Chapter 467

‘…Hehehe?’

What kind of laugh was that? Why? I froze at Ulrike’s innocent little laugh. Looking around, I saw Zähringen giving me a faint smile and a knowing look. His golden eyes met mine before shifting toward another friend. I followed his gaze.

Elias was pulling at the hair he had roughly half-tied with the hairpin he’d received as a gift. I jerked my chin toward him.

“…That’s Eli. Why?”

“Yeah. It’s ‘Eli.’”

“…….”

Wait a second. I whipped my head back toward Elias. He stretched his lips to one side, pressed them together, rolled his eyes, went through all sorts of strange expressions, and then finally admitted it without another word.

“That’s right. I’m Ulrike’s Wichteln.”

“…….”

Even though Ulrike was laughing, dread came first. So what about the gift? He gave him something good, right? No, he must’ve given a good one. Otherwise, Ulrike wouldn’t be grinning like that and drawing it out this much.

Now I understood why Ulrike was laughing. He was happy because he had received a gift from the one friend in this group he was still awkward with. Maybe he was embarrassed, too. Elias had avoided answering by pretending to be interested in something else. Leo was holed up in the room, so he had no idea what was going on. Zähringen wasn’t the type to blab about other people’s business, and he liked quietly watching things unfold. As for Narke… he knew about the relationship between Ulrike and Elias, so maybe he was staying quiet out of consideration for them. Though honestly, he was probably staying quiet because he found it entertaining.

‘So Elias really gave Ulrike a gift? What exactly did he give him?’

Sorry, but I couldn’t stop wondering. The fact that neither of them was saying it outright somehow made it even more suspicious. Their relationship certainly wasn’t bad, so it wasn’t impossible, but it was still shocking to hear.

I looked at Ulrike and carefully asked, “Luise. What did you get from Eli?”

“I got two things, but they’re both secret!”

Ulrike smiled proudly, his cheeks flushed. He bounced on the spot, making the light glint off his hair. Only then did I realize how bright it had gotten outside. His expression radiated such excitement that it was hard to fully measure his joy. Just looking at him, I felt as though his happiness was spilling over onto me. Once again witnessing a sight so rarely found in any of us, I felt an inward sense of relief.

I smiled along with him and asked, “Are you really not going to tell me?”

“No! I’m going to keep it to myself, just like you guys did.”

“Pity…”

Elias, who had been watching with an impassive expression, raised one corner of his mouth, then quickly lowered it again. For a moment, I found his expression strange. He was probably just pleased with himself for having chosen a good gift, but Ulrike was still someone outside Elias’s usual boundaries. For Elias, that reaction was practically friendly. At least, that was how I remembered him.

Without any sharp edge, but in his characteristically blunt tone, Elias said, “Right, good thinking. Keep it to yourself.”

Ulrike grinned, showing his teeth, and nodded deeply.

What on earth had he given him to get a reaction like that? I could tell it wasn’t just some ordinary object. If Elias had given Ulrike a chance to learn more about him, even from a distance, then I would be just as happy as Ulrike. I thought I was beginning to understand why Ulrike had worried about the awkwardness between Leo and me and tried to help us become good friends.

Leaning against the table, I looked at the ribbons scattered across the floor and the empty boxes, then wondered who had given Elias his gift.

I had already seen Elias open his present. There was a black-jeweled hairpin in his hair now, keeping the long strands at the side from falling across his face. That alone was unusual. Elias never tied his hair back. I had only seen him open the box containing the hairpin before turning my attention to Leo’s reaction, so I had no idea what else he had received.

“Eli, who did you get your gift from?”

“Oh-ho, now you’re curious? Take a guess.”

“I don’t have much to go on besides the hairpin…”

Leo? What kind of gift would Leo give him?

I had already received a birthday present from Leo once. Though he had developed quite a bit of sensitivity through his deep and wide-ranging thoughts, by nature he placed great importance on reason and practicality, so he tended to give useful gifts.

And I remembered what kind of gifts Leo had given the Elias in the novel over those ten years. When they were young, he had given gifts in his own way, but as time went on, he sometimes began choosing things in ways that suited Elias instead. Still, judging from everything I had read so far, a hairpin wasn’t the sort of gift that would pass between them unless it had some special meaning.

If it were Leo, he’d probably just tell him it was time to cut his hair.

‘Then Julia?’

Julia was a possibility.

The others were all looking at me as if this were some great matter. Meeting their round eyes, I thought it over. Honestly, Elias, Leo, and Julia had been close since childhood, practically like family in a way, so there was no reason for any of them to give the other a gift simply to show how close they were or to give them something they knew they would like.

