* * *

About 15 minutes after hiding in Lydon’s hideout.

In the meantime, Cadel was feeling the blood-drying tension. He clenched his hands tightly to prevent Henge from escaping, and to maintain his sense of intimidation, he stared at the entrance of the hideout expressionlessly without being able to grovel as much as he wanted to.

It was a living hell where 1 minute felt like 1 year.

And finally, Lydon arrived to put an end to the agonizing wait.

“Cadel! We must be a match made in heaven. How did I find this place at once? Is it telepathic? We’ve connected! Ahaha!”

Now that he was in Lydon’s hideout, it should have been a simple matter to locate him at once without telepathy, but Cadel hadn’t bothered to mention it. Nor did he have the energy to correct him.

‘He’s finally here.’

As soon as Cadel saw Lydon’s face, the tension that had been tightening his breath was relieved at once. His body relaxed spontaneously, and Henge escaped from the loosened grip. He immediately threw himself at Lydon and howled in a pitiful voice.

“Lydon! I almost died! How many times did he tell me he was gonna blow me up and kill me―!”

“What, Henge? Why are you here? Were you having a wild time with my human?”

“……Your human?”

Lydon carefully picked up Henge’s wings and dangled them in front of his eyes.

“Hmm, I don’t know. Henge’s a good boy, so I’m inclined to let him go. Cadel, what do you think we should do?”

Even from a distance, Cadel could see that Henge’s face had become contemplative. He was uncharacteristically mild-mannered for a fairy, so Cadel felt a small pang of sympathy for him, but it was no more than the size of his pinky nail.

“Being nice doesn’t mean he won’t betray you.”

Lydon’s eyebrows drooped at the firm answer. It was a very cute and pitiful expression, but the words that came out of his mouth were a different story.

“That’s what they say, Henge. I’m sorry, but you have to die.”

“Wh, what?”

“Haha! Look at his face!”

A new magic circle carved over his red, gentle bending eyes. The moment when the magic circle, much duller than the illusion magic’s, flashed white.

“Good night, Henge.”

Henge’s body, which had struggled in surprise, drooped.

Lydon tossed Henge’s small, unconscious body roughly into the grass somewhere, then walked over to Cadel with an excited look on his face.

“Did you come all the way here with Henge as a hostage? That must have been fun!”

“What the hell is your definition of fun?”

“Everything Cadel does is fun.”

“……Okay. Laugh a lot.”

Cadel gave up dealing with Lydon as a normal person. He leaned his weakened body against the nest of trees and cut straight to the chase.

“So. You want to get out of this forest?”

Instead of answering right away, Lydon took a seat across from Cadel. It took him a moment to get used to that overwhelmingly clear gaze at such close range.

Cadel witnessed a mysterious scene where colorful wildflowers bloomed beneath him and Lydon. He squirmed slightly as the petals tickled his legs.

“It’s amazing, right? It’s my ability.”

“Blooming flowers?”

“Only the chosen fairies can do it? Isn’t it fragrant?”

“What…….”

It wasn’t bad. It was just a little disconcerting to realize that it was a pretty ability that didn’t seem to fit with Lydon’s personality. Lydon smiled sweetly at Cadel, who nodded slightly, and then answered his first question.

“Can you really break my seal?”

“I can break it. The reason your seal is so hard to break is because the location of the unsealing is the ‘Blood Desert’, and you’ll have to risk your life to get out of the forest and go to the desert with your weakened body.”

“……How do you know so well? You’re human.”

“Don’t ask. All you need to know is that I have a solid understanding of the seal.”

Lydon, who had grumbled that his cold attitude was too much, slightly turned his head. Then, like a habit, he began to pluck the flowers that bloomed next to him.

Tuk. Tuk.

The fallen buds piled up at Cadel’s feet. Countless flowers had fallen in the silence.

When Cadel had the urge to grab Lydon by the collar, telling him not to waste time and to answer right away, Lydon slowly pursed his lips.

“I want to see the world. I want to see the sea, and I want to try food I’ve never eaten before. I want to feel somewhere other than the forest.”

“That means…….”

“Yeah. I want to go out with you, Cadel. Therefore…….”

Lydon turned his head with a calm and subdued look. That calm look was the result of the suppression of all complex feelings, which Cadel thought he’d never see in Lydon.

He felt perplexed. Cadel expected that if Lydon accepted the offer, he’d just laugh and chatter about it. Cadel, who became serious as well, waited for Lydon’s next words, holding his breath.

And the next moment.

Lydon, who had regained his original mischievous gaze, said lightly, as if asking for a very simple favor.

“Please convince my father.”

* * *

Cadel stared blankly at the [Amplification Grass] in his hand. As Mamil told him, the [Amplification Grass] smelled sweet. The color was bluish, and if he looked closely, he could see the reddish mana that circulated across the leaf veins.

He came in to get this.

With a mixture of emotions, just the right amount of despondency, just the right amount of anger, just the right amount of resentment, and just the right amount of worry, Cadel brought the [Amplification Grass] to his lips.

“Enjoy your meal, Cadel. I want to give you a lot, but they say that humans die if they eat Amplification Grass in succession. They said there was a one-year clean-up period.”

Lydon looked at Cadel and smiled.

That was right. This ‘Amplification Grass’ was a gift from Lydon himself.

‘Funny, huh? Is it funny?’

Cadel, at least inwardly, slapped Lydon’s white cheek back and forth, and shoved the Amplification Grass into his mouth without hesitation.

The bitter taste lingered on the tip of his tongue enough to make his impression crumple. As he swallowed and barely savored the taste, a system window popped up in front of him.

「You have consumed the hidden item [Amplification Grass].」

「The incredibly intense flow of mana can be felt in your body!」

「Magic Achievement increased by ???.」

「Congratulations! Title [7-Star Magician] acquired!」