Thud—
The sound of the wagon settling onto the ground shattered the forest’s silence.
Aion looked back and forth between the nameplate, Leila, and the wagon piled high with luggage behind her.
“I’m going to live here. Leila Draconis.”
Leila spoke with a face covered in dust, as though this had been decided from the very beginning.
“...No, wait.”
Aion raised a hand.
How many people in the world could calmly announce that they were leaving the dormitory to live in this abandoned cabin settlement?
Aion turned his gaze.
An overwhelming amount of luggage.
Students at Exion normally lived in the dormitory, so they did not carry this much with them.
Simply saying that she had a lot of luggage did not begin to cover it.
The pile on the wagon was so immense that he genuinely wondered whether it would all fit inside the cabin.
“Is all of this... yours?”
“Mm. Mine.”
Leila nodded, as though it were nothing.
Then, as if something had occurred to her, she tilted her head and added,“...Mostly?”
Aion walked up to the wagon and untied the bundle resting at the very top.
Inside was a large cast-iron pot.
“This is... for cooking?”
“I don’t know.”
“...You don’t know?”
“I just brought it.”
Clatter—
Aion put the pot down and opened the bundle beside it. This time, he found three old oil lamps that had never even been filled with oil.
Rustle—
A sack next to them contained a chair with one broken leg, while a box beneath it was packed full of metal scraps whose purpose he could not identify.
“What is this?”
“...What is that?”
Then he found a nameplate.
One engraved with a name other than Leila’s.
“And this?”
“Uh... it belonged to the room next door.”
“...Why is it here?”
“I don’t know.”
For some reason, he became afraid to investigate the origins of her luggage any further.
Aion quietly closed his eyes, then opened them.
This sort of thing happened sometimes.
Whenever he became entangled with someone who carried storms in their wake.
“Why would you do something so reckless...?”
“Because Aion is here.”
Leila pointed at Aion as she spoke.
“Leila will be here too.”
She looked utterly confident.
“...Was that a declaration?”
“Mm.”
Aion found himself speechless for a moment.
Her reason was too simple to be called a reason.
Yet that simplicity left him no room to argue.
“Why come here of all places? This place is...”
“I owe you.”
Leila answered without hesitation.
“I have to repay Aion.”
“I never asked you to repay me.”
“I know.”
Aion looked at Leila.
Leila blinked up at him, looking as though she did not know what else she was supposed to say.
‘That debt... feels like the principal is increasing in real time.’
Suppressing a sigh, Aion continued.
“You should understand something. Living here means giving up every convenience you enjoyed in the dormitory. There is no hot water, no heating, and no cooling. You will have to accept a great deal of discomfort.”
Leila fell silent for a moment.
“I’m used to it.”
“...What?”
“I said I’m used to places like this.”
Aion looked at Leila again.
Hair that faded from black roots to blue at the ends, eyes almost too large, and pale skin.
She had the appearance of a young lady from some distinguished noble house.
And yet, that girl claimed she was accustomed to places like this.
...It was difficult to believe.
‘A variable has appeared.’
Aion revised his plans in his head.
If Leila remained here, his actions would certainly be restricted.
If nothing else, had she arrived only one day sooner, dealing with a situation like last night’s would not have been easy.
But another thought soon followed.
‘...Well, things cannot always go perfectly. At least I will have more freedom here than I did in the dormitory.’
Aion knew well that not everything could be perfect.
“Fine.”
Aion spoke.
“But there are rules.”
“Rules?”
Leila tilted her head.
Aion knew this was ridiculous. He was not the village chief, nor did he have the authority to set rules here.
Still, this was something he needed to make clear.
“We do not interfere in each other’s affairs.”
“I won’t interfere.”
Leila nodded several times.
“Mm.”
Yes, that would be enough.
“Then that settles it.”
***
Thud.
...And that rule began to waver before the afternoon had even passed.
Aion was repairing the roof of his cabin.
Thud.
A sound came from Leila’s direction.
Aion did not stop hammering.
Bang!
Clang!
“...Hmm.”
