When his consciousness returned to the outside world, Jin groaned and lifted himself into a cross-legged position on the tent floor. Across from him, Irene looked at the people around them with a raised brow.

“How much time has passed?” She asked.

“Probably not even a second,” Jin calmly replied.

Jellal’s eyes narrowed at the interaction, and he asked, “Did you use your ability on her?”

Jin nodded. However, he silently focused on Irene since he did not know what actions she might take now that she could use magic again.

“That is a very intriguing magic,” Irene commented.

“It isn’t magic, but that’s not really important,” Jin replied before asking, “So, did you need us for something?”

Everyone aside from Jin and Irene looked back and forth between the two with confused gazes. None of them knew what to make of the strangely cordial tone in the conversation between the two.

Eyes glinting with recognition, Irene nodded and answered, “It’s about the damage to the nearby forest. Did your group have something to do with that?”

“Indirectly. We closed a spatial rift there, which is what caused most of the damage.”

In response to Jin’s honest answer, Jellal and Ultear frowned, and Meredy tilted her head as though wondering why he answered in such a way.

On the other hand, Irene raised her eyebrows briefly before smiling and saying, “So it was indeed you. Normally, you should lie in this situation, mister Hideyoshi Jin.”

“You’ll see through it anyway, so what’s the point?”

Giggling, Irene said, “That is certainly true.”

“So, what do you plan to do now that you know we had something to do with it?”

“Hmm. Originally, I was going to tor- ahem- apprehend and imprison you, but now… I think I’ll just turn my head the other way. However, I would like to know about this spatial rift you mentioned. Returning with no information about it would put me in a bind if another one pops up, you see.”

“Hmm. Honestly, we still don’t know that much about it, either. It definitely wouldn’t be safe to leave open, though.”

Catching on that something must have happened between Jin and Irene when Jin used his geass, Jellal nodded and joined the conversation by adding, “A strange creature with regenerative properties came out of it, and it took a decent number of powerful spells to finish the thing off.”

Irene glanced at Jellal as if just now realizing he ever existed. Then, she studied him for a few moments before asking, “Are you the wizard who used so much magic there?”

“...Yes. Why?”

“The magic traces seemed familiar. I assume your group is responsible for the trail of demolished dark guilds during the last few weeks. This saves me the trouble of investigating that any further.”

A drop of sweat formed on Jellal’s forehead, and he awkwardly scratched his temple. Behind him, Ultear turned her head and sighed.

“You are all fairly competent mages… aside from you, Hideyoshi Jin. No offense, but your magic power is so miniscule that I barely noticed it before entering this tent. Anyway, would any of you be interested in joining the empire?”

Both of Irene’s followers widened their eyes at the proposal.

“We’ll have to refuse. Our goals lie elsewhere,” Jellal immediately answered.

Eyes narrowing briefly before returning to normal, Irene said, “That’s a shame.”

For some reason, most of her attention focused on Jin when she said that.

Yawning, Jin said, “Well, if that’s all you need for now, then maybe we can talk later. I’m running out of steam very quickly for some reason.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Sorry. That’s probably because of the magic I used on you,” Ultear pointed out.

“Ah, makes sense.”

“In that case, we will camp nearby. I’d like to talk with you about a few things, Hideyoshi Jin,” Irene calmly said with a barely noticeable smile.

“Do whatever you want,” Jin grumbled before lying down on his bedding.

Irene stared at him for a few moments until noticing a glare coming from a certain pink-haired woman standing near Jin. Seeing something within the young lady’s eyes, Irene smirked at her before following Jin’s lead by leaving the tent with her squad to rest for the night.

As soon as Jellal felt they were out of earshot, he looked at Jin and asked, “What exactly happened when you used your eye ability on her? From everything I’ve heard about the Scarlet Despair, she would never interact with somebody in this manner.”

Dismissively scratching his head, Jin answered, “I talked to her a bit while using my geass, but I didn’t expect her to act like that, either. I honestly half-expected her to start casting continental-scale magic right after getting out. Glad she didn’t. Would have been very not fun.”

