*Huu, hwaaa…*
A sigh-like breath trembled and spilled out chaotically.
Erica placed her hand on her chest to calm herself, repeatedly taking deep breaths.
Of course, it wasn’t easy to settle her excitement.
‘Did I come too early?’
Looking at the clock tower, the time pointed to 2:30. An hour and a half before the meeting time.
There was a thought that she might have come too early, but feeling her body tremble with anxiety suggested it was a good idea to arrive early after all.
There was plenty of time to calm her jitters.
‘But is this outfit right?’
Glancing down, Erica tilted her head in confusion.
Since early morning, her mother had been excitedly putting on a fashion show, so she had to try on all the clothes at home.
As soon as she mentioned going out with Schlus, her mother’s expression changed, and she started to make her wear this and that with makeup.
If she had known this would happen, she wouldn’t have asked her mother for dating advice.
“A simple solid-colored dress…”
This outfit had been decided upon thanks to her mother’s strong recommendation (which was really just a demand).
Her mother insisted that such a dress was perfect for a spring day. Erica’s suggestion to wear an evening dress for such an important outing had been completely ignored.
That look her mother gave her when she mentioned it still puzzled her.
“Hm, hmmm.”
Twisting the ends of her braided hair with her fingers, Erica felt herself gradually calming down.
She was much more relaxed.
After all, she thought, one outing wouldn’t erase the gap that had formed with others during all this time, which made her settle down even more.
‘Schlus probably doesn’t even think of this as a date.’
For Schlus, it would be just a brief escape from a day of work-related stress.
He wouldn’t attach any significant meaning to this outing either.
Forgetting all of that, she had nearly allowed herself to dream in vain. Erica lowered her head with a bittersweet smile.
Already, a deep feeling of defeat filled her.
“What’s this? Why are you here so early?”
“Uhh?”
Feeling something perched on her head made Erica shrink instinctively.
When she turned around, Schlus was smiling down at her.
Caught off guard due to her lack of preparation, she momentarily startled, but then she raised her hand to feel what he had placed on her head.
It was a flower-adorned headband.
“A gift. I found it on the way here.”
“What? How do you just find something like this?”
“It’s true! I was looking around at the spring flower festival on my way, and I got one!”
“R-really?”
The spring flower festival.
Now that she thought about it, they had been having that on the older town side.
As Erica inhaled deeply from the flowers on the headband, her eyes widened.
All the flowers were alive.
Through a spell inside the headband, the flowers were designed to receive water and nutrients, allowing their fragrance to last a long time.
There’s no way a money-grubbing merchant would just give away something this valuable.
Looking up at Schlus, whose face remained unfazed, Erica snickered and smiled.
Wearing it on her head felt nice, as if Schlus were patting her.
“U-uh, how do I look?”
“Much better. It seems to soften your harsh impression.”
“Who has a harsh impression? By the way, we still have some time until the museum’s special exhibit opens—”
“Then let’s go flower viewing! Next week, they’ll all wilt.”
“Wha?!”
Before she knew it, Erica was being led by Schlus, holding her hand.
Flower viewing wasn’t on the agenda at all.
For a brief moment, anxiety washed over her about the change in their trajectory, but she felt her heart racing.
‘It wasn’t just me who was excited.’
She was afraid that Schlus might be indifferent to it.
I pulled out all the courage I had, yet Schlus might consider it an annoyance amid his busyness; that was her greatest fear.
But looking at Schlus’s bright smile made those worries vanish like snow melting away.
Maybe she could dare to hope.
Was she really just being overly fearful?
Hope began to glimmer alongside those thoughts.
*Grrr…*
In front of the city hall.
Watching Schlus and Erica disappear toward the old town, Emilia ground her teeth.
She tried to pretend not to care when she heard Erica was going out, but on the actual day, she couldn’t help but follow them.
“I will snap, Emilia.”
“Right. It’s not like anything major will happen, right?”
When she heard that calm voice, Emilia turned her head sharply.
The saintess Iris and Trie.
Both still seemed relaxed, not understanding the seriousness of the situation.
“Being careless can lead to something significant in an instant.”
“Eh. Erica probably dislikes Schlus? Nothing like that will happen between them.”
“…”
The three of them certainly shared common interests and cooperated.
While there was nothing she could do about the already established engagement, she had to prevent any further engagements from happening.
With that singular resolve, the three of them regularly met to try to prevent the birth of a fourth fiancé.
The meeting had been dubbed the “Tea Club” after Emilia suggested to have a cup of tea the first time they met.
‘But they’re both so naive…’
Yet Emilia could only click her tongue at the two still oblivious to the seriousness of the situation.
They didn’t realize that they were the ones who could easily end up regretting it.
Once a fourth or fifth fiancée appeared, they’d certainly understand her feelings.
“I’ll go after them. Let’s hurry.”
*Puhuhuhu…*
“Why are you laughing, saintess?”
“Nothing. I just think it’s cute.”
“Suddenly?”
“With Schlus around, he would’ve noticed us trailing him already. But sneaking around like this is too cute.”
“We’re doing this on purpose, you know? Of course Schlus knows we’re following. I’m tailing him so he won’t do anything foolish. At least he wouldn’t dare take Erica somewhere secluded.”
“Oh…”
Iris, who had been laughing while covering her mouth, started to look serious.
Emilia was no innocent girl who was merely afraid of losing Schlus; she was a pragmatic beast willing to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals, her sharp gaze shining.
