After sneaking along back streets for a while, guided by Citry, we arrived at a modest little house.
It wasn't newly built, nor was it particularly old. There was nothing remarkable about the building—no nameplate, and if you looked away for a moment, you might forget it entirely. The property was enclosed by a wall, with a small metal gate fitted tightly shut.
Citry pulled out a keyring from her bag with a jangling sound—dozens of similar-looking keys hanging from it. Without a moment's hesitation, she slipped one into the gate's lock and said: "I always thought it might come in handy for you someday, Klye, so I got it ready."
"...Citry, don't you have any pride? Are you really trying to score points by lying?"
"Shut up, big sis. You're not even helpful, so keep quiet!"
With a soft click, the lock turned.
Citry placed her hand on the gate and smiled at me as I waited for an explanation.
"This is a fallback base for emergencies. No one besides me knows about this place. If you want to hide your identity, Klye, there's no better spot than this..."
"A base? A vacation house? Did you buy it, Citry?"
"Yes. You never know what might happen these days."
Just what kind of scenario was Citry preparing for, exactly?
I couldn't help but widen my eyes at Citry, who consistently went beyond my wildest imagination. It was a modest house, sure, but a proper standalone dwelling. It didn't look rented, either—this must have cost a pretty penny.
Even I sometimes thought about where to relocate after Liliz and the others retired, but Citry's preparations were on a completely different scale.
"Staying at an inn always leaves a trail, you see..."
What exactly was Citry running from? The question nagged at me, but looking at her bright, guileless smile, it didn't seem to matter anymore.
Well, as long as we weren't doing anything bad enough to be pursued.
"If you'd like... I can also prepare new identity papers."
"...No, I don't think that's necessary right now."
"Is that so..."
She looked slightly disappointed, but I certainly wasn't going to change my identity just to slack off.
Besides, was that even legal?
Liliz tugged at my sleeve with a pout, apparently unsatisfied about something.
"Hey, hey, Klye! Doesn't setting up a hideout count as cheating? Isn't that way too unfair for Citry?"
"...It's not cheating. We're not bothering anyone."
"Huh. But I'm being bothered! Doesn't that count?"
"No."
Thinking about it calmly, I didn't exactly have a lot of money...
Since we had no idea how long this vacation would last, we should save wherever we could.
It must have been a long time since anyone had been inside—Citry's hideout carried that particular smell of an abandoned house.
Outside, rain pattered softly.
The entryway opened into a living room. There was a kitchen, two bedrooms each with two beds, and a bathroom. It didn't feel particularly lived-in, but the bare minimum of furniture was in place.
It wasn't luxurious, but you could absolutely live here if you wanted to. The fact that Citry had furnished a hideout she might never use to this extent showed just a glimpse of her perfectionism.
Setting down her bag and pulling off her hood, Citry said with a beam: "I've also stocked up on food. They're preserved rations, so I can't vouch for the taste, but..."
...That's perfectly fine.
It wasn't what I'd expected, but a vacation like this worked too. Staying at a fancy inn had its appeal, but something about a small, cozy house like this was exciting in its own way.
This was something you'd never experience if you brought other clan members along. As long as there was no danger, this kind of change of pace wasn't bad at all. Besides, the word "hideout"—or rather, in practice, a vacation house—had a romantic ring to it. Compared to spending last night in a carriage, this was a world of difference.
Liliz was happily knocking on the walls. ...Knocking on the walls?
"Citry, it looks like an ordinary house, but are the walls okay?"
"Big sis, Klye banned that kind of thing, remember? I did reinforce everything, so I think it could withstand anything you'd get from a regular Hunter's weapons, but..."
"Ah! ...S-sorry, Klye. I didn't mean to—I just did it out of habit—"
Liliz quickly bowed her head in apology, but it didn't really bother me.
I just didn't want them to cause trouble for anyone. As long as they could spend their time in peace, that was enough.
"I think... just about everything you'd need is already here."
