Rudy was worried. He tried to keep it from Sylphy, but he wasn't very good at hiding it.

That made Sylphy sad.

It wasn't fair. Ever since Rudy showed up to save her in the forest, he made every day fun. He taught her how to use magic, showed her how beautiful the world really was after helping her see mana... and he made her have confidence in herself. Made her see that she wasn't some demon freak who didn't have any value.

Not only that, but Rudy went out of his way to cheer her up. Whenever she felt sad, whenever she was worried... even earlier, when she was terrified about the knights, he was calm and tried to reassure her.

Patting her head, he carefully thought about the situation and then told her everything would be fine.

But it wasn't.

She could see it. Before, he always smiled and gave his full attention to her as they played. But now... he still smiled, and he still paid attention to her. But there were moments where his smile dimmed just a bit. Where he got a bit distracted and missed what she said or what she did.

And considering how smart and cool Rudy was, that meant it was serious.

...Sylphy didn't understand it. She didn't know why those knights came to the village or why that one man stared at her with those scary eyes. She didn't know why her father or Mister Paul seemed so worry.

But she knew that something had happened. And even though Rudy was just a kid and the adults said they would take care of it, Rudy was still worried.

Sylphy wanted to help. She wanted to grab Rudy and say to tell her what's wrong. She wanted to pat his head and tell him that everything would be okay too.

But she couldn't. So instead...

"Good morning, Sylphy's Mom!"

Sylphy blinked, drawn out of her thoughts by Rudy's voice.

It was the usual cheerful greeting. As always, Rudy showed up at their house in the morning and greeted Sylphy's mom who was tending to the garden outside.

"My." Sylphy's mom laughed and said, "As early as ever, Rudy?"

"Of course! I can't keep Sylphy waiting for me!"

A bright and cheery voice. Again, the usual.

But it wasn't.

Sylphy could tell. It was just a bit too bright. A tiny bit too cheery.

As if he was faking it so that he would believe it himself.

Sylphy would know. She used to do the same thing.

But...

"Well, feel free to come inside. I'm sure Sylphy will be out in a bit."

"Thank you, Miss Sylphy's Mom!"

Sylphy's mom laughed. Shortly after that, the front door opened.

Sylphy took a deep breath and then took a look around the room.

The intricately carved white wand that Rudy made for her. The handsewn sweatshirt her mother made. The carved wooden pendant by her father...

Grabbing her precious belongings, Sylphy put on her clothes and then walked out of her room. As she did, she smiled and said, "Good morning, Rudy!"

"Sylphy!" Rudy waved at her, a bright smile on his face.

Like always, he wore the carefully knitted scarf from Miss Lilia. Beneath that, he also wore a fancy blue pendant that he received from his Master, Miss Roxy. The healing book from Miss Zenith was secured on his back in a stone holster... Just like with Sylphy, he carried his important belongings on him wherever he went.

As for his outfit, he wore a loose white shirt, simple gray trousers, and boots. The wand he received from his Master hung on his right side, clipped to a holster on his belt.

It was the same outfit that he had been wearing since summer started.

But there was a difference today.

On his left side, opposite his wand, there was another weapon. One that Sylphy had seen a lot, but one that she had never seen Rudy carry.

His sword. The real sword that Mister Paul gave him for his fifth birthday, not the practice one that he used to spar with Mister Paul.

The one that could really hurt things.

"Rudy...?" Sylphy tilted her head, staring at the sword.

Rudy noticed and laughed. "Oh, this?" He rested his left hand on the sword hilt and said, "It's cool, right? I thought that since I'm getting bigger, it might be fun to carry it around like Dad. I've gotta get used to wearing it sometime, you know? Can't just let it gather dust in my room all day."

That was a lie.

Rudy was tricky like that. Whenever he was trying to avoid telling the truth, or whenever there was something he lied about, he always talked a lot more to cover it up.

It was something Sylphy noticed after hanging out with him for so long.

There were a few things like that where Rudy acted the same way.

Like whenever Sylphy asked how he knew so much, Rudy rambled a bit about how he read a lot of books and asked a lot of questions to Miss Roxy when she was teaching him. But instead of just saying that, he went on to say how anyone else could have known as much as he did, and that Sylphy probably would have known as much too if she had a good teacher...

A long story. Whenever Rudy was uncomfortable or wanted to not say something, he said a bunch of other things instead that the other person wanted to hear.

