Published at 18th of January 2020 7:46 pm

Volume 3, Chapter 7: The Platinum-haired Maiden and the Night Festival

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

As you’d expect from the name, the main events of the Ahmar night festival occurred after the sun went down. Though with that said, all throughout the day of the festival, the town of Kreuz was awash in excitement. It was the greatest festival in the second-biggest town in Laband, after all, so that was no surprise.

Rita saw Latina off while the sun was still out. “Well then, I’m off!”

“Take care, Latina!” “Right!”

Dale had worried so overly much, but he was out right now. Rose had chosen the day of the night festival for her departure for the capital so she could blend into the large crowd of travelers. Dale had accompanied her and Gregor, acting as a guard. Though with that said, he wasn’t traveling with them all the way to the capital. Dale’s job was to escort Gregor and Rose to a place slightly removed from Kreuz and then wait for the arrival of a flying dragon.

Gregor had ridden to Kreuz on his own, swapping out his horse several times along the way. Afterwards, he contacted the capital and had the duke dispatch a flying dragon. The number of people who could fly through the sky was limited, so this was easily the safest method for traveling back.

Latina wasn’t fully aware of Rose’s circumstances or Gregor’s lineage. To her, this work wasn’t all that different than Dale’s usual jobs involving exterminating magical beasts. Latina was concerned by Rose’s encounter with the Second Demon Lord at first, but during Rose’s stay at the Ocelot, that had faded.

Now that the over-worrying Dale wasn’t around, Latina’s mind was currently worked up over getting to act like an adult and head out at night alone for the first time.

Though Vint normally always accompanied her, he wasn’t by her side at the moment. Instead he was currently sprawled out at Rita’s feet, sulking. He and Latina had had an argument in the morning. Vint found it only obvious that he’d accompany Latina to the festival, but she had refused him. To Latina, it was her first time in a while to go out with her friends, as well as her first time being able to go out alone at night. She saw it as a precious acknowledgment, small as it was, that she had grown up. As a girl her age, there were all sorts of things she wanted to discuss with her friends, so she wanted Vint to stay behind.

Down inside, Rita and Kenneth had wanted Vint to accompany her. Even the absent Dale had accepted that things would be alright because Vint would be with her. But wanting Vint to stay behind, Latina had played her trump card.

“If you keep saying that, Vint, then I won’t brush you anymore...”

She said it quietly and with a sigh, but her eyes were totally serious. Vint was so terribly shaken by those words that even Rita and Kenneth, who were standing nearby, couldn’t help but sympathize with him.

“L-Latina?” “I won’t.” “Angry? Angry?” “I won’t.” “Really angry?!”

Latina turned her head away as Vint ran around her, his voice was full of sorrow and desperation.

That’s a threat, Latina...

Latina’s always had a tendency to be stubborn every now and again...

As the married couple thought such things while watching over this exchange, the matter was settled.

“Wah... angry! I... stay behind...”

Vint crumbled before Latina’s threat. He was heartbroken and even though he was an animal, his shoulders sagged.

No matter how much Rita and Kenneth asked him to do so afterwards, now that things had been settled, Vint wouldn’t accompany Latina.

And that’s how Latina had earned the right to go out at night without a guardian, just like she’d wanted.

To be honest, Rita and Kenneth were worried. However, they weren’t as far gone as Dale was and realized she was growing up; they knew they couldn’t keep having someone watch over her everywhere forever. And they were aware that a night like tonight, with plenty of bodyguards all throughout town, would be a fitting first step for her to experience that.

“Seriously, be careful!” Rita put even more emphasis on her words than when she first saw Latina off to school. She sighed.

If anything happens to Latina, it’ll end up raining blood...

She figured that wouldn’t be very good for her pregnancy.

After leaving the Dancing Ocelot, Latina frequently stopped to check out the travelers passing by and the wooden stages erected about town for the festival. She was absolutely exhilarated as she stared at them.

Even if she had seen it annually since she came to Kreuz six years ago, this different atmosphere running throughout the town still sent her heart aflutter. Seeing the streets she was so accustomed to now seem so fresh thanks to the festival had her restlessly excited.

I never saw an Ahmar festival back in Vassilios...

The more she grew used to living in Kreuz, the more trouble she’d been having remembering her time back in her home village. But because she was so happy now, she was also able to remember that it wasn’t all hard times back there. Right after she was exiled, just thinking about her village was painful and sad, so she had tried her hardest not to think about all the things she had lost. But lately, happy memories would unexpectedly pop up in her mind.

Now that I think of it, I did go to a festival with Rag... What god’s festival was it again...?

On the other side of the street, a young boy and a man who was seemingly his father walked by, holding hands. Latina’s gaze stopped on them, and she tilted her head.

“That was the only time we left the temple, so... it must have been a different god than Banafsaj, right?”

Realizing she may have been getting overly serious, Latina shook her head from side to side, then started walking towards Chloe’s house again.

The main street through the eastern district was far more crowded than usual, making it difficult to even walk in a straight line. But the second Latina detoured onto a backstreet, the number of people around dwindled. That was proof that there were a lot of outsiders who didn’t know the intricate layout of the town.

While feeling like she could somehow breathe easier, Latina continued further down the path.

When she arrived at the crafting district, she found that it was as quiet as usual (though the sounds of the craftsmen working weren’t exactly quiet, and they could be heard from the houses all around), as if the excitement of the festival hadn’t reached this far.

Latina approached her friend’s house, which she had grown used to visiting, and knocked on the door.

“Welcome, Latina! Come on in!” “Pardon me!”

Chloe guided Latina in past her workplace and to her bedroom. “Sylvia’s already here.”

“Sorry, am I late?”

“Not at all. She said she finished up her work early and didn’t feel like going home, so she’s been hanging out here.”

As if to support Chloe’s statement, when they entered her room, they found Sylvia with her legs rudely sprawled out. When she saw Latina, she broke in a smile reminiscent of their school days.

“Long time no see, Sylvia!”

“Latina! It really has been a while. You... haven’t really changed, have you?” “Where were you looking just now?” As she questioned that comment,

Latina’s eyes were tearing up.

Feeling the palpable aura coming off of Latina, Sylvia averted her gaze. “It really has been a while. You look like you’re doing well!” Sylvia said, starting over after facing Latina again, acting as if nothing had happened. Latina smiled back at her friend.

“You seem a bit more grown up, Sylvia.”

“Hehehe... It’s because I’m gathering all sorts of new information everyday in the temple of Akhdar.”

As her friend said that with a wide, mischievous grin, Latina thought that she hadn’t changed much since back when they were in school.

“Hehehe! I brought all sorts of things today!” “Hmm?”

“Now then, Latina... the clothing you ordered is finished!” “Right! I’ve been really looking forward to it!”

