Chapter 261
The test that began in the early morning ended around the time the sun crossed over the mountain ridge.
The final number of people who passed was 30. About a quarter of them were mages, which could be considered a fairly small percentage.
“First of all, congratulations on passing. As hunters, you will be handling the Gates appearing across the continent…”
Yuna gathered the successful candidates and gave a brief speech. Perhaps her nervousness had eased a lot while conducting the test, as she spoke quite naturally.
Afterward, the schedule concluded with the awarding of hunter licenses. As those who had become hunters naturally left the testing ground, only Franz and Yuna were left.
“Yuna, good work.”
“Ugh, waah… I really thought I was going to die…”
Yuna’s body went limp, and she soon slumped down as if sliding to the floor.
Franz knew that feeling all too well himself. When he first took the seat of the Magic Tower lord, he suffered quite a bit, after all.
And because of that, he could be certain. Yuna would definitely become a good leader. Even setting aside the fact that she was a close friend, she was a good enough person.
“Let’s go get something to eat. I’m hungry.”
Franz reached out his hand toward Yuna.
Yuna stared blankly at Franz for a moment before smiling and taking his hand.
Afterward, the two left the guild building and headed to a nearby restaurant. It was a place they had eaten at a few times when visiting the guild.
“Stir-fried meat and vegetables, seafood stew, and…”
Not long after they ordered, the food came out. The dishes on the plates were steaming and looked quite appetizing.
“So, what happened earlier?”
In the middle of their meal, Yuna suddenly asked a question about the time he had tried to use 10th Circle Magic.
“Ah, that. It wasn’t really anything special. There was someone who was dissatisfied with their evaluation results, so I just made a moderate example of that person.”
“That was moderate…? It looked like you were really going to kill him…?”
“I had no intention of killing him, so it was moderate.”
“Is that so…?”
Yuna tilted her head and brought a large chunk of meat to her mouth. The sight of her chewing her food, her mouth working diligently, was like watching a little hamster.
Even after that, Franz continued his meal while conversing with Yuna. The topic of conversation was, naturally, about the hunters.
Perhaps because she was the guild master in name and reality, Yuna seemed to have a lot of worries and expectations.
“I’ll help you if any problems arise. So don’t worry too much.”
“It would be best if nothing like that happened… Anyway, thank you.”
Yuna offered a bright smile.
Their meal finished not long after that.
Franz exchanged a brief goodbye with Yuna and immediately directed his steps toward the Magic Tower.
Dusk had already settled over the world, so unless they had urgent work, most of the Magic Tower members would have already gotten off work.
Except for exactly one person, that is.
As he was passing by the secretary’s office, Arian suddenly popped out in front of him.
“Magic Tower master, you’ve worked hard.”
“Why haven’t you left work yet?”
“I was waiting for you, Magic Tower master?”
“You waited even though you didn’t know when I’d be back?”
“If I kept waiting, you’d come back eventually, wouldn’t you?”
It wasn’t exactly wrong, but putting it into practice was another story entirely. That action felt truly reckless.
Franz shrugged his shoulders instead of answering, then resumed his steps.
And so, he arrived at the Magic Tower Lord’s Office. Naturally, Arian was right beside him.
“Magic Tower master, have you eaten?”
“I didn’t know you were waiting, so I just grabbed a quick bite…”
“That can’t be helped. I didn’t tell you, after all.”
Even as she said that, Arian wore a look of regret.
Franz wasn’t oblivious to her feelings either, so he couldn’t help but be bothered by it.
'Isn’t there a good way…'
After Franz pondered for a moment, a bright idea suddenly popped into his head.
“If it’s alright with you, should I make you something simple?”
“Are you saying you’ll cook for me…?”
“I’m just going to make something simple, so there’s no need to call it something so grand.”
“I’m really fine. You don’t have to worry about it.”
Arian’s eyes widened as she waved her hands in refusal.
Paying no mind to her answer, Franz directed his steps toward the pantry.
He couldn’t tell if her answer was sincere or not. More accurately, it didn’t really matter. Regardless of her answer, he had intended to make her something anyway.
“I-I’m really fine…!”
Arian, who had belatedly followed him into the pantry, urgently grabbed the hem of his clothes. Her pupils were shaking violently, making her look quite flustered.
Franz placed his hand on top of her head.
“I’m doing it because I want to, though?”
