“...Tsk. We’re too late.”

Eveline’s scornful voice accompanied by the click of her tongue made clear her displeasure as she and four other figures gazed upon the remains of an abandoned camp a ways off from the forest trail.

The camp itself had been mostly taken apart, and there were no signs of anyone nearby, but it was clear that the place had been inhabited at some point. The area was shaded from the sun, decently hidden from the trail, and there were slight indentations in the grass that suggested both blankets for sleeping and supplies had been laid out in such a way to make them easy to pack in an emergency. All in all, even with what little was left, she could tell the camp had been well made.

Well of course it was. Eveline had been the one to teach her how to do it.

“The fire is slightly warm.” Alma, in her usual stoic manner, didn’t complain and immediately set about investigating the area. Still, she could hide it all she wanted beneath the hood of her cape, but Eveline couldn’t call herself the woman’s best friend if she failed to see the clear worry hidden just behind her expression. “Also, though it’s faint, I can smell cooked meat. She likely spent the night here, ate breakfast in the morning, and moved on within the last few hours.”

“Aaaaahhh…” A disgruntled sigh left Eveline’s lips as she ran a frustrated hand through her long, dark brown hair. “This fucking girl. What the hell does that idiot think she’s doing all on her own…?”

“‘Going to beat up [Baphomet]’, if her note was any indication,” retorted a man with light brown skin. He was the only member of their impromptu chase team of which she wasn’t previously acquainted. This guy was part of the Zaothern Heroes her original team had linked up with a few days ago, and it was on his suggestion that a member of his group join the rest of them in searching for Ellie after she disappeared from Jochen, the village they were staying in, overnight. It was a bit annoying, but Eveline could understand that foreigners acting on their own made the locals nervous, so she didn’t raise any complaints.

Still, she really wasn’t a fan of how much he liked to run his mouth.

“Frankly speaking, bringing along children on a mission as dangerous as this was bound to spell trouble in the first place. I wasn’t aware the Hero Association managed things so… loosely, in foreign nations.” As he said that, he sent a sideways glance towards Mare as she stood quietly off to the side, eyeballing her as if she was the very child he was referring to. But neither the kid herself nor anyone else seemed as though they would speak up to defend her, so Eveline took the initiative.

“...Hey. Can I punch you once?”

“H-Huh?! What did you say?” The man balked at her sudden threat, and his face twisted in irritation a moment later. She didn’t care though; Zaotherner or not, she wouldn’t let him abuse his heightened sway in this situation to insult her team members. Especially when said members were family.

“I said I’ll punch ya. None of us even wanted you to come along in the first place, so just stay there quietly unless you can help in the search.”

“Y-You…!” Ah, he was mad. “You’re a guest in our nation! Where do you get off-”

“OKAY, okay!” The fifth and final member finally spoke up just as Eveline had noticed him going for his weapon and promptly reached for the sword on her back in turn, cutting in with a stern voice before their squabbling could escalate further. “The longer we spend butting heads, the less likely we are to catch up to her, right?”

She wasn’t actually all that familiar with the guy as a person, but they’d met a few times and even worked together on a few assignments in the past, so she appreciated him running interference for her. Now really wasn’t the time to mess about.

Besides, fighting here would only make their situation worse, self-defense or not. She had that kind of thought as her hand fell back to her side. “He’s right. Let’s hurry up and get a move on. See there? Tracks.”

She pointed the group to the faint tracks that led across the pathway and into the trees on the other side. Nothing more needed to be said at that point, so with Eveline in the lead, the five of them continued on after the idiot girl trying to get herself killed.

“Ellie…” She heard Mare mutter in a low voice, and unlike her mom, her concern was written all over her anxious expression. The two of them were alike in many ways, but it seemed this wasn’t a situation where she could keep as cool a head as Alma. One missing kid was problematic enough though, so Eveline hoped the girl could keep it together enough to not go running off too.

What a pain, seriously… Ahh fuck, my arm hurts.