Not realizing that Chloe and Sylvia had exchanged eye contact, Latina broke out in a gentle smile. After taking the new clothes from Chloe, Latina started excitedly changing. It wasn’t as if she didn’t find it embarrassing to change in front of others, but right now she saw Chloe as an artisan. She was carefully checking to make sure the measurements and finishing touches had all turned out right.

While in the midst of that, Chloe’s hands stopped while checking one particular spot. As she checked by taking measurements, she at last realized that Latina really had been growing.

“Sorry, Latina... You really have been getting bigger...” Chloe apologized for having doubted Latina’s constant insistence on the matter.

“I’m still in my growth period.”

Latina puffed up her cheeks in response to her friend’s words, like she’d done since she was very young.

After that exchange, Chloe and Sylvia started looking over the wide spread of items that Sylvia had brought.

“What should we go with?”

“For starters... Hmm, Latina’s pretty pale, so maybe we should go with one, brighter tone than mine...”

“Hey, why won’t you let me see the mirror?” “Hehehe... Chloe, this is pretty fun, isn’t it?”

“Right? You don’t get to play with such excellent products very often.” “What? Huh?”

“I think pink would be better for Latina than orange, wouldn’t you agree?” “Hehehe...”

“What is it? Hey, seriously, what are you doing?”

While Chloe and Sylvia chattered away, enjoying themselves greatly, more and more things were smeared across Latina’s face. In addition to wearing a new dress, Latina was also in the midst of having her makeup done for the first time in her life. However, her two friends wouldn’t let her see a mirror as they toyed

with her in all sorts of ways. To Chloe and Sylvia, being able to dress up such a beauty however they liked was like an evolved version of playing with dolls and a wholly unique opportunity.

They were both at that age where, if they were dealing with any normal beauty, they’d end up feeling jealous and maybe even slander her. However, Latina was beyond that level of beauty. It was like she was in a whole different dimension, so it felt frankly stupid to envy her, and they couldn’t help but accept that they’d never measure up. And yet, their childhood friend was also a natural airhead. She was often somehow out of it, and it felt dangerous to leave her on her own. They couldn’t possibly hate her.

Above all else, ever since they were younger Chloe and Sylvia had been well aware that Latina always had her eyes on someone older. It was only natural for them to cheer on their friend, who tried her hardest and pushed herself to act more mature than she was.

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!”

There was a weird vibe between the two of them, and Chloe and Sylvia gave each other a double high-five. Having been left out, Latina stared at the two of them with an uneasy expression on her face. She wanted an explanation.

Latina had started working young, and because of her prudent nature and lack of wasteful habits as well as the fact that her guardian, Dale, took care of their living expenses, she had plenty of money saved up. She could have easily purchased her own makeup. The reason she hadn’t up until now was because it was hard to express an interest in such things in front of Dale, who still treated her like a child. She also considered the less direct method of asking Rita, but she was always busy with work and childcare, so Latina wasn’t able to press her to make time to join her and help her shop. She’d made it all the way to the front of a cosmetics store before, but she ultimately got nervous and couldn’t bring herself to enter. It was just too new of an experience, so she’d had no idea what to do or even what type of makeup to choose.

She couldn’t bring this up with her usual conversation partner, Kenneth, either. Asking him would probably just leave him bewildered and embarrassed.

She’d discussed the matter with her friends, so the well-informed Sylvia had taken the lead and ended up bringing a set of makeup along with her today.

The latest crazes and trends were also included amongst the information gathered by the temple of Akhdar where Sylvia served, and half of those who served in the temple were women. As a result, information on the latest fashion naturally gathered in the temple of Akhdar, which had deeper contact with the outside world than the other temples.

Sylvia was well informed on the latest makeup techniques. Chloe was also much better informed on such matters than Latina. Skillfully applying the latest cosmetics, they finished their work on the greatest model imaginable, then turned to one another with a look of satisfaction and joy.

“My, this girl really is a beauty.”

“I feel like even if we weren’t so skilled, her natural beauty would still end up shining through.”

“Come on, Latina, smile!”

“Hey, seriously, let me know how it turned out...!”

Latina finally managed to snatch the mirror away from her two smirking friends. Peering into it, she was so shocked she couldn’t speak. The eye makeup gave her long eyelashes and big grey eyes even more impact. With muted tones used on the rest of the face, the whole look was balanced and not over the top. Her cheeks were faintly colored, like her face was flushed. There was light-pink lipstick on her slightly open lips, making them sparkle a bit more glamorously than usual.

She couldn’t be a full-on adult, but her lovely face could no longer be mistaken for that of a child.

Chloe and Sylvia were satisfied with their work. “My face... it’s so thick...!”

The comment she got out after staring at her own face in the mirror was as regrettable as always. The disheartening nature of her statement was likely a result of the person who had raised her.

After finishing Latina’s makeup, the three girls headed outside, chatting noisily all the while.

“Ugh... I feel embarrassed somehow...” Latina was the last one out of Chloe’s house, and she looked a little troubled as she stared down at the ground.

“What’ve you got to be embarrassed about?” “It’s because she’s Latina.”

Latina’s face was different than normal. She felt like someone would point that out, which felt strangely awkward. The people around her would have no reason to pay that any mind, but because she wasn’t accustomed to it, she was on edge.

Aware of Latina’s personality, her friends broke out in cheerful laughter. “Well, it’s true that other people may end up looking at you more than usual.”

“Wha?!”

“That’s true. So you shouldn’t let it bug you so much now, right?” “Do I really look strange?”

“Hehehe...” “Mwahaha...”

“What’s with that laugh?!”

While her two friends enjoyed Latina’s reactions that made teasing her so worth it, the three girls headed toward the center of town where the temple of Ahmar was.

Along the way, they stopped here and there all over town.

The eastern district was terribly crowded, thanks in part to the shops offering sales and promotions aimed at the throngs of sightseers out and about. Even though the girls had no intention of buying anything, they spent time enjoying just pointing out items to one another and smiling.

Chloe stopped, seeing a number of reasonably priced items on display in the storefront of an accessory shop she’d normally never enter. Everyone hemmed and hawed, trying to carefully decide on the best item for their budget.

In a different accessory store, Latina picked out a ribbon and held it out for her two friends to see. It would also go with her normal outfits, but thanks to her friends recommending she go with something a little more mature than usual, she ended up going with a black ribbon made from a lovely fabric.

It was still too early for the start of the festival, so the three friends decided to divert from their route a bit on the way, stopping in at a thriving bakery. In addition to the store itself being packed, the additional stand they set up in front was also crowded. The three girls smiled at their childhood friend who was standing there busily working away.

“You look busy, Marcel.”

“Hi Latina, Chloe, Sylvia. It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Sylvia?”

His gentle tone of voice hadn’t changed since they were young, but his hands kept on briskly working away as he spoke. He was selling simple sandwiches meant for light meals aimed at sightseers here for the festival. Even while he was chatting, the speed at which he assembled the sandwiches for customers’ orders didn’t slow at all.