If it were Julia, he was the sort to quietly pursue his own amusement, so he might give Elias something I could never have imagined. Or he might use the gift to subtly reveal some political intention.

‘…So, no. Not Julia.’

I looked at Narke, who was sitting at the table and looking up at me.

“Narke, it was you.”

“Ah~ You got it. Guess what I gave him~?”

Apparently, the hairpin wasn’t all there was. I shrugged with a laugh.

“Who knows? If it were you, I bet you gave him something painfully spot-on.”

Elias suddenly cut in.

“Yeah. I thought it was weird how he kept studying my face the whole time we were out together, so I was like, ‘Ah~ I’m just too popular~’ But he was only doing it because he was planning to give me a present.”

“Haha, no. I was looking because you looked so pretty~”

“Hahahahaha!”

Narke was incredibly good at playing along. Elias put a hand on Narke’s shoulder and started hopping around the hall with him. Already drained by their antics, I started walking away to look at the other gifts instead.

Just then, Elias appeared behind me and asked in a low, ominous voice, “How come you’re not asking what I got?”

“…Fine. What was it…?”

Elias pulled a gold necklace from inside his shirt and showed it to me.

“A locket, a Vatican quill, and a hairpin!”

“What’s inside the locket?”

“It won’t open yet. Narke says it’ll open later. Guess I just have to wait~”

It doesn’t open yet? I glanced at Narke, then looked at Leo. Leo was looking at Narke too, so I quickly changed the subject.

“Now the only ones left are Julia and Narke. Leo, did you give your gift to Julia? Or Narke?”

“It’s Julia. Ah~ This was way too easy. They’ve been friends since they were kids. There’s no way he doesn’t know what he likes!”

Leo chided him in response to Elias’s complaint.

“What did you expect from drawing lots? And it’s harder because we’re close. I’ve already given him every gift worth giving since we were kids. All that’s left is something like a potato brooch.”

“What the hell is wrong with this guy?”

“Yeah, you jerk. You got something against potatoes?”

I stared at Elias as he suddenly jumped in and added his own nonsense to the conversation. Thanks to that, Leo dismissed my comment as nonsense too and turned to Zähringen.

“For Julia, I got him a new riding outfit and some riding gear. You read the letter I put in the box, right? Go to Bavaria and pick them up later.”

“I take it that means you’re asking to have another race together sometime soon.”

“Yeah. Once my arm heals.”

“Then, considering all the effort you’ve put into this, I suppose I’ll have to win again this time.”

Leo merely tilted his head at Zähringen’s smiling provocation, looking utterly unbothered. He handled it smoothly, as one would expect from an old friend. I shifted my gaze. That left only Narke.

“So Julia gave something to Narke?”

“Yep~ I got a book. Hang on a second.”

Narke rummaged through the box with a bright smile.

‘I’m just as curious about this one as I am about what Ulrike got.’

They had been in the same class since October of last year and had gotten along well without ever rubbing each other the wrong way. Both Narke and Zähringen were friendly with everyone in the class, and with each other as well, but they weren’t exactly close enough to know each other’s tastes inside and out.

Narke pulled out a book and held it up beside his face with a smile.

“Ta-da~ An Introduction to Theravada Buddhism and a Mage’s Study of Nirvana!”

“…….”

The others seemed to realize what he had received as well, and they all just stared at him with their mouths hanging open. Elias tilted his head.

“Wasn’t Julia a Catholic~?”

“What does that have to do with anything? The broader your horizons, the better.”

Zähringen gestured toward the book and continued casually.

“As it happens, Narke told me he first got interested in Buddhism at the Vatican after reading Max Müller’s translation of the Dhammapada. So we decided to start studying Theravada Buddhism together this week.”

“Yep~ I was interested.”

Theravada Buddhism, huh. I knew a little about Mahayana Buddhism, but I didn’t know much about Theravada. If they were going to read it together, I wanted to join them too.

Narke smiled brightly again and gestured toward me.

“Want to join us, Lukas? We can read three pages a day and discuss them.”

“Sounds good. I’ll buy a copy too.”

“…! Wait!”

Ulrike hurriedly grabbed my arm. Everyone, myself included, turned to look at him. He stared at the others and stumbled over his words.

“Um, well. There’s somewhere I want to take Lukas.”

“…Where?”

This was the first I’d heard of it. And what did taking me somewhere have to do with studying Theravada Buddhism? We could always do it at different times. When I gave him a suspicious look, Ulrike spoke quietly, his expression serious.

“There’s just one thing I really want to do with you from now on, Lukas.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t tell you yet. When we get back, I’ll take you there and show you myself. Can I try to convince you then?”

“What could it possibly be…?”

