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「The master wishes to show his gratitude in person…」
「If he wishes to show his gratitude, then please tell him not to be involved with me. I don’t want to attract any attention. Do you understand what this means?」
「Is that so… I will be sure to relay the message to the master.」

With our promise with the girls fulfilled, we were considering leaving for Central soon when we were informed that Viscount Gnestark’s family butler, the one involved in the guild incident, wanted to see us. We could’ve simply declined, but since nobility is involved, we decided that it would be better to implicitly reveal our status so they leave us alone instead of immediately declining and risking them taking an interest in us.
The Gnestark family is apparently not a so-called corrupt noble, being known to be virtuous and empathetic to commoners, but we want to have any connection with them either way.

Being such decent nobles is probably why he was able to properly understand our intention, so in that sense, I do appreciate them.
They should be able to understand that we’re of higher status with this exchange as well. High enough status to be able to turn down an invitation from a viscount without any given reason, at the very least.

The butler lowered his head before saying, 「Thank you for taking the time to meet,」 and leaving. The defeated energy emanating from his back is probably not my imagination. After all, he was unable to complete the task given by his master.
Still, Viscount Gnestark is unlikely to fire him from something so trivial; moreover, it’s not our problem to be concerned about.

「And that should be the end of today’s mess, isn’t it?」
『The other one seems to have been handled by the guild.』
「They’re apparently having a discussion with Mr. Hero’s party as well, so we can only hope that they’ll understand. Fortunately, our vacation just started, so they’ll probably forget this by the end of the break.」

Other than Juerd, there were other students back there as well, but they have a whole vacation ahead of them; they’ll probably have their own variety of experiences as well. They’ll surely forget about some random incident that happened at the start of their vacation… I hope.
We were also seen receiving a large sum of money, but it’s not really unusual for us, residents of the best dormitory room, to have plenty of money, so no student will probably pester us about that.

◇

「Fufufu, letting loose like this is nice every once and a while.」

Deep into the night when the town is fast asleep, Ciel giggles cheerfully while stepping into the empty sky. I wholeheartedly agree with her, but unfortunately, I can’t reply. After all, if I stop singing right now, Ciel will fall down.
Even if she falls, I won’t allow her to get as much as a scratch, but that’s a different matter.

Leaving the Royal Capital to Mia, we leapt through the sky as we aimed for Central. To be specific, we left the Royal Capital in the afternoon, took a nap somewhere without pedestrian traffic, and set off to the skies once it was night.
It was just a precaution since we were still close to the capital, but we can travel as we like after leaving the capital regardless of time. Since Ciel’s detection has also improved, traveling in the dark of the night is not an issue.

And when I told her this before our departure, 「Ain is there to support me, after all,」 Ciel happily replied. If she means that my presence brings her a sense of security, that makes me feel very ticklish. I can’t stop myself from smiling.

We’re travelling through the sky like this not only for our convenience but also to play with the spirits.
In the Royal Capital, we had to be careful when playing with the spirits, so we couldn’t interact with them much. And while the spirits wouldn’t get mad because of that, there were some that were sad about it, so having an opportunity like this isn’t bad.

Since leaving the Royal Capital, we pushed through without stopping by any towns or villages and reached the national border within 3 days as a result. At this speed, we can probably return to Central within the day. As we passed over the border station, I informed Mother Fii of our return. She probably already knew the moment we entered, but manners are important.

Ciel also tried her best to sense Mother Fii’s magic power, but it seems like she can’t do it yet.
Suddenly, Belltina came to my mind, but if she could by some chance perceive Mother’s magic power, she’d probably be frightened by how enormous it is.

As we were nearing the city where the manor is located, we landed to walk on foot. Since there’s no problem if Ciel is seen over here, we could fly the whole way, but since we’re already close, I wanted to talk to Ciel while going home.

「Somehow, it feels like it’s been so long since we walked on the ground like this.」
『Now that you mentioned it, this is the first time we’ve traveled this long by sky.』

While we did land to rest several times, we’ve never been in the sky for around 3 days until now. While we were in the sky for so long, it seems like Ciel hasn’t forgotten to walk, as her steps remained as graceful as usual.

「Still, I’ve been dancing to Ain’s song the entire way here, so it’s such a waste that it’s gone now. I wanted to keep listening forever and ever!」
『I see. I would’ve loved to continue watching you dance forever too, Ciel. The spirits seemed happier than usual, as well.』
「Yes, they were very adorable! Only second to Ain!」
『―Thank you very much. You’re very cute too, Ciel.』

With Ciel calling me adorable at every opportunity, I’ve gotten used to it… Is what I’d like to say, but even now, I can only pretend like it doesn’t affect it. I can’t reply immediately either, so there’s an audible pause, which Ciel surely notices; most of all, if I were in control, I’m pretty certain that I wouldn’t be able to hide my lips twitching.
Will I ever get used to this?

After walking for a while, we arrived at the city entrance. It was sundown, and night was fast approaching, but the gate lines were long as usual. Still, considering the time, it’s shorter compared to the lines in the morning.