In response to the painful throbbing, Eveline reached a hand out to grip her left arm, but met only her empty sleeve. Even if her rational mind recognized that it was merely phantom pain, it was still bothersome, and it annoyed her that she could still feel pain in a place that was already long gone.

“Haa…” Another sigh escaped her lips. “Too many troublesome things are piling on one after another.”

“Your arm?” Alma asked, crystal blue eyes glancing in her direction.

“Well there’s that too, but I’m talking about Ellie. You saw it, didn’t you?”

She didn’t specify what she was referring to, but with Alma she never needed to. “I did. The indentations suggest two blankets were laid out near the fire.”

In other words, it was likely that someone else besides Ellie slept at her makeshift camp. And to add onto that, it was possible that the two of them stuck together afterwards. After all, they hadn’t encountered anyone coming to or from the direction they were going in, and it made sense for a trainee Hero like Ellie to think the safest place was at her side with monsters roaming around.

Then, a villager? Traveler? It was hard to say with just the clues they found, but what made Eveline uneasy was the fact that despite her earlier logic, if the mystery person was a civilian, it would have made more sense for Ellie to leave them behind at the camp. Tracking [Baphomet] while worrying about a civilian would only make it more difficult for her, and she would have known she’d be pursued after leaving on her own anyway, so she could have left them here for Eveline and the others to find and take back to Jochen. So why didn’t she do that?

Eveline could only think of two reasons. If the person themselves left on their own in a different direction… or if Ellie recognized that they could potentially help her in her quest, and the two of them decided to travel together.

Which was the more likely scenario between the two? Which did she want to be true?

It depended on various factors, so there was no way to be entirely sure. Still, while the thought that Ellie wouldn’t be entirely alone as she searched for [Baphomet] was admittedly a little relieving, Eveline couldn’t help but recall the unidentified mage suspected to be responsible for having unsealed [Baphomet] for reasons unknown.

If it turned out that they weren’t among the Zaothern Heroes, and were instead still at large in the area, then the chances weren’t small that…

…

“...Aaaahhh, damn it! Fucking hell, what is that idiot doing, seriously?! Don’t just fucking hook up with any old person you come across! What if they’re really dangerous?!”

-----

‘This person is really dangerous.’

That was the thought Micah had as she watched her new traveling partner, Ellie, work to finish off a group of monsters that had attacked them.

“[Bisecting Slash]!” With a loud shout, the edge of the massive sword in her hands glowed blue with mana as she swung it around to cleave straight through the body of a hornbear twice her size, splitting it in two with ease. The bottom half flopped over and spilled its gorey contents onto the forest floor, while the other half went flying through the air, spraying blood and intestines all over the place.

Micah had seen (and done) much worse over the course of her career as Circe’s lieutenant, and she wasn’t all that fazed by the sight as a result, but it was still admittedly gross.

Gross, and somewhat terrifying. Earlier in the fight, Ellie had used the same technique to slice through three smaller hornbears at once. The blade on her sword didn’t even look particularly sharp, and yet displayed a cutting ability that Micah’s limited experience could only view as being unrivaled by anyone she’d ever encountered thus far.

Not only that, but she looked completely at ease as she did so. Micah had seen signs of it back at the camp, but the way Ellie handled her weapon made it seem as though it were made of cardboard. No, even cardboard would be at least a little bit heavy at that size; the girl showed not even the slightest bit of strain as she swung around the massive sword, and as a result her speed and agility weren’t hampered at all. They weren’t outstanding either—especially when compared to some of the other mages Micah had seen and heard about—but Ellie was still in training anyway, and it would certainly catch most people off guard if they were expecting her to move slowly.

