The cave where Natsu had gotten lost was quite far from the school, and not just ordinarily remote either.
If I had not deliberately flown over in a helicopter, they probably would have struggled just getting here.
A club like the After-School Sweets Club had limited funding and no need to purchase dedicated transportation. At this hour, borrowing a vehicle from another club would also be difficult.
So their only options would have been either spending a huge amount on taxis, or leaving the deserving Natsu trapped for several more hours while they marched through the wilderness on foot.
Still, broadly speaking, this place technically remained within Trinity's autonomous district.
After locating the cave and entering it, the terrain was indeed as complicated and pitch-black as Natsu had described. Likewise, just as the rumors said, the deeper one went, the colder it became.
"Seriously, what was that idiot even thinking, running alone into a place like this!?"
Yoshimi shivered and tightened her coat around herself, muttering complaints in a low voice for safety's sake as her voice echoed through the dark cavern.
She was the only one among us who had not brought warm clothing.
Fortunately, I had accidentally brought four extra coats, allowing whatever scheme she might have had to succeed.
Perhaps because of that, Yoshimi had already repeated similar complaints over a dozen times before we had even searched for very long. Clearly, she was using them to conceal her turbulent emotions.
Kazusa, walking at the front while holding a high-powered flashlight, did not seem to notice this at all.
"Alright already. More importantly, let's hurry and find that idiot."
Airi nodded in agreement, her face full of worry.
"It's already been so long... Natsu-chan's phone seems to have died too. We can't contact her at all..."
She had already tried calling before entering the cave, but every response had been that the phone was powered off.
Kazusa clicked her tongue.
"Well, that's because while waiting for rescue, Natsu said she was bored and leisurely started playing mobile games. By the time she realized she only had 1% battery left and tried saving power, it was already pointless."
I still defended her a little.
"Actually, in an environment this cold, fast battery drain is normal. And at the end, Natsu still managed to send over her GPS location in time."
Although given how complicated the terrain here was, even with a rough location marked on the map, finding her was still difficult.
Yoshimi added,
"But what worries me most right now is whether Natsu actually stayed obediently in one place."
The fact that she even doubted that reflected how deeply Natsu's free-spirited nature had been imprinted into everyone's minds.
However, perhaps because she was too involved emotionally, Yoshimi overlooked one crucial point.
The one who told Natsu to stay put and not move around was me.
"Well, even Natsu isn't that dumb," Kazusa commented from another angle. "Even if she really had some reason to move elsewhere, she'd definitely leave signs behind for us."
"That's true," Yoshimi agreed. Just as she was about to say more, she suddenly frowned and sniffed the air.
"Huh? Why does it smell kind of sweet and sour around here?"
I sniffed too, but could not smell anything at all.
At that moment, Airi closed her eyes briefly as if sensing something, then nodded.
"The air in that direction does feel a little different."
...What kind of special ability was that supposed to be?
"Huh? Really?"
Seeing Kazusa looking equally confused immediately made me feel much better.
But then, her cat ears suddenly twitched and she looked toward one side hesitantly.
"Over there... I think I heard something?"
Ah! I can do that trick too!
I immediately activated Serina's Authority. Sure enough, from the same direction the girls had all turned toward, another crisp cracking sound echoed out.
After a quick discussion, we decided to first investigate the place with the strange fragrance and mysterious noises. Maybe Natsu really had gotten restless and wandered around after all.
The smell might have come from desserts Natsu was carrying, though without seeing it directly, the source of the sounds was impossible to guess.
In any case, after walking several dozen more steps, we discovered a hidden crack in the rock wall and passed through the narrow passage beyond it.
A wave of icy air rushed toward us, and suddenly the view opened wide.
Then, a strange sight unfolded before our eyes.
From the ceiling of the vast cavern, tree roots pierced through the rock layer like countless spikes. Beneath every branch hung translucent amber-like icicles that looked even more fantastical under the light.
The rumored "maple syrup icicles" actually existed!
Yoshimi, who had doubted the story most strongly, vigorously rubbed her eyes.
And someone had indeed reached this place before us.
But it was not the Natsu we were searching for.
Instead, it was a green-haired girl whose back looked extremely familiar to me, standing on tiptoe with a tattered sack beside her feet as she worked hard collecting the icicles.
"Huh...?"
Sensing the beam of light, the girl collecting maple syrup icicles turned around and cried out in shock.
"Se-sensei!?"
I fell silent for a moment.
"Hiyori...?"
The girl was none other than Tsuchinaga Hiyori, one of the members of the Arius Squad, whom I had not seen in two months.
Why was she in a place like this?
Kazusa looked her over and asked,
"Sensei, is she someone you know?"
Still watching the panicked Hiyori, I casually responded before pondering briefly and turning my head.
"Sorry, everyone. Could you go search for Natsu first? I'd like to talk with this student for a bit."
The girls of the After-School Sweets Club had no objections. They all agreed readily and turned to leave one after another.
And so, only Hiyori and I remained in that space.
She still looked somewhat flustered, though her condition had improved slightly.
I smiled and greeted her.
"What a coincidence, Hiyori."
"A c-coincidence...?"
Hiyori seemed relieved, yet somehow also a little disappointed.
"Ehehehe... I thought sensei brought people here because you finally came to drag me back to Schale's basement and keep me as a pet..."
So she still remembered that.
Mentally noting one suspicious keyword in her sentence, I asked,
"What are you doing here?"
"Ah..." Hiyori lifted the sack filled with maple syrup icicles and answered weakly, "I-I secretly came out to collect these icicles... They're sweet and sour, and I heard they taste just like popsicles... Lately it's been really hot, so I wanted to bring some back for the Princess and Misaki to eat together..."
I see. So it was the same kind of reasoning as Natsu.
Pretending not to care, I nodded casually before asking offhandedly,
"So, how have things been lately?"