Leila’s muttering drifted over on the wind. It sounded as though she were examining something.
Aion kept his gaze fixed and continued working.
Rumble—
A low vibration spread through the ground.
‘Ignore it.’
Bang! Clang!
“...Mm.”
This time, her muttering was more serious. There was also the sound of someone exerting force.
Aion pretended not to hear and lowered his gaze to the nail he was aiming at.
Creeeak—
The sound of wood twisting.
‘I heard nothing. Nothing at all.’
Bang!
Then—
It became quiet.
Aion’s hammering stopped.
Silence.
Only the sound of wind in the forest remained. The sudden disappearance of every noise from Leila’s side made his ears feel strangely muffled.
‘...’
CRAAAAASH!!!
Whoosh—!
When Aion turned his head, the cabin Leila had selected was collapsing miserably in a cloud of dust.
“...”
When the dust settled, Leila was standing where the cabin had been.
Thankfully, she was unharmed.
Only everything around her had become ruins.
Leila looked down at the collapsed cabin once, then said,“The house is a little weak.”
Then she lifted her head and looked toward the next cabin to become a sacrifice.
“I’ll use that one.”
Step.
Just as Leila began walking toward the next cabin—
Swish—
Aion, who had somehow already descended to the ground, reached out and grabbed the back of Leila’s collar.
“...?”
Leila’s feet swung helplessly in the air.
Swing, swing...
Still holding her, Aion stared at the collapsed cabin for a moment. Then he spoke quietly.
“Do not do anything. Just assist me.”
Leila blinked.
“Mm.”
And that choice was not a bad one.
Once Leila began assisting him, the pace of the work changed.
When Aion set the direction, Leila added her strength. When Aion secured something in place, Leila held it down.
A task that would have taken him half a day alone was completed noticeably faster with the two of them working together.
Of course, the amount of work had doubled as well.
Tap.
The sound of a nail being driven in rang out clearly.
Something appeared in Aion’s mind.
***
[!] A new quest has been assigned.
***
『Quest: Two Are Better Than One』
— 『Quest Overview: Sometimes, working together is better than working alone. Repair Leila Draconis’s dwelling.』
— 『Objectives: Replace the flooring, reinforce the walls, temporarily repair the roof (0/3)』
— 『Reward: Stamina +3』
***
With Yggdrasil itself giving him a push, Aion saw no reason to refuse.
‘...Well, it is not an entirely bad situation.’
The work continued in silence.
Leila did only what she was told, and Aion spoke only when necessary. It was not an awkward silence.
Neither of them was particularly talkative.
“Hold this.”
“Mm.”
“A little farther right.”
“This much?”
“Yes.”
Bang!
As the sun began to set, Aion looked over their progress.
Leila’s dwelling had been tidied up enough for her to spend the night, much like Aion’s own cabin had been the day before.
They had laid new flooring and reinforced the most dangerous wall. For the roof, they had temporarily covered it with cloth.
It was obvious that it would need repairs for several more weeks.
Ding!
***
[!] Quest completed.
[!] Reward granted: Stamina +3
***
Aion checked the completion notice and set down his hammer. Then he looked around.
‘...I barely touched the place I will be sleeping.’
Most of the day’s work had gone into Leila’s dwelling.
Aion’s own cabin was hardly any different from how it had been that morning.
‘This is why I did not want to get involved...’
But the untouched house was, quite literally, a ruined building. His desire not to make a girl sleep in a place like that had outweighed everything else.
Aion quietly turned away.
“I’m going inside.”
Step.
However, before he could take even two steps, someone tugged at his collar.
Tug—
Aion stopped.
It was Leila.
“...Why?”
Still holding onto him, Leila pointed toward her dwelling.
“Sleep here.”
“...”
Aion was speechless for a moment.
“...What?”
“Sleep here.”
Leila repeated herself more clearly, wearing the expression of someone wondering why she had to say something so obvious twice.
Aion looked at Leila, then at his own cabin.
Then he looked back at her.
“...No.”
“Why?”
