"Huh?! What kind of nonsense are you spouting, you conceited pretty boy?!"
Aqua jumped out from behind the tree, planted her hands on her hips, and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"This is the precious daughter Kōichi worked so hard to bring into the world! And some suspicious stranger like you thinks he can just take her away? Do you even know who I am? I'm..."
"Shut up, you idiot Goddess!"
Kazuma hurriedly clamped a hand over Aqua's mouth. Breaking into a cold sweat, he forced an awkward smile at Hibiki.
"Um, sir, we're just ordinary Adventurers passing through. Really. This kid just happens to glow a little more than most..."
Darkness stepped forward, resting her right hand on the hilt of her sword as she positioned herself in front of Kōichi. Her cheeks were still faintly flushed from her earlier fantasies, but her eyes were completely resolute.
"I don't care who you are. If you want to take my lover's child, you'll have to step over my corpse first! Come on! If protecting my family means being trampled by elite Knights from the Royal Capital and thrown into some filthy dungeon... well, I suppose I could live with that development too!"
The atmosphere instantly became tense.
The young mage behind Hibiki had already begun chanting under her breath. Sylphy seemed to sense the hostility as well, clutching tightly at Kōichi's clothes and letting out an uneasy whimper.
As Hibiki Mikuriya advanced step by step, the tension in the forest reached its breaking point.
Kōichi knew perfectly well that taking on a group of Royal Capital elites head-on would be a terrible idea.
Without drawing attention, he signaled to Kazuma behind him.
"Now, Kazuma! Do it!"
"Hehehe, I've been waiting for this! Take this, [Steal]!"
Kazuma let out an incredibly sleazy laugh and reached out with his right hand as though grabbing something from thin air.
There was a sharp whoosh.
The imposing Hibiki Mikuriya suddenly felt a cold draft around his waist. His ornate belt, woven with Mithril thread, had vanished into thin air, and gravity immediately sent his trousers sliding down to his ankles.
Worse still, he had been standing in an impressive forward-striding pose.
The sudden restriction around his legs threw him completely off balance. With a startled cry, he pitched forward and planted his face directly into the muddy puddle at Darkness's feet.
"Hibiki-sama!"
The mage girl on his side let out a piercing shriek, her spell instantly breaking apart.
"Now! Run!"
Kōichi shouted, hugging Sylphy tightly as he took the lead and sprinted toward the fissure marked on the map.
The others tore through the forest like a herd of runaway horses. Behind them came Hibiki Mikuriya's furious, mortified roar, mixed with Aqua's smug laughter.
Once they burst through the final layer of mist, a magnificent temple made entirely of pitch-black crystal rose beneath the cliff ahead.
The ring in Sylphy's hand responded to the call of its source and erupted with a pillar of light that shot into the sky, completely sealing their pursuers outside the Barrier.
Kōichi and the others stumbled through the temple entrance just as the massive obsidian doors slowly closed behind them.
Inside, countless floating blue lights illuminated the central altar.
Hovering silently above it was a gigantic dragon egg, radiating an aura of chaos.
"Daddy... over there. Smells like Sylphy."
Sylphy pointed toward the dragon egg, something ancient seeming to awaken in her eyes.
The altar at the center of the temple gave off a cold, fathomless blue glow.
The enormous dragon egg pulsed as though it were alive. With every beat, the entire ruin resonated in response.
Sylphy seemed drawn forward by an irresistible call.
She released the hand that had been clutching Kōichi's clothes and walked barefoot toward the altar, one small step at a time.
"Daddy... Sylphy thinks she remembers. This is... where Sylphy is supposed to return."
The silver-haired little girl turned back and gave Kōichi a smile so pure it made his chest tighten.
Her body gradually became translucent, dissolving into countless golden motes of light that intertwined with the chaotic aura spilling from the dragon egg.
Kōichi instinctively reached for her.
His fingertips touched nothing but cool specks of light.
As Sylphy completely merged into the dragon egg, its pitch-black shell was instantly dyed a sacred silver-white.
Then an overwhelming shockwave erupted from it, blasting the previously noisy Aqua and Kazuma straight into the far wall of the temple.
When the light finally faded, only a massive silver egg remained on the altar, sleeping in silence.
The adorable little girl who had constantly called him "Daddy" was gone.
"Hey, Kōichi... Is that kid really just... gone?"
Kazuma rubbed his backside as he climbed to his feet.
For once, the usual sarcastic look had disappeared from his face, replaced by a rare expression of uncertainty.
Chris walked over and gently placed a hand on Kōichi's shoulder.
Her expression was unusually solemn.
The embarrassment and awkwardness from earlier were nowhere to be found. In their place was a depth and compassion that seemed almost divine.
She looked at the silver egg, then at Kōichi, her voice soft but firm.
"Kōichi-san, this is the fate of the Watcher. Sylphy hasn't disappeared. She simply returned to her original form so she could mend the fractures in this world. What comes next is already beyond the reach of mortal Adventurers."
She turned around.
Her short silver hair shimmered beneath the faint light of the temple, making the pale scar on her left cheek stand out more clearly than ever.
Then she gave Kōichi a slight bow, using the formal etiquette of the temple.
"Leave the rest to me. As a Thief, I'll take care of these dangerous Divine Treasures and deal with the aftermath of the ruins. As for you... you've already done enough. Take your companions back to Axel. Have a drink, then forget about the madness of the past few days."
She paused.
A trace of Chris's usual playful spirit, along with a hint of reluctance, returned to her eyes.
"Don't make that face. Who knows? Maybe one day that little crybaby will come back to you in an even more incredible way. And when she does, don't forget the compensation you promised me, you depraved jerk."
As Chris finished speaking, the teleportation array beneath Kōichi's feet began to glow.
A powerful sense of weightlessness swept over him, and the obsidian walls around them gradually blurred.
Then, after a brief incantation from Chris, Kōichi and the others were teleported back to the entrance of Axel's Adventurers Guild.
The familiar doors of the Adventurers Guild stood directly before them.
Yet somehow, the smell of malt liquor drifting through the air felt unusually sharp.
Kōichi stood outside the entrance and instinctively adjusted his arms, only to realize that the warm little weight that had once rested there, carrying a faint milky scent, was gone.
All that filled his empty embrace now was the cool breeze of late autumn.
"Hey, Kōichi! What are you standing around spacing out for? You're blocking this Goddess from going inside to collect the bounty... No, wait, I mean to bask in the cheers of my followers!"
Aqua was as carefree as ever.
She brushed the dirt from her clothes. Although she had been sent flying rather spectacularly earlier, the moment she remembered the reward waiting for her, her eyes practically turned into Eris coins.
Kazuma rested both hands behind his head and glanced sideways at Kōichi's downcast expression.
For once, he did not immediately make fun of him.
Instead, he walked over and bumped Kōichi lightly in the back with his shoulder. His tone remained casual, but there was a faint trace of concern beneath it.
"Come on. Who are you trying to impress with that 'my girlfriend just dumped me' face? The kid just went off to level up or something, right? If you're really that lonely, once we collect our money, I can take you to that Succubus shop. I heard their wish list can even simulate dreams where you find your missing daughter."
"Kazuma Satou! How dare you encourage Kōichi to visit such an indecent place!"
Darkness protested, her face bright red.
Then she stole a glance at Kōichi and began twisting a strand of her golden hair around one finger, her voice turning strangely bashful.
"U-um, Kōichi... if your arms really do feel empty... my body is actually much heavier than that child's. So, if you don't mind, I could let you hold me... No, I mean, you could drag me around roughly like a piece of cargo..."