It was a little strange that she felt the need to call out her technique’s name each and every time she used it, but… In any case, it was impressive, and also quite the mystery. How could such a small girl possess such incredible strength? Well, she supposed she wasn’t one to talk, but…

“Haa… Haa…” As Micah pondered to herself, Ellie let out a few breaths as the last of the monsters crumpled to the ground. She only needed a moment to recover, and soon a wide grin nearly split her face in two as she turned and waved her way. “Hey Mariel! I got ‘em all, so that’s ten more points for me-”

“Watch out!” Micah’s warning cut her off, and with remarkable reflexes Ellie immediately brought her sword around in another swing that sliced yet another monster in two. But she let her guard down after that, failing to realize that Micah’s shout had been about two attackers instead of one.

The hornbears generally didn’t utilize complex strategies or tactics during battles, so it was just bad luck that the creature ended up in her blind spot without her notice. With no more time to call out another warning, Micah brought a hand up and quickly heated her mana.

A ball of flames erected itself above her open palm, and in a matter of moments she had it airborne. Her aim was true, and it collided with the hornbear mid-leap for her traveling partner’s neck, obliterating most of its body in one fell swoop.

Ellie whipped around to see its charred remains, and her surprise lasted for only a short while before her attention returned to Micah. “Alright! Nice [Fire Ball]!”

In high spirits, she bounded over and raised a hand up. Recognizing the gesture, Micah hesitated for a short while before bringing her own hand up, and the two clapped them against each other.

“Yay! We make a great team, don’t we?”

“I-I guess so…” Micah responded awkwardly, overwhelmed by the girl’s boundless enthusiasm and overly-friendly attitude. Ellie herself seemed none the wiser to it though, and after returning her sword to her back, turned to examine the scene of their battle.

“Hm… There were twelve of them in total this time. I killed ten, you killed two, and if we count those extra ones at the end it means…” She was counting it out on her fingers, and despite the math being pretty simple it still took her several seconds to work it out. “I’m almost at thirty now! Just two more to go. Fufu~ Looks like you’ve still got a long way to go if you wanna catch up, Mariel.”

Micah still wasn’t sure why Ellie insisted so strongly about making a contest out of how many monsters they’d killed, but she decided to humor her anyway. “Ehh~ No fair. You’re counting the monsters you killed before we met, so of course it’s gonna be higher than mine. Besides, you’re a Hero-in-training. I’m just a nobody who knows a few spells.”

The story Micah had decided to run with while traveling with Ellie was that her magic knowledge was extremely limited, and that she was otherwise unremarkable, but still somewhat confident in her skills. She kept the details about her past vague so as to not establish facts that could be contradicted later, and she wanted to make sure she didn’t stand out enough to become truly memorable to the girl by the time they had to part ways.

That was why she decided to leave most of the work to Ellie when they had to fight, and only assisted with a few spells here and there to support her. It was relieving to learn that Ellie was every bit as strong as she claimed, but she had a tendency to rush in without thinking, putting herself in unnecessary danger again and again. Now it was easy to write that off as just being her nature, but it didn’t really make much sense to Micah, who suspected that the girl was a bit sharper than she let on.

Assuming that was true, it was possible she was trying to draw attention to herself on purpose to protect Micah from being targeted during battles. Even if she had deduced that Micah could handle herself, she was probably being considerate of the fact that the younger girl was still recovering from her injuries.

That felt more in line with her character, and even if it wasn’t Micah was thankful for the excuse not to use more power than necessary. Hopefully the battle with [Baphomet] would go just as smoothly.

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short!” Ellie responded to her earlier self-deprecation. “You may only know a few spells, but they’re pretty diverse! Most mages only have an affinity for a single element, and it’s not rare to see people who specialize in two. But fire, wind, and earth? Wow! For someone so young, it’s incredible that you can use three. Unheard of, even!”

…

…

…Huh? W-Wait, is that really how it is?!

Micah shivered, goosebumps spreading across her skin at the realization that she’d made another blunder. Her training in magic had gone flawlessly ever since the scarf’s pool had grown large enough to effectively make use of, so she just assumed every mage had the capability to use basic spells of each element and that specializations came with more advanced spells. But she’d been praised for being able to use three of them. She hadn’t even shown Ellie she could use water spells too yet, so how would she react if she learned Micah was capable of using all four elements?

