“…That went better than expected,” Alnea said, as he walked out of the Blood Hall with Yuri and Cecilia. And the dumb cat, of course. “I did not expect the Glyph Trials to be so much easier than Mystery Trials…”

  “…Go on,” Cecilia said, when she saw him trailing off towards the end. “Why are you stopping? Keep blowing.”

  “…You do not have to be so grumpy, Lia. At least you managed to clear the Trials perfectly.”

  “Easy for you to say,” Cecilia added with a pout, before turning towards Yuri. “Can you teach me more about Glyphs?”

  “If only someone would have listened to me back in Anneve, and paid attention to master’s lessons with me…”

  “Shut up.”

  “…I am glad that you can realise your weakness, Cecilia, but that’s not how things work,” Yuri said. “Making up for foundation can take time. Years, decades even. Even if I spend the entire day teaching you more about Glyphs now, it will still not help you in breaking records of the Scholar Trials.”

  “It is not as if I don’t have any foundations on the path of Scholars. I just don’t know how to make the best use of my foundations.”

  “That is why you need to make up for it with years of practice and experience. I have been laying my foundations since I was four years old, and began practising my Glyphs since I was nine. Ask yourself honestly. How long have you been practising your Glyphs?”

  “…But Alnea spent only a couple of years learning about Glyphs. Or anything about Wanderers.”

  “…It would be best if we do not compare ourselves with him. Although he might be reckless, and a fool, when it comes to his foundations… He is simply a monster. Or he would not have created a historical record in the Warrior Trials.”

  “…That only shows his talent on the path of Warriors. He did not show much talent as a Scholar.”

  “Oh? Then what about to the ‘surprise’ he gave to you last time? Is that something that one without any talent on the path of Scholars can make?”

  “You… How do you know about that ‘surprise’?”

  “…You can take a guess,” Yuri said, teasing Cecilia with a smile. “Maybe his affinity with the path of Scholars is not as good as his affinity with the path of Warriors, but no matter how bad it might be, it would still be better than ours… to an extent. The only reason that he has had yet to show his talent on the path of Scholars is because he did not have anything to show it off with. But that is in the past now, I guess. How long has he walked on the path of Scholars? When did he first began practising his Glyphs? And what are the results he is showing now? Do I need to say anything more?”

  “…No.”

  “…What are acting so gloomy for? You knew from the very beginning that the path of Scholars is not your strength. Or of your clan, for that matter. Given the Serpia clan’s accumulation, gaining a perfect clearance is already a good result. And it is not as if you have not broken any records. Your results in the Warrior Hall were pretty decent. Who knows, maybe you can break a few records in the Arcanist Hall too.”

  “…And so will Alnea.”

  “…What can I say?” Alnea said, shrugging his shoulders. “Sometimes, I scare even myself with my talent.”

  “…I seriously want to beat him up.”

  “…He does need a beating to help him clear his head.”

  “…Don’t look at me like that,” Alnea said, feigning a look of fear on his face, as stepped away from girls. “Fighting outside of the Arena is strictly prohibited within the city.”

  “…Maybe,” Yuri said, nodding along with him, before smiling deviously. “So, how about we tickle you instead? That should not be prohibited by the city.”

  “…That’s not something to joke about,” Alnea said, backing further away from the girls. The way that they were looking at him… like they were looking at their prey… He did not need to feign the panicked looked on his face anymore.

  “I suddenly remembered that there is something that I need to…”

  “What is it?”

  “Yeah, what is it? Maybe we can help.”

  “Lend you a hand.”

  “Or two.”

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  “No! I mean, no need. I can handle it on my own.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “…I am.”

  “Huh? Did you say something? We did not hear it clearly. How about you come closer a little?”

  “…I said, see you two back in the mansion,” Alnea said, as he turned around, and began running. Just not in the direction of their mansion. That direction had been covered by the girls. A coincidence? No, this was a conspiracy. A conspiracy against him. They had been planning this from the very beginning. To cut off his path of retreat, and—

  Alnea stopped in his tracks, and turned around his head with a jerk, searching for—

  “Ha! Caught you,” Cecilia yelled, as she pounced on him, pushing him down to ground, with the dumb cat following right behind her pouncing on his face.

  “Wait, Lia. I need to confirm something.”

  “Nice try. Hold him down, Yuri. Let’s see where he can run off to now.”

