School was canceled for the week after the Hunter Games. Since no one knew what happened to the monster, they wanted to ensure student's safety so everyone was sent home until they were certain there wouldn’t be any more danger.

Naturally, that meant I stayed out on my floating island with Sirin and Nia.

While I was happy for the break, as it gave my hand time to heal, I still felt bad for Xara. I had told her I would give her a response to her question at the start of next week, but then this happened. Honestly, thinking I wouldn’t talk to her for a whole week made me feel kinda sa-

“Sir Savoncho! You’re bath is ready!”

I turned to see Vey approaching me. Oh yeah. I forgot she had come with me. Kinda weird considering how her shout of surprise when we arrived was almost as loud as that monster's annoying roar was. It was even worse than that when you add on the fact that she screamed right next to me so I got an earful of her voice. But whatever. She was here now and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

Hopping into the bath, I quickly washed myself down in under ten minutes before drying off and putting on a fresh set of clothes.

And as I walked out onto the island, I looked out at the clear blue sky.

Come to think of it, I never had a chance to speak with Dianne after everything happened. I wouldn’t be surprised if she hated me after killing her family’s butler like that.

Letting out a yawn, I stretched my arms into the sky when Sirin in cube form appeared next to me.

“I’m curious. Was the information I gave you useful?”

“Definitely. If you hadn’t brought up seeing Richie with that ring, I never would’ve known about it. Thanks a lot.”

“You are most welcome Master.”

I really do owe Sirin for bringing that up. Richie wasn’t even there during the original event. He was just a jackass who popped up out of nowhere.

Honestly, if Sirin hadn’t seen what she did, I never would’ve known his plan. Heck. I didn’t even know anything about a raja ring before she told me about it. I had to give credit to Nia for giving me information on that one. But in the end, it didn’t matter since it ended up being a wolfbane ring which apparently had a similar design to a raja ring.

In fact, it looks like Richie believed that was the case too. That meant someone else gave him the ring and claimed it was a raja ring. That meant whoever that was is still out there somewhere. Meaning more trouble could be down the road at some point.

However, that wasn’t really my business. At least not at the moment. Whether it is or isn’t depends on the person's next move. But now wasn't the time to think about that.

Letting out a sigh, I was about to walk back inside when alarms blew into my ears.

“Intruder! Intruder! Intruder!”

“Geez. Is the alarm always that loud?”

Covering my ears, I had Sirin open up some footage to show who the intruder was.

“What the-!?”

Surprised, I charged toward the direction Sirin said the intruder was in and pushed some wind magic into my feet to help me run faster.

Minutes later, I looked down from a hill at the intruders.

“I didn’t expect to find you two here,” I said aloud.

Two people immediately looked up at me. One with uncertainty, the other with either frustration or nervousness.

Stepping down from the hill and landing in front of the two, I looked at them face to face.

“Welcome to my island…Xara and Dianne.”

Meanwhile, someone who looked like a gentleman around the age of fifty looked down at a set of papers and rubbed his eyes.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Holding up the papers in front of him, he read them aloud to himself.

“After the student, Kurina Frendaya was found assaulting Dianne Riosha in an attempt to steal her items and compromise her team's chances of winning. Upon further questioning, she informed the school several other students were involved in this plan which was proven as such from the mysterious disappearance of Dianne and her teammate Axel Savoncho’s items throughout the event.”

Putting the papers down, the man turned around to look out the window behind him

“Man. Even after being here for as long as he has, these people still have it out for him. And it’s not even just students.”

The man glanced at a paper he had received only minutes before.

Apparently, some of the teachers wanted to take credit for defeating the monster. However, an interesting report proved otherwise.

“According to a report from student council president Haiko Ariyama, she watched Axel Savoncho single-handedly defeat the monster. While there weren’t any other reports to confirm this, the student council president has shown she doesn’t lie. So if she said that’s what happened, then I guess that’s what happened.”

With everything coming at him at once, the man had no idea what to do.

Bringing his attention to the giant window behind his desk, he watched the stars shine in the sky above.

“He really is something else. From surviving in a place most would die in, to defeating a threat even some of the teachers would struggle with. The more I hear, the more I want to meet him…still, seeing how he’s being treated isn’t exactly ideal.”

Turning back to his desk, the man began writing things down.

“There. That should be a fitting punishment for the people trying to sabotage him during the event.”

