The streaks of light racing across the night sky looked like enormous shooting stars.
The sound shook the air. Though still at a distance, I'd accompanied Lucia on enough test firings of her magic to know those meteors packed serious destructive power.
...Could it be a dragon rampaging up there? Thank goodness we'd hurried down the mountain.
Leaving Kuro and the others staring blankly at the lights, I headed over to where Citry was.
By the campfire, Riizu sat cross-legged, gazing up at the lights in the sky with eyes that sparkled like a child watching fireworks. It was quite the contrast to Tino, who sat beside her wearing a stiff expression.
When Citry spotted me, she smiled sweetly and held out a bowl with a spoon resting in it.
The smell of stew. It smelled wonderful. My stomach growled on cue.
"Here you go. I made stew for the first time in a while. The seasonings and potions are limited, so I'm sure it's not up to my usual standard, but—"
"Yeah, thanks. ...Mmm, this is really good."
"Thank goodness! Big sis keeps bringing back nothing but weird meat, so blending the ingredients was a real pain—"
Citry didn't seem bothered by the lights at all. The stew really was delicious, but I couldn't stop worrying about that glow.
If anyone among us could guess what those lights were, it would be the well-read Citry. I sat down beside her, and she tilted her head with a puzzled look, then—oddly happy about it—leaned in close enough that our shoulders touched.
A sweet fragrance drifted from her carefully maintained hair. It had a strangely calming scent.
"...Citry, about those lights—"
"Hm? ...Oh, those? That's the usual stuff."
!? ...Right... the usual... the usual, huh.
Outside was brimming with danger. This was supposed to be a vacation, and yet between Elan, Gras, and now the Galrest Mountains, we'd already had three close calls.
How did traveling merchants and the like manage to move around safely? I'd love someone to teach me their secrets.
The lightning-like light continued to flash sporadically with no sign of stopping. Even someone as clueless as me could tell this wasn't a natural phenomenon. The vibe was bad.
"...Should we maybe run?"
"Well... I think it's still a bit early. Besides, we haven't finished eating yet."
Unlike anxious little me, Citry was calm. She was used to travel.
Over the fire, chunks of meat on skewers were browning nicely. There was stew too, and fish. We couldn't fit everything in the carriage—we'd planned to camp here overnight.
Abandoning this spot meant another night march. I'd just promised not to overwork Kuro and the others—but the lightning seemed to be creeping closer. To go or not to go—either way, it was hell.
As I grimaced over my stew trying to figure out what to do, Citry made a suggestion. Despite the situation, she somehow looked like she was enjoying herself.
"Whatever that is, it'll still take a while to reach us at that speed. Oh! I know—we have a little bit of... alcohol, too. Should I bring some out?"
So it would take a while to get here. ...Why was "it's heading this way" the default assumption, though?
No, I guessed it probably was heading this way. There was at least a small chance it wasn't. Before I could answer, Citry pulled a nice bottle and glasses from her rucksack and poured me a drink.
I took it without resistance and took a sip. It was apparently quite strong—heat like flames spread from the tip of my tongue.
Citry narrowed her eyes, a blush coloring her cheeks as she gazed up at the night sky.
"Still, the output is remarkably high... It didn't seem like a Treasure Weapon, though—could it be material-based?"
"? Material-based?"
"It's a Thunder Dragon , isn't it? When you're talking about a dragon-class Monster, the materials are top-tier. According to one theory, those Phantom-class beasts don't realize they're dead even after being slain, which is why the power they had in life lingers. Klai, don't you think that's incredibly romantic?"
Citry's voice was sultry and dreamy as she spoke, but I couldn't relate to that feeling at all. Apparently, Klai and Citry had very different ideas about what was romantic.
Citry's body heat radiated against me where she leaned close. Riizu and Citry ran at different temperatures.
Riizu was more aggressive with physical contact, but having Citry pressed up this close—even after knowing her this long—still made my heart skip a beat. Maybe it was the alcohol's fault.
I took a deep breath and looked up at the mountain. Right... a Thunder Dragon ...
Thunder Dragon ...!?
Wait... isn't that, like, super bad?
Thunder Dragons were known as one of the strongest dragon species. For the record, Citry could turn one into teriyaki-style grilled meat that tasted amazing.
I'd just been handed a bowl of stew, yet my stomach growled again.
Just then, Riizu noticed me and came charging over, swinging a skewer loaded with a big slab of grilled crocodile meat, shouting the whole way.
"!? Cit!! Hey, you're too close to Klai! Back off, back off... you really can't let your guard down for a second!"
"I'm sorry, Klai. ...I'll finish what I was saying later."
"Finish? What do you mean, finish! Keep your hands off what's not yours! Have you got no decency? And you—Klai! Stop making goo-goo eyes!"
I was not making goo-goo eyes... There was no way I, who prided myself on being hard-boiled, would make goo-goo eyes.
Riizu elbowed her way past Citry and clung to me, but she was oddly chilly—probably from having been in the lake just a minute ago.
"Riizu, your clothes are freezing. Dry off before you cling to me like that. You'll catch a cold."
"Huh!? They're not cold! I took my clothes off and bathed in the water! What? Was I in the way? Fine, I'll just strip then! Geez!"
"!! Big sister, no! That's too shameless!"
Tino lunged from behind to tackle Riizu before she could actually start undressing. She was immediately flipped over, but sprang right back up and rammed her again. They'd just cleaned themselves in the lake—what a waste.
By now, nobody was looking at the lightning anymore.
