“Zi—”

“Ziel-san.”

Calling out, Klaha tried to run forward.

It was only natural to react that way upon seeing what had just happened before her eyes.

Ziel had suddenly noticed something strange.

Then, when he spoke to the woman sitting upon that strange sight, a magic circle had lit up before he knew it, hands grabbed his feet, and he was pulled into the ground.

Seeing it all unfold, it was only natural to be concerned.

That’s precisely why she was able to stop herself mid-motion—because of her judgment.

Would that really have happened? Klaha wondered.

As she was running forward, as she was calling his name, she stopped her steps and thought:

If that had been some kind of ambush, would Ziel—the dragonslaying swordsman—really have been dragged away so easily?

One of the greatest swordfighters in the world, who relied on reflexes and speed in battle—

Would he really vanish before her eyes so effortlessly?

Once she thought that, the rest was quick.

She examined the stone pavement of the terrace. There were no signs that Ziel had tried to resist. No traces of struggle, no evidence of him grabbing onto anything. Not only was there no struggle, but it seemed more like he had deliberately relaxed his body and let himself be taken.

Then, she mentally replayed Ziel’s conversation with the blue-haired woman just before—

And suddenly, she looked up.

“Sorry for the rough welcome. But those kids insisted on doing it this way.”

The woman—Wilae—spoke.

Her expression did not change drastically, but she still seemed somewhat apologetic.

And when she said “those kids,”

Of course, Klaha had an idea of whom she meant.

“Um. By any chance, was it ‘them’ who laid down this magic circle?”

“Yes. After hearing about the ‘Magic Mirror Transfer’ from the eastern kingdom, they wanted to try developing their own version. It’s nowhere near as functional as the Ruin King’s relic, and it has quite a few limitations, but…”

Anyway—she said.

She slowly sat down on the chair under the parasol where Klaha had been sitting.

“After something like this, I doubt you’ll believe me right away, so I’ll introduce myself a little before guiding you. It looks like you’re still in the middle of your drink, after all.”

With her long fingers, she pointed to the fruit juice Klaha had bought earlier, still half-full in her hand.

Klaha looked at it, then at her face.

Realizing that she was being given consideration, she thought to protest—

“No, I’m fine. I should follow him right away—”

But—

“It gets quite bumpy during the transfer.”

Processing those words, Klaha quickly tilted her cup to drink it all at once.

But Wilae, in a gentle tone, said, “What a waste. Take your time.”

“But still—”

“The person who made it would be happier if you savored it.”

“…Fine.”

As Wilae murmured, “Now, where should I start?” a seagull let out a cry.

The port was brilliantly blue and white, the very image of a summer harbor.

It was like being caught on a fishing line.

Since his ankles were grabbed and he was hanging upside down like a tuna, there was no problem in saying so.

And most surprisingly, Ziel recognized the sensation of the hands gripping his ankles.

“Ziel-kun, you’re heavier than you look. Oh, I don’t mean that in a bad way. You feel like metal—cool, right?”

“…I’m more shocked that you have the strength to lift me off the ground.”

“Wahaha. My height is not just for show.”

In his current position, he had his back to the voice.

Which meant, of course, his field of vision was free. He could at least look around to see what was there, figure out where he was.

It was a room.

Even though, just moments ago, he had been on an open-air terrace by the harbor.

There was a large window, with strong sunlight streaming in. Beyond the window was nothing but green—not the dark, overgrown green of the forests he had traveled through in the eastern kingdom, but a bright, summery green.

The room was touched by that green, but mostly dominated by white. Smooth walls, smooth floors—bathed in sunlight, burning in the heat. But with the oddly orderly impression and the many metallic bookshelves within, Ziel got a certain impression.

A research lab.

Just as he thought that—

A face suddenly popped into his vision.

“Yo.”

“…Hey. You look well.”

“Of course! I’m in perfect shape. And now I finally get to see you again.”

The person bent down to match Ziel’s awkward, upside-down eye level.

Ziel recognized them, of course.

Purple hair, galaxy-colored eyes.

A face as perfectly arranged as starlight.

One of the seven Archmages recognized by the Magic Federation—the youngest of them all.

A friend with whom he had conquered the most difficult of dungeons.

Ziel knew him.

“It’s been a while—Eunice.”

“Yeah, it has! You must have missed me terribly!”

Faced with that beaming smile, all the words Ziel had been about to say—like “You scared the hell out of me” or “You didn’t have to go this far”—vanished.

Instead—

“The riddle was fun. Though I feel like it ended too soon.”

“Right? I wanted to make our reunion more elaborate. I actually prepared eighty-eight hints, but you got so close to the answer right away that—”

"Sorry about that, you two. Starting a conversation while in this position is a bit unpleasant for me."

"Oh, sorry about that," Eunice nodded.

"Yeah, sorry, sorry," Ziel said as well, but then immediately realized, "Wait, 'sorry, sorry' isn't quite right, is it?"

However, before he could put that realization into words, a voice spoke, "I'll put you down now."

