She had a feeling she was going to end up as the second assassin.

Thinking about it made Klaha nervous, and she found herself fidgeting as she watched the three of them—Eunice, Ziel, and Dewey—sitting at a table across the dining hall.

“You don’t have to be so tense.”

A voice came from beside her.

“Just act normal. If you act normal, you’ll be able to talk normally.”

Klaha gave a small laugh, matching the other person’s tone, and replied,

“That’s true, but somehow this feels so serious… Um, Lililia-san.”

“What is it?”

“That pile of shells in your left hand—have you not found a place to put them?”

“You noticed that, huh?”

“Let’s put them together with these bean sprout tendrils.”

Klaha slid a sheet of scrap paper toward Lililia. “Thanks,” Lililia said as she let the walnut shells fall onto the paper.

But then, a thought occurred to Klaha. Maybe these tendrils were meant for something else. Maybe she should keep them separate.

She decided to ask Roylen in the kitchen.

However, she didn’t want to interrupt the three’s conversation, so she politely got up from her seat.

“Ah.”

Looking out the window, she noticed something.

“It looks like it’s going to rain.”

“Oh,” Lililia said, turning around. She stood up and moved to stand next to Klaha.

“You’re right,” she agreed.

“So, what do you do on your days off?”

Ziel stared at Dewey, who was casually resting his cheek on his hand. That was his opening line?

Sure enough, when he looked over, Eunice had the same “That’s your first question?” expression.

Since Ziel had said he’d step in if needed, he figured he should help.

“Eunice doesn’t have days off.”

“I do…”

“You guys okay over there? How’s that teamwork holding up?”

“…I do have them,” Eunice muttered hesitantly, so Ziel pressed on.

“Besides, that’s a weird conversation starter. Even I’d be stuck if a total stranger suddenly asked me, ‘What do you do on your days off?’”

“Most people would just answer. Unlike you, they have hobbies beyond ‘staring at the sky.’”

Ziel considered snapping back with “I look at more than just the sky,” but if he added “like the ocean,” it would sound so ridiculously empty that he let the thought slide.

“Still, it’s a tricky question. When you first meet someone, it’s hard to know how much to share about yourself.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eunice nodded, his eyes sparkling with agreement.

Ziel nodded back firmly. “Don’t worry. It’s not like sharing your hobby on a first meeting will turn into some huge disaster. And if it does, you just don’t have to see that person again.”

“……”

“D-Don’t lose, Ziel…!”

“Heh… You think you can keep relying on a chaperone forever just because you came to challenge the dojo? Especially one this unreliable…!”

Unreliable as he might be, Ziel couldn’t stay that way forever.

Logically speaking, sure, they had to work together from now on, so caution made sense. But before he could steer the conversation in that direction—

“Th-Then…”

Eunice hesitated, glancing awkwardly to the side.

“…Well, on my days off, I research magic. Though, I mean… I do that even on workdays too…”

Ziel glanced at Dewey.

Dewey gave him a thumbs-up, as if to say, “Leave it to me.”

“Oh, seriously? So, like, is your job basically your hobby? Or is your hobby your job?”

“I guess… Magic is always on my mind. It’s kind of the foundation of my life. Isn’t it the same for you, Ziel?”

“Ah, yeah, I know the type. So, does that mean you don’t mind talking about magic even in your free time?”

“I wouldn’t say I mind… If anything—”

Eunice’s voice trailed off, but Dewey seemed to catch on.

“Alright then,” Dewey said, pulling a bundle closer to him on the table.

“When you have time, can you help me out?”

“…With what?”

“Making this guy’s glasses. Give me some advice or something.”

With a clatter, a pile of incomplete parts spilled onto the table.

Frames, lenses, and various other attachments—some of which seemed like they wouldn’t fit a human face properly. It was a mess, scattered across the table in a way that made it hard to know what to focus on.

Dewey explained, much like he had to Ziel earlier.

“These are for breaking curses. But I don’t get the mechanics, so I just try everything and see what works.”

Eunice leaned in.

