everyone’s helping me achieve the future I chose for myself, and I can move around as much as I want physically. Every day’s been so fun since we set out on this trip!”

Ann clenched both fists, her eyes positively sparkling. Sara smiled a little awkwardly, remembering how reluctant she had been to get down to the town of Rosa.

Regardless, as they were supposed to be training, Sara had Ann help with setting the tents up and cooking as much as she could.

“When you’re camping, it’s easier to bring prepared food with you than make something from scratch. That’s what you’ve got a storage pouch for. I often bring a whole pot of food that’s already cooked with me. You should keep a few days of food in your storage pouch at all times just in case. Water, you can just conjure with magic.”

“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.”

“But we’re learning today, so we’ll start by cutting vegetables.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Cooking had to be done by hand, but Sara told Ann she could wash dishes with water magic, though this was apparently pretty difficult. Nelly had never figured it out, and Allen said he preferred to wash things by hand. Kuntz and Haruto could do it, though, so maybe it had something to do with magic affinity.

“Aaah!”

They were using wooden dishes precisely so that it wouldn’t matter if they were dropped; since Ann had just dropped one, she must not have been very good at magic yet. Sara found this a bit mysterious, since Ann had no trouble with physical strengthening. Still, it wouldn’t do for her to decide off the bat that she wouldn’t be able to do it, so Sara figured she’d show Ann all of the magic she typically used. That way, once Ann was better at it, she had things to go back to for reference.

“We’ll be sleeping under the stars again tonight. It’s so romantic, don’t you think?”

Once they had finished cleaning up and setting out the protection cases, Ann came up to Sara looking excited. But her training wasn’t over for the day yet.

“Okay, everyone, gather round!” called Elm.

“Huh? Huh?” Ann looked back at Sara curiously, but ran over to everyone else.

“Okay, it’s flame bat time. I know everyone’s been looking forward to it.”

“Huh? Looking forward to it? Flame bat? That thing that was in Sara’s pouch?”

She was confused for some reason, even though they’d been talking about the flame bats earlier. Maybe there had just been so much training that she couldn’t keep it all in her head at once.

“Look up.”

Inside the protection field, Sara looked up when Ann did. Shadows flitted across the starry sky. Their irregular movements weren’t those of birds.

“Those are flame bats.”

“Huh. So they’re real. And they’re alive and flying.”

It was Sara’s fault Ann’s only reference for flame bats was a dead one, so she felt a little bad about that.

“You might think they’re just flying around, but now that we’ve put out our lights, they’ll attack if they think they see a chance. If Sara shows herself, they’ll probably attack right away. Even wyverns go for her.”

Sara supposed Elm was saying she stood around spacing out a lot, so she made a good target. It was a bit rude. She was enjoying the view from the safety of the protection field, so she wished the others wouldn’t look at her so expectantly. They must have wanted her to act as bait. Sara couldn’t rest yet either, she supposed.

“Very well...”

In the end, she was just a people-pleasing Invited. She stood up and went off on her own, a short distance from the protection field and the others. Of course, even inside a protection field, she always had her barrier up anyway.

“Look, their movements have already changed. They’ve got their eyes on Sara now.”

Why did he have to say such ominous things?

“Okay, for safety’s sake, I’ll make my barrier a little bigger. About twice my height.”

Even if she had her barrier up, she didn’t have any particular desire to see monsters up close.

“Ah!”

At the same time as Ann’s shout, something hit Sara’s barrier, and a flame burst and tumbled to the ground. As if that was a signal, monster-made fireworks erupted around Sara. Some bats hit her and fell, while some just clipped her with their wings and flew back up into the air.

“Flame bats emit fire from their bodies like that when they hit something. They don’t burn themselves, and once they’ve used up their fuel, they’re just big bats, but studies have shown that they’re able to emit fire again after a few days.”

“Umm...”

“The trick to hunting them is...”

“Uhh, Sara’s, uhh, all covered in fire. Do we not need to save her?”

Ann interrupted Elm’s lecture, looking like she wasn’t sure if she should run in herself or not.

Elm sighed. Why did he have to shrug his shoulders like she was being ridiculous?

“Sara’s barrier gives her perfect defense. She can even repel a wyvern. There’s no need to worry about mere flame bats. So, the trick to hunting them is...”

“Umm, right...”

She didn’t have to keep giving Sara those worried looks. Sara smiled and waved to assure her that she was okay, but she didn’t want to keep hurting the flame bats for no reason, so she went back into the field of the protection cases. Several bats followed her, but they eventually returned to the sky when they realized attacking her was pointless.

“Let’s have you observe some hunting next. Kuntz, you’ll represent casters. Allen, you’re physical strengthening, and Haruto, you’re the Invited.”

“Are the Invited a separate type of Hunter or something?” Haruto quipped, but Elm ignored him and continued.

“Show her the different ways you fight.”

“Okay. I’ll start, then. First, I’ll use my slingshot magic. It’s a type of earth magic. Then, I’ll use the shield magic I came up with based on Sara’s barrier,” Kuntz announced. The moment he stepped away from the group and stood on his own, the flame bats’ movements changed so obviously that even Sara could tell.

“So that’s what I looked like a minute ago.”

But unlike with Sara, the flame bats were bursting into flame and falling to the ground at some distance from Kuntz after something shot from his hands.

“What’s important here is to pay close attention. You need to take them down before they can attack you. I’ll use my shield next.”

He moved his hands in the same way that he did when he used his slingshot magic, but this time a shield appeared in front of his hands as the flame bats attacked him and were repelled.

“It’s beautiful.”

Maybe it was because Kuntz was standing still and taking the flame bats down at a slight distance from himself. It was like he was standing in the middle of fireworks. The scene was stunning.

“Okay, switch. You’re up, Allen.”

“Yep.”

Allen put his fists up and lowered his center of gravity, punching away the flame bats that attacked him one by one. The large impacts of his hits made the flames dancing around him bigger and showier.

“Because I’ve got physical strengthening on, the heat doesn’t really affect me. I won’t get burned if I punch them directly, but if I extend my physical strengthening like this...”

Wait, wait! Sara wanted to shout. She’d never heard that physical strengthening made you heat-resistant. And how was she supposed to understand “extending physical strengthening” with just words?

“You can defeat flame bats at a distance, which is safer. Next, Haruto.”

“Right!”

Haruto enthusiastically traded places with Allen. Sara felt like the flame bats should be starting to figure out that they couldn’t win, but more and more of them were gathering, to her confusion.

“I tend to freestyle, so I’ll start with magic. Stardust!”

Sara almost let an “ah” escape her lips. She felt like that was the dangerous magic he’d used back in Rosa, the one that had almost incinerated the eastern meadow. But instead, something like fireworks shot up from Haruto’s extended hands, bursting in the air above him and downing several flame bats in the process. It was beautiful, but not wasteful, and didn’t create an excess of flame. On top of that, the incantation was short.

“They’re skyrocket fireworks with a homing functionality. Sara! I’ve improved, haven’t I?”

“That was amazing!” Sara clapped, duly impressed.

“Heh heh! That’ll show them to mess with me. Anyway, this spell’s effective when there are a bunch of monsters around. I’ll show you my physical strengthening next—taking a few extra notes from Sara’s barrier.”

Sara’s barrier was not just some add-on; she wanted to protest, but before she could, Haruto started racing along the grass, almost like he was dancing.

“I call this one the ‘human weapon that takes down any flame bat who touches me just by wrapping myself in a barrier.’”

“Way too long!”

Sara couldn’t help but comment on that one.

“I guess that just leaves me.”

“Switch!”

Elm took Haruto’s place, fluidly drawing his sword.

“Most knights use swords to fight, like this.”

Flame bats fell to the grass all around Elm, impaled or sliced by his sword. Sara felt bad for them, but it was their fault for attacking humans in the first place.

“The benefit of a weapon is that you can defeat monsters at a distance from your body. That’s all.”

When they all finally crammed themselves into the protection field and quieted down, the flame bats eventually flew off somewhere else. What a lavish lesson that was.

“What did you think?” Sara asked Ann.

“I don’t know what to say. Even if they’re monsters, we’re still taking lives. But it’s so beautiful...”

Sara had wanted to show her the fantastical sight of those flames dancing in the sky, but it seemed Ann had taken even more from the experience.

“The fire’s beautiful, but...” Sara stopped, and Ann picked up where she left off.

“The hunting techniques are beautiful too. Magic, physical strengthening, and swordplay.”

“And freestyle, right?”

As always, Haruto’s comment lightened the mood.

“Watching everyone, I got the sense that I’m probably more suited to physical strengthening and swordplay.”

It was good that she had an understanding of where her strengths lay.

“Flame bats aren’t a good first adversary. We’ll look for horned rabbits as we go tomorrow.”

“Huh? Horned rabbits? Those are a good first adversary?”

Sara’s shocked question was, of course, ignored. It seemed Ann’s training would be continuing for a while yet.

The capital was in the center of the west side of Trilgaia, where there weren’t too many monsters. There were more monsters the closer you got to the eastern mountains. Of course, there still weren’t as many there as there were in the meadow between Rosa and the Dark Mountain, and if you kept to the roads, it was safe to travel the area.

“However, there are those travelers who don’t take the safe roads. And that’s us.”

It was still just the beginning of spring, so the grass wasn’t long yet, and it was easy to walk through. But with no farmland around, it was also easy for the horned rabbits to hunt their prey, so they’d been spotting little grey beasts here and there for a while now. Ann had never seen a horned rabbit, however, so she hadn’t noticed them yet.

Sara watched the faraway rabbits, wondering if she should say something or whether Elm was staying quiet because he had something in mind, when there was a crash behind her.

“Whoops.”

She’d been focused on the rabbits in front of them, but it seemed there were plenty behind them as well.

Most of the horned rabbits that crashed into Sara’s barrier didn’t make it, but this one stood back up shakily. It was a sturdy little fellow, it seemed.

“Ah! What a big bunny!”

Ann ran over, crying out loudly enough for even the unsteady horned rabbit to jump in response.

“Oh my gosh, it’s huge! And so fluffy!”

Before Sara could stop her, she’d lifted the horned rabbit up from behind and was showing it to her excitedly. The sight brought back an old memory of Sara’s. Haruto must have remembered the same thing, because he was crouching down and holding his head, much to Sara’s amusement.

Back to its senses, the horned rabbit struggled desperately in Ann’s arms, trying to kick her, but, well, she was one of the Invited.

“Oh, wow! It’s so strooong!” she said in a singsong voice. “You’ve got a lot of energy, don’t you? Good boy, good boy.”

Everyone was frozen, watching her, as Ann’s excited voice alone rang out across the meadow.

“Cheee!”

But the horned rabbit finally slipped free from Ann’s grasp and bolted off.

“So that’s what horned rabbits sound like,” Sara commented.

“Uhh, I don’t think that’s important right now,” Haruto responded weakly. He must have been thinking about his past self.

Ann was just standing there blankly, not aware what the problem was at all.

“Sara.”

This time, Sara knew exactly what the exhausted Elm wanted from her.

“Yeeep. I’ll go over there and act as bait.”

Sara walked away from the group and stood by herself in the meadow, and horned rabbits swarmed her immediately.

Wham! Wham, wham!

“Sara!” Ann cried as the horned rabbits rammed her with incredible strength and were knocked back with that exact same force.

“Horned rabbits are monsters. Dangerous ones that are difficult for rookies to hunt,” Haruto explained.

“What...? But they’re so cute...”

“Flame bats are cute too, but they’re also monsters, aren’t they?”

Sara thought it probably varied from person to person if you thought flame bats were cute or not.

“Listen, in this world, no matter how cute they are, monsters are fundamentally creatures that cause harm to humans. You can give one affection, but it will never show affection in return. They’re not pets, they’re creatures to be hunted.”

Even the wolves tried to eat Sara whenever they thought they stood a chance. No matter how cute they were or how attached to her they might seem to be, they only had a truce with Sara because of her barrier.

“Even in the capital, when there’s an outbreak of a bunch of these, the knights will be sent out to hunt them. People get hurt when that happens.”

Sara exchanged a quiet glance with Allen. They were both remembering the knights who had come back to Rosa from the eastern meadow after getting done in by horned rabbits.

“With your current abilities, you probably couldn’t even scratch one with your fists or with a sword. Ahem.”

Elm cleared his throat at the end, probably remembering how Ann had been fine picking one up from behind just a second ago, even if that one had been weakened.

Ann deflated again, and Elm cleared his throat once more, asking her, “By the way, you were just holding one. Are you okay? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

Sara gasped as well, hurriedly taking a potion out of the pouch on her waist. She’d forgotten, since no one in this group ever got themselves hurt, but she was an apothecary, and she made potions to heal people who were hurt, not just because it was fun.

“Nelly taught me to always use physical strengthening when I touch monsters, so I’m okay.”

Ann was putting what Nelly had taught her two years ago into practice. Sara looked up at the sky and sent that thought to the faraway Nelly. She’d put it in a letter to her later too. Nelly was sure to be happy about that.

“She said I’m an Invited like Sara, so I shouldn’t have to worry about my mana running out, and it would be good training to always have physical strengthening active if I could manage it.”

“So are you still using it now?” Sara asked excitedly, putting the potion away. She herself had hardly ever used physical strengthening for anything other than running.

“Yes. But lately I’ve been consciously switching it on and off so that I can make sure I can use it in an emergency.”

“I see.”

As far as physical strengthening was concerned, Ann seemed to be way ahead of Sara already, since she was specialized in protecting herself with her barrier.

“So, Ann...” Elm cleared his throat again and continued, “Did you see how the horned rabbits attacked Sara earlier?”

“Yes.”

Sara herself hadn’t seen much of anything. All she had was the impression that some large grey objects were crashing into her with incredible strength.

“Do you think you could take one down?”

Ann looked down for a second before raising her head once more. “Yes.”

“Even if they’re cute?”

It was a harsh question to ask a child who had just embraced one in delight at how soft it was, but Ann looked Elm in the eyes and nodded her head.

“Yes. I understand that they’re monsters.”

“Then...” Elm indicated the meadow. “Can you try?”

“Yes.”

“With a sword, or your hands?”

“A sword.”

Wait a second! Sara thought to herself as Ann stood on her own in the place Elm had indicated, sword in hand. Sure, she was training with a sword, but like she’d just remembered, horned rabbits were dangerous creatures who could injure even knights.

It was dangerous, so she wanted to stop her. She wanted to stop her, but what should she do?

Sara looked to Allen without thinking. He lifted the corners of his lips a bit and shook his head. He was saying she shouldn’t stop her. Allen and Kuntz had trained with her, so they would know more about her capabilities than Sara.

Sara reminded herself that Allen had been sending horned rabbits flying even before obtaining his hunting license. Ann wouldn’t be fending off an endless wave of them like Allen had back then. She was just facing off against one enemy in a meadow without too many monsters around. Sara told herself that it was okay, resisting the urge to extend her barrier out to protect Ann.

“They swarm around immediately when Sara stands out there, but...”

At Elm’s words, Sara glanced up at the sky. Naturally, there weren’t any wyverns there. There were just normal birds flying around.

She looked back down at Ann and saw her body tensing. There was a horned rabbit nearby...apparently. Sara couldn’t sense it at all.

“Hah!”

Sara couldn’t even tell what Ann had done. It just looked like she’d lowered her hips and held her sword out in front of her. But before she knew it, there was a horned rabbit impaled on the end of her blade, and she was already pulling her sword out of it.

Ann swung her sword to flick the blood off of it and turned to Elm. “Should I butcher it too?”

“No, leave that to the professionals. Store it right away, or the scent of blood will draw more of them.”

“Okay.”

Ann dutifully stuffed the large horned rabbit into her storage pouch. Then she jogged over to Sara and hugged her tight.

“That was scary... Ugh!”

Ann shivered, her body underlining the words that had inadvertently come from her lips. Sara gave her a pat on the back. She didn’t know if she wanted to comfort her or calm her down, but she felt a bit relieved for some reason at Ann’s trembling. She found herself wanting Ann to struggle a bit with the idea of taking a life, instead of being instantly okay with it.

“They’re monsters, they’re monsters. They’re not rabbits. They are rabbits, but they’re not rabbits,” Ann muttered to herself.

Sara continued gently patting her back, thinking back to how it had been for her the first time. She had had a slightly different reaction than Ann, she thought. For Sara, other than the mountain wolves, monsters had been things Nelly hunted for food. And after she became able to use her barrier, many monsters had self-destructed against her, but she didn’t have to see their blood like Ann did when using a sword. She’d killed monsters actively as well, but it had never been bloody and she’d gotten the chance to get used to it little by little. In that sense, maybe killing your first monster with a sword was an incredibly difficult thing to do.

“Good job, Ann,” Elm said.

Ann rubbed her eyes and said, “Thanks!” in response. Her voice was loud, but it was trembling a bit.

“Tell me how you beat it.”

Apparently just killing it wasn’t the end. There was a review session as well. The road to being a Hunter was a harsh one.

“When they attacked Sara, I noticed that they used their back legs to jump high up to attack. They don’t go for the legs, but attack the torso.”

Sara hadn’t even noticed that herself.

“Their sharp teeth might be dangerous too, but the horns are the biggest danger. I thought about how to dodge their first strike and counterattack and decided to use their momentum against them if they’re going to jump at me. So I kept my sword low and then just lifted it up when the horned rabbit jumped.”

Sara could only be impressed.

“Hmm. So you could see how they moved.”

“Yes.”

Sara couldn’t tell how they moved at all.

Elm’s lecture wasn’t over. “There are still horned rabbits after us. Can you tell how many?”

“Three. One in front to the right, one on the same side in the back, and one behind Sara.”

“Huh?!” Sara turned around, but she couldn’t even tell whether or not there was a horned rabbit there.

“To be precise, there are seven. There are four more behind those three.”

“Eep!”

She finally understood that the reason there were so many crashes against her barrier when she was just standing there was because there were a bunch of horned rabbits hiding all around her.

“People have strengths and weaknesses. You’re fine as you are, Sara.”

She didn’t feel comforted by that at all.

“That talent will be wasted among the knights. Ann, don’t you want to be a Hunter?”

“Umm, Elm, I...”

Elm was a former knight himself, so Sara thought he probably shouldn’t tempt her too much.

“Wow! That was incredible!”

“You’re pretty good, Ann.”

“Heh, I knew Ann had potential all along.”

The three young Hunters surrounded Ann and sang her praises. She looked like she didn’t know quite how to respond. But Sara had something to say as well.

“I-I knew Ann could do it too.”

As a fellow Invited, she didn’t want to lose in the fight for Ann’s affection.

“But you were worried about her, weren’t you?” Allen smirked. Meanie.

“Aww, you were worried about me? I love you, Sara!”

In the end, Ann hugged Sara, proving her the victor.

Maybe she had been worrying too much. Ann seemed to be the robust type of Invited, like Haruto. She had impressive physical abilities, aimed high, and spared no effort.

“Thank goodness. Looks like she’ll be fine.”

Sara’s voice was quiet in the early spring meadow, lost under the other voices of excitement. As the wind blew, Sara’s worries blew away with it.

“Huh? We’re camping out again tonight?”

Hadn’t someone said they’d only be camping out on the first day?

“We’re not gonna do it every day, of course. I’m thinking just every other day for now.”

“Why?” Sara felt like she knew the answer, but she asked Elm anyway.

“Because I want Ann to get a little more training in.”

Sara glanced over at Ann, who didn’t seem the least bit bothered by this.

“She can’t go into dungeons until she has her Hunter’s license, right?” he noted. “So, horned rabbits are gonna be about the only monsters she’ll run into until we get to the capital.”

“Horned rabbits are strong monsters, you know.” Sara felt that this needed saying. “Umm, can’t she train after she gets her Hunter’s license, though? You can go with her on your days off or whatever, since you’re her guardian and all.”

“What? You won’t come with us, Sara?”

For some reason, this was the only thing Ann herself spoke up about.

“Of course I won’t. I wouldn’t be of any use if I did.”

If Ann were weak and needed protection, she’d come with them to do her barrier thing, but that hardly seemed necessary to Sara.

“I bet it’d be more fun if you came with, though.”

“Dungeons aren’t a place for merrymaking.”

If that was all she was wanted for, then it was all the more reason not to go.

“You’ll have to make do with just chatting with me at night.”

“Okaaay,” Ann said and left. Sara chuckled. She was just as free-spirited as Haruto.

“Based on my experience with the knights, she won’t have much free time in the beginning. I’m guessing if she went into dungeons after training or on her days off, they’d just tell her to be using all that free time to train more.”

“I see...” Well, there wasn’t much she could do about that.

“I’d rather she get some experience hunting monsters before she has to conform to the knights’ mold.”

“Hmm... What does Ann say to that?”

“She’s all for it. Seems excited too.”

Right, Sara thought. Ann’s the outdoorsy type. Well, that was fine, then.

Sara had made dinner on their first night after crossing the mountains, but now Haruto, Allen, and Kuntz would take turns doing the cooking and cleanup, so she didn’t have to do much. She insisted they do some sightseeing in the towns they passed on their way so that the whole trip didn’t end up being all hunting, though.

As they hunted just off the roads and camped out at night, word of the sheep-based destruction made its way to the capital, and people started repairing the road through the mountains. They found this out when they stopped in a town and mentioned that they’d come from Gardenia, and were asked if they’d faced any danger.

“The workers all got their orders, and a big group of them just headed for the mountains.”

“Wow, already? That’s good.”

“Couriers will have to carry goods on foot over the mountains while they’re fixing the roads, but regular carriage service is continuing to at least the foot of the mountains, so it seems like things are going pretty smoothly for now.”

“I guess it’s only the old people with bad backs who will be having any trouble getting to Gardenia, then,” Sara said to the innkeeper, thinking back to the old woman and her daughter waiting with the luggage on the mountain road for help.

“Not likely to see many old people trying to go there anyway,” said the innkeeper.

“I guess not.” Sara had in fact seen one, but she elected not to say so.

“It’s just like Elm said.” Haruto sat down somewhat sulkily. “Would’ve gone faster with my help, I’m sure, but everything’s fine, even without us doing anything.”

“Yep. I’m glad I listened to Elm back there.”

Ann sat down next to Haruto. Of the two, her expression was a bit more complex than Haruto’s, but they looked almost like siblings to Sara, which amused her.