Ziel braced his hands against the floor. "Go ahead," he called out. His ankles were released, and he flipped over like a handstand before smoothly dropping his legs down. From a hanging tuna, he returned to being human.

And standing there, as expected, was a familiar face.

"Ziel-kun, this is a bit hard to say, but..."

Bathed in the summer sunlight, her long hair shimmered brilliantly—as if she were emitting light herself. A breathtakingly beautiful woman.

One of the Four Saints, the highest authority of the church.

A friend with whom he had sealed away the Ruin King once more on that night in the central city.

Lililia.

She was there.

"Since you were hanging upside down, this room must have looked upside down to you."

"Yeah."

"It might be confusing to hear this all of a sudden, but... from now on, just accept that this was always the correct orientation of the room and live on bravely."

"Thanks for the explanation. It might not be obvious from my appearance, but I do have a sense of gravity."

As always, she was saying something rather peculiar.

Ziel pressed his glasses up and shook his head, trying to get the blood that had rushed to his head to settle back down. Then, he focused on the most pressing concern.

"Where's Klaha?"

"Of course, she'll be coming later. The professor is probably explaining the situation and the mechanics of the transfer to her right about now."

"Ah, you mean that professor..."

The woman who had introduced herself as Wilae.

That made sense. Eunice’s magic instructor. Given her age, it wasn't surprising, and now that he thought about it, their way of speaking was somewhat similar.

"Then I guess there's no need to worry—wait. If she can come later at her leisure, why was I dragged in without any explanation?"

"I thought it might surprise you."

"You know, 'I thought it might surprise you' only applies to sneaking up and saying 'Boo' from behind or something."

Ziel felt a tap on his shoulder.

When he turned around, his cheek was squished with a soft "boop" by Lililia's finger. She smiled at him with an incredibly radiant expression and let out a gentle "Fufu."

Maybe getting startled every now and then was good for his health, Ziel reconsidered.

After all, learning experiences can help a person grow—sometimes, quite rapidly.

"Well, I guess I'll let that slide... but I still have way too many questions. Where should I even start?"

"First, I’d like you to hear about all the effort I put into designing the puzzle challenge."

"That’s going to take a long time, so maybe wait until nighttime."

"Thanks for the advice. Alright, then, shall we get going?"

Ziel spoke while pointing at the pattern on the floor.

A magic circle. ...But beyond that, with his limited knowledge of magic, he couldn’t decipher much.

"It's a teleportation magic circle."

Eunice stated this casually.

"Wait, teleportation? I thought that was only possible inside labyrinths."

"No, it's not possible."

"Apparently, this is the world's first."

"I thought so," Ziel nodded to confirm.

Just a few months ago, in the eastern nation, he had suffered because of that very "teleportation." During strategy meetings with the local magicians, he had learned that teleportation was currently only possible inside labyrinths, with the only exception being the Apocryphal Magic Mirror.

"...So, it was developed?"

"It was." "Apparently, it was."

"And then used for a prank like this?"

"It's an important matter." "Apparently, it's an important matter."

Ziel naturally had his doubts about just how "important" this was. But since it was outside his area of expertise, he decided to let it go for now. When he nodded, the two of them provided a more detailed explanation.

"It's not entirely a new magic, just an adaptation of the traversal teleportation used in labyrinths. It's not very practical—it requires an enormous number of specific conditions... But, we were able to connect the port to this location, so we used it to shorten travel time."

"Even with me, Eunice-kun, and Wilae-san together, this spell drains a lot of magic power, so you don’t have to worry about it being used often. The control is extremely difficult too, and personally, I think it’d be dangerous if it became widely available, so for now, let’s keep it between us."

"Yeah. We're planning to have the professor submit it to the Magic Federation for safekeeping as a controlled technology."

In summary, it was just a shortcut, so he shouldn’t worry about it.

Accepting that, Ziel switched to his next question.

"Alright then, back to the main point. Where exactly are we?"

"That’s a difficult question..."

"If we start by asking why we humans exist in this world..."

"Indeed. Let’s unravel it from the beginning of history..."

"Oh, great, now Ziel is playing along too." "This is going to spiral out of control. What do we do?"

Ziel was beginning to feel troubled as well.

When the three of them got together, not only their physical positions but even their conversations tended to veer off track. He recalled the puzzled looks from Chikano and Icca when they received the unusually thick stack of letters at the end of their correspondence. "What could you possibly have to talk about for that long...?" they had asked.

Still, shouldering the responsibility of keeping the conversation on track all by himself felt like too much of a burden.

Just as he was contemplating this—

"Hm?" "Oh," "Ah,"

In that order, Ziel, Lililia, and Eunice noticed it.

They turned their gazes downward.

"Oh. Looks like the explanation on the other side is done. Teleportation commencing."

"We haven’t settled anything on this side, though."

"Ziel-kun, move a little closer this way. You’re in the way of the others coming through."

"Got it," Ziel said, letting himself be pulled in by Lililia and stepping away from the now-glowing magic circle.

Maybe he could just ask Klaha about everything later.

That thought crossed his mind, but at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder if that was really okay.