“You’re surprisingly laid back about this,” Ultear commented.

Jin shrugged, yawned again, and mumbled, “Knowing a lot about somebody makes it easier to handle them.”

“Hopefully things will go well if we see them in the morning,” Jellal said, sighing at the unusual circumstances.

With that, the party successfully avoided conflict with one of the strongest magicians in Alakitasia and went to bed with plenty to think and worry about.

Before Jin could fall asleep, however, he heard rustling nearby and opened his eyes. Despite the darkness, pink hair and eyes stood out to him when he turned his head.

“I’ll stay here with you in case they come back in the middle of the night,” Meredy whispered upon noticing that he was awake.

Too tired to bother responding, Jin nodded and closed his eyes. He fell asleep shortly after.

* * *

When Jin opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was a bare foot right in front of his face. The bizarreness of seeing such a thing right after waking up gave him pause for several seconds. Eventually, he shook it off and looked at who the leg was attached to. He couldn’t help chuckling upon seeing Meredy sprawled out on his bedding with the most abysmal sleeping posture he had ever seen. One of her legs rested on his chest with her pink pajama pant leg pulled halfway up her thigh while her other leg laid on the ground near his head with the wrinkly pant leg still covering everything up to the ankle. Her shirt was pulled up just under her breasts, and several scratches marked her belly. To top things off, her hair was so messy that Jin wondered how she managed to maintain it so beautifully while awake and active. He could only imagine some sort of magic mumbo jumbo allowed her to pull off such a miracle.

Quietly and gently, so as not to wake her up, he removed her leg from his chest. Since her deep breaths indicated she was still out cold, he changed into a fresh set of clothes without bothering to leave the room. Then, he left the tent with a small smile while muttering, “Not sure we were close enough to share a bed yet, but I feel like I got some good blackmail material out of it.”

Outside, he looked at the sun rising over the horizon. A yawn slipped from his lips. Then, he looked at the campfire and pressed his lips together. He froze upon seeing Irene sitting casually on a throne-like chair by a neatly built pyramid campfire. He barely saw a giant roasted animal leg bigger than the average human vanishing from her hands. If this wasn’t a magic world, he would have thought it a mirage due to the early hour.

Wiping her lips with a handkerchief, Irene feigned a calm demeanor and said, “Good morning, Jin.”

“...Uh-huh… mornin’.”

‘I’ll just pretend I didn’t see anything.’

Based on his judgment of her current attitude, he set aside lingering worries about the woman and dragged a nearby log to the fire pit. Doing his best to ignore the disparaging differences between their seating arrangements, he pulled out a granola bar and ate it while observing the scarlet-haired woman out of the corner of his eye.

An awkward silence ensued. A few times, Irene shifted as though wanting to say something, yet her mouth never opened. Honestly, Jin appreciated that since he didn’t want to engage in conversation so soon after waking up.

Only a few minutes passed before Jellal also exited their tent, though the bags under his eyes indicated a severe lack of sleep. He slowly approached and sat on the log next to Jin.

“Are you still planning to go home today?” Jellal quietly asked Jin while maintaining a cautious gaze on Irene.

Pausing mid-bite, Jin pondered the question for a moment before answering, “After everything that happened, I think staying a few extra days here is in my best interests. My family might think I’ve gone missing or something, but I’d like to spend the next few days learning about magic from you if you don’t mind.”

“That’s good. I actually worried a bit about it after seeing that creature. I’ll teach you what I can.”

“You want to learn magic?” Irene probed.

Jin nodded.

“Want me to teach you?” She offered.

Both Jin and Jellal gave her strange looks.

Brow raised, Jin wondered what was going through the woman’s mind, but still answered, “I mean, if you’re offering, sure. Everyone here is super competent in magic, so I’ll be happy for any guidance given.”

“Good. I’ll teach you, then.”

Distracting himself with his food, Jin ignored the cold breeze that followed her statement.