“S-still…! You must be tired from your business trip, so you should just rest…”
“I didn’t exactly do anything strenuous, so it’s fine.”
Franz offered a soft smile and picked up the bread sitting in the basket. It was bread bought this morning, so it still seemed decent enough.
Following that, he turned his body and was just about to take a step toward the food storage box - something akin to a refrigerator - in the back of the pantry.
Arian let go of the hem she was holding and outright hugged his waist. It was as if she was trying to stop him from moving. Simply put, she had embraced him from behind.
“A-are you still going to go even like this…?”
“Why do you hate it that much?”
“I-it’s not that I hate it…”
Come to think of it, Arian’s behavior had been a bit strange lately. She had been overly cautious, to the point where it felt awkward.
He hadn’t bothered to ask for the reason, figuring she would stop eventually…
After a brief moment of silence flowing through the pantry, he felt Arian’s arms tighten.
“Actually, I was a little scared.”
“Of what?”
“Everyone else is kind, pretty, and has a good personality. But I’m always grumbling; I don’t have much charm, and it’s not like I’m exceptionally good at anything either.”
He didn’t need to ask to know who “everyone else” Arian mentioned was. She was talking about Yuna, Hera, and Yusti-ah.
“So I tried to be as careful as possible with my words and actions, and I tried hard to look good to you, but…”
Arian trailed off and buried her face in Franz’s back.
Franz simply stood there, silently listening to her words.
“I don’t think it’s working out well. It just makes things awkward for no reason, and it feels like we’re drifting apart…”
Franz didn’t show it, but he was inwardly flustered. He hadn’t expected Arian to be having such worries.
There were definitely worries that came with being closest to him. This was likely one of them.
“Magic Tower master, there was something I really wanted to say today. Can I say it now?”
“Yeah.”
In truth, he didn’t even need to hear it to know what Arian was going to say. The atmosphere and the situation were clearly pointing to it.
But even so, he had to listen, because it only held meaning when spoken aloud.
Squeeze.
Arian put strength into her arms and hugged him tightly. That action, as if she didn’t want to let go, made his heart flutter strangely.
“Magic Tower master, no, Franz.”
Her voice, carrying a faint tremble, revealed her emotions. She must have been quite nervous.
“I’ve liked you for a long time.”
A long time. Franz couldn’t know exactly when that was. He could only guess it was back when she was a regular member of the Magic Tower.
But her time as a regular member of the Magic Tower was well over ten years ago now, wasn’t it? The fact that she had cherished her feelings for him, even going so far as to reject the matchmaking proposals that came her way, made him feel both grateful and sorry.
“You don’t have to give me an answer right now. I just wanted to convey my feelings.”
Just like the others who had confessed to him so far, Arian was the same. She didn’t necessarily seek an answer.
But even if she didn’t want it, he would have to give her an answer before long. After all, the reason he hadn’t given them an answer in the first place was out of consideration for the others.
“Now that I’ve said it, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest…”
“Anyway, that’s a relief.”
“It’s not a relief at all. From now on, there are only real nerve-wracking things left.”
He felt like he had already made his answer clear enough through his actions up until now, though.
Franz thought so, but he didn’t bother saying it out loud. It could needlessly cause a misunderstanding, after all.
Given their obsession with the proper order of things, there was a high possibility of that happening.
“Do you feel like eating something now?”
“I think I should. I suddenly got really hungry.”
“Then could you let go of this now?”
Franz tapped the back of Arian’s hand with his palm, tap, tap. Since she was still back-hugging him, he meant she should release her hands.
“No. I want to stay like this a little longer.”
In the end, it was quite some time later that Franz was released from Arian.
* * *
A few days passed since the day Arian confessed. Daily life flowed on as usual, as if nothing had happened.
Hera and Yusti-ah showed their faces often, but that was it. Without anything particularly noteworthy happening, they enjoyed tea time as usual and went back.
Because Yuna was busy with guild work, he could only see her late in the afternoon. Even then, the frequency had noticeably decreased.
But today was a slightly special day.
“So this is the guild building…?”
“It looks quite grand. Is Yuna really inside here?”
Yusti-ah and Hera let out exclamations of awe as they looked at the guild building.
Standing next to those two were none other than Franz and Arian.
The four of them had visited the guild to take care of their respective business and to cheer Yuna on.
Of course, they would forget such a purpose before long, but Franz was still unaware of that fact.