Tens of gazes fell on Gaius and company as they left Dai-Yukimono, and the reason why was quite obvious. Floating above him were fifteen ice-cream tubs, bobbing above his head like balloons. The person behind such a sight, naturally, was Gaius, who was too lazy to carry his spoils of war by hand.

“Is it really alright for you to buy that many?” Xanadu asked, an indistinct smile on her face.

“Well, he did say, out loud to everyone present, that everything would be on his tab,” Gaius replied.

“Wasn’t it the Oracle who said that, though?” Nakama asked, tilting her head.

“Don’t sweat the small stuff, Nakama.” Gaius reached out and rubbed her violet hair. Over the course of the past three years, his little sister had awakened to her beast trait — the ability to move as a soul — which manifested in the physical world as violet hair. Her hair was growing brighter and brighter by the day too, as Nakama continued to adapt to her new powers.

Ducking away from his hand, Nakama scooted over to Isabelle and took out a mirror to check on her hair.

“Anyway,” continued Gaius, “if he didn’t want me to exploit his generosity, he should at least have settled the bill before he ran off. One should always see things through; I’m giving him a practical lesson in that adage.”

“With friends like you,” said Isabelle, “I don’t think Kolya needs enemies.”

"I’m willing to bet one tub of ice-cream that he’s already planning to turn my presence there into his contribution,” Gaius replied. "Consider this some interest."

“Contribution?” Isabelle asked. “That sounds familiar…I remember reading something about it on the news.”

“Basically, the leaders of the Five Lands are going to wrangle over the issue of military assets. On paper, this War Council thing will ensure that the forces and resources contributed by every nation is equal.” Gaius sighed. “But the Southern Assembly and the Eastern Territories aren’t happy about this arrangement.”

“Because of the casualties they took in the past few years, right?” Isabelle asked.

Gaius nodded, and then cracked a grin. “I wonder if the East is going to tussle with Kolya over the issue of who I represent, though. And how would they decide it?”

“By getting your opinion?” La-Ti asked.

Gaius looked at Nakama’s new apprentice in the eye, and had the feeling that something tiresome would happen when Kolya’s War Council was in full swing. “That…seems very possible, doesn’t it? Isabelle, do me a favour.”

“A favour?”

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“Yeah, a simple one,” Gaius replied, holding out his left arm. “Can you break this for me?”

“There are less painful ways of escaping whatever your mind wants to escape from right now, so please retract your arm.”

Blinking as Isabelle bopped a fist on his head, Gaius rubbed his nose and looked up at the shadow the ten-odd ice-cream tubs were casting on his body. “I was just joking. I’ll just be out of contact or something, and they’ll eventually reach an arrangement of their own. Besides, even if I were to give my opinion, one side is definitely going to dispute it anyway.”

“Can you have some faith in people?”

“The only people I have absolute faith in now is just the four of you,” Gaius replied. “The rest sits on a spectrum.”

“For some reason, that makes me happy…ahem.” Isabelle turned to Xanadu. “So, what kind of arrangement did you reach with Pinnacle Kolya?”

“He’s going to visit me Friday evening, along with something he calls a film crew,” the Phantom Blade replied. “I’ll be expected to say some lines, act out some parts.”

“Friday evening?” Gaius echoed. “I’m not around then…and Kolya is a self-proclaimed pervert.”

“Won’t you have some faith in him too?” Xanadu rolled her eyes, before falling silent.

“Don’t worry,” said Isabelle. ”Galina is definitely going to come along. She isn’t going to miss something this amusing.”

“Amusing?” Gaius asked.

“Xanadu’s idea of acting is rather…inspiring,” Isabelle answered. “Do you want to hear the story—whoops!”

Her head tilted, just in time to dodge two separate balls of qi. One of them, as expected, came from Xanadu, but the other had actually come from Nakama. Eyeing his little sister, Gaius called upon his Barrier and extended it to cover Isabelle.

“So, what story is it?”

“The phrontistery has a cultural festival every year,” Isabelle said. “Two years ago, our class decided to write up a play and perform it. Naturally, Nakama was one of the actors, but she didn’t quite know how to act.”

Inwardly agreeing with Isabelle’s use of ‘naturally’, Gaius nodded. “Go on.”

“Therefore, she decided to ask Xanadu for lessons about acting,” Isabelle continued. “Because I had…other pressing concerns on my mind, I didn’t pay attention to what she was learning. Nor did I pay attention to what Xanadu’s idea of acting was.”

Gaius noted the increasing frequency in which little baubles of qi smashed into his Barrier, and then hid a smile. “I can roughly guess what happened next. If you continue on, Nakama’s not going to let you rub her head for the next week.”

Dispersing the defences around them, Gaius knocked aside a small ball of qi with a grin. “Relax, Isabelle didn’t tell me what exactly happened. I’ll be looking forward to your performance, though.”

“Look forward to it,” Xanadu replied. “It’s only because Nakama didn’t learn from me wholeheartedly that her performance looked a tad embarrassing.”

“I’ll definitely look forward to it,” Gaius replied. “Right, La-Ti. If you see that Kolya do anything funny this Friday, I give you permission to wallop him.”

“Okay!”

Xanadu sighed. “You should really learn to have faith in your friend, Gaius. Also, is it me, or is everyone busy this Friday?”

“Must be one of those days,” Gaius replied.

“A total coincidence,” Isabelle added.

“For some reason, the two of you being in sync is enough to make me feel wary,” Xanadu said. “It’s like…partners-in-crime or something. Are you doing something behind our backs? Like a surprise birthday party or something?”

“Of the four of us, only Isabelle knows her birthday,” Gaius replied. “If we were planning one, it can only be for her, right?”

“True.” Xanadu narrowed her eyes. “I can’t help but feel suspicious, though.”

“Don’t think too hard about it,” said Gaius. “Just focus on this Friday. Remember not to be nervous.”

Although I think that advice is better reserved for myself…