I died.

Yeah, I died. No question asked. Thanks to my rash and stupid decision to stop the gigantic Fiore's army all by myself, I got myself killed in pretty gruesome and horrible way. But, even though I died, I couldn't help but to wonder to myself. How could I manage to remember that I died? Shouldn't someone lose his mind after losing his life?

Or was I already in afterlife? I couldn't tell. It was pitch black, and I felt like I was floating in an endless abyss. I felt no energy flowing within me and I was sure that I was dead. But then, after spending quite a bit of time floating without direction within this dark, endless abyss, a familiar scene began to appear before me.

Once again, I was in [the Reaper]'s domain, and its master waiting for my arrival. Perhaps this would be the one last time we could meet as a mortal before she ferried my soul into the afterlife. I saw [the Reaper]'s mournful expression on her face as she saw me. Both of us were floating in the endless limbo as she appeared before me, still holding her precious black scythe.

"My boy, you paid a heavy price for the decision you had made," [the Reaper] began before she sighed. "But, thanks to your decision, you managed to buy Davren a lot of time to prepare itself against Fiore. Not only you stopped Fiore's advance, you also nearly incapacitated its army, with you decimating more than a quarter of them. Fiore's army suffered a massive lost because of that. Due to that, they retreated for a while, allowing Davren to get assistance from other nations. Right now, even though Davren doesn't have much chance to win against Fiore, thanks to you, Davren is able to stand against Fiore's assault…" she ended.

"…So, I succeeded?" I asked.

"Yes, but like I said before, you paid a very heavy price for this achievement," [the Reaper] said, shaking her head. "Right now, most of your comrades have been mourning for your passing, and they have been considering you as a martyr who bravely stood against everything for the sake of everyone…" she disappeared again before she appeared below me. "But… is it really worth it? You may achieve a little bit of leverage, but… is it really worth it?"

"I… I still have my regret, but…" despite my fear, I smiled. "…if I can protect everyone with my life as a price, I will do it. Maybe I won't be able to see them again, but I am glad that there's something that I can do."

"…My boy, you kept challenging the will of fate, even after death," [the Reaper] said softly, which was so unlike her. Her usually lifeless eyes were filled with concern. "So… right now, let me ask you something, my boy. Would you like to have a second chance? Or would you rather choose to stay dead? It's your choice."

"Second… chance…?" I blinked. "W-well… if I have a chance, right? If I do get a second chance, I'd like to live…" I admitted as I looked away. But there was nothing to look at in this endless limbo because in this place, there was nothing except both of us. "I'm still willing to die, but… there are a lot of things I want to do in my life…" I imagined myself chatting merrily with my friends, playing with Miya, watching flowers with Kamui, taking a walk alongside Claire, having tea with Princess Liara, and enjoying the winter with Ennis. I wanted to do them, and it's a shame that I died. "There are a lot of things that I am going to regret for not doing them. But what can a dead guy do? Everything's over, I'm dead…"

"Yuuto Kobayashi, my boy," [the Reaper] said in rather melancholic and motherly tone. "For all your displays of courage and bravery, and your fearlessness in the face of death, it seems that the fate has decided that you deserve another chance…" she said before she snapped her fingers. "Your tale hasn't ended just yet, boy. The intermission may start now, but your tale is still far from over. The battle against the army is not the climax of your story, not yet. If you wake up, you will find yourself still alive and breathing, and your tale continues…"

And everything went dark. I was getting a bit drowsy before I slowly opened my eyes, only to find myself in a rather strange place.

I was lying on a bed in a small room. The smell of honey seemed to linger in the air, which was nice. I felt like the scent was stimulating my senses before I tried to sit up. But as I tried to sit up, I groaned in pain, feeling such indescribable sensation all over my body. I looked down, finding myself bandaged all over my body.

"Where… where am I?" I muttered as I put myself down again. I had to admit that I had no energy to move my body. While lying on the bed, I thought to myself. How did I survive? My body should've been wrecked beyond repair after being bombarded by those magic missiles. "Shouldn't I be dead now?"