Riizu showed a lot of skin, but Tino wasn't far behind. Her stomach wasn't exposed, but her shoulders were bare, and her legs were uncovered practically up to her upper thighs.
The two of them wrestling together was a little provocative. Their skin gleamed in the campfire light. Honestly, if they charged admission for this, people would pay.
Being shown this kind of scene was a feast for the eyes, but beyond that, it was frankly uncomfortable. If Luke or Anthem were here, this wouldn't be happening...
"...Klai?"
"A... ha ha... a-anyway—oh, right, Kuro and the others should eat too, shouldn't they? If I'm going to need them to pull the carriage, they need to rest."
"...You're not planning to let them go here, are you?"
My offhand words drew a surprised look from Citry.
What? I wouldn't abandon them. We were all going to go home alive, together, just as before. Kuro and the others might be outsiders, but that principle hadn't changed.
First, though, I needed to do something about these two rolling around on the ground...
"I'll go prepare the food and the carriage. Sorry to ask, but... could you deal with Big Sis? Worst case, even if you leave her, I'm sure she'll find her way back."
"No—I'm not leaving her!?"
Citry giggled and walked off toward Kuro and the others.
Now then, how was I going to calm Riizu down?
§ "Here, Klai, open wide~ Aah~? Does the crocodile I caught taste good? It does, right? It was way at the bottom of the lake, you know... I got the biggest one. Hey, let's go together next time! The lake was really pretty—I bet you'd love it too."
"No, you've got it wrong, Mastaa. I'm not that kind of loose woman. Big sister, she insisted, absolutely insisted that I—Ugh... please, don't look at me like that."
How had it come to this?
On my right, at point-blank range, Riizu cooed in a baby voice while shoving a crocodile skewer at me. Her outfit was the same as always, but her cheeks were flushed, and the skin pressed against mine was even warmer than usual.
It seemed that Citry's closeness earlier had really gotten under her skin. The firm pressure against my chest was hard enough that I could hear her heartbeat.
But the real problem was the one on my left.
Tino had removed her usual elbow-length gloves on her master's orders, baring her skin. She'd flat-out refused the command to take off everything from the waist up, and that was where she'd drawn the line. Still, just that much was a huge increase in exposed skin compared to her usual look.
Her face bright red up to her ears, Tino nuzzled against my arm, rubbing her skin against it.
I was wearing long sleeves, so our skin wasn't directly touching, but for someone as modest as Tino usually was, that clingy gesture was the height of embarrassment.
It honestly felt like I was receiving some kind of erotic service. Her rough breath tickled my ear, sending a small shiver down my spine.
From somewhere, a timid gesture drew Riizu's rebuke.
"Hey, Tee! Press that pointlessly developed chest against him properly! What are you going to do if Cit takes Klai from you? Huh!?"
"I'm... I'm sorry, Mastaa. I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Nnnh!!"
Tino steeled herself and hugged my arm tight.
The way Riizu used her disciple was insane. All I could do was keep a poker face to spare Tino as much embarrassment as possible.
I'd tried to stop this beforehand, but it was no use. Once Riizu went on a rampage, even I couldn't hold back her energy. If I forcibly shut it down, who knew where that energy would fly off to next. In my experience, all you could do in these situations was let her get it out of her system and wait.
Come to think of it, how were both Riizu and Tino so soft?
Their limbs were thinner than mine, yet they took down Monsters and Phantoms left and right with these bodies. It really was baffling.
Mana Materials were incredible.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
Tino murmured apologies as she leaned into me. For some reason, even though Riizu did this to me all the time, having a different person do it made it feel completely fresh. She was apologizing, but honestly, I was the one who wanted to say thank you.
This was an unpleasant kind of popular. From the outside, it probably looked like I was surrounded by girls, but it was nothing like Ark.
Still, I'd let them have their way long enough. Surely Riizu had gotten it out of her system by now.
I'd apologize later. And then I'd convince Riizu never to drag Tino into this again.
Just as I steeched my resolve, an enormous peal of thunder boomed in the distance.
When would that ever end? I happened to glance upward and noticed something strange floating in the night sky.
A giant man holding a glowing sword. He was backlit, so I couldn't make out his features, but he was falling straight toward us.
On pure instinct, I knocked Riizu aside, clutched Tino tight, and activated the Barrier Ring —which I never forgot to wear, even in moments like these—manually.
The barrier that split into existence at the last possible second deflected the light and impact raining down from above.
Lightning scorched the earth, a massive blade warped before my eyes, and the barrier sent it flying wide. There wasn't even time to scream.
In an instant, darkness returned, and the figure that had launched the ambush leaped far back.
That was when I recognized my attacker.
"K-Kla—what the hell are you doing!?"
"Eh... well, that's what I should be saying..."
The one who'd come crashing down from the sky with that devastating blow was Arnold Hale. Except he was covered head to toe in mud, and his already fearsome face was twisted into something demonic.
Tino raised her head in my arms and let out a small shriek. A tremendous killing intent—a crushing pressure bore down on my entire body. In my confusion, I reflexively patted Tino's head.
In Arnold's hand was a massive glowing sword. Its golden blade crackled with electricity, and only then did I finally realize where those lights that had been dancing over the Galrest Mountains had come from.
His face was flushed red with rage. Thanks to the glowing sword, his features were clearly visible.
What the hell? What was going on?
Arnold Hale was trembling with fury.
"...Everything—all forced onto me—while you—! D-don't you—"
"...Don't you what?"
"Di—DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
With a roar that seemed to contain every ounce of emotion in his body, Arnold charged.