"May we come in, Arin?" Finn's voice echoed from outside just as Ais finished feeding me the last bite.
"Yes, sure," I answered.
Finn entered first, but he wasn't alone. Riveria, Ryuu, Asfi, Kaguya, and Alise filed in behind him. The tent suddenly felt very crowded.
"How are you feeling, Arin?" Ryuu crouched near me, hands resting on her knees, blue eyes filled with worry.
"Way better." I smiled. "What about you girls?"
"We're fine. We weren't hurt as badly as you." Asfi pushed her glasses up.
"Can you see properly now? Any pain or discomfort?" Riveria asked.
I shook my head. "Nah, I'm fine. Fortunately, I haven't lost my vision."
"That's a relief." Riveria's jade eyes still scanned me carefully. "Airmid mentioned, you were fortunate. The damage could have been permanent."
"Well, at least something went right today," I replied.
"More like you got lucky," Kaguya said flatly.
"I'll take luck over skill any day if it keeps me alive."
Finn cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. "Now then, I'm glad to see you're recovering, Arin, but there are matters we need to discuss."
The casual atmosphere shifted slightly as everyone focused on him.
"We'll be departing tomorrow evening," Finn announced. "The dragon has been slain, the quest is complete. The drop items and magic stone are getting secured and will be divided among the participating familias."
"Finally," Kaguya muttered. "I'm sick of this ash-covered wasteland."
"Finn," I spoke up. "Before we head back to Orario... would it be alright if we made a stop at the Alv Mountains?"
Several pairs of eyes turned to me in surprise.
"The Alv Mountains?" Finn repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"I promised Riveria and Ryuu we'd visit," I explained. "Before we got caught in that battle. We passed right by them on the way. Seemed like they wanted to see it."
Riveria's eyes widened slightly, clearly not expecting me to bring it up now. "Arin, you're injured. That can wait—"
"I was injured, now all I have is just muscle pain, which most likely will be gone by tomorrow," I said. "And we will be leaving in the evening, it would be a good spot to camp for the night. We're already this close, and who knows when we'll be back in this region again."
"Fine," Finn looked between me, Riveria, and Ryuu and back at me, a small smile forming, "we're ahead of schedule, and the return journey will be less demanding than the trip here. A brief detour wouldn't be unreasonable." He looked at Riveria. "What do you think, Riveria?"
Riveria was silent for a moment, her expression carefully neutral. Then she inclined her head slightly. "...If it's not too much trouble, I would appreciate it."
"I would as well," Ryuu added quietly, her blue eyes brightening slightly.
"Then it's settled," Finn concluded. "We'll make a stop at the Alv Mountains before continuing our journey."
"Wait, really?" Alise perked up. "I've heard so much about it! This is exciting!"
"Don't get too excited," Kaguya crossed her hands. "It's just a mountain."
"It's not 'just a mountain,'" Ryuu's voice laced with unusual firmness. "It's sacred to the elves."
"Anyway, rest up. You need it." Finn nodded once before ducking out of the tent. As the flap fell closed behind him, Riveria's expression shifted to something more serious. She turned to address the group.
"Now, I know all of you have some questions about Ais's behavior during the battle. Especially towards that tornado, and you might have already connected the dots."
Hearing her words, Ais looked down, her hands clenching in her lap. Her whole body seemed to tense, as if bracing for an interrogation. I felt her hand, which had been resting near me, tremble slightly.
There was a moment of silence. Then Alise spoke up, her voice unusually thoughtful.
"Hm... Sorry, Riveria, but I don't remember hearing anything like that."
Ais's head snapped up, her golden eyes wide with surprise.
Kaguya studied her nails with deliberate casualness. "Yeah, it was pretty chaotic out there.
"The battle was quite intense," Ryuu agreed softly. "Many things were said in the heat of the moment. Easy to mishear."
Asfi adjusted her glasses. "I was far too busy assessing the threat to hear anything."
Riveria's stern expression softened into something gentler. "I see. Then I suppose there's nothing to discuss after all."
Ais stared at them, her golden eyes wide with confusion and something else, disbelief, hope, maybe. "But... you all heard. I know you did. I called the tornado—"
"Called it what?" Alise interrupted cheerfully. "I just remember you being really focused on killing that dragon. Which you did! Beautifully, I might add!"
"Alise is right," Ryuu agreed, her ocean-blue eyes warm as they met Ais's. "What I remember most is how you came back to yourself. How you fought with perfect control at the end."
"Everyone has their reasons for fighting," Kaguya's usual sharpness was absent from her tone. "You don't owe us explanations for yours."
Ais's hands clenched tighter in her lap, trembling now. Her voice came out small, almost childlike in its confusion. "Why? Why are you all..."