“…Well, this is just my guess, but I don’t think ‘curse-breaking glasses’ actually break curses.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I’m not exactly an expert, but…”

Eunice began to explain.

A curse doesn’t accept any kind of external interference. It isn’t something logical like magic. It’s more ambiguous, yet also more rigid—like a powerful contract. Just like how a promise to meet someone in the morning can only be fulfilled by actually meeting them in the morning, as long as a curse is established, it can’t be bypassed or replaced by another method.

“So why do those ‘curse-breaking’ glasses work at all? Well… this is purely speculation, but I think the two curses on Ziel are either in a master-servant relationship or exist as a ‘stronger curse’ and a ‘weaker curse.’”

“Go on…”

“That would mean the glasses aren’t interfering with the curse itself, but with the ‘connection’ between the curses. Like shifting the coordinates of their interaction.”

“So, like… if you had two promises—one to meet in the morning and another to walk there—you’re making it so they happen on different days?”

“Exactly! And from my analysis, the dragon’s curse seems weaker. Ziel doesn’t fully understand its price, so it’s probably only functioning as an enhancement to the wolf’s curse.”

“So separating them makes the contract too weak to hold… No, wait. That’s not quite right.”

“No, that’s another valid way to look at it.”

Curious, Ziel quietly stood up.

He got away with it.

“Nah. But if you think of it as only working as an enhancement, that doesn’t mean the promise is too weak and disappears, right? It’s more like... there’s a condition based on the original promise, like ‘Be exactly on time for the morning meeting,’ and once you separate it, it loses its function or something like that。”

“Yeah. The way I put it earlier makes it sound that way, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with how Dewey-san explained it either. There’s no real way to confirm it, after all。”

“Ah, I see... Doesn’t the Grand Library deal with things like this? Curses and such?”

“Hmm... I did take an interest and look into it after meeting Ziel, but...”

Thinking he’d give it a try, Ziel quietly stepped away from the spot.

He didn’t get caught.

“Ah, I see. Since the starting point is the revival of prehistoric civilization, things like this wouldn’t be included.”

“Yeah. Probably primitive magic—meaning the real earliest stages of prehistory. Back then, curses might have been an established subcategory, but in our era, for better or worse, we’re ‘from the middle.’ Fundamentally, as a research subject—”

“‘From the middle,’ huh. Magic tool engineer are also, in a way, ‘from the middle’ professionals. They take things they don’t understand, smash them together without fully understanding, and somehow make them work.”

“From that perspective, Dewey-san’s curse-breaking seems like something modern magic tool engineer would be best at.”

“Well, yeah. Originally, my role here was to pick up things and slowly remake them, but now, moving takes priority.”

“Oh, really? But I don’t see many prehistoric relics along the way.”

“Of course not. We’re taking the safest routes possible. Any safe areas have already been fully excavated and integrated into modern society.”

“So, if an investigation gets underway and they enter uncharted territory...”

“That’s the dream.”

Thinking he’d give it a try, Ziel quietly stood beside Lililia and the others’ table.

He got caught.

“Good for you. All that effort to catch him paid off.”

But not by Eunice—by Lililia instead.

Ziel gave a single nod in response and then quietly said,

“But this was a bit unexpected. He seems perfectly capable of talking.”

“Well, of course. Eunice-kun has been traveling around for work ever since becoming a Arcmage.”

“Oh, really?”

“At the very least, when he came to rescue us, he was alone. And after the Cursed Sword Battle, he coordinated with the church while leading the magic division.”

“………”

Now that she mentioned it, that was true.

But when he recalled what Eunice had said to him a while back, he felt like that wasn’t entirely the case.

A script.

Maybe he had prepared in advance so he could handle those situations. But then again, bringing up someone’s behind-the-scenes efforts when they’re not around felt wrong.

As he was thinking that—

“At first, he did seem to carefully think things through before coming, but,”

Lililia spoke as if she saw through everything.

“Even so, that just means ‘if he prepares in advance, he can have a conversation.’ And if you look at how Eunice-kun talks with us, he’s not the type who needs to prepare for every single conversation. That preparation was probably just—”

Something to ease his anxiety.

