Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051601476634937
A few days had passed.
Life at the guild with Lilia…
…wasn’t as bad as she’d expected.
“Alt.”
“Put this on the next shelf.”
“Okay.”
Carrying documents.
Organizing papers.
Making copies.
The tasks were mundane, but…
Working side by side with Lilia…
…strangely enough, it didn’t feel like a chore.
It happened one day.
I was organizing the shelves when
I suddenly stopped what I was doing.
“Lilia.”
“What?”
“The documents on this shelf—”
“Aren’t they all related to spatial magic?”
“…Yeah.”
“It’s not just this shelf, is it?”
I looked around the research lab.
Bookshelves lined the entire wall.
Piles of documents stacked high.
Most of them were in the same field.
“Teleportation Magic”
“Time Interference”
“Dimensional Interference”
“Spatial Distortion”
“…They’re all from the same category.”
“That’s right.”
Lilia didn’t take her eyes off the documents.
“Have you been researching this ever since I got back?”
“Yes.”
“I have told you about it the day you came back, didn’t I?”
“That five years had passed after you touched the magic circle in the dungeon.”
“Yeah.”
“Ever since that day—”
“I’ve been researching this nonstop for three months.”
“Why that phenomenon occurred.”
“What that magic circle actually is.”
“So that the same thing never happens again.”
“Why?”
Lilia’s hand stopped moving.
A long silence.
Eventually.
She let out a small sigh.
“…Because I want to figure out why you disappeared.”
I remained silent, waiting for her to continue.
“I heard the story the day you returned.”
“I realized the dungeon’s magic circle was the cause.”
“So—”
“I started researching it right away.”
“For three months.”
“Every day.”
“The whole time.”
Lilia continued quietly.
“For the five years before you returned,”
“I didn’t know the location, the cause—nothing.”
“Where had you gone?”
“Why had you vanished?”
“I didn’t know a single thing.”
“……”
“But,”
“things were different after I heard your story.”
“I realized the magic circle was the cause.”
“So for three months,”
“I kept researching that magic circle.”
“I looked into the records of ancient civilizations.”
“I studied theories of spacetime interference.”
“I even deciphered ancient manuscripts designated as banned books.”
“Even so,”
Lilia gives a small laugh.
“There’s a limit to what I can do without seeing the actual thing.”
I look around the lab once more.
Piles of documents.
Annotated research papers.
Deciphered ancient manuscripts.
This is all of it.
This was the result of Lilia’s three months of work.
“Lilia.”
“What?”
“That dungeon.”
“Do you want to know where it is?”
Lilia’s hand paused.
And then.
She slowly looked up.
“…Do you know?”
“Yeah.”
“I remember where it is.”
Lilia stares intently at me.
A few seconds of silence.
“Take me there.”
Her voice was unwavering.
“Are you sure?”
“About what?”
“It’s quite far from the capital.”
“It’ll take a few days.”
“I know.”
“What about your guild work?”
“I’ll leave it to the Deputy Guildmaster.”
“Are you really going?”
Lilia looked away for just a moment.
“…I want to go.”
“For my research.”
“Is that all?”
“That’s all.”
Her answer was immediate.
But.
Her ears were slightly red.
I gave a wry smile.
“I understand.”
“Let’s go together.”
At those words,
Lilia nodded slightly.
“Thank you.”
It was an unusually candid response.
“However,”
I continued.
“There’s just one condition.”
“What?”
“Don’t touch that magic circle.”
Lilia’s expression clouded over slightly.
“…Why?”
“I don’t want the same thing to happen again.”
“If you were to disappear too…”
“I wouldn’t want that.”
Lilia’s eyes widened.
“……”
Silence lingered for a while.
Eventually.
“…I understand.”
She nodded slightly.
“I promise.”
But.
In her eyes.
Something was still wavering.
◇
The next morning.
Having finished their preparations, the two of us rode out through the gates of the capital.
“It’s been a while.”
I looked up at the sky.
“What’s been a while?”
“Traveling just the two of us.”
Lilia thought for a moment.
“That’s true.”
“We used to do this a lot back then, didn’t we?”
“Yes.”
“When the other three weren’t around.”
“We were usually just the two of us, weren’t we?”
It felt nostalgic.
Back when we were just starting out.
We’d argue every time we took on a job.
But we’d always come home together.
“Lilia.”
“What?”
“You haven’t changed a bit.”
Lilia looked slightly surprised.
And then.
She looked away.
“…Really?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re still just as sharp-tongued as ever.”
“How rude.”
“And you’re still just as stubborn as ever.”
“Mind your own business.”
“And your ears still turn red.”
“-!”
Lilia hurriedly covered her ears.
“T-they’re not.”
“They are.”
“Shut up.”
Lilia kept her head down and quickened her pace.
I followed after her with a wry smile.
“Lilia”
“What?”
“Don’t get mad.”
“I’m not mad.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.”
A moment of silence followed.
Eventually.
“…Alt.”
“Hm?”
Lilia spoke without turning around.
“Once I see that magic circle—”
“I’ll figure it all out.”
“Why Alt disappeared.”
“What the principle behind it was.”
“Everything.”
“I see.”
“Yes.”
“So that the same thing never happens again.”
Her voice was quiet.
But.
In those few words.
There was the weight of someone who had been researching this nonstop for three months.
“Please.”
That was my reply.
Lilia gave a slight nod.
“Leave it to me.”
The two of us continued walking side by side.
The sights of the capital gradually receded into the distance.
“Lilia.”
“What?”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For the past five years.”
“And those three months, too.”
“You’ve been researching this the whole time, haven’t you?”
Lilia said nothing.
She just.
Lowered her head slightly.
“…It’s only natural.”
“I see.”
“That’s right.”
“You’re such a fool.”
She gave a small laugh.
“You don’t need to thank me.”
But.
Her voice was.
Just a little bit.
Gentler than usual.
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