Rest and Yuri stepped outside the building that had been converted into a barrier magic classroom.
"Alright then, Rest. I'm going to go run."
"Oh, so you're really going to run, huh."
"Yeah! I was told to do it!"
Yuri stomped her feet in place, back and forth.
She was the kind of girl you'd call either simple-minded or earnest—honestly, you'd be tempted to just call her an airhead.
"Whoa!"
"Guh...!"
Yuri set off at a run, but then she suddenly slammed on the brakes just ahead.
It seemed she had nearly collided with someone who had stepped out from behind the building.
She stopped just in the nick of time and avoided a direct hit, but the other person ended up falling flat on their rear on the ground.
"Sorry! Are you okay!?"
"Hey, Yuri! What are you—huh?"
Rest rushed over and blinked.
The girl sitting on the ground looked familiar.
"...Ow."
"Aren't you from House Lavender...?"
There, sitting on the ground, was Urla Lavender.
She was the young lady representing House Lavender.
I had seen her around this frontier settlement several times, and we had crossed paths at meetings, but I never expected to run into her in a place like this.
"I'm sorry... I can't believe I— Are you okay?"
"Doesn't look like you're injured, but... can you stand?"
Rest stepped forward with an outstretched hand in place of Yuri, who was still flustered.
He intended to help her up and, if necessary, treat her with healing magic, but for some reason, Urla had frozen in place.
"Nn...!"
"O-Oh?"
He could feel her intense stare piercing through the curtain of purple bangs hanging over her face.
Why was she looking at him with such a fierce gaze?
This was practically his first time meeting Urla. They only knew each other's faces and names at most.
"...it is."
"Huh?"
"A nosebleed, I am getting it..."
"Wah!"
Just as she declared.
The next instant, Urla gushed bright red blood from her nose.
"W-Wait, how does tripping on your butt cause a nosebleed!?"
Rest shouted in a panic.
It didn't look like her face had hit anything, but perhaps she had collided with Yuri at an angle that Rest couldn't see.
Red drops of blood pattered onto the skirt Urla was wearing, spreading into stains.
"「M-M-M-M-MEDIC!」"
Meanwhile, Yuri, who had caught sight of the blood, screamed in a panic.
"「I-It's awful... it's all my fault... Is there anyone here—anyone at all—who can use healing magic!?」"
"「No, I can do it, so just calm down!」"
Rest crouched down beside Urla and placed a hand on her head.
"「[Healing]」"
A pale light enveloped Urla's head, and the bleeding stopped.
She didn't appear to have hit her head, so she should be all right... Rest pressed a handkerchief dampened with water magic against Urla's face.
"「For now, I think this should take care of it... but if any pain lingers, please see a healer. If it comes to that, I will cover the treatment costs.」"
"「I'm sorry... I'm truly sorry...」"
"「Hauh...」"
Yuri slumped to the ground, looking for all the world like a dog that had just been scolded by its owner.
"「No... this was my fault. If anything, it's... a reward.」"
"「Huh?」"
"「Thank you...」"
Urla bowed her head to Rest, and for some reason, to Yuri as well, to express her gratitude.
Rest could understand being thanked for the treatment... but why on earth was Yuri also receiving gratitude, when she was the one who had crashed into her?
"「Um... you're, well...」"
"I'm Urla."
"Yes, young Lady Lavender..."
"I'm Urla."
"Ah, yes. I know. Lady Urla Lavender..."
"I'm Urla."
"............"
What was going on?
This was like an NPC repeating the same dialogue line over and over in an RPG.
Rest felt a mysterious pressure emanating from the small purple-haired girl... but decided to go along with her request for the time being.
"Lady Urla."
"............Haah."
"What!? You're getting a nosebleed again!?"
Urla had once more spurted a nosebleed.
Rest hurriedly cast healing magic... a higher-level spell than the one before.
"A-Are you okay? Really... you should probably have a healer look at you..."
"I'll go call one! Just wait here!"
Yuri took off at full speed.
In a frontier development village that also handled monster subjugation, healers and priests naturally stayed on hand.
At that speed, she would be back with a specialist in no time.
"Rather, I'm more worried she'll crash into someone else and add to the injury count..."
"...I'm fine. I'm not hurt."
Urla grabbed the sleeve of Rest's jacket and tugged on it.
"A reward."
"A reward? Um... is that slang from the east or something?"
"No."
Urla looked at Rest again.
Rather than a hostile glare, it was more like the gaze of someone studying him.
It wasn't unpleasant, but... he felt a strange sense of unease.
"For now, shall we move somewhere you can rest?"
"Please."
"Yes, right away—"
"I have... a favor to ask."
"Huh?"
Urla tugged at his sleeve repeatedly, making her case for something.
"Monsters. I want you to defeat them... on the eastern side."
"............?"
At Urla's words, Rest furrowed his brow.
Short sentences. Fragmentary information, but piecing it together... perhaps a powerful monster had appeared on the eastern side, where House Lavender was leading the frontier development?
Rest's guess was met with a firm nod from Urla.
"A dragon. It appeared."
"............"
Rest was struck speechless by Urla's words.
It seemed... the situation was more serious than he had anticipated.
Depending on the circumstances, he might have to report this to Andrew as well.
"For now... let's hear the detailed story..."
Rest let his shoulders slump in a moment of strange exhaustion and began to question Urla for more details.