"You're not dead yet, mister," said a soft voice before someone came into the room. It was a girl around my age, wearing a white apron over her short-skirted purple tunic. Her skin was slightly dark and she also had a pair of pointy ears, so I initially thought that she might be an elf or something. But then, I saw her eyes, which seemed weird as those eyes constantly changed their color whenever she blinked. On her right cheek, I could see two black stripes on it. "And you shouldn't move too much yet. Your wounds haven't fully healed yet, and you need to wait until they're healed."

"I… I see," I said. "S-so… where am I? How long I've been here already?"

"You are in my hut right now, at the north of Davren," the girl informed. "Don't worry, though. This is the forest, so the army won't come here," she said before she smiled sweetly. "You're lucky that I found you in the middle of the forest. When I found you, you looked so miserable with all those wounds all over your body. You were barely alive when I brought you back to my hut. And you've been here for almost a week now…"

"Oh…" I said before I remembered that I lost my consciousness in the middle of the battlefield, not the forest. "Wait, I shouldn't be at the forest at that time! I… I was…" then, I remembered something that was so vivid, but it happened shortly before I was bombarded by the missiles and arrows. I might have lost my consciousness at that moment, but then, my body began to move on autopilot before it got up despite the grievous injuries, deflecting most of the bombardments before it ran into the forest. There, I fell for real. "…It's… complicated…" I said.

"Well, at least you're still alive, mister," the girl said before she gave me a glass of some strange concoction. "Here, drink this. This is my special potion…" she informed as she handed me that concoction. "By this, your wounds will be healed in no time…"

I suspiciously looked into the glass, staring nervously at the suspicious-looking yellow liquid before I began drinking it. It tasted like honey. After finishing it, I felt something strange happening on my body. I felt invigorated and energized, and my wounds began to heal. "Whoa… w-what is this?" I asked.

"That is Mega Healing Potion, homemade version," the girl helpfully informed. "Unlike the usual Mega Healing Potion, this is very cheap, and I used mostly wild herbs and plants in order to brew this," she said. "Sadly, it's hard to make, of course."

"Umm… thanks," I said as I put down the empty glass on my bed. "By the way, I haven't caught your name yet, miss. I am Yuuto Kobayashi, nice to meet you. W-well, as you can see, I'm a human…" I said.

"Ah, a human," the girl noted it as she focused at my ears. "Well, my name is Lynn Runesmith, and I am an Alchemist," she introduced herself. "And maybe you thought that I am an elf, right? Well… actually I'm not. I am a Spriggan," she told me her race. "You can say that Spriggans are distant cousins for elves and Imps. But enough with that, Yuuto…" she said before she briefly checked my body, much to my embarrassment. "You should have a rest now, or you won't be fully healed. So, please rest well, Yuuto."

Blade/Arc

Chapter 27: The Lone Alchemist

My wounds were fully healed after several days, and I finally managed to look around the hut where Lynn was living. As expected, the hut was small, with only the Spriggan Alchemist as its inhabitant, but she also had a workshop with her, as expected from an Alchemist. My black shirt was utterly ruined, but somehow, my Coat of Darkness survived because it was made of fabric of darkness. I could see Karma resting on the wall, and I could see that Lynn might have helped to clean the blade, which was soaked with blood of the soldiers. So, putting on a spare shirt that Lynn had lent to me, I prepared myself to go out of the hut.

I walked out of the hut and went into the workshop, only to find the Alchemist working on something. There were so many apparatus in the workshop, and some strange scents could be sensed in the air inside the workshop. Lynn was working on some device before she noticed my presence.

"Ah, so you can walk around now, huh?" Lynn said before she smiled. "I'm glad, Yuuto," she said before she giggled. Then, she continued working on the device she was tinkering. "But, you still need to stay here for a few days before you can go. Despite what you may think right now, your wounds haven't fully healed yet…" she informed before she continued tinkering the device.

"Yes, thanks…" I said as I looked at the Spriggan working on the device. "Umm… mind if I ask you something? What are you doing?" I asked.

