On her way to her annual training session, Alice had an unusually troubled expression on her face. The reason for this was the person currently together with her on her way to Makina…… Iris.

  For Alice, Iris and Makina were both her irreplaceable best friends, but the two of them had never met directly before, so she thought of properly introducing them to each other, and thus, she brought Iris along…… but she didn’t know how Makina would react.

  The reason why she was anxious is that Iris is, of course, “not Makina’s child”, so one would normally think that Makina would be unwelcome to her…… but it was also hard to believe that Makina would treat Alice’s best friend so disrespectfully.

  In that case, as for how friendly they’d be with each other…… Since there were no other precedents, it was difficult for even Alice to perfectly foresee the result.

  […………………]

  […………………]

  When Alice actually brought them together, both Makina and Iris looked at each other in silence for a while, before Makina broke the ice.

  [……Errr, can I also call you Iris? You can call me Makina too, and you don’t need to add any honorifics.]

  [I don’t mind…… but is it really alright to be that casual with me? I’m not your child, right?]

  [No, as expected, I wouldn’t think about whether someone’s my child or not if they’re from a time before I was born. I’ve heard a lot about you from Alice, and I’m glad that I could meet you here.]

  It seemed that Alice’s fears were unfounded, as Makina was very friendly to Iris. Alice was relieved to see that she had responded to Iris close to how she usually was…… but what she didn’t foresee was that this was just the beginning of a disaster for her.

  In the beginning, the two’s conversation was awkward, but after talking for some time, Makina and Iris became more relaxed, and their conversation became more lively.

  [……Yes, that’s right! Alice is too pushy, dragging me here and there.]

  [Yeah, I know. There were times when she just thinks about what to do for later, but then acts on it instantly. She’s a smart girl, so in the end, she settles for the safe result, but it’s hard for us who were being dragged around by her.]

  [I know, right!? That’s right, she certainly does the most outrageous things.]

  Looking at her two best friends talking happily, Alice had an indescribably complicated expression on her face. In a way, this was an unavoidable outcome.

  The first thing that came to mind for Makina and Iris when they talked about common topics would be Alice, so it would be inevitable that they would talk about her a lot.

  [……What in the world is this? When I have my two friends meet with each other, where they suddenly talk about me, their common topic, it’s kinda hard for me to get into the conversation, as they would definitely keep talking about my past, which I don’t want to talk about.]

  Since she was the one who brought them together, it was hard for her to complain, and seeing as their conversation was already in full swing, Alice hesitated if she should stop their conversation or not.

  With such a thought in mind, Alice looked at her two best friends with a complicated expression on her face.

  [And you see, Alice had-]

  [Yeah, she’s always been an idiot in the strangest places. While we were traveling once……]

  [………………]

  As Alice couldn’t calm herself while her past was being talked about, she restlessly cleaned her knives and other tools, her shoulders shaking as if she was trying to hold something back.

  [……And like that, she got into a scuffle for mere herbs.]

  [Ahaha, I guess that really is typical of Alice to do that. You can’t always tell when she’s joking or not.]

  […………………]

  Alice thought that the conversation would end soon…… but Iris and Makina’s conversation continued to heat up even after half an hour, and one after another, they began talking about the episodes in Alice’s past that only they knew.

  Moreover, in such situations, the stories were usually about her mistakes, and thus, Alice was about to reach the end of her patience.

  [……She had this crisp look on her face. Well, if it weren’t for that seaweed on her head, she would have looked cool.]

  [She certainly has a helplessly duncy part in her. When we were traveling……]

  [Cut it out alreaaaaaddddyy!!!]

  [ [ Unnn? ] ]

  [It’s been an hour already! How long are you going to have fun talking about people’s embarrassing episodes!!!? Are you planning to make me listen to this all daaaaaay!!!?]

  Alice had put up with them, controlling herself, but as expected, she couldn’t stand any more shame play and furiously flared up at the two of them.

  Well, even if she stopped them here…… It would just end up in a situation where “they’d pick up this conversation where they left off next time”……


  [……Ummm, Alice?]

  [What is it?]

  [Why are you in such a foul mood?]

  [……It’s not that big of a deal. I was just regretting what I did back then and my carelessness.]

  [……You sure regret things rather frequently huh…… Well, I get that you’re in a foul mood, but where are you dragging me to?]

  As the grumpy Alice pulled his hand, Kaito had an indescribable expression on his face.

  [Alice-chan is in grief! Your cute lover is in grief, so Kaito-san has to help in caring for my feelings, right?]

  [……No, I’ll help you but…… Where are you taking me to care after your feelings?]

  [Please accompany me while I’m stress eating!!!]

  [……Caring after your feelings means that huh…… No, well, if that’s okay with you, then alright.]

  As Alice asked him to hang out with her while she was feeling despair, dumbfoundedly muttering, Kaito just wryly smiled with an expression that seemed to say that it couldn’t be helped.

  ……Incidentally, as a result of being asked to “help out”, he ended up having to pay for the food she ate, so in a sense, the person who suffered the most from this incident might be Kaito.

  **********