"Rille-nee, you really need to be careful!!"
"U-um, Aime, of what?"
"The General!"
"But why?"
No matter how many times I warned her, she just stared at me blankly as always.
I spent the whole day running around to various places, reluctantly getting ready to leave, and at the very end, I headed to the infirmary to persistently urge Rille-nee to be careful, but I was still uneasy.
"I've asked Giedt and Gwen-san too, so if anything comes up, talk to them. Jed-san doesn't seem like he'd be much help."
"Nothing's going to happen. Aime, you already took care of everything."
Then Rille-nee gently patted my head.
"You worked really hard. Good job."
"...Yeah."
There were things I hadn't been able to solve, though. But hearing Rille-nee's kind words eased my heart just a little.
"I'll probably be heading back soon too. So don't worry."
"Okay...Oh, that's right, listen, Rille-nee, there's something I'm planning right now."
"Planning?"
"Yeah. I think I'll need your help with it too. Once we're back in the capital, things might get busy again."
I put my index finger to my lips: it's a secret for now.
Rille-nee giggled.
"If I can be of help, I'll gladly help as much as I can. I'm looking forward to it."
"Thanks."
"Be safe on your way back."
"Yeah, you too, Rille-nee."
Once we finished talking, I went to meet up with Irena-san, who had been waiting behind for me.
She'd been looking around the inside and outside of the infirmary the whole time.
"Where is this mage technician named Lux?"
I had no choice but to report how much he'd helped me, so I'd written about Lux-san in the documents I submitted to the capital. Including the fact that he was the Master's son.
Traus hoards its mages in the capital.
Irena-san's mission probably wasn't just to bring me back.
But Lux-san was nowhere to be found even while I was getting ready to leave.
He wasn't in the workshop he'd always used either. It was as if he'd sensed that they'd come for him and had fled. But his belongings were still there when I checked the workshop a while ago.
"Let's split up and look. He's got to be somewhere in the village."
"But Irena-san, you don't know what Lux-san looks like, do you?"
"I'll know when I see him. I'm sure of it."
Irena-san said with a strangely confident, and off she went.
I watched her leave, then decided to search in the opposite direction...And then.
"Aime, Aime."
I immediately spotted Lux-san beckoning me from behind a house. What are you doing?
Anyway, I went over to him without calling for Irena-san.
At some point, Lux-san had flung the traveling bag he'd left behind over his shoulder, put on a thick winter cloak, and was holding his long staff... he was already dressed to set out on a journey.
"I'll be going soon too."
I was "going back," and he was just "going."
"You don't plan on returning to the Master?"
"No."
He didn't hesitate at all.
"You haven't seen him in years, have you?"
"That's right. How many years has it been? I stopped counting the years at some point, but I left home when I was twelve, so it's been quite a while."
"You left when you were that young?"
I was shocked. And you've been traveling and surviving on your own since then? That's practically a miracle.
"Why don't you just meet with him briefly?"
"Hmm, but he's at the royal palace, right? I'd rather not get caught."
I figured as much. He must be working as a traveling mage technician because he didn't want to be tied down. I'd agonized until the very end over whether to report him to the palace. Since plenty of people had already seen him, I decided it was pointless to hide it and wrote it in my report. Can I arrange for him to meet Master somehow without him getting caught?
"Besides, I don't think he'd want to see me the way I am now."
Then Lux-san said.
"He hated the idea of me learning magic. He probably didn't want me to make the same mistakes he did. But I just... couldn't stand it."
Lux-san shook his head wearily.
"Aime, you understand, don't you? The feeling of having something you're dying to know taken away from you, until you're in so much agony you want to lash out? I thought the perfect opportunity came when he drowned himself with alcohol and couldn't think straight anymore. I took every document related to magic that was in the house and ran."
And that's how he ended up where he is now.
I didn't know what to say.
Lux-san smiled brightly from under his hood.
"I'm not going back. But I'd love to see you again. There's so much I want to show you. I'd love to take you with me right now if I could. Oh, would you like to come along with me?"
"I'll have to pass."
When I refused immediately, his shoulders drooped in disappointment. But he bounced right back.
"Then, when you make something new, I'll sneak over for a visit. And when I do, take a look at what I've made too."
"...Of course. I'll look forward to it."
His mind was made up, and it wasn't going to change. I had no intention of telling other people how to live their lives. Especially not someone without a shred of doubt. So I just nodded without saying anything unnecessary.
"Are you leaving now?"
"Yeah. Oh, right, I never gave this back."
He held out my magic stone, the one I'd split in half.
He'd used some of the mana, but the stone was still yellow.
"Please keep it. As a token of my gratitude, and a sign of our friendship."
"...Friendship?"
"You helped me so much. If you're ever in trouble, Lux-san, it'll be my turn to help."
Lux-san looked puzzled, then after a moment, murmured, "...Ah, I see," as though something had just clicked.
"So that's what it is. I see... having a friend is a wonderful thing."
He smiled, looking genuinely happy.
"Can you get away without being found? Want me to help?"
"I'll be fine."
That's when Irena-san appeared from behind me.
Lux-san took a step back at the same time, and struck the ground once with his staff which was now embedded with a new magic stone.
In an instant, the magic stone on his staff glowed, and he soared high into the sky where Irena's outstretched hands couldn't reach him.
"Well then, Aime, until we meet again!"
Sitting sideways on his staff, he said his farewells and flew off into the distant sky.
...The five of us had to build a whole raft just to barely manage to fly.
And he just up and flew effortlessly into the sky! What was that, anti-gravity?! This is why, this is exactly why geniuses are so...!!!
The defeat was almost refreshing. I'd gone past frustration and arrived at sheer, boundless admiration.
I want to work harder too. I have to.
I motivated myself while looking up at the sky where Lux-san had vanished.