“It’s not like we didn’t do anything,” Sara told them. “Not only did we help those travelers, we sent word to Ed in Gardenia and to the capital once we were over the mountains too. That’s why repairs have already started.”

“Still...we didn’t do anything when you went and helped those people.”

It must have really eaten at him to have to sit there and not be able to help.

“We just happened to be the ones who went back and carried the luggage and people down the mountain, but it was the whole team who made sure word got out.”

“Team...” Haruto said the word awkwardly, like it were a food he was trying for the first time, and Sara couldn’t help laughing.

“The Invited might be able to display incredible power all on their own, but that doesn’t mean we have to work alone.”

“There’s nothing we have to do alone, huh?”

“We made those walls together before, didn’t we?” She reminded him of the continental tortoise incident.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“You’re not there helping with the repairs right now, but you’re with us, and we’re enjoying having you here, so isn’t that enough?”

“I do light up the room, don’t I?” Haruto stood, having regained his energy. “All right, let’s do some sightseeing! Come on, Ann, let’s go!”

“Yeaaah!”

Sara was relieved that they were enjoying being in town too.

“We should go see the sights too.” Allen appeared behind her.

“Allen. Where’s Kuntz?”

“Went out with Elm.”

So, the two of them could sightsee all they wanted.

“Umm, think we can hold hands?” Allen asked her.

“Umm, okay.”

Allen’s slightly warm hand enveloped Sara’s slightly cold one.

“Haruto will probably make a big deal of it if he sees us.”

“Yeah, he probably will.”

Sara walked off, feeling a little embarrassed, and Allen followed, tugged along by her hand.

As expected, Haruto spotted them and did make a fuss about it. Regardless, as the group alternated camping and sightseeing, they eventually arrived at the capital. By then, Ann was more or less used to horned rabbits. Their long journey was finally coming to an end.

When they arrived at the townhouse, for some reason the usual butler wasn’t the only one there to greet them.

“Milady Ann! Where in the world have you been all this time?!”

The maid from Gardenia had somehow arrived there before them. She had tears in her eyes and looked ready to cling tight to Ann at any moment. The two drivers were there as well. They must have passed the group while they were out training in the meadows.

“I thought we sent the townhouse word.” Elm looked confused as well, as the butler reprimanded the distraught maid.

“Whether you are serving House Wolverié or an Invited, you must be prepared for changes of schedule of this nature. Pull yourself together.”

“But I was so worried!”

Seeing as she didn’t get dejected after that scolding, the maid must have been as strong a girl as Sara originally suspected.

“I’m sure she was worried, but she still had the energy to stroll around town and enjoy some shopping during her time off, so don’t mind her. Now, I suppose you’d like a bath first.”

Sara almost cracked up at that. The maid had been looking forward to coming to the capital, she recalled. She’d probably do fine here, then, Sara thought with some relief.

Having taken turns staying in town and camping out, the group was looking pretty shabby by now, so they all took baths and got refreshed before having dinner.

Discussing the events of their journey, they realized they’d have to make plans for their time in the city after all. There had been all sorts of unexpected developments along the way, so it was a good idea to solidify things while they had the chance.

“You should take a day to sightsee a bit before going and seeing the knights, Ann. If no one has time to accompany you, I can do so, but...”

Sara could tell that Elm was thinking Ann would enjoy herself more if her fellow young people were showing her around. She did plan on going, of course, but she didn’t know much about the capital herself, so she’d have to rely on Kuntz for this one. But it seemed they weren’t all in agreement on this matter.

“Wait.” Ann stopped them. “I’ll see the capital later. I can rest for today, but starting tomorrow, I have to make some money.”

Sara looked off into the distance. It seemed she hadn’t given up on that idea.

“Allen, you got odd jobs from the Hunter’s Guild in Rosa, right?”

“Yeah, that’s how it was in Rosa, but I don’t know about the capital. What do you think, Kuntz?”

It was always fastest to ask Kuntz about the capital.

“Hmm... There are a lot of merchants in the capital, right? I think most people would help out acquaintances or at nearby stores instead of going to the Hunter’s Guild, but you’d only make pocket change doing that. It’d be way faster to learn how to gather plants from Sara.”

“Plants, huh? I dunno about that...”

She loved moving around and was great at physical strengthening, but for some reason, Ann couldn’t tell medicinal plants apart at all. So, she’d been forced to give up on making money gathering plants right away.

Now that Sara thought about it, Nelly had always said she wasn’t interested in plants because she was a Hunter, but maybe she just couldn’t tell them apart either.

“The locals will always be at an advantage in the capital, huh?”

“Rosa was a small town and all the local kids were rich, so they didn’t work. That’s why there were so many odd jobs to do.”

True, Sara hadn’t seen many kids her age in the Third District back in Rosa.

“If you’re only making one or two thousand gil a day, it’s gonna take a while.”

“Even if I work hard enough to make two thousand a day, it’ll take fifty days...”

Ann didn’t have that much time, since she’d come here to join the knights.

“It really is crazy that you have to have money to become a Hunter so you can be a Hunter to make money.”

Sara thought back to their days camping out next to Rosa’s walls because they didn’t have any money.

“You don’t have to earn it all yourself, Ann. I originally was planning on selling all the plants I already had on me and getting my Hunter’s license right away. I didn’t want to earn all that money the hard way if I didn’t have to.”

“But...” Ann hung her head. It seemed she’d been looking forward to working for her Hunter’s license even more than joining the knights.

“You want to try a bunch of different jobs, huh? Well, it’ll be hard to do Hunter stuff after joining the knights. It’ll be even harder to work in town.”

Sara thought to herself. It wasn’t all odd jobs that she’d done. She’d made a lot of money delivering potions to the knights, and she had one hundred thousand gil right away when she sold the magic stones and horned rabbits in her storage pouch.

“What if you borrow the money from Elm using the horned rabbits you hunted as collateral, then? I could lend it to you too.” She was going to say Allen or Kuntz, but reconsidered since it was best not to get money involved in friendships and named Elm, her guardian, instead. Once Ann had her Hunter’s license, she could sell the horned rabbits she’d hunted right away.

“If you still want to work, you can make the last ten or twenty thousand yourself.”

Sara wasn’t going to stop her if Ann said she wanted to make the whole one hundred thousand working odd jobs. There was definitely a part of her that wanted to delay Ann from joining the knights if she could.

“That should be enough. I want to try it.”

No one objected to Ann’s decision, so the next day, Kuntz showed them all to the Hunter’s Guild.

They used physical strengthening to breezily make the long trip from the noble district to the central guild.

“You should take a carriage, young miss!” the butler cried, but Sara wasn’t sure about taking a carriage to and from work.

“Wait, I did that.” Haruto reflected on his early days as a Hunter. “I didn’t have any stamina because of that, so I couldn’t fully utilize my physical strengthening.” He was able to relate this tale to Ann, so he was putting his experiences to use, at least.

As Kuntz and Ann hurried to the Hunter’s Guild, Sara, Allen, and Haruto followed them at a slight distance.

“Four chaperones is overdoing it a bit, don’t you think?”

“I want to watch at least a little bit, though.”

“I’m a Hunter, so there’s nothing wrong with me going to the Hunter’s Guild, right?”

Basically, the three of them were just pretending they had something to do at the Hunter’s Guild so they could come along and watch over Ann.

“You were pretty harsh to Ann at first, weren’t you, Allen?”

“Of course I was. Compared to me and Sara at twelve, she was just so privileged, it made me angry.”

“Isn’t that a little petty?”

“Sure it is. But if everyone else cares so much about her, it doesn’t matter if I don’t, right?”

At least he was honest.

“What about now?” asked Haruto. He wanted to keep the conversation going, it seemed.

“I guess she’s like a friend’s little sister. She’s kind of a pain, but I can’t just leave her alone, and I’d look after her if someone asked.”

“Hee hee.”

He really did act that way around her.

“I bet Ann’s planning on catching up to you two one day,” Sara said.

“Guess we’re here to watch her take her first step down that road, huh?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

This might have been Sara’s first time wandering around the capital without a particular goal in mind. There were tons of Hunters speeding around here and there in the capital, so no one paid any attention to their group. Sara’s first time back in the capital in a while was rather relaxed.

“That’s the capital’s central guild. Oh, Ann went inside!”

They were pretty far behind her, so Sara didn’t think she could hear them, but she was able to spot horned rabbits Sara couldn’t. She wanted to be careful.

“You know, she’s gonna notice us as soon as we go inside. Let’s not worry about it.”

“Okay. I want to see the bulletin board anyway.”

Now that she thought about it, she went to the Hunter’s Guild in Hydrangea all the time, so she just had to act like she belonged here.

They opened the double doors to find a space just as large as you might expect the capital’s central guild to be. There were enough receptionists to fill the large space, but so many Hunters that even still they seemed understaffed.

“Actually, the receptionists don’t look too busy.”

“That’s ’cause it’s morning. It only gets busy when everyone comes back from the dungeons.”

In front of them to the left was a large kiosk and in the back was a cafeteria. It was spacious, but guilds looked the same no matter where you were. The bulletin board was on the right, where Kuntz was pointing at the requests next to Ann.

“I’ll go look too.”

“We could have just gone with them from the start, then...”

“It’s important to make it look like we’re not together when we come in. Anyone could meet up with someone they know after that.”

The clatter of a chair came from the receptionist area, but Sara ignored it and strolled over to the bulletin board.

“‘Always accepted: healing herbs, greater healing herbs, mana herbs, etc. Sell at the Apothecary’s Guild counter.’ Oh, they buy them here. That’s neat.”

Her eyes immediately went to the part most relevant to her, but she couldn’t help that, could she?

“That’s the store, the cafeteria’s back there, and those are the reception desks.”

“Got it!”

Sara couldn’t help but grin when she heard Kuntz and Ann’s cute little exchange.

“Okay, let’s go to the reception desks and ask if they have any odd jobs available.”

“Right!”

There weren’t any jobs a kid could do up on the bulletin board.

“Hey! Is that Haruto? And that’s... Whoa, it’s Allen, the hero! This must be the shield user Kuntz, then.”

After that loud exclamation, attention in the guild focused on them.

“Did you say Haruto?”

“Haven’t heard that name in a while. Haruto the Gale’s back, huh?”

Sara listened in while she pretended to look at the bulletin board. Did someone just say “Haruto the Gale”?

“Allen the hero’s so young...”

“Wait, who’s Kuntz?”

“I said the shield user, right? It’s that magic all the younger Hunters are using these days.”

Haruto the Gale. Allen the hero. Kuntz the shield user. Sara was trying to hold it in, but her shoulders were starting to shake. That is, until Haruto clapped his hands down onto them.

“Hey, I can tell that you’re laughing.”

“H-Haruto the Gale...”

“Shut up! It was a youthful indiscretion, okay?! And you’re not getting out of this all on your own, you know. You’ll get recognized too!”

Sara had been trying to pretend to be a stranger, but Haruto spun her around to face him. When he did, the person who’d just been speaking noticed her as well.

“Sara? Oh, I’ve seen you before...”

“Ah.”

The man was younger than Ri, but older than Zachary. His peppered black hair was parted on the side, but with his bangs brushed back, he looked kind of cool. Sara had seen this man before.

“You’re the guildmaster here...”

“Konrad Casado. Haven’t seen you since the migrating dragon meeting, Plant Hunter Sara.”

“Huh?” Sara said, her brain not immediately comprehending Konrad’s words.

“Plant Hunter Sara. She can find any medicinal plant anywhere. People say she’s the only one who can gather supreme healing herbs.”

“Aaaaah! You can’t be serious!” Sara crouched down, holding her head.

Haruto patted her on the shoulder, the condescending brat.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Konrad asked, surprised by Sara’s reaction.

His surprise was only natural, she had to admit. But anyone would be shocked to hear they had a nickname they didn’t know about. It wasn’t a matter of it just being her job title and thus something she didn’t have to worry about. “Plant Hunter” was a legendary title meant for someone who could find any medicinal plant that was requested of them, no matter how dangerous the location might be. Sara didn’t consider herself capable of that, nor did she want to go into dungeons or anywhere else that was dangerous.

Still, if she remained crouching like this, she was only going to draw more attention to herself. She’d overcome all sorts of adversity until now, so this was nothing she couldn’t get over.

“I’m sorry about that.” Sara stood as if nothing had happened and smiled at Konrad, hiding her inner turmoil. “I’m Sara, the apothecary. It’s been a while.” She might have stressed “the apothecary” a bit too strongly, but she didn’t want any weird nicknames sticking.

“Yeah, long time no see. Haven’t seen you in a while either, Haruto. You should have said something if you were coming back. Give me a chance to prepare myself, you know?”

The guildmaster spoke as if he and Haruto were close. But what did he mean by having to prepare himself?

Haruto looked away awkwardly, mumbling excuses. “Err. Yeah. Well, I was traveling, y’see. I was thinking I might stop by once I’d settled in a bit.”

“You staying in the capital for a while? I wanna chat, so come back to my office, you two. No, it’s three with Sara, isn’t it? Come back to my office, you three.”

Sara wanted to kick herself for thinking she could relax in the capital since no one had been paying any attention to her twenty minutes ago. Thanks to Konrad, everyone in the Hunter’s Guild had eyes on them.

Haruto was no help. He was being awkward, probably thinking about everything he’d pulled back when he was younger.

Just when Sara was thinking she had to step up and tell the man in no uncertain terms that they were too busy to chat, Allen turned him down for them.

“Sorry. We don’t have time today. Could we come back later?”

Sara felt nostalgic seeing Allen smile like that. Allen had always been so cheerful and pleasant that he was able to become friends with anyone quickly.

“Going into a dungeon today?”

“No, we’re just checking things out today.”

They’d drawn attention because of Haruto, but if Ann drew attention too, it would get in the way of her work prospects. Kuntz was skillfully avoiding the area and carrying on his conversation with Ann so that no one noticed her. But the sharp-eyed guildmaster was quick to notice Ann by the receptionists.

“Do you know that girl?” he asked them.

“Umm...” Before Haruto could say whatever he was going to say, a child’s voice, something no one expected to hear here, rang out.

“Kuntz!”

“Huh? That sounded like...”

“You didn’t notice me, so I ran after you!”

A boy with the same blond hair and blue eyes as Kuntz had appeared, looking like Kuntz himself shrunk down into a twelve-year-old. Sara knew that he had a younger brother, but she was still surprised to see him since she didn’t expect the two to be so far apart in age.

“Rod! You just shot up, didn’t you?”

From the joyful way Kuntz greeted him, he must have been the little brother after all.

“It’s been a whole year. Of course I did.”

It hadn’t actually been a whole year since the last time they were in the capital, but it was close enough. The sudden interloper strode over to Sara and the others and suddenly grabbed Ann by the hand.

“Where do you think you’re wandering to? C’mere.”

“Huh?”

Ann was quiet, so Sara hoped that Konrad hadn’t heard her. At the very least, she hoped she and Kuntz were hiding her behind their backs well enough.

“Kuntz, I’m gonna head home first. You come too after you talk to the guildmaster. He’ll be really annoying if you don’t!”

“Hey, Rod!”

Sara was surprised that Konrad knew Rod’s name, but if he did, that was convenient. She slipped her arm behind her back and gave Ann an “OK” sign, then waved goodbye to her. She was hoping Ann would interpret this to mean, It’s okay to leave.

If everyone here was about to find out that Ann was an Invited, it’d be better for Kuntz’s brother, who the guildmaster was familiar with, to handle things. She didn’t know what his plan was, but she trusted Kuntz’s family.

“See you!”

Without turning back around, Kuntz’s brother lifted his hands into the air, including the one gripping Ann’s, and left the guild.

She’d sent them on their way, but Sara’s shoulders hunched with worry now. Allen gave her a pat on the back and bent down a bit so he could whisper into her ear.

“Sara, you did okay on your own at twelve, right?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Still worried?”

“I’ll try not to be.”

Allen grinned at her as if to say, Very good and Sara felt her back straightening up again.

“Uhh... Ahem.” Now, attention was squarely gathered on Allen and Sara. “Actually, we don’t know what our schedules will be like in the future, so maybe we should talk now.”

At Allen’s suggestion, the group made their way to the guildmaster’s office. And so, the day they planned to spend cheering Ann on as she made her work debut ended up going a little differently.

My First Friend

Ann didn’t even have time to be excited about her first Hunter’s Guild visit before she was dragged outside in confusion and anxiety.

“Umm,” she said, but the boy holding her hand didn’t stop.

It was Kuntz who had brought her to the Hunter’s Guild, but she knew Sara, Haruto, and Allen were following behind them. She was only getting more and more anxious now the farther she got from them.

The boy dragging her by the hand seemed to be Kuntz’s brother, based on the conversation they’d had earlier. She’d only caught a glimpse of his face, but he’d certainly looked like Kuntz. From the back, the shape of his head seemed identical to the older boy’s.

The shape of his head? What am I talking about? With that inane thought, her worries vanished entirely. It was a bit strange, but she figured she should still keep her guard up. After all, this was her first time being alone in a crowd of strangers since she’d come to this world. No, maybe her second, she thought, shaking her head.

She’d met the goddess and received an explanation of her circumstances that was hardly an explanation at all, reincarnating with the determination that if she had to be parted from her family either way, living in a different world would be better than dying.

She then lived in a house that clearly belonged to rich people under the guardianship of Ed and Lati, who were both as sweet as sugar. The servants had respected her as one of the Invited but kept their distance. Until Sara came, she’d been bound by unseen threads that threatened to suffocate her. She felt guilty toward the kindhearted Ed and Lati, but she’d learned from living with them what it was like to be lonely even with a bunch of people around.

She was treasured as an Invited, but she didn’t know how to use her mana and she was basically just surviving until Sara came. That slightly tanned girl, bursting with vitality, wasn’t the well-mannered lady that Lati wanted her to be, but she was the picture of an energetic sixteen-year-old, just what Ann wanted to be.

There were some misunderstandings, and hurt feelings, but Sara taught her what Trilgaia was like from the perspective of an Invited, and how to live her life here.

Then there was Lati’s sister Nelly. Meeting her had taught Ann that there was a way she could live making full use of her body just like she wanted to.

Right after that, the green grass locust outbreak had occurred, and though she knew she caused everyone a lot of trouble, she really felt fortunate to be able to see the monsters that existed in this world, the Hunters who stood against them, and the extraordinary abilities of the Invited up close. Strictly speaking, green grass locusts were not monsters, apparently, but to Ann, an insect you could hold in both arms could be nothing but a monster.

Sara had seemed passive at first, but put her all into helping people when it really counted. That had touched Ann deeply, even if she couldn’t wrap her head around the magic Sara used at all.

She’d learned the importance of Hunters in that incident, but she couldn’t picture herself hunting monsters to make a living. She knew from the start that the life Lati wanted for her, as the wife of some noble, wasn’t what she wanted. When she’d thought about how she did want to live in this world, she found that the knights had left a strong impression on her.

Sara said the knights that protected the kingdom weren’t like the Japanese police. That they may claim to protect the kingdom’s subjects, but they were more focused on the nobility and sometimes neglected the commoners.

Sara was really funny when she got steaming mad talking about her experiences in Rosa, but as someone who had been in a sports club, Ann was used to grade-based hierarchies and didn’t dislike being part of a group. When she thought of it like being a civil servant, she figured the knights might be the place for her.

Sara and Nelly had taught her not just how to use magic but how to use physical strengthening too. She missed them immediately when they left, but Sara had cut those invisible threads for her.

Those threads were living in Trilgaia, a place she never tried to learn about of her own volition, the powers of the Invited, her regrets from her life in Japan, and her anxiety about her future. Sara had gently unraveled each and every one of them, and Ann had only gratitude for that.

Once those threads were severed, she was able to perceive Lati’s sweetness as real love and Ed’s distance as the sternness a parent felt knowing their child would leave the nest one day.

With those realizations, she was able to accept their affection for her, make use of the things Sara and Nelly had taught her, learn more about Trilgaia, and train herself using the unlimited mana of the Invited.

After spending a year and a half like that, now that she was twelve, Ann had headed for the capital.

And now, she was being pulled by the hand by a boy she didn’t know.

The boy stopped and spun around. “We shouldn’t stand out anymore here.”

She could still see the guild, but there was a plaza in between, and they were far enough away that she’d have to squint if she wanted to identify anyone over there.

“I grabbed you ’cause it looked like my brother was trying to hide you, but what’s your deal?”

“I don’t know what to say to that...”

Ann didn’t know what was going on herself. But since he’d brought her here, she figured she’d explain the situation to him.

“I turned twelve, so I want to get my Hunter’s license, and I want to earn at least a little of the money myself, so we went to the guild to see if there was any work I could do.”

“Makes sense. It looked like you didn’t want to draw attention to yourself. I thought it was maybe ’cause you were a noble out in secret, but it doesn’t seem like that anymore.”

“A noble...”

Ann pinched the hem of her clothes and then looked around at what the townspeople were wearing. She didn’t think their clothes were that different, but when she paid attention, she realized that her clothes were expensive imitations of regular clothes.

“Veteran Hunters make a ton of money, so it’s not like it’s bad to wear expensive clothes or equipment. But if a kid who looks like she just became a Hunter yesterday is wearing that stuff, you’re gonna stand out.”

“Right...”

Still, it felt kind of wrong to her to spend money buying cheap clothes when she was trying to earn money.

“Be honest. You don’t have to make the money. Your parents will pay for you, right?”

“Yeah.”

They weren’t her parents, but they certainly had the money.

“The guild will provide work for kids who want to be Hunters, but that work’s for kids who really need the money. Ones who don’t have parents or relatives who will pay for them.”

“That makes sense... I shouldn’t take it, then, should I?”

She sort of had a feeling this job thing wouldn’t work out.

“But kids who are from here are different.” The boy crossed his arms and puffed out his chest. “Our parents work here and our neighbors do too. There’s plenty of work for kids who can’t do everything an adult can but will work for cheap. Long as you can prove your identity.”

“Then...!”

The Wolveriés could verify her identity. But was it okay to tell him that?

“What’s your name?”

“Ann. Ann Greif.”

“Greif. You’re from Gardenia, then.”

She was shocked when he knew where she was from just from her surname.

“I’m Rod. Kuntz is my brother.”

“I knew it! You look exactly alike.”

Ann’s face lit up when her suspicions were confirmed.