"This? Well, this is one of my inventions," Lynn said before she showed me the device. "This is a scouting device that can fly. It's not done yet, but I can show this to you," she said before she pushed something on the device, and a beeping sound was heard. Then, it began to float above us. The device was spherical in shape and had one eye-shaped hole on it, so it's true that it might be designed to be a scouting device. "This one is still a prototype, but with more tinkering, I guess I can make much better than this."

"It's amazing, Lynn…" I said, looking at the flying device admiringly. I never thought they could create something like this in this world. "This thing will be useful in raid party," I said, grinning.

"Yes, but sometimes, it is hard to handle this kind of thing," Lynn said before she sighed. A while later, the device landed on her hands. "Too many errors need to be fixed. As an Alchemist, it can be quite a pain in the butt," she said before she put the scouting device on the table. "Well, I guess I can attend to this thing later. Since you're up and well, it would be good if you help me to prepare for lunch, Yuuto. Come on!"

So, we went to the orchard which was behind Lynn's hut. There were a variety of vegetables, and I helped the Spriggan to take some of them for lunch. She also went to get some wild berries near the forest not too far from the hut and returned with a basketful of berries with a lot of colors.

"Since Yuuto is a human, then a little bit of meat should be prepared too," Lynn said before she looked up at the sky. A while later, a hawk came from somewhere, bringing a fish. "Ah, thank you, Hensel. Please send my regard to your master, okay?" she told the hawk after it delivered the fish to the Spriggan before the hawk flew away. "I'm going to cook this. You're alright with stew, right?"

"Everything's fine," I said. "But… that hawk…"

"Ah, he's a friend of mine," Lynn informed helpfully. "And his owner is also a friend of mine. Please don't worry too much about this, Yuuto."

And then, I helped Lynn to cook our lunch. It wasn't too extravagant, but I had to admit that it was delicious. For the first time in my life, I had consumed something that was made of fish that was so delicious. While Lynn said to me that she rarely ate meat, she also took some of the stew, and she said that she was grateful that it turned out alright.

"So, Yuuto, it's question time," Lynn said after we're done cleaning the table. Both of us were sitting opposite each other at the dining table. She also prepared tea for me, which had some kind of aromatic scent. "What happened to you before I found you in the middle of the forest? Judging from your wounds, I thought that you might be from some gruesome battles…" she paused for a while. "Don't tell me you're fighting in the war…"

"…Well, it's kind of complicated, actually," I started. "Davren was so ill-prepared for this war, and if there's no drastic action, Davren will be razed to the ground, and everything will be over, so…" I sighed as I remembered the time I decided to do this stupid thing. "…I decided to go against Fiore's army all by myself to buy Davren some time. Maybe there were some options, but I couldn't think of them at that time when I went to fight the vast army alone…" I sighed again. "It was a miracle that I didn't die."

"That was stupid, Yuuto," Lynn said bluntly, and I flinched when she said that. "Fighting an entire army all alone is a very foolish decision you had made. You were lucky that you didn't die, but…" she smiled despite her criticisms. "To take an entire army yourself isn't something that one will consider lightly. From what I could hear from the news, the army was stopped and thwarted from attacking Davren and the one responsible for that was you, Yuuto. It was a very incredible accomplishment, you know?" she said in praising manner.

"W-well… I still have to admit that it's pretty stupid, like you said," I said as I scratched my cheek. "And I guess everyone will think that I'm already dead. I need to return back to Davren as soon as possible."

"Yes, that would be good," Lynn nodded. "But you still need to recover. And I guess I can help you to do something for your sword," she said. "It's called Karma, right? I checked its property sometimes ago, and found out that its stats have dropped. You may need an Alchemist's help to fix the stats, right?" she said. "And I can tell from your sword's condition that you haven't reconditioned your sword before, right?"

"W-well… a-actually, I haven't," I said, feeling slightly embarrassed. A few months ago, Ennis had repeatedly told me to bring my sword to be reconditioned so it could remain sharp and durable, but perhaps due to my stupidity, I thought that it would be alright to not do it. And Karma's blade was always sharp, even with its stats dropped significantly. "So, what will happen if you recondition a sword?"