The adults didn't notice it. Maybe because they were smarter than Sylphy, they were tricked by Rudy's words and believed him.

But Sylphy knew better. Part of it was because she didn't understand everything Rudy said... but most of it was because she knew Rudy.

Her best friend was someone who didn't really like talking. He was super thoughtful and made sure people knew he appreciated them with his actions instead.

Like for her, Rudy always made sure to pat her head or hug her or do hi-fives when she did good. For his mom and Miss Lilia, he made sure to hug them whenever he left and when he got back. For Mister Paul... Well, recently Rudy had been saying bad words to him a lot, but he still hugged Mister Paul when he got back from work too.

So for Rudy to talk a lot, it either meant that something was really important... or that he was trying to hide something really important.

"Sylphy?" Rudy blinked and tilted his head. "Are you not feeling good?"

Sylphy smiled and then went up to hug Rudy. "I'm feeling great, Rudy! I just can't believe how cool you look like that!"

Rudy stiffened.

It was just for a little bit.

But then he relaxed and hugged her back. "I know, right? I finally look like a real swordsman! Well, even though I keep getting beat up by my dad."

Sylphy let go of Rudy and then smiled. "That's because you aren't using magic."

"Well, yeah. That's the point of practicing my sword skills. If I use magic, that's cheating." After saying that, Rudy turned around and started walking out of the house, taking the lead as always.

...And this time, also resting his left hand on his sword instead of keeping it loose like he usually did.

But Sylphy ignored that. Instead, she laced her hands behind her back and started walking behind Rudy. She hummed and said, "Well, maybe you *should* cheat. Mister Paul's been beating up on you too hard recently, hasn't he?"

Rudy laughed. "As tempted as I am to do that... I don't think that's a good idea." He frowned and muttered, "Dad might do something crazy and come up with a way to cut mana or something if I do- Ah wait. Maybe I should then? Oh yeah, and maybe I should get around to finishing <Mage Vision> for everyone else too... That'll make things easier to explain. But I already tried giving the magic circle to them and it didn't stick... Does it depend on mana affinity? But then why can't Mom..."

Hearing Rudy trail off into a long train of thought again, Sylphy laughed.

"A-Ah." Rudy flinched and then rubbed the back of his head. He let out an embarrassed smile and said, "Sorry, Sylphy. Got lost in thought for a bit again."

"It's fine, Rudy. I like that part of you anyway."

Rudy laughed and patted Sylphy's head with his left hand, forgetting about his sword for a moment. "And I like you too, Sylphy."

Sylphy smiled.

As they passed by the garden, Sylphy's mom called out and said, "Oh? Leaving already?" She stood up and brushed off her hands on her dress. "Are you sure you don't want to stay for breakfast, Rudy? And you, Sylphy? I'm planning to bake an apple honey pie today, you know?"

Sylphy gasped. "Really?"

Sylphy's mom nodded and said, "Really." She smiled at Sylphy and said, "I have to do something to congratulate Zenith on the new baby girl, so I was going to bring one over later when your father got back. But if you two stay, you can help me taste the practice one!"

Rudy hesitated, placing his left hand back on his sword hilt. "...I don't know-"

Sylphy grabbed Rudy's left hand.

He blinked and said, "Sylphy?"

Sylphy stared into her best friend's eyes.

...He was worried. He hid it well, but his expressive green eyes couldn't hide it. At least, not to her.

And he had been worried and stressed out for so long now. So...

"...Let's play here today."

"Sylphy?" Rudy blinked. "Um... you want to play here?"

Sylphy nodded. "...Rudy takes me to his house all the time to play, but that's not fair. I don't have as many things as Rudy does... but I want Rudy to be comfortable at my house too." She looked down and then said, "...Is that no good?"

"...Geez." Rudy let out a long laugh and said, "Fine, fine." He placed his hand on Sylphy's head and said, "We'll play over here today. Ah, you said you had a lot of books to read, right?"

Sylphy's eyes lit up. "That's right!" She dragged Rudy back inside the house and said, "I have a lot, but my favorite one is about a dragon and an elf princess!"

"A dragon and an elf princess, huh? Seems like some story."

"Mmhm! You see, a long time ago, there was this dragon that everyone thought was evil. He was really lonely and got used to being by himself. But then one day, he met a beautiful kind elf princess..."