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"It's been a while, Oliver."
I had come to the detention facility and was now meeting with Oliver.
"…Yeah, it has been a while, Orun."
Oliver's face softened into a smile when he saw me.
After going berserk right at the end of last year's martial arts tournament finals and threatening the lives of numerous spectators—including nobles—Oliver had been kept in custody ever since.
In reality, however, he had made a secret deal with Marquis Forgas. In exchange for a certain degree of freedom, he had been secretly helping resolve problems within the territory.
The giant skeleton that had appeared when I was escorting Princess Lucilla from the royal capital to Tsutrail earlier this year had probably been dealt with by Oliver as part of that arrangement.
Today I had already heard from Marquis Forgas that Oliver was here, but apparently he spent more time moving around the territory than staying in the facility lately.
"I heard you left the city to conquer some labyrinths in the country. Looks like you made it back safely."
"I finished the labyrinth conquests. Whether you can call it 'safely' is debatable, though."
While exchanging casual words, I sent a telepathic message to Oliver using [Mental Link].
'Oliver, can you hear me?'
Oliver's eyes widened in surprise when he received my telepathy.
'I'm speaking to you right now through [Mental Link]. I don't want the guards to notice, so please reply with telepathy instead of speaking out loud.'
'Like… this?'
Oliver's hesitant voice echoed inside my head.
'Yeah, perfect.'
'I don't see Selma Claudel nearby. Does that mean…?'
'Yeah. I got my memories back. I can use [Shinra Bansho] perfectly, as you can see. I'll keep talking out loud to fool the guards. Last year you said stuff like "Any enchanter worth their salt can use support magic" and "It's just an application of parallel construction, so you'll get used to it," so this should be easy, right?'
I teased him with a bit of payback.
That had been what Oliver said in a fit of anger the day after I defeated the black dragon that had moved to the fiftieth layer of the great southern labyrinth due to the Hero Party's blunder—right after I had been kicked out of the party.
'Ugh…! You really had to hit me where it hurts… I'm really sorry about what I said back then. I let my emotions get the better of me and said some awful things. I apologize.'
'I was pretty pissed off by that comment, you know. Sorry for teasing you back. How about we call it even with this?'
'Got it. If you're willing to forgive me over something like this, I'm more than grateful… Also, running telepathy and normal conversation at the same time is no problem.'
"Yeah, listen to this. On the way back from conquering the labyrinths, we stopped by this village—"
I continued talking about ordinary, harmless things out loud so the guards wouldn't get suspicious, while simultaneously exchanging the necessary information through telepathy.
'So the fact that you came here after regaining your memories means…'
'Yeah. I'm about to seriously clash with the Cyclamen Order. Oliver, lend me your strength.'
Oliver gave a small nod so the guards wouldn't notice.
'You don't even have to ask. I'll help you with everything I've got.'
'Thanks. Having you by my side makes me feel a hundred times stronger.'
'But as you can see, I'm currently a prisoner. Breaking out would be easy, but do you have some kind of plan?'
'Yeah. I've already made arrangements with Marquis Forgas.'
I then concisely explained to Oliver what I was planning to do.
'…So to protect Tsutrail from the Order's clutches, you're going to get yourself branded as a criminal and driven out of the city. Considering what comes after, it's a reasonable move… But are you sure? I'm already basically in the same boat, so it doesn't matter for me, but you might end up hated by the [Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky] members, you know?'
'Being hated is no big deal. If it means the guild members can keep on living, that's fine with me. Ideally they'd see me off with a smile, but that's probably asking too much.'
'Understood. If you've decided on this, I won't say anything more. But can I ask you for one favor?'
'What is it?'
'It's—'
Oliver's request was unexpected.
Still, after hearing what he wanted, I saw no reason to refuse, so I agreed.
"—Time's up."
Just as we finished going over the details for the day of the operation, the guard announced that visiting time was over.
"Has it already been that long? Time really flies…"
"Yeah. But I enjoyed talking with you."
"Same here. I'll come visit again soon, so be my conversation partner then too."
"Sure. I'll be waiting."
After exchanging farewells with Oliver, I left the detention facility.
…It should be about time for Sophie and the others to get back.
I was glad I managed to wrap everything up before they returned.
The time for our parting was finally here.
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