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“Is this Mr. Runira’s house?”
“Yes. He’s not one for fancy decorations.”

I had informed the cleaning lady that I’d be taking the day off, and then headed to the Magic District with Mr. Mintark.

Despite being told Mr. Runira was someone important, his house was a modest single-family home—smaller than I had imagined. It wasn’t much different in size from my parents’ house.

“At this hour, he should have finished his morning work and returned home… But are you truly planning to visit him?”
“We’ve come this far, so there’s no turning back! I even brought a gift, so I don’t think it’ll be rude!”
“That’s not exactly the concern…”
“—Pardon me, young lady. Do you have business at my home, perhaps?”
“Wah! I’m sorry!”

Just as we were hesitating at the front door, a voice called out from behind us. Though we hadn’t done anything wrong, I instinctively turned around while apologizing.

Standing there was an elderly man with a monocle, a wisp of smoke curling from the tobacco pipe in his hand.

His back was perfectly straight, and deep lines creased his brow under a stern expression. There was something about him that reminded me of my master.

“Runira…”
“…Ho? Not a face I expected to see in the Magic District—Mintark?”

As soon as their eyes met, a sharp tension crackled between them.

So this was the famous Runira. Now that I looked closely, I could see a faint resemblance to the photo.

“What business do you have here? Planning to set fire to the place while I was out?”
“Wha—o-of course not! Must you always start with sarcasm before you can speak to anyone? That’s exactly why your precious hair is falling out!!”
“You b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲! My hair has nothing to do with this! Wizards are so damn petty, I swear…”
“Now now now, no fighting! Mr. Runira, here’s a gift for you!”
“Oh… well, how thoughtful of you. Forgive me, but who might you be?”
“My name is Momose Kaguya! I’ve come today to ask you for a favor, Mr. Runira!”

When I handed him the tea leaf set, I thought I saw his expression soften just a little.

Just like Mr. Mintark said—no matter how much they bicker, he still knows what his friend likes.

“A favor from me, hmm… Sounds like it’s a complicated matter. Come in—we can talk inside.”
“Thank you so much! Great, maybe now you two can make up—”
“However, you are not coming in, MINTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARK!!”
“Don’t be so petty, RUNIRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
“Why!?”

Just when I thought everything was going smoothly, the mood shifted in an instant and they were back to fighting again.

They grabbed each other by the collar and glared, sparks practically flying between them—wait, was that a burning smell?

“Uh, Mr. Runira, Mr. Runira! Do you smell something weird!?”
“Brace yourself, Mintark! Today’s the day we finally settle this grudge—starting with you!”
“Hah! You half-blind monocle-wearing windbag who relies on the gods for everything! Go ahead and pray all you want for peace in the afterlife!!”

They were so caught up in their fight, they hadn’t noticed the burning smell at all. Even if I tried to step in, they were too absorbed to notice me.

…Come to think of it, when they grabbed each other earlier, what happened to the tobacco pipe Runira was holding?

“M-Mr. Mintark! There’s a fire! A fire! This is really bad!!”

Looking down at their feet, I saw the broken pipe lying on the ground—someone must have stepped on it in the chaos.

The tobacco inside had spilled out and caught the grass near the entrance, and sparks were flying. This clearly wasn’t an ordinary pipe.

“Wahhh! We need to put it out—quick, we need to put it out!”
“‘O great god of wisdom, grant knowledge to these fools…!’”
“‘O blazing flame, gather in my hand and strike down the enemy before me…!’”
“WHY are they casting fire spells of all things right now!?”

I stomped and slapped at the flames, doing whatever I could to extinguish them, but the fire just kept growing.

If anything, the pipe’s flame seemed to be reacting to their rising hostility—it definitely wasn’t just a normal tobacco pipe.

“ “Take thisssssssssssssss!!” ”
“Fwooooh—!! Fwuuuh!! Cough cough cough cough!!”

At that point, I was completely desperate and tried to blow the flames out, but it was no use—the fire had grown far beyond the size of a candle or lighter.

To make things worse, I accidentally inhaled some of the smoke, and it brought tears to my eyes. My coughing wouldn’t stop—it was a total disaster.

…And with every cough, I felt something hazy building up deep in my throat.

Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, didn’t I gain the ability to breathe a dragon’s beam recently?

“Cough… w-wait, hold on, now’s really not the—BWHAAAAAA!!?”

――――――――…………
――――……
――…

“So, in the end, it was you who dealt the finisher!! You fool!!”
“ “We are deeply sorryyyyyyyyy!!” ”

By the time we got to the scene, the three of them were bowing in the traditional otherworldly dogeza style, with a burning house in the background.

The fire had grown completely out of control—it had engulfed the entire structure and was blazing furiously.

“No wonder I detected traces of a curse. Ordinary water isn’t going to put out a fire like this,” Saint noted.
“Bweeeehhhhhh…! I-I’ll take full responsibility and commit seppuku…!”
“Not now!! Put that nonsense aside! First we stop the fire! Help me out, Momo!”
“Oghhayy…”

While scolding poor Momo—tears and snot streaming down her face—I kept hurling water orbs at the burning building.

They weren’t totally ineffective, but they weren’t doing much, either. Just as the saint had said, this was a seriously troublesome fire.

“At this point, it’s faster to just demolish the building. Let’s also destroy any nearby flammables to stop the spread. I’m charging the repairs to the Guildmaster.”
“Right…”
“Mr. Runira, help with the purification process. Clean up your own mess.”
“…Yes, ma’am.”

As the two prominent men hung their heads in defeat, the rest of us continued battling the flames well into the evening.

And for the record, the scolding that awaited the three of them afterward lasted all night long.

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