There were no sharp edges to be seen on the somewhat short, round-faced Marcel. The food he was selling as he wore his apron and a gentle expression looked absolutely delicious.

Marcel was fully aware of the impression he gave off. That was precisely why on days like this, he’d work outside the shop instead, taking the initiative to act as a billboard for the store. This bakery heir had a promising future ahead of him.

“Are you all going to see the festival?” “Yeah, that’s right.”

“You seem busy, Marcel,” said Sylvia.

In response, Marcel broke out in an awkward smile as he smeared mustard on some bread.

“That’s right. We’re always busy, but this year one of the people who works in the shop took leave to have a baby, so we’re short on hands... Ah, here you go, thanks for waiting.”

Marcel handed the customer a sandwich made with a heaping helping of sliced veggies and meat between two pieces of the bread the shop prided itself on. It looked truly delicious.

It was just the right time for everyone to start getting hungry, so as they headed into the start of the festival, people sought to fill that desire.

“It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to make it this year. Will Anthony be going?” “Anthony?”

“Yeah. His dad works at the lord’s manor, after all. He knows a lot about how the festival is set up and should be able to recommend spots worth seeing... Ah, here, this is on the house.”

Chloe graciously accepted the three sandwiches that Marcel offered with a smile.

“Thank you!” “Thanks!”

“Is it really alright, Marcel?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. But if you could, please eat them near the shop. Do you need something to drink?”

Latina tilted her head at Marcel’s words, but by the time they’d finished eating in front of the shop, there was a long line in front of the stand. The young heir to the shop had correctly realized that a first-rate beauty happily eating the shop’s goods would be great publicity.

After saying their farewells to Marcel, the three girls headed to the town’s central plaza. Unsurprisingly, it was far more crowded than usual. They hurried along as the sun started to go down, the sky awash in beautiful sunset colors.

In Latina’s everyday life, she rarely had an opportunity to visit the temple of Ahmar. Unlike the temple of Azraq, which served as a bank, and the temple of

Asfar that everyone attended as a child, there was little reason for your average citizen to go there. However, she did occasionally see the warrior priests who served there about town. The guardsmen who served the local lord were the ones tasked with keeping public order in Kreuz, but as Ahmar was the god in charge of law, his warrior priests worked together with the guards to suppress incidents about town.

“Where’s Anthony?”

“Hehehe... Before that, I heard from one of my elders that you can apparently check out the warrior priests over this way before the ceremony begins.”

“Huh... you mean like behind the scenes?” “That’s right.”

After looking in the direction that Sylvia had pointed out while giggling, the three looked at one another and then headed off that way. They felt like they were doing something wrong as they acted in secret, their hearts beating loudly in their chests.

A large number of warrior priests were lined up in an orderly manner behind the temple of Ahmar, but as it was just before the main event, a hurried enthusiasm filled the air. What they were doing wasn’t a crime, but even so, the three girls held their breath and kept their voices low as they watched.

“Seeing them closer like this, the warrior priest uniforms are all a bit different.”

“You’re right.”

“That’s true... It’s supposed to vary a bit based on which squad they belong to.”

Just sneakily talking like this was fun. Adults would think nothing of what they were doing or their topic of discussion, but to the young girls, each and every moment of this was precious.

“Wow. That guy is pretty cool, isn’t he?” “Which one?”

“There, that one with the two lines on his shoulder... With the dark-brown hair...”

“Hmm... So that’s the kind of person you like, Sylvia?” “Eh, don’t you think the blond guy over there is cool?”

“Hmm... That guy’s no good. He’s caused problems by hitting on women all over town.”

“Where did you hear that from, Sylvia?” “Hehehe...”

The girls enjoyed themselves greatly as they had this conversation fitting for girls their age. Latina also joined in, but her friends felt no need to ask about her tastes. The person she was interested in was already set, and she also wasn’t the sort to judge people based on appearances. Latina had her ability to sense danger, too, so she based her judgments more on what was inside.

It was very difficult to measure up to her standards. “Shall we get going?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah!” Latina responded with a nod, and the girls headed for the central plaza, where the main event was being held. Looking at the backs of the three girls walking through the crowd, you could almost feel the excitement coming off them.

†

Anthony was still enrolled in advanced schooling. He wore a forced smile on his face as he stood near the lord’s manor because he was surrounded by his father’s coworkers and superiors. His father may have been a low-level official at the lord’s manor, but that didn’t mean that Anthony was guaranteed the same post after graduating. However, it wasn’t as if the possibility didn’t exist. In order to raise those odds even a bit, his father was taking him along to make the rounds.

“Anthony!”

Hearing that voice call his name for the first time in a while, Anthony turned around.

“Long time no see, Anthony!”

There was no mistaking the owner of that voice.

Latina was standing there with an innocent smile that hadn’t changed since they were young. Chloe and Sylvia were behind her.

He soon realized what was going on. Since he was surrounded by adults they didn’t know, it should have been difficult for his friends to call out to him. That’s why they had chosen to use Latina. Sylvia was likely the instigator.

Latina didn’t seem to realize it herself, but her appearance was extraordinary and impactful enough to silence the people around her. In fact, his father and the other adults were standing there befuddled, absentmindedly staring.

“Dad, these are my friends I attended Asfar primary school with.” He made sure to emphasize they were friends because, in several ways, he was worried about his own safety.

“Huh... Wuh...?”

It seemed that Anthony’s father had recognized Chloe. Their houses were near one another, and they’d played together since they were young, so he was of course familiar with the girl.

“...This is the ‘Fairy Princess.’”

He mentioned his friend’s nickname with a sigh, and only to his father, but the other adults nearby also started to murmur.

“Wha...? She’s the one from the rumors...?” “So she really exists...?”

Apparently, his childhood friend was on the same level as some kind of mythological beast or urban legend. Rumors of her had even reached the lord’s manor.

In the town of Kreuz, the trends amongst adventurers were very important. As so much of their support was focusing in on a single person, the officials serving under the lord who ruled this town naturally paid her heed.

Adventurers possessed an excessive amount of armed might. They obviously needed to keep an eye on anyone who could cause them to revolt. However, in the case of the “Fairy Princess,” the guardsmen serving at the lord’s manner reported that she was harmless, so she wasn’t viewed as a concern.

None of the officials serving in the lord’s manner could have imagined that a captain of the guards was the leader of one of her fanclubs, or that just hearing the girl call out “Captain” was enough to make him break out in a wide grin.

Latina primarily kept to the southern district, where the Dancing Ocelot was, and the commercial sector that was the eastern district. She never visited the western district, where most of the officials lived, and the people who lived there would never go to a shop that served ruffians, like the Ocelot. That was why Latina’s existence was nothing more than a rumor to them.

