Twilight Manor.
The headquarters of Loki Familia was tinged with a dusky red in the evening glow.
Riveria glanced at the jester flags fluttering in the wind and walked into the mansion to the welcoming voices of several elf girls.
"Riveria-sama, thank you for your hard work!"
"Are Bete and Ais here?"
Riveria paid no mind to their respectful attitude and headed straight for the courtyard.
"They're both back. Did something happen?"
"Nothing much. I just need to speak with Ais about a private matter."
"Understood. We won't disturb you then."
At Riveria's gentle reply, the elf girls withdrew with utmost respect.
"...."
Riveria smiled helplessly and made her way toward Ais's room.
"Ais, I'm coming in."
"Wait...?!"
Before Ais could finish, Riveria pushed the door open.
"Were you resting?"
Under those emerald eyes, the blonde girl looked like a child caught doing something she shouldn't. She was lying facedown on the bed, her right hand tucked beneath the pillow.
"Don't just come in without warning...."
Ais slowly sat up and complained.
"Sorry. I needed to talk to you right away."
Riveria apologized frankly and did not dwell on Ais's odd behavior just now.
"Is it about the monsters?"
Ais blinked.
"No. Something even more important."
Riveria closed the door so no one else would overhear their conversation.
Ais swallowed unconsciously.
For Riveria to say something like that, it had to be something huge.
"Ais, do you remember the argument we had in the tavern before we got to know Bell Cranel?"
Riveria asked softly.
For adventurers who were constantly caught up in disputes, it had been an utterly ordinary part of daily life.
Because of Freya Familia's movements, several members of Loki Familia had looked into Bell Cranel's background.
The boy known as the weakest adventurer had been taken down by Goblins almost as soon as he entered the Dungeon.
Judging from what they found, he was obviously a terribly weak beginner.
Thinking his time had been wasted, Bete had hurled insults at him in the tavern without restraint.
"Mm..."
Anything connected to the boy, Ais remembered clearly.
"I think Bell Cranel may know about that... He was probably there at the time."
Riveria slowly voiced her suspicion.
The reason the boy knew Bete's name, along with various signs from before, all pointed to Bell having overheard their conversation.
"Bell... heard it...?"
Ais felt her heart stop for half a beat.
Those cold insults.
Those contemptuous words.
Had he heard all of it?
It was all Bete's fault...
The tiny version of Ais in her heart shoved all the blame onto the one who had started it.
"Why..."
But [Sword Princess] could not accept this.
It was as if a huge hole had been torn open in her heart, and the color was slowly draining from the world.
Why had Bell never said anything about it?
Why hadn't she spoken up with even a single word in rebuttal back then?
Ais was an accomplice too.
Unlike Riveria, who had rebuked him with righteous anger, Ais had remained silent in the face of Bete's drunken words.
She had no energy to spare for the weak.
No room to look after those behind her.
At that moment, the girl named Ais Wallenstein would not have let her gaze linger on Bell Cranel, not even for an instant.
It was not arrogance, and it was not mockery. They had simply been strangers.
And precisely because of that, Ais had not defended the boy even once.
"Riveria... what should I do..."
Ais's voice trembled slightly.
From Bell's point of view, aside from Riveria, who had spoken up against it, everyone else had been a cold, indifferent bystander.
Those mocking words had been like barbed needles.
And Ais and the others had allowed them to pierce the boy's heart.
If she had known Bell was there, Ais definitely would have stopped Bete.
But that was only a hypothetical.
No matter what she may have intended, the fact that Ais had done nothing was something she could not explain away.
"Looks like you understand now."
Riveria looked at Ais gently.
Regret and guilt shimmered as tears in those golden eyes.
Riveria smiled in relief and said slowly, "As long as you tell Bell Cranel how you feel, he'll definitely understand. But you can't go empty-handed. You have to show your sincerity."
"Sincerity...?"
Ais blinked.
Fine tears dampened her lashes.
She was not crying, not quite, but that faint glimmer of moisture carried all of the blonde girl's remorse.
"Yes. If you want to apologize to the boy, then you need to [deal with] the root cause of the incident."
Riveria explained softly.
Bell's silence on the matter showed that he did not want to burden Ais and the others with guilt or interfere with their feelings.
A verbal apology alone could never make up for the hurt done to him.
"Riveria, tell me... what exactly should I do?"
Ais looked at her in confusion.
Bete had caused the whole thing, but getting that Werewolf to apologize was no different from a fantasy.
"It's actually very simple. Beat Bete up, then drag him in front of Bell Cranel."
Riveria stated the conclusion calmly.
"That's all...?"
Ais tilted her head slightly.
If that was enough to resolve it, then she had no problem beating Bete up ten times or a hundred.
"Mm. I don't need to remind you not to hold back too much, do I?"
Riveria smiled lightly.
With that lovely, delicate voice still lingering in the air, the blonde girl picked up her rapier and walked out.
...
In the tangled aerial corridor, emerald hair swayed in the wind.
Riveria looked out at the crimson clouds of sunset, and the boy's passionate eyes rose in her mind.
What drifted to her ears first were taunts and curses.
"Apologize? Why the hell should I apologize to that brat?!"
"Ais, that old woman must've said something to you again, didn't she?"
"I'm not in the mood for this. Get lost already!"
The Werewolf's shouting quickly disappeared, replaced by the thunder of clashing metal.
The wind sweeping up from the courtyard grew even fiercer.
It even seemed to carry a faint scent of blood.
"You've gotta be kidding meeeee!!!"
The Werewolf roared, all his previous composure gone.
Even without seeing the fight, Riveria knew perfectly well that Ais was using her slender sword wrapped in a gale to beat the Werewolf down one-sidedly.
With Level 6, plus Ariel's enhancement, Ais was far beyond anything Bete could handle now.
"They started fighting over Argonaut... Go, Ais!"
"This really is a fine show."
"Ais-san can make as much trouble as she wants, just don't smash our outdoor tables and chairs. That's a great place for drinking."
"Bell Cranel heard the conversation in the tavern?! Mm..."
Tiona cheered over and over.
Tione narrowed her eyes, enjoying the brutal scene.
Loki raised her glass and watched the show while reminding Ais not to break anything.
After Lefiya learned what had started it, she immediately frowned, not knowing what to think.
At last, the wind died down, and the Werewolf's cries grew weak.
Only the Amazon sisters' cheers and the onlookers' applause remained in the courtyard.
"Bete's reputation is even lower than I thought..."
Finn smiled helplessly and walked toward the aerial corridor.
He had already heard the whole story from the spectators.
Bell Cranel was at the center of it, and Finn had not hesitated to "sacrifice" Bete to raise the morale within the Familia.
The fight with Ais was brutal, but it would also push the stubborn Werewolf to grow further.
More than that, though, Riveria's change surprised Finn.
"Riveria, you actually egged Ais on to do something like this. Did something happen in the Dungeon?"
Finn voiced the question on his mind.
Loki Familia's approach to development was different from Freya Familia's. Normally, this kind of one-sided beating would have been strictly forbidden.
"Sorry, Finn. That's a secret."
Riveria smiled softly and turned away.
She went all the way back to her room.
By the windowsill, a vine-woven hairpin was soaking in clear water.
The flower that had once adorned it had been plucked away by someone and seemed to have already withered with time.
That vivid blossom should have wilted quickly.
And yet now, by some miracle, it stood in a vase, swaying gently in the breeze.
Riveria glanced at the windowsill, and the corners of her mouth rose without her noticing.
She opened a drawer and took out several sheets of letter paper.
Her hand holding the pen hovered in midair.
A moment later, Riveria put the paper away.
It was still completely blank.