Sel greeted Lavi and Eric with a stoic expression. She deliberately averted her gaze, not wanting to engage with Lavi. He probably felt the same—he looked pretty annoyed.

“Hey, are you in or not?” the merchant interrupted the chilly atmosphere.

Sel nodded, took out a 1-ruble coin from her pocket, and handed it to the merchant. Lavi, watching silently, muttered something about what was so fun about a festival, then dragged Eric off elsewhere.

Sel held the mock rifle. She had ten shots and hit every single one without a miss.

“Kyaa! Sel, you’re the best!” Karin squealed, her voice ringing loud and clear nearby.

People began to gather around, curious about the commotion. The merchant handed Sel a large stuffed toy that could have been a bear or a rabbit—it was hard to tell. Sel staggered slightly under its weight; it was huge, almost too big to hold in her arms. Karin’s eyes sparkled like stars.

“Here. It’s yours,” Sel said, handing it to her casually.

Karin’s bright eyes welled with tears.

“It’s… so touching, Sel.”

“I really wanted to give it to you.”

Sel was relieved she finally had something to offer Karin after everything Karin had done for her, and she smiled. Just as she resolved to win her a gold ring next, Sel felt a piercing gaze from nearby. She glanced sideways.

Lavi, who had grumbled off earlier, was there, his eyes shifting between Karin, holding the odd stuffed animal, and Sel. His stare finally rested on Karin, and his lips moved slightly.

‘Not great.’

He was obviously trying to provoke her. Karin tightened her grip on the toy, ready to confront him about what he’d mumbled. But she held back. He was, after all, the leader of the mercenary guild that kept the village fed and a noble at that. She couldn’t treat him lightly.

Sel pulled Karin closer to her and shook her head slightly, indicating not to mind him. Karin’s face brightened once again.

Ignoring Lavi’s scornful gaze, Sel handed the merchant two rubles.

“I’ll take a shot at the twenty-round gold ring prize.”

“I’m in too,” came a sudden voice from behind her.

A large hand reached out as Lavi pulled a 10-ruble bill from his pocket and handed it to the merchant. Sel’s eyes widened, but Lavi merely stood ready with a nonchalant expression.

The merchant handed both Sel and Lavi mock rifles, smiling broadly as he explained that the one who scored the most hits would win the gold ring.

“…Why the sudden interest, Commnader?”

“I need a ring, too.”

“…Excuse me?”

Sel asked again, but Lavi offered no response. Eric, dragged along by Lavi, muttered from the sidelines, calling it a waste of time. Lavi’s jaw jutted out as if in mild irritation, and he raised his mock rifle quickly, aiming forward.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump. Lavi fired five times, sweeping the rifle horizontally, and cork-made mock bullets flew out in a random direction.

An astonishing result followed. Dozens of target plates split in half and fell, all in five shots.

The crowd fell silent for a moment, then erupted with cheers, shouting things like “Amazing!” “It’s like magic!” and “That’s our leader!”

“That’s cheating! You can’t use aura in a shooting game!” Sel shouted, feeling wronged. Karin was equally indignant.

Lavi merely shrugged his shoulders, expressionless.

The merchant, mouth agape, stared at the severed plates in disbelief.

“Well, isn’t it my win since I knocked them all down in five shots?” Lavi said smugly.

“I… I suppose so?” the merchant replied, bewildered, handing Lavi the gold ring.

“Will you gift it to someone special, sir?” the merchant asked cheekily after regaining his composure, but Lavi, looking irked, shook his head.

“Nah, it’s not like that.”

As Lavi reluctantly slipped the ring into his pocket, Sel held out her hand to him.

“Then please give it to me.”

She looked determined as she asked for the ring. She was confident she could have beaten Lavi if he hadn’t cheated.

Lavi looked down at her outstretched hand, his jaw clenching.

“Ah, on second thought, I do need it. It’s an essential item right now,” Lavi replied, lifting one corner of his mouth in a smirk as he reached over and grabbed Eric’s wrist.

He held it so tightly that Eric’s hand began to pale from lack of blood flow.

Lavi attempted to slip the gold ring onto Eric’s pinky.

“Are you crazy? What the hell, man!” Eric yelped, struggling to pull his hand back. But he couldn’t outmatch the strength of a swordmaster.

“Relax. It’s a friendship ring,” Lavi said.

“Why the hell would I wear a friendship ring with you?” Eric’s face went pale as he threw a punch with his free hand. But Lavi effortlessly dodged, focusing solely on getting the ring on.

Eric’s face twisted in disgust.

