Break time had arrived, and while other students were huddled in different parts of the classroom, Shinji and Makoto both looked over at Kazuma’s empty desk from afar.

“Damn that Kazuma, where the hell is he…?” Makoto sighed with boredom as he leaned back on his chair.

“He could be just sick.” Shinji suggested as he sat next Makoto fiddling around with his pencil.

“That could be the case… but that’s a bit much for being sick, don’t you think? I would go say that we’d go and visit him now, but thanks to cram school and our lesson plan tightening everyday…”

“Finals aren’t that far off either…” Shinji added.

“Talk about really bad luck…” Makoto complained as he leaned back in his chair with his hands in his pockets.

“Maybe Akira-san might know something about this? She’s your cousin after all.” Shinji suggested.

“Nope. She’s out of town, so I wouldn’t count on it. I guess there’s nothing to do but wait for something to come up?”

“Yeah, probably… wait.” Shinji said. “What about Tomika-sensei?”

“Eh? Tomika-sensei? She wouldn’t know anything about that… would she?”

“But she is friends with Akira-san.”

“Agh, alright already!” Makoto announced as he slammed his desk. “Today the mystery ends!”

---

At the faculty office, both Makoto and Shinji had gone to look for Tomika-sensei to help them better understand Kazuma’s whereabouts.

“Let me try and understand this better…” Tomika-sensei fixed her glasses as she was grading papers with her red ballpoint pen. “You think I know what Kazuma has been up to…?”

“That’s right! Kazuma hasn’t been here for almost 3 months!” Makoto blurted out.

“What Makoto means Sensei…” Shinji requested politely. “We want to know if Akira-san knew had said anything about this.”

“Hmm…” Tomika-sensei crossed her arms as she was deep in thought. “No, I don’t think so. Nothing that I know of, at least.”

“Huh? Seriously? Not even like a call or anything?” Makoto confirmed.

Tomika-sensei shook her head.

“Nope. Well, I knew for a while that Riko had gone overseas for her job… but even before then, she hasn’t checked up on Kazuma in a while.”

“How strange…” Shinji mumbled perplexedly.

“So in other words, there’s no way to tell if he’s still at home, right?” Makoto scratched his head.

“Look, if you’re both that worried, why won’t you go check up on him, then? Here, give him this while you’re at that. I was going to mail it, but that would take way too long.” She said when she handed them an inflated brown envelope.

“Eh? Really? But our schoolwork…” Makoto added.

“Consider this a bit of an extra credit assignment then. It’s not like Saitou to come to class without even as much as a call, especially when he’s away from school for at least a month. More importantly, I don’t want to see either of you repeating any of my classes.”

Shinji and Makoto both bowed out of gratitude.

“We won’t let you down, Sensei!” Makoto assured his teacher.

“Alright, alright. I get it. Now get out of here before I change my mind.” Tomika-sensei said as she swatted her hand at them.

---

“Agh! Darn it big sis! You casted a warp spell on my men!” Celia cried.

“You better get ready for this then!” Alice smirked deviously as she drew her final card.

The moment she played the final card down confidently, Celia was in shock the second it was placed on the table. Celia fell backward and looked up at the ceiling blankly in a sense of defeat.

“Looks like you’re ten years too early to challenge me, cousin!” Alice devilishly stated.

“Grrrrr… I’ll beat you next time!” Celia puffed her cheeks in anger.

“Alright, that’s that. Kazuma—”

Alice got up for a stretch and noticed that he wasn’t present in the living room.

“Kazuma? Where are you?”

“Elizabeth!” Upon Celia’s call, Elizabeth had arrived shortly after to ask about Kazuma’s whereabouts.

“My apologies mistress, he wished to return home as quickly as possible so I had him go on an errand to deliver something to Reika. In return, she would grant him passage.”

“Oh…” Alice frowned.

“My apologies, Miss Alice.” Elizabeth politely answered. “He said it was urgent that he needed to get back.”