…Actually, having heard Ellie’s take on it, didn’t that mean she was the strange one? If using more than a couple elements was supposed to be difficult, why did she have no trouble at all with it? She never thought to question it before, mainly because Circe never said anything about it during her training.

That bitch, there’s no way she didn’t notice how strange it was. I knew she was a sadist, but to think she’d actually put on a poker face and not say a word while I’ve been doing something amazing this whole time. Even jokes have their limits, you crazy…

“Right!” Ellie clapped her palms together, bringing Micah out of her thoughts. “Well, the carcasses are bound to draw in more monsters, and we gotta stay ahead of the rest of my team until we find [Baphomet], so let’s get moving!”

“Ah, okay.” Micah decided to put the matter of her abilities aside, along with all of the other things that weren’t important right now, and follow Ellie’s lead as she jovially bounded off deeper into the forest.

“Here we go! Full speed aheaaaaaad!!!”

“H-Hey! Wait for me!”

“H-Hauu?!”

She tripped…

“A-Are you okay…?”

“...”

“...”

…

…

“~~~~~~!!!”

Ah, she’s squirming around on the ground in embarrassment.

“T-T-Totally fine! Really! Now then, let’s goooo!!!”

“Ah-! She’s running off again?! I said slow down and wait for meee!”

-----

After some time (and many more trips), Ellie had finally calmed down and now the two were walking side by side at a more relaxed pace than before.

“-and then, and then, I tried to tell her that with a straight face but I couldn’t ‘cause it was too funny! And also, did you know that-”

“Ehh~ Really.”

Ellie was rattling off about a story from her past, but Micah had been listening to the girl talk for so long that she’d started tuning a bit of it out now. The stories themselves were mildly interesting, but what Micah found more interesting was just how “open” Ellie seemed to be. She didn’t hesitate to talk about herself without restraint, and in general she seemed so friendly and straightforward.

Not only that, but she accepted the fact that Micah refused to talk about her own past in detail or the circumstances that led to Ellie finding her, and instead took the lead in filling the long, somewhat awkward silences that would be left between them as they traveled. It felt like yet another way the girl was being considerate of her.

But most importantly…

“Watch out!” Micah’s warning cut her off, and with remarkable reflexes Ellie immediately brought her sword around in another swing that sliced yet another monster in two.

Without even confirming the threat for herself, she acted on Micah’s word alone, trusting the judgment of a total stranger she’d only met recently even in a life-or-death situation.

If it was Micah… No, even while working with Zaheer, she couldn’t say she’d ever truly let her guard down around him. She had a favorable impression of him as a person, but his role as Circe’s top lieutenant left a wedge of distrust that she knew would never come undone for as long as she remained suspicious of the woman’s true motives. No, perhaps even after that too.

In fact, aside from maybe that time during the banquet murder mystery, Micah couldn’t say she’d ever trusted someone she worked alongside. And even then, by suspecting her briefly at one point, Aurelia had proven that even among those who trust each other there was room for doubt and betrayal. Then of course the reveal that the person who she herself trusted most was actually the culprit only further strengthened the idea that you never could really trust a person completely, regardless of how close they were to you.

So then… why is it that this girl…

“-some people just don’t get that, ya know? Anyway, I tried to tell her off about that a little, and she totally snapped at me-”

That… this girl can…

“Ah!” Ellie suddenly stopped, eyes wide as she spotted a squirrel peeking out at them while clinging onto a nearby tree. “Hey there, little guy! You hungry? Wait just a second!” Tongue poking out the side of her mouth, she twisted around to grab at the bag on her back, then dug her hand around in one of its pockets until she retrieved a handful of nuts. Bending down slowly, she placed her outstretched hand against the grassy floor, shaking it enticingly. “Here you go! I’ve got plenty, so go ahead and have your fill okay?”

