"Riveria!"
Ais threw herself straight into Riveria's arms.
Riveria was stunned by the sudden impact. She lowered her head and found Ais clinging to her with a helpless, almost pleading expression. Riveria could hardly imagine how this girl had become so fragile after just half a month apart.
This side of Ais was extremely rare, and it left Riveria at a loss. She hurried to ask:
"What's wrong, Ais?"
"...It's been half a month."
Riveria's mouth twitched. So that was it—Ais was reacting like this simply because she hadn't seen her for half a month.
'So… Ais missed me?'
That answer alone told her that Ais hadn't grown up as much as she'd thought. She was still a child who needed an adult's presence.
'Is this… because of Aria's matter?'
Ever since that incident, Ais had started to grow. Back then, Riveria had clearly felt her maturing—training alone more often, spending less time glued to Riveria's side.
Only then had Riveria truly thought Ais was growing up.
And from that point forward, Riveria found herself needing to take care of Ais far less.
But who could have expected Ais to act like a child again today?
Riveria thought it over but could only make a guess. She had no way of knowing what had actually happened.
Given Ais's past antics, Riveria felt it was absolutely necessary to figure out why Ais had ended up like this.
"Ais, I had things I needed to deal with during these two weeks."
"Because of her personal situation, Filvis had to undergo a trusted investigation by the Guild. I've been assisting them with it the whole time."
Riveria knew she couldn't question Ais directly yet. She needed to explain her own circumstances first—otherwise, Ais might start crying.
Sure enough, the Ais who had looked ready to sulk just moments ago immediately froze when she heard those words.
"You were helping the whole time?"
"Yes. For the entire half month, I've been cooperating with the Guild. They even investigated whether our familia is suitable and capable of bearing the responsibility of taking in Filvis."
Just recalling the details made Riveria's head ache. The process might have been formal in structure, but the investigation itself had been genuine—in every sense a real half-month inquiry.
"Filvis's situation is far more complicated than we imagined. As for the results, there are things I shouldn't speak of—especially regarding Filvis. The fewer people who know about her situation, the better. If news about her ever spread, she would be hunted by the entire elf race."
Ais's eyes widened blankly. It was the first time Riveria had ever spoken of the matter with such severity.
"It's that serious? And the investigation really took half a month?"
Riveria gave a slight nod. In truth, Filvis's circumstances were even more severe than she was letting on. But because of how serious it was, she couldn't discuss many details—not even with Ais.
Still, looking at Ais's expression now, it seemed the earlier emotional turbulence had been knocked out of her.
And honestly, Riveria was relieved. As long as Ais didn't revert to that earlier state, they could continue the conversation normally.
"Filvis's situation is a bit complicated. Her identity as a 'City Destruction' target is no small matter."
"But the half-month investigation is finally done. Next, we need to think about bringing Filvis back and figuring out her living arrangements."
"We'll talk more tomorrow after we bring her home."
Ais hadn't heard the specifics, but she sensibly didn't press further.
"Ais, what happened to you?"
Now that Ais seemed calmer, Riveria shifted the topic to her.
"I…"
Being interrupted earlier had completely scrambled Ais's emotions. She stood frozen for a long moment, unable to force any more words out.
It felt like someone had covered her face right when she was about to sneeze—forcing the feeling back down.
Utterly unbearable.
And now that she knew Riveria had spent the entire half-month cooperating with the Guild investigation for Filvis, it only made her even more unable to speak.
Ais didn't know how to explain, but she had a strong gut feeling that Riveria was somehow responsible for her current emotional mess.
Acting on pure instinct, she balled her hand into a fist and gently thumped Riveria's shoulder.
"Bad!"
Riveria immediately understood this little burst of frustration.
Ais must've realized Riveria had unintentionally disrupted the earlier mood, leaving her too tangled up to express anything properly.
Fine. I'll accept that "bad," Riveria thought with a quiet sigh of relief.
With one arm still wrapped around the girl clinging to her, she lifted the other hand to stroke Ais's head.
"Alright then—who upset you earlier?"
As Riveria stroked her hair, Ais was like a cat with its pressure point pressed—utterly helpless, mind blank, turning soft and obedient.
…
"Bell Cranel."
"Him? What did he do to upset you?"
"Mm… he came over, started talking, and then just stopped halfway. He left me hanging."
Ais didn't mention the part where she got lectured.
Even she knew that if Bell hadn't gone that far at the time, her head wouldn't have cooled down enough to actually listen.
What truly annoyed her was Bell stopping halfway through his words on purpose.
And she could tell the part he didn't say was the important part—yet she couldn't hear it at all, which drove her crazy.
"He stopped halfway…"
It sounded like he'd done it deliberately to tease her. Naturally, Riveria grew curious too—what exactly had he said?
"He said, 'If all you want is to see your parents one last time, I don't mind if you use such self-destructive methods to grow.'"
Ais repeated it verbatim.
"I feel like he was hiding something important in that sentence. I tried to make him continue, but he kept changing the subject and wouldn't let me ask."
Just as Ais lifted her head after saying this, she saw Riveria staring at her—wide-eyed, stunned speechless.
At that instant, Ais understood.
'So those words really were important!'