"Because we're your friends, dummy," Alise said warmly, reaching out and placing both hands on Ais's cheeks, pulling on them lightly in a playful gesture. "Friends don't interrogate each other."
"Besides," Kaguya added with a slight smirk, "it's not like any of us don't have our own secrets and baggage. Would be pretty hypocritical to demand yours."
"The point is," Ryuu continued, "you fought well today, Ais. You protected your companions. That's all we need to know right now."
"And when—if—you ever want to talk about it," Asfi said, "we'll listen. Whether it's today, tomorrow, or even ten years in the future."
Ais blinked rapidly, her gaze dropping to her lap. When she looked up again, her expression had softened in a way I'd rarely seen. "I... thank you. All of you."
"No need for thanks," Kaguya waved dismissively. "Just don't go berserk on us again. That was terrifying."
"And exhausting," Alise groaned. "Do you know how hard it is to fight a dragon while worrying about your friend?"
"Very hard," Ryuu confirmed with a small smile.
"Though you did look pretty cool with those black winds," Alise admitted, her eyes sparkling. "Scary, but cool. Like some kind of dark avenging spirit or something."
"Alise," Asfi sighed.
"What? I'm just being honest!"
Despite everything, Ais let out a small, surprised laugh—small but genuine. The sound seemed to surprise even her.
"There we go," Riveria said with satisfaction. "That's much better than moping."
"I wasn't moping," Ais protested weakly.
"You absolutely were," Kaguya countered immediately. "Very dramatically, too. All quiet and withdrawn and staring into the distance meaningfully."
"Says the queen of dramatic sighs," Ryuu muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear.
Kaguya's head whipped around. "I do not dramatically sigh—"
"You literally just did it!" Alise pointed out gleefully. "Just now! That was totally a dramatic sigh!"
"That was a normal sigh!"
"There's nothing normal about the way you sigh," Ryuu said with unusual boldness, a playful glint in her blue eyes. "You put your whole soul into it. It's very theatrical."
"I do not—" Kaguya stopped, realizing she was about to sigh again, and clamped her mouth shut.
As the light bickering continued, I watched Ais's expression gradually relax. The guilt and worry that had been weighing on her seemed lighter now, eased by the simple acceptance of her friends.
Riveria watched them all with an expression of fond exasperation. "I see rest was perhaps too optimistic. Very well, let's channel this energy into something productive. Everyone needs to prepare for tomorrow's departure. Equipment checks, inventory, making sure nothing critical was damaged in the fight."
"Yes, ma'am…" came a response.
"Come on then, everyone out," Riveria said, herding them toward the exit. "Arin needs rest, and we all have preparations to make."
"But we just got here," Alise protested weakly.
"And now you're leaving. Move."
As they filed out, each offered their own form of farewell. Ais paused at the entrance, glancing back. "Get some rest. You look terrible."
"Wow. Brutal honesty."
"You told me to always be honest with you."
"I'm starting to regret that."
Her smile widened just a fraction. "Goodnight, Arin."
"Goodnight, Ais."
She left, and the tent fell into silence.
I lay there, staring up at the tent ceiling, my body aching but my mind oddly clear.
So that happened. A high Level 7 dragon, nearly dying multiple times, entering some kind of limit-breaking state, and confirming that Ais's mother is apparently trapped in a thousand-year-old tornado or is the very tornado itself.
Just another day in the dungeon world. Well, technically not in the dungeon, but close enough.
To be honest, the others had handled it better than I expected. With no interrogation and demands, or maybe I should have expected that reaction from those girls. I guess that's what separates good people from great ones, knowing when to push and when to step back.
Still, that tornado wasn't going away. Ais would need to face it eventually. And when she did, I'd be there, we all would.
But that was a problem for future us. While the present me just needed not to die from muscle strain.
Tomorrow we'd pack up, head to the Alv Mountains, camp there for the night, then continue back to Orario. Back to the familiar chaos of the dungeon, guild politics, and whatever ridiculous situation would inevitably find us next.
Because if there was one thing I'd learned in this world, it was that peace never lasted long.
But for tonight, I'd take the win. Dragon dead. Everyone alive. Secrets kept. Promises made.
Not bad for someone who nearly became dragon food.
My eyes grew heavy, exhaustion finally catching up. The pain had dulled to a manageable throb, and Airmid's healing had done its job well enough.
Sleep pulled at me, insistent and inevitable.
Tomorrow would be another long day. But I'd survived worse.
Probably.
...I really needed to stop nearly dying.
But that was a problem for future me. Present me was going to sleep.
And with that profound thought, consciousness slipped away into merciful darkness.