“Kuntz and I are the only ones in the family who became Hunters. People say we’ve got similar talent in magic.”

“You’re already a Hunter?”

Rod was the same height as Ann, so she figured they were the same age. She didn’t think he was a Hunter himself, though.

“Yeah. So, uhh, Ann. Can I call you Ann?”

She felt kind of happy when he said her name, so she nodded.

“Basically, you want to work, right?”

“Yeah!” She nodded again, emphatically.

“I bet they’ll be in there for a while yet. Since I’m from here, I can introduce you to some jobs if you want.”

“Really?”

She wasn’t sure why he was being so nice to her, but Ann was thrilled that she’d finally get to work like she always wanted to.

Meanwhile, Sara and everyone else had been taken to the guildmaster’s office. It seemed all guilds had a room like this in the back.

“Sit wherever you’d like,” the guildmaster said. Sara chose the couch, lowering herself lightly onto it. Allen sat beside her, while Kuntz and Haruto each sat in chairs.

“Umm, I haven’t done anything yet,” Haruto said hesitantly.

“I know. Haven’t heard about any trouble either.” Konrad sat opposite them, a wry grin on his face. “You really grew up, though, huh?”

“Lay off. Don’t act like you’re my uncle or something. I’m probably just about the strongest Hunter out there, you know.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Konrad really was looking at Haruto like he was his uncle or something. “You would have been even more adamant about that before. You really have grown.”

“Pretty much.” It was a point in Haruto’s favor that he reacted with only a subdued pride to those words.

“Kuntz, Allen... Well, I suppose you might not like a stranger calling you by name, but can I?”

“Of course. I got my Hunter’s license here anyway.”

“I don’t mind either.”

“You can just call me Konrad, then.”

Konrad hadn’t talked much during the migrating dragon meeting from what Sara remembered, but he seemed pretty friendly.

“You worked here for a bit last year, didn’t you?” he asked Kuntz and Allen.

“Yes.”

“We spent some time with the knights as well.”

He had a good handle on the things happening around town.

“The dungeons here are big and we have a lot of Hunters. I can’t imagine you’ll cause any trouble, but I like to know what any big names are up to.”

Sara was impressed that Allen and Kuntz were as famous as Haruto now.

“You too, Sara. You’re based in Hydrangea, aren’t you? What are you here for this time?”

“Well, err...”

They’d let Ann escape because they didn’t want to cause a scene back in the guildhall, but it wasn’t like they wanted to hide her existence altogether. She decided to tell him all about how Ann, the Invited from Gardenia, had come to the capital to join the knights, that the girl from before was Ann, that Elm would be staying in the capital for a while as her guardian, and that Sara had come with to serve as a companion to Ann and was thinking of moving her base of operations to the capital while she was at it.

“Sounds like there’s a lot going on. I see, so Elm’s back...”

“You know him?”

“Of course. He knows me as well, but more importantly, he’s a veteran Hunter who’s contributed plenty to the Hunter’s Guild. I think it’d be nice if he settled down as a guildmaster somewhere, but I know he doesn’t like to stay in one place for long.”

Konrad really was well-informed.

“An Invited joining the knights, though, huh? Probably the first female Invited they’ve had too.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me. She learned physical strengthening from Nelly about two years ago. I think she’s pretty athletic.”

“From Nefertari, eh? Just thinking how strong she’s gonna get gives me the chills,” he said with a wry grin.

Haruto nodded firmly. “Ann is strong. We’ve been training with her all the way here from Gardenia and unlike me, she knows how to use her body well since she wasn’t bedridden the whole time in her previous life. She’s not great at magic, but she’s got good eyes and she’s great at physical strengthening.”

“Enough for you to compliment her, eh?”

“Yeah. I wouldn’t be worried about her hunting horned rabbits at all.”

Konrad’s eyes widened in surprise. Sara thought back with some nostalgia about how everyone was shocked when Sara and Allen had sold all their horned rabbits right after getting their Hunter’s licenses too.

“So, uhh... Well... Err, this Ann, she...” Konrad was trying to choose his words carefully. Sara guessed he wanted to know about Ann’s personality.

“I got it. I’ll tell him,” Haruto said sulkily. “She’s not the type to run around and cause trouble like me. She’s enthusiastic and likes to be active, but she listens to what people tell her. She’s not as careful or quiet as Sara, but you won’t have to worry about her causing any trouble.”

“Got it. That’s a relief. You really have grown, Haruto.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Konrad grinned almost like he was going to ruffle Haruto’s hair, but he quickly dropped the smile and looked over at Sara.

“It’s true that Haruto caused trouble, but all Hunters with too much strength do the same to some extent. And I’m not just talking about hurting people or breaking rules.”

Everyone smiled and nodded. Anyone who was Haruto’s friend knew that.

“So Haruto’s made some good friends who are his equals,” Konrad said with a smile.

“Yep,” Haruto said shortly, looking aside poutily.

“He’s called the Gale ’cause of the flashy stuff he does, but Haruto goes deep inside dungeons and helps out with the migrating dragons. He’s a strong Hunter who everyone trusts and admires. That’s his reputation.”

Haruto was still facing away from Konrad, but his ears were turning red.

“I’m glad you’re back, Haruto. And Allen, Kuntz, Sara, the capital’s central guild welcomes you. You might find it a bit chaotic at first, but you’ll all get used to it eventually.”

Sara sighed in relief when Konrad spread his arms wide in welcome.

“By the way, Sara, I don’t suppose you’d take a request to investigate the medicinal plant distribution in the central dungeon, would you?”

“Umm, well...” She shouldn’t have been relieved so quickly. “I’d like to make sure Ann’s doing okay for a bit and then I’ll have to talk to the Apothecary’s Guild, so I can’t say one way or the other right now...”

“Got it. The central dungeon’s pretty big. It’s got places just about anyone can go, with the higher floors being good for beginners and the middle ones good for mid-level Hunters, but the lower floors are pretty dangerous, with wyverns and the like. My guess is that if supreme healing herbs and silver dragonmint can grow in Hydrangea’s dungeon environment, they probably grow here too.”

If the plants could be gathered in the capital, it would be convenient when they were needed in a hurry.

“There’s no rush on it, so just consider it.”

“I understand.”

“As for the little Invited, what was she doing in the Hunter’s Guild? I thought she wanted to be a knight.”

It was a reasonable question.

“Err... Well, she wanted to earn at least a little bit of the money you need to become a Hunter herself,” Kuntz explained, since he’d been the one guiding her. “We were here to ask if the guild can provide any work that a child could do.”

“That’s admirable of her, but those kinds of jobs are usually reserved for the kids who need the money to get by, so I dunno... I could give her a job doing paperwork for me or something like that, I guess.”

“Yeah, that’s what we thought...”

Sara and Elm had already proposed paying her to help them with their work.

“It seems like she really wants to work at least a little bit. Oh yeah, I saw Rod! When did he get his license, anyway?”

Kuntz seemed to have remembered his brother.

“A few months ago. He’s taking his time on the higher floors, hunting slimes and great rats.” It was nice that Konrad gave such a detailed answer. Sara was impressed that he knew so much about even rookie Hunters.

“I could have helped him out if he wanted to be a Hunter...” Kuntz seemed a little down. He must not have known that his brother had an interest in that.

“Same as the little Invited, he saved up his money little by little, got his license, and now he’s steadily earning his keep.”

“Of course. He’s my brother, after all. I’m sending money home, though, so he could have used that. Oh...” Kuntz looked like he’d realized something. “It is the same as Ann, huh?”

Hearing about Kuntz’s brother, it finally clicked for Sara. “I was thinking there was no reason for her to go to all that trouble, but it’s proof that she’s grown into a responsible, independent girl. I might have only been holding her back, huh?”

Sara had worked so hard to become independent herself, so why was she treating Ann like such a kid, just because she herself was an adult now?

“Rod’s got a lot of connections. I’m guessing you left that girl with him in the spur of the moment just to avoid trouble, but it might have been a good decision after all.”

“There was only trouble in the first place ’cause you were being so loud, Konrad.”

Haruto was right, of course, but regardless, it was impressive that a rookie Hunter would be acknowledged as well-connected by the guildmaster himself.

“S-Sorry about that. But there were three Hunters here who I don’t see all that often. Made sense to try and grab ’em, right?”

Maybe, but it was a pain either way, Sara thought.

“Anyway, I’m glad we’ve got such young, promising Hunters here. I’ll be counting on you all.” The guildmaster was smiling all the way to the door as he escorted them out.

“I’m sure we’ll be able to figure out what Ann’s up to if we go to my house.”

They headed deeper into the town from the main street.

“I’ve never been down the smaller streets like this, so this feels new to me. There’s a real history here. It’s a nice atmosphere.”

There were little alleyways here and there, with lots of normal people who weren’t Hunters walking around.

“There’s a lot of old people and children too.”

There were potted plants on the windowsills and hanging laundry swaying in the wind.

“Hey, Haruto,” Kuntz said quietly as he headed for his house. “‘Haruto the Gale’ is a pretty cool title, huh?”

“Why’d you lower your voice to ask that?! No, it’s not cool. The only good thing about it is that it wasn’t me who started it.”

Sara actually thought it was pretty cool too, but she decided not to tell him that.

“They call me the shield user. What’s that about? Just ’cause I use shield magic? Not the most creative, is it?”

“Well... I guess so. What about Allen, though? They just call him the hero. That’s even less creative than yours, Kuntz.”

Allen looked a little glum at this.

“And all I did was stick a sword into the continental tortoise. I can’t be proud of that at all.”

It seemed having a nickname wasn’t always a good thing.

“Sara’s is just her job title.”

A stray arrow was flying Sara’s way now, but they were right.

“It’s not that different from calling me Sara the Apothecary, so I’m okay with it, I guess.”

After that riveting conversation, they came to the end of an alleyway, where Kuntz’s house was. Rod was leaning against the wall, waiting for them.

“Took a while to get through everything the guildmaster wanted to say, didn’t it?”

“Yeah. Where’s Ann?”

As siblings, they didn’t need to waste time with small talk.

“Left her at the Marta Company.”

Sara didn’t know what the Marta Company was, but it sounded like somewhere that would have work to do. She sighed in relief.

“She’ll be able to get a job like she wanted, then. That’s good.”

“You guys are overprotective.”

“Yeah, we know.”

Sara could only grin wryly at Rod’s straightforward comment.

“Well, it’s a bit cramped, but come in.”

The house was cramped, with a lot of stuff filling the space, but Sara found it to be a warm and comfortable place.

“Even though I’ve sent them enough money to buy a bigger house and move.”

“We don’t need to. It’s just the three of us after everyone else moved out, and once I’m independent, it’ll just be mom and dad here. Why would they need to move?”

“I mean, I guess so.”

“Actually, now that I think about it, dad’s in Rosa right now, so it’s only the two of us.”

Kuntz had stayed in the townhouse the night before, so this was his first time back home. He was shocked to hear about this change in family circumstances.

“He’s over there fixing up the roads, remember? He’ll be back sooner or later.”

Sara hadn’t expected Rosa’s roads to extend all the way to here. All of a sudden, the road repair situation seemed all the more real to her.

For the time being, they sat down and took a breather. The chairs must have all been purchased from different places; they were all different sizes and styles, which Sara found fun.

“I heard what was going on from Ann. Basically, she’s a rich girl who wants to work to learn how the world works, right?”

He must have been smart to have figured all that out in such a short amount of time.

“Umm, you didn’t think it was stupid that she wanted to work even though she already has money?” Sara figured she’d ask.

“Nah. Everyone’s got different reasons to work. Helps out the store no matter why people are working there, so I think it’s fine.”

Sara had thought Allen acted like an adult at twelve, but Rod was even more mature.

“She told me what she wanted and asked for a job that would let her see different parts of the city, so I think she’ll be good there.”

She could have done something like peeling potatoes in a kitchen, like Sara had done, but that wasn’t what she wanted.

“I told Ann I wouldn’t be making the introductions for free, though.”

So what was he doing helping her out this much already?

“What are your conditions?” Allen quietly asked. He’d been silent all this time.

“I want you to teach me—to teach us—how to hunt.”

Rod’s request was unexpected. According to Konrad, Rod was already steadily earning money on a floor of the dungeon suited to his abilities.

“I think you’ll understand where I’m coming from, Kuntz. It’s great that I was able to become a Hunter, but I’m not getting stronger all that quickly. I’ve been visiting the Hunter’s Guild since I was younger and everybody knows I’m your brother, so I’ve been able to ask some casters for tips, but Hunters would rather hunt than teach rookies, right? Even working with what I’ve learned, it’s hard to beat horned rabbits with earth and wind magic.”

“You specialize in magic, Rod?”

Kuntz was surprised, but he’d been away from the capital in Hydrangea for so long that it was only natural he wouldn’t know.

“I can use physical strengthening well enough, but it’s easier for me to use magic. Dad says I have around the same magic capacity you did when you were just starting out as a Hunter, so I thought I’d try to make it as a caster.”

Apparently artisans like Kuntz’s father measured magic capacity by how many bricks you could make at once.

“Really? I had no idea you wanted to be a Hunter, Rod. You should have written me! Why not rely on your brother?”

“Well, you were far away, and then when I thought you were back last year, you were all busy with the knights. I couldn’t ask you with all that going on, could I?” Rod pursed his lips, looking more his age.

“I’d help you out even if you didn’t make it a condition for helping Ann. I’m not here for a request or anything this time, and I was already planning on spending some time in the dungeon.”

“Really?!”

Sara was enjoying the heartwarming scene of the brothers deepening their bonds when Rod suddenly upped the ante.

“Can you help my friends who have just become Hunters too, then?”

Now that Sara thought about it, he had said “us” earlier, hadn’t he?

“Of course,” Kuntz said right away. He would come to regret this a bit later, Sara thought.

Ann returned to the Hunter’s Guild just before noon, her eyes sparkling. Rod had apparently told her they’d meet up there later.

“I got to help out with deliveries! I’m fast ’cause of the physical strengthening.”

It seemed she’d had a good experience just in the few hours of the morning.

“It happens to be a busy time right now, so they said I could work there for ten days starting tomorrow, from nine to three. They’ll even provide lunch!”

“What are you getting paid?”

Rod had introduced the place to her, but he didn’t know what sort of work they’d offer her, so he asked what he was curious about.

“Umm, excluding lunch breaks, it’ll be four or five hours a day at 500 gil per hour. So I’d make 20,000 gil if I can work all ten days. Look, see? They said I should get permission from my guardian to work.” Ann showed them the money she had in her hand. “This silver coin is 1,000 gil, and this round one is 100. I made 1,500 gil today!”

“Pfft.” Allen snorted. “It’s just like when Sara first worked. She’d never seen money before, so she was like, ‘Oh, this is what it looks like.’”

“Well, how was I supposed to know? There was no need for money on the Dark Mountain.”

She still held a bit of a grudge toward Nelly about that.

Rod nodded, giving Sara and Allen a glance. “That’s reasonable for a kid’s salary. Sounds like the Marta Company will work out just fine.”

He was like an agency giving out temp work. What a useful guy to know.

“What can I do for you in return? As long as it’s not money, that is.”

Ann was just as reliable. She didn’t intend to take Rod’s kindness for granted.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll get my brother and his friends to pay me back.”

And his friends? A question mark popped up above Sara’s head. That was when Rod waved his hand toward the entrance of the guildhall.

“Heeey! Over here!”

When he did, a big group of kids around Rod’s age—in other words, around Ann’s age as well—started to gather. They had swords or daggers at their waists and wore clothes that were easy to move around in, so they must have all been Hunters. It looked to be an equal mix of boys and girls.

“One, two, three... Hey, now...” Kuntz said with some exasperation. “Nine in total? Ten with Rod... By ‘us’ did you mean...?”

His guess was correct.

“They all became Hunters recently and have been struggling to get stronger. Guys, this is my brother Kuntz, and this is Haruto, Allen, and Sara.”

Sara smiled at the children as she was introduced to them.

“You said you were gonna work for ten days, right, Ann?” Rod asked Ann.

“Yeah.”

“Then you all can teach us for the ten days you don’t need to look after Ann. Everyone, say thank you!”

“Huh?” Haruto, Allen, and Sara all said at once.

“Thanks for your help!” the kids said in unison, though the trio couldn’t exactly say they hadn’t been informed of this.

“Sorry, Allen, Sara, Haruto. I just remembered how cunning this kid has been, ever since he was little.” Kuntz looked up at the ceiling, holding his head like he had a headache.

“I kinda like him.”

“Me too.”

Allen and Haruto held up their hands and greeted the other children. They were in, Sara supposed.

“I’m not a Hunter, so I don’t know if I’ll be any help, but, why not, I guess.”

Sara smiled and nodded as well, as if she’d intended to help from the beginning.

They decided to meet up the next day at nine and parted ways for the time being.

“You don’t have to go home, Kuntz?”

“I’ll go back tomorrow. Since we’re all gonna be instructors, I figure we should discuss things together tonight.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I didn’t think I’d be joining you.”

Sara was an apothecary. She had a Hunter’s license, but she wasn’t a Hunter. She didn’t think Plant Hunters counted either.

“There were ten, including Rod, but it’ll probably only be two or three who want to focus on magic.”

Even kids got some muscle on them when they fought using physical strengthening. It might have been a bit unkind to assume, but the thinner kids with poorer posture probably relied on magic more.

“They say they’re having trouble getting stronger, but I’m guessing they just want to make more money.”

Kuntz seemed to have given the matter some thought already.

“You’ve probably figured this out, Ann, but kids can’t work all day, and the most they can earn is around 2,000 gil a day. It’s enough to eat, but you could also say it’s not enough to do anything besides eat. And that’s assuming they have a place to live.”

“Right.” Ann was listening carefully.

“If there are kids who’d be good at gathering plants, they might be able to make more money doing that.”

“That’s my cue!” Sara exclaimed spiritedly.

“If we’re all going to be helping, let’s spend the first day figuring out what they’re all best at.”

“Sounds good. We can do the basics of mana manipulation every day too, like we learned with the knights.”

“Then we can split them up according to their strengths.”

“What about ending with giving them magic examples? Some of them might pick stuff up just from seeing some spells. Like my lightning.”

The honorary instructors were making good progress already.

“For the second half, we can do some practical training in the dungeon.”

“Maybe we’ll split them into parties if that seems like it’ll work better.”

When they’d more or less decided what they’d be doing, Ann pursed her lips.

“This sounds fun. I wanna do it too.”

“Well, I get how you feel.” Sara patted Ann on the knee to console her.

“You can’t do everything. You’ve gotta concentrate on one thing at a time.”

“I knooow.”

Sara would have been scared just joining in with a group of ten kids she didn’t know, so she almost envied Ann’s enthusiasm.

The next day, they headed for the guild while Ann headed for the Marta Company. Sara’s group soon stood before ten rookie Hunters.

“Okay, let’s check everyone’s aptitudes. We’re heading for the meadow.”

They left the guild in a big group and headed out. The central dungeon was just outside town, so they didn’t have to walk far to make it to the meadow. Sara also knew that medicinal plants could be found in the meadow outside the capital.

“Okay! We’ll check how much talent you have for gathering plants first. Now, these unassuming plants at your feet right now are healing herbs.”

Ignoring the kids who started making a fuss when she mentioned gathering plants, Sara bent down and picked a healing herb at her feet.

“No way...”

“There are healing herbs growing right here?”

A buzz went through the gathered children.

“Huh? No one’s gathered healing herbs before? Not one?”

The kids all shook their heads. Now that she thought about it, there were a bunch of healing herbs outside of Rosa too, but the people there didn’t gather them either. It was the same in Hydrangea.

“Healing herbs grow outside of town and in the dungeon too, so if you learn how to gather them, you’ll never miss a meal. I know it’s not very exciting, though.”

Some of the kids had already lost interest. There was nothing she could do about that. If they’d become Hunters, it was likely because they wanted to hunt monsters, after all.

“Look at the plant carefully. Memorize the shape of these leaves and pick them five nodes down, at about this length. Okay, over here, everyone!”

She’d taught Allen and Mona and Heather, her friends, this sort of stuff, but Sara was kind of nervous teaching a bunch of children she didn’t know. It was fun, though. Sara had thought that aptitude would just mean whether they were able to differentiate between different types of plants, but she was surprised to find out that there was more to it. You had to not be embarrassed to get down on the ground and look carefully at the grass, and you had to be patient enough to do the same thing over and over again.

In Sara’s opinion, at least two of the ten had the aptitude to gather plants—one boy and one girl. Three others were good enough at it, but they were impatient to get to training with Allen and Kuntz instead. Rod was one of these. It was only an hour-long lesson, but it was shockingly easy to tell who had aptitude and who didn’t.

“Okay, let’s go to the guild’s training room next,” Kuntz said listlessly, and they headed back to the guild from the meadow.

The guild’s training room was underground and free to use. Brawling was prohibited, of course.

They checked the kids’ aptitude for magic and physical strengthening by having them spar with Allen and Haruto and practice basic magic with Kuntz. Sara had disparaged the kids who’d gotten bored of gathering right away earlier, but she reflected on that assessment now that she was observing herself and quickly growing bored of it. It was hard to concentrate on something that didn’t interest you for long.

Allen and Kuntz were wearing frowns just like she was.

“They’re worse than I was expecting.”

“I wonder how much we’ll be able to teach them in ten days.”

Sara was a bit surprised that Allen would just come out and say something like that right in front of the kids.

“What’s that supposed to mean?! They all became Hunters around the same time I did! I don’t want to let any of them fall behind!”

Rod complained, angered by his brother’s casual tone, but the other kids were just hanging their heads meekly.

“I know how you feel, Rod, but I don’t really sense the spirit in these kids to make a living as Hunters.”

“The spirit...? What do you mean?”

Rod seemed to be a cut above the rest, maybe because he served as a sort of leader among them.

“You can work hard at it if you’ve got a clear idea of what kind of Hunter you want to be in the future. If you want to be strong and make a lot of money, then horned rabbits are nothing more than a stepping stone toward that goal.”

Sara didn’t quite understand what Allen meant either.

“What kind of Hunter do you want to be, Rod?”

“I want to beat monsters with magic like you and make money. I want to be able to use shield magic eventually too.”

Rod had a pretty clear image in mind.

“Then what about you?” Allen asked the closest kid to him.

“Umm, I want to make a little more money than I make now, so I can live a little more comfortably.”