“So he left without saying anything else…?” Alice added.

“He didn’t want to interrupt your time with the mistress.”

Celia, unable to see her cousin in a disheartened state, she pushed her out towards the door.

“Come on… off… you… go then!” She said.

“Eh? W-What are you doing?” Alice confusedly asked while getting pushed by Celia.

“What do you think I’m doing? Giving you the push you need!”

“E-Eh? Push? I mean I…” Alice turned red and began to fidget with her fingers.

“You’re his partner, aren’t you?” Celia scolded her. “Take a bit more responsibility for your actions!”

“She’s right, you know.” Edrian said.

The two of them looked around but they don’t see him. Edrian comes out from the other side of the wall.

“Right here.” He waves at them.

“Edrian!” Celia runs over to hug him as soon as she spots him.

“It’s been a while Celia– or do you prefer mistress?”

“The prior. When anyone besides Elizabeth calls me that, makes me sound pretentious.” Celia sighed. “Anyways, I hope Alice isn’t causing any trouble for you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that, she’s not my problem anyway.”

“Hoh hoh? I see exactly what you mean.” Celia nodded in agreement.

“A-Anyways…!” Alice interrupts before the conversation gets off track. “Edrian, you can take me to him, can’t you?”

---

(Please don’t let me be lost…) Kazuma prayed.

He looked to constantly looked around to see if he could spot any familiar places that he could recognize to get home but to no avail. Luckily, after asking around, he was able to find a long bus path that would help him get back.

“This is the worst…” Kazuma mumbled to himself as he slumps on the bench, waiting for the next bus to come by.

(But… now that I think about it, I didn’t really say anything to Alice before I left. Is that really okay?) He thought to himself. (Either way, now that all this ‘magic’ business is over, things can finally be normal again…)

“Well, I think it’s for the best.” He reassured himself.

By the time Kazuma had finally made it back home, it was already sunset. He sat on the couch and unwrapped a burger that he bought on his way home.

(It’s been a while since I’ve been back in my own house.)

While he filled up on fast food, he turned on the television to which the news channel was already on.

“—And now on to today’s weather…” The news reporter said. “It seems like today will be hot as ever for the rest of the week…”

“Hot? That’s strange. Why would it be hot in the middle of spring?” Kazuma said as he took another bite.

He went over towards his home phone, but just before picking up the phone to call someone to clarify the date, he noticed the blinking light that was on his answering machine.

Beep. With a click of a button, the answering machine plays the voicemail out loud.

“Kazuma? It’s Akira. I’m going to be away for an expansion trip, so it’ll take about at least a few weeks before I get back. Don’t cause any trouble now!”

“Me?” Kazuma commented. “What makes her think I’m the one that’s going to cause trouble?”

“Received April 4th.” The answering machine dated.

“April, huh? I guess I haven’t been out that long.” Kazuma scratched his head.

“False information. It’s actually a lot later than you might think.”

Startled, Kazuma quickly turned around and had a sigh of relief when he saw that it was only Edrian.

“Please, could you use the doorbell next time?” Kazuma strictly enforced as he sat down on his couch.

“Quite unlikely.” Edrian chuckled as he patted Kazuma on his shoulder.

“Anyways, mind telling about how long I’ve been out for then? Or is it some kind of magic that I don’t know about?”

“No magic I assure you. But what I can say you were asleep for quite a while.”

“I feel like I don’t want to know but… how long?” Kazuma’s expression soured.

“A few months give or take.”

“A few months?! But Alice said it has only been days…”

“Of course, that’s because she woke up before you. It’s no surprise that she doesn’t truly know how long she was out for either.”

“Huh? She was asleep too?”

“Correct. Right after we had secured the Organization back to the right hands, she had collapsed. Only the two of you had been in slumber since then.”

“Wait, only us? Why’s that?”

“For Alice, her recent occurrence of her magic coming back. It has been gone for quite a while, so it’s no surprise that her use of magic would exhaust her. And as for you… well, I have no idea.”