“We visited Marcel’s place before coming here. He said we’d find you here.” Latina may have looked more mature in general, but the way she broke out in a wide smile hadn’t changed at all.

“It really has been a while, guys. I’m glad that you all seem to be doing alright.”

“You’ve gotten taller, Anthony.”

“Doesn’t it make you somehow angry, having him look down on us like this?”

“He can’t stop growing, but I suppose it’ll be fine as long as he gets down on his hands and knees, right?”

“It seems you two really haven’t changed at all, Chloe and Sylvia.”

As a man, he should have had the advantage in terms of height and build, but for some reason he felt like he couldn’t win against these two. Anthony started sweating mentally.

“I’ve always come with Dale, so I don’t really know the best way to see the festival. And Marcel said you may have a good idea of where to go...”

“Ah, I see... With just you girls, it’d be dangerous to go to places where adventurers gather...”

Every year that Latina had gone to see the night festival, it had been with Dale. He’d slipped through the crowd, occasionally letting the young girl ride on his shoulders to better see the festivities. There had also been years when they’d slipped into the viewing seats thanks to an acquaintance who had a spot there. However, they couldn’t use such methods today.

“Being with the Ocelot regulars is no different from being with Dale,” Latina said, pouting and puffing up her cheeks, taking Anthony’s words in a different way than he’d intended.

“What’s wrong with Latina?” Anthony whispered to the girl he’d known longest, only for Chloe to give an awkward laugh and then quietly respond, “Everyone at Latina’s place worries about her. Apparently, she was given all sorts of warnings about today’s outing.”

“Ah, I see.”

“They’re probably just worried because Latina’s so oblivious, but still...” Anthony was overcome by a pleasant feeling while talking with them. It was an intimate, familiar sort of conversation that he’d forgotten, since it had been so long.

“I’ll ask my dad. If you don’t mind, I think it’d probably be good to hang out around here.”

Anthony had said that because he realized his father and the other adults had a keen interest in the rumored Fairy Princess. He was also aware that if he let his childhood friend wander about aimlessly and, on the off chance, something was to happen, it would lead to absolute chaos.

“Let me introduce you, Dad. This is Latina. She lives in a shop with an Akhdar flag.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Latina. I was born in a place without family names, so my apologies for just giving my first name.”

“And this is Sylvia Fal. She’s the daughter of Vice-Captain Fal of the guardsmen.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

In response to the girls’ smiles, the people from the lord’s manor invited them to watch the festival alongside them, just as Anthony had expected.

This decision of Anthony’s was one that served to secretly maintain the peace of Kreuz.

The main festivities of the night festival kicked off when the sun started to set. That was because it was the time in which the world was most awash in the color symbolic of Ahmar.

The warrior priests of Ahmar marched through Kreuz in an orderly procession, wearing polished armor that reflected the light of the torches they held. The orderly march of these brave soldiers who were the pride of the god of war was enough to captivate on its own, but amidst the procession were also priestesses wearing fluttering, thin silk and offering prayers for victory in battle in the form of a dance, making the sight all the more brilliant. With the movements of their slender arms, the priestesses freely manipulated the deep- crimson silk, which was embroidered with gold thread. The afterimage of the firelight reflecting off the gold hung in the air, sparkling.

The swaying, flickering flames that lit up the town were the very symbol of their creed: While the guilty may be able to hide their deeds in the darkness, there is nowhere to hide in the presence of Ahmar. And so they lit up a great number of bonfires, transforming the normally silent night of the town into a sea of light.

“It’s amazing...”

Having secured a safe vantage point to watch from, the girls watched this special sight without needing to worry about being pushed or obstructed by the crowds.

Though there were a great number of people about, this was still essentially a religious ritual, so there weren’t many people truly cutting loose and causing an uproar. But it was still enough of a clamor that it would be hard to hear someone speaking without getting face to face with them.

The girls were enjoying this unusual atmosphere, with the commotion washing over the crowd like waves. It may have been thanks to it being such a special event that Chloe managed to bring up a topic she wouldn’t normally discuss with her friend.

“Hey, Latina.” “What is it?”

“When are you going to confess your love?”

Latina’s voice choked up in response to Chloe’s words. It was hard to tell the reaction Latina was having by looking at her face, lit up by the red flames.

“That’s right. Why haven’t you done it yet? I haven’t heard anything about him having any special ladies in his life. So what are you holding back for?” Sylvia joined in, causing Latina to look down in embarrassment.

“I’ve already said it,” Latina asserted in a slightly childish tone. “I’m always saying it. I tell Dale that I love him... that I love him more than anyone else... that he’s special to me, more so than anybody else... But my feelings never get through to him...”

She’d held these feelings in her heart, never changing, for quite some time now, and she’d tried to express those feelings over and over.

Latina continued to tell her friends how she felt, her ears so red that it would’ve been blatantly apparent if they weren’t so near a bonfire.

“To Dale, I’m still just his ‘little Latina’... so he just doesn’t get it. No matter how much I say I love him or that he’s special to me... it doesn’t reach him.”

She didn’t know what to do when her words of love wouldn’t reach him. Just saying she loved him wasn’t enough. Even saying she loved him most of all, in a different way than she did others. Even with all those words added up, she still couldn’t reach him, so what could she do? And why weren’t those feelings reaching him?

She’d long since searched for the answer to that question, and she’d determined that she needed to be an adult. She thought that even if her words wouldn’t reach him when she was a child, if she grew bigger and became an adult, they would.

The gap between their ages was large, so she’d tried her hardest to act grown up, but she still hadn’t reached him.

Even so, she at least wanted to be seen as a proper woman so she could at least convey her feelings.

“Latina.”

Chloe, who was sitting by her side, squeezed Latina’s hand tight. Chloe held back her words, but their other friend spoke them without hesitation.

“Is that really all?” “...Sylvia?”

“You understand why you haven’t been able to get through to him, right, Latina? But... you’re scared, aren’t you.”

“Huh...?”

“It’s because things won’t be able to stay the way they’ve been up until now.” Latina looked shocked in response to Sylvia’s words; more so than just because her friend had hit the mark, it was because those words made her realize she’d been harboring such feelings in her heart.

“I...”

While Latina was shaken, she was able to regain her composure thanks to Chloe silently snuggling close to her. As her friend, Chloe knew full well that Latina feared losing the people close to her above all else.

“...Maybe that’s the case,” Latina concluded after a while. “Yeah, probably,” Sylvia affirmed.

Chloe, meanwhile, just offered her silent support.

“What you need to convey your feelings isn’t to become an adult; you need the resolve to risk destroying your current relationship.”

“I see...”

Her time spent together with that beloved person, being treated as his “adorable little daughter,” helped hold her together up until now, and that time was incredibly precious and pleasant to her. But if she wished for a different relationship with him, she first needed to be willing to let that change.