“Let’s go. Before we end up regretting it.”
“Y-yeah.”
“Yeah…”
With a frosty expression, Emilia began to step forward.
Iris and Trie followed her as if spellbound.
*
“Honestly, this is my first time at an art museum. I was really amazed by the paintings.”
“Really? I’ve seen you stop in front of some works by unknown artists often…”
That saying wasn’t a lie; she truly was amazed at what she saw.
As they wandered through the museum, she recognized a few familiar paintings.
There were several masterpieces by Van Gogh, Picasso, and Da Vinci—works from the real world even she, with no taste, could recognize.
They probably came along when the reality’s books flowed into this world.
‘Did he want to show off so badly?’
Realizing they were all scattered to make their presence known stung a little.
In this only world he created for her, she now had to live without him.
Losing even the children who looked just like him. Forever.
“Schlus?”
“Oh, uh, sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment. Shall we move along?”
“Now, where are we going?”
“Good question.”
The timing seemed a bit off.
Should she move their plans up?
“Schlus, if you don’t have anything special to do…”
“Yeah?”
“Wanna grab a drink?”
“On an empty stomach? We should at least eat first.”
“Ah, uhm. You’re right…”
“Maybe some wine would go well with it. I know a good place.”
There was a restaurant I absolutely had to check out.
Recently, the Intelligence Agency had been sneaking out agents whose faces had become known to me and bringing in new recruits.
While doing that, they secretly prepared a hub where I would soon be heading.
That was the restaurant I was planning to visit.
It had started small but had recently become so popular that even the aristocrats of the new town were flocking there.
I wasn’t going to pressurize them to close; I was just genuinely curious about the food.
“Good afternoon. Do you have a reservation…?”
“Yes, I’ve reserved a window seat.”
“Oh, let me show you to your table.”
As soon as I walked in, the staff’s faces went pale.
So these were the new agents of the Intelligence Agency, huh?
I made sure to memorize all of their faces.
Erica and I were led to a cozy and quiet window seat where it would be perfect for serious conversation.
“Wow… I was worried since it was in an alley, but it’s nice once you’re inside. Have you been here before?”
“No, it’s my first time. I’ve heard it was delicious, so I came to check it out.”
“Hmm…”
Erica looked around and smiled.
Entering a calm restaurant seemed to have eased her tension.
She had been restless throughout their date, after all.
It was likely because she had something important to tell him last.
He decided to set up a good timing for that conversation.
He ordered grilled cod and wine for their meal.
Something without a strong smell, just right for a clean meal would be nice.
The atmosphere was relaxed during their meal.
Maybe it was because of the alcohol, but Erica, who had been stiff all day, started talking comfortably like usual.
*Heh heh heh. I think I might graduate early.*
“Wow… I still have a mountain of retakes to do. I’ve seen you going in and out of the lab a lot; what are you working on?”
“I’m writing a thesis on dimensional rifts… but honestly, not much progress has been made. Hehehe.”
“Want to borrow Durandal? There should still be a bit of power left in it that can cut through dimensional rifts, right? Wouldn’t it help?”
“Really? Then that would be super helpful!”
Most of their conversation revolved around academics or research, which was a bit of a disappointment.
So this is what made Erica so excited when the topic of study came up.
She looked exceptionally beautiful, spilling her thoughts more happily than ever.
After spending so long frowning, seeing her smile like this made him incredibly happy.
“Ahh… my glass is empty, Schlus.”
“That’s the last one.”
“Really?”
As they leisurely chatted while eating, both the dish and the wine bottle soon emptied.
Before they knew it, night had fallen outside.
Only the dim flicker of candlelight illuminated Erica’s face.
When the waiter refilled Erica’s glass, an awkward silence fell over them.
Just moments ago, Erica had been bubbling with excitement but now gazed silently at the golden wine in her glass, her eyes meeting his.
“Schlus… I need to tell you—”
Now was the moment.
*Bang!*
At that instant, a bright light flooded Erica’s face, accompanied by an explosive sound.
Startled, Erica turned her head sharply.
The explosive sound came from above.
Colors of vibrant lights spread across the sky.
*Bang! Phew…!*
Soon after, more fireworks shot up, starting to adorn the sky with bright light.
A fireworks display.
It was something I made by imitating cannon fire I’d seen in the desert.
…Although that was what I would like to say, it was obviously a disguise.
No matter how confidential I had kept the fact I was developing explosives, there would eventually be limits to secrecy.
In the end, it was likely the enemies had already learned that Schlus Hainkel was working on something using stone, charcoal, and sulfur.
So, I had to put on the disguise that I was showcasing fireworks instead of developing weapons.
The first fireworks display was planned for today, even though the preparations were slightly unfinished.
I just wanted to surprise Erica.
“How does it look? I designed it. I arranged everything from the color combinations to the order.”
“It’s beautiful… so very…”
“It is pretty, but a bit noisy.”
“Yeah…”
As the barrier was deployed, the sound that had been piercing her ears softened significantly.
Still, it wasn’t completely quiet; it was merely dull, as if echoing from far away.
Lost in the spectacle of fireworks, Erica’s eyes returned to me.
There was a look in her eyes that seemed like she had something to say.
The colorful fireworks reflected in Erica’s pupils, vanishing and reappearing.
“Schlus. You know…”
Erica’s hand, holding the wine glass, trembled.
