Epilogue

"Honestly, the stuff you pull…"

In front of a grumbling Raul, the girl tossed her silver hair and laughed, cool and bright.

"Heheh. I mean, sure, it hurt a little… but my mana was something else, wasn't it?"

"… That's not the point."

It had been exactly one week, to the morning, since the infiltration of Amada's "Magic Orb" factory. With Fino finally back on the job beside him at the register counter, Raul couldn't help letting out a sigh.

"… Seriously, do you have any idea how worried we were?"

"Well, it worked out, didn't it? … Thanks for patching me up, Raul!"

"Eh… ah, y, yeah…"

At Fino's unclouded smile of thanks, Raul's voice wobbled in spite of himself—

 

*

 

"Finooo!!!!!!"

He caught the girl's body as she slid down, tumbling with her onto the concrete floor. The moment Raul tore away the shards of cable embedded in her body, words failed him.

The bright red welling up from beneath her shredded blouse. The doll-like, lifeless face of the girl in his arms. The palms that were always so warm, horribly cold now, her unconscious body hanging limp and heavy against him—

"Fino-san?! Is Fino-san all right?!"

Hurrying over, picking her way across the cables scattered across the floor, Airi dropped to her knees and took Fino's wrist. After a moment, she let out a relieved breath.

"… Thank goodness. Her pulse is steady. The wounds don't look as deep as they seem, either… probably 'Breaker' just tripped from her burning through too much mana at once."

Muttering, Airi stripped off her own jacket and deftly wrapped it around Fino's wound. Watching her impossibly practiced movements, Raul couldn't help staring.

"Th, thanks… I mean, you really are 'All-A,' huh…"

"My mom was a nurse."

Airi replied airily to Raul's admiring remark, pressing down on the wound through the wrapped jacket.

"So when I was little, I used to patch up animals all the time, and… ah."

She broke off suddenly with a small sound, hands stilling. Raul's heart skipped.

"Wh, what is it?! D, did something happen to Fino…?!"

In front of a flustered Raul, however, Airi merely blinked her deep indigo eyes a few times, then quietly shook her head.

"… It's nothing. I just remembered something I'd forgotten… More importantly, don't tell this kid I'm the one who patched her up. I don't want to be owed a favor by a demonkin."

 

*

 

Thanks to Airi's prompt treatment, it hadn't turned into anything serious, but… remembering the demonkin in that factory sent a chill down Raul's spine. Slaves with cables driven into them all over, writhing in agony while their mana was drained on and on. If Fino had ended up like that…

Strangely enough, the demonkin who had been having their mana wrung out of them alive in the factory had vanished at some point during the uproar. Every time Raul thought about where the freed demonkin had gone, his chest ached. Fortunately, no incidents that seemed to be the work of demonkin had occurred yet, so far at least, but…

"That reminds me, looks like Amada's Royal Capital Store is reopening for business soon, with a new manager."

As if to shake off the prickling unease, Raul changed the subject.

"I mean, sure, killing demonkin isn't even a crime, but… it doesn't sit right with me that the guys pulling stuff like that just get to walk away clean."

"… Those guys, you think they're gonna do something awful to demonkin again?"

Fino's expression clouded suddenly, and she muttered the words half to herself. Seeing her like that, Raul let his hands still for a moment, then gave her small shoulder a light pat.

"It'll be fine. If they make another weird move, we'll shut it down right away."

"… Raul."

Looking up at him, Fino broke into a small, happy smile.

"Thanks, Rau… ah, welcome!"

At the sense of the shop's entrance door opening, Fino cut herself off mid-word and lifted her head, and Raul, drawn along, opened his mouth too.

"Welcome—"

In that instant, what filled Raul's vision was waves of honey-colored hair. Long, slender limbs and well-defined features. Strong-willed, dignified indigo eyes—

"… Oh, it's you. Come for more toothbrushes, 'All-A'?"

The girl who appeared on the other side of the door didn't so much as crack a smile, however. Brushing past Raul's easy greeting from inside the register counter, she strode briskly forward, squared off against Raul across the counter, and abruptly thrust out the large envelope she'd been holding under her arm.

"… I came for an interview."

"Huh?!"

In front of a thoroughly stunned Raul, Airi sniffed in exasperation.

"I went through hell to land that job, and I got fired because of you two, so I figured the two of you can take responsibility. And besides…"

Her tone sounding somehow angry, Airi shifted her gaze and stared hard at Fino, who was blinking blankly at Raul's side.

"… And besides, I can't just leave a demonkin carrying the [Demon King]'s blood running around loose."

"Airi, you're coming to work at our shop?!"

A smile burst across Fino's face without warning. Planting her knees on the register counter, she leaned over and threw her arms around Airi's neck with everything she had.

"—!!! H, hey, w, what's the big idea?! I'm not getting chummy with a demonkin—"

"Wah… Airi's hair is so soft and silky, and it smells nice…!"

"H, hey, c, cut it out, don't cling to me, it's annoying!"

"Hey, are you gonna be a Manager too, Airi?! Then we'll match!"

"D, don't lump me in with you! I'm not becoming a Manager or anything!!"

Shaking her head frantically, denying Fino's words, Airi raised her voice.

"I'm going to work part-time here to save up money and study, so I can become a nurse!!"

"… Heeh."

At the words that had popped out of Airi's mouth, Raul's eyes narrowed in spite of himself. The new goal of an Airi who hadn't been able to become a [Hero]. Hm… actually, it suited her pretty well.

"So I'm working here for the money, and I have no intention of getting friendly with you two—?!"

Struggling to peel off the clingy Fino, Airi happened to glance into the register counter, and in that instant her face went pale.

"H, hey! Wh… why is that costume here?!"

"Eh…?"

Following Airi's gaze down to the costume that had been left out in the corner of the register counter, Raul let out an "Ahh."

"… So you noticed, huh. That time, in the square, I was—"

"That was YOU?!"

In that instant, her finely sculpted face flushed bright red. Airi slammed both palms down on the register counter and lunged forward as if she were about to grab him by the collar.

"Th, that wasn't, I didn't mean it that way, it was, I mean, I just, in a perfectly normal sense, sort of looked up to it, that was all, and so, I mean— why were you keeping quiet about it anyway, what's the big idea, don't mess with me, are you stupid?!"

Airi raised her voice, ranting in a flustered torrent. Watching her with a stunned expression, after a moment Raul asked, puzzled,

"… … Huh? What are you even talking about?"

"—!!!!!!!"

In that instant, with tears welling up in her indigo eyes, Airi shot Raul the most resentful glare imaginable, and the sheer force of it had him stumbling back in spite of himself.

Watching the two of them with an air of vague amusement.

Fino smiled softly to herself. On the shaft of the ballpoint pen she clutched, a green ribbon, one of Airi's favorites, as it happened, was tied in a tidy little bow.