The squirrel remained motionless, eyeing the two of them warily. But after several moments of silence and Ellie’s urging, it steadily began to crawl its way down the tree in short, but quick bursts of movement. Readying itself to dive away to safety at any time, it got closer little by little until finally it snatched a nut from her palm. A short while of further silence passed before it parked itself next to her hand and began hastily munching.

“Mhm, there you go, buddy… Though I guess from this close up it looks like you’re actually a mama. Make sure to eat well so you can raise your babies to grow up big and healthy, alright?”

Her whispered comments were naturally met with silence, but for a moment it seemed like there was a strange sort of synergy between the two, as the squirrel paused briefly to glance up at her, then quickly snagged another nut to begin munching.

Micah watched the scene from behind Ellie, wordlessly gazing upon her exposed back as she remained crouched in order to feed the animal.

…

…

Right now, her guard was completely down.

It would be all too easy to kill her. The amount of ways Micah could come up with in just this situation alone was ridiculously high. Unacceptably high.

“...”

As if to prove her own point, Micah slowly brought a hand up, extending it out towards Ellie’s neck with fingers tensed. But no matter how close she brought it, the girl didn’t move or react to her in the slightest.

…

…

Why?

Why was she like this?

Why was she able to turn her back in a situation like this?

A retreating figure, getting further and further away amidst a shaking hell.

“...Mm? Something wrong, Mariel?” Ellie finally seemed to remember her presence, and craned her neck around to see her outstretched hand inches from her face. Even then, rather than alarm or suspicion, her first reaction was to instead calmly ask for an explanation.

Micah found herself becoming irritated all of a sudden, and retracted her hand while turning her gaze away. “...It’s nothing. Anyway, shouldn’t we keep moving? We’re losing daylight.”

Her words came out curtly, and without waiting for Ellie’s response, she instead turned away and walked off ahead on her own.

The fact that her own guard was completely up the entire time she did so caused her irritation to rise even further.

-----

“...”

Ellie silently watched as Mariel walked off. At first her expression was one of innocent confusion, but as soon as she was far enough away, it quickly changed into one more relaxed as she let out a small breath while smiling to herself.

“Really… Just who is she anyway?”

Despite her back being turned, she’d noticed almost immediately when the mysterious girl she’d been traveling with had reached out towards her. Still, curious as to what she was planning to do, she waited without making any movements, but in the end Mariel did nothing and pretended like it hadn’t even happened.

“Is she an enemy or not? I seriously can’t tell what’s going through her head,” she muttered. “But she’s got me curious. I don’t think I’ve been this interested in a person since I met Keith for the first time. You think I’ll learn more about her by the time we find [Baphomet]?”

“*munch* *munch* *munch* *munch* *munch*”

Her optimistic question was aimed at the squirrel, whose only response was to continue gorging on the nuts in her hand without care for the strange moment between the two girls. Ellie watched as it gobbled up the very last one, then promptly turned and dashed away without a moment’s hesitation.

“Ah well, who cares?” she continued as she stood up. She brought her arms up behind her head to stretch, sighing at the satisfying pop of her joints after having been in that uncomfortable crouched position. “Mm… mm! I already decided to trust her, so if she does backstab me I’ll just deal with it then. Alright, time to get psyched up.”

After finishing her stretches, she lowered her hands down to her face, then promptly clapped her palms against her cheeks. As the stinging pain slowly filled her cheeks with warmth, the corners of her lips raised into the usual smile Mariel had been seeing from her, and her cheerful expression returned. Then she called after her new friend and partner.

“Marieeeeel~! Hey, I’m sorry for stopping! Don’t leave meeee!”

-----

Over the course of the next few days, Micah had calmed down significantly from her earlier anger, and now she was once again listening to Ellie chat animatedly while they walked together through the forest.