“But, is it alright...? Is it really okay for me to tell Dale that I love him...?” Sylvia almost called Latina out for those timid words, but held back when she saw the girl’s pained expression.

“...Latina?” Chloe said, looking concerned.

“I’m a devil, so... no matter how hard I try, I’ll never be a human... And so...” “You’re still Latina, and being a devil is part of that,” Chloe said, unable to hold that back because she knew what Latina had done in the past. “Right... but I’m still worried. The time I spend together with Dale is the same, but it flows differently for each of us. So even if I tell Dale and he accepts me in spite of that, I know that he’ll suffer, because he’s so kind.”

In her mind, she realized that fact. And yet, she’d continued to avert her gaze from it.

Eventually, her time together with the people precious to her would come to an end. Everyone would grow old and pass away, leaving her all alone. She couldn’t avoid or escape it, but because she was happy now, she didn’t want to think about that fact.

“And also... it’s not easy for devils to have children.” Latina looked like she was about to break out in tears as she voiced that fact. “Dale really has given me all sorts of things. And yet, even if Dale accepts my feelings... I won’t be able to give him a child.”

Latina knew that Dale loved kids. It wasn’t just that he’d taken her in when she was young and raised her. No matter what he may have said at the Ocelot, he certainly didn’t seem to mind watching Theo, and when he heard that his younger brother back home had a child, he broke out in a gentle smile.

And so she knew that she shouldn’t want to be the one to stand by his side when she couldn’t give him a child of his own.

Those thoughts had long since been eating away at Latina. Just then, she felt a plonk on her head.

“Ow!”

She looked up in surprise, only to find her friend’s angry face looking back at her.

“Latina, you dummy!”

The girl once more landed a chop on Latina’s head. Latina looked dumbfounded by this attack, which made Chloe give an awkward smile entirely void of malice.

“You’re so smart, so why do your thoughts go in such bad directions?” “Chloe...”

“It’s not like it’s rare for there to be married couples without children, even amongst two humans. And yet, they’re still able to live happy lives, right?”

“But...”

“A pathetic guy who’d judge a woman based on something stupid like that isn’t worthy of my best friend in the first place!”

Latina’s expression shifted from surprise to a different emotion. Realizing that, Sylvia hurriedly spoke up. “No! You can’t cry, Latina! You’ll ruin your makeup!”

“There’s someone you want to show that off to when you get back, right?” “...Yeah.”

Latina pointed her face upwards so her hot tears wouldn’t flow, and she gripped the hands of her friends by her side tightly so that she wouldn’t forget her memories of this night or the warmth of this moment.

“...Dale isn’t a ‘pathetic guy.’” “Right.”

“In that case... you should give it all you’ve got.”

After Latina made up her mind, the festival headed into its climax. Flames made with magic danced about the center of town like a living being, scattering about sparks all the while. The excitement and clamor rose as everyone felt the hot air coming off the flames on their skin.

In the midst of all this, Sylvia wore a mischievous smile fitting of her personality, looking like she was plotting something.

“Hey, Latina. Races with long lifespans do have lower birth rates, but it’s not like you can’t have a child.”

“But...”

“In that case, shouldn’t you get into a relationship as soon as possible, to raise those odds even a little bit?”

“Huh?”

“That’s true. You should go for it tonight, Latina.”

“Wah?!” Thanks to her friends’ reckless suggestions, Latina forgot all about her tears and instead let out that panicked shriek.

The festival came to a close with fireworks made of large-scale fire magic. Fitting of a festival dedicated to Ahmar, they were all red, but it was still impossible to look at anything but the large flaming flowers in the sky.

Everyone in the massive crowd gazed straight up.

In the midst of all this, Latina suddenly felt like she heard someone call out to her and turned around. Seeing her do this, her friends tilted their heads.

“What is it, Latina?”

“Um... Just now, I thought...”

When Latina turned around, she saw the people from the lord’s manor who had given them their spot. She tilted her head a bit when she saw her childhood friend Anthony amongst them. Next to him were a number of men wearing guard uniforms. However, they looked much more fragile than the regulars who visited the Ocelot.

“Guards?”

“Gah!”

While Latina just looked innocently bewildered, Sylvia was clearly making a face.

Sylvia’s father was a vice-captain of Kreuz’s guardsmen. While they were commoners, Sylvia came from a family of high enough status that she’d had a rather strict and formal upbringing. Now that she had experienced the outside world by living in the temple of Akhdar, her life in that house felt suffocating.

And to her, anyone serving as a guardsman was just a subordinate of her father, who was symbolic of her familial home.

One of the guardsmen talking to Anthony turned their way and then stopped cold. He seemed shocked to find the girls looking at him. The other guards by his side also looked surprised, but their reactions gave off a slightly different impression.

Thinking maybe there was something strange behind her, Latina turned around to check, but she only found the backs of the crowd looking up at the night sky rather than anything surprising, so she tilted her head again.

“Isn’t that Rudy?” Chloe asked.

“Huh?” Latina looked back at the guard. It was then that she finally realized that the guardsman talking to Anthony was her childhood friend.

“Ah.”

“It is! So he graduated from the reserve corps, then?” Sylvia whispered. Before one could become an official guardsman in Kreuz, they needed to undergo training and education in the reserve corps. Once their abilities were recognized, they were allowed to wear a guard uniform and be placed on duty. There were ranks within the guardsmen, but as they were just an organization in a single town, it wasn’t as complicated as it was in a large army.

It felt like their still unreliable-looking childhood friend had been jammed into a uniform. His slender physique made it clear that he was still growing. Still, his body was well-proportioned, making it obvious that he’d been properly training himself. He’d been bigger than his friends when they were young, but as everyone matured, he ended up no longer standing out. In fact, in terms of height alone, Anthony now surpassed him.

Latina headed towards her childhood friend, whom she hadn’t seen in quite some time. She walked along with a pitter-patter, unchanged since when she was little. She was curious by nature, so when something caught her interest, she approached without hesitation.

“Long time no see, Rudy. You look well,” Latina said while approaching him, a smile with some youthfulness remaining in it on her face. Rudy wore an awkward expression in response.

“Could you stop calling me ‘Rudy’ already?” her childhood friend responded without even greeting her, his voice even lower than she remembered. Latina tilted her head.

“But Rudy, you’re Rudy. Right?”

“At my age, a childish nickname like that is a bit...” “Rudolph?”

Latina said his full name a little awkwardly, not being used to saying it, and for some reason, he froze up again, despite being the one who had told her to use it.

“Hmm... that feels strange, somehow.” Latina crinkled her brow a bit as she muttered that, but then her expression returned to normal. “Can’t I just call you Rudy?”

“...Do what you want.” Unable to look Latina in the face when she was so close, Rudolph averted his gaze. His other old friends, meanwhile, wore lukewarm expressions.