I furrowed my brow, thinking it over. Perhaps because he was nervous, Ulrike’s grip on my arm was gradually tightening. When I noticed his grip loosen after briefly tightening for the second time, I gave a dry laugh and answered.

“Well, sure.”

“We’re going to start a little club. What do you think?”

We had lunch at Ulrike’s house, then made our way back to Bavaria. It was time to return.

The Command had only come to Munich to investigate the incident shortly after Ulrike, Zähringen, Elias, and I were first discovered there, and they still hadn’t given us any particular orders. They firmly believed the prison collapse was somehow connected to Ismailov, while they still had no strong suspicions about France’s involvement. So we had some time, but Ulrike had something he wanted to do with me, and I also needed to organize the information we had gathered on France’s Terminus Eukairia, Einsiedel, and the Papal See. It was about time we headed back anyway. I still needed to finish my treatment, too.

‘So we decided to make one last trip to get some magnolia branches.’

I hadn’t cut any yet because Leo had told me not to, and we had come straight to the hospital in Munich instead. He had said there was something we needed to do at the hospital first. But now, what was this about all of a sudden? A little club?

After three consecutive warps, the moment we stepped through the hospital entrance, Ulrike eagerly announced to the others,

“Buddhism! Drinking! There are all kinds of clubs like that, right? And I’m going to start a ‘club whose purpose I can’t reveal yet.’”

“Ah…”

Technically, I was an extrovert too, but whenever I saw Ulrike’s enthusiasm and sociability, mine felt like a lie. As I struggled to keep my soul from leaving my body, Zähringen stroked his chin and replied, “Sounds good.”

‘Sounds good?’

Wasn’t that just what we already did? Didn’t we already have a board game group? They played with more or less the same people all the time, without me. Sometimes they drank, played cards, read books, or went on assignments together. Wasn’t he just suggesting that they divide up these everyday activities into groups and give each one a name?

“Hmm…”

Still, if giving these things a little more meaning made Ulrike happy, then I was fine with it too. I enjoyed watching him, so I had no intention of stopping him.

Elias looked indifferent, but he seemed somewhat interested in the idea—probably because a drinking club would give him a legitimate excuse to drink—and Narke was, naturally, smiling from ear to ear. Leo wasn’t trying to stop us either, so I assumed he had no objections. Ulrike shaped his fingers into an arrow and swept his gaze over our friends before stopping on me and asking, “Lukas, are you in?”

“Yeah.”

“Great~ Then let’s each decide on a club name by tomorrow!”

‘Couldn’t we just call them the Buddhist club, the drinking club, and be done with it…?’

Everyone but me was cheering at the idea. I could only let out a hollow laugh as I wondered what kind of club I was supposed to join now.

Come to think of it, I didn’t really have any hobbies, so there wasn’t a club I could fit into. Julia and Leo could be grouped together through horseback riding, Elias and Heike through drinking, and Narke could join Elias, Ulrike, and Heike for board games… Ulrike and Heike could also be grouped together through photography and picnics.

I was the only one left out.

I found it ridiculous that I was even thinking about this, and it made me laugh. But if everyone was doing it, I wanted to play along too. I rubbed my chin and suddenly spoke up.

“I want to join the Theravada Buddhist club too.”

Ulrike’s eyes widened, and he asked cautiously, “…! Then what about my club?”

“What…? You mean the ‘club whose purpose you can’t reveal yet’? Give it a straightforward name and I’ll think about it.”

“Hahaha! You can join two! Come on, let’s study Theravada Buddhism.”

“…….”

Fine. That was all well and good. But what on earth was he planning to do with me that he still wouldn’t tell me? We’d even come all the way to Munich.

Just then, Zähringen held out his hand to me. I gave it a light slap, and he grinned, took my hand, and shook it.

“We’re here.”

Leo, who had been walking ahead of us, suddenly stopped. The harsh sunlight that had been beating down on us was now blocked by the shade of the trees. Looking around, I realized we were in the hospital’s courtyard. Rows of magnolia trees, their flowers not yet fully bloomed, stood beyond the marble statues.

Leo drew his wand from his waist and tapped it twice with his finger. The wand stretched out, transforming into a staff. With his good left arm, Leo brought the staff down against the ground, then closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the ornament at its top. Mana began to flow around his feet, stirring up a faint breeze.

— Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

With the magnolia tree before him, Leo quietly channeled mana into the ground through his staff. The moment the mana spilled across the earth like starlight, pure white blossoms swelled and spread across the bare branches. The magnolia, which had still been only partially bloomed, its branches visible between the flowers, now opened into full white bloom before us. I found myself unable to speak for a moment. The cloudlike petals swayed in the breeze. Neither Elias nor Zähringen said a word as they watched. Ulrike, too, stood there with his mouth hanging open, staring up at the tree.

