Almost immediately after me and Yahanaseara return from our corpse disposal-related activities, the caravan is ready to get back on the road.

Not that I can really blame them for wanting to get the hell out of there as soon as humanly possible.

Its overall configuration remains pretty much unchanged from how it was prior to the attack, with the only real difference being that now there's a large bubble filled with seven horrified bandits trailing behind the rear carriage.

Some might say that I should probably be back there keeping the prisoners in line, but like hell I'm going to do that. Nope, it's back to our makeshift seats in the opposite end of the caravan for us.

And so, while doing my best to ignore the fact that I'm still all wound-up from all the unexpected violence that I totally didn't revel in, I assume as comfortable a position as I possibly can and get back to watching the scenery.

...

......at least, that was the plan.

But there just so happens to be a certain blurry ball of floof positioned right outside the boundary of my glasses.

Who keeps stealing glances at me.

At the exact moment when my thoughts start to wander.

Over and over again.

I would just ask her what she wants, but it feels too damned awkward to do so I'm just bearing with it but it's driving me insane why doesn't she just say something alread-

"...Brigitte?"

OH THANK GOD FINALLY.

"Hm?"

Feigning nonchalance, I glance in her direction.

"If you do not mind me asking, I am curious about the way you fought."

"Eh?" I blink a few times. "In what way?"

"In particular, that spell you used... 'Silhouette Orchestra?'"

Oh.

Suddenly, I find myself assaulted by an all-too-familiar emotion.

Why the hell am I embarrassed, though? All she did was ask a question and it's not like I did anything to be embarrassed ab-

"Prior to my imprisonment, I had never seen nor heard of such a spell," she continues. "Are such things common in this era?"

"Er... not really?"

The sides of my mouth reflexively curl upwards in a most uncomfortable way.

"It's not exactly all that well-known to begin with, and I'm probably the only person who uses it the way I do."

"In the way you do?" she repeats in a much cuter voice than my own. "So there is another way to use it?"

And now she's tilting her head to the side while tapping her lips in that adorable way she likes to do.

My face suddenly feels hot.

"Yeah, it's actually meant for performance art."

C'mon, Brigitte. Shake it off and act normal. Stupid feelings are stupid.

"You take the shadows and direct them with your movements like you're conducting, well... an orchestra."

"Ah, now I understand," Yahanaseara nods.

oh thank god she knows what orchestras are

"From the moment you stepped forth into the battlefield, until I-" She stops herself and shakes her head. "...you were putting on a performance to show off the sheer degree of mastery you have over your chosen 'instrument.'"

"That's one way to put it, I guess?"

"And given that it was a performance, am I to assume that I was the intended audience?" she asks, leaning in while brandishing a wide smirk.

One that's got a decidedly different feel from the usual innocent smiles that I've come to expect from her.

And now my face is on fire.

"Uh-"

Words escape me.

"I mean it's pretty flawed when compared to actual offensive spells and it's not all that efficient but I still really like it so I usually just use it to mess around and"

"And show off to me?"

"and show off to youHNGK-"

whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

she's not even laughing she's just smiling while looking really satisfied with the fact that she just made me choke on fucking nothing

"Was that 'collapsing star' thing you did also an attempt to impress me?" Yahanaseara asks as she rests her head on my shoulder. "Because it was indeed quite impressive."

"............"

Fuck it, I give up.

"No, that was because I was really pissed off," I mumble, ignoring the weight pressing up against me. "Movements require too much effort to just play around with."

"Movements?"

Wow. It's like the embarrassment floodgates have opened to the point where it no longer even registers.

"What I started out with back there was just freeform playing," I explain, "but those are original pieces that I made myself. Movements, like in a musical composition."

I don't even care anymore.

"First Movement is Starless Night, Collapsing Star is Movement Fifteen, and so on," I say. "I need both hands for most of them."

"How many are there in all?"

"Twenty-six complete works. And then there's a bunch of incomplete ones that still need adjustment."

"Oh my..." she murmurs. "The more I learn about you, the more amazing you seem."

While still leaning on my shoulder, she shifts around to slide her arm around mine. And somehow, this further violation of my personal space is not entirely unpleasant.

"Though I suppose I should expect nothing less from the one to whom I owe my life."

"Eheh."

An empty chuckle from the mentally exhausted me.

"...does your usage of the spear have a similar origin?" Yahanaseara asks. "Another form of weapon dance?"

"Huh?"

Dance?

Brigitte doesn't dance. Ever.

"No, that's just 'cuz my mother forced me to learn how to use some form of melee weapon just in case," I say. "Since pure mages are useless once their reserves run out."

"Ah, that does make sense," she replies. "Does your mother also use polearms?"

"Nah," I shake my head, "she uses a greatsword that's about as long as I am tall."

"As long as you are..." her voice trails off. "...and you are already quite tall, especially for a human female, so she must be exceptionally so."

"More like exceptionally short."

Actually, now that I think of it...

"Yeah," I nod to myself, "she's like exactly your height."

"My-"

Yahanaseara suddenly lets go of me and stands fully upright in this still-moving cart.

"You mean how tall I am right now?" she asks, holding a hand up to the top of her horns.

"Yup," I shrug. "My height comes from my father's side of the family."

Along with my face and my hair color and my personality and my terrible vision and my scarecrow-esque figure and my nonexistent bust.

"That is-..."

She looks up at her hand-level, then stands on her tippy-toes and reaches up as high as she can in what I'm assuming is an attempt to approximate my own height.

"...now I suddenly have the desire to meet your mother."

"Heh."

Sorry, but I don't have any intention to head back home for a good long while.

"But putting that aside for now..."

BAM

Faster than I'm even able to react, she lurches towards me and slams her hand on the crates that are currently serving as my backrest and her face is way way too close why the hell is she looking at me like that why is she leaning in

"...it is clear that you are exceptionally weak to teasing."

And then she just kind of... rolls back into her seat next to me.

"As well as physical contact."

Her hand slides under my hand and her slender little fingers entwine around my fingers and what the fuck why does this feel so dirty

"What, so you were just messing with me on purpose?"

I pull myself together long enough to shake free of her soft grip.

"I simply thought it the most efficient method to return you to your usual self," Yahanaseara replies, her smile unfading. "And it was effective, was it not?"

"Huhwha?"

The hell is she even talking about?

"Even after the battle's end, you were filled with so much tension," she says. "It lingered within you like a stormcloud on the verge of erupting."

I mean yeah, but still...

"And since experience has taught me that such things are ruinous if left unchecked, I took it upon myself to rectify it."

"By feigning interest in my weird hobbies and forcing yourself to act all touchy-feely?"

I glare at her, but her smile remains unfaltering.

"Who said anything about 'feigning interest?'" she asks. "Or 'forcing' anything?"

...wait a minute-

"I was simply fortunate enough to find that what I personally wanted to do just so happened to also be the optimal way to calm you down."

"The hell do you mean, 'calm me down?'" I grumble. "It feels like my heart's about to explode."

"But not in an unpleasant way."

"........."

...god damn it she's right.

MaouZenigame

This chapter was supposed to cover the trip back to Hovora and initial events there, but instead it turned into spaghetti.