“It looks like his body’s the only thing that grew up. Guess there’s no helping that, though, since it is Rudy we’re talking about.”

“It looks like even reserve corps training can’t fix a good-for-nothing like him. Seems there’s just no helping Rudy.”

“Chloe, Sylvia, it’s not fair to put too many expectations on him. He is Rudolph, after all.”

“Right, that’d be awful!” “That’s true!”

“Hey! I can hear you! Wait, are you even trying to hide it?!”

He didn’t break out in tears, but even so, it was hard to see much growth in Rudolph as he retorted with that.

It was Anthony who had approached the guards. This was because he knew that on the off chance some hoodlums were to assault the “Platinum Fairy Princess” or some lecher were to catcall her, it’d become a serious incident. Most likely, the perpetrator would never make it out of town alive.

Anthony knew the “guardians” around her well, so he was aware that ordinary folks tended to mistakenly think of all adventurers as inherently terrifying. But when it came to a particular doting idiot, such judgments weren’t necessarily off the mark.

Things were more dangerous for Latina than she herself realized. She may have been a magic user, giving her some definite firepower, but if she lost her voice from fear or shock, she wouldn’t be able to properly cast it. Then she’d just have her slender, frail body to fight back with. And yet, these girls intended to wander around all on their own at night, when the town was full of even more outsiders than usual.

Anthony figured he needed to make a move, to protect the peace and tranquility of the town. And so, he’d gone to where the guardsmen were stationed in order to discuss the matter with them. They ended up exceeding even Anthony’s expectations by offering up a number of fresh graduates from the reserve corps. This was a result of an alignment between the captain, who was worried about the safety of the Fairy Princess, and the vice-captain, who was concerned about his daughter, who seemed to not want to come back home as of late. It was a pure abuse of authority, but there was nobody who could point that out right now.

Rudolph ended up in the dispatched group, thanks to the intentions of his superiors. There wasn’t anybody in the guards’ upper brass who didn’t know who he had feelings for. And as a result, he’d gotten plenty of attention since he entered the reserve corps four years ago.

Perhaps thanks to the influence of her guardian and her mentor, the regulars’ beloved Fairy Princess tended to be closer to the adventurers. To the guardsmen regulars, this had been terribly disappointing; but then a childhood friend of the Fairy Princess joined their ranks. If she fell for the boy, then she’d make frequent visits to the guard station, and greet them all with an adorable smile, and maybe even occasionally bring lunch and say, “Please have some, everyone.” And so those men moved on the desire for such days to come. That was why Rudolph’s superiors worked him so hard, realizing full well that he was at a disadvantage. After all, if he couldn’t at least avoid being immediately wiped out by her guardian, he’d never get anywhere.

From the point of view of those watching over her, it was annoying, but, well, it was better to back someone they could beat into shape. At any rate, this made a living hell for the boy himself, but he himself had chosen to walk this path of thorns to begin with.

“So you’re a proper guard now, right, Rudy? When did that happen?”

“It only just happened. They were short-handed for the night festival, so they rounded up us newcomers.”

“Are the people behind you new, too? I haven’t seen them at the shop.”

“...The guardsmen who are regulars in the shop are pretty much all in high positions.”

“Hmm... Nice to meet you. I’m Latina, from the Ocelot in the southern district. I’ve been friends with Rudy since we were kids.”

Latina pointed a smile at the other young men, ignoring Rudolph’s attempt to avoid saying the name of the Ocelot. There was a bit of a gap in their ages, but these young men who had been promoted to official guards were still clearly taken aback by Latina’s appearance.

To be honest, Rudolph was shocked himself. He was aware that the girl he’d had feelings for since they were young was cute, but in the time that they hadn’t seen one another, she’d grown more and more beautiful in his memories.

His reserve corps training had been harsh, causing him to always keep his mind on what lay ahead. He got the feeling that he was getting worked harder than his fellow trainees, but he couldn’t quite call it unreasonable hazing, so it was hard to bring the matter up.

Despite all that, Latina had grown even more beautiful than he’d imagined. Even his colleagues were at a loss for words upon seeing her. In the predominantly male guardsmen, they’d often discuss how the waitress at some bar was a looker, or how they’d seen a real sexy woman at such-and-such a place. But Latina was on a whole other level.

She was too radiant to look straight at her.

But as always, she had no self-awareness of that fact.

“Wow!” Latina exclaimed as she stared up at the final firework blooming beautifully as it lit up the night sky. It was only natural that Rudolph grew stiff from nervousness as he stared at her expression from the side.

The magical fireworks came to a close, signaling the end of this special night’s festivities.

The townsfolk all headed back towards their own homes, still all abuzz, while the travelers headed to their lodgings for the night. There were also some folks who headed to the bars, which were open later than usual to accommodate the festival-goers.

The girls exchanged their farewells, too. “Well then, see you later.”

“Right! Come visit the shop, okay?”

While Sylvia wore an indifferent smile, the new guards who heard she was the daughter of their vice-captain had terribly stiff expressions on their faces. With them accompanying her, Sylvia headed for the western district. Apparently, she wanted to head straight home today.

“You too, Chloe.”

“Yeah. Keep it together, Latina!” her friend said with a smile.

Latina headed to the southern district together with Rudolph. She’d left her clothing and other belongings at Chloe’s house, so she’d tell her everything that happened when she went to pick it up later.

Having been left behind, Chloe turned to the young man by her side with an awkward smile and said, “Sorry. Looks like you just happened to get stuck escorting the leftovers.”

“...Not at all. A mission is a mission, after all.”

As Chloe wore a bright, cheerful expression, she may not have been as stunningly beautiful as Latina was, but she was still plenty charming. While Latina may have been a peerless beauty, she didn’t have an inferiority complex regarding her appearance, and instead pushed her ample chest out with pride, having a different sort of “charm” than her friend.

As to what that young man thought of Chloe’s smile as he walked a step behind her, only he himself knew.

Latina stared at Rudolph as she walked by his side, unable to hide her curiosity.

“Was the reserve corps training rough?” “Yeah.”

“I see. You’re really strongly built, Rudy. You look much burlier than the novice adventurers who come to the shop.”

Latina’s smile was innocent and unguarded. And because she was so dense in regards to what the people around her thought of her, that was all the more dangerous.

Ever since she was young, she had only ever chased after a single person. As a result, she was dense when it came to noticing the interest of the people around her, and thanks to the person she had feelings for treating her like a child, her self-esteem was low. That she’d been exiled from her home village didn’t help with that matter, either. And on top of that, she was sensitive to the good will of others. Thanks to her ability to tell when people wanted to do her harm, she was well attuned to picking up on hostility. As a result, she was also good at picking up on its polar opposite, good will. However, when it came to the details of that good will, she was incredibly dense.

