He used to wake up from a dream and couldn't help but rummage through the room looking at the candy she had given him.

He always likes to eat something to distract some subconscious attention when he is thinking or fighting, so that he can diverge his thoughts from a certain point, and candy is the most convenient food that can also provide a certain amount of energy.

After learning about his habit, she would carry some with her every time they met.

He carefully wiped each candy wrapper clean, placed it in his cupboard, and locked it.

He sketched the drawings for them according to his impressions, and built the station himself, as long as it made her happier, which he could and should do, didn't he?

…… Fortunately, their technology was strong enough to allow him to build their station in a day's time, and although he risked a little bit of being caught stealing the family's secret technology, but, anyway, it was all his own invention, and he didn't use it for anything.

On the day of the arrival of the Fillies, he did not greet them, he was not ready to face her attitude of seeing himself as air after understanding everything, he was afraid that he would not be able to help but grasp her and explain his feelings, which would lead to a bad result, inevitable.

I was finally able to watch her well at dinner, and a crowded venue was able to keep me sane to a certain extent. But he saw how unscrupulously the clergy of that church could communicate with her, even if it looked like she was rejected, but he knew that was the sign that she trusted the man. This made him jealous that he had never felt before.

"If you don't hurry, be careful that Rhines is snatched away." 』

The words that Shao secretly said to him made him make up his mind that he must talk to her today, at least so that she can face herself. And - thanks to his best friend, who helped him create an almost perfect opportunity for conversation.

While helping her get Fili back in the cloister, he wanted to find a topic to start their conversation. The other two people present were already drunk and would not interfere with their communication.

But the tranquility of her conversation with another Filip made him reluctant to break it.

He even kindly wished it was himself who was having such a conversation with her. Whatever he said, she listened and stayed with him, or vice versa, she said, he listened, he accompanyed.

She didn't want to talk to herself, and he could clearly tell. But thanks to her companion—his name was Elianne, he remembered, and the silver-haired mercenaries had told him countless times that they had a lovely sister and that everyone would spoil her—he was indeed grateful for the help that Philip had given him.

They came to the garden, where the view was particularly soft in the moonlight. This was also specially prepared for Rhines - because on several previous occasions while exploring the ruins, he had heard the mercenaries lament the unique souls of nature's creatures that did not have the ability to walk on their limbs, and the fact that she could calm her mind just by looking at them.

- So let's use this as a breakthrough point for the conversation.

If the style here really doesn't make her like it that much, then she must be satisfied with it again.

…… She looked like he was talking and playing, but the frightened look she looked at when she turned her head was also cute.

He knew what was going on in her heart, so he finally cut to the chase and apologized for the hurt he'd done.

After some hard work, he was finally able to stop ignoring his existence, which made him breathe a sigh of relief, and his heart that had been panicking finally settled down a little - although when he said that he did not regret that choice, the mercenary's expression change and defensive movements made him almost unable to restrain himself from wanting to hold her in his arms, but fortunately, there was no mistake in his speech after that, and he remedied it in time.

Ha - he suddenly understood why all the lovers in the institute liked to drape their clothes on each other's bodies, and there was a sense of declaring belonging, and he liked that feeling.

He had the leisure to look at the other person's face - after all, the other person was looking at him and showed him a pleasantly appreciative look, and he should have paid a salute in return, shouldn't he? And under the bath of moonlight, the other party's delicate face and rare feminine clothing also made him excited. Although he didn't want to say it, he ...... That's really beautiful. Even the flush on her cheeks made her even more beautiful.

I wanted to hold her in my arms again, but there was still a long way to go before I could actually do that. He couldn't just startle him right now—even though he might be on the verge of running out of self-containment.

She was thinking about something, yes, he could tell, she was struggling if she hadn't spoken. They always have to solve all the problems between themselves, don't they? Then it is necessary to let her speak out, otherwise she will definitely run away again.

But he seemed to forget one thing, and even if he did, she could run away from it.

