thought you'd be searching for me... What should I do now?" I returned to the inn, shoulders

slumped. I couldn't understand what she had in mind

, but whatever it was, it probably wasn't good. Was she planning to report me as a shadow spirit-user

? Or was she trying to convert me to the light? The more I imagined the worst possibilities, the more likely they seemed. Maybe... I really should leave the town. But even

if I did, I wouldn't be able to afford much with the money I currently

have. I could move, sure—after all, I had a map—but I'd just started feeling

like I might actually survive by hunting in the labyrinth. I didn't want to give that up easily. That day, I eventually entered the labyrinth late at night and spent a little while

hunting goblins and orcs.

Before the surroundings grew bright, I quietly slipped out of the labyrinth.

I repeated this for several days.

By midnight, Reflair was certainly no longer at the entrance to the labyrinth.

I didn't know whether she was still searching for me or not.

After all, I had used magic to escape in the middle of town.

Perhaps she finally understood that I was deliberately avoiding contact.

When the spirit stones had accumulated, I went to the black market to request they buy them from me.

Whether I stayed in town or left, I couldn't do anything without money.

"I finally found you...!"

Just before reaching the black market, I dispelled Dark Fog and was about to enter a shop when someone grabbed my arm.

A beautiful woman with platinum blonde hair, out of place in the dirty alleyway, hidden in the shadows.

It's Reflair.

"Oh, you. Why are you here?"

"Heh. There aren't many places around here illegally buying spirit stones, so I figured it out from the fact that the registered explorer doesn't match the person in question."

"You've been waiting here the whole time...?"

"Yes. I even waited at the maze entrance, but you never showed up. Well, I guess this was just a last resort."

He glanced at the shopkeeper inside and deliberately shrugged his shoulders.

This place isn't exactly one that protects customer information. Give it a silver coin, and it would have spilled everything.

A person with black hair and black eyes isn't common, and someone like me, completely dressed in black, is even rarer.

"I finally... finally found you. Please don't run away this time?"

Reflia gripped my arm tightly, startling me into a delayed reaction.

Her slender fingers dug into my flesh, revealing a strength far beyond her delicate appearance, her firm will unmistakably evident.

— Honestly, I was stunned.

I barely leave traces in this town.

I eat only at street stalls, and I don’t even go outside during the day.

My life consists solely of wandering between the labyrinth and my lodgings in the dead of night, when no one’s awake.

And yet, she found me. Obsessive, perhaps. Or something like that.

It must be that finding me offers her some real advantage… that’s probably the reason.

From her grip on my arm, I felt an extraordinary strength.

If she really wanted to, she could crush my arm without hesitation.

If you're going to tear this off, you might as well summon a Nightbug, summon a Mantis as an undead, or bring out a barrier stone.

"...What do you plan to do with me?"

As a user of dark spirit magic, are you planning to send me somewhere?

She used the phrase "recently registered explorer" just now. I'm an unlicensed explorer. If you catch me, you might get a reward.

I don't want to go to jail. Especially not here, not like this.

"Your answer will determine how much I resist with full force."

There's a Mantis spirit stone inside the Shadow Bag.

If I summon it as an undead here, it'll cause a huge panic throughout the city, but I'll definitely escape.

Since the undead monsters I summoned will obey my commands, if I order them to merely detain Refreia, no one's life needs to be taken. I'll have to leave the town, but in any case, I can't stay here anymore.

Yet her response was beyond anything I could have imagined.

"Huh? What do you mean, 'how'? I'm just trying to return the favor for saving my life?"

Refreia said it casually.

Was she really not planning to drag me to some official office?

No, maybe she's just going to strike when I let my guard down.

No matter how beautiful she is, she's still a stranger. I won't let my guard down.

"I don't need it. Let go of my hand."

"No way. You're trying to run away, aren't you?"

"I already said I don't want any thanks. That's the end of it."

"Even if you're fine, I'm not. Right? Just a little bit, please."

Reflira smiles warmly.

What the hell is this guy?

He never listens to a word I say.

Come to think of it, he was the one who exposed me from the shadows using light spirit magic.

But continuing this argument was foolish.

Even in an alley, there are people watching.

No, precisely because it's an alley, there are more people peeking from windows with smirks or glancing over with suspicious stares.

And Reflira herself doesn't take her eyes off me.

I can't tell when that laugh or those eyes will appear again, and a chill runs down my spine.

"Cut it out already! I said I don't need your thanks! What's your damn goal?! You're alive now—shouldn't that be enough!?!"

I pressed her against the wall, gripping her arm.

Perhaps politeness is just a pretense.

I won’t say she’s lying, but there was an undeniable unease.

Or maybe this is simply how courtesy works in this world. To me, unfamiliar with its norms, I couldn’t tell for sure.

But even if that were the case, I had no intention of getting involved with her.

"……I was just—"

Refrea, pinned against the wall, her face flushed red, trembled slightly and whispered something quietly.

She seemed unprepared for retaliation—despite her being far stronger than me, she didn’t resist at all.

Her ears were red too, and I half-expected her to suddenly snap and attack.

I tightened my grip on her arm.

"…………I ended up—

She whispered something small again.

Trembling violently, I felt an eerie, ghostly presence.

This might be bad.

As I was trying to figure out how to escape, Refreia suddenly lifted her face, her expression resolute.

"I've fallen for you! That's why—"

"Huh?"

Staring at me with glistening eyes, I didn't understand at first what she was saying.

Like...?

Did she just say she likes me? Now...?