Rudolph was vaguely aware of that aspect of Latina. He figured that wouldn’t have changed, even if a few years had passed.

“What is it? You’re not saying anything.” “It’s nothing...”

“You’re being weird.”

Though she was letting off a dazzling charm, no crude men were brave enough to approach when someone wearing a guard uniform was by her side. Even so, feeling a great number of gazes on Latina, including some improper ones, Rudolph kept watch around them with a threatening glare.

While a bit of light caused her long hair to sparkle, Latina stopped just a bit short of their destination.

Just a bit ahead, Dale was pacing about restlessly in the Dancing Ocelot, unable to calm down.

To be honest, he was getting in the way. “I-Isn’t Latina a bit late?!”

“The fireworks just ended, right? The central plaza will be packed, so it’ll take some time for her to make it back. Plus, Latina said she was going to escort her friends back home,” Rita said with a sigh.

By opening up the windows, it was possible to see some of the fireworks in the night sky even from inside the Ocelot. This was done to offer up a bit of the festive atmosphere to the customers, even if they didn’t go to the actual event itself.

“I get that, but—”

“If you get it, then behave yourself already.”

No matter how sound Rita’s arguments were, Dale had no intention of mending his ways. He’d been like this ever since he returned to Kreuz after seeing off Gregor and Rose. Rita’s patience was reaching its limits.

“If you’re so worried, then you should just wait outside,” Kenneth said, looking frustrated. He could no longer stand the gloomy atmosphere.

Having been effectively kicked out of the Ocelot, Dale found the nighttime street to be far more crowded than usual. He took a few steps to go looking for Latina, only to realize it would be pointless if they accidentally just missed each other, so he turned back around. Feeling the ghastly atmosphere surrounding Dale as he stared while watching for the girl, the passersby were startled and kept their distance.

When he at last saw her figure approaching, a look of relief passed over Dale’s face, only for his expression to once more grow grim when he realized she wasn’t alone. He wasn’t familiar with the dress she was wearing, but there was no way Dale would ever mistake her. She was pointing a friendly smile to the boy her age beside her. To Dale, whether he was a guard or an adventurer made no big difference. Any young man ogling Latina was essentially vermin to him.

“Dale!” Latina shouted enthusiastically the second she saw him standing in front of the Dancing Ocelot. Rudolph felt a painful ache in his heart when he heard the palpable joy in Latina’s voice.

He knew all about Latina’s feelings for Dale, so this much wouldn’t cause him to lose heart.

He was getting glared at with more suspicion than when he’d visited the shop in the past as “one of her friends,” and he felt a chill, but it wasn’t enough that he couldn’t stand it. Not realizing that he was only able to stand up to the aura like bloodlust coming off of Dale thanks to the hellish training he’d lived through, Rudolph pretended not to notice the sweat forming on his brow.

Latina hadn’t realized that Dale was in a bad mood. To her, the person by her side was just her childhood friend, Rudy. There was nothing to feel guilty about in happily chatting away and walking alongside her friend, who she was seeing for the first time in a while.

Dale also knew that Latina wasn’t the sort of girl who’d wander off with just anybody. Even so, he couldn’t remain calm seeing her look so unguarded. His bad mood was the natural result of that concern.

“Latina.” As a result, Dale’s voice was harsh and firm. “You’re back late.” Latina tilted her head, confused by Dale’s words.

He wasn’t actually upset with her actions. Thanks to her not having to escort her friends home, she’d made it back sooner than initially planned. However, despite those concerns being relieved, she’d returned with some man he didn’t recognize, setting Dale off and causing the blood to rise to his head, making him unreasonable.

“Come on, hurry inside!”

In response to Dale practically treating her like a small child, Latina’s expression grew murky. She was losing sight of reason as well.

It was her first time out at night alone, which had only enhanced the festival atmosphere. On top of that, being with her friends only fanned that further, making her far more excited than usual. But in response to Dale’s bad mood, that swung around completely. Now, she was just plain angry.

“Dale, I’m not a little kid anymore.”

“You know, kids are the only ones who say stuff like that.” “No, that’s not it...!” She clenched her fists tight.

She still wasn’t mentally prepared. But if she couldn’t do it now, with the added push her friends had given her through the new mature dress and makeup, she felt like she never could.

She felt ready to take the first step forward towards changing their relationship—to convey her feelings. To let him know that she was no longer his “little Latina.” That the love she wanted from him wasn’t the same as the parental affection he had for “little Latina.”

“I’m not a child anymore... and also...!”

Even so, she wasn’t able to look Dale straight in the face. She shut her eyes tight and did her best to proclaim the feelings in her heart as loudly as she could. “I don’t want you to talk to me like that, Dale...! You’re not my father... I’ve never thought of you as a replacement for my father...!”

Hearing Latina say that as she turned pure red all the way to the tips of her ears was quite a shock for Rudy. Even if he was aware of how she felt, it was still painful to hear her voice it in front of his very eyes. However, as he was a step removed from the proceedings, he was the first one to realize what was going on.

“...Latina,” he called out, tapping her on the shoulder. However, Latina was so overwhelmed that she didn’t even realize the disaster unfolding before their eyes that Rudolph had tried to point out.

After a bit, Latina was unable to take the lack of reaction from Dale and finally slowly opened her eyes to look.

It was then that she finally realized.

Dale’s face had gone ghastly pale.

As an adult who was older than her, Latina had always seen Dale as far more calm and composed than she was. This was the first time she’d ever seen the color drain from his face like this.

“Huh?”

She wanted to cry when she took a step towards Dale in surprise, only for him to take a step back as if trying to flee. Had her words been that hard for him to accept?

However, Dale was the one who wanted to break down in tears. “Latina...”

The words that he squeezed out in a quivering voice told the whole story. “Latina... is finally... in her rebellious phase...!”

In a way, that awful comment was perfectly fitting for him. “Huh?”

A moment later, Latina realized the meaning of what Dale had muttered, and she let out a massive shriek of Huuuuuuuuuuh?!! in her heart. It was so much of a shock that she couldn’t even voice it.

Not realizing that Latina was internally screaming or that she had frozen up, Dale held his head in his hands and looked on the verge of tears. Latina felt like she was the one who should be doing that.

It was an absolute disaster.

“Awful...” Rudolph unthinkingly muttered. The other two had both fallen into a panic of their own and didn’t hear him.

“Latina’s finally hit that rebellious phase I’ve heard so much about...! From what I’ve heard, it happens when a girl hits puberty...! What should I do...? What should I do?!”

After saying that, Dale once more looked at Latina while wearing a terribly pathetic expression, then suddenly turned about-face. On top of everything else, he ended up fleeing the scene. He didn’t stop running; his swiftness could bring no shame to his reputation as being a first-class adventurer.

Huuuuuuh?!

