Source
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By the time Alt and Lilia returned to the guild,
it was already morning.
“I told you so,”
Lilia said, sounding exasperated.
“About what?”
“That they’d already gathered.”
I didn’t get it.
Thinking that, I opened the guild door.
And then.
“…You guys.”
I couldn’t help but let out a wry smile.
Just as he’d expected.
Leona
Serena
Mia
Everyone was there.
Yesterday.
They’d said they’d come to pick him up.
He’d figured they’d show up.
But.
“What’s this?”
Alt’s eyes widened.
The table was covered with food.
Unfamiliar decorations.
And.
Clearly, preparations for some kind of celebration.
“Surprised?”
Mia smiled happily.
“Of course I’m surprised.”
Alt replied without thinking.
“You did say you’d come to pick me up, but I didn’t expect this.”
Then.
Serena smiled gently.
“It’s a welcome-home party.”
“A welcome-home party?”
“Yes.”
Serena nodded.
“Because you’ve come back, Alt.”
At those words.
Alt was momentarily speechless.
Five years.
Everyone had waited five years.
That’s why.
A homecoming celebration.
Maybe that was only natural.
“It’s five years late, though,”
Emma laughed.
“But it’s still worth doing, right?”
“Well, I guess so…”
Alt scratched his head.
He felt a little embarrassed.
“Hurry up and sit down.”
Mia pulled out a chair for him.
“Let’s take our time and talk today, okay?”
“Of course.”
It had been five years.
There were a mountain of things he wanted to talk about.
Leona, too.
And Serena.
And Lilia.
And Mia.
With everyone.
At those words,
Mia smiled happily.
Leona’s lips also curved slightly.
Serena looked relieved.
Lilia didn’t say anything, but
she seemed somewhat reassured.
Just that alone
made it feel like they were back in the old days.
“Well then,”
Mia raised her glass.
“To Alt’s return!”
“Cheers.”
Leona.
“Cheers.”
Serena.
“Cheers.”
Lilia.
“Cheers, then.”
Emma.
Alt, too, raised his glass with a wry smile.
“Cheers.”
The glasses clinked.
It had been five years.
In the truest sense.
Since everyone had gathered in the same place.
Dinner began.
Every dish was delicious.
Especially the meat dishes.
“This is good,”
Alt said.
At that,
Serena’s expression brightened slightly.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“It tastes just like it used to.”
At that moment.
Serena lowered her head slightly.
She looked happy.
“I’m glad.”
Her voice was soft.
But.
She definitely looked happy.
Amid that atmosphere.
Mia suddenly spoke up.
“Come to think of it…”
I had a bad feeling.
“Lilia, that’s not fair.”
“What do you mean?”
Lilia retorted immediately.
“You’ve been with Alt since this morning, haven’t you?”
“…”
Lilia’s shoulders twitched slightly.
“It’s not like I planned to be with him.”
“But you were with him, right?”
“It was a coincidence.”
“Really?”
Mia stared intently at her.
“…It’s true.”
“Hmm.”
She didn’t believe a word of it.
“Alt.”
“Hm?”
“Didn’t Lilia have something with you?”
“She did.”
“Alt!?”
Lilia shouted.
“I knew it.”
Mia smirked.
“That’s suspicious.”
“It’s not suspicious.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Hmm.”
Mia looked like she was having fun.
She was definitely teasing them.
“That’s true,”
Leona muttered under her breath.
“I’m a little jealous.”
“Even you, Leona…”
“I think so too.”
Serena smiled.
“Morning time is precious, after all.”
“Even Serena…”
Lilia clutched her head.
“I wanted to see you first thing this morning, too.”
Mia puffed out her cheeks.
“I was planning to come pick you up.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“That’s so nice.”
As she said that,
Mia naturally moved over to sit next to Alt.
“So I’m taking the seat next to you for now.”
“Huh?”
Alt turned around.
Mia smiled contentedly.
“It’s been five years, so this is okay, right?”
Then.
Leona sat down on the opposite side.
“Then I’ll join you, too.”
“Leona?”
And then.
Serena sat down as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“I’ll join you, too.”
“Even Serena!?”
And then.
Across from them sat Lilia.
“……”
She looked displeased.
“Aren’t we a little too close?”
Alt said.
“We’re not.”
They all said it at the same time.
“No, we’re definitely too close.”
“It’s just your imagination.”
Leona.
“It’s just your imagination.”
Serena.
“It’s just your imagination.”
Lilia.
“It’s just your imagination.”
Mia.
Not a single one of them admitted it.
But.
No matter how you looked at it, they were too close.
Alt let out a sigh.
And then.
Everyone laughed.
It really had been.
It had been a long time.
A moment like this.
Five years.
It felt like an eternity.
But.
He’d finally made it back.
That’s what he was thinking when—
“So—”
Emma spoke up.
The atmosphere shifted ever so slightly.
“What are we going to do now?”
Silence fell.
Leona, too.
Serena, too.
Lilia, too.
Mia, too.
Everyone looked at Alt.
Alt understood
what those gazes meant.
Wings of Dawn.
Five years.
And now.
From here on out.
The cheerful atmosphere grew a little quieter.
Alto exhaled slowly.
He had to answer.
Now.
Because he couldn’t run away anymore.
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