"Not bad! I'm not sure how I feel about you building this without telling me, though—"
Maybe it was a thief's instinct, but Liliz was humming a tune while exploring the house.
Taking Citry up on her offer, I took off my coat and sat down on the living room sofa. Just one day of travel, and I'd done practically nothing, yet a pleasant fatigue had settled over my entire body.
When I let out a huge yawn, Citry came over and brewed some tea.
...If I were a god, I'd be about ready to smite me by now.
"As expected of Mastaa... you're completely off your guard," she said.
"Mm-hmm, you're right."
Tinno, standing beside the sofa, threw out a remark that could have been admiration or mockery—I couldn't tell which. Just then, Liliz, who had been forcing a bookshelf to move, let out a small whistle.
Behind the bookshelf, Liliz gave a light push. Without a single sound, an entire wall slid downward.
Revealed behind it was a neatly arranged arsenal of countless weapons.
Longswords, knives, staves. Guns and crossbows. Granted, there were no large items like spears or battle axes, but it was like a weapons fair. Well-honed blades reflected the warm glow of the lighting.
...Was this an armory?
"Big sis, stop touching random things!"
"Hmm. What's this? Paralyzing poison? Sleeping potion? And... an aphrodisiac? What were you planning to use these for?"
"Stop! I have my reasons! I was going to explain everything to Klye later!"
It turned out this wasn't just any vacation house. Floor, walls—everywhere Liliz touched, Citry screamed.
What looked like an ordinary house at first glance was apparently packed with hidden mechanisms from Liliz's perspective. Lifting the carpet revealed a trapdoor leading to an underground storage room, and what appeared to be ordinary condiment bottles in the cupboard actually contained potions. When a place was this well-prepared, amazement gave way to admiration.
Were all Hunters like this?
"! Look, Klye! Citry has stashed sexy underwear in the hideout! Hey, why would you stock a safe house with stuff like this? Is this really necessary? What are you planning to use it for? Don't tell me you're going to try some kind of seduction play!"
"! Stop that! It's none of your business, big sis!"
Ignoring all attempts to stop her, Liliz rummaged through a dresser, seized a piece of black cloth, and cheered. Citry's piercing shriek overlapped with it. I pretended not to notice, as usual.
Tinno's eyes darted back and forth in bewilderment, but this kind of teasing had been going on forever. Reacting to it only made Liliz happy, so the wise course was to ignore it entirely. ...Sexy underwear.
"...Tinno, is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
I turned to the junior standing nearby, trying not to let my thoughts drift in that direction. Tinno flinched for an instant, and with undisguised confusion, she said: "Um... well... somewhere simple would be fine..."
"? Simple? Like what? We're not going anywhere difficult."
There were all kinds of places, weren't there? Like wanting to go eat ice cream. Why was she answering a question about where with the word "simple"?
Frowning inwardly, I heard Tinno murmur in a voice so small you'd miss it if you weren't paying attention.
"...Um... somewhere that's not too dangerous, please."
"...I've said it many times, but we're not going anywhere dangerous."
Liliz, Citry, and Tinno—what exactly did they all think of me?
Despite my firm declaration, Tinno's expression began to crumble. Her exposed white throat bobbed up and down slightly, and she pressed her small lips together tightly, as if holding back tears.
"...Ugh..."
A faint groan escaped her. I wasn't exactly well-versed in the subtleties of the opposite sex, but even I could tell what Tinno was thinking right now. She clearly didn't trust me at all.
I could chalk it up to all the times I'd let her down before, but this was bad.
I took a deep breath and gestured to the sofa across from me. Tinno swayed over and sat down in front of me, placing her hands on her knees.
"Tinno, I'll say it again—this time, I'm not taking you anywhere dangerous. At the White Wolf's Den... there was just a small mix-up, that's all."
"...Just... a small... one?"
"...I'm sorry. It really was—a lot. That was completely unexpected."