As Lililia murmured while watching their conversation flow, a thought surfaced in Ziel’s mind.

A book on making friends.

The one Eunice had sent him when he was in the Eastern lands, packed with meticulous notes.

Realizing he had been preparing all along—

A small, natural smile slipped out.

“Was I meddling unnecessarily?”

“More opportunities aren’t a bad thing, are they? Want me to reward you, Opportunity-kun? There, there.”

“...Thanks.”

Feeling it was an unexpected privilege, Ziel closed his eyes in embarrassment.

Then, he opened them.

His gaze met Eunice’s, who looked utterly betrayed.

“Ziel! Why are you over there—wait, since when!?”

“Now, now, Uni-chan. Forget about that guy who keeps wandering back and forth. Let’s deepen our bond.”

“Huh? That’s suddenly terrifying—”

“Second assassin! Now is the time to enter the fray!”

“Huh…”

“Now?” Klaha, who had been nervously working beside them, quietly stood up at Lililia’s call. She placed a hand over her chest, as if preparing herself. While Ziel felt the urge to intervene, Lililia was already offering advice: “Just tell one of Ziel-kun’s ridiculous behavior stories, and it’ll be fine.”

Please don’t, Ziel thought.

“Which one…?” Klaha asked.

Ziel nearly felt hurt.

“Ah, wait, no!” Klaha waved her hand, realizing Ziel was right there.

Ziel silently nodded. If it helped keep the conversation going, then by all means.

The second assassin was released.

“The amount of information just exploded!” Eunice’s voice rang out in distress, but since he still had the energy to yell, Ziel figured he’d be fine.

“Somehow, Ziel-san feels like an older brother.”

A man wearing an apron appeared from the kitchen and made this observation.

“…Feels like I’ve heard that before.”

“Forgive me. Ziel-san is quite expressive, so watching you is entertaining.”

Ziel considered telling him not to enjoy it so much, but when he saw Roylen swiftly organizing the ingredients on the table, he held his tongue. The man was doing a lot for them, and there was no ill intent.

“So, what’s the truth? From my perspective, you seem like you’d have younger siblings. Close ones.”

“…I do, but...”

“Ah.”

“Eunice-kun apparently has a lot of older siblings, so that probably stands out more.”

Noticing something, Roylen looked slightly awkward.

Lililia quickly covered for him, making Ziel feel relieved.

“I see. I didn’t know that.”

“Nor did I. But it seems like there’s quite an age gap.”

“Apparently so. The rest are all close in age, but there’s just one...”

Just as the sentence was about to conclude—

The sky flashed.

“Oh.”

“Was that light?”

Ziel turned halfway around. Lililia also tilted her head, resting her hand on the back of her chair.

Then, with a loud boom, the building shook violently.

This is not a "tremor." That much is obvious because I know the name of this natural phenomenon.

"Wow, the thunder is amazing... Ah,"

"It's starting to rain."

Summer thunder brought a sudden downpour.

Water poured violently from the sky to the ground. In the southern country, especially around here, sudden showers were intense. Even Ziel, who had traveled across various nations, found it astonishing—the sheer volume of water was like overturning a bucket or standing beneath a waterfall, all falling in a single breath.

In just a few dozen minutes, it would stop completely.

If Roylen and the others hadn't told me, "The cause of 'Tremor' is something else," I might have mistaken it for that, considering even the accompanying earthshaking rumble.

"Oh," Lililia stood up and moved beside me.

Somehow, I found myself averting my gaze in the opposite direction.

"...Roylen, what's wrong?"

"...Heh. Do you want to know?"

My eyes met Roylen's, and he had an oddly sorrowful expression.

Even without asking, the answer came from another direction.

"Professor Roylen! It's raining so much... What are you doing, Professor Wilae? You should come inside."

"Mm, no, well—"

"Ah, whatever. The bedsheets in the drying area are in a serious state. Will they be okay?"

"Of course not," Roylen groaned, holding his head. "Oh no, oh no," Dewey stood up. "I'll help too," Klaha followed.