“And what kind of Hunter do you want to be?”

“A strong one?”

Sara understood now. If you didn’t know what sort of future you wanted, you couldn’t make a plan to get stronger.

“Everybody, listen up.” Kuntz gathered everyone together. “Starting tomorrow, we’re gonna practice how to use mana, the basics of physical strengthening, and sword swings. Then we’ll split into a plant-gathering team, a magic team, and a physical strengthening team and train in those areas. Be ready for that.”

The kids who were worried that they would be abandoned for not being good enough let out sighs of relief.

“By tomorrow, I want you to think about what kind of Hunters you want to be. Even something like ‘I want to be like Guildmaster Konrad’ is fine, just give it some thought.”

There were some laughs at that, and things got a bit more relaxed. It probably helped to have a role model, Sara mused.

“Okay, we’ll treat you to lunch, so we’re gonna practice using mana in the afternoon.”

This time the children’s energy returned in full force.

Kuntz really had the makings of a teacher. Realizing that she had a friend like that at her side, Sara suddenly felt a bit of reverence toward him.

The next day, Sara took the two kids with aptitude as her plant-gathering team and gave them a thorough lesson on how to identify healing herbs, greater healing herbs, and mana herbs; how to gather them; and how to sell them to the Apothecary’s Guild.

Mana manipulation and the basics of physical strengthening were kind of simple, so it was hard to tell if you were really improving at them. The kids weren’t enthusiastic about them, but at some point they realized more people were joining them for these practice sessions. The most popular lesson was probably the lecture Haruto had suggested where they showed off different types of magic. The training room had been empty when they’d started, but somehow people must have heard that something interesting was happening, and before they knew it, it was packed.

“It’s hard to make use of mana if you don’t understand it. Listen up. Mana will empower you in whatever way you imagine. Existing magic is important, of course, but you can’t close your eyes to new possibilities either.”

Kuntz recited the first line of the magic textbook. Behind the kids were slightly older Hunters and even veterans, so Sara felt like she could hear Kuntz’s internal begging for them to let him off the hook. But she couldn’t remain so unconcerned for long.

“Today’s instructor will be Sara.”

They would probably enjoy seeing an Invited’s magic, and if they could learn to use it, it would no doubt come in handy. Still, she couldn’t hide how nervous she was in front of all these people.

“I’ll use curving magic today.”

She’d bought round loaves of bread to use as targets to make it easy to see her magic. She set the bread down in front of her, diagonally in front, to her side, and behind her. Then she shot magic at each one.

“Flame, go!”

First, the one in front of her. A little flame shot straight out and charred the bread black.

“Flame, curve to the left.”

The diagonal one now. It might have looked like she’d accidentally shot it to the side, but the flame curved.

“Flame, left.”

Flame came out of the hand she held out in front of her and then curved to the left.

“Ooh!”

“What the heck?!”

This time, she finally got a big reaction.

“Next. Behind me. Flame, go!”

Still facing forward, Sara shot out a flame that quickly curved around to shoot behind her. She smelled a nice, crispy scent, so she was pretty sure she’d hit the bread placed there.

“Whoa!”

“How’d she do that?”

“Whoa” was the children, while “How’d she do that?” had come from the adult Hunters. Sara intended to explain anyway, so she carried on without worrying too much about the chatter.

“It’s just an assumption that magic has to fly straight. If you know what you’re aiming at, you can picture the magic hitting it and it will go in that direction.”

It was simple.

“I use two different methods. For the ones in front and to the side that I can see, I just imagine the magic hitting the target I’m looking at.”

At least everyone was listening quietly.

“Otherwise, I just pick a direction. For the bread behind me, I pictured its location and told the magic to go that way.”

They were similar, but the first method was how she took out stealth slimes. Once she saw where it was, she shot the magic in that direction.

“Okay, should we try it, then? If you have questions, go ahead and come ask them.”

They hadn’t been planning on practical magic lessons, but she figured she’d give it a shot. The principle was simple enough, but they must not have been sure exactly what they should be asking. Nobody lined up, and after a short period of confusion, Kuntz was the one to stand in front of her.

“Wait, Kuntz, are you joking?”

“No, I’m serious. I had the wrong idea about your magic, Sara. I thought you were just really good at aiming, but it sounds like it’s a little different than that.”

Kuntz’s slingshot magic was accurate because he shot it straight at the enemy and had good aim. It was similar to being good at throwing.

“Yeah. I’m not throwing magic accurately, I’m just giving it a target to hit.”

“So it hits as long as you think it’s gonna hit.”

“Yep.”

“Ugh...” Kuntz crouched down, holding his head, for a moment before shooting back up. “Sara, show me that curving magic a couple more times.”

“Okay.”

The rookies didn’t have any questions, so there was no reason she couldn’t show off her magic just for Kuntz. Sara shot off her magic in a couple different directions, musing on the fact that they were together all the time but didn’t really understand each other. Now the bread wasn’t just burnt, it was charred to cinders.

“Okay, I’ve burned the sight of it into my mind.” Kuntz finally seemed satisfied. “You don’t aim, you make it hit. It’s like it’s being sucked toward the target.”

Oh, Sara thought. I should have described it like that.

“Slingshot, go.”

With Kuntz’s words, the bread to his side burst into little crumbs from an impact, leaving just the pebble he’d shot at it behind.

“Whoa!”

There was a cheer that didn’t even compare to the one Sara had received and the Hunters ran over to Kuntz, smiling at him, patting him on the back, and generally making a scene.

“I wanna do it too!”

“Me too!”

They didn’t have to use bread as targets, but people started running out and buying it and soon the neighborhood bakeries were completely sold out. The underground training room was quickly filled with the smell of burnt bread. Sara couldn’t say whether that would make a good memory or a bad one quite yet.

Some people were successful and others weren’t, but they made sure the rookies had room to practice and showed them whatever magic they asked about. Eventually, Ann returned and asked for them to show off their magic again. Their second day of training was pretty fulfilling, all in all.

Incidentally, about half of the rookies were able to succeed at curving magic.

By the third day, the underground training room was already full for their mana control practice, to the point where Sara didn’t even want to count how many people were there. Their initial ten students were still lined up in the front, so it wasn’t as if people were taking their spots or anything, which meant there was no need to tell anyone off for joining in.

“Umm, could everybody come over here?” Kuntz asked at the start of the day, and the four of them put their heads together. “What should we do? Some of the people here are, like, super experienced-looking. What could they want to learn from novices like us?”

They were full-fledged Hunters now and even had embarrassing nicknames, but there were still plenty of people more experienced than them and none of them were the type to let their success go to their heads.

At times like these, Allen always knew what to do.

“Just calm down. Today and yesterday, none of them said a thing about us teaching them anything. I think they’re not saying anything so that if something happens, it can’t be blamed on them.”

Sara wished he wouldn’t say such ominous things.

“It also means that if they don’t learn anything, they won’t complain. They’re just hanging out nearby so that if they happen to hear something interesting in our lectures, they might make use of it later.”

That made sense to Sara.

Haruto clapped in understanding as well. “We’re just teaching rookie Hunters. People might overhear our lessons, but we won’t let it bother us. Let’s go with that.”

Practicing mana manipulation was important for people who specialized in physical strengthening. If they used their physical strengthening without the conscious knowledge that they were manipulating mana, it was hard for them to make much progress.

“Yes, you’re using that stuff you can vaguely feel inside your body unconsciously to strengthen it, but if you use it intentionally, you can strengthen individual parts of your body or use it as a shield.”

Sara was talking to the burly veteran Hunters. Even if they were only listening in, if they looked confused, like they had questions, she wanted to help them out.

“Use it intentionally... Feel it going through your body...”

It wasn’t just Sara. The other three were making the rounds as well, talking to anybody who was interested.

Of course, some left and headed for the dungeons before long.

Apparently for their next practical lesson, the remaining Hunters would be sparring with the rookies and did practice swings with them, which sounded nice. Sara didn’t see it since she’d headed out with the apothecary group, but some Hunters came with her as well, so she was pretty busy herself, repeating her plant-gathering lecture and such.

Haruto was supposed to be in charge of the magic lessons that day, but there were a lot of people who wanted to see Sara’s magic again, so she ended up showing off her curving magic once more and bread sales were through the roof that day as well.

“It’s kind of become a big deal,” Sara told Elm after returning to the townhouse that day.

“I didn’t think something like this would happen while I was off enjoying my new job.”

Ann’s job was going well, and when she told them about all the places she’d gone that day, Sara got the feeling that in just three days, Ann had already learned more about the capital than Sara ever had.

“The people here don’t seem to think it’s strange for children to be working or anything either. I get scolded if I’m late with a delivery sometimes.”

Ann sounded happy. It was clear that her princess-like upbringing in Gardenia had actually been rather uncomfortable for her.

“I want to take your lessons too, though,” she told Sara.

“It’s not just me. Kuntz and Haruto are supposed to show off their magic too.”

“That just makes me want to go more!”

Most of her lessons on the way here from Gardenia had been in hunting monsters, as it was something she wouldn’t be able to do after joining the knights, so she hadn’t gotten much training in the sort of magic Sara used.

“I should have taught you how I hunt slimes, but we didn’t see many on the way here.”

“Slimes are more of a dungeon monster,” Elm said.

It wasn’t like there were none of them out in the wild, but it was rare to run into them.

“No problems so far, Allen?”

“No one’s starting any trouble so far. People seem about half serious and half just curious, and the curious ones have said that they just came to check things out, but they think what we’ve been talking about might actually be pretty useful.”

Kuntz and Haruto had returned to their own homes, so it was just Ann, Sara, and Allen in the townhouse now.

“That’s good,” Elm said with some relief.

Allen gave him a dubious look. “If you’re worried, why not just come watch? You were going into the dungeon in Hydrangea; why aren’t you here?”

Right, Elm was supposed to be an active Hunter. What on earth did he do all day?

“Well, I haven’t shown my face in the capital in a long time. I’ve been going around greeting people, that sort of thing. Not to mention...” Elm smiled wryly. “It sounds like it’s gonna cause a fuss if I let Konrad catch sight of me. I don’t want him pushing some weird job on me if I can help it.”

“Can’t deny that.”

Sara and Allen both grimaced, having experienced that very thing themselves.

“I’ll start going to the dungeon once Ann’s settled into her work.”

“I’m sorry for all this,” Ann said, bowing her head.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve spent all this time not worrying about family stuff at all. I’m happy just to be of any use to my family at this point.”

Back in Hydrangea, Elm had lived a rather carefree life in the Wolveriés’ mansion, and that didn’t seem too different here. He’d wanted Sara to come along to be Ann’s conversation partner, but Sara thought they’d probably do fine on their own as well. Elm was a wandering Hunter, so he didn’t stay in one place for long. Sara initially thought that might mean he wasn’t very fond of people, but looking back on what she knew of him at this point, she realized that wasn’t true at all. They’d spent almost a year in relatively close proximity, yet Sara hadn’t tried to learn about Elm as a person at all. She felt a little bad about that now.

Ann’s work continued without issue until the tenth day, and they were almost done with the training Rod had asked them to do as well.

Of course, it was strange that it had started as a small-scale class for Hunters who were just starting out and had turned into a big workshop for a mix of rookie and veteran Hunters.

Sara’s group had been leading the mana manipulation training at first, but eventually some Hunters who had once been knights stepped up to lead those lessons instead. Sara didn’t know if they were just nostalgic about their time with the knights or if the young people’s attempts at teaching the subject frustrated them, but it was a big help since there were so many people participating by the end.

Hunters who specialized in physical strengthening helped with sparring and casters demonstrated magic that Kuntz wasn’t good at. At first, the younger Hunters who were a year or two into their careers participated hesitantly, but by the end, there were so many people down in the underground training room that some people probably didn’t even know who these lessons had started for.

Even at the end, the star of the show was the magic demonstrations they did at the end of the day. Sara had been in charge of them for the first three days, then Kuntz had taken over for the next three.

“Show us some cool Invited magic!”

There was some heckling, like that, but it most likely came from Hunters who weren’t casters. All the Hunters who primarily used magic were frighteningly serious as they watched Kuntz step forward.

“Uhh, I seem to be getting some attention for it, but my magic isn’t really anything new,” he started. “I used the Invited Sara’s barrier as reference. Do you mind, Sara?”

“Nope.”

If they were starting with the origin of Kuntz’s shield, then Sara would have to help out after all. She rose and stood at a slight distance from Kuntz.

“Sara’s barrier provides her with absolute defense. It repels all attacks and magic. Even from a wyvern.”

It was embarrassing that people kept saying that, but Sara tried to maintain a neutral expression.

“Sara, your barrier.”

“Yep. Barrier.”

Sara formed her barrier at around an arm’s length around her. Then she grinned and nodded when the Hunters started murmuring to each other about how they couldn’t see anything.

“I don’t think you can see anything, so I’ll give it a color. I’ll make it brown like Kuntz’s shield.”

She gave it a light brown color so that she could still faintly be seen behind it. Some impressed cries went up and a veteran Hunter raised his hand.

“Can I hit it to see if it really repels attacks?”

“Sure. But if you’ve got confidence in your strength, please hold back. Most monsters who attack me seriously die when their strikes are reflected back at them. Even wyverns.”

There were some cries of doubt at that, but the Hunter stepped forward and threw a light punch at her before stepping back in surprise.

“What the heck?”

What unfolded after that was a rather unflattering scene in which the Hunter hit and kicked her without restraint, all things one should not be doing to a young lady, but Sara just stood there quietly, and eventually, the Hunter sank to his knees, his shoulders heaving.

“You should drink a potion,” she suggested lightly. She felt a little bad for the guy, but it was like he’d just been hit and kicked a bunch himself.

“What the heck is this? The more serious I get, the worse the backlash is, and none of my attacks reach you at all.”

From the stunned Hunters in the crowd, a caster hesitantly stepped forward and asked if he could verify the results with magic as well.

“For your safety, I recommend a weak wind attack only.”

The caster took Kuntz’s advice and shot some weak wind at Sara, which returned to the crowd of Hunters. He should have just given up there, but the Hunter got frustrated and kept upping the power of his attacks, sending stronger and stronger winds back at the rest of the Hunters. By the end, their hair was all messed up.

“It really is the ultimate defense,” someone muttered and the caster fell to his knees, out of mana.

“We haven’t even started the lesson yet. Do you want to buy a mana potion? I’m an apothecary, by the way.” Sara sold the caster a mana potion, smiling wryly.

Running out of mana in the dungeon meant death, so there weren’t any casters who would be so reckless enough to do so on the job. That was why not many of them walked around with mana potions either, and they didn’t contribute much to the Apothecary Guild’s profits. Still, Sara couldn’t just give it away for free. She had to make sure her skills were valued.

“Rosa’s vice guildmaster, Vince, taught me that this is a type of shield magic. I’m an Invited, so I can keep it up forever, but normal casters will run out of mana right away if they do the same thing I do. That’s where Kuntz’s shield magic comes in.”

She switched places with Kuntz. They hadn’t planned any of this, but they were able to coordinate because they’d traveled all the way here from Gardenia and understood each other better now. The thought made Sara happy.

“I don’t have a ton of mana, but I don’t have too little either. I’ve got just enough for the guildmaster of Rosa to call me average. That’s why I need to use my mana efficiently and without waste. I would never be able to put a shield up in all directions at once like Sara.”

Kuntz started talking and the Hunters who had been stunned by Sara’s abnormality started paying attention again. After all, this was coming from a normal caster.

“So I came up with a way to repel attacks from close by with the smallest shield I could together with Sara. Like this.” Kuntz held out his hand and materialized a small brown shield in front of it. “It’s a small shield, but it uses up my mana really fast if I keep it up forever. But if it’s just for a second...”

This time, Kuntz moved his hand this way and that, flashing a shield in front of it each time. Over and over again.

“If you just use it for a second, like this, it doesn’t use much mana at all. Your mana will recover enough on its own after one hunt to cover it.”

That was the best part about Kuntz’s shield. And what was different about it from traditional shield magic was that, like Sara’s barrier, it repelled all attacks and magic.

“Just like Sara’s barrier, it’ll repel anything that comes at it. Does someone want to attack my shield?”

“I’ll do it,” another veteran Hunter volunteered. “I’m not gonna hold back, okay?”

“Weaker would be better,” Kuntz said with a wry grin, and the veteran Hunter’s fist flew at him.

A brown shield appeared in an instant before his fist, and the Hunter was forced to stagger backward when his fist hit it.

“That’s a surprise. How about this, then?”

Why did Hunters all have to get so worked up? Sara wondered to herself. She watched with an exasperated look on her face and, just as she expected, the Hunter eventually retreated, holding his trembling fist.

The Hunter drank a potion and exhaled heavily. “The shield’s impressive enough, but your eyes and reaction time are just as good. What’s most impressive is that you’re able to block the attacks of a Hunter who uses physical strengthening when you’re just a caster.”

“Well, it was Allen who helped me practice.”

Kuntz must have put himself through some really harsh training.

“The hero, huh? It’s no wonder, then.”

A caster raised his hand after that, but they all knew what would happen, so Kuntz declined his request.

“What you need to do for this spell is picture reflecting all damage instead of merely taking a hit like a traditional shield spell would. Sara and Haruto can help you if you have trouble picturing that.”

Haruto, who hadn’t had much of a chance to shine so far, stepped forward enthusiastically.

“Sara and I will put up barriers, so throw some attacks at us and get a feel for how it works. Whatever you throw at us will come right back to you, though, so be careful, not just for yourself but for everyone else too.”

Haruto could use a barrier too, and he used it to hunt sometimes, so he might actually understand how it works better than Sara.

Lots of the Hunters knew Haruto. He used a lot of flashy magic, so they were a bit confused to see him standing next to Sara and using the very non-flashy barrier spell. Casters who really wanted to use shield magic went to Sara, and physical strengthening Hunters who just wanted to play around with a toy that would reflect their attacks back at them went to Haruto.

“This is a bit scary, so we’ll make our barriers a little bigger,” Sara announced. It wasn’t just that it was scary but also that it meant there would be a bigger surface for reflecting attacks. Sara and Haruto grinned at each other from inside their barriers, watching the Hunters struggle against them.

Sara didn’t really get it, but apparently shield magic was really hard. Not many casters could do it on their first try, but some of the ones who had heard about Kuntz before and tried it out themselves were able to get the hang of it quickly. They would probably be able to make use of it with a little more practice.

The final three days were for Haruto’s lightning magic.

“This is lightning magic.” Haruto held his hand up and summoned a small spark of lightning above it, which the Hunters watched with great interest.

“Lightning, like in the sky?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Lightning was only something seen distantly in the sky in this world.

“I’ve seen a tree that was struck by lightning. It was split in half and charred black. It’s got that kind of destructive power, huh?”

“Exactly. You use it to fish, right, Sara?”

Sara panicked a little when Haruto suddenly called her name. She’d thought her turn was over, so she was taken completely by surprise.

“Y-Yeah. Lightning goes through water, so if you hit the water, it’ll go all the way to the bottom and knock the fish out, and they’ll float to the top. But you could shock any animals or people nearby too, so I don’t really recommend that.”

Electricity in water was really dangerous.

“Vince in Rosa could use lightning magic. If you cover your hands in it, then when you touch a monster, they’ll be shocked still for a second. He pictured a stronger static electricity to use it.”

“Static electricity... Those shocks you get in winter, huh? Yeah, when it’s dark, you can see light when it happens, can’t you?”

They had dry winters with static electricity here too.

“I’ll make it really weak, so shake my hand.”

Experiencing it yourself was always best. Watching the Hunters lose to their curiosity and line up to shake hands with Haruto, yelping with the shock each time, Sara found a single phrase coming to mind.

“It’s like a handshake event...”

“Pfft!”

“Gwah!”

“Ack! Sorry!”

Haruto cracked up and accidentally shocked someone a little stronger than he meant to, quickly apologizing after.

“Stop it, Sara. If you say stuff like that, I’ll make you do this too.”

The Hunters almost started lining up in front of Sara too as if to say they’d prefer to shake hands with her, so she hurriedly shook her head.

“I’ve never practiced a small shock before! It’d be too dangerous!”

It was the truth. Sara hadn’t practiced much magic. Just like Kuntz excelled at earth and wind magic, different Hunters had different strengths and weaknesses.

Up through the tenth day, people gathered in the underground training room at the Hunter’s Guild whenever they had time and passionately practiced Haruto’s lightning magic or Kuntz’s shield magic. The rookies didn’t have the skill for that yet, so they practiced Sara’s curving magic or sparred with veterans. It was a good training period.

Sara watched the Hunters train happily once they had finished her gathering class for the day. When Kuntz’s brother Rod had asked them to teach ten rookie Hunters, she hadn’t been sure what to do about the difference in enthusiasm between Rod and his friends, but they’d gotten more motivated when the veteran Hunters joined in and had started working much harder. The two Sara was teaching were very satisfied now that they had a way to make money right away too. They didn’t have much mana, but Sara hoped they might take an interest in becoming apothecaries.

“Sara! Haruto! Kuntz! Allen!”

Ann flew down the stairs, shouting their names.

“Look! This! Look!”

Shining in her raised right hand was a completely ordinary, yet extremely valuable to her, Hunter’s license.

“Congratulations!”

Ann jumped on Sara and hugged her before she even finished the word. She even lifted Sara up for some reason and spun her around.

“Uhh, wait, I’m not—”

As the room spun around Sara, Allen plucked her from Ann’s arms and set her down on the floor. She was kind of embarrassed to have his hands around her waist.

Haruto took the moment to pick Ann up instead.

“Haruto!”

“Congratulations!”

“Thanks!”

Kuntz spun her around next, then Elm.

“Congratulations!”

“Thanks! Wait, Elm?”

For some reason, Ann got passed around to other Hunters, spinning all the way around the training room until reaching a grinning Elm.

“I knew you’d be fine, but I’m still glad you made it to the end.”

Elm looked truly relieved. He was dressed like a townsperson and wearing a hat for some reason. Sara realized something.

“I don’t suppose you’ve been disguising yourself every day and going out to watch Ann?”

“Well, I was worried. I mean, working on her own all of a sudden?”

He was probably greeting people like he said as well, but apparently he’d been out peeking in on Ann’s job every day too.

“There was no time for crooks to catch up to Ann with how fast she made those deliveries. I came here too, to see what you guys were doing. It was much more work than you said it was, huh?”

