Flutter, flutter...
Beautiful petals danced lazily as they drifted down from above.
I lowered my gaze.
A flower field more vibrant than any rainbow stretched out endlessly before me.
A scene I had seen before, somewhere.
A sight that should have brought happiness just by looking at it—or even just remembering it.
And yet, for some reason...
Why did my heart feel so unsettled even in the face of such beauty?
No, "unsettled" wasn't even the right word.
It was more like...
"I'm pissed as hell!"
I jolted awake.
"Ah."
"Hm?"
When I opened my eyes, a familiar face was right in front of me.
Tiona Hiryute.
Every time I saw her, there was one particular part of her that felt deeply regrettable...
Smack!
"Ack!"
"An, what were you just thinking about~?"
"N-no. Nothing."
Damn it, what kind of law allows someone to hit me first and then interrogate me afterward?
Still, thanks to that searing pain, my foggy mind snapped awake.
Right. Yesterday, I'd left the Dungeon with Lili, split up with her, and then headed home. I'd meant to rest for a bit, but I was so exhausted that I fell asleep right there at the shop counter.
Okay, situation understood.
Seriously, no matter how tired I was, falling asleep without even locking the door?
That was clearly my mistake.
If things had gone wrong, I might have accidentally ended some innocent person's life.
"Haaah~ Good morning."
"Yep! Good morning!"
I still felt a lingering drowsiness, but I forced it away with a yawn.
The light outside was already so bright; it would be a waste to go back to sleep.
I returned Tiona's greeting and then asked why she had come.
"So, what's up?"
"Hehe, ta-da~!"
She untied a wrap and pulled out a large twin-bladed sword.
Her main weapon, Uga.
"Uga? It was finished faster than I expected."
"What are you talking about? Six days is plenty."
At her answer, I winced.
My brain had gotten so muddled that I couldn't even remember how many days I'd been holed up in the Dungeon.
Yeah, I'm definitely lacking sugar and caffeine.
I wonder if there's any coffee and milk left in the storage room.
"Six days... Ah, right. Sorry. My sense of time has been a bit glitchy lately."
"Figures. The smell was awful when I walked in. An, seriously... you'll die young if you keep this up."
"Don't worry. I'm going to live as long as possible by any means necessary."
I truly meant it.
If I died young, I wouldn't be able to do all the things I wanted to do.
That was absolutely unacceptable.
Not that I had any intention of using something like a Stone Mask to reach some higher state of being, though.
"More importantly, did you come all this way so early just to deliver that?"
"Yep! And I also came to check on my sister's!"
"Oh? Let's see... the prep work is all done. If I start now, I should be able to wrap everything up in about a day."
"Really? Yes! I was planning to head down into the Dungeon with Ais and the others tomorrow anyway."
"Why bother? Wouldn't it be better to just rest until the expedition?"
"...I'm broke. Totally penniless."
Tiona let out a sigh, looking a little teary-eyed.
I smiled and held out my hand.
"Advance payment."
"Aww~ Can't you just give me some credit~?"
"Advance payment."
"...I'll pay you tomorrow when I get back."
"You'd better. If you don't show up, I'll go straight to your Familia and reclaim that stupidly heavy Uga first. Keep that in mind."
"Sniff, y-yes."
Tiona sank into a gloomy mood.
As expected, debt collectors are terrifying in any world.
That remains true even for a first-rate adventurer admired and envied by all.
"So you're starting now? Can I watch you work? Please? I'll be quiet, I promise! Just let me see!"
Her depression over the bitter reality of debt was short-lived.
Tiona had already perked back up and was looking at me with wide-eyed anticipation.
Of course, my answer was already decided.
"Nope."
"Tch! Cheapskate, miser, Chihiro!"
"No, no. Still no. And apologize to Chihiro."
"Aww, whyyy? I'm not even a mage! Can't you just show me a little bit?"
"I don't know what goes through your head to make you ask for something so ridiculous every time, but absolutely not. You want me to just show a stranger the secret to my business?"
"Really! I swear, I swear I won't tell anyone! Please!"
"Not a chance. Denied!"
I flatly rejected her request.
As Tiona suggested, she wouldn't notice anything special or unusual just by watching my enchantment process.
But there is always that one-in-a-million chance.
Someone else might hear a slip of the tongue from her and realize there's something strange about my methods.
That could introduce an annoying dissonance into my current life.
I might even risk having my 'Magecraft' stolen.
Why would I invite that kind of trouble?
Absolutely not.
"Th-then at least go somewhere with me! J-just for today would be fine..."
"That's also impossible. Besides, you were the one who said tomorrow was fine, Tiona."
"D-did I? Um, then... you haven't eaten breakfast yet, right? Hehe, me neither. Let's go to Mia's place together and grab something to eat..."
"No, forget it. If I want to stay on schedule, I need to start working now. So that's it for today. Come back tomorrow if you want to chat, customer."
"Ngh, uuu...!"
Tiona still looked deeply dissatisfied.
Eventually, tears even began to glisten in her eyes.
"Tio, na?"
Before I could react, her arm blurred.
"Uuu, An is an idiottttt!"
"Huh?! You crazy—!"
She threw Uga straight at me!
Crash!
Rattle...
"I-I'm alive."
Fortunately, my survival instincts kicked in, and I managed to dive beside the counter just in time.
If I hadn't, my head would have been smashed just like the wall behind me.
What an absurd attempt at murder.
"Waaahhh! I'm leavinggggg!"
But the culprit of this sudden chaos ran off wailing before I could even open my mouth.
Anyone watching would think I was the villain here.
"Hey, you—! Haaah."
The turn of events was so incomprehensible that I forgot to be angry.
Seriously, what did I even do?
I'm the victim here, you brat!
"Honestly, what the hell was that?"
Is she going through puberty?
That turbulent, trouble-filled age of storm and stress?
Well, she's around that age, so I suppose it's possible.
"No, even so."
Throwing Uga was way too far.
I'll definitely have to settle this the next time I see her.
No, more importantly...
"Haaah, how am I supposed to clean this up and fix it all?"
Uga, having smashed through half the counter, was now lodged exactly at the entrance to the secret passage leading to my Magecraft workshop.
That wasn't just a simple door; it had magical mechanisms built into it, so I couldn't use it as it was.
In the end, the cleanup and repairs were my burden to bear.
"Sigh..."
Was that unpleasant dream a premonition of this?
What a disaster. A total natural calamity.
Drained of all my energy first thing in the morning, I could only let out a long sigh.
Ah, life... why must you be so hard on me~
"Merlin, go die, Fou."
For some reason, I felt as if I could hear a certain laughter in my ears—someone whose voice I should never hear again.
This is pure trauma.
Seriously, just reset your life already, you bastard Merlin.