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「Sure, I don’t mind that.」

It was already dark outside, so forcing her to lead the way through a wasteland at night was asking for too much. Mira nodded while giving her reply in a serious tone.

「Let’s go tomorrow then. Where should we meet? Or actually, have you decided where you’ll spend the night already?」
「I’m staying at uhh… I think it was called The Gourmand’s Indulgence. It actually had an incredible dining hall.」
「That’s where I’m staying as well! Wait a bit until I’m done here, we can go back together!」

It turned out Emera was staying in the same inn as Mira. She placed her hands on Mira’s shoulder, telling her to stay there before she darted to the Union’s front desk.

「Sorry for the wait.」

Mira spent that time looking at the different adventurers visiting the Warriors’ Union. When Emera returned, her business finished, they left the building together.

The Gourmand’s Indulgence was located not too far from the Union. Considering the way the inn operated, letting the guests freely choose meals to their liking, it was very popular amongst adventurers.

「Still, I wasn’t expecting to meet you in these distant lands.」

Having a friendly relationship with Emera and her guild, Mira happily spoke with her. Sentopolly was a major commercial hub in the western edge of the continent. At night the streets and stores were brightly illuminated, visited by adventurers that had just returned from their jobs. It was slightly different from the scenery Mira had seen earlier that day, when she mostly saw regular people and merchants populating the streets. In a way, rather than being merely lively, the streets seemed bustling with activity now. The two girls walked down those streets, constantly moving to avoid colliding with the many people there.

「I guess there’s some higher power connecting us!」

Emera replied in a happy voice. While it sounded like a joking sentence, the tone of her voice belied a wish for it to be true. After that the two spoke about what happened to each of them after their encounter in Hunters’ Village, near the Elder’s Forest. Mira mostly spoke about her first experience traveling in the continental railroads, focusing on the comfort of the first class carriages. Emera sounded jealous of her, saying she had traveled many times in economy class, but only one time in premium class.

When Mira finished boasting about her trip, it was Emera’s turn to update Mira on what happened on her side. Leaving Hunters’ Village, Emera and her group continued guarding merchants all the way to Ozstein, only to continue traveling westwards until they arrived at Sentopolly a few days before Mira. At that point Emera’s voice became more elated as she narrated how Sero, the leader of Écarlate Carillon, introduced her to Gregor and arranged for him to craft her a sword. Emera had a stronger than average passion for swords, her eyes twinkling as she spoke just like Mira’s did while talking about summoning.

They continued chatting happily until they arrived at the inn. The place was popular amongst adventurers, a bright sign lit up at the entrance reading The Gourmand’s Indulgence. To Mira, it looked like an average modern building, but to the inhabitants of this world it had a bizarre construction.

「Ah-」

As soon as they reached the entrance, Emera instinctively took a defensive stance. Mira followed her gaze wondering what had happened, finding two other members of Emera’s guild there, Fricca and Zef. They had also been in the Ancient Temple Nevrapolis back then, and had arrived at the inn just a moment before Emera and Mira.

「Ohh!」

Zef had also spotted Emera, noticing Mira right after and started walking towards them waving with an innocent smile. But at the same time…

「Ish Miwwaaa!」

With a shrill shout, Fricca pushed Zef aside as she charged towards the girls, her pupils turned into hearts. The way she ran was no longer that of a spellcaster, but that of a vicious beast. In the past, Fricca had assaulted Mira countless times, but each time Emera had been able to hold her back. Expecting the same to happen again, Mira was relaxed, until her body trembled at the sight in front of her.

Using every muscle in her body, and with impeccable timing, Emera aimed a hit on the crown of Fricca’s head with the hilt of her dagger, but Fricca turned her head to the side and evaded the attack at the last instant. Fricca’s quick reflexes and judgment, coupled with her tenacity, had managed to thwart Emera’s attack. And right after…

「Hahh! This smell, Miwa’s smelll!」

Fricca dashed past Emera and embraced Mira, her arms circling around her body while she dug her head into Mira’s chest and took aggressive deep breaths.

「Please do something already!」

Fricca’s hands began wriggling around Mira’s body, while the other people around the entrance began looking at them curious by the loud noises. At the same time, Mira yelled desperately to Emera, who this time did not miss and landed a clean hit on Fricca’s head.

「Umm… sorry for that.」

The group had entered The Gourmand’s Indulgence, where Emera disposed of Fricca’s body on a nearby couch before returning to Mira with apologetic eyes. According to Emera, that was the first time Fricca had ever managed to dodge her attack. Apparently Fricca’s desire for Mira had not dwindled in the least, instead increasing by the day. Those powerful desires had led to this incident, or at least that was Emera’s awkward theory. Meanwhile Mira was busy wiping off Fricca’s drool from her chest.

「Well, it’s alright…」

…If only she didn’t act like that. Mira kept the rest of the sentence to herself, only sighing as she watched Fricca’s limp body trying to move like a zombie.

「Either way, been a while Mira. It really is a coincidence to meet again in this corner of the continent.」
「Mm, it really has been some time. I’m just… glad you’re doing well…」

Zef greeted her in his usual casual manner, which Mira tried to respond in like, but was distracted trying to avoid Fricca’s intense stares. That small conflict resolved, the four happily celebrated their reunion. Even Fricca seemed happy with the dose of Mira she had gotten, and acted normal from then on. That only counted her actions though, her eyes still burning with passion every time she looked at Mira.

「You should join us for dinner too, Mira. Who knows when we’ll meet again, and Sero’s here as well after all.」

Zef invited Mira to eat with them. Eating together for such a rare occasion was a natural course of action with no ill intentions. But Fricca standing just a few paces away, nodding furiously at the suggestion, was a demon of impure intentions incarnated. But either way, meeting and having meals with people from far away was also part of the charm of the adventurer’s life.

「That does sound like a good idea, we should celebrate the occasion.」

Mira also had something she wanted to talk about with Sero, so she nodded readily.