“Are you telling me the effects are happening for no reason then?”

“Not exactly. You see, you have no interaction with the magic whatsoever. And there aren’t any conclusive records of magicians who’ve had contracts with non-magicians before. So, your situation is rare. But since you have made a successful contract with Alice, I’d have to guess that you two are still a compatible match.”

“What if I wasn’t?”

“We’d have to separate you two.”

“Doesn’t sound too bad. It’s just a contract isn’t it?” Kazuma commented.

Suddenly, he felt a sting on his forehead.

“Ow!” Kazuma cried.

“How dense can you be?!”

“Alice? When did you get here so fast?”

“Don’t change the subject!” Alice said as she pulled hard on Kazuma’s cheeks.

“Ow! Let go! Ow!” He cried in pain.

She then began to lecture him about how he shouldn’t have left her back at Salem.

---

Moments later, after Alice had calmed down, the three of them all sat and conversed in Kazuma’s living room. Edrian sat quietly while Kazuma tended to his swollen cheeks, Alice angrily sat facing away from Kazuma.

“Hey, Alice…” Kazuma called to her. “Alice? Are you still mad? I’m sorry alright? Whatever I said.”

She remained silent.

(“Now you’ve done it.”) Edrian silently shook his head.

(“Me?”) Kazuma pointed at himself. (“What did I do?”)

(“You’re apologizing and you don’t know what you’re apologizing for…?”) Edrian sighed.

“I came back for you, you know.” Alice said.

“Eh? For me?” Kazuma asked.

“The contract,” Edrian answered. “You and Alice are bounded, remember?”

“Ah…” Kazuma realized. “So that’s what it is about.”

“Listen, Alice… I realized that when I helped you before, it was for your sake. But… it was just a one-time thing. From what I know, the Organization is already being handled and you can go back to whatever life you had before.”

“That’s not the problem here…” Alice said.

“Eh? I-I mean… I don’t really see the big deal in all of this… it’s just a contract.” Kazuma commented.

“Kazuma, do you dislike this contract?” Alice asked.

“Hm? What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, why do you want to get out of it so badly?”

“Um… well… about that…”

Suddenly, there was a ring at the doorbell.

“Huh? Who’s at my door at this hour?”

Kazuma answered the door to only see both Makoto and Shinji frozen stiff with an excited look on their faces.

““Kazuma!”” Both of his friends exclaimed.

“You two? What are you doing here so late? Aren’t you guys supposed to be…”

“Us? We’re here for you!” Makoto interrupted. “Never mind that, where were you? It’s been months!”

Makoto and Shinji both began explaining a whole slew of events that had happened so far while he was away. It didn’t take long for everything the two were saying to jumble together and become a garbled mess. By the time they were done, Kazuma had to take a breather.

“Whoa, alright. That’s a lot to take in. So could you guys repeat that but slower? Slow down. So what’s been going on exactly?”

“This.” Shinji handed Kazuma the inflated brown envelope. “Good luck.”

Kazuma being overwhelmed by the sheer atmosphere of the intimidating brown envelope and the answers to the questions that were being thrown at him, there was only one meaning behind all of it.

“Right… So is that it?”

“Huh? Well…” Makoto shook his head. “Hey wait, don’t ‘Is that it?’ us! Where have you been?”

Shinji nodded firmly in agreement.

“Oh, sorry… I wasn’t feeling well.”

“For 3 months?”

“Wait, hold that thought. What’s the date today?”

“Huh? It’s May 4th… why?” Makoto raised an eyebrow.

“May?! But it’s the beginning of March isn’t it?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

(So Edrian was right…) Kazuma thought to himself.

“Anyways… you were sick for 3 months? Is that really all there is?” Makoto crossed his arms.

“Uh… yeah, it was on the news, wasn’t it? Flu season or something.” Kazuma laughed nervously.

His two friends judged him with stares of doubt.

“What else am I supposed There was a sudden awkward silence between them.

