Translator: Haruto.

“…Mia? Is it really you?” I ask the girl resting dizzily on Kamia’s back.

Despite being on the verge of vomiting, she somehow manages to answer, “A-Alize-san… Yes, it’s me, Mia. It’s been too long…”

“A-Are you okay?”

“I’m not… I feel like I’m about to throw up…”

She’s as pale as a ghost. I know painfully well how she’s feeling right now.

Mia attempts to get off Kamia’s back with difficulty, so I move closer and offer her my hand.

“…Thank you very much, Alize-san,” she says wearily before leaning her body on me.

She’s grown a lot. Despite myself, my heart begins to race a little faster because of how warm and soft she feels. I try my best to calm down and ask, “Do you want something to drink?”

“…Yes, could I trouble you for a cup of water?”

The moment Mia says that the guards nearby finally snap out of their daze and run off to fetch some water.

“Um… Alize-san… can I make one more request?” Mia asks in a frail voice.  

“Yeah, of course. Let me hear it.” I nod firmly.

“Could you please… pat my head like you used to…?”

“I thought you’d ask for something else. Sure, you got it.” I pat Mia’s head while she keeps leaning on me.

This sure brings back memories from ten years ago. Although, unlike back then, she’s an adult now so it’s kind of hard to keep my cool.

We stay like that for a while until Kamia, who’s gotten tired of waiting, asks, “Say, can I return to the forest already?”

“Yeah, go ahead. I don’t know how you two ran into each other, but thank you for bringing Mia here.”

“Don’t mention it. I was just paying her back for the roasted fish.”

It seems Mia fed Kamia some roasted fish. Come to think of it, Mia has always had a few quirks when it comes to food, at least compared to the other four.

As soon as Kamia leaves the premises, Haruka-san and Lulune come running out of the castle. And when Lulune’s eyes fall on Mia, she asks, fully surprised, “Mia?! Why are you here?!”

“…Isn’t it obvious? I thought your report on your battle with Gagaitas and your reason for staying in Arcana were a little too suspicious.”

In other words, she figured out that Lulune was lying.

“Uhh… Well, you caught me. More importantly, though, do you mind getting off Alize-san already?”

“Why should I? I’m feeling rather dizzy at the moment, so Alize-san is just being kind enough to let me lean on him.”

Lulune narrows her eyes and says, “Come on, I can tell you’ve already recovered. Now you’re just faking it so that Alize-san won’t stop patting your head!”

“…My, I’d never. Goodness me, how sick I am! How nauseous I feel!”

Haruka-san remains absolutely dumbfounded watching the two of them bicker until she finally comes back to her senses and inquires, “Um, is she perhaps the great Saint of Benevolence, Mia-sama?”

“Yes, she is. She’s the devious saint,” Lulune answers.  

In response, an irritated look appears on Mia’s face and she retorts, “Excuse me but I’m definitely not devious. I’m simply a calculating person. Besides, are you in any position to criticize others, Lulune the scaredy-cat?”    

The two of them glare intently at each other. I just wish they’d do it when I’m not sandwiched between the two of them. Also, I feel like their little quarrels have gotten more intense now that they’ve grown up. It was kind of adorable to see them argue back then… I’m starting to feel nostalgic and a bit sad. It must be my age.

“Mia, did you have a special reason for coming here?” I ask.

“I just wanted to see you, of course! We’ve all been looking for you everywhere!”

She then puffs her cheeks, looks at Lulune, and says, “But Lulune here tried to keep us away from you.”

“…Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the fact that the other three are not here mean that you did the exact same thing as me?”

Huh, now that she mentions it, there really is no sign of the other girls. But well, I’d prefer not to think about it too much right now. I gently pull Mia off me and say, “At any rate, it’s already late, so let’s just leave it all for tomorrow. I need some sleep.”

Mia steps away from me reluctantly and says, “Yes, that’s a good idea.”

When Haruka-san hears that, she looks at Mia and exclaims, “Very well! I’ll make sure a room is prepared for you right away, Mia-sama!”

“…Ahh, no need. I’ll just sleep in the same bed as Alize-san,” Mia declares bluntly.

Lulune hits Mia’s head softly and reprimands her. “Oh, no, you won’t! Don’t you know you’re already too old for that kind of thing?”

“…Come on, it’s not a big deal. I wouldn’t even mind if people were to get the wrong idea about us.”

“That’s not the issue here… Although, you really don’t have to prepare a room for the Saint, Haruka-san. I’ll keep an eye on her in my room.”

With her face twitching nervously, Haruka-san nods her head in approval.

“…Haa, fine. I won’t try sleeping in the same bed as Alize-san tonight,” Mia says as Lulune drags her into the castle, leaving Haruka-san and me behind.

We both look at each other before she suggests, “We should also go to sleep…”

“Yeah, we’ll discuss your training tomorrow.”

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