"I think you've misunderstood something."
Just as Ais was struggling to figure out the weakness in Alfia's magic before her body reached its limit, Alfia's voice rang out again.
She opened her eyes slightly and rested her black-gloved right hand against her chest. Showing no intention of attacking, she simply looked at Ais.
"I told you from the beginning that this magic was merely a seal I used to suppress noise."
"Or did you think those irritating little sounds that can't even overcome this spell's limitations were enough to trouble me?"
"The real noise..."
For some reason, the calm expression on Alfia's face made Ais feel an inexplicable sadness.
It reminded her of herself from long ago, when something precious had been taken from her.
Yet unlike Ais, who at least knew the target of her revenge, beneath Alfia's calm expression was a sense of confusion.
As though she had no idea where she was supposed to go.
"Your body is nearly at its limit too."
Alfia dispelled the magic surrounding her.
"So let's use this as the finale to today's training."
At that exact moment—
Crack. Crack.
A chilling melody rose beside Ais's ears.
Even the wind that had begun gathering around her again showed signs of dispersing.
No.
It was not her imagination.
Ais's golden eyes had never left Alfia, so she saw it clearly.
An enormous amount of Magic was gathering around her.
"Then listen."
Alfia's voice remained calm.
"To the noise I truly hate."
The atmosphere exploded.
Magic beyond anything ordinary humans could comprehend twisted into a vortex, announcing the arrival of something terrifying.
Every alarm inside Ais's mind screamed at once.
Every cell in her body urged her to run.
Under the pressure of imminent danger, her five senses sharpened, and the world around her seemed to slow.
Alfia was casting magic.
Ais understood that instantly.
There was no longer any room to sympathize with whatever past Alfia had endured.
The overwhelming killing intent pouring from her made one thing perfectly clear.
Alfia had no intention of holding back.
'What do I do?'
'Defend?'
'No. I can't block this much Magic.'
'Run?'
'Too late.'
One option after another flashed through Ais's mind, only to be rejected immediately.
In the end, there was only one thing she could do.
"Tempest!!!"
Ariel surged to its maximum output.
Violent winds tore through Ais's golden hair and roared at the enemy before her.
The wind howled.
The world in her vision accelerated.
The Magic around Alfia had become so dense that it almost seemed tangible, reminding Ais of something she had nearly forgotten.
Alfia had never been a warrior who specialized in close combat.
Her magic was several times more terrifying than her melee ability.
"Catch this."
Alfia extended her right arm toward Ais.
Invisible sound waves compressed endlessly around her fingertip, distorting even the surrounding air.
Ais endured the agony screaming through every part of her body and lowered her knees as far as she could.
The next instant, she turned herself into a projectile and fired forward with the full force of the wind.
A spiraling arrow of violent air crushed everything in its path.
Magic condensed to its absolute limit.
For one brief moment, the radiance surrounding the two women seemed bright enough to drown out the entire world.
Then—
"Lil Rafaga!!!"
"Gospel... Satanas Verion."
...
"I'm really, really sorry!!!"
The location was Loki Familia's reception room.
With an apologetic expression, Shiro poured a cup of coffee for Eina Tulle, who was sitting on the sofa.
"Seriously, what kind of training creates an explosion that huge?"
Eina accepted the coffee but did not immediately drink it.
Instead, she stared resentfully at the adventurer she had not seen for some time.
"When I heard that explosion this morning, I thought some god outside Orario had decided to start another game where they invaded the city!"
The dark circles beneath her eyes made it obvious that her current mood was far from peaceful.
'Did that explosion wake her up?'
The thought flashed through Shiro's mind.
Considering how loud the blast had been, probably everyone in Orario had heard it.
If someone happened to be asleep at that hour, it would not be surprising for a timid person to wake up in terror.
"I feel like you're thinking something rude."
"No."
Shiro answered smoothly.
"I was just thinking that this is what you look like in casual clothes."
He looked her over.
"Riveria would probably compliment your taste."
"Eh?! R-Really?"
Eina immediately straightened.
"Would Riveria-sama really like this kind of outfit?"
Her face quickly flushed with excitement.
"Then next time I visit, should I prepare a similar dress for her too?"
'No. Knowing Riveria, if she saw you bringing her a gift while you were already here on Guild business, she'd probably find it incredibly troublesome.'
Seeing the girl become visibly excited at the thought that her fashion sense might be acknowledged by royalty, Shiro decided not to destroy the fantasy.
He simply waited for her to finish imagining the scene.
"Ahem. Anyway."
Realizing Shiro was staring at her, Eina coughed lightly and forced herself back to the matter at hand.
"The Guild has decided that we'll send construction-type Familias to repair the city wall."
"However, their wages and all construction costs will be paid entirely by your side."
Shiro's expression stiffened slightly.
"Um... can I ask roughly how much that will be?"
"Three billion Valis."
Eina smiled as she spoke the horrifying number.
The moment Shiro heard it, he felt like his heart was about to stop.
A First-Class Weapon in Orario generally cost somewhere between one hundred million and five hundred million Valis.
His fine alone could buy Tiona dozens of her beloved Crushers.
If converted into Jagamarukun at fifty Valis per serving, it would buy a full sixty million servings.
Even eating three servings every single day, it would take more than fifty thousand years to finish them all!
Shiro swore that he had never regretted anything this much in either of his lives.
"If I told you I'm pretty close with the Guild's chief god, could you maybe give me a discount?"
"If you didn't want such a severe punishment, then you shouldn't have unleashed such a dangerous attack inside Orario in the first place!"
Remembering the ruined section of wall she had seen that morning, with practically nothing left except drifting dust, Eina immediately became serious.
"Magic at that level could cause an enormous explosion even if you changed your mind at the last second."
"So unless there is absolutely no other choice, do not try casting something like that inside the city again!"
"You were lucky there weren't any residents nearby this time. Otherwise..."
Eina suddenly narrowed her eyes.
"Shiro-san, are you even listening to me?!"
"Ah... Mm."
Shiro blinked.
"Yes! I'll definitely pay the Guild fine on time."
"You weren't listening at all, were you?"
Eina sighed.
After hesitating for a moment, she decided not to scold him further.
She assumed the enormous fine had simply hit him so hard that he was still trying to recover.
"The Guild isn't demanding the money immediately."
"You only need to pay it before the wall repairs are completely finished."
Her tone softened.
"And if Loki Familia temporarily can't gather that much money, I can lend you some of it myself."
"So please, don't do anything stupid just because of the cost."
Eina looked genuinely worried.
Unfortunately, she had no idea that Shiro was already calculating how much money Ishtar might have accumulated in her private treasury over all these years.
…