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I put out the notice of the tournament when I was convinced that the mass production of the pieces and boards would go well.

Because people saw my exchange with the vice-branch master, many of them already expected a notice like this. Not just that, I was surprised to find out that they even started the information war so they could join the events with few people or those with no strong participants.

The gazes I felt back during the talk with the vice-branch master must have been from those who were trying to overhear some information about the tournament.

Also, there was one more event that attracted everyone’s attention.

“Big sis Illya, what is this buffet thing?”

As Parsha asked from my shoulder where she sat, the other people’s gazes who were wondering the same focused on me too.

“A buffet means all-you-can-eat.”

All-you-can-eat. When they heard it, everyone got excited. The idea to add a buffet to the plan came from wondering how to spend the prize money we got during the snow festival. If we shared it among everyone, each person’s share would be quite low, and it was too low an amount for a company outing.

Thus, after discussing it with everyone from the branch, we decided to return it to the citizens.

It couldn’t make up for all the food so it just ended up only for sweets, but everyone’s reaction suggested it was plenty good.

“That said, only those who order food will be allowed to eat them.”
“So that’s why it’s only desserts, huh? I mean, that’s more than enough!”
“All-you-can-eat… All-you-can-eat…”

Parsha was scaring me with her mumbling from my shoulder.

People had scary looks in their eyes now that they started playing even more seriously after hearing about the prize.

If I didn’t imagine how it would be and asked the orchestra for background music, just the sound of the pieces and stones mixed with the rain would’ve been pretty scary.

As I was thinking that, the branch’s door was thrown open.

“……!”

Appearing through it was a girl with pure black hair and light brown eyes.

She was all drenched in spite of the coat she was wearing, and her boots were all brown from mud, barely a hint of their normal black color.

“…Illya!”

She tried to run towards me the moment she spotted me but ended up collapsing.

Ria, who was nearby, grabbed her before she fell, but her face was so white it was all pale.

“Illya, this girl…”
“Yeah, she’s my friend.”

She had traces of how I remembered her, but she was so fatigued I couldn’t recognize her at a glance.

“Sorry, Ria. I’ll heal her quickly, so can you take over the reception?”
“Got it!”

Once again, I moved toward the girl—Nina, to carry her to a private room, but someone’s hand got in the way.

“I’ll carry her.”

I realized the hand belonged to Gabril and that he picked her up. It turned out he wasn’t getting in the way but showing goodwill.

…Let’s calm down a bit.

“Sorry, and thank you.”
“No problem.”

Gabril carried Nina to the second floor as nonchalantly as always.

Gabril and Parsha knew about my cheats—I mean my abilities, so I could heal her without hesitating. I used the mind recovery magic of the holy magic system called Recover Fatigue.

When I cured her fatigue and stamina, she started jostling a lot, trying to face away from the shine of the spell.

“Mhg…h-huh…where…”
“Nina.”

When she heard my voice Nina looked at me and started blinking over and over.

“Illya!”

And then leaped into a hug with a yell.

But due to her weakened state, she couldn’t even cling to me and started to slide down before I supported her.

I put her down on the bed once again and noticed her face was beet red.

“Nina, calm down.”
“R-Right. Illya, I—”

Grooowl.

As the mood was filled with silent tension, there was a loud sound.

There were only Nina, me, and Gabril and Parsha here. Looking at how she was holding her belly with a red face, it was easy to tell whom it belonged to… Actually, this weird silence was really awkward.

“Illya, I’m hungry.”

Did he read the mood or not… most likely not, but with Gabril’s proposal we decided to have lunch.

The human who was currently eating even more than Gabril was called Nina Amaro. She was a magician who specialized in wind magic, and was also a deliveryman who resided in the Archipelago Union. She was a deliveryman but she wouldn’t have taken up a commission to come so far away from the Union. After all, her magic master and beloved birdman was… wait, birdman?

“…Sigh.”

Everyone’s gaze fell on me as a sigh escaped my lips.

“Nina.”
“Mgm? Mgg, mm.”
“Just swallow it first.”

Once I confirmed that she gulped down the contents, I asked.

“Are you searching for Erius?”
“Amazing! How could you tell?! I haven’t even mentioned it yet!”

Nina started waving her hands about with sparkling eyes. If she was a beastman she would be wagging her tail instead. I, on the other hand, was getting more and more depressed. So it wasn’t my imagination that I recognized that person from somewhere…

“Erius is playing with Sylph now.”
“Huh, really?! Then I just have to go to that Syph person, right?! Wait… Sylph?!”
“Hey, stop shouting so suddenly.”
“Ah, s-sorry… Huh, a fairy?!”

Nina noticed Parsha’s existence a tad too late. There was a Thief Guild in the Union that once over hunted the fairies, so it was natural that fairies rarely approached it.

Still, she’s really gung-ho about everything as always…

“Sylph…”

Or so I thought but she got depressed now.

The great wind spirit and the wind magician. If you judge it by their wind Factor manipulating techniques, the gap between the two was as wide as between a queen and a pawn in chess terms. It was natural for her to feel down.

“How could I defeat her…”
“Hold it.”

Don’t start displaying the will of a maiden in love now.

“But…!”
“Sylph isn’t an idiot either, so she wouldn’t take away the life of her playmate.”
“But… He hasn’t returned for three months now, you know?! Even the spirits that always help me are not telling me where he is for some reason…”

Nina clenched her fists in vexation.

Parsha seemed to have imagined the two of them in her spot and turned gloomy.

But I just wanted to confirm one thing first.

“Hey, Nina. How long have you been searching for Erius?”
“Since three months ago! It’s weird for him not to come back for over a day.”

…Yeah. Let’s just call this being head-over-heels in love! It won’t turn out well if I butt in other people’s love affairs!

“Anyway, just rest for today.”
“Ugh…”
“Do you think Erius wants you to save for him at the cost of injuring yourself?”

Nina hung her head from that decisive blow.

I knew it was cowardly to bring him up there, but I had to prioritize calming her down first.

For some reason, all the actors had gathered here. There was no need for her to brave the danger alone.

“For the time being, just rest. You haven’t rested properly, have you?”
“Ugh… Okay.”

I recovered her fatigue and stamina, but her magic power was practically at zero.

She must have been flying all around all night.

“Don’t worry. I’ll think of a way for sure.”
“…Okay.”

Nina nodded and crawled into bed once she was done eating.

I was worried about her slipping away, but her sleeping breaths right after that told me that it was a needless fear.