Leaning back in his chair, the man chuckled and pondered what the future had in store.

After letting them inside my mansion, I guided Xara and Dianne towards the dining room where the two of them awkwardly sipped some tea Vey offered them.

“Dammit. What the hell are these two doing here?” I muttered to myself in frustration just barely out of view.

The two people I was the least sure about talking to just happened to stop by my island. This wasn’t exactly the ideal situation.

Watching them continue to sit there, I figured now was the time to walk in and so I let out a sigh. This really wasn’t how I wanted to spend one of my days off.

Stepping out of the shadows, I made my way over to the two of them.

“Hey there you two. What are you guys doing here? I didn’t even know you knew where I lived.”

Dianne turned towards me and cleared her throat.

“My apologies. It was my idea to come here. I heard from a…person close to the crown where to find you and decided to invite Miss Xara along with me. I hope it’s not a problem.”

I scratched the back of my head. In short, she probably asked her dad about my location since he’s one of the few people who knows where I keep this thing. Anyone else who finds it either is some royal asshole with connections or the occasional wandering adventurer or bandit.

Sitting down at the table with them, Vey offered me some tea which I accepted with a nod before looking at the two girls in front of me.

“It’s not really a problem. I just wish you told me you wanted to visit. I mean, if I hadn’t been here, you probably would’ve gotten kicked right off the island without me even knowing.”

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Xara and Dianne nodded in understanding. Probably remembering the alarms that rang throughout the island not too long ago.

Taking a sip from my tea, I found my body relaxing a little bit.

“Again, we’re very sorry. And we’ll remember to ask you for permission if we ever come here in the future.”

Taking another sip from my tea, I put down my cup.

“Anyway, you still haven’t told me why you were here. Would you mind telling me?”

They may have explained how they got here, but they didn’t explain why which still confused me.

“Ah. I suppose we should get this started then.”

Dianne stood up and gave me a rather serious look. Then, a moment later, she bowed deeply.”

“Axel Savoncho! Thank you for protecting me during the events of the closing ceremony during the Hunter Games! From both me as well as my parents, you have my eternal gratitude.”

“...Huh?”

Dianne continued to bow deeply. All the while, Xara sat there awkwardly as I tried to wrap my head around what was going on.

“Erm…It’s really not a big deal. Besides, shouldn’t you be mad at me? I killed that butler of yours. Why aren’t you shouting at me?”

I was completely lost. This wasn’t how I was expecting things to play out. Just how unpredictable was this girl? Was she always like this?

Continuing to bow, Dianne answered my questions.

“I can’t possibly be mad at the one who saved my life! Not to mention, you stopped Richie from turning me into a monster. If you hadn’t stepped in, I wouldn’t even be here to thank you!”

“Er…”

She had a point there. Though, I guess she hasn’t realized I’m merely doing all this cause I feel like it. It’s not like I want attention…although if it helped people shut up about me, I wouldn’t be opposed to her thanks.

Scratching the back of my head, I tried to come up with what to say.

“Well, I appreciate your thanks so…please lift your head. I’m starting to feel bad now.”

Dianne finally stopped bowing and smiled at me.

“I’m glad to hear you appreciate it.”

Sitting back down, Dianne took a sip of tea.

“Well then, I’ve finished what I’ve come here to do, so I’ll pass things on to Miss Xara.”

Hearing that, I turned to Xara who began mumbling to herself.

“Well…you see…I just…”

She seemed to be struggling with getting the words out. Her face also seemed to be a light pink. Seeing that, I could feel a smile spread on my face. She was really cute.

Fidgeting with her fingers, Xara took in a deep breath.

“I know you wanted it to…be held off until school, but I was really curious to hear your answer to my question. Would it be a bad time to ask for an answer?”

Knowing exactly what she was talking about, I let out a sigh.

“Vey?”

“Yes Sir Savoncho?”

“Please keep Dianne entertained. I need to talk to Xara for a bit.”

Vey smiled.

“Of course Sir Savoncho.”

Sitting down next to Dianne, Vey began talking with her. Meanwhile, I grabbed Xara’s hand.

“Follow me. I’d like to speak with you for a bit.”

“Oh…I…uh…”

Xara looked completely flustered.

Slowly lifting her to her feet, I guided her out of the dining room towards a location I wanted to show her.

Around ten minutes of walking later, we left the house and arrived at what looked to be a giant garden.

“Wow. What an incredible garden.”