Sara hadn’t noticed at all. She thought about saying something to him, but seeing him watching Ann so happily, in a hat that didn’t suit him at all, she lost the motivation to do so. Maybe it was because his flaming red hair and green eyes like fresh verdure were so much like Nelly’s.

She found herself wondering what it would have been like if Nelly hadn’t been dragged off to the capital and they’d gone down to Rosa together. She was sure Nelly would have snuck out to watch her work in the Hunter’s Guild every day just like this. She couldn’t suppress her mana at that point, so it would have been completely obvious where she was, but she’d look totally innocent as she said...

“I got out of the dungeon a little early today. Can I have one of those potions?”

She’d smile happily as Sara rang her up.

Elm was the same. Now that Ann was in his care, he treasured her dearly.

Sara’s heart warmed. She was truly grateful that she’d been taken in by Nelly’s family, the Wolveriés.

Ann finally returned, face flushed.

“You’re here, Elm!”

“Yeah. I wanted to see how you were all doing.”

He was really here to see how Ann was doing, Sara thought with amusement.

“Well, since you’ve finally got your Hunter’s license, should we go to the central dungeon tomorrow to celebrate?”

Ann’s eyes sparkled at Haruto’s suggestion.

“Can we?”

“Yeah. Our lessons are over today, so we were thinking we’d take the group into the dungeon tomorrow anyway.”

Next it was Rod and the newbie Hunters whose eyes started sparkling.

“We can come too?”

“Yeah. We can keep you company for the next few days,” Haruto said proudly. He was actually a pretty caring guy.

“Well, I guess I’ll go with you, then.”

Elm was in a good mood, relaxed after his subterfuge was exposed, so he planned to come with them openly from now on.

“How extravagant.”

“It’s more extravagant for Invited to come, isn’t it?”

The day was about to end peacefully, everyone smiling as everything seemed to be going right.

That was when a Hunter hanging back in a corner of the training room and not participating in the revelry stepped forward. Actually, Sara had just assumed he was a Hunter, but he was wearing a hat like Elm, and his clothes were simple but well tailored, like he was a noble out in disguise.

“Sorry, but could you postpone those plans to go into the dungeon?”

The voice that came from this newcomer was familiar to Sara. She felt a cold sweat drip down her back at the sound of it.

“Ann, didn’t you come to the capital to join the knights?”

The man removed his hat, revealing the face of Liam, vice commander of the capital’s knights.

Chapter 3: Ann Joins the Knights

Even though they were underground, his blond hair and blue eyes shone as though in sunlight. Every time she saw him, Sara had to admit that he was handsome. It was a rather unpleasant feeling.

“Umm, yes. I’m sorry.”

Ann was surprised, but she apologized meekly. Liam had come to Gardenia the year before during the green grass locust incident, so Ann knew who he was.

Elm stepped in between Ann and Liam to mediate.

“Yeah, sorry. We were able to leave Gardenia sooner than we thought, so I wanted her to get some different experiences. I believe there should still be a few days until the date when she originally planned to enlist...”

Though the atmosphere grew more and more tense, Sara was still managing to find some amusement in the situation. She’d only known Liam clothed in his knight’s uniform or the sort of fancy garb you wore to a party, but here he was dressed like a commoner, even wearing a hat. It was probably a disguise so that he wouldn’t reveal his identity.

Elm and Liam, two different people in very different positions, were both hiding in the guild’s underground training room, in disguise. That alone was funny enough.

“Maybe that was your intent, but I received a letter from House Greif that you left early, meaning that you would most likely arrive early.”

“Oh, Lati...” Ann pouted as Liam scolded her.

“They’ve let their twelve-year-old daughter leave their side. It’s only natural for them to worry. Especially with the mountains between us being closed to travel. Think about how they feel.”

He was only being reasonable. Everything he said was completely correct. Sara understood that, and she felt a bit of chagrin at hearing this. But she also felt a little annoyed for some reason.

“What are you all doing not stopping her either? A noble girl running errands around town? As her guardian, you should never have let her do so. Can you really say you’re a fitting guardian for her when you’re like this, Elm?”

“Err, well...”

“Did you have any idea that there were rumors flying all around the capital that an Invited was running around the capital doing errands and that other Invited were holding special classes in the guildhall?”

“Uhh...were there? I’m not really interested in rumors, so...”

Liam was lecturing Elm, his elder, like it was completely natural.

“Was this something you had to do to the point of causing trouble for the Marta Company, whom we had to inquire with, and the Hunter’s Guild, which has been overcrowded every day?”

“The Marta Company...”

Ann hung her head when she heard that she might have inconvenienced the store she was working for.

“Okay, but...”

Elm tried to defend Ann, but Allen stepped forward, stopping him.

“Liam. This isn’t a conversation we need to have here.”

“Allen. If you were here in the capital, don’t you think you should have come to greet the knights as well?”

Liam’s lecturing turned to Allen now. He really must have been furious.

“We can talk about all of that somewhere else.”

Allen wrapped things up briskly and turned to the rookie Hunters they’d been looking after.

“We’ll meet up in the Hunter’s Guild at the same time tomorrow, okay?” Allen smiled at them to reassure them, seeing how nervous they were looking. “Kuntz and Haruto and I will be there for sure. Not sure about the others yet. Get some rest for today. Dismissed!”

With that simple and easy to understand message, the rookie Hunters said their thanks for today’s lesson and left swiftly, as if fleeing Liam.

The Hunters who had been watching Ann and Liam with interest all dispersed as well.

“It’ll take too long to go back to the knight barracks or the townhouse, so let’s ask the guildmaster if we can borrow a room here. Or we could go to Kuntz’s house. It’s nearby.”

“No way, this group won’t fit in my house.”

Liam had nothing in his head but lectures, and Elm was stuck making nothing but excuses, yet Allen had wrapped everything up and moved things along in no time at all.

He said nothing after that until he’d pulled Sara upstairs by the hand and went to one of the receptionists’ desks.

“We have something we’d like to ask the guildmaster. Can you get him?”

“My, Allen the hero and Plant Hunter Sara. Of course.”

The big scene the guildmaster Konrad had made that first day was at least useful in that all the receptionists recognized Allen and Sara now. She could do without the nicknames, though.

While the receptionist went to go get the guildmaster, Ann, Elm, Kuntz, Haruto, Liam, and even Rod gathered behind Sara and Allen in a big group.

“Hey, Allen and Sara! Good work these last ten days. Personally, it was a real help—waugh!”

She didn’t know who that “waugh” was in response to, but at this rate he would cause another scene. As Sara stood there nervously, Allen swept his hand back at the group behind them.

“Guildmaster, we’d like to borrow a room. You can see the situation here.”

“R-Right. Come this way.”

Just like before, Konrad led them to his office in the back.

“Man, everyone’s been on pins and needles getting to learn not just from Allen and Kuntz but from Invited like Haruto and Sara too. It’s been crazy. Probably pretty rough for you guys too, huh?”

Konrad laughed, evidently not picking up on the strained atmosphere among the group. And they weren’t supposed to be holding classes, they were just supposed to be teaching some rookie Hunters some things as thanks for introducing Ann to her job. All those extra students had just joined in on their own.

“Uhh...should I step out for this, or...?”

Liam must have given him a look.

Elm shook his head. “No, you can stay. You’ve helped everyone here out, not just Sara and Ann.”

“Hey, long time no see, Elm. I saw you popping into the training room a couple times. You should have said hello sooner.”

“Sorry. I was busy watching over Ann. Also, I thought you’d make a scene if you spotted me.”

Elm finally came out and admitted that he’d been watching over Ann. These two seemed pretty close despite Konrad being so much older than Elm.

“You can catch up later. Ann here wants to join the knights, so I need her and her guardian to understand exactly what that means.”

Liam spoke with such vigor that he might as well have been slamming his hands on the desk. Sara assumed he’d already said what he wanted to say in the training room, so he would just be repeating himself now, but she could sympathize at least a little with him. She had figured that Elm had already reported to them that they’d arrived and told them when Ann would be joining. If the Greifs had contacted Liam to say they should be arriving soon but they hadn’t shown up and then strange rumors started flying around town, it was only natural the knights would be annoyed. But she wasn’t sure why she had to be included as part of this lecture.

“Umm...” Sara raised her hand to cut Liam off since it looked like he was going to keep going. It was their first time making eye contact that day, which made Sara a bit uncomfortable.

“I’m just here accompanying Ann so she has someone to talk to. It’s been a while, Liam.”

“Since last year, I suppose. It’s hard to believe less than a full year has passed since then. You’re more beautiful than ever.”

Did he have some disease that made him unable to talk to a woman without complimenting her? At least he was able to get his anger under control somewhat by engaging in this etiquette. She could take the compliment at face value as well, since she knew he was already married.

“Thank you. First of all, let me apologize as well, as one of Ann’s guardians. You must have worried, not hearing from us even though we arrived in the capital early.”

Listening to how Liam and Elm were talking earlier, Sara felt she had to get things rolling herself or they would never get anywhere. That part of Elm was just like Nelly.

It was also true that she felt she should apologize. She’d only been thinking of herself as a companion for Ann and hadn’t been taking her role as one of her guardians seriously. Worrying too much was a problem as well, but she shouldn’t have put all the responsibility on Elm. She should have been more on top of what they were supposed to be doing.

“I accept your apology. But frankly speaking, the only reason we accepted an applicant out of season like this is because Ann is an Invited.”

Sara knew that the Invited always got special treatment.

“That’s why it’s particularly troubling for you to act on your own like this. The influence an Invited wields is far more significant than you seem to understand. You won’t be receiving this kind of special treatment after you enlist, I hope you know.”

Ann deflated, but Sara felt that Liam was being reasonable, so Ann should take the criticism and reflect on her actions, she supposed.

This was where it was time for Sara to step up again, however.

“So, those few days Elm said Ann still had... Exactly how many days is that?”

“Three,” Liam said shortly, evidently still quite irritated.

“Well, our greetings were delayed until today, but Ann will be joining the knights three days from now on the originally agreed-upon date. I hope that is satisfactory.”

Sara was still seated, but she bowed her head to Liam. She hadn’t asked Elm or Ann what they wanted. This situation called for making it through with force.

“A lady should not bow her head. In any case, Ann has fulfilled her goal as of today, yes?”

He’d heard about her goal of working to obtain her Hunter’s license, apparently.

“Why not come tomorrow, then? You’re here to join the knights of your own volition, are you not?”

The knights couldn’t wait for her to join up, it seemed. Sara couldn’t see the difference between joining the next day and joining three days from then, so she found it strange that Liam was so insistent.

“Umm, I...” Ann started quietly but firmly. “I do want to join the knights. But I’m still only twelve. I’ve lived in Gardenia for two years, but I still don’t know anything about the capital or Trilgaia. I know there are dungeons here, but I’ve never been inside one before.”

“Most Trilgaians have never been inside a dungeon. You’ll also receive dungeon training in the knights. You’ll be able to experience plenty of dungeon delving after joining up.”

As usual, everything he was saying was perfectly reasonable. Also as usual, he never listened to a thing anyone else said.

“That’s not it. Once I join the knights, I’ll only be able to go into dungeons with them, right? I want to know how normal people live in the capital. If I’ve still got two days, I want to spend them learning about that,” Ann said plainly, bowing her head. “I’ll come to you three days from now. I apologize for the wait, but I hope that’s acceptable.”

“I just said ladies should not bow their heads. Honestly, you two...” Liam leaned against the back of the couch impolitely. He must have finally given up. “Think about how I feel having to report this to my superior. I came here on my day off, you know.”

“Sorry about that. I’m guessing that’s why you’re not in uniform.”

“Well, that’s because it would have been a problem if you recognized me and fled.”

“Right. You were in disguise just like Elm.”

Liam gasped and looked over at Elm, then made a face that was difficult to describe when he noticed the hat Elm was holding. He then swiftly rose from the couch and put his own hat back on.

“Sara, this is no time for you to be defending Ann. Noel’s been doing everything he can to not barge into the Hunter’s Guild himself. He’s been waiting for you.”

“Oh right, the guild...”

She hadn’t forgotten, in truth. But Sara was still trying to decide whether she wanted to move to the Apothecary’s Guild in the capital permanently, so she considered herself unaffiliated at present.

Liam smiled at her for some reason and said, “Well then, I’ll be waiting for Ann and her guardians to show up on the originally agreed-upon date.” Then he left.

“He didn’t have to come all the way here in disguise, did he? Couldn’t he have just sent a messenger?”

Rod had been completely invisible until now, but at this muttered comment from him, everyone nodded firmly in agreement.

Having successfully obtained her two days of dungeon training, Ann headed into the dungeon with the rookie Hunters.

“Wow! This place is enormous! What is a place like this doing underground? Oh, a slime!”

Elm watched over Ann as she ran about.

“Sara! I never noticed before, but there’s a bunch of healing herbs here!”

“Good eye.”

Sara’s two apprentices were able to see the dungeon from a new perspective as well.

“Dodge!”

“It’s gonna jump again! Counter it!”

“Yes! I beat a horned rabbit!”

They poked their heads into a mid-tier floor as well, and the kids who had been working hard for the past ten days were able to defeat a horned rabbit in a party together. Of course, it would still have been dangerous without guardians present, so they had promised to take it slow while they steadily improved.

It was actually Sara’s first time in the capital’s central dungeon as well, so she was observing her surroundings with some excitement.

“I wonder why it doesn’t bother me. Because it’s so wide open down here that it doesn’t seem like a dungeon? It kind of reminds me of the meadow east of Rosa down here.”

Wham!

Sara must have looked like good prey as she stared up at the sky unguardedly. A horned rabbit leaped at her and was defeated by her barrier.

“If it’s this big inside, it would be difficult to know what’s growing where. It’d probably be hard to survey the whole thing.”

But that was all the more reason silver dragonmint or supreme healing herbs might be lurking about somewhere.

“Maybe, if I have time, I might want to do that plant survey.”

Ann might not need her around if she made some friends. She seemed to get along fine with Elm and the people at her work, so Sara was optimistic about her chances.

“Even if I only get a little time, I might try it. If I’m gonna do it, I should start on the lower floors, though.”

She’d take her time, starting where the more valuable plants were more likely to be. She probably only needed to poke her head into the Apothecary’s Guild every so often.

Sara was starting to piece together her ideal capital life.

On the way home that night, the rookie Hunters sold the prey they’d hunted and the plants they’d gathered and lined up in front of Sara’s group.

“Thank you for the last ten days,” they said awkwardly, thrusting their fists out at the group.

“You want handshakes? Or a shock?” Haruto said teasingly.

The Hunters shook their heads, looking serious.

“No. Umm, this is our thanks.”

They opened their hands to reveal the coins they’d earned today.

“Guys...”

They were so surprised they couldn’t say anything in response.

Rod thanked them bashfully.

“Introducing Ann to her job really wasn’t much. This might not be enough to thank you for everything you’ve done, but we all talked it over and decided we wanted to give you the money from our first hunt as payment.”

“Whoa! You guys rule!”

Haruto clenched his fists and looked up like he was holding back tears.

“Haruto! Thank you!”

“Kuntz! I’ll be able to make your shield one day!”

“Allen! You were so cool!”

“Sara! Gathering plants is fun!”

Sara thought she might cry too when they all gathered around. It wasn’t just the kids either. Other people who had participated in the lessons over these last ten days had left thanks with the receptionists as well.

“The capital’s not so bad after all.”

Haruto had been so annoyed that he’d been used by people in the capital that he’d fled to the Dark Mountain, but now that he was back here as an adult, he was able to realize that there were good things about the capital too.

“Yeah, I suppose it is a nice place.” Sara nodded in agreement.

If she had been all alone at twelve trying to make it in the capital, she might have gone through the same sort of hardships that she’d faced in Rosa. Even now, it was likely that they’d only just happened to find some good people, and there were still probably plenty of bad things about the city. But this happiness existed now because they were able to take the strength they’d built up on their own and use it without reserve for others.

“I’m glad we decided to come here.”

Her tendency to get wrapped up in things that weren’t her concern had reared its head as soon as they arrived in the capital, but it had ended in a fun way.

Finally, the day of Ann’s enlistment arrived. Of course, female knights were almost all nobles as a rule, and typically just provided security to royals and high-ranking nobles, so Ann probably wouldn’t get to do the police-like job she might have been picturing.

“I know that and I still chose it. There’s no pressure to stay there forever if I join them like you’d find in a Japanese company, though. I can’t be an apothecary like you, but it seems like I’d do fine as a Hunter, so I won’t push myself to stay if I don’t like it.”

Sara was glad she wasn’t planning on toughing it out just because she’d picked the job herself. If Liam tried using his logical arguments on such a diligent girl, it would be the worst combination possible. Sara would have nothing but worry about her future if that was how she felt.

“Of course, he made a point of saying ‘and your guardians,’ so I guess I’m going with you.”

“I’ll go too, since he told me to say hi.”

“Me too.”

This was Allen and Kuntz.

“And I’m her actual guardian, so I’m going, of course.”

“I’m gonna go ’cause it seems like fun.”

And this was Elm and Haruto.

“This might be a few too many people...”

Ann was a little hesitant too, it seemed. This was like going out with all your relatives after your school entrance ceremony.

“It’s not overdoing it, really. Joining the knights is an honor, so this much is expected.”

They decided to take Elm at his word and headed off to the knight barracks in one of the Wolveriés’ carriages. Elm had been a knight himself, and so had his father and brother, so he had always hated being treated like a little brother among the knights. They enjoyed hearing this anecdote on the drive over.

“I wonder if Nelly got treated like a little sister too.”

“Neffie isn’t the type to care about that. I think she was more concerned with not being able to suppress her mana.”

True, Sara thought she remembered hearing about that.

They arrived at the building and were greeted by the knight commander and the vice commander, Liam. They brought them to a reception room to hear an explanation of the enlistment process first.

“Normally there’s an induction ceremony for all the new knights who join at the same time and then they have classes in the morning and training in the afternoon. But this is the first time a female Invited is joining us, so we’re allowing you to join at an irregular time,” Liam started.

“After this, we plan to introduce you to the trainees you’ll be learning with, then we’ll show you the facilities and you’ll sit in on a lecture. We’ll have lunch, and then you’ll watch the afternoon training. Tomorrow, you’ll have the same schedule as the rest of the trainees. Is that acceptable?”

“Yes!” Ann responded enthusiastically.

The knight commander then cleared his throat and spoke. “You’ll have an audience with the king soon as one of the Invited. I’ve also received several requests to dine with you, so you’ll be accompanying me to plenty of meals, but you’re not to neglect your training because of that.”

“Huh?”

She was probably supposed to say “yes, sir” there, but Ann didn’t understand what the commander had just said to her.

“You’re only to answer ‘yes’ to the commander’s words. Elm, you were a knight yourself, weren’t you? What have you been teaching her?”

The commander frowned, evidently offended.

“She’ll have to meet with His Majesty since she’s an Invited, but what’s this about sharing meals? I don’t think we did anything like that when I was a knight. Is this a new thing you’re doing with recruits?” Elm asked Liam and not the commander.

“No. The knights are getting requests to share meals because Ann is an Invited.”

“Then as her guardian, I’ll inform you that we would like to turn down these requests. As we’ve turned down all the requests that have come to the Wolveriés.”

They’d come to do some lighthearted observation, but they had to know that things wouldn’t be so easy with the knights. Ann was flustered, unsure of what to do as well.

The commander sighed resignedly and glanced at Haruto. “So you say, but Haruto here and Bradley, who’s on the Dark Mountain now, did the same thing. It’s not as if Ann is special. It’s Sara, who hasn’t participated in any social events, who’s the exception.”

Everyone looked at Haruto, who nodded awkwardly.

“Yeah, the Gallaghers took me around here and there and introduced me to people as an Invited. I thought that was just what Invited were meant to do, and I was happy that I was welcomed everywhere I went, so I went to meals and stuff whenever they told me to.”

It was probably no problem with Haruto’s sociable personality.

“But Bradley always said he hated that, and I think in Ann’s case, you should prioritize the wishes of her and her guardian,” Haruto stated firmly.

“I appreciate hearing about the precedent from the person himself. House Greif has told the Wolveriés that we can decide these matters, and we’d like to reject all social requests.”

Elm was firm too, but the commander was not happy.

“Then what is the benefit to letting an Invited, and a girl at that, into the knights? It’s just more trouble for us. Fine. Liam, you handle the rest.”

The commander stood and left the reception room.

Liam sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Now we can finally get down to business.”

Everyone sat down in their own seats after being taken aback by the commander’s abrupt exit.

“The reason Ann’s enlistment went through as smoothly as it did was because of the reason the commander just stated. I know how capable the Invited are, so I expect a lot from Ann as a knight, but to the commander, the Invited are nothing more than convenient accessories. Of course, we will respect your wishes on this matter, so you can feel free to reject these invitations.”

Liam appeared to be suffering in his own way as the vice commander.

“I didn’t think all my grandstanding as an Invited would affect you, Ann. I’m sorry,” Haruto said glumly.

“Don’t be. I’ve already experienced being told I was an Invited and showered with attention. I know how nice it feels to be valued, but how annoying it can be too. What was the worst was when I didn’t understand anything, but it was a big relief when Sara came and explained everything to me.”

“Yeah, I probably only got this far ’cause of Bradley.”

It seemed this trip to the capital had given Haruto the opportunity to reflect on some things.

“If House Greif and House Wolverié, Ann’s guardians, are of the same opinion, then the knights will respect their wishes.”

The commander hadn’t been very accommodating, but if the vice commander was promising this, then it would probably be fine. Sara might not have liked Liam, but she had to admit she saw him in a bit more positive of a light after the continental tortoise incident.

“I have something serious to discuss now, so please listen. Sara, it’s about you.”

“Huh? Me?” Sara looked at Liam in surprise. She wasn’t sure why he had to say it was something serious when she didn’t think she’d ever heard him tell a joke, but the even-more-serious-than-usual look on his face made her brace herself.

“Yes. From what we’ve discussed regarding Haruto and Ann, you’ve come to understand that you’re somewhat unique as an Invited, yes?”

“Well, I guess so.”

All the Invited other than Sara had come down in more reasonable places and were treated like nobility. That was probably what he was referring to.

