Ariel crossed his legs and looked at us, chin resting on his palm, eyes gleaming with interest.
I leaned slightly toward Nagi and spoke as quietly as I could.
"Whatever you do, do not anger him. And do not even think about fighting him." I whispered.
Nagi stiffened. Her eyes widened just a fraction before she nodded, fingers nervously brushing the edge of her neck.
Follow my lead, alright.
Ariel's gaze shifted to her almost immediately.
"But you little one," he murmured, "How rare, a practitioner of Apollo string dance arts, standing so openly in the street. One does not often see such Weaver Arts these days. Most have… faded, or been simplified beyond recognition."
Nagi swallowed. She opened her mouth.
I cleared my throat and stepped forward half a pace.
"My apologies," I said smoothly, placing a hand over my chest in a shallow bow. "My companion isn't accustomed to such… distinguished attention. Your insight speaks volumes about your experience."
Ariel's eyes slid back to me, amused.
"Manners," he mused. "How quaint. So few bother with them anymore. Tell me, boy, do you practice them out of habit, or fear me?"
"Respect," I answered without hesitation. "For those wiser than me."
Behind my back, I subtly flicked my finger downward. Don't say anything.
Nagi caught it and pressed her lips together.
Ariel chuckled softly. "Flattering. Though wisdom, like power, is often mistaken for age." His gaze lingered on Nagi again, lingering too long. "Still, such delicate control. Such promising talent. One could almost call her a prize today's erand."
My pulse spiked, but I kept my expression calm.
Before he could continue, a distant shout echoed down the street. Smoke curled upward from where the fireballs had scorched the stone, and hurried footsteps and alarmed voices began to swell.
Ariel sighed, almost disappointed.
"Tsk. What dreadful timing."
"CLAP!"
He rose from the burglar's limp form and clapped his hands once, sharply.
Shadows pooled beneath his feet, spreading like spilled ink. The darkness stretched upward, swallowing his small frame piece by piece.
"Do take care," Ariel said pleasantly as the shadows climbed higher. "I do hope we meet again under more… controlled circumstances."
I bowed deeply, every motion precise.
Nagi followed a heartbeat later, mimicking my posture.
The shadows closed, and Ariel was gone.
Only the distant chaos remained, and the sudden, crushing realization that we had just been spared by nothing more than his boredom.
I stayed frozen in my bow for a solid thirty seconds, just to be absolutely sure he was gone.
Then-
"Phuah!! Huf-huf-huf."
I sucked in air I hadn't realized I was holding. My knees finally gave out, and I dropped onto the dirty stone street without even trying to look dignified.
Nagi was still touching her choker when she spoke, her voice tight with lingering fear."Matt… who was that?"
"God knows," I muttered. "But whatever he was, he was at least Peak Monarch rank. Body reconstruction like that doesn't just happen when you get stronger; you can only achieve that when you reach Peak Monarch rank. The moment I saw a child speaking like an old man and turning a berserker into a chair, I assumed the worst."
I exhaled slowly and glanced back at the empty spot where the shadows had been.
"So yeah, pretty sure we just confronted an unregistered monarch-ranked weaver outlaw and survived. We could technically put that on our resumes."
Nagi blinked. "That's… not comforting."
"True," I said dryly. "And I don't plan on applying anywhere for a long time. Preferably ever."
I stared at the ground for a moment longer, then let out a weak chuckle."A meeting with another bad-ending maker. Just like I said. Very romantic."
Nagi tilted her head. "Did you say something?"
I shook my head. "No. Nothing important." I gestured vaguely. "More importantly, do you still remember who that bag belongs to?"
Her face lit up immediately. "Yeah!" she said, nodding enthusiastically. "She looked like she was in her forties, with short brown hair tied back, wearing a beige coat with a faded blue scarf. Oh, and she kept wringing her hands like this when she panicked."
We carefully skirted around the crowd gathering near the scorch marks and broken stalls, following the direction Nagi pointed out. Sure enough, we spotted the woman pacing anxiously at the edge of the street.
I handed the bag to Nagi. "Do the honors. Technically, you're the one who caught him."
She approached, and moments later, the woman gasped, grabbing the bag and pulling Nagi into a tight hug while thanking her profusely. I stayed back, returning to our abandoned seats.