“Now we were supposed to be studying that day, but I was pretty bored from all the lessons earlier, so I asked Mare if she wanted to sneak out with me and see what Keith was up to, but she just told me to stop being a nuisance. I could totally tell that she was interested though! So I prodded her a little more and-”

“Is that so? I see.”

And once again, Micah was offering the bare minimum response to show she was paying attention. Honestly, she wished the girl would put more of her attention into scanning for potential threats, but she didn’t mind listening to her either. Most of the stories she told were of her time training along with other aspiring Heroes, and those names often came up in almost all of them.

“Mare and Keith… You said they’re your closest friends, right?”

“Mhm! I’ve known them practically forever, and we train together all the time!”

“Childhood friends, huh? Sounds nice, having people you’re close to like that,” Micah commented, reminded of the fact that she’d never had that kind of experience, either in this world or on Earth. She’d had plenty of friends during her early years, but none that she was particularly close to, and none that really stayed in touch with her as they all grew up, moved away, went to different schools, etc.

Her earliest longtime friend was Makoto, but she didn’t really consider her a “childhood friend” as such, since the two of them first met in junior high. Aside from that, there was maybe Yuu who’s five years younger and who she basically groomed to share the same hobbies as her, but she wasn’t sure if blood family could be considered childhood friend-material.

“It sure is…” Ellie’s face had fallen into a gentle smile as Micah assumed she reflected on her friendship with those two. A moment later though, she snapped out of it and turned her way. “What about you though? You mean you’ve never had anyone like that?”

“Who, me? Well… um… y-yeah. A few, I guess,” she answered vaguely. Inwardly though, she cringed.

Ugh, I talked myself into a corner there. Sometimes it’s hard to remember I’m only supposed to be a child, so I end up including my previous life experience when talking about my past.

If she had to guess, her words just before probably made Ellie think that she was a lonely girl who had no friends despite being so young, but she couldn’t really contradict that since she found her close friends later in life as Mikasa.

Damn it, it’s seriously such a pain trying to figure out how much of the truth I should tell in order to sound natural and avoid future contradictions…

Though she wanted to grumble out her frustrations, Ellie was still looking at her with sympathy in her eyes, so she decided it was time for a subject change.

“So um, by the way… About that Keith guy.”

“Hm? What about him?”

“Do you like him?”

“Pbbt?!” In response to her question, Ellie made a noise similar to a spit take and almost jumped out of her shoes. By the time she regained some semblance of composure, her face was dripping with sweat and she looked completely stressed out. “W-WHY DO YOU ASK HAHAHAHA???”

“What’s with that reaction…? You talk about him a lot in your stories, so I was just wondering if you had a crush on hi-”

“I-I DON’T!”

You totally do…

Micah’s expression must have betrayed her doubt, as after a few seconds Ellie finally let her shoulders slump in defeat, cheeks burning an interesting shade of red as she muttered almost to herself, “O… Okay, I… I like him…”

Uwa~ So it’s the rumored “childhood crush” you see all the time in stories. Then I suppose, as the adult here, I should try and encourage her?

“Ellie… you’re pretty cute, aren’t you?”

“Ehhh?! W-W-What are you saying all of a sudden?!”

Ah, I ended up teasing her instead. Oh well, she’s cute like this too.

“Mmnn~! Your face is telling me that you’re enjoying my embarrassment!”

“Pfft… I-I’m not.”

“You obviously are!!! Aw, I shouldn’t have told you anythiiiiing~!”

Even though Ellie seemed to be on the verge of tears, her whining was so hilarious that Micah actually ended up laughing. It wasn’t anything huge or gut-bursting, and was really more of a spat of giggles as she held her stomach, but it still came as a surprise to her since Micah couldn’t even remember the last time it’d ever happened.

Ellie seemed to notice it too, and a small smile tugged at her lips as she wiped the corner of one eye with her finger. “Geez… Finally got one out of you, huh? It’s about time.”

“Huh?” Micah’s laughing fit settled just as she heard Ellie speak. She turned to the girl, and her eyes widened to see an expression as light as the beams peeking through the trees above them.