“You came down on the Dark Mountain, grew up there, and lived outside of Rosa in a tent. Due to all this, you acquired a unique piece of magic, your barrier, and you’ve helped the capital out in several difficult circumstances, which I’m grateful for.”

Liam was always telling her that a woman shouldn’t bow her head, so she was taken aback when he bowed his head to her.

After a moment, he looked up and leaned forward. “But by becoming independent so early, you’ve ended up with rather imbalanced knowledge. You’re an accomplished apothecary, but you have no common sense. Your name is famous as one of the Invited, but there aren’t many people who have met you, so you’re treated like some sort of legend.”

“A legend?”

So he said, but Sara didn’t want to meet that many people. An accomplished apothecary was all she wanted to be.

“Sara, you need to learn more. At the very least, it wouldn’t hurt to have the same knowledge that a knight trainee has.”

True, Sara had become independent so early that she’d never received any kind of education.

“You’re not young anymore, so I can’t force you to come with me like I once tried to do. For that reason, I’m asking you: What do you think about taking the knights’ classes with Ann?”

She hadn’t been expecting this suggestion at all.

“This time, I want you to decide for yourself, as an adult.”

Sara looked over at Allen and Kuntz. They had taken the knights’ classes last year and had suffered greatly from all the homework involved.

“It was hard for me since I don’t like to study, but I do feel like it made me smarter,” Kuntz said.

“I thought you would enjoy the classes.” This was Allen’s answer.

“Umm, I’ll be the only one older than everyone else. Is that okay? And I’m not gonna be a knight...”

“It’s fine. I doubt many people would assume you’re older than Ann.”

“Wha—?!” Sara’s head whipped over to face Ann. She might have been taller than Sara, but she was twelve!

“I’m way older than her! I’m an adult!” Sara insisted as Ann gave her a lukewarm look. That just pissed her off more.

“It doesn’t change the fact that you’re both beautiful ladies. Whether you’re large or small.”

That was not the issue. When Sara thought calmly about things, however, she realized that Liam was trying to give her an opportunity for an education. And he wanted her to make the decision.

Sara had been planning to go into the dungeon as an apothecary after leaving Ann with the knights. But she hadn’t yet become affiliated with the Apothecary’s Guild in the capital. So, for now, she was free to do as she liked.

Sara raised her head and looked straight at Liam. He was handsome as always. She might have had a bad impression of him because of their unfortunate first meeting—well, no, their second and third meetings were just as unpleasant—but he was always acting in the interests of the country rather than on his personal feelings. Even if Sara didn’t agree with his actions.

As Sara stared at him, Liam smiled.

“You always look straight at me, don’t you? You’re quiet, and you’re always hiding behind someone and trying not to stand out, but you never compromise. Could you believe in me this time, though?” His smile grew a bit strained. “That I’m only acting in your interest, I mean.”

Normally Haruto would have made fun of him right about now, but even he was silent at the serious look in Liam’s eyes.

Sara quietly said, “I knew what you were doing before, and the time after that, you did for me. I just couldn’t go along with you—because it wasn’t what I wanted to do.”

She’d never thought Liam was acting maliciously.

“But I agree that I’m lacking in common sense and general knowledge. I’d be grateful to accept your proposal, if that’s okay.”

“Of course it is.” Liam leaned back in his chair, looking relieved.

“So I can study with you even if I join the knights?”

“Sounds like it.”

“Yay!”

Seeing Ann overjoyed by this news made Sara happy too. It was strange to think that she’d come here only for Ann’s sake, but she had now been presented a new opportunity as well.

“So, why did you want us to come?” Allen asked Liam.

“When you forced your way into the lessons last year, frankly, I was annoyed. But the trainee knights who learned with you improved a lot.”

The knights had seemed very pleasant when Allen was forbidden from using his physical strengthening. It had looked like Allen and Kuntz were able to mix well with the trainee knights, Sara recalled.

“Plus, we adapted your shield magic for the knights, Kuntz, but it really is easier to learn with a good instructor. I felt that strongly when I saw your lessons at the guild.”

“Wait, you were watching?”

They’d done the shield magic classes right in the middle of the ten days, so Liam had come to spy on them, not just on the last day but apparently sometime in the middle as well.

Liam ignored Haruto’s comment and continued, “You can use the same kind of barrier as Sara, Haruto, and I imagine you can do whatever you like with shield magic as well. So, what do you say? Allow me to ask you myself this time. Allen, Kuntz, Haruto, would you like to train with the knights as instructors? We can work toward mutual improvement.”

“I’ll do it,” Allen answered quickly.

“You just want to be with Sara. But I’ll participate too, of course.” Kuntz had to add an extra comment.

“What should I do? I won’t go too far again, will I?” Haruto was hesitant, his voice low.

Allen and Kuntz clapped him on the shoulders.

“We’ll be with you, won’t we?”

“We’ll stop you if you screw something up.”

Haruto closed his mouth tight as if holding back what he wanted to say, then smiled goofily.

“You think you two can stop me?”

Allen chuckled. “I’ve got Sara, don’t I? I’ll rely on her if I need to.”

“Ah! No Sara! That’s against the rules!”

Why was she against the rules? Sara wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but in any case, they would all be together again starting tomorrow.

After touring the knights’ facilities, they all departed. Sara didn’t go straight home, though. She had to stop by the Apothecary’s Guild first.

She poked her head into the front of the guild a little nervously, not having given them a particular date she was planning on showing up. It was a little ironic considering how confidently she’d strode in with her personal request last time. In the end, she decided to be confident now even without a request.

“Umm, oh!” she exclaimed.

“Sara! I finally caught you!”

It wasn’t the usual sales girls sitting at the counter but Noel, almost like he was waiting for her.

“Why don’t you come in from the staff entrance like normal? You’re free to come and go as you please, Sara. Any apothecary of the capital’s guild is.”

She almost felt like he was subtly emphasizing her affiliation with the capital’s guild.

“I waited here ’cause I knew you’d come in through this door. My brother said so as well. You might try to just leave a message anyway.”

“I-I wouldn’t do that,” she said, not very convincingly.

“I’m not sure about that,” Noel said with a huff.

He brought her straight to the guildmaster’s office. Sara was a little intimidated since he’d grown even taller in the last year.

“Guildmaster! Sara’s here!”

“Finally showed up, eh?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

The guildmaster looked exasperated, but not as menacing as Noel, which she was relieved to see.

“So, is the new Invited settled in?”

“Yes. She joined the knights today. On that subject, though...” Sara told them what Liam had proposed to her and explained that she’d be attending lessons with the knights for the foreseeable future. “Actually, Konrad from the Hunter’s Guild asked me to do a plant survey of the central dungeon if I had time, but it looks like I won’t be able to do that for a while either.”

“Damn Konrad. He didn’t have to say anything. We were going to request the same thing.”

She didn’t think there was any reason for him to have to take his rivalry with the other guildmaster so seriously.

“I have plenty of things I want to do with Sara too, you know. I’m sure I could find new things if I went with her to investigate the plants growing in the depths of the dungeon.”

Noel seemed to have been looking forward to it a lot. He was immensely disappointed now.

“I’m a little inconvenienced by the lack of supreme healing herbs arriving from Hydrangea now, but I understand Liam’s perspective very well. There’s no rush on the plants, and education is important.”

“Yes, and Sara is rather lacking in this world’s common sense. Though that’s partly why she’s able to do things no one else has done. I’m impressed with my brother.”

The guildmaster agreed with Liam’s idea, and Noel sighed as if to say that there was no use in fighting this, given it was Sara they were talking about.

“That’s why I’m thinking I’ll act as an unaffiliated apothecary for now. Like Chris.”

Sara felt it was important to say this.

“You can still affiliate yourself with us. You can belong to the capital’s guild but still be free to act on your own. You’ll still be an apothecary even if you’re studying with the knights. Of course, we’ll only pay you your wage when you work. You’ll have to keep track of your hours.”

“Is it really okay to be so self-serving?”

“What’s the problem? You can think for yourself. It benefits us to let you do as you please too.”

Sara decided to gratefully take him up on his offer.

“If you’re going into the dungeon or leaving or changing your affiliation, just let us know.”

“Okay.”

“And you have to go with me if you’re doing plant surveys in the dungeon,” Noel insisted.

With that, Sara left the Apothecary’s Guild.

“Is it really okay for things to be so convenient for me?”

“Isn’t it? I mean, I dunno.”

Sara was only talking to herself, but Allen, who was waiting for her outside, ended up hearing her and responding.

“You don’t know, but you think it’s okay?”

“Convenient’s good, isn’t it?”

Amused for no particular reason, Sara laughed as they went back toward the townhouse, but Allen invited her to stop at a food stand on the way.

“I never thought things would work out like this when we came to the capital. I was just thinking you’d work at the Apothecary’s Guild, and Kuntz and I would go into the dungeon and we’d all talk to Ann at night in the townhouse.”

“Yeah. I was actually planning on going into the dungeon too, since I thought I’d do a survey of all the plants down there.”

“The two of us didn’t even have the same idea about things.”

“Well, everything was so sudden.”

They chatted all the way home, and when they arrived, Ann scolded them, saying she’d wanted to grab a bite to eat too. Did that make them failures as guardians?

For the next few months, Sara diligently commuted to the knight barracks every morning. As far back as her time in Rosa—up until going to Gardenia, really—Sara had always seen the knights as an unpleasant, untrustworthy organization. It was the knights’ violent kidnapping of Nelly with a paralytic that had led to her and Sara being separated, which had been a painful time for Sara back then, after all.

But Sara was an adult now, and the knights also seemed to be slowly changing. The biggest catalyst for their change was probably Chris’s dragon repellent, since now they could deal with the migrating dragons mostly on their own. Until then, they’d had to rely on strong individuals like Nelly, Bradley, or Haruto, and they felt no qualms about using such people in whatever way was convenient to them.

But Sara was taking classes with kids younger than her, the generation that had experienced the danger of the continental tortoise almost colliding with the capital. To them, Allen was a hero of the people, and they knew all about Sara and Haruto’s contribution to the crisis as well. After all, the walls and watchtowers they’d constructed still stood tall to the south of the capital.

“That slide is so much fun!”

The trainee knights told them that similar slides had been created in a few other places. Sara and Haruto had to glance away in shame at that. Slides being their greatest contribution to society felt a bit pathetic.

Before noble prejudice set in, or the idea that it was only natural that the Invited serve the country, the children interacted with Sara and the other Invited with simple curiosity and admiration. The same went for Allen and Kuntz, who weren’t Invited themselves but were close to them. For that reason, they were quick to adopt unusual magic like Sara’s barrier and Kuntz’s shield.

That meant the older knights couldn’t just stay in their usual rut. Since the new recruits had no qualms about new magic, they were mastering Kuntz’s shield magic quickly and outdoing the older knights more and more. That motivated the older knights to train more, so the standard of strength for the whole order was gradually improving.

“Come on, let’s go to lunch.”

After their morning lectures came lunch in the dining hall.

The trainee knights were of various ages, from those who were twelve like Ann to those who were fifteen or so. They were all younger than Sara, but they were all taller than her. Even the shortest boy was around Ann’s height. These kids casually invited Ann and Sara to lunch on this first day and they all headed excitedly to the dining hall. As the older sister of the group, Sara was a bit despondent to realize how well she fit in with them.

The knights’ dining hall had two meal options. Sara asked for smaller portions while Ann got a regular-sized meal and they sat with the trainee knights in the corner of the hall.

“Huh? Weren’t there more people here a second ago?”

One of the young knights with them answered Sara’s question. “Some people have lunch at home. Even if the food here is so good.”

Sara had chosen the chicken, with a side of potatoes, brown bread, and a thin soup.

“I’m happy just getting to eat this much meat, but there are people who say it’s awful and they can’t even eat it.”

Unfortunately, there weren’t many commoners who became knights, so most of the trainees were young nobles. Among them were those who were grateful for what they were served and those who couldn’t stand to eat it. Sara thought back nostalgically on school lunches back in her old world.

“We have lessons in manners in our etiquette classes, so you get to eat a full-course meal on those days.”

Sara learned a lot on her first day. She was a bit surprised when Allen and Kuntz burst in and ordered lunch like it was completely natural, but thanks to that, she was dragged along to afternoon training as well.

“Err, I thought I’d be leaving after the morning stuff. I mean, I’m not supposed to teach, right?”

“Come to think of it, you’re not,” Haruto said, remembering the request Liam had made of them. “It’d help to have you there when we explain your barrier, though. It worked out that way at the Hunter’s Guild, right?”

“I guess so...”

She hadn’t been asked to participate in the afternoon training, but she was comfortable enough with the knights now that she didn’t mind sitting in.

“Now, we’ve asked some temporary instructors to join us today.”

A considerable number of knights were lined up on the field, which Sara remembered visiting the year before.

“First there’s the Invited, Haruto Gallagher. I’m sure many of you remember his work during the migrating dragon hunts, though it was several years ago now. He’ll be serving as an instructor for a short time.”

Haruto stepped forward when Liam introduced him, and it felt like a warm, nostalgic breeze swept over the gathered knights.

“Then we have the Hunters Allen and Kuntz. Many of you should know them as well, since you trained with them last year.”

When Allen and Kuntz stepped forward, the younger knights seemed to get more excited.

“And finally, one of the Invited and an apothecary, Ichinok Rasarasa. She is under the guardianship of Count Wolverié.”

“That again?” Sara couldn’t help muttering. Maybe because it had taken a while for her guardian to be officially decided, people tended to use this strange pronunciation of her Japanese name instead when they spoke of her in official contexts. Everyone ignored Sara’s comment, of course.

“Let me introduce another Invited, Ann Greif, as well. Starting today, she’ll be a trainee knight.”

Ann was holding her head as high as she could. Sara did the same, since Liam had told her this was not the sort of situation where one bowed their head.

“Our lesson today will be on shield magic, which Kuntz demonstrated last year. Some of you are already able to use it, but your precision still needs some work. For that reason, we’ll cover the spell from the basics again, starting with how it was conceived of.”

Some of the knights did not look very happy, honestly, particularly those who specialized in physical strengthening.

“Very well, Kuntz. Please begin.”

“Me?!”

“Just do what you did in the guild.”

Sara looked over at Liam in shock. She’d thought he’d only been watching on the last day, but he somehow knew how they’d started their lessons as well.

“I was watching every day. Is that a problem?”

“No. Not a problem.”

It just amused her that he really had been coming every day, just as Haruto had surmised.

Sara had thought the older knights would be opposed to learning magic from someone so young, and a commoner at that. Having Haruto helped with that. Actually, Sara’s barrier might have helped more than anything. Her barrier was used only to protect her and other people; it wasn’t something she used against other people. Some of the knights knew her from when she’d protected herself from their paralytics or defended Camellia from the bog frogs or helped with the green grass locusts. But almost no one here, including Liam, had seen it up close, nor did they know how it worked.

“We’ll make our barriers the same color as Kuntz’s shield.”

When the barriers around Sara and Haruto turned brown, there was a big reaction among the knights. Of course, it seemed Haruto wasn’t very good at tinting his barrier, seeing as it was a slightly different color and seemed to shift between a few different hues.

“I wanted to show them this. A visible demonstration,” Liam said. Even if Trilgaians already used magic, it was easiest for them to understand things they could see with their own eyes.

“Can we allow them to attack you like they did in the Hunter’s Guild?”

“That’s fine, but their attacks will go right back to them, so just make sure no one hits hard enough to get hurt.”

Of course, naturally the knights got more and more serious as this test went on and people did start to get hurt. Was that just the nature of people who made fighting their livelihood?

Glancing to the side at a knight who collapsed to his knees and downed a potion, Allen strolled into Sara’s barrier with a cup.

“You should replenish your fluids a bit, Sara. You’re getting thirsty, aren’t you?”

“Thanks.”

“Gimme some too...” Haruto reached out, maintaining the same barrier next to her.

“If I must.”

Allen was nice enough not to tell Haruto to conjure his own water.

“Hold on a second. How come it reflects our attacks, but Allen can just walk in?” a keen-eyed knight said. The rest of the knights all stared at him and Allen smirked.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you, Allen?”

Ignoring Haruto’s exasperated comment, Allen explained to the knights, “Sara’s barrier distinguishes between friend and foe. No enemy can get through, but anyone considered an ally is free to enter and leave as they please.”

“That’s why the knights couldn’t get in that one time? We were considered enemies? I can’t believe it...”

The knight who crumpled to his knees again must have been part of the mission to Camellia. Sara felt like she had to explain how she’d felt back then.

“I’m here helping out now, but several years ago, the knights used a paralytic on a person, on Nelly, and I still haven’t forgiven you for that. Back in Camellia, I had the feeling you would be careless using the paralytic against monsters too. My apothecary teacher, Chris, felt the same way. That’s why we had so many antiparalytics prepared back then.”

There were probably several people here who had participated in that mission.

“Just as we expected, it wasn’t just the monsters who were paralyzed during that mission but several Hunters as well. The knights were also the ones who got in my way when I was trying to protect the town. For a long time, the knights were not allies who protected me but people who brought harm to me and the people close to me.”

She didn’t go as far as calling them enemies, but her statement that the knights were not allies to her, an Invited, seemed to shock them greatly.

“It may be right to work toward defeating monsters more efficiently, but is it right to use Hunters like they’re disposable? It’s right to take in children without parents, but if those children are able to support themselves and aren’t asking to be taken in, is it right to take them away by force? Liam, what do you think?”

This was supposed to be a lesson on the Invited’s barrier magic, so how had it come to this? Sara found the feelings she’d been holding on to for all these years finally spilling out of her mouth. It had turned into her grilling Liam in front of everyone, which was awkward for Sara too. She opened her mouth to deflect but received an answer first.

“I don’t think what I did was wrong. I’ll spare no effort to defeat monsters in an efficient way, and if there are people in my reach I can help, I will always reach my hand out to help them.”

Other knights were nodding here and there.

“But after meeting you and running into you several times, I realized that the people I’m meant to protect have their own will, and even if they’re not doing the right thing, as long as they’re happy, it’s probably for the best. Even if they’re not doing the right thing.”

She didn’t think she’d done anything so wrong to merit saying that twice.

“You might not have thought it was right, but it was right for me.” Sara was direct in her response.

“Not many women can talk to the vice commander like that. Well, Sara’s direct with the commander too.”

She was a little annoyed at what had happened, but Haruto’s comment helped to calm her down. Liam shrugged his shoulders and smiled as well.

“We can’t return to the past, but if the same thing happens again, I promise to listen to what the other person says.”

The combative glint in his eyes seemed to say that he would listen, but he wouldn’t necessarily do what they wanted. Sara wasn’t backing down, but Liam wasn’t either. That was a good summary of their relationship, she felt.

“Well? Would you like to try it?” Sara held her hand out to Liam, a combative glint in her eyes as well.

Was he an enemy or an ally?

The field went quiet as Liam took a step forward, then another. Sara’s barrier seemed to sway hesitantly for a moment before letting Liam smoothly through. Liam reached out and firmly grasped the hand Sara held out to him.

“So I’m an ally?”

“Just barely, I’d say.”

Her smile was strained, but the field erupted into cheers anyway.

“Wait, this is supposed to just be a barrier lesson, isn’t it?”

Even Haruto’s comment was drowned out.

If the knights did wrong in the future, Sara would likely continue to repel them, and she didn’t think of them fully as allies yet. Still, she wasn’t going to unilaterally view them as enemies. For the sake of Ann, who was clapping along despite not really understanding the situation, she decided to consider her relationship with the knights more carefully from now on.

Sara didn’t think it was the knights of all people she’d be learning Trilgaia’s history from, nor geography, nor literature. But she was able to understand just how strange her own behavior had been now, given that she didn’t share the same knowledge base as everyone else here.

“I feel like I finally understand why everyone says I have no common sense.”

She was accompanying Noel on his attempt at a mid-level floor in the dungeon on a break from her lessons with the knights. Noel wasn’t strong enough to challenge the deeper floors of the dungeon yet, but he went to the higher floors pretty regularly.

“That’s good. It’s not as if it’s necessarily a bad thing to be without common sense, but everyone’s been worried, since it doesn’t help your reputation much and it means you could get taken advantage of.”

Practicing with his shield beside her, Noel dutifully gave his response to Sara’s muttering.

“I’m kind of surprised you can use that shield, Noel.”

“I am too. It’s thanks to Kuntz showing me how more than a few times.”

Ann was on the same break and wanted to go into the dungeon herself, so Haruto was accompanying her. Sara had promised to gather plants with Noel, and Allen and Kuntz were tagging along as their guards.

“Sara, could you color your barrier again?”

“Sure. I’ll make it green this time.”

Sara colored the barrier that she was currently casting around her and Noel. She left it translucent, of course, so they could still see their surroundings.

“I know it’s dangerous in the dungeon, but it feels a little strange to practice my shield inside your completely safe barrier.”

“You’ve got a lot of mana and you’re good at using it, so I think you’ll be able to put it to practical use pretty soon.”

Noel put all of his talent toward being an apothecary, but if he wanted to gather plants himself like Sara or Chris did, he’d have to get good enough at physical strengthening or magic to protect himself. He fully understood this, so he was putting in the effort to be able to gather on his own.

“The upper floors were a treasure trove of medicinal plants. I wonder about the middle floors.”

“It’s my first time here too, so I’m excited to find out.”

Wham!

They were already getting attacked by horned rabbits, but when Sara crouched down to pick up the rabbit at her feet, she exclaimed at the same time as Noel...

“Mana herbs!”

These grew aboveground as well, of course, but there were fewer of them around than there were healing herbs.

“Dungeons really are treasure troves. Why did apothecaries stay out of them until now?”

“I mean, probably because they’re dangerous.”

As the group chatted about meaningless things, they stopped here and there to gather plants. Allen and Kuntz took turns watching them and hunting horned rabbits and meadow wolves.

“Come to think of it, I heard from my brother that he was finally able to enter your barrier.”

“Is that the kind of thing you two talk about?”

“We don’t actually talk all that often. It seems like it kind of bothers him how much you don’t like him, though.”

“He sure doesn’t act like it does.” Sara was surprised to hear this.

“He asked me once if there was something about him that younger people didn’t like. I told him that his subordinates like him and so do most women, so it probably wasn’t younger people in particular.”

“Pfft.” Allen, who was nearby, burst out laughing. “Yeah. I think it’s just that our ways of thinking don’t gel.”