“Right… so Alice must be here then? I’m assuming she was taking care of you?” Shinji asked.

“Well—”

“Wait, she was taking care of you?!” Makoto realized as he shook Kazuma violently. “More importantly, while we’ve been sweating blood and tears, you’ve been fooling around these few months without us knowing?!”

“She’s not even here, damn it!” Kazuma quickly refuted as he pushed Makoto away. “Look anyways, what else can I say? I was sick. But I’m better now, alright? I’ll be back at school tomorrow.”

“Really…?” Makoto squinted.

“Yes, really. Now if you don’t mind, I have to deal with this demon you’ve brought at my doorstep.” Kazuma said as he waved the giant envelope.

“Well, alright then,” Makoto replied. “At least you’re doing alright. We’ve done our job here. Let’s go Shinji.”

“See you at school, Kazuma.” Shinji waved.

Makoto and Shinji leave Kazuma with a sigh of relief.

“This is seriously the worst…” Kazuma brooded.

“Hm… I see.” Edrian noted.

“Huh? See what?”

“Those friends of yours, correct?”

“Yeah…?”

“And you basically told them you were ill when in reality, you weren’t. It would be easier to tell them the truth, no?”

“They have no reason to be involved in any of this.” Alice answered.

“Back to the problem,” Kazuma redirected them. if there even is one, I just don’t want to involve anyone else in this, alright? The question I have is: why do you even still need me?”

“Do you think this is easy for me too? Ever since I’ve been helping you out, I have to stack up lies on top of more lies and keep up in order to—” Kazuma scratched his head.

Edrian thought for a moment.

“Hm. I can understand why this troubles you, and why this does not allow you partake in our affairs. Do not fear, however, I’ll have it resolved.”

“Alright, I’ll leave it to— wait, resolved? Hold on a minute, if you do anything to my friends…”

“I will do no such thing. You have my word.” Edrian ensures him before leaving.

“Well, I’m going to have a lot of work to do…” Kazuma sighed at the sight of the menacing, thick brown envelope. “What are you going to do Alice?”

“…I don’t know.”

“I guess… if you really did come all this way… I’ll set up a spare room for you.”

“Eh…?” Alice looked up at him. “R-Really?”

“Don’t make me regret it… okay?” Kazuma said firmly.

Alice responded with a nod and warm smile.

---

As Edrian left the household, had caught a glimpse of someone peeking out behind the wall.

“Someone there?” He shouted.

At the same time, the person quickly retracted and Edrian instinctively chased after them. By the time he had arrived at the spot, no one there.

“Damn it.” He tsked and kept moving.

(I should’ve been more careful. No use sulking over it though. If someone had eyes on us, my position could have been compromised. I’ll need to report back to Ellis at once.)

“That was too close…” The purple member sighed with relief with the knowledge that her position had not been compromised.

She then tore a piece of paper from a small notepad and began to speak.

“Green, do you copy? I have completed the recon scan. No anomalies within the area… yes… of course… understood.”

The purple member threw away the paper on the floor as it disintegrated into ash. Shortly after, the yellow member had appeared.

“Anything yet?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary. For now, at least.” The purple member replied. “But one thing is for sure, Ezrael is here.”

“Ezrael? Why didn’t you reach out to him? He could have had vital information.”

“I… didn’t want to disturb him. It also seemed like he had business to attend to…”

“But Galus was supposed to be stationed here instead. Any luck reaching to him at all?”

“Negative. Nowhere in the vicinity of the area nor was he near Ezrael when I saw him.”

“Just great. Three months… and still no lead.” The yellow member groaned. “Why did Adrian—”

“Watch the names, Yellow.” The purple member corrected her midway.

“…Red, have to authorize such a mission to Green?”

“Give him some leeway. Being the High Council’s leader is a lot strenuous than we think.”

“Even when the obvious choice isn’t being made?”

“It’s out of the benefit of all of us.” Purple turned away from Yellow and began to head off. “It’s about time we head back.”