Our ice creams were completely melted. The skewers had now gone cold as well.
"Hah," I muttered. "Guess not all good deeds are rewarded."
I downed what remained of my ice cream in one go and half-heartedly nibbled on some of the skewers.
Nagi came back practically glowing, eagerly recounting what the woman had said. Mid-sentence, she looked down and noticed her own melted ice cream.
"…Oh," she said softly.
She glanced at me. "Should we move now?"
She offered her hand. I took it, then handed her the skewered grilled fruli boar. She slipped it neatly into her subspace pocket bracelet.
I watched with thinly veiled envy.
Having one of those was incredibly convenient. Especially in a world where backpacks were practically nonexistent.
The rest of the afternoon passed more quietly.
We wandered without much of a plan, letting the city decide our route.
By the time the sky began to warm with orange and gold, we found ourselves standing beneath an old clock tower at the heart of the district.
Without a word, Nagi flicked a kunai upward. The violet thread caught on a stone groove near the tower's face. I followed, my chain anchoring beside hers, and together we swung up in silence, careful and light, until we landed on the broad ledge just below the clock.
The city stretched out beneath us, bathed in the glow of sunset.
"You know, Matt," Nagi said after a while, legs dangling over the edge, "I just can't figure you out. Sometimes you sound absurdly wise, like earlier… and other times you're completely brainless. Like a walking zombie."
She glanced at me, "You feel out of place. Like you don't belong here at all."
I let out a small breath.
"Well, technically, I am an alien here, and I'm never wise. I'm just following some sort of guide." I said to myself.
My gaze drifted off, unfocused, and my face twisted into something awkward and hard to define, like I was juggling too many thoughts and dropping all of them at once.
A cheater, I unconsciously muttered.
The word echoed only in my head.
Nagi watched me in silence. Then she let out a small breath, half a sigh, half a laugh.
"…You're doing it again," she said quietly. "That face you make when you're thinking way too much, but refusing to say any of it."
She bumped her shoulder lightly against mine.
Shaking her head, she continued. " What did I just tell you, Alien. It's like you don't even know where you are, or what you are."
Seriously. How was she this sharp?
"I don't really blame you," she continued, fingers brushing her choker as her tone softened.
"I'm still figuring myself out, too. That's probably why I felt comfortable with you." She smiled faintly. "We're both… defective."
That word fit far better.
She pulled the remaining skewers from her inventory and handed me half. We ate in companionable silence, watching the sun sink lower, the city lights flickering on one by one beneath us.
I glanced at her. She met my eyes for a second before looking away, her hair fluttering gently in the evening breeze.
When the sun finally dipped below the horizon, I spoke.
"You see, Nagi… there's nothing I ever wanted to be."
She stared out at the darkening sky. "There's nothing I want to do either."
"There's no version of me I can picture in the future," I said.
"And there's no deeper meaning behind anything I do," she replied.
Silence settled between us.
I looked down at the tiny figures moving through the streets below and muttered, "What a sinful way to live."
She turned her head slightly. "Then why are you still here?"
"Because I owe a debt," I said.
"One I could never repay before. Now that I'm an alien, like you said, I've been given a chance to repay it here."
I glanced at her. "What about you? Why are you here?"
She swung her legs back and forth and smiled, soft and certain.
"Because I was saved," she said. "And I could never waste the life that was given to me."
I nodded slowly, eyes drifting back to the horizon where the last traces of sunlight bled into the night.
We finished the remaining skewers in comfortable silence. When there was nothing left but empty sticks, we both stood up on the ledge and stretched, joints popping lightly after sitting too long.
Nagi glanced at me, a faint pout on her lips.
"I was supposed to make you feel better, you know," she said. "Not the other way around."
I chuckled. Did this girl even realize that guys do not usually make expressions like that?
"Well, I do feel a lot better now. So technically, you succeeded. Don't worry about it."
She smiled at that, then turned her gaze toward the massive silhouette of Excellia Academy rising in the distance, its lights beginning to glow against the darkening sky.
"…Shall we head back?" she asked.
"Yeah," I replied.
We stepped off the ledge together and let our looms manifest.
Chains and threads pulled us forward, swinging us back toward the city lights and the academy beyond, partially content with where things were, at least for now.