Ulrike had originally planned to cut off a branch of the magnolia and plant it in a pot, but Leo had stopped him. He must have intended to preserve the magnolias here for Heike instead. I was certain Heike would love it if he saw this. Leo slowly lifted his head and said, “We should do the same at the Munich Residenz. If we come back and restore their vitality before they wither, they should keep blooming until winter.”

“…Wow.”

Ulrike had been standing there with his jaw practically hanging to the floor. He turned his head with a stiff crack of his neck and stared in amazement. His face flushed with excitement as he exclaimed, “Are you really allowed to use it like this?”

Leo let out a soft laugh. His expression was somewhere between thinking of Heike and reminiscing about his own childhood as he answered, “It’s fine. This is what this ability is for.”

“Right, I guess it is. Wow. No, wow…!”

Unable to contain his laughter, Ulrike covered his face with his hands. He blinked as he looked toward one of the windows on the top floor, where Heike’s room was.

“Then I guess I should buy some other flowers besides magnolias.”

He murmured that softly before turning to the others.

“Guys, you’re going to Heike’s room now, right?”

“Obviously.”

Elias answered dryly. They had to, if they were going to leave Heike’s Wichteln gift with him. Ulrike nodded in satisfaction.

“Then we’ll take Lukas with us right now!”

Wait.

I looked at Ulrike.

“‘We’? Isn’t it just you?”

It wasn’t.

There were three members of the “club whose purpose can’t be revealed yet,” including me.

Now that we had moved to the Munich Residenz, two friends were following close behind me as though they were escorting me somewhere against my will.

I turned around, conscious of Leo and Ulrike behind me. Ulrike immediately pushed me forward again. Then the two of them started talking among themselves.

“Leo. The other friends should have a bit more time to spare before returning, is there really no way?”

“As long as we manage to finish the conversation successfully, it’s not entirely out of the question.”

“Then should we get all seven… no, all six of us together and go?”

“Let’s just go ourselves today and adjust things tomorrow depending on how it goes.”

“Okay!”

‘So where exactly are we going?’

The fact that they were being this quiet only made me more curious. As I walked along wondering about it, Ulrike suddenly patted me on the back and turned down a corner in a different direction from me.

“Wait here for just five minutes, okay? We’ll change clothes and come back out!”

“What? Wait—”

The door closed. Ulrike had dragged Leo off with him, and Leo hadn’t even tried to stop him.

What are they doing that requires changing clothes? And I don’t have to change? Leo’s arm is injured. Can he even change in five minutes? The more I thought about it, the more suspicious it became. I leaned against the wall, wondering what they were up to, and sure enough, about five minutes later, someone tapped me on the back.

“Ah, Luise, …!”

Luise’s hand suddenly came over my eyes. He was pressing down firmly enough that I couldn’t see a thing. Rather than being startled, I was so dumbfounded that I found it funny. I caught his rough hand and asked, “No, seriously. What are you doing?”

“Come on~ It’s not far from here. Let’s go!”

I walked in step with Ulrike and called out to Leo, who was somewhere behind us.

“Wouldn’t it be basic courtesy to tell me beforehand? Hey, Leo. Fine, Luise doesn’t have to tell me, but you should at least say something.”

“I’m going to tell you now.”

“Oh, how considerate.”

As I spoke sarcastically, Ulrike swallowed nervously behind me. I felt a little bad seeing him so nervous all by himself, so I didn’t say anything more.

At some point, Leo grabbed my arm. Mana rushed through me, and the ground lurched beneath my feet. We had clearly warped. Sure enough, I felt grass beneath my feet, only to step onto marble flooring again a moment later.

Ulrike quietly muttered, “Lukas, are you still wearing the strap I gave you?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. That’s great.”

“Why?”

Instead of answering my question, Ulrike asked me another one.

“…But Lukas, why are you rolling your eyes?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I can feel your eyes moving beneath my fingers. It’s scary.”

“Endure it, Luise.”

“Ghk…”

Leo laughed behind us, apparently finding Ulrike’s reaction too ridiculous. I heard a guard greet Leo. Then came the sound of a massive door opening.

‘So we actually ran into a guard while in the middle of all this…’

I couldn’t help but laugh. Still, that meant we’d arrived. The sound of our heels echoed quite loudly. An empty banquet hall?

I grabbed Ulrike firmly by the wrist. Before I could pull his hand away, cool air brushed against my eyelids.

“Okay! You can open your eyes now!”

Ulrike gripped my shoulder tightly and shouted. The moment I saw what lay before me, a chill ran instinctively down my spine.

“…?!”