“It’s just to thank you for everything. Don’t be shy… just wear it.”

Lavi applied more pressure and forced the gold ring onto Eric’s pinky. With Eric’s long, well-proportioned fingers, the ring fit nicely. The fake gold ring contained about as much real gold as their “friendship.”

When Eric tried to remove it, Lavi gripped his hand tightly and muttered a low threat to kill him if he dared to take it off.

A merchant approached Sel, cautiously asking what sort of relationship they had. But Sel had no answer to give.

—

The orange hues of dusk began to spread as the sun dipped toward the horizon. People were preparing to release sky lanterns carrying their wishes.

Sel and Karin were readying their own lanterns. She’d only ever seen them from afar, so helping to release one felt thrilling.

She spotted Philip and Choro in the distance, also preparing their lanterns. They waved to her with both arms, beaming.

Memories of dark, fearful festivals past were warmed by the comforting presence of those who now stood by her.

“This is how you make a sky lantern, dummy,” Karin muttered, fixing Sel’s lantern.

Despite Sel’s usual handiness, she struggled since it was her first time making one.

“I didn’t realize it took this much work,” Sel admitted with a bashful smile, scratching her head.

Karin’s hands paused briefly at Sel’s confession before resuming busily. “Write down five wishes!”

“Can I do that? Aren’t you only supposed to write one?”

“You’ve saved up enough. I’m sure the goddess will let you have five.”

“Haha, if you say so.”

Sel grinned, writing her wishes carefully on the lantern. Although she thought of writing five, she couldn’t think of anything else to wish for. Ink dripped from her pen, leaving a small black dot on the thin white lantern, almost like a period at the end of her one true wish.

Sel lit her lantern and released it, watching it rise like a star into the darkening sky.

The breeze, cooler than the day, playfully ruffled her hair as her lantern, carrying her wish to find her mother, floated toward the stars.

“They say the higher it goes, the more likely the wish will come true. I hope it flies high,” Karin whispered. Sel nodded in agreement.

At that moment, someone put an arm around her shoulders.

“Sel, there you ar—ouch!”

Philip winced in pain as he greeted her.

“What happened, Philip?”

“Something just hit my arm… but what?” Philip lowered his arm and looked around, but saw nothing.

“Anyway, what did you wish for, Sel?”

“Oh, just, that I find what I’m looking for,” she replied vaguely. Philip’s eyes widened.

“And what’s that?”

“That’s a secret,” Sel said, poking him in the side with her elbow.

“Of course, heroes with pain and scars have plenty of secrets. You’re so cool, Sel. A hero of troubled times always has a beauty by their side.”

Philip glanced at Karin, holding the huge stuffed animal, and clicked his tongue. “So why do you only have that chatterbox next to you?”

“Chatterbox? Are you talking about me?” Karin glared at him, giving him a once-over.

“Who else would I be talking about?”

“It takes someone like me to stay by Sel’s side, you idiot!” Karin grabbed the stuffed animal and shook it, dusting Philip’s head like a rug.

“Hey, you’re ruining my hair!” Philip shielded his carefully styled hair but couldn’t avoid the dust flying off the cheap stuffed animal.

Spitting out the dust in his mouth, Philip finally conceded defeat and fled.

Meanwhile, Lavi stood behind Sel, intently writing his wish on his own lantern. One hand blocked his words, resembling a diligent student hiding his notes from prying eyes.

Eric observed him with mild disbelief. For someone who always claimed ghosts were real but gods were nonsense, Lavi’s meticulous wish-writing on a sky lantern was out of character.

“Such dedication, Lavi.”

“Everyone has desperate moments when they act like this.”

“Are you actually writing a wish? Not making a kill list, I hope?”

“What do you take me for?”

“I’m curious about what kind of wish it could be.”

“…To make happen,” Lavi mumbled quietly, not really talking to Eric.

“What? Couldn’t hear over the noise.”

“It’s nothing,” Lavi replied, holding up his lantern and silently gazing skyward.

With a trumpet blast, a man announced it was time to release the lanterns. The crowd released theirs in unison, lighting up the deepening evening sky. Thanks to the calm weather, the lanterns floated gently upward.

Lavi stayed behind even as people moved to another area for the dance party, tracking his and Sel’s lanterns with hawk-like precision. Then, wrapping his pen in aura, he gave a slight flick toward the lanterns.

“They say the higher it goes, the more likely the wish will come true.”

Their two lanterns shot skyward with incredible force. Lavi watched them until they were no more than tiny dots, twinkling like stars.