"Well, you can unlock more innate skills and increase its power," Lynn said as took a sip of her tea. "Let's say that in your current level, you can take down a massive beast by three swings of your blade. After being reconditioned, you can take it down by one swing only. I can tell that Karma is a very high-leveled weapon which can be used efficiently without being reconditioned, but if you recondition Karma, you may increase your power."

"Yeah, that makes a lot of sense," I mused. "So, I'm going to depend on you, Lynn. Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome, Yuuto," Lynn said with a smile. So, we ended up talking about a lot of things. Having a talk with Lynn made me feel rather nostalgic. She had the same air like Ennis, only without the tsundere tendency. It was fun talking with her. "Yuuto, if you don't mind, will you tell me who this person named Ennis is?" she asked. Hearing her question, I almost spat out the tea I was drinking. "Y-Yuuto, are you alright? Is there something wrong with my question?"

"N-no, it's alright," I said. "How did you know her name?"

"You muttered that name when you're unconscious," Lynn informed.

"Uh, i-is that so?" I said awkwardly. "W-well… let's just say that Ennis is a very important person to me. She's…" I imagined her warm, gentle smile as she held my hand. Of course, that would be an imagination of mine rather than a recollection, but such image was able to make me smile. "She's…" I seriously didn't have any idea what to say about her, because it would make me feel bad. "She's a very important person…"

"Oh? Yuuto, do you love this Ennis person?" Lynn asked.

"W-what…? Uh…" I was getting flustered, and Lynn gave me a rather naughty smile as she saw me being flustered by that question. "W-well… she's… I…" I was tongue-tied and Lynn's smile grew even wider.

"Hahaha, you're so fun to tease, Yuuto!" Lynn said, laughing her heart out. "So, does this person know that you love her?" she asked again.

"I-I don't think she knows…" I said, averting my gaze. "And… and even if she knows, there's no way she'll feel the same. She's… she's too good for me…" I admitted. "There's no way someone like her can love a wimp like me…"

"Self-deprecation, huh…?" Lynn said with a frown. "Seriously, why do you think she won't feel anything about you? I mean, just look at you!" she said, pointing her finger at me. "Maybe you don't look too manly, and your height isn't that impressive, but you have that pretty face! You're pretty good-looking, you know? Maybe a little rough here and there, but I'm sure you look good!" she said.

"Well, I'm not sure whether to like having a pretty face or not," I mumbled. "And my face ain't pretty…" I said.

"Yuuto, I don't know what kind of live you had before, but you need to believe in yourself more. You, me, and everyone else, all people have their special points. Maybe you're not too good in certain part, but really good in other part. I mean, nobody's perfect, but that's how it should be. Imperfection is there so people can complement each other's ability. That's why we shouldn't be alone…" the Spriggan gave me a gentle smile. "In fact, no one should be alone. You shouldn't think that you don't deserve love from anyone, Yuuto. Everyone deserves love, because no one is alone. I know it from your voice that you've been burdened with the thought that nobody will love you, but you can't carry that burden forever by yourself. That's why you have friends, Yuuto."

"…I…" I said before I looked down. "I still think that I need a bit more time to think about this…" I finally decided. I wasn't sure whether to admit my own feelings towards Ennis or not, but this burden shouldn't be lifted forever. There would be a time when I needed to let it go. Let everything flow and be released of your burden, a wise man would say. "Anyways, thanks for listening to me, Lynn. I think I feel much better now."

"You're welcome, Yuuto," Lynn smiled sweetly. "So, I should get back to work. Is there anything you need from me?" she asked.

"You've done many things to me already, there's no way I could ask for more," I said in humble manner. Yeah, I didn't want to burden Lynn any further. "A-and I'd be glad if there's something that I can do to help you."

"Oh? Thank you for your offer, but I believe there's nothing that I can ask for you to help. Well…" she looked at her surroundings. We were in her hut, which was rather small, and yet comfy and a very nice place. "Perhaps you can help me to do a little bit of cleaning? It's been a while since the last time I cleaned this hut."

