Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/2912051601476634937
“If you’re going to work, it’ll be for my guild.”
“It’ll be for me.”
“It’ll be for me.”
“My master belongs to me.”
Alt clutched his head.
How did it come to this?
“That’s why I—”
Just as he was about to speak—
“Alt san.”
Emma raised her hand.
Everyone’s gaze turned to her.
“Please go sit over there for a moment.”
“Huh?”
“It’s fine.”
Emma smiled brightly.
I had nothing but a bad feeling about this.
“Lilia.”
“What?”
“Could you cast a spell to block out the sound?”
The corners of Lilia’s mouth turned up slightly.
“I see.”
“Sure.”
“Wait.”
Alt stood up.
“Wait, wait, wait.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“Nothing at all.”
Emma answered immediately.
He couldn’t trust her.
“That’s definitely a lie.”
“It’ll be fine.”
“It won’t be fine.”
But.
No one was listening.
Lilia snapped her fingers lightly.
The next moment.
All sound vanished from the world.
“――――!?”
Alt frantically opened his mouth.
But.
He couldn’t even hear his own voice.
Emma was waving with a smile.
He was furious.
Reluctantly, he moved to the corner of the room.
He sat down in a chair.
He glared at the five of them.
He was completely left out.
Alt crossed his arms in the corner of the room.
He was saying something.
But he couldn’t hear it.
That was only natural, since he couldn’t even hear his own voice.
“――――!”
His mouth was open.
It seemed he was complaining.
Emma glanced at Alt just once.
Then she turned back to the other four.
“Well then—”
Her voice was quiet.
Leona.
Serena.
Lilia.
Mia.
All four eyes turned toward her.
“Everyone,”
Emma smiled faintly.
“May I ask you just one thing?”
No one objected.
“Alt says he wants to restart Wings of Dawn.”
The atmosphere shifted slightly.
“What do you all think?”
Silence.
No one answered right away.
Leona was the first to speak.
“I want to support him.”
Her voice was unwavering.
“Wings of Dawn is where we all began.”
“If it weren’t for that place, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”
“I’d be happy if we could rebuild it.”
Up to that point, her answer had been immediate.
But.
The words that followed carried weight.
“However…”
Leona looked at Alt.
He was muttering something in the corner of the room.
Naturally, she couldn’t hear him.
“I don’t want him to disappear again.”
Her voice was quiet.
“Five years ago…”
“You said you’d be back in a month.”
“And it turned out to be five years.”
She clenched her fist.
“How many years do I have to wait next time?”
“Ten years?”
“Twenty years?”
“Or will he never come back at all?”
The room fell silent.
“I don’t want that to happen again.”
Leona closed her eyes.
And then.
She said quietly.
“If something like this happens again, I don’t think I have the strength to wait.”
With those words.
The atmosphere changed.
“Five years is enough.”
“Never again.”
“I won’t let Alt just disappear on his own again.”
No one smiled.
Because they knew those were her true feelings.
Serena nodded slightly as well.
“Me too.”
“The Wings of Dawn are important.”
“I want to support Alt’s dreams, too.”
“But—”
She lowered her eyes slightly.
“When I think I might lose him again—”
“I can’t bring myself to be genuinely happy.”
For five years.
She prayed every day.
Maybe today is the day he’ll come back.
Maybe tomorrow is the day he’ll come back.
She kept thinking that.
“He might not come back.”
She felt that fear countless times.
“That’s why…”
Serena bit her lip.
“This time, for sure…”
“I don’t want him to leave us behind.”
And then.
She continued quietly.
“If he try to go somewhere again…”
“I’ll stop him.”
“Even if he hate me.”
“Even if he get angry at me.”
“Even so, I’ll stop him.”
Lilia gave a wry smile, too.
But.
There was a hint of sadness in that smile.
“I’m pretty much the same, aren’t I?”
“If he want to rebuild, go ahead.”
“I’ll support him, too.”
“But.”
She looked at Alt.
“The Alt I see now doesn’t understand.”
“What doesn’t he understand?”
Emma asked.
“How hard we searched.”
“How long we waited.”
Lilia said quietly.
“Probably even now,”
‘We caused trouble’
is about all he thinks.
No one denied it.
“he really is an idiot.”
Lilia chuckled softly.
“We—”
“We weren’t looking for him just because he was a bother.”
And then.
She narrowed her eyes slightly.
“If he disappears on his own again—”
Her voice was quiet.
“No matter where he goes—”
“I’ll follow him.”
“Disappearing on his own like that—”
“I won’t forgive him for it anymore.”
Finally.
Mia spoke up.
“It’s simple for me.”
Everyone looked at her.
Mia was smiling.
But.
That smile was just a little bit precarious.
“I’ll support whatever Master wants to do.”
“But—”
Her reply was immediate.
“I won’t let him go alone.”
“No matter where he go?”
Emma asks.
“Yeah.”
Mia nods.