“...Mhm, I knew it. You look way better with a smile on your face.”

Micah stayed silent, speechless in the face of her glowing visage. Her words too, had struck a chord with her, and she found her own cheeks getting just a bit hot as she pointed her gaze down to hide her face.

…What’s with that. She almost quoted something Yuu told me a long time ago word for word.

“Yup, you really do look the best with a smile on your face, Onee-chan.”

It was a memory from a time long passed—one of many wonderful moments she’d spent with her little brother that had made her into who she was today. That boy, so full of innocence and wonder… His kind words and beautiful smile had saved her from herself more times than she could count.

As I thought, it’s useless… I really can’t let Yuu go. I need to get back to his side, no matter what.

“...?” Ellie blinked, taken aback by the sudden change in Micah’s expression. “Mariel, what’s wrong…?”

“...Nothing, I’m fine. I just remembered something really important is all,” was all she said. Ellie still looked a bit skeptical though, and so she decided to change the subject again. “So have you tried confessing to Keith yet?”

“Geh-! W-We’re still talking about that…?”

“Of course. So have you?”

“A-Ahaha… N-Not really, no…” Ellie’s hand went up to rub the back of her head nervously, and though it seemed like she was a bit bothered, Micah didn’t feel like she was unhappy talking about this sort of topic. “I don’t think he hates me, but he’s a bit of a cool character so I doubt he’d ever really reciprocate. Plus I tend to get on his nerves a lot, h-hahaha…”

“But you said you were friends with him right?”

“W-Well! From my perspective we are, but I bet he just thinks of me as an annoying girl who keeps bugging him all the time. Mare’s always telling me to just give up on him, and he even called me a brainless idiot once, heh…”

Eh? And she likes this guy? He sounds like a total piece of trash.

Ellie quickly caught the expression on her face though, and frantically waved her arms around in a fluster. “B-But he’s actually a good guy deep down! A really good guy! He just has a pretty big burden on his shoulders that he tries to bear by himself. He’s always worrying over his little sister and trying to protect her, but he keeps a distance from everyone and never lets himself look weak in front of others. Even when he’s suffering a whole lot, he doesn’t say anything and doesn’t let it show on his face.”

By this point, Ellie’s expression had sunk a great deal, until she looked like she was the one who was suffering. “That dummy… What’s the point in trying to bear everything on your own? It just makes the people you’re trying to protect even more worried…”

“Ellie… you…”

*Crunch*

The sudden noise sent Micah’s senses into overdrive, and both she and Ellie stopped in their tracks, halting all conversation as they snapped their gazes ahead to where it’d come from.

Footstep! Something’s there…!

In the corner of her eye, Micah could see Ellie unstrap her sword and pull it free, gripping it in both hands. She too went ahead and activated [God’s Blessing] in preparation for another fight.

But it’s strange. The hornbears we’ve fought up until now usually didn’t attack from the front; instead they’d try to surround us from all sides before launching their attack. And judging from the smell… there’s only one?

“...Oh? It seems I’ve been caught.”

A soft voice emerged from the gathering of trees just ahead, and soon after a figure stepped into view.

“It’s… a person?” Ellie voiced her confusion aloud, lowering her sword slightly. Micah couldn’t help but share in her sentiment, not having expected to run into anyone this deep into the Zaothern forests.

The person who appeared was a rather tall, buxom woman dressed in an elegant white gown that went all the way down to the grassy floor and concealed most of her lower half. A matching wide-brimmed hat rested atop her blonde hair, fitted with elaborate designs, and in her white-gloved hands she held the shaft of a parasol as it rested on her shoulder, its canopy open wide and angled slightly behind her head.