“Thanks. I have someone quite skilled taking care of it.”

That someone being Sirin, but that wasn’t important right now.

“So…Why did you bring me out here?”

Arriving at a fountain in the middle of the garden, I looked to the sky.

“Let me ask you something. If you found out what the future had in store for someone, what would you do?”

“Huh?”

“It’s a hypothetical question. Say you knew somebody and cared about them more than yourself. But then, you see where the future leads them and find out you’re not meant to be part of it. What would you do in a situation like that?”

Xara thought about it for a moment.

“It’d be smarter to just let that person continue down that path.”

“That so? An understandable way of thi-”

“However, if it were me, I’d try to change it.”

“Huh!?”

Having sat down on the edge of the fountain, I stared at Xara with a look of surprise.

“Seriously? Even if you know things might not go as great as before?”

Xara nodded.

“If letting them be happy required me to lose them, I’d rather try to push myself into that future and become a part of it. Even if that’s not how it’s meant to be.”

That answer… surprised me.

It surprised me so much, that I couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh.

“Hahahah!”

“Wha-!? What’s so funny!?”

Xara looked completely lost at my sudden burst of laughter.

I tried recollecting myself.

“Sorry. Sorry. I just wasn’t expecting you to say something like that.”

Hearing that answer, I was finally certain what I had to do.

Standing up, I held out a hand to Xara.

“Come on Xara. Let’s get back to the others.”

“Oh…Okay. But what about my question?”

I grinned.

“Sorry. You’re gonna have to wait a little while longer for that.”

“What!?”

Chuckling, I continued guiding her through the main house back to the dining area where Dianne and Vey were still having a nice conversation.

They hung out for a few more hours after that until the sun was getting close to setting.

Returning to what appeared to be a boat enchanted with flight magic, the two of them waved goodbye. But not before confirming to Xara that I’d give her the answer to that question at the start of next week.

Once they were out of sight, I made my way back to the mansion I’d been staying in for a little while now and went to my room before collapsing onto my bed.

“What a day,” I found myself muttering.

This really was a rough day to get through. I not only had to talk with the two people I was afraid of talking to the most, but I also had to deal with teasing from Nia once it was all said and done.

Lying on my back, I looked up at the ceiling as Nia appeared in her physical form next to me.

“Don’t say another word. I’ve had enough as it is.”

Nia chuckled.

“You seemed to have had a lot of fun.”

“I said stop.”

“Maybe next time I should join in and introduce mysel-!? Ow!”

I gave her a light chop to the head before getting under the covers and closing my eyes.

“Just leave it. We already have enough on our plate with preparing a few more things for the island, so let’s get back to that.”

Nia was silent for a moment before letting out a small giggle.

“Okaaay.”

She then hugged me tightly and I let out a sigh before closing my eyes. All while she snuggled up and feel asleep next to me.

Now before any of you ask, no, Nia and I aren't close in that regard. I don’t see her like that and probably never will. She just started doing this and continued to do it to the point I don’t even care anymore. With that cleared up, it was time to get some shut-eye.

A few minutes after closing my eyes, I finally fell unconscious.

Having not spoken to Xara since the Hunter Games conclusion, Riko stepped back and forth within his room inside the castle his family owned. They may not be some big fancy royal family, but his family was still royalty which meant he lived as such.

“What do I do? If I let that weirdo continue to interact with Xara like he has, I’ll lose her. Who does that guy think he is anyway? We just decided to talk to him once and suddenly he’s completely destroyed my and Xara’s friendship!”

Riko’s hands curled into fists before slamming one of them into the wall with an angry growl.

He heard one of the maids shout in surprise from the other side of the wall and quickly opened his door to ask if she was okay.

She reassured him she was alright and he returned to his room.

Flopping himself onto his bed, he almost felt like crying.

He had met Xara on the first day of school. Out of all the people he’d seen that day, she was the only one who talked to him. Now, even she had left him behind to go hang with some commoner he knew nothing about.

Lying on his back, he stared up at the ceiling.

“I don’t want to lose her…not after everything we’ve been through.”

Sitting up, a thought came to his mind.

“But what if…”

As soon as this idea crossed his mind, he considered it for a few more minutes.

“Yeah. That’s exactly what I should do.”

Getting out of his bed, he glanced at himself in the mirror for a moment before taking in a deep breath.

After that, he began practicing his plan out loud. Hoping and praying it would work.