Sara couldn’t even imagine a dejected Liam, but she had to admit she felt a little bad knowing that he hadn’t been completely unaffected by her cold treatment of him.

“I wouldn’t say that I don’t like him. If I had to say, he’s sort of like the older brother of a friend of mine who lives in another town.”

“Sounds like you don’t care much about him at all. Well, he is my brother.”

After a fun plant-gathering session, Noel seemed to have come to some decision.

“Coming down to the middle floors, I’ve realized that you can gather the basic medicinal plants pretty much anywhere. I’d like to go down to the deeper floors with you, but we can do a survey of the middle floors with just the Apothecary’s Guild if we hire guards.”

“I did the whole thing myself in Hydrangea, though,” Sara said ruefully.

She was planning on going deeper after her lessons with the knights, even if the dungeon’s size meant that it would take a while, but Noel shook his head.

“The distribution can change, and we could find new plants at some point. If we rely on you completely for it, we wouldn’t be able to update it when you go back to Hydrangea or move somewhere else.”

Caren planned to hire guards for the apothecaries in Hydrangea just so that didn’t happen there.

“Though it’d be way cheaper to rely on you for it all, though, to be honest.”

“True.”

If people other than Sara were doing it, they’d need more than just one guard, and if they had to pay attention to their surroundings, the areas they could search would be limited. It would take not only more money but more time to survey the large central dungeon.

“But that’s why you can’t sell yourself short, Sara. Even to the Apothecary’s Guild.”

Sara was happy Noel felt that way.

“Who knows when or why you might be leaving the capital, after all. Show me a bunch of the deeper floors while you can, Sara.”

“Yes, yes.”

With Sara’s barrier, she didn’t mind taking Noel into the dungeon whenever he requested her presence. She learned with the knights, and went into the dungeon with Ann, Noel, and everyone else on her breaks, surveying the dungeon for its medicinal plants. Guildmaster Chester got a bit too excited when they found supreme healing herbs in the lower floors, but unfortunately they had yet to find any silver dragonmint.

They’d come to the capital in spring, but before long, cold winds were blowing and it was the season for migrating dragons. Sara had been eighteen when she’d first come to the capital, but at some point she’d turned nineteen.

“With the end of the year, our classes with the knights are over too!”

It was supposed to be a full year of lessons, starting at the beginning of the year, but since Sara and Ann had joined partway through, they’d been sent home with a lot of homework every day just like Allen and Kuntz had the year before.

“But we’re former Japanese people, so...”

“We’ve already dealt with standardized testing and entrance exams.”

Sara and Ann high-fived. The material might have been new to them, but studying for long periods of time was not. They caught up with the other trainees quickly and were soon able to borrow books from the library to read.

“I used to like books so much, but it’s like I forgot how fun it could be to read.”

She learned that when you were healthy, you were able to concentrate enough to read so much more than when you were exhausted.

“I feel like I can understand why Bradley holed himself up on the Dark Mountain with all his books.”

Of course, she loved working as an apothecary with her healthy body as well. When she finished learning with Ann and the knights at the end of the year, she planned to start working at the Apothecary’s Guild in earnest.

“So we’ll be doing different stuff next year. I’ll miss you,” Ann said.

“Let’s talk at night to make up for it. I’m sure we’ll have plenty to share.”

In the beginning, Allen, Kuntz, and Haruto had worked hard to teach the knights all they could. But the knights had always been strong. As soon as they got the basics of Kuntz’s shield magic down, they improved by the day and soon didn’t need any more instruction.

“I wish people would stop calling it ‘Kuntz’s shield magic,’” Kuntz lamented, but the name had stuck.

As soon as they’d determined that their guidance was no longer necessary, the group of them had started diving into the central dungeon. There had been a long period where they hadn’t been able to hunt as much as they wanted, so as soon as Allen and Kuntz were able to explore the same areas, there was no need for them to hold back anymore. Plus, they had Haruto with them.

With no one to tell them what to do, the three of them ran around the lower floors of the dungeon as much as they wanted. But that wasn’t all that they did; a few times a week, they taught rookie Hunters, and anyone who requested it of them could receive lessons in shield magic or Invited spells. There were a lot of Hunters in the capital, and they didn’t do organized training like the knights, so it was hard to say if their overall strength was improving as a group, but at the very least, the rookies were able to make more money.

Migrating dragon hunts with the knights were going well too. Personal requests to Hunters were mostly just to keep watch, and the Hunters didn’t actually have to intervene much these days.

“Man, when I was here, they were relying on me, Miss Nelly, and Bradley for everything. Now I just have to sit here and watch.”

Haruto, who’d accepted one of those requests, was bored enough to grumble.

Nelly and Chris were supposed to visit at the end of the year. Sara couldn’t wait to see them.

“I can’t believe I didn’t even get wrapped up in anything. I’ve never had such a smooth year before.”

“Hey, cut that out. That’s foreshadowing!”

Haruto was quick to stop her, but what was wrong with everything going smoothly?

There were even days when she could think such naive thoughts...

“We got an emergency message from Rosa.”

It seemed training was over for the rookie knights as well.

“They’ve spotted an enormous herd of cotton sheep in the meadow east of Rosa.”

Sara couldn’t help smiling nostalgically at this news. She thought back to saving those young Hunters with Allen once upon a time.

“It’s rare for the herds to get so big in the winter, but they all seem to be heading south without dispersing, so Rosa wanted to give the capital a heads-up. If those sheep make their way here, you’ll be participating in the mission even if you’re trainees, so be prepared.”

The trainees didn’t seem to know what to make of this news.

“Cotton sheep? Like those sheep candies?”

“Is it a big enough deal that they have to warn us about it?”

Monsters were part of their lessons, but there wasn’t much opportunity to see them in person living in the capital, so the threat must not have seemed real to these people.

She might have been acting like a bit of a busybody here, but Sara explained to them, “I’ve seen them and they’re about as big as...from the desk to here. They’ve got thick wool and attacks don’t really do much to them. I once saw a horned rabbit attack one and get stuck in its wool. Their legs are strong enough to break rocks, and when there’s a herd of them that fills the whole meadow, there’s pretty much nothing you can do about them. They’re a real problem, so you’ll really have to be careful.”

Sara did her best to explain things to the trainees, but they didn’t react much to the information, having not witnessed it themselves.

Now that she thought about it, they’d gotten caught up in some cotton sheep trouble when they were crossing the mountains over from Gardenia last spring, hadn’t they? By the time she remembered that and thought to add it to her explanation, people were already heading to the dining hall for lunch.

“It’s flat around the capital, so I don’t think they’ll destroy any roads or anything...”

“But they could destroy any fields they go across.”

“That wouldn’t be good.”

“Nope.”

Leave it to Sara to summon up a problem just by mentioning how well things seemed to be going. Sara couldn’t hide her apprehension. For the time being, she headed to the Hunter’s Guild.

Normally, everyone was in the dungeon in the middle of the day, so the guild was empty, but that day, it was unusually crowded, with people looking at the bulletin board and chatting in small groups. Sara went over to check the bulletin board and saw a notice about the cotton sheep just like she expected, but nothing about an actual request yet.

“Hey, Sara. Noel’s not with you today?”

Konrad, the guildmaster, popped up out of nowhere, as he was wont to do when Sara visited. She could only admire the speed at which the receptionists notified him of things. With a guild so big, there was probably a lot of trouble that needed responding to, she figured.

“No, I came ’cause I heard a bunch of cotton sheep were coming.”

“It’d help if everyone was so quick to hear about things. I’m surprised that’s all it took for you to come over here, though. Ah.” Konrad seemed to have figured out what he wanted to ask her. “If you were in Rosa, you must have seen cotton sheep before.”

“Yes. Allen and I went to help a group of Hunters that got stuck in the middle of a herd once.” Sara smiled a bit as she recounted this experience of hers, but Konrad, who was usually so loud it was kind of annoying, didn’t say anything in response.

She looked up at him, wondering what was wrong, and found his mouth hanging open.

“Err?”

“R-Right. It would have been six or seven years ago that you were in Rosa, right? Hey, wait a second, that’s right after you got your Hunter’s license, isn’t it?! Right, I guess cotton sheep wouldn’t be any trouble with your barrier.”

“Allen tried to charge in with just his physical strengthening, if you can believe it.”

“No way! That’s crazy!”

Vince had been pretty frantic to stop him too, she recalled.

“Our forces are split right now with the migrating dragons to take care of, but there should be a meeting about the cotton sheep led by the knights. I’ll let you know if they want to make a request to the guild.”

“If there’s something I can do to help, I will.”

Nelly wasn’t here, and Allen wasn’t either. But, to even Sara’s surprise, she promised to help immediately, not saying she’d think about it or consult someone.

She hurried to the Apothecary’s Guild, her heart beating a little fast.

“Sara, let’s go to the guildmaster’s office.”

She and Noel headed there immediately.

“Sara, I heard from Josef that you have some experience fighting cotton sheep?” asked Chester.

“What?! That’s not true. Vince said cotton sheep were like a natural disaster and not something you fight. I’ve just helped some Hunters who were caught in the middle of a herd once.”

“Hmm. In other words, you waded into the herd and emerged unscathed, then?”

Chester groaned to himself in thought while Josef, who was also present, tossed Sara a little paper bag.

“Sheep candy. You like it, right?”

“Th-Thank you.”

He must have given her the candy because of the topic of conversation. Was he always walking around with some because he was a fan too? Sara always welcomed sweets, so she accepted the treats gratefully either way.

“I wanted to discuss the biology of cotton sheep and what the Apothecary’s Guild should do to prepare if they end up coming to the capital.”

“I think the only thing we can do is evacuate. If people are injured that probably means they’ve been trampled, so I’m not sure potions will help much... Protection cases should be effective, but we couldn’t get enough to cover the whole city, right?”

Sara sat down on the couch as she spoke.

“That would probably be safest. But if we evacuate and the cotton sheep enter the capital, who knows how much damage they could cause? The people up top probably wouldn’t be too happy if the capital got destroyed.”

“In which case, we’ll need to prepare more supreme potions in the event that we end up in an all-out confrontation with them. If we must.”

Josef didn’t like making use of supreme potions, but the decision had to be left to the people defending the capital.

“I think we should try to shift their trajectory like we did with the continental tortoise. Damage to the capital is one thing, but it would be a problem if they ate the winter wheat and stuff in the fields too, right?” Sara suggested her idea. All they needed to do was prevent them from getting near the capital or nearby towns.

“Hmm. It’ll be the knights and the Hunter’s Guild deciding how to deal with the situation, but if they don’t bring up that idea, the Apothecary’s Guild could suggest it.”

“I would appreciate it.”

“Could I ask you two to concentrate on gathering supreme healing herbs and mana herbs for now?” Chester asked Sara and Noel.

“Sure thing.”

While the higher-ups tracked the cotton sheep’s movement and came up with countermeasures, all there was for Sara to do was fulfill her duties as an apothecary. On days like today, when she only had half of the day to work with, she’d head to the middle floors to gather mana herbs.

“The guildhall was pretty crazy today.”

“It’s not often that warnings like that are posted.”

Haruto and Allen had been in the dungeon all day, so they’d only learned of the news when they came back.

“Wait, did the cotton sheep that crossed the mountains go north and join with another herd before heading south?”

Sara confirmed Haruto’s suspicion.

“We were relieved to see them heading north back then, but they ended up becoming trouble anyway.”

Unlike Sara, who merely sighed at the problem, Allen and Elm were already talking about how to hunt cotton sheep.

“Have you ever run into a herd of cotton sheep on your travels before, Elm?”

“Even when I do, I just avoid them.”

“So how do you think you’d hunt them?”

Cotton sheep’s meat could be eaten, and they provided ample wool, but they always moved as a herd, so they weren’t hunted often, since there wasn’t much merit to pulling only one of them away from the pack and picking it off.

“Same as any other monster. Aim for their weak point. Not much you can do with your fists, though, since their hearts are protected by that thick wool. You could probably reach it with a sword, but they’re a bad matchup for physical strengthening types. If I had to fight one, I’d aim for the head. I hear they’re tough, though.”

Allen looked down at his fist. He must have been thinking about whether or not he could manage it.

“I could hit a bunch of ’em with my lightning magic, but if I didn’t take ’em all out at once, I bet they’d go ballistic.”

Haruto could probably take them all out at once. For that matter, Sara could surround them all with her barrier and... The thought was too frightening, so she stopped thinking it.

“Lightning is pretty scary, yeah. It’d probably be pretty hard to whittle them down with swords or fists enough that the herd didn’t go crazy, though.”

If they could come up with this much, the people making the decisions surely could as well.

“Hopefully this doesn’t become a big problem right when most of the knights are stuck taking care of the migrating dragons.”

It was precisely at times like these, however, that trouble occurred. Sara was close to finishing her lessons with the knights one day when she had to return to the Apothecary’s Guild due to a state of emergency. She went down into the dungeon almost every day, gathering mana herbs and supreme healing herbs.

“They’re trying to divert their course using protection cases, but no matter how much they shift their trajectory, they keep heading back toward the capital. It’s likely that they’re making their way toward our fields.”

Whenever Sara returned to the Apothecary’s Guild to turn in the plants she’d gathered, she got the newest information on the current countermeasures from Chester or Josef. The warning at the Hunter’s Guild still hadn’t been taken down either.

That was when Sara and Haruto finally received a summons. Evidently, the knights had grown frustrated and launched an attack on the cotton sheep, which had provoked them into a stampede that was speeding toward the capital.

“Well, I’m impressed they held out this long.”

This was Haruto’s honest opinion.

“Yeah, until now, they’ve always called us in as soon as they knew we were in the capital.”

Sara was surprised as well. She’d thought they would be asked to do something sooner.

“I don’t think I’ll be any help to you this time, so I’ll participate in whatever plan the Hunter’s Guild goes with. I’m sure they’ll have requests for Hunters too.”

“Same here.”

Allen and Kuntz went right off to the Hunter’s Guild.

“I’ll stand by with the knights. I can’t be much help yet, but I’m sure there’s stuff behind the scenes I can do.”

Ann planned on doing her best at her chosen place of work as well.

“Guess we don’t need anybody holding down the fort anymore. I’ll go to the Hunter’s Guild too, then.”

Elm left for the Hunter’s Guild as well. And Sara and Haruto headed for the castle.

It was just like Sara’s last visit, from the king, the prime minister, the guildmasters of the Hunter’s and Apothecary’s Guilds, and the knight commander all being there in the meeting room, down to the map on the blackboard that Liam stood in front of. But some things were different this time as well. The guildmaster of the Apothecary’s Guild was Sara’s boss now, and the Hunter’s Guild guildmaster was an acquaintance she was on friendly terms with. The commander of the knights was still someone she had no relationship with, but Liam, at least, was no longer her enemy.

“Our plan to divert the cotton sheep’s route from the capital has utterly failed. This will sound like an excuse, but we simply couldn’t spare the manpower for the operation during migrating dragon season. When we attacked them to try to reduce their numbers even just a little bit, the whole herd went berserk, as we feared.”

Perhaps it was a sign of Liam’s growth that he was able to state so plainly that they had failed.

“We believe the cotton sheep are heading for the fields to the east of the capital. The northern fields were all filled with wheat that was already harvested in autumn, but everything south of the capital is to be harvested in spring. In other words, if the cotton sheep destroy those fields, it’s possible that we’ll be dealing with food shortages next year. We must divert the sheep from the fields in the east and lead them to the meadows to the south of the capital.”

Sara prepared herself for the conversation to turn to the two of them.

“Fortunately, since this spring, many of the knights have acquired a shield spell based on the Invited Sara’s barrier that we call Kuntz’s shield magic. This magic has been effective in repelling the cotton sheep to change their trajectory. But we still don’t have enough personnel to utilize this technique effectively. What about the Hunter’s Guild?”

If Kuntz were here, he’d probably be begging Liam to stop. In any case, Liam had asked for Konrad’s input first, so Sara was able to relax for now.

“The Hunter’s Guild also has a good number of people who can use shield magic now. I’m grateful for it, since it’s contributing to lower numbers of injuries among Hunters.”

“Can we request your aid, then?”

“Of course. I’ll put out an emergency request when I get back to the guild.”

“Much appreciated.”

Relieved, Liam turned to Chester next.

“The Apothecary’s Guild is working on increasing our stock of supreme potions and mana potions. We’ll dispatch apothecaries to the scene as well, if you need us to.”

“That would be appreciated as well.”

Liam looked thankful that the meeting was proceeding smoothly.

“Once we’re sure what our numbers will be like, we’ll plan to repel the cotton sheep with protection cases and Hunters and knights who can use shield magic, moving past the capital with them.”

Sara hadn’t thought Kuntz’s shield magic would come in so handy. She was thoroughly impressed.

“Liam, I know I entrusted you with this matter, but why are you being so circuitous? Haruto’s right there, is he not? What is a time like this if not the perfect time to utilize the power of the Invited?”

The knight commander suddenly brought up Haruto.

“Haruto has wide-range magic, does he not? I recall it being powerful enough to cause quite a commotion in the dungeon once. Can he not simply defeat all the sheep in one blow?”

He didn’t stop there. The knight commander then turned to Sara.

“Or what about the other Invited? You built those walls when the continental tortoise came, didn’t you? The sheep aren’t nearly so tall. It should be easy for you to construct a low wall. We’re busy dealing with the migrating dragons right now. We should just leave this to these two.”

This was a new knight commander, but his way of thinking was exactly the same as the previous one.

Sara saw Haruto’s fists clench beside her before they went limp as if he’d given up. If asked if they could do it, Haruto and Sara would have to admit that they could. If the plan had been to build a wall from the start, then they could have planned a route and gotten started earlier, finishing with time to spare. But instead of saying so, Sara stayed quiet and waited. It hadn’t been her that the knight commander had addressed, after all.

Liam let out a quiet sigh like he was holding his irritation in. “Commander. I reported to you in advance that we would not be relying on the Invited, did I not? I believe I informed you that we would handle this matter with the knights, the Hunter’s Guild, the Apothecary’s Guild, and the citizens of the capital. We’ve handled the migrating dragons almost entirely on our own this year as well, have we not?”

The knights should have all been on the same page at this point. The fact that it was their leader who was holding them back was not a good look.

“Then why did you call the Invited here today?”

“Well...”

He’d been explaining everything in a set order. Sara felt a bit bad for him since he’d been interrupted, but she felt like she understood what he wanted from them too.

She thought Liam might want the Invited to suggest their own roles in the plan. He was laying out what they were working with in total and would then ask what Sara and Haruto would contribute on top of that. But before Sara could open her own mouth, Liam continued speaking.

“I’d like to save Haruto’s wide-range magic as a last resort. If a great number of cotton sheep perish, it could upset the balance of the monsters in the meadows.”

Sara looked to Liam in surprise. She’d raised the subject of the balance of living things plenty of times in the past, but she hadn’t thought Liam really understood what she meant.

“I considered Sara’s walls as well, but even with limitless mana reserves, it’s simply too much to ask of one person. I determined that it would be difficult to implement such a plan without ample time to prepare.”

Sara was thankful that he felt the same way she did about that plan.

“Then there’s no point in having them here, is there?”

“The Invited were not brought here by the goddess to be useful.” Liam spoke for the goddess Herself. “I asked them to come to see if they could suggest any ideas we couldn’t think of ourselves. We have no way of really knowing the full extent of what they’re capable of, Haruto and Sara both.”

Liam probably hadn’t truly understood what Sara was capable of until she demonstrated her barrier for the knights.

“We’ll be dealing with the cotton sheep ourselves, but is there anything you can think of to add to our plan?”

He asked the exact question Sara had been expecting.

Sara exchanged a glance with Haruto and nodded. They’d already discussed what they could do.

Sara and Haruto had thought of the things the knight commander and Liam had brought up and decided that they could do them but didn’t want to. So what did they want to do, then?

They’d met several days earlier at the Hunter’s Guild, anticipating a gathering like this. It had been evening, after Sara’s plant gathering and Allen, Kuntz, and Haruto’s hunting. They met right when everyone was coming back from the dungeon.

“I think my only contribution would be my barrier.”

“You did stop those frogs from getting to Camellia before,” Allen said, thinking back to that time. Then he shivered. They’d come out to the meadow at sundown and it was getting cold out. Sara looked up into the sky and saw tiny migrating dragons flying in the distance. “You froze the ground at the same time that you used your barrier then, right? That was really cold...”

He must have remembered fighting in the cold back then too.

“I did a big wide-area barrier and used freezing magic at the same time, but Liam got in my way, so I had a hard time concentrating. Wait a second...” Sara said to herself. “I’ve done all sorts of different things with my barrier, but if I used it just as a barrier, I wonder how much area I could cover...”

The last time she’d covered a large area with her barrier had been two years ago in Gardenia.

“I used it over a wide area back then, but the hardest thing to do was keep it up for such a long time.”

“You really held in there.”

She was always happy to be praised for her hard work.

“I can imitate your barrier, but I haven’t really used it much in a real fight. I can’t make it as big as yours and I don’t think I’d be able to keep it up for long either, since I’d get bored. But for now...” Haruto looked out at the meadow and spread his arms wide. “All I can do is see how big I can make it!”

“Yeah. I guess we should try it out.”

If they didn’t consciously try to, their barriers wouldn’t interfere with each other, and they couldn’t be felt by people, so the citizens of the capital would be none the wiser.

“We should see what we’re trying to cover, so let’s face the capital.”

“Yeah. We don’t want to be noticed, though, so let’s not put any color on ’em.”

The sun had almost completely set by now, and the capital’s skyline was casting shadows on the meadow. They could see the castle in the distance, so the Wolveriés’ townhouse must be right next to it, and a little farther than that was the Apothecary’s Guild. Now, how far would they reach?

“Barrier.”

“Barrier.”

Their voices synced without them planning it. Sara was a little amused and maybe a little sad as well that Haruto didn’t still call it “Bastion.”

Her barrier extended out around her. She couldn’t see them, but she felt like she could sense the people of the capital hurrying home from work. Her barrier pushed past Noel, whom they’d just parted with, passed the Apothecary’s Guild and the nobles’ district where the townhouse was (was Ann home by now?), and reached the castle.

“Aw, man! I have no concept of the western side of the capital. I can only extend my barrier out to the castle.”

She was pretty sure it covered the castle, but she had no confidence that she got the western part of the town in it as well.