As if it were only natural.
“Anywhere.”
“If you’re going, Master, I’m going too.”
“Even to the mountains.”
“Even to the sea.”
“Even to a dungeon.”
“Anywhere.”
And then.
She smiled, looking just a little lonely.
“Because,”
“I don’t want to be left behind again.”
“I’ve waited five whole years.”
“Next time, I’m coming with him.”
The room fell silent.
Emma looked at the four of them.
She finally understood.
All four of them.
They loved Wings of Dawn.
They wanted to support its reconstruction, too.
But.
More than that.
They’re afraid of losing Alt.
Five years ago.
They thought they’d lost him.
And then he finally came back.
That’s why.
For the four of them right now.
There’s something more important than Wings of Dawn.
And that is.
Alt himself.
“I see.”
Emma nodded quietly.
“So you don’t actually want to stop Alt-san, do you?”
“Of course not.”
Leona said.
“There’s no reason to oppose rebuilding Wings of Dawn.”
“Me too,”
Serena added.
“But—”
“If he’s going to disappear from right in front of us again…”
“Same here,”
Lilia nodded as well.
“As long as he stays where we can see him (nearby), that’s fine.”
“Me too—as long as my master stays with me,”
Mia said matter-of-factly.
Emma thought for a moment.
And then.
She arrived at an answer.
“In that case—”
The four of them looked up.
“Instead of locking him up,”
“we just need to make sure he stays where you can all keep an eye on him, right?”
Silence.
“What do you mean?”
Leona asked.
“Alt san still has half a year before he can register as an adventurer.”
“During that time—”
“How about we take him in one at a time?”
The four of them froze.
“One at a time?”
“Yes.”
Emma nodded.
“Leona’s guild.”
“Serena’s church.”
“Lilia’s research institute.”
“Mia’s guild.”
“He’ll work at each one in turn.”
“Wait.”
Leona furrowed her brow.
“Why split him up?”
“Everyone…”
Emma gave a wry smile.
“Would you be satisfied if we entrusted it to just one person?”
Silence.
No one answered.
The answer was obvious.
There was no way they’d be satisfied.
“Besides,”
Emma continued.
“Alt won’t choose just one person.”
“Then we have no choice but to accept it all together.”
“…I don’t like this,”
Lilia muttered.
“But it’s fair,”
Serena said.
“Better than having just one person monopolize him.”
“I guess so,”
Leona sighed.
“I’m all for it!”
Mia answered immediately.
“I get to be with Master.”
“Shut up for a second.”
“Ehh?”
Mia puffed out her cheeks.
Emma couldn’t help but laugh.
It seemed that—
they were about to come to an agreement.
“Then,”
Emma nodded quietly.
“For six months,”
“we’ll all support Alt-san together.”
Leona and the others exchanged glances.
And then—
they nodded slowly.
“However,”
Emma continued.
“In six months.”
The atmosphere shifted slightly.
“When it becomes possible to register as an adventurer again.”
“At that time, let’s respect Alt’s wishes once more.”
Silence.
Leona furrowed her brow.
“In other words—”
“The rebuilding of Wings of Dawn.”
Emma nodded.
“Alt wants to rebuild the guild.”
“So,”
“In half a year,”
“let’s all discuss it again—and include Alt in the discussion then.”
No one answered right away.
But.
Finally, Leona let out a small sigh.
“…I understand.”
Serena nodded as well.
“I have no objections either.”
“In six months, then,”
Lilia murmured.
“It’s up to Master.”
Mia nodded as well.
The matter was settled.
At least on the surface.
Emma let out a small sigh of relief.
Things would settle down for now.
That’s what she thought.
But.
No one said it out loud.
Not Leona.
Not Serena.
Not Lilia.
Not Mia.
Because they were all thinking the same thing.
Half a year.
That’s a whole half year.
Alt said he wanted to rebuild the Wings of Dawn.
He also said he intended to return to being an adventurer.
But.
With half a year to go.
His mind might change.
Not as a dangerous adventurer.
As a guild employee.
As a church official.
As a researcher.
Or perhaps.
In some other form entirely.
He might choose a life in the capital.
No.
We’ll make him choose.
At least.
That’s what the four of them were thinking.
In the corner of the room.
Alt, who knew nothing of this, was glaring at them with a disgruntled look.
He had no idea that his future six months from now
had just been decided.
Nor did he know that during those six months,
the four of them intended to make him give up on himself.
He knew absolutely nothing.
Emma gave a wry smile as she looked at Alt.
“That sounds like a lot to handle, Alt.”
She murmured those words to herself.
And then.
Lilia snapped her fingers.
The sound-proofing magic was lifted.
“Hey!”
The very first thing he said.
Alt stood up.
“What were you guys just talking about?!”
At that moment.
The five of them exchanged glances.
And then.
For some reason, they were all laughing.
Amidst all that.
Only Alt was left behind, completely unaware of what was going on..
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