Leila tilted her head. She looked genuinely unable to understand.
“This house is cleaner.”
Aion looked at the dwelling Leila was pointing toward.
Thanks to the work they had done all day, it was certainly in better condition than his cabin.
But that was not the problem.
‘This girl... is far more defenseless than I thought.’
Aion quietly removed Leila’s hand from his collar.
“Sleep well.”
Leila blinked.
Without another response, Aion turned and headed toward his own cabin.
***
That night.
Aion held an old oil lamp filled with fuel as he descended the stairs to the basement.
Creak—
The old wooden steps groaned beneath his feet. The lamp’s light pushed back the darkness below.
The basement was wider than he had expected.
Bookshelves filled one wall, an old workbench stood before them, and bundles of parchment were scattered throughout the room.
It was obvious that someone had left in a hurry.
“So this workshop’s owner was Dante...?”
Holding the lamp high, Aion slowly walked farther inside.
【Flame: What are you curious about?】
“What he did, what he was hiding, and why he left.”
【Flame: That means you are curious about everything, you brat.】
“Yes. I’m curious about everything.”
Aion picked up a sheet of parchment from the workbench.
It was covered with formulas—notes that seemed to record the intermediate stages of some research.
“But did no one know that a Great Spirit named Xien lived in the Mistveil Forest?”
A brief silence followed.
【Earth: ...Well, everyone has their own circumstances, do they not? It is not as though the Great Spirit of Wind needs my permission to live wherever he pleases.】
【Arcana: It is rare for a Great Spirit to remain near human settlements. They dislike noise by nature, so they live in isolated places.】
【Flame: They see humans as insects. It would not have been strange if you had died yesterday.】
As he listened, Aion opened a drawer in the workbench.
Inside were several old letters mixed with empty medicine bottles.
“Day of execution...?”
It was a phrase written in one of the letters.
There was neither a date nor a recipient. It appeared to be some sort of secret document, but the bottom had been torn away, making the details impossible to confirm.
‘What on earth was this Dante fellow doing here?’
Aion closed the drawer and walked over to the bookshelves.
Most of the books were works on magical theory.
Between them were old volumes that looked as though they had been bound by hand.
“Why did he leave in such a hurry...?”
Aion murmured to himself.
【Water: Judging from the bloodstains, it does not seem he left on good terms.】
【Flame: It is more likely that he fled.】
“Hm...”
Aion paused for a moment at those words.
They were right.
The basement was not in the state of a place someone had neatly organized before leaving. It bore the marks of someone departing in a hurry—an extreme hurry.
“If he fled... then from what?”
Was he running from something, or pursuing something?
Aion moved his hands as he examined the bookshelves.
He sorted through parchments, unfolded notes to read them, and checked the letters one by one.
They were only fragments of information.
Like scattered pieces of a puzzle, the complete picture would not come into view.
Perhaps what had been left behind here was not important information.
Then, at some point, Aion’s hand stopped.
“...?”
At the bottom of the bookshelf.
In the narrow gap between the shelf and the floor.
There was barely enough space for a finger to fit through.
Yet the edge of a parchment sheet protruded from that gap.
Rattle—
Aion placed the lamp on the floor and lay down.
He pushed his fingers into the gap.
Wiggle, wiggle...
He could touch it, but he could not grasp it.
Instead, the parchment only slid farther inside.
【Flame: ...Do you have any awareness that you are a mage at all?】
Aion’s hand stopped.
“...Right.”
Only then did he remember.
Swoosh—
He extended his fingertips, channeling Telekinesis through them.
An invisible force slipped into the gap and gently pulled the parchment toward him.
Slide—
The parchment slipped free.
Aion rose and unfolded it.
Then he held the lamp close enough for its light to reveal the writing.
The firelight illuminated the letters.
Aion’s expression hardened.
“...What is this?”
His gaze slowly moved across the parchment.
【Earth: It seems that fellow Dante was quite busy after all.】
In the dead of night, something had been discovered in the abandoned atelier.
【Flame: Yes.... Leaving behind the most important thing of all says as much.】