As Latina once more gave a flustered cry in her heart, Rudolph placed his hand on her shoulder. As he was just hanging on by a thread himself, he had no idea what to think of all this, but he ended up speaking without thinking. “Well...

Good luck, I guess?” “Waaaah!”

Rudolph thought that even for a parent and child, these two were strangely alike. Still, it wasn’t like this wasn’t his problem, and he didn’t really have any room to talk.

Latina looked up at Rudolph, about to cry, and then an even more pathetic sound than the one Dale made earlier echoed through the town.

†

Dale thought that the moment he had dreaded for so long, wondering when it would arrive, had come at last. He hadn’t thought so at first, but now he couldn’t see the way Latina had been distancing herself from him as anything but an omen.

“My Latina... My adorable Latina has finally hit her rebellious phase...!” Dale yelled, his voice full of pain, as he bound into the Dancing Ocelot. Then, the power drained from him, and he collapsed. A moment later, several regulars slid over and surrounded him. They wore sympathy on their faces, but it was hard to see it as sincere, as there was something dark floating behind that.

“Well, girls her age are tricky.” “I’ve got it rough with mine, too.”

As they called out to him, it felt more like they were stirring up Dale’s anxieties than trying to comfort him.

“I got told not to do my laundry together with hers because my clothes stink.” “Even when I say I just bathed, she said my very existence stinks, so what can I do?!”

“It’s no different for me! No matter how much my wife and kids may be pleasantly chatting away in the living room, the second I come in, they all hurriedly leave without saying a thing! The only one who will talk to me is our pet parrot!”

“I’ve got a complaint, too! After my long-term job ended and I finally made it home, my kids said, ‘Welcome, sir’ to me!”

“Drink up! Everything’s on me today! I’ll pay for it all! Drink as much as you want!” Dale yelled while crying in sympathy, riled up by the plight of fathers the world over.

Even if I’m a true hero, I’m still definitely a father dealing with being treated coldly by his daughter now that she’s hit puberty!

That inner thought of Dale’s was so deplorable that if anybody else were to hear it, they’d surely butt in with a “That isn’t the kind of thing you should say about yourself.” “Rita!”

In the kitchen, Latina was clinging to Rita and sobbing.

“What’s wrong, Latina? You had your makeup done up beautifully, but it’ll be ruined like this.”

“Rita...! I... I confessed, to Dale...!” “Confessed?”

The terrible spectacle that could be heard from the front of the shop was far removed from a joyous celebration of love. There wasn’t even a hint of such elegance to it.

“It was no good! I didn’t get through! He didn’t even realize I was confessing my love!”

“Ugh...”

“That idiot has really done it now” was clearly written on Rita’s face. “It was so embarrassing, and now I can’t even look Dale in the face!” Rita made a disgusted look as she stroked Latina’s head to comfort her, but that expression obviously wasn’t aimed at the girl in front of her now. Rita had known that this girl had seen her guardian as a member of the other sex ever since she was little. From Rita’s point of view, Dale was the strange one for not realizing that. Her husband Kenneth could be pretty dense as well, so she couldn’t help but wonder why men were all so stupid.

Well, after dealing with them for so long, Rita had come to realize that she shouldn’t expect much from adventurers in terms of tact and picking up on subtleties.

“Right, it is embarrassing. It’s real tough for a girl to confess her feelings.” Rita gazed at Latina with a pained smile. Compared to how she treated the customers who visited the shop, Rita wore a much gentler face when dealing with this girl, who was like a little sister to her.

As a single child, Rita had no siblings. Despite being in a different role than Dale, it was only natural that she doted on the girl who had practically fallen into her lap all those years ago. Latina was like a personification of her thinking that she’d love to have a cute little sister from back when she was young. What was wrong with her seeking comfort from a young woman like Rita that the sort of guys she’d grown so used to dealing with couldn’t provide?

“It’s no surprise that you’d want to run away. And it’s perfectly natural to not want to see his face.”

Latina hadn’t said that she didn’t want to see his face, but from Rita’s point of view, it was only natural to treat such an idiot so harshly.

“You don’t have to push yourself. I know how hard you’re always trying.” “Rita...!”

While still holding the now full-on bawling Latina, Rita gestured toward the back.

“You need to make sure to take off your makeup properly. It’s bad for your skin if you don’t.”

“Right...”

After seeing Latina off to wash her face in the rear of the shop, Rita returned to the kitchen. Seeing her expression, Kenneth decided it was best that he didn’t say anything unnecessary.

The shop itself had descended into some sort of mad banquet. It was hard to tell just what had happened from Dale’s chaotic actions. In order to figure out what was going on, Kenneth went into the kitchen where Latina supposedly was, but when he saw his wife’s face, it became clear that it was Dale who had done something stupid.

“Rita...”

“Kenneth, I think Latina’s probably going to take some time off starting tomorrow. She’s always working so hard, so something like that should be fine every once in a while, right?”

Wasn’t today already a day off for Latina? Not letting that stupid thought appear on his face felt every bit as much of a dangerous task as anything he’d faced while he was still an active adventurer.

“Latina, head on up to your room, alright?”

His wife’s gentle expression as she turned around and faced the young girl with her drooped shoulders and tearstained face was practically that of a different person.

After seeing off Rita as she accompanied Latina up the stairs, Kenneth looked back into the shop, which was getting out of hand under the influence of the flow of alcohol, and let out a sigh. Adding in the new customers who were coming in after the close of the night festival, things were getting more and more chaotic.

In an entirely different meaning than when Rita looked at Latina, Kenneth’s expression looked like that of a different person as he gave a pity-filled sigh while he looked at his “little brother.”

After seriously drinking for once and causing an uproar, Dale returned to their room in the attic as usual, only to gulp at the dead silence awaiting him there.

He didn’t see Latina anywhere.

He timidly peeked under the covers. Dale thought for sure she’d be sulking in bed, but he found that it was cold and empty, causing his gaze to silently and nervously dart all about.

Perhaps he had missed the out-of-place feeling he should have picked up on when he climbed into the attic because he was drunk. Some of the items in the part of the attic used for storage had been shifted. The luggage that had been moved now formed a wall, separating off that section.

Dale was unable to speak up and tried to quietly peek inside, but as if to obstruct him from doing so, there was a partitioning screen set up in place of a door. It was the one that Latina normally used when she was changing.

That should have already told him all he needed to know, but even so, Dale steadied his breathing and searched carefully for her presence. Normally, there’d be no need for that, as he’d never mistake Latina’s presence, which only spoke to just how out of sorts Dale was.

Is this rebellious phase going to steal away all of my solace?!

Dale emitted a silent scream as something warm streamed from both his eyes, and the power drained from his body, causing him to collapse to his knees. The reason he stopped himself from voicing what he was feeling was because Latina was already asleep. That was proof of just how much of a hopeless, doting idiot he was.

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