The two of them moved first. On the way, they were joined by Ney, who had been standing at the entrance. Wilae, who had also been lingering by the door for who knows how long, met my eyes for a moment, gave an awkward smile, and walked off. Roylen slowly followed after.

It didn’t seem like such a big task needed so many people.

Unlike Lililia, who had sat back down, saying, "Then bring the dirty sheets to me," I had no particular role. So, at the very least, I could act busy.

I started moving.

"Let's go. Hey, Eunice, you good? Did you bring in the laundry from your private balcony?"

On my way, I called out to Eunice.

"Yeah," he nodded.

Still seated, he looked up.

"I-I talked...!"

His eyes sparkled like stars.

Yeah, that makes sense. That’s why I smiled back. Right now, that was the bigger deal for him.

Not sure if he understood the purpose, but Eunice followed behind me, trotting along.

Only after starting to walk did I realize—I had no idea how to get to the drying area.

Minor detail.

"Honestly, I think Dewey guided the conversation to make it easier for me, but I talked way more than I expected...!"

Not a minor detail at all.

Where the hell am I?

"But, I think the biggest thing was the comfort of 'a friend of a friend.' You, too… well, halfway through, you kind of abandoned me and went off somewhere far away."

"Uh, oh..."

"'Uh, oh' isn't an answer! But thanks. Because of you, from now on… well, not like I’ll suddenly be completely comfortable tomorrow, but..."

I glanced around. Still no idea where I was.

There were walls, doors, and floors. That much I could recognize. But that was true for most of the research institute.

Going outside to ask Eunice for directions was out of the question—it was pouring rain.

I tried sharpening my senses, listening for footsteps, sniffing for familiar scents. But the more I focused, the more Eunice's presence in front of me became overwhelming, making me want to concentrate on our conversation instead.

Fine.

I'll just apologize later with a "Sorry, I got lost."

"I think I can manage... Wait, where is this?"

At just the right moment, Eunice noticed.

"...Are we lost?"

"...Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, I was so into the conversation, so it's fine, but..."

He looked around. No clues.

"It's raining outside..."

He glanced toward the window.

But then, he reached a different conclusion.

"Let's use magic. Ziel, I’m going outside for a bit—will you be okay?"

"Huh? I mean, sure, but the rain—"

Won't we get soaked? I started to ask.

Eunice puffed out his chest, laughing.

"Well, sure, Lililia is better at this stuff. But if I whip up some wind from below, I can repel the water. I can walk in the rain without an umbrella, at least."

"Won't that just spray water everywhere when we meet up with the others?"

"...U-uh, Professor Wilae is there."

"It'll be fine. Let's go," Eunice insisted.

He opened the window. A fierce gust roared through.

"Hurry, hurry!"

While he used magic to block the wind from rushing in, I quickly grabbed the window frame and hopped out. Eunice followed, closing the window behind him.

We stepped into an eerie calm, like the eye of a storm, walking across the wet grass.

"Do you know the way? It's pretty cloudy."

"Yeah. I don’t rely on sight alone. This way."

"You're reliable."

He stopped dead in his tracks.

Looking over his shoulder, I found him turning back to me, eyes meeting mine.

He grinned, beaming with delight.

"Of course! Always! You can count on me anytime! Just say the word, and I'll make anything happen—ah, your feet are getting wet. Be careful."

"Yeah."

"Wind alone can't deal with puddles, huh? But if I dry things too much, it'll mess with the environment…"

He muttered to himself, testing out ideas as if enjoying the process.

"Thinking about it, it's amazing. Talking with Dewey made me realize—sometimes, using objects to fix magic in place is more sustainable than using it as a one-time phenomenon. Like umbrellas, or even buildings—those can be built without magic, but compared to using complicated spells—ah,"

He stopped again. This time, it was sudden, without warning. He didn’t even seem aware that he had stopped.

I almost bumped into him but caught myself just in time.

"Eunice?"

I called out, wondering what was wrong.

The great mage with violet hair stood beneath the dark summer rainclouds, eyes shining like stars.

And he murmured a single phrase.

"So that's how it is."