Friends
They decided to keep Eri's kidnapping a secret. Hiding it wasn't difficult. The village adults had all been drinking that night, and Anya had quickly washed the dirtied clothes.
With not a single trace left behind, they were confident no one would find out. And so a night passed, and the villagers began looking at him with warm, satisfied eyes.
…What is this?
His sharp senses picked up the villagers' gazes. Their attitudes suggested they knew everything that had happened the night before.
Having carefully hidden it all, Evan was puzzled how they'd figured it out. He went to find Eri first, and there he realized why the villagers had been walking around with such pleased expressions.
"Hmm-hmm-hmm~."
Eri was humming as she hung out the laundry.
That Eri.
The one who always snapped and was full of complaints about everything.
As if something good had happened last night.
"Eri."
"Ah, E… You idiot! Why are you barging over first thing in the morning!?"
"It's not like it's that far…"
"Shut up! People are staring! Go away!"
"Maybe they're staring because your voice is so loud?"
Despite his perfectly reasonable point, Evan eventually went back home. Staying near Eri while she shouted with her face flushed red seemed like it would lead to bigger trouble.
Thankfully it doesn't look like she developed any trauma.
The kiss had been worth it after all. Realizing his actions hadn't been pointless, Evan's lips curled up on their own.
When he returned home, Anya, who had been preparing breakfast, smiled brightly and hurried over.
"Welcome back, Sword Saint! Breakfast is all ready! I was just about to wake your father and mother… could I ask you to do it instead?"
"Alright."
"Ah, and— there's one more favor I'd like to ask. Could you hear me out?"
"If it's not too difficult."
"Ahem ahem, then please just stand right there for a moment."
After a few fake coughs, Anya instantly deadened her eyes and looked at Evan. It was the face of a woman whose emotions had completely died for some reason — like an abandoned woman.
"…Did you enjoy last night?"
"…Anya?"
"—I've always dreamed of saying that line just once! Kyaaah—! Thank you, Sword Saint! Ah, now please go wake the two of them!"
"That was acting, right?"
The delivery had been far too vivid for mere acting, so he asked again, but Anya headed to the kitchen as if she hadn't heard.
Feeling a chill run down his spine, Evan pondered what on earth that line was supposed to mean as he entered his parents' room.
"Dad, Mom— breakfast is…"
"E-Evan!? Ah, um. Yes. We'll be down shortly."
"…Sorry for interrupting."
Meeting eyes with his parents who were naked and embracing each other, Evan lost his words and turned his head away.
Belatedly realizing why Anya had delegated the task of waking his parents to him, Evan quietly closed the door and slipped out of the room.
Fortunately or unfortunately, since he already had a sibling on the way, there was no need to worry about a second one.
Is it really that good?
Even with family and non-family members in the house, they did it whenever they felt like it — was that act really so enjoyable? A slight curiosity began to stir in Evan.
The problem was, there was no one he could ask to do it with right now.
…Should I go?
Right. There were no people.
But there was a non-human being.
"Huh, you're leaving already?"
"It's quick when you take a carriage."
About a week later, having thoroughly enjoyed his vacation, Evan finished preparing to return to the city.
The villagers he hadn't seen in so long expressed considerable regret that he was leaving so soon, but from Evan's perspective, that regret wasn't from him leaving — it was from the food he'd brought running out.
Having promised to bring more next time, Evan waved lightly and said his goodbyes to the villagers.
"—Evan!"
Just as he was about to leave by carriage, Eri came running and quickly blocked the front of the carriage. Evan snorted a laugh looking at her, who hadn't properly shown her face all week and then suddenly appeared.
Her face was still red, but she seemed to have gotten to the point where she could overcome the embarrassment.
"It's been a while, Eri."
"You're… you're leaving already?"
"I have to go. Oh, do you need anything? I'll bring a gift next time I come."
"…I don't need anything like that."
"Meaning I should pick something out myself, right?"
Having correctly interpreted Eri's true feelings, Evan stood there blankly, wondering what would suit her.
After standing like that for a moment, Eri, having decided something, quickly ran up and headbutted Evan.