“Are you kidding? I don’t think I even reached the main street. And I was using the buildings on the outside of the capital for reference, so I’m not even sure if that’s right. I can tell it’d disappear if I tried to make it any bigger, though.”

You really did improve the more you did something.

“Do you think you can keep it up for a while?” Allen asked.

Sara was able to answer right away. “Mmm, I know from the thing with the green grass locusts that I can maintain it for a while, even resting once I’ve got it up, so I think it’d last a few hours at least.”

“That’s crazy. Mine gets unstable just from talking. I don’t think I could ever keep it up for hours. Can I move like this?”

“You should be able to. It should follow you automatically if you do.”

“Whoa! You’re right! I wonder why... It feels easier to keep it up if I’m moving.”

Sara had heard that some people had trouble sitting still, and they found it easier to work if some part of them was moving. Haruto must have been that type.

As Haruto wandered around the meadow, Sara gazed out vacantly at the town.

“If your barrier has you at the center of it, that means that if you stood in the middle of the capital, you could cover the whole thing, couldn’t you?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Are you gonna tell them that?” Allen’s tone was a bit heavy.

“I wouldn’t. You’ll just end up getting used like I was. You’ll be called to the capital every time there’s a monster outbreak.” Haruto’s tone was dark.

“The knights are a lot better now than they used to be. They don’t flatter me constantly and try to get me to do things for them, and they ask what I want to do when they do have a request for me. But there’s no guarantee they’ll stay that way.”

He seemed to be maintaining his barrier even as he talked.

“I’m getting used to this. I think the edges of my barrier are a little clearer to me now.”

“That’s amazing, Haruto. Everybody calls it ‘Kuntz’s shield,’ but if I try to put up a barrier all around myself like Sara’s, I run out of mana right away.”

It seemed Kuntz had been secretly trying out a barrier of his own.

“Your shield is impressive ’cause even guys without a lot of mana can use it,” Haruto told Kuntz. Sara and Allen nodded in agreement.

“It looks like Sara’s barrier could solve the whole problem all by itself. I wonder what I can do for the capital.”

Haruto didn’t want to be used, but he was still thinking about what he could do for the capital. Sara wondered if he realized the contradiction. Even if he felt somewhat conflicted about the situation, he must have really treasured the people of the capital.

“I’ve decided!” Sara held her hands up to the sky. “If they start out by depending on us, I’ll just do what they ask us to do. If they come up with a solution on their own but ask us for help on top of that, I’ll suggest using my barrier. And if they don’t ask anything, I’ll just use my barrier in secret anyway. If it comes down to it, I’ll protect the capital!”

She felt like that determination would make her barrier even stronger.

“Ugh! You’re making me seem like I’m totally indecisive!” Haruto shouted up at the sky. “My barrier! It’s weak! So I’ll start by supporting Sara while she puts up her barrier! And if the knights are completely useless! Then I’ll just fry all the cotton sheep with lightning!”

Sara almost thought she could see some of the migrating dragons flying in the distance, turning to glance their way.

“This country... Trilgaia gave me my freedom. Maybe it was the goddess who reincarnated me here, but the people here supported my becoming a Hunter and let me do whatever I wanted. And the Gallaghers have been good enough to me that I feel like I could call myself a Gallagher instead of a Nishiya.”

Haruto was just upset that he’d been used to hurt someone in the past.

“I’m an adult now, so I won’t let anyone use me anymore. I won’t hesitate to protect the capital either. And I won’t lose to you either, Sara!”

“Who’s an adult now?”

She didn’t think anyone could fault her for that jab.

“We’ll protect it! We’ll do it!”

“I get it already!”

For the next few days, Haruto practiced his barrier while he was in the dungeon, and Sara walked around the west side of the capital so she could picture it properly. She also snacked at some food stands on the way with Allen. So now, back in this meeting, she could answer Liam’s question with confidence.

“I’d like to use my barrier.”

At Sara’s declaration, the people around the table, Liam included, looked a bit disappointed.

“All you can suggest is that old barrier of yours?”

This was the commander’s comment. Even though Sara and Haruto were the only ones who could even maintain a stable barrier for a long period of time. All Sara could do was smile wryly in response.

“First of all, if Liam’s plan goes well, you’ll be able to protect the capital and the fields with just the people of the capital. As for our utility in this instance, that would be insurance in case the plan doesn’t work. In other words, if the knights are unsuccessful, I can use my barrier to prevent the cotton sheep from entering the capital or the fields outside it.”

Sara could see Liam and Konrad, basically everyone other than the commander, swallow.

“Sara, you’re not telling me your barrier...”

“Yes. I should be able to cover a city the size of the capital.”

“Then all we need is the one Invited! How many resources are you going to waste unnecessarily, not just from the knights but from the Hunter’s Guild and the Apothecary’s Guild too?!”

Sara knew there would be people who thought this way.

“I can make a barrier too, but it’s way smaller than Sara’s,” Haruto said, ignoring the knight commander. “So I’ll be on the front line with the knights, and if the battle line breaks or the sheep start stampeding, I’ll stop them from reaching the capital.” Unlike Sara, Haruto had offensive capabilities. “If the sheep really get out of control and there’s nothing anyone else can do, I’ll take responsibility and take them all out with my lightning.”

“That’s the first thing I proposed! If you can do it, why not do that from the start?!”

The irritated knight commander was silenced by a word from the king.

“Silence, Knight Commander.”

“Sir, but...”

“You trusted your vice commander with the planning, did you not? There are no contradictions in the plan and the Invited are participating in it of their own volition. What do you take issue with? Disasters occur in every era, but the Invited are not guaranteed to be present in every era.”

“Yes, sir.”

The king and prime minister always attended meetings like this, but they hardly ever made their opinions known. Sara was surprised, since she thought the king would merely be approving of the plan and adjourning the meeting, but she appreciated him preventing a potentially annoying argument.

“The Invited will have our backs. We’ll give everything we have to this mission,” Liam declared, and the meeting was over.

The herd of cotton sheep was almost there.

There were posts in the ground at regular intervals forming a line to the north of the fields around the capital, blocking off all the areas they didn’t want the cotton sheep to get into.

This was the work of the capital’s earth magic casters. They rode in a carriage after constructing each one, taking turns so they wouldn’t run out of mana, but these were posts that were destined to be destroyed after this incident was over. They played an important role now, though, since they marked the line that would need to be defended.

The plan was to put up protection fields along the line, filling the gaps between them with people who would use either physical strengthening or shields to repel the cotton sheep who tried to get through them.

A group of knights and Hunters, including Haruto, followed the front of the pack of sheep, while Sara stood on top of a carriage a considerable distance away from them, waiting to see if she would be needed to patch any holes the sheep got through.

“It is pretty easy to see up here. I kinda feel like I stand out, though.”

There had been a notice to the people of the capital to evacuate to sturdy buildings, so the only people seeing Sara should be those currently on the mission with her. Still, that didn’t make the situation any less embarrassing.

“But Ann’s working hard on the front line too.”

Ann and the other new recruits were collecting the protection cases that were no longer needed after the cotton sheep passed by and carrying them down to the front of the line. It was the perfect job for Ann, who was fast and had a lot of stamina.

As the cold wind blew around her, she started to hear a thunderous sound.

“There they are.”

The cotton sheep Sara had seen in the past had been in a big herd, but she thought she remembered them moving slowly, with peaceful looks on their faces. But this herd was enormous—and ravenous. They were racing forward like they were being chased by something.

“Won’t these things cause damage down south even if they go past the capital?”

Sara wanted to believe that Liam had realized that as well and was doing something about it or contacting someone at the very least.

Watching everything from the back, she could see knights and Hunters rushing forward from the area the sheep had already passed to get ahead of them. The smaller ones must have been the trainee knights collecting protection cases and bringing them to the front.

At the head of the pack of cotton sheep, light brown shields appeared and disappeared, and the sheep irritably changed direction when they ran into them. Knights screwed up on occasion, but the person next to them immediately covered for them, so there were no gaps in the line.

The cotton sheep would probably rampage if they were attacked directly, but there was no sign of that yet. She couldn’t see many details from up here, but the sheep seemed to be starting to avoid the knights, realizing there was an invisible wall in front of them.

Nothing had touched her barrier yet, and it looked like the plan was proceeding smoothly.

Eventually the end of the herd came into view, and that was when it happened. A shadow fell over the big white mass of sheep.

“Did some clouds come out?”

She looked up and spotted the migrating dragons that should have been flying south of the capital. And Sara wasn’t the only one who’d noticed them. The line of knights and Hunters holding back the cotton sheep started to waver. And the cotton sheep had noticed as well, of course. Their hurried footsteps turned to a mad rush, and it was clear to Sara that an unstoppable stampede was imminent.

“Come to think of it, migrating dragons are supposed to eat horned rabbits, right? Do they eat cotton sheep too? What happens if they land right in the middle of the herd...?”

It had been several years now, so it didn’t come to mind right away, but Sara had been knocked out by a migrating dragon’s roar once. She’d never forget the shock and powerlessness she’d felt then.

The migrating dragons would land in the meadow and roar to knock out the cotton sheep before eating them. That was fine. But the rest of the herd wouldn’t just take that lying down. They’d flee as soon as the migrating dragons came down. And what if there were knights or Hunters in the path of the dragons’ roars?

Sara shuddered.

The knights and Hunters would be knocked out instantly, and maintaining the shields would be the least of their worries. Anyone knocked out on the ground was bound to be trampled by the sheep.

“I have to do something before the dragons come down and roar.”

Calm down, calm down, Sara told herself. What had she done back then?

“I need to change my barrier...”

She made her barrier repel sound, which she usually let through. She knew she could cover the whole capital with her normal barrier, but she’d never tried it with this one. Could she...? In the distance, she saw a cotton sheep ram a knight and send him flying.

“It doesn’t matter if I can or not. I just need to try it.”

Sara held her hands out in front of her and readied herself.

“Barrier. Covering all the knights and Hunters in front.”

The barrier extending out behind Sara shifted forward, passing over the Hunters and knights. Hunters who had been about to run from the cotton sheep suddenly froze as the sheep in front of them hit Sara’s barrier.

“Next, I need to cover the capital behind me.”

She covered the area from the north gate to the south gate, where the central dungeon was, including the western section of town she’d strolled through with Allen. In front of her, she could see migrating dragons alighting with heavy thuds.

“Change barrier. Repel sound. Before the dragons open their mouths.”

Suddenly the rumbling of the earth and the whisper of the wind cut out completely.

“I’ll add color. And I’ll make it flash so it stands out.”

Everything in front of her turned brown. Then it went back to normal before turning brown once again. The knights and Hunters all gasped and turned around. What they saw when they looked back was Sara atop the carriage, holding her arms out in front of her.

“It’s Sara’s barrier...”

“Over such a wide area? Oh...”

As her vision flashed with a light brown color, she saw the migrating dragons chowing down on the cotton sheep, the uneaten ones fleeing for their lives.

“We can pass through the barrier!”

She thought she heard Noel calling out. She saw someone leap through the brown barrier and pull an injured knight into it with skinny little arms.

“I’m using a supreme potion!”

She didn’t know what happened to the knight after that. But injured knights and Hunters Sara hadn’t noticed outside of her barrier made their way inside one after another after that.

The dragons roared and the cotton sheep collapsed, easy prey. Several of the fleeing sheep ran toward the capital, but before they hit Sara’s barrier, knights leaped out from inside it and stopped them with their shields.

“I’m protecting you, so you don’t need to push yourselves...”

Of course, there was no way they would hear Sara’s muttered words.

The knights and Hunters called out to one another, utilizing Sara’s barrier and picking out the moments between the dragons’ roars to push back the sheep. A strange feeling began to well up in Sara’s heart at the sight of it.

Sara’s barrier always served as a final line of defense. In Camellia, she could say she’d used it to clean up after the knights. She’d cooperated with the knights during the green grass locust incident, but it was safe to say that without Sara’s barrier, they wouldn’t have been able to protect Gardenia.

But what about now? If not for Sara’s barrier, the knights would have been taken down by the dragons’ roars and the cotton sheep might have made it into the capital. But with Sara’s barrier, the knights and Hunters should have been able to relax at this point. Yet they hadn’t given up on their task, and they were even utilizing Sara’s barrier to skillfully fight.

“Are the knights and I facing the same direction for once?”

It was strange to her, since before, even when they’d worked together, they’d always had their backs to one another.

Sara shook her head. There was no point in thinking about that now. She was getting tired and her focus was waning. She had to maintain her barrier at least until the migrating dragons took flight again.

After gobbling up all the unconscious cotton sheep, the migrating dragons lifted their heavy bodies and took off into the sky one after another, flying off to the southeast.

The meadow had been trampled and was in a horrible state, but there wasn’t a single cotton sheep in sight anymore.

Sara looked up and saw only the faint shadows of the migrating dragons far in the south.

“Sara! Saaaraaa!”

She could hear Allen’s voice from far away.

“The cotton sheep! They all fled south! You can leave the rest to Haruto!”

“To Haruto. Oh, so it’s okay now.”

She’d casually said she could cover the whole capital with her barrier, but it was actually pretty hard. But she wasn’t such a kid that she’d collapse from this anymore. Sara looked up again, confirming the sight of the meadow with her own eyes.

“No cotton sheep. No migrating dragons. Dropping barrier.” She could recover as much mana as she needed to. “But willpower is up to the individual. Ahh, I’m tired.”

Sara crouched down on top of the carriage, and Allen leaped up to stand beside her.

“You okay?”

“I’m okay. Just tired.”

“Here, take my shoulder.”

“Thanks.”

If he’d picked her up and carried her, it might have been more romantic, but there were too many people around. No, it would still be embarrassing even if there weren’t any people around. So thought Sara, still a former Japanese person at heart.

Epilogue: A Smiling Tomorrow

The knights spent the whole night patrolling just to be sure there were no straggling sheep to deal with. Sara headed straight home, but after escorting her there, Allen went back out, and he and Elm didn’t come back until much later. Haruto and Kuntz spent the night at their own houses. Ann was the only other one who was home early.

“They said the trainee knights could go home. Tonight really made it feel like the job of the knights is protecting the capital!”

It seemed this operation had had a big influence on Ann.

“And your barrier, Sara! That was incredible!”

“Well, I made sure it was colored so people knew it was there. I didn’t think the migrating dragons were gonna attack, though...”

And she and Haruto were supposed to just have been backup, she thought with some chagrin.

The next day, Ann and Sara woke up at their usual times and headed off to the knights and the Apothecary’s Guild respectively. When they came back at their usual times, Allen, Haruto, and Elm scolded them and told them to get some rest.

Sara hadn’t passed out or anything, so she didn’t think she needed that much rest, and she was pretty proud of what she’d done, so she was a little disappointed to be receiving a scolding.

“So how did everything go? I was at the Apothecary’s Guild all day, so all I know is the number of wounded.”

They all finally assembled again that night and were able to exchange information.

“I was following the head of the pack the whole time, making sure the herd didn’t break up. When the migrating dragons came down, they all fled every which way, so it was pretty rough making sure none of them got to the capital. But at least there were fewer of them to deal with after the dragons.”

Haruto, of course, had been on the front lines.

“It was pretty boring for me just smacking them with my shield every time they tried to go eat the wheat, but when the dragons showed up, it got real rough when somebody who wasn’t used to seeing them broke formation. We were able to get going again thanks to your barrier, but I bet we would have been overrun without it.”

Kuntz had been right in the middle of things, apparently.

Sara had heard the day before that Allen would be helping out where needed and Ann would be transporting protection cases.

“According to the Apothecary’s Guild, three people had to use supreme potions, but they all survived. Noel was all excited to have new data for the recovery period.”

Sara reported what she’d heard that day at the Apothecary’s Guild and Allen and Kuntz grimaced.

“That’s an apothecary for you.”

“Yeah, one like Chris.”

Sara may or may not have agreed.

“There were injured, but no one died. The meadow got destroyed, but over winter, we can gather medicinal plants from the dungeon or import them from other towns. That’s about it, I think.”

“The knights were talking about how much damage the cotton sheep did and investigating how small the herd got and which direction it headed today,” Ann reported.

“They’re working more seriously than I expected.”

Sara’s job was pretty much done as soon as the herd left, so she hadn’t thought much about the cleanup. It was finally starting to feel like there was stuff about the knights beyond her knowledge since she hadn’t before been close to anyone who was with them.

“The Hunter’s Guild’s work is pretty much done now that the cotton sheep are gone. Everything was business as usual today.”

This was Kuntz’s report. He’d stopped by the Hunter’s Guild on his way to the Wolveriés’ townhouse.

“All that’s left is the cleanup. Haruto, Sara, and Kuntz, you’ll probably be getting medals for this one.”

Just as Elm said, when the commotion died down, the three of them were thanked by the king and rewarded monetarily. Sara finished her lessons with the trainee knights and focused on her work with the Apothecary’s Guild for the time being after that.

While Haruto and Kuntz were home with their families celebrating, Sara and Allen stood in the southern meadow. Ann and Elm were with them too.

They were staring down the road toward Hydrangea, waiting for the carriage Nelly and Chris were taking.

“You worked hard too, but you didn’t get a medal, huh?” Sara said to Allen.

“I was just working as a normal Hunter this time, after all. It’d be weirder to give me a medal just because I’m friends with you guys.”

They chatted as they waited. Sara loved that Allen wasn’t concerned with things like that, even if it did worry her a bit.

“Speaking of the medals, the vice commander surprised me back there.”

Sara smiled at Ann’s use of Liam’s title instead of his name. She was really getting used to being part of the knights now.

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure what to do when he took my hands like that.”

“If I’d been up there, I would’ve smacked them away,” Allen said, sounding annoyed.

Liam had also been present when they’d received their medals, and he’d grasped Sara’s hands in emotion after the ceremony. As for how Ann and Allen knew about this, it was because everyone who’d participated in the operation had been invited to the ceremony, so they were all watching. As everyone had congratulated them, Liam had grabbed Sara’s hands without letting her even object.

“Thank you for protecting the capital. You’re like the capital’s guardian spirit, Sara.”

“N-No, I’m not. This is all thanks to the hard work of the knights and the people of the capital.”

Sara had cried out in her heart that she didn’t want anyone calling her a guardian spirit. She’d just thrown in a mental plea for Liam to let go of her hands, since everyone was watching them.

“To be honest, when I saw your barrier go up in front of me, I feared for a second that I wouldn’t be able to pass through it.”

Sara hadn’t realized her seeing him as an enemy in the past had really affected Liam so much.

“But the barrier let me through with no hesitation. And not just me, everyone fighting out there was able to cross through it just fine. You’ve finally acknowledged the knights as your allies, haven’t you, Sara?”

Hmm, I wonder, Sara thought to herself. If Liam’s—the knights’—sense of justice hurt someone she cared about again, she would no doubt go right back to treating them as enemies.

“I thank you. And I swear that I too am your ally, Sara.”

“Well, I appreciate it.”

They were allies for now. As long as their values didn’t conflict, Sara added to herself. What was right wasn’t a simple matter. But if they never said what they were feeling, they’d never understand one another. Sara would have to express her own values even more, like when she’d used her barrier this time. If they both did so, maybe they’d both change little by little.

“Oh, I see the carriage!”

“I can see it too!”

Allen held his hand above his eyes, and Ann stretched up to look down the road.

“Your eyes are good as always, Allen. Yours too, Ann.”

“Well, I am taller than you.”

“Just by a few centimeters!”

Sara did not mention how the difference in their heights had grown even more pronounced since their reunion in spring. She looked off into the distance, lamenting the fearful power of growth spurts.

By the time the carriage was in view for Sara, she could also see someone jumping out of it.

“Aah! I bet that’s Nelly! Nellyyy!”

The figure grew larger and larger, red tail bobbing behind it, until it leaped at Sara.

“Sara! Have you been well?!”

“I’m good. Listen, today...”

She could see Chris taking his time, walking to catch up to her. No requests to Nelly or Chris had been sent out this time around. That was another mark of the knights’ and the capital’s growth.

They’d sent word about the cotton sheep, however, so they must have been worried. But Nelly and Chris hadn’t rushed over, and Sara hadn’t been expecting them to either.

“Wait, wait, wait. I’m sure a bunch of fun stuff happened, right? Since we’ve got the opportunity, I want to hear about all of it from the very start.”

“Oh, right.” Sara gasped and then cleared her throat, turning around. She’d turned into a kid again for a second, but she was nineteen now, so she had to act her age.

“Ann and Elm are here to meet you too. And Allen.” She couldn’t forget that they were all there.

“I can’t believe it. You’re taller than Sara! And the way you stand now... You’ve really grown in the short time since I last saw you.”

Nelly was looking at Ann with eyes wide in surprise. Then she looked at Elm and her eyes widened even more.

“And why do you look so proud, brother? It’s not like you had anything to do with her height.”

Nelly was hard on her brother, but Elm wasn’t bothered at all.

“Ann’s still growing, you know. And she’s been really proving herself with the knights. She’s got a lot of friends, and we go down into the dungeon together sometimes.”

“Elm, you’re starting to sound like Latifah,” Chris said, finally catching up. He tried to wrap his arm around Nelly’s waist, but she batted his hand away. It was the same sight as always. Neither of them showed any concern for Elm, who seemed to be in a bit of a state of shock after having been compared to his overprotective sister.

“Well, should we walk and talk?”

Chris was as easygoing as ever.

“Yeah. Okay, start with your trip to Gardenia.”

“Wait a second, they should start with the cotton sheep, shouldn’t they? We both wanted to rush up here, but we controlled ourselves, you know.”

Ann was the only one there who wasn’t from Hydrangea, but from their time in the capital together, she was close enough to them that she was like a sister to Sara and like a daughter to Elm. As for Allen, he thought of her as something like a friend’s sister. They had an easy relationship, not too close but not too far apart either.

The six of them walked together, trading places every so often, as if they’d never had any time apart at all. They’d continue on in just that way, taking a steady step into tomorrow.

Sara’s other hand was held tight in Allen’s.

“Hold hands with me on this side.”

“I want to hold hands with Sara too.”

“What about me?”

Ann could hold hands with Elm, and Chris could hold hands with Nelly. Sara silently squeezed Nelly’s and Allen’s hands with her own.

“My Sara’s so popular. But I’m not giving up her hand.”

“Neither am I.”

She was sure tomorrow would be another great day.