  “No, wait—

  “Too late,” Yuri said, as she pinned her weight on his hands, before she began tickling his armpits.

  “No… listen to me…”

  Neither of the girls listened to him. Not that he could have said anything. At least not while they were tickling him. His armpits, his stomach, his neck… There was no place left that the girls did not tickle, leaving him in fits and bursts of laughter. It was not until a few minutes later, when they had enough, that they let him go. Still panting, and giggling, Alnea pushed himself up from the ground, and hastily looked around. But it was too late. What he was searching for was gone.

  “…What are you looking for?”

  “…Forget it,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “Maybe I was mistaken.”

  “What did you see?”

  “…I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know… I think I saw someone, but it should be impossible for her to be here.”

  “Her… Is it someone from Anneve?”

  “…How did you know?”

  “Is it hard to guess?”

  “…Probably not. I do not know anyone outside of Anneve, after all.”

  “Who was it?”

  “…No one. Like I said, I was imagining things. Maybe I have been a bit too stressed lately… Wait. Is that why you two teamed up against me?”

  “…Who knows? Maybe it is your imagination.”

  “…Thank you,” Alnea said, tearing his gaze away from the place where he had seen the familiar figure, and looked Cecilia and Yuri with a smile. “And sorry. I made you worry about me.”

  “Who was worried about you?” Cecilia said with snort, turning her face away with a hum. But that was not enough to hide the flush on her cheeks, or the satisfied smile on her face. “We were just taking our revenge.”

  “Right,” Alnea said, trying to hold back his chuckles. “Now that you have had your revenge, let’s go back our mansion. We have already wasted enough time today.”

  “…Seriously, you never learn, do you? Can you not just take a break?”

  “No… Not now. Not before we complete what we have started. Besides, what are you glaring at me for? It is not as if you do not work as hard as me. And the same goes for Yuri. Anyone can ask me to take a break, but not you two.”

  “That’s different. We just do our part for the team. But you… you take care of the entire team.”

  “That’s my responsibility.”

  “But—

  “There is no but, Lia. Don’t look at me like that. We still have a lot of things to do… Fine. I can take a break from time to time. But only if you two do it with me.”

  “…I can live with that.”

  “Oh? Is it? You don’t want to take a break with me? That’s fine. I can just do it with Vestia—

  “No! Absolutely not!”

  “I did say that I will think of something to make up for her contributions to the team.”

  “Then think of something else. You are not allowed to share your resting time with anyone else but me… and Yuri.”

  “Fine. Fine. I will think of something else. Now, can we go back to our mansion?”

  “So soon? I thought we were going to take a break.”

  “I think we have had of a break. Besides, although the Glyph Trials were easy, they did tire me out a little. I need to go back and recuperate before I can continue dealing with other things.”

  “…Fine,” Cecilia said after a moment of silence. “Let’s go back.”

  Alnea nodded with a smile, before leading the way to their mansion. He knew what Cecilia was thinking, and could see right through her tricks. But like he said, he could not rest. Not until he had fulfilled his goals. Not until he had fulfilled his promise. Not—

  Alnea felt a tug on the sleeve of his right hand, breaking him away from his thoughts. Turning around, he found Yuri looking at him with slightly misty eyes, with a hint of guilt on her face.

  “…I am sorry for making you bear all this pressure.”

  “…You do not have to be sorry, Yuri. I knew what kind of pressure I would have to bear when I decided to help you and took that Oath. Rather, in comparison to what I may have to bear in the future, the pressure that I am facing right now is nothing. It is only because I am not used to handling this pressure that I feel a little tired. But that’s for the best, is it not?

  “It is better that I feel tired and exhausted right now, than be incompetent later. Besides, it is not as if I am doing this just because of the Oath I made. I am doing this because I like it. Because there is no greater pleasure in the world for me than helping my friend. Especially you.”

  Alnea paused, and looked at Yuri in her crystal blue eyes for a couple of moments, before continuing.

  “Besides, it may be true that I am leading the team to become accustomed to what I may have to face later, but that does not change the fact that I am leading the team. You, Lia, Vestia, Zain, Karl, Norren, Ralph, Aren, and Fran… All of you are my teammates. People who depend on me, who trust me to help them reach their goals. And as your Captain, it is my responsibility to not break your trust. That is my path. To stay true to my words, and have a Clear Heart.”