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Without noticing it, we spent a long time chatting, so we decided to leave the cafe. I switched with Ciel before leaving, resulting in Carol being disoriented once more.
Since she already knows our situation, there’s really nothing we can do but get her used to it. We can’t change our hair and eye colors when there are people around, so I can understand her being disoriented since our manner of speech is the only thing that changes.

「That reminds me, how long will you two be staying over?」
「Just a few days. We need to consider the time for our return trip to the academy, after all.」
「Considering the distance of Royal Capital Ausente, wouldn’t you be late for your classes even if you return right now?」
「It doesn’t take that long by sky, you know?」
「By sky, you say… No, now isn’t the time for this.」

While sorcery is a developed field in this world, there apparently aren’t many people who can fly in the sky, so she must be really curious about how we do it.
Even if you can fly, there are monsters that treat the sky as their territory, so if you can’t deal with them, you’d just crash immediately. And while monsters also appear frequently on land, unlike the ones in the sky, more people know how to fight them, and you can simply avoid the places where powerful monsters appear.

We can just casually run on air, but it seems like sky travel is quite difficult to achieve.

「We don’t soar in the sky like a bird, you know.」
「Yeah, yeah, thank you. If you say anything more, I might not let you go home, okay?」
「Can Carol really stop us from going home?」
「Nope.」
「You can’t overpower Ain’s barrier, after all!」
「Why are *you* the one so happy about that…」

I was surprised to hear Ciel make casual banter, but it seems like she just wanted to brag about me. The manor servants tend to respond to Ciel’s words with affirmation, so Carol’s somewhat exhausted reaction is pretty refreshing.
And while Ciel has bragged about me countless times up until now, I still can’t counter it. I’ve gotten used to it, though.

「Well then, let’s chat again when opportunity allows.」
「Sure, see you again.」

Saying so, we went our own separate ways. It’s dangerous for a lady to go home by herself when it’s sundown, but in Central, that’s not much of a concern. While the possibility of getting in danger isn’t zero, when compared to other nations, it might as well be. Besides, if Ciel or Carol were to be attacked, they’d defeat the assailants easily, and there shouldn’t be anyone living in Central who’d dare lay their hand on Ciel to begin with.

It’s partly because of Mother Fii’s backing, but also because Ciel’s own strength has become common knowledge by now.

As I was pondering this, I realized I might have jinxed us and we might get attacked anytime now, but we were able to reach the manor without encountering any trouble.

◇

Returning home, Ciel casually told Mother Fii about our meeting with Carol, and now a day has passed.
After frolicking with the spirits and the manor servants in the morning, we decided to head to the Hunter Guild in the afternoon. Rather, Mother Fii suggested we go there.

『It’s unusual for Fii to tell us to go somewhere like this, isn’t it?』And that ends this chapter! Our sorcery geeks continue geeking out about their favorite thing, how nice~

First of all, it’s cute how Ciel shows jealousy but doesn’t stop Ain because she does want to help Belltina too. Really nice that they have same-age friends to care about now. Moving on, it was pretty nice of Ain to share about her observations about sorcery. From this conversation, it seems like what’s holding many people back is really the lack of interdisciplinarity skills and knowledge. Many people tend to get stuck at just learning about things directly related to their Jobs, basically typecasting themselves. We see from the more experienced hunters that they do favor having a wide skillset, but the general populace probably doesn’t think that way, you’re basically discouraged from learning things outside of your specialty.

Now then, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay healthy, stay safe, and have a nice week~!
『She generally just lets us do as we please, after all.』

In Central, there are clear lines that must not be crossed, and I’m aware that we’re only allowed to act freely as long as we abide by these rules. She’s certainly concerned about us, but she never limits our actions.
Considering this, Mother Fii has never told us to “Try passing by” somewhere without any particular purpose up until now.

『Well, Mother Fii does have a general gist of everything within Central, so there must be something there. But not something really that important, maybe?』
『I see. Ain, do you have any idea what it might be?』
『It’s a secret.』
『Oh? Today’s Ain is somewhat of a tease.』

In contrast to her words, Ciel chuckled. My hunch is that there must be some acquaintance searching for us at the guild. I have no guarantee for this, and it’s not like it’s information that Ciel urgently needs to know, so I’m keeping to myself this time.

Eventually, we arrived at the Hunter Guild, so we stopped chatting and entered the building. For a moment, many gazes turned to us, but they quickly dispersed. Several continue to stare at us, but as long as they don’t do anything weird, we won’t do anything either.

And among the remaining eyes, as expected, was a familiar sight.

「La―Cielmer. So it’s true that you’ve returned. I was searching for you.」
「So Viviana was here.」
「I’m here as well.」

Viviana aside, from how Ciel reacted to Friere’s appearance, it seems like she doesn’t remember her much.
I secretly told her, 『It’s Viviana’s mentor, the flame sorcery specialist Friere,』 and from her response, 『Oh, her,』 she finally remembered.

「It’s been a while, I suppose? Why were you looking for me?」

As Ciel spoke to her, Viviana had her eyes open wide in surprise. Considering that we’re already well-acquainted, there should be no cause for surprise, but has she never talked to Ciel normally before?
After some time passed, Viviana finally pulled herself together and, after clearing her throat, answered Ciel’s inquiry.

「It isn’t anything significant; I just wanted to ask if my sister is doing well. I haven’t met her since the incident, you see.」
「About Mia, right. I believe she’s doing well. She hasn’t been sick or injured, after all.」
「It’s good that she hasn’t been sick or injured, but…」

Viviana stared at Ciel, as if wanting to say something more. However, Ciel simply tilts her head, seemingly unable to understand why Viviana is making such a face.
With us left in this weird spot, I asked Ciel to switch out with me. Since we’re outside, I obviously don’t change colors. Additionally, I kept my manner of speech to mimic Ciel’s style.

「I’m not Mia, so I don’t know what her true thoughts are. I’m her mistress, so I’m sure she’ll keep any frustrations she has with me a secret.
With all that said, I do think she’s having a good time. I had her be a hunter with me, but there are times when she’s so engrossed in casting spells that she’ll neglect being vigilant against monsters.」
「It sounds like my dear sister hasn’t changed. I have much to say as a senior hunter, but I’m glad to hear she’s enjoying herself.」