"Ah, that's easy! Lemme handle it!" I said as I stood up. And then, as I tried to go towards the Spriggan, I somehow tripped on my own feet before I fell towards her. "Gyaah…!"

"Kyaah…!" Lynn cried as I fell onto her and both of us were sent on the floor in such a compromising position. I was on top of her while she was below me. "Y-Yuuto, are you alright?" Lynn asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm alright! S-sorry, I'm going up n-now!" I said as my hands tried to push my body up, but then due to some reasons that I wished I didn't know, both my hands pressed on a pair of two rather healthy buns, and Lynn let out a sharp yelp. I gulped, silently cursing the gods that were screwing up with me for this before I looked down. And as expected, much to my exasperation, my hands were…

…pressing Lynn's two healthy meat buns, and then I looked at Lynn's face, which was red. Her eyes were changing their colors rapidly.

"Y-Yuuto, t-this is… this is t-too quick…" Lynn moaned. For a while, I thought that she was going to snap at me, but then, Lynn looked at me with a pair of adorable eyes that could melt the hardest heart of a man, which was saying something. "Y-Yuuto… this is m-my first time being touched like this by a man… please b-be gentle…"

"What?" I exclaimed before I immediately got up. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that on you!"

"…I-it's alright…" Lynn said shyly as she got up as well, covering her chest with her arms. Lynn was blushing as she looked away. "Umm… Yuuto, d-do you like it?" she asked.

"Eh?" I blinked in confusion.

"D-do you like… my b-breasts?" Lynn asked again, and I voluntarily slammed my head on a nearby wall.

Well, the rest was better left unmentioned, but after apologizing profusely, I went out to take some fresh air, while the flustered Lynn went to continue her work at her workshop. Both of us had reached a silent agreement to not talk to each other until night. So, after clearing my head for a while, I decided to clean Lynn's hut. Considering its size, it wasn't too hard, and an hour later, I was done cleaning the hut. It was easy.

Nighttime had come, and I decided to enjoy the view at night outside Lynn's hut. Thinking that I would need to do a little bit of practice because I thought that I might get sloppier after doing nothing, I began practicing some moves at the outside of the hut. Using Karma, I cut through the empty air, fighting some imaginary enemies.

"Taaaah…!" I tried to execute seven consecutive attacks before I ended it with a downward slash. I breathed heavily after practicing the moves. After practicing for almost an hour, I rested my sword on my shoulder as I tried to remember the time when I was holding back the army all by myself.

When I tried to remember it, I shuddered slightly after recalling the faces of the soldiers I coldly murdered with my sword. They stood in my way at that time, and I killed them not only by my sword, but also the darkness spell that could decimate more than one hundred soldiers. And now the realization hit me that I had personally killed these people, but then, I also had no choice. It was a war. From what I knew, death was something that couldn't be avoided in wars.

"Ennis… what should I do now…?" I muttered to no one in particular despite saying her name. I wanted someone to guide me so I could think with clearer mind. "I-if… if only you're here… t-then…" I bit my lower lip, feeling frustrated for all things that happened to me. "…Ennis… I…"

"Yuuto…!"

"Huh…?" I blinked upon hearing a voice. I looked around and found no one in particular. Then I heard her voice again.

"Yuuto, I'm going to find you, no matter what!"

"E-Ennis…?" I realized that the voice came from inside my head. I wasn't sure that whether I had gone insane or I really did hear her voice. "Ennis, is that you? Ennis?" my hands were pressed against my temples, trying to figure out how to respond with this voice.

"Yuuto, I know you're alive! I'm going to find you! I promise I'm going to find you!"

"Ennis, I'm alive!" I shouted, trying to communicate with the voice inside my head. From her voice, I could tell that she was trying to find me. And then, I realized that she might have regained consciousness soon after I went to fight the army.

"Yuuto…? Yuuto, is that you? I… I can hear you! Yuuto, are you there?"