What Micah found most odd about the woman’s appearance though, was the white porcelain mask that concealed her entire face, with the only openings being a pair of eye holes shaped like upside-down crescents, and a mouth hole made the same, though right side up as though to resemble an unnaturally-wide smile. It reminded Micah of a comedy mask, like the kind you’d find in theater, but the elaborate designs that stretched across its surface did nothing to take away from the sinister vibe it gave off.

All in all though, she looked not unlike a decorative doll, and her clothes looked way too nice to be traveling on foot, let alone walking through a forest by herself. Everything about her was a complete mystery, but that just made her seem all the more suspicious. Especially since…

…What is this? Something’s wrong with her mana. It’s… like I can barely see it…

Her mana pool which should have normally appeared as a brilliant blue to Micah’s mana-detecting eyes instead appeared wispy and red. “Ethereal” felt like a good word for it, and Micah could confidently say that she’d never seen anything like it before.

“Goodness, and here I was, hoping to avoid running into anyone. I suppose my luck has been on something of a downturn as of late, but to think I would be caught by a pair of children over such a simple mistake,” she said, her tone full of pity as she seemingly chastised herself while shaking her head from side to side.

“Who exactly are you?” Micah had expected Ellie to display her usual friendliness, but it seemed even she found the woman suspicious, as she called out her question in a clear voice while readying her sword once more.

“...Ahh, I see. It’s rather unexpected, but I suppose even the Hero Association can’t be bothered to send more than mere children to deal with a problem they’re not being paid for.” The woman spoke nonchalantly as she raised a gloved hand up to inspect her nails. “They really have fallen far, haven’t they? I imagine even common mercenaries have a code against involving children with their business.”

“Don’t mock the Hero Association!!!” Ellie barked, displaying a rage Micah hadn’t yet seen in the girl until then. “I’ve noticed this for a while now, but there haven’t been any monsters in this area, even though most of the monsters we’ve encountered thus far have been coming from this direction. We should have seen more and more of them as we traced their path back to where they came from, but the monsters have all but vanished instead. I thought it was strange, but now I know the reason. It was you, wasn’t it!”

What? She really noticed something like that even while talking all that time? I also thought it was a little weird, but…

“...”

The woman’s only response was a neutral stare, but Ellie continued anyway. “That’s not all. I’m positive [Baphomet] is somewhere in this general area, so the fact that you’re also coming from that direction can only mean one thing.”

Huh? What is she… Wait, don’t tell me-?!

“So you guys think this [Baphomet] is the one behind the attacks?”

“Well, not entirely. The monsters we’ve been seeing are definitely [Baphomet]’s offspring, but the core issue is that they’re even appearing in the first place. After all, [Baphomet] should’ve been sealed along with the rest of the legendary monsters.”

“So did the seal wear off or something?”

“Mm, well I don’t want to believe something like that is possible. The seals were made by some of the best mages of their time. Even the Association didn’t think they could just wear off on their own.”

“But if that’s not the case, there’s only one other possibility isn’t there?”

Then… the one who undid the seal was…?

“Well, aren’t we the sharp one,” the woman said with a hint of amusement in her tone. Despite basically confirming Ellie’s accusations, she still seemed totally relaxed. “So? What if I am?”

“If you are, then I’d like to hear all about how and why you did it,” Ellie answered with a glare. “But first I’ll subdue you and deal with [Baphomet]. Since you so generously dealt with the monsters in this area, you’ll be safe until my team catches up and collects you.”

“Ah, but for that to happen you’ll have to defeat me, won’t you? In all honesty, I really don’t have the time to be playing with children. But I’d be troubled if you followed me after our meeting here, so I suppose I can spare just a couple of minutes.”

The woman took a step forward as she lowered her parasol, angling her head down to stare menacingly at the two, and it was at that moment that both Micah and Ellie reacted with a start.

H-Her eyes…!

From beneath her mask, two glowing orbs shone a bright red as they focused on the duo. And though Micah may have just imagined it, she could almost swear that the malice-filled grin etched into the mask had spread just a bit wider, as if to match its owner’s beneath.

“Now then, shall we play for a bit?”