The post-rain old capital had a whole different appearance about it than the previous day. The brick roads and leftover rain puddles glittered brightly, reflecting the afternoon sun’s rays. Sculptures placed at various points all over town, engulfed in faint light and vague shadows, carried a somewhat divine air surrounding them.

Aiseia let out a huge, entirely unladylike yawn. The clear, chilly air filled her lungs, was.h.i.+ng away the bits of drowsiness lingering in the corners of her head. “Nice town, huh?” she said while stretching. “Is it even okay for us to be doing this? Walking around the town like normal people and all… our movements outside the 68th Island are supposed to be restricted.”

“Right now you guys are on duty. You even received orders directly from the n.o.ble 1st Officer himself…”

“Nah, that’s just Kutori. Besides, strictly speaking, we’re weapons, so even if we can be given orders on the battlefield, we can’t officially accept a mission, right?”

“– Then you guys are under my command. That oversized lizard had to leave due to unavoidable circ.u.mstances, so he delegates all command authority to the Second Technician… something like that.”

“Hmm… a rather scheming plot.”

“I know right? Can’t believe he calls himself a warrior.”

“No, I meant the Second Technician making this story up.”

“That’s upsetting. How could you say such a thing to such a pretty, pure hearted young man?”

“Shameless…” Aiseia laughed.

Willem also let out a chuckle, half in desperation. Suddenly, a gentle warmth enveloped his left arm. Turning around, he saw an expressionless Nephren wrapping her arms around his.

“Hey, Ren.”

“Mm.”

“Can I ask why you’re suddenly holding on to me?”

“… It’s easier to relax when you’re warm, isn’t it?” she replied with a face that said, ‘why bother to ask such an obvious thing?’ “Right now you need the warmth of a person’s skin. My body temperature is a little higher than average, so I’m just right for the job.” She spoke with a courteous and kind voice, like that used when scolding a misbehaved child.

“Well, I’m thankful for your concern, but…” The concern was indeed welcomed, but the action taken out of that concern, not so much. Nephren’s body still didn’t have any ups and downs, so at least there was no awkwardness stemming from that kind of thing. Willem, being a young man, was thankful for that.

He scratched his cheek with one of his free fingers. “I’m fine now, so let go. I don’t think I can handle the attention from onlookers much longer.” He could hear beast people giggling as they pa.s.sed by. To them, the pair of markless most likely looked like close family or something.

“…” Nephren stared straight into Willem’s eyes, then decided, “You’re acting tough. Can’t let go yet.”

“I think this situation right now is going to make me cry,” Willem said with a sigh. Seriously. “Hey, Kutori. You say something too.” Turning his head around, he spotted Kutori shuffling along with her head faced down. At his call, she looked up and slightly opened her mouth. She seemed to be searching for words, but came up empty. Suddenly her face turned red, and she turned away with a hmph.

“The heart of a maiden is a complicated thing,” remarked Aiseia.

Willem started to comment on the maiden’s heart as well, but gulped down the words at the last second. There was no telling what kind of teasing could follow, and, besides, getting the apparently very worried Nephren to let go of his arm was much more important.

Their surprise reunion, and his revealing of that disgraceful and ugly side of himself at the same time, had knocked a good chunk of stuff out of order. So he had yet to say ‘welcome home’ to them, and he had also yet to hear them say ‘I’m back’. Of course, it was too late now for that kind of conversation. It’s not like he had wanted to act out such an emotionally charged reunion. But he also couldn’t say that he would only have been satisfied if he welcomed them home all cool and calm. He should have been satisfied just being able to confirm that they returned home safely, and, of course, he had no objections with the outcome.

So, well… making a couple of embarra.s.sing or uncomfortable memories wasn’t such a bad tradeoff. He well understood that, but still…

“Does it really look like I’m trying that hard to act tough?” he asked quietly, and Nephren gave a small nod in return.

“You two really are alike,” Aiseia poked fun with a laugh.

For some reason, looking at that smile, Willem felt that her expression today felt strangely artificial.