A lip headbutt.
—Smack.
When he looked at her steadily as if asking what she was doing, the red-faced Eri wiped her lips with the back of her hand and glared at Evan.
"T-Take it! My first kiss…"
"…Eri."
"It's unfair if I only receive from you!"
"No, this isn't your first kiss. We did it last time, so…"
"Waaaaaah—! Wh-What are you talking about!"
Seeing Evan suddenly reveal what had happened not long ago, the flustered Eri waved her hands and looked around.
The villagers were already looking at the two of them with warm expressions, as if they already knew everything.
Only then sensing something odd, Eri carefully opened her mouth and asked Evan.
"…Was I that obvious?"
"Extremely."
"Ugh, uwaaaaah…!"
Watching Eri's face turn so red it looked ready to burst, Evan simply chuckled.
The villagers all laughed together and celebrated Eri and Evan's future.
"J-Just die. You idiot…!"
Only Eri kept her feelings hidden to the very end.
The Royal Capital.
The alchemy workshop prepared for Canelly, the state-approved Alchemist.
Inside, Canelly was boiling a pot for her alchemy when she felt something strange and began gently stroking her forearm.
Wh-What is this?
Wondering if a ghost had appeared, she looked around, but there was no way a mere spirit could appear inside the royal palace of all places.
Wasn't there a barrier that nullified all magic, supernatural abilities, and sorcery? It was impossible for a mere spirit to break through the barrier and enter.
"A… hallucination?"
Having shaken off the ominous feeling, Canelly extinguished the fire under the pot and slowly lifted out the stone inside.
What she was making was the Philosopher's Stone. The all-purpose primordial stone said to grant any wish.
Of course, creating the Philosopher's Stone — which one had to wonder if it could even be made by human hands — was a near-impossible task even for Canelly.
A probability lower than taking the age of the universe, tacking on that many zeros, and multiplying by the remaining lifespan of the universe. A probability infinitely close to impossible.
Piercing that probability was a miracle, and making miracles everyday was what an alchemist did.
"Ah… failed again…"
Confirming that the object placed on the stone floated, Canelly realized it was just an ordinary pebble with no other special features and let out a deep sigh.
She put the result into a glass bottle, roughly marked a number on it, and stored it in her subspace.
Research was like this. An extremely tedious and dreadful series of failures. Canelly recorded the manufacturing method so she wouldn't make the same mistake next time, then took it to the library.
"S-Saya… are you there?"
"…Canelly."
"Ah, aaah— you're here."
"Did you come to hang out?"
"Mm, t-today I have a little something to record…"
The royal palace librarian.
Canelly had come to find Saya, the Witch of Records, and handed her the research journal she'd written.
Glancing over it with one eye, Saya instantly created a book and handed it to her.
"Here."
"Th-Thank you."
"We're done now, right?"
"I-If you're free, maybe we could talk…"
"Sorry, as you can see, I'm busy."
Saya said this while slightly lifting the book she was reading. Seeing that, Canelly gradually shrank and hung her head low.
"R-Right. Yeah, i-if you're busy, it can't be helped."
"…What is it?"
"W-Well! What would make a lover happy if you did it for them!?"
Saya sighed and asked Canelly, and hearing that Saya would join the conversation, Canelly immediately sparkled her eyes and asked.
Looking at Canelly who had brought up a topic completely unrelated to her, Saya let out a deep sigh and answered.
"I don't know."
"Th-Then is there anything related to that?"
"Look it up."
"L-Look it up for me… please? W-We're friends, right?"
"…Haa."
Saya sighed and looked at Canelly. She wanted to say, Since when were we friends? But if she said that, Canelly would cry all day and flood the library.
Plus the noisy racket.
In the end, she summoned a book and handed it over as she spoke.
"…Read it."
"Th-Thank you! You're the only one I can count on…!"
"Quiet in the library."
"Y-Yes…!"
A moment later, with silence restored, Saya smiled with satisfaction and focused on her book. She had no interest in romance or any of that.
Only the printed words entered her eyes.
If you have time for romance, you should read even one more character… pathetic.