And it was a miracle that Ennis' voice responded to mine. I could hear her hopeful voice as both of us managed to communicate.

"Ennis, this is me! I will find you too!" I shouted.

"Wait right there! W-we'll find you! I swear that we'll find yo-!" before she could finish, the voice stopped abruptly. I tried many times to call for her, but there was nothing except the frustrating silence. But I could tell that she was the one who called for me. While it might be possible that I might have gone insane, perhaps she could find a way to communicate with me telepathically.

"Ennis…" I muttered under my breath as I rested my body on the wall of the hut. My heart was pounding against my chest. "Ennis…" I tried to control my emotions in order to prevent myself from losing control upon my power over darkness. Well, if I lost control, I might turn into something indescribable like a demon of sorts. After a while, I managed to calm myself down. Seconds later, I heard some rustling noises. "Ennis, is that you?" I turned around before I went towards the direction of the noises.

And much to my frustration, it wasn't Ennis. Instead, there were several armored men with Fiore's insignia on their chests. I could tell from their uniforms that they were Fiore's soldiers. How did they come here, I had no idea. As I appeared before them, they realized my presence.

"Hey kid, you have some food?" one of the soldiers asked in gruff manner.

"I'm not the owner of the hut," I said as I gulped. I hoped that they didn't recognize me as the one who terrorized their army. "And who might you all be?" I asked, despite knowing who they were.

"Can't you tell? We're Fiore's Army! Now, no more talking and give us food!" one of them barked towards me, and I instinctively grabbed the hilt of Karma on my back.

"We have some…" suddenly, Lynn came towards us and stood beside me. She wore a rather serious expression on her face. "It's still not much, but you may take it. But please never come here again," she said, looking at the soldiers in front of her. "Even better if you get out of this country."

"Huh? Whaddaya say, you little kid?" one of the soldiers said as he went towards Lynn. He was standing right in front of the Spriggan. I thought that I already had enough of this bullshit, but Lynn gave me a signal to not do anything for the moment.

"I said that you should get lost," Lynn said firmly. "You may take my food for now, but you are not welcome here…" she said as she stared straight into the soldier's eyes. "Fiore came to attack Davren, right? While I'm still willing you because you people may need food, as one of the citizens of Davren, I do not appreciate your presence in this place."

"Stop bullshitting us, you little bit-!" before the soldier could finish his words, Lynn immediately pulled out something from her skirt, which was a musket rifle. How did she keep it inside her skirt, I had no idea. She aimed the musket rifle right at the soldier's chest.

"I am the owner of this place right now. You have no right to order me around," Lynn insisted. I stared at her in amazement for her bravery to stand against these soldiers. "Now… if you wish for food, please wait. I shall bring them out immediately. After that, go away…" she said with serious tone.

The soldiers looked at each other for a while before one of them pulled out his sword. It wasn't a good sign, I thought. So, I also pulled out Karma, but then, the soldier charged towards Lynn with his sword in his hand.

Blam!

Lynn pulled the trigger of her musket rifle, and one shot managed to crush the soldier's head. The soldier's headless body stumbled behind due to the shot before it fell limply onto the ground. "Didn't I warn you already? I do not welcome all of you here…" Lynn said as she looked at the soldier she just killed. "Right now, I change my mind. No food for all of you…" she quickly reloaded the rifle. "Now, all of you will die."

"You bitch!" one of the remaining soldiers snarled before he went to attack Lynn. But I already stood in front of Lynn and blocked the soldier's attack. Quickly, I disarmed the soldier, sending his sword flying away from his hands. Before he could do anything, I rammed the butt of my sword right on his face. That attack was enough to knock him out.

I looked at several remaining soldiers. I estimated that there were around six or seven of them left. I didn't feel like killing anyone, so I decided to go and knock them out instead. I charged towards them before I used my chained attacks, disarming and knocking out them at the same time. With just three hits, I managed to bring down four soldiers who were bigger than me.

