Before anyone realized it, roughly ten days had passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Leon Town's reconstruction had been fully completed.
Yet despite that, the tavern's business showed no signs of recovery.
Even the street in front of the tavern saw very little foot traffic. On the rare occasions someone passed by, they hurried along with a look of clear avoidance, as though the place were something best not approached.
At first, Rebecca had been gloomy for a couple of days—but after that, she poured most of her energy into researching new recipes.
Of course, that was only on the surface.
In secret, Yuuki used Game Magic to create clones with identical mana signatures. With those decoys in place, he sent Rebecca, Marieella, and Neige to the grand magic zone—Mount Ultime Volcano to train their Mana Skin.
Meanwhile, under the cover of night, Yuuki personally began placing the ritual materials he would need beneath the capital.
The ritual magic circle was enormous. Just preparing and distributing the materials alone consumed a vast amount of his time.
Naturally, these materials weren't assembled into a visible magic array.
Instead, Yuuki buried them—as raw materials—deep underground using Earth Magic.
After the Eye of the Midnight Sun's previous attack, the capital's defenses and surveillance had been raised several levels. A second infiltration was nearly impossible.
Let alone secretly leaving behind a magic circle.
That was precisely why Yuuki scattered the materials underground in a completely disordered fashion, without any discernible pattern.
This prevented the materials from reacting with one another and producing detectable mana fluctuations.
Every location was marked with positional magic, so there was no risk of losing track.
When the time came, he would simply rearrange their positions—and the ritual magic circle would be completed almost instantly.
During this period, Asta, Yuno, and the Black Bulls also stopped by the tavern from time to time.
Asta and Yuno in particular showed up nearly every other day. The three of them often talked about training like they had back in their childhood.
Aside from that, the topic they mentioned most often was the Royal Knights selection and the upcoming campaign against the Eye of the Midnight Sun.
As the two of them put it—once the Eye of the Midnight Sun was defeated, the three of them would finally fight seriously, without holding anything back.
Inside the tavern.
Yuuki sat by the window as usual, warm sunlight streaming in and lending his relaxed expression a touch of laziness.
"Days like this really do put you in a good mood,"
he said, leaning back and stretching.
Everything that needed to be done was already finished. All that remained was to wait.
And strangely enough, in that state of waiting, Yuuki felt a quiet excitement building in his chest.
"I may hate trouble," he murmured to himself with a shake of his head,
"but it seems I don't like things being too peaceful either."
Sniff—
Yuuki's nose twitched as a distinctive aroma drifted through the air. His eyes sharpened.
Rebecca emerged from the kitchen carrying a plate of sizzling skewers, her face bright with anticipation as she set them down in front of him.
"Try them! This is the barbecue you mentioned before," she said eagerly, sitting across from him.
"You made them already? Then I definitely have to taste them."
Yuuki's eyes lit up as he looked at the skewers, oil sizzling and releasing a familiar, mouthwatering scent.
Since business had slowed, Rebecca had been spending most of her time either training or experimenting with cooking. Yuuki, drawing from memories of his previous life, had given her plenty of suggestions.
"Mmm—this is great!"
Yuuki picked up a skewer and stripped it clean in one go. The flavor was almost identical to what he remembered, and he couldn't help praising her.
Seeing his reaction, Rebecca's smile grew even brighter.
"By the way," she said, watching him eat with clear satisfaction,
"we haven't seen Asta or Yuno these past few days. The Royal Knights trials should be over by now."
"I wonder if they both made it?"
Before, the two of them had been visiting almost daily, eating a good portion of her cooking. Their sudden absence naturally caught her attention.
Yuuki's eyes flickered as he was about to respond—
Jingle—
The clear chime of a bell rang out as the tavern door was pushed open.
A familiar figure stepped inside.
"Smells great in here. I've heard Asta rave about your cooking for a while now, Boss Rebecca."
With his katana at his waist, Yami scanned the tavern like it was his own place before locking onto Yuuki and Rebecca's table and striding over with a grin.
"Captain Yami!"
Rebecca froze for a moment, then hurriedly stood and greeted him respectfully.
"No need to be so formal. We're not strangers,"
Yami waved her off cheerfully.
He dragged over a chair, sat diagonally across from Yuuki, and casually grabbed a skewer from the plate.
Yuuki's eyelid twitched.
"Captain Yami, you really don't hold back."
"Delicious! Almost on par with my hometown's fried squid,"
Yami laughed loudly, completely ignoring the hint.
Rebecca maintained her smile.
"I wasn't expecting you today. We just got some fresh barley ale in—I'll bring you some right away."
"Barbecue with booze? Perfect. Thanks," Yami replied without hesitation.
Rebecca nodded to Yuuki and headed back toward the kitchen.
"As for cooking skills, Captain Yami," Yuuki said lazily, leaning back,
"I heard that during the festival, you didn't manage to sell even a single skewer of your grilled squid."
That incident—two captains competing to sell food and failing spectacularly—had become a well-known joke in the capital.
"They just didn't know how to appreciate it," Yami shot back immediately.
"Fair enough," Yuuki chuckled, then shifted tone.
"So—what brings you here today?"
After devouring five skewers in a row, Yami finally set the sticks aside, clearly satisfied.
"I was passing by, figured I'd drop in and see you," he said without the slightest sincerity.
Yuuki smiled helplessly.
"If I'm not mistaken, the Royal Knights should already be on the move against the Eye of the Midnight Sun."
"They might already be fighting as we speak."
His expression grew more serious.
"I originally thought I'd be joining the operation—but it looks like I've been excluded."
Yami looked at him with mild surprise.
"You're sharp. In that case, you probably already know why I'm here."
Yuuki picked up another skewer.
"Just here to make sure I don't leak information."
Yami swallowed his food and glanced at him.
"Don't overthink it. Once the Eye of the Midnight Sun is dealt with, your situation will be completely cleared."
"With that lioness leading them, all we have to do is wait for good news."
"So don't do anything unnecessary. That way, even if the nobles and royals want to target you, they won't have an excuse."
His reminder carried genuine concern.
"That works for me," Yuuki shrugged.
"Though I imagine Asta and Yuno are in for a rough fight."
At that moment, Rebecca returned with the ale.
"Your barley ale, Captain Yami."
"Much appreciated," Yami said with a grin, setting it down.
"I'll bring more skewers," Rebecca added, seeing the empty plate, and turned back toward the kitchen.
Suddenly—
Yuuki and Yami both looked up at the same time.
Their gazes met.
In the next instant, two overwhelming surges of mana erupted from the direction of the capital's center.
(End of Chapter)
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