I couldn't withstand her tearful gaze any longer and surrendered. Forget the dignity of a Master—what did that matter now?
What mattered was sincerity. And the future.
"This time, there will be absolutely no danger to your life. You won't have to participate in any fights. ...At least, not for us."
That came out sounding ambiguous. My timing was always off, and the one thing I couldn't say with absolute certainty was that we'd avoid all combat entirely.
"Mastaa..."
Tinno called out to me. But the tears welling in her eyes hadn't diminished at all.
Even after all that, she still couldn't believe me—what exactly had I done to this junior of mine? I could think of plenty of possibilities, but I swore I'd never intentionally put Tinno in harm's way.
"If anything happens, I'll stay on the sidelines. I'm not deliberately trying to put you in terrible situations. Look—"
—If anything happens, I'll protect you, Tinno.
In my desperation, I blurted out something completely out of character, and at that exact moment, my vision went white.
Almost simultaneously, a tremendous clap of thunder shook the house.
"!?"
I shot to my feet. What was that thunder just now? It was close!
Even though it hadn't struck the house directly, the shock made my head spin.
I'd just said something cool, and now—calming down and replaying my own words, I started to feel embarrassed. Maybe it was a good thing the thunder had struck when it did.
"Huh? Why is Citry in the same bedroom as Klye?! That doesn't make any sense!"
"This is my house, and you're big sis's apprentice, right?! Or what—are you going to give Tinno to me, big sis?!"
"I'll give her to you! I'll give Tinno to you, so Klye is mine! Problem solved, right?! Don't you dare come near Klye ever again!"
Despite that enormous noise, they just calmly continued their argument... Besides, there were two rooms—couldn't they just split by gender? Back when I was still adventuring with the Party, we'd split rooms by gender whenever we stayed at an inn, even if we camped out in the wild otherwise.
Maybe I should step in and mediate. In situations like this, the collateral damage usually fell on the bystanders.
As I was about to speak, I noticed a change in Tinno.
There were still tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, but the fear from earlier was gone from her expression. She gazed up at me with a dazed look.
Outside, the other two were still going at it, but Tinno didn't seem to care. She'd just been struck by lightning in training, and that hadn't traumatized her...?
As I was thinking this, a faint blush suddenly colored her white cheeks.
"...Mastaa..."
"...Did you hear that?"
Tinno nodded slowly.
To think that in all that thunder, she'd managed to hear what I said... Were Hunters even human?
It wasn't anything I'd be embarrassed to have overheard, but still—embarrassing was embarrassing.
Thinking about it calmly, Tinno had already seen me at my most pathetic on numerous occasions. Being protected by someone like me—from Tinno's perspective, maybe that was actually the more humiliating thing.
"Well, it's just a mindset. You might not need my help, Tinno, but that's the intention I'm going in with. If I offended you, I'm sorry—just forget about it."
"No—I... thank you very much, Mastaa. And... I'm sorry."
Tinno bowed her head slightly and wiped her tears with her sleeve. When she looked up again, the tears were gone. Her eyes were still a little red, but from her gaze, you could feel the quiet strength of a seasoned Solo Hunter.
Tinno stood up and clenched her fists tightly.
"I'm... fine now. Mastaa... Whatever comes, I will absolutely, definitely not lose. I'm still inexperienced, and I lack both ability and experience... but I will overcome it! Please, watch me!"
She seemed to have gotten fired up for reasons I couldn't quite follow.
Liliz and Citry stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the junior who had suddenly launched into this declaration, but Tinno didn't so much as flinch. This Tinno—she might actually be reliable.
Good, good—nothing bad was going to happen, right? She was listening to me, wasn't she?
What? Were all my words completely useless? What did I have to do to make her believe me?
I had no right to complain, but even I was starting to feel exasperated by the extent to which I wasn't being trusted.
Just as I let my shoulders slump in resignation, as if mocking my earlier declaration, an alarm blared from somewhere without warning.
...I wanted to retire already.