He couldn't help but sigh as he looked at her back as she left. She was stunned by the words she blurted out in a panic, and for a moment she even wanted to tell her everything—in fact, thankfully she refused to continue the conversation and ran back, otherwise it would have turned into a bad outcome.

Because she will question that she has other goals, and even his previous apology will be suspected of being a means to achieve an end, which will make the relationship even worse.

His purpose was to be with her, but it was looking a little tough at the moment. The mercenary who is good at evading this kind of thing is quite slippery, and he can't casually alarm the other party until he is sure.

Fortunately, the last topic did not make her guard again, and he could feel that the other party finally stopped refusing the touch of his soul. Yes, after understanding those theories, he could clearly feel his soul and the wonderful sensation it brings, and he could even understand why the mercenaries believed in goddesses, because this kind of experience was not something that humans could create, it was something that only gods could do.

Because of this, standing so close to her at this moment, he can feel more deeply the wounds on the other party's soul that have not yet healed, and he wants to make up for his mistakes, so he learns the methods described in the books, and tries to mend those wounds - in fact, it is very smooth, because those wounds are the void caused by his departure, so it is most effective for him to recover again, which verifies the so-called causal bond in the theory of magic.

But...... It seems that the other party is completely unaware that this is the effect of his own initiative, and just accepts it as a normal situation.

But now he felt the other party being sad. He didn't know why, but the mercenary was very sad now, and he couldn't be by her side to protect her.

He could feel something black on her soul, dark, full of negative emotions, and corrosive, and he suspected that if it weren't for the mercenary himself who had been restraining this, it would have swallowed up all the positive emotions on the mercenary's soul.

He wanted to appease her, to help her protect her soul, but he couldn't, because it would scare her and shut her off from then on.

He could only stand here, feeling her grief and despair, and then condemning his own powerlessness.

Be sure to get her to accept her ideas as soon as possible. Apaya placed the hand holding the badge on his heart. Anyway...... They all want to care for and protect her openly.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle is the mercenary's insistence that he likes Shao...... The mercenary's stubbornness made him a little depressed and a little distressed.

In order to keep herself from being hurt and not to meet the disappointment, she convinced herself that he liked Shao, so she would not have hope.

Although even he thought he liked Shao before.

Apaya covered her face and moaned silently.

Does this count as a hole he dug for himself?

So how to solve this problem...... It wouldn't work if she just told her, because she would think she was something else—oh, that's enough, he'd probably be tempted to shake the mercenary's shoulder and yell at it—was he going to help Huck Wright and Shao together?

The thought made Appaya frown in disgust.

If you think about it again, there will definitely be a way to solve it...... That person is not a good choice, though...... That's the person Shao himself likes.

Thinking of this, and carefully watching for no other movement around her, Apaya finally decided to leave here and go back to her residence. And just as he returned to the cloister, he met Iro.

"Apaya? Turns out you haven't gone back yet. ”

Iloh seemed to be in a good mood, and this person who didn't seem to be sad made Apaya feel not so good.

"Just about to go back...... Looks like something good has happened to you. ”

The Engineer rarely took the initiative to stir up the conversation, and Iro, who was on the rise, didn't notice the anomaly.

"Hmm...... Finally I managed to make Leanne not hate me. He said happily, with a slight shyness in his smile, "Ahem, don't tell anyone...... But Leanne told me that she wouldn't turn her back on me because of Socilia's affair, and that she had basically no feelings for me in the past 10 years. ”

Is this a good thing? Apaya looked at Ilo with a blank expression. Could it be that the leader of Ganillo has been stimulated too much and gone insane? Is he going to tell the others to be careful.

"Hey, don't look at me like that, I know that sounds weird." He faked a few coughs, "But...... I think that's a good thing. This means that Leanne will accept me to pursue her again without any suspicion. ”

In a sense, he probably understood how the Ganillo family had survived until now. Appaya thought as she looked at the smirkling Iro. This optimistic spirit of self-soothing and the consequent thought decisions should catch many people off guard, and eventually let him achieve his goal.