"Raaah…!" one of the soldiers swung down his heavy sword, and I deflected the attack with relative easiness. His movement was sluggish due to his armor, so I charged my fist with darkness spell before I slammed a punch right on his chest. That punch managed to make a dent on the armor, and I thought that I might have broken some of his ribs. Thinking that I wasn't done yet, I delivered a kick on his face using my knee.

In less than two minutes, I managed to take down all of them, without even killing any of them. But I had done a very terrible mistake for not checking first as one of the soldiers still managed to get up and grabbed Lynn from behind.

"Kyaah…!" the Spriggan cried out in pain as the soldier squeezed her from behind, and I could even see the soldier grabbing her chest. "D-don't touch me there! Unhand me, ruffian!"

"Let her go!" I shouted.

"Let her go, you say?" the soldier, whose nose was broken thanks to my attack earlier, sneered at me as he placed a knife right on the base of Lynn's neck. "This is what you got for messing with us!"

"Yuuto, just kill him! Don't mind me!" Lynn cried out to me.

"Lynn, hang in there! I'll save you!" despite what she said, I told the Spriggan that I would rescue her. But there's no way that I could do it without dealing with much trouble. The soldier was putting a knife on her, and something really, really bad would happen if I were to do a bad move. "Damn it! Just let her go, you son of a bitch!"

"Heh, if you listen to me, then I'll let her-!" before the soldier could even finish his words, like most example before, something emerged from his throat. It was a blade that was stabbed from behind his neck. With that, Lynn managed to get herself away from the soldier's grab and went towards me and hugged me.

As the soldier fell, I found someone standing behind him. And I saw a familiar face and a familiar sword.

"Sheesh, these people…" that person grumbled as she rested that brilliant sword on her shoulder. That person, clad in white Paladin getup underneath a fur-trimmed white longcoat, was the person I really loved the most. "Well, at least we don't have to deal with them again…" the person, Ennis Heartstring looked at me before she smiled. "Hello, Yuuto. It's been a while."

"E-Ennis…!" I said with a joyful tone. Lynn let go of me before she stood beside me. "Ennis, is that really you?"

"Yes, it's me," Ennis said, smiling. "But, before that…" she walked in a rather quick pace before she raised a hand that was balled into a fist. "What the hell were you thinking, you idiot?" and a punch was delivered right on top of my head. The punch was followed by some other punches. "Going to face the army all by yourself, disappearing without leaving anything, do you have any idea about how worried we were?"

"Ennis, p-please don't punch him any further!" said another voice before a boyish girl clad in uniform came to her side. It was Claire Iscariot. "Maybe he's still injured after fighting them at that time," she said, trying to calm the enraged Ennis down.

"Ow, not the ribs, Ennis, not the ribs…!" I cried out in pain when Ennis delivered her punches on the poor me. "Guargh…! Please stop! Have mercy!"

"Huh…" after satisfying herself, Ennis finally stopped before she let out a haughty huff when she crossed her arms. It seemed that she wore a longcoat as a part of her new getup. "Be grateful that I will forgive you for now, considering that you're still injured. If you're not, I will give you more," she said in threatening manner. "Now… I'm glad you're safe, Yuuto," her tone changed almost immediately before she hugged me. She rested her face against my shoulder as she hugged me. "Stupid Yuuto, don't make me worried again, okay? Can't you tell how worried I was when you're gone? I-I thought… *hic*" her body trembled. "I thought… I thought you're gone… forever…" I could feel something warm and wet on my shoulder before I realized that it was her tears.

"Ennis…" despite still recovering from the pain after being punched repeatedly by Ennis, I smiled before I placed my hands on the Elf's back. "I'm sorry… but I'm glad you're awake now, Ennis."

"Yes, I'm awake now, Yuuto. I have returned."

"Welcome back."

And then, we looked into each other's eyes. Her eyes were still wet, but I could see her eyes filled with joy and happiness, and I could feel the same from mine as well. After staring into each other's eyes, she uttered something.

"Tadaima…"

And I responded by uttering something else.

"Okaerinasai…"

I'm home…

Welcome back…

TO BE CONTINUED