“Ziel-kun! How long are you planning to sleep?!”

Ziel woke up to the abnormal sound of a frying pan being banged.
“Ugh,” he groaned, groping around his bedside. He opened the case his fingers hit, took out his glasses, and slid them on with a click.

Right in front of him, extremely close, was Lililia’s face.
Dressed in an apron, she smiled brightly.

“Good morning~”
“...Good morning.”

In a low voice, Ziel muttered his greeting. For the past ten days, he had been sleeping in a proper bed for the first time in ages, and his sleep had become unusually deep.

Still drowsy, he glanced toward the window.
The sunlight was faint—just a pale blue glow filtering through.

“...Isn’t it early?”
“I thought you’d like this kind of thing.”
“...What kind of thing?”
“This kind of thing.”

Ziel couldn’t respond, not a single word.
Even after sitting up, he remained dazed, unmoved by Lililia waving her hand in front of his face, pinching his cheeks, or cupping his face with both hands.

“Seriously though, if you don’t hurry, there won’t be any breakfast left. Everyone’s quick around here.”
“...!”

Those words finally woke him up.
His sense of time had gone haywire in the labyrinth, and he’d been indulging in late mornings for days—but today wasn’t the day for that.

“You’ve got things to do this morning and then you’re leaving, right? I thought you’d want something to eat first, so I woke you up... Was that a bother?”
“N-no! Not at all...!”
“I figured. Well then, I’ll head on over first. Wash your face and change your clothes... Or not, it doesn’t really matter. Just don’t take too long, okay?”

“Breakfast looks delicious again today. Though, I didn’t cook it,” she added, leaving behind the baffling question of what the frying pan was for as she exited the room.

Left behind was Ziel, a bespectacled young man, alone.
Still somewhat wrapped in the haze of sleep, he found himself thinking:

What a great way to start the day.

Whoever said she was like an eighty-year-old married granny needs to face me. I’ll take them down.

“Hey, Ziel! Long time no see in the morning!”
“You’re way too energetic for this early...”
“Hahaha... I’m about to crash, like a rock.”

Just outside the dining hall, Ziel was greeted by the theatrical voice of Eunice.

“Breakfast here is... fantastic,” Eunice said, leaning in conspiratorially as though sharing some great secret.

“...I see.”
“It is.”
“...What kind of reaction are you expecting from me?”
“I’d like you to dramatically inflate your expectations for breakfast and loudly voice your speculations like, ‘Is it sea urchin?!’ or ‘Is it crab?!’”
“For what purpose?”
“I don’t know... Why would it be?”

Ziel decided Eunice must be exhausted. Unlike himself, whose tasks were complete with a single swing of a sword, the Grand Magus still had much to do, like helping restore the city. Since Eunice’s power increased under the starry skies, he often worked through the night, and his fatigue was clearly catching up to him.

“Want me to massage your shoulders?”
“How scandalous...”
“Forget I said anything.”

A short walk later, they reached the dining hall.
Apparently, the church started early mornings for real; there was already a line stretching from the food counter to the entrance.

Ziel and Eunice joined the end of the line.
The other churchgoers in line noticed them, startled, and tried to offer their place. However, the two stayed put, continuing a nonsensical discussion about “Is it salmon?!” and “Why are you so fixated on seafood?!”

Eventually, their turn came. The system was self-serve, where they could take only what they wanted from the spread. According to Eunice, leftovers were reused for lunch or fed to the Holy Knights during their intense training.

Ziel, who tended to eat as much as he could when possible, nonetheless refrained from grabbing everything in sight. He settled on bread, soup, bacon, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, salad, and finally, a glass of milk. Eunice grabbed orange juice, and they moved to find seats.

On the terrace, Lililia was already there, glowing faintly like she was illuminated from within.

Easy to spot, Ziel thought as he approached with Eunice.

“Mofaou,” she greeted them mid-chew, still inexplicably wearing her apron.

“Good morning. What a nice morning. I’m ready to crash now.”
“Good morning. By the way, thanks for waking me up earlier. It really helped.”

“No problem,” Lililia replied with a smile.
Thus began breakfast for the three of them.

“This’ll probably be the last time the three of us eat together for now,” Lililia remarked.

“Oh... Right, Ziel’s leaving,” Eunice said.
“By noon today.”
“By the way, A-Chan was asking, ‘What about a carriage?’ Do you need one?”
“No, just the thought is enough. With everything going on, I don’t want to take up manpower unnecessarily. I’m fine. I’ve done plenty of solo traveling.”

“That’s amazing,” Lililia said, sipping her soup.
“I could never do that. No survival skills, I’d get lost.”

“Yet I still can’t believe you two were eating raw monster meat before I got here. That’s some insane survival skill in itself.”
“Do you think I’d actually manage if I were thrown into a survival situation?”

Thinking about how heavenly this breakfast was compared to their labyrinth days, Ziel bit into his bacon.

“So, after breakfast, it’s just goodbye, huh?”
“Yeah. I’ll stop by the hospital to check on them, though... They’ve regained consciousness, right?”

“Yep,” Lililia said proudly, puffing out her chest.
Cute, Ziel thought simply. If he’d had his glasses in the labyrinth, he might have died from sheer overload.

Not letting it show, he continued the conversation.

“It’s the last day, so I’ll say my goodbyes and fulfill one lingering promise.”
“I’d love to see you off, but...”
“Don’t worry. You need to rest.”
“Thanks.”
“It’s not like it’s a farewell forever... With everything going on, we’ll definitely meet again.”

“Oh,” Lililia interjected suddenly.
“Hm? What’s up?”
“We forgot about letter writing!”

“Ah,” both Ziel and Eunice said.
“That’s not good,” Lililia admonished. “Let’s make sure we keep in touch.”

They all agreed to write, discussing their plans briefly before finishing their meal and tidying up.

At the dining hall entrance, they said their goodbyes.
“Well then.”
“Yeah.”
“Take care.”

Just as they began to part ways—
“Wait,” Lililia called out again.

“Huh? What is it?”
“I’ll give you a goodbye kiss!”

Ziel’s mind went blank for a moment, overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of the statement. Then, he realized she had pulled out a ragged deer hand puppet and pressed it against his cheek.

“Smooch.”
“...What is that?”
“A puppet for children’s theater.”

Eunice joined in, grabbing a dragon puppet.
“Smooooooch!”

Ziel sighed, exasperated, yet secretly grateful for the warm sendoff.

“Hey, Ziel, Eunice,” Lililia said softly as they finished.
“Yeah?”
She smiled.
“We’ll meet again. It’s fate.”

And so, the three labyrinth conquerors—those who resealed the Ruin King—parted ways, each wishing the others well for the journey ahead.