Their Connection

Ville Zentra’s New Year Flower Festival—this was Hikaru’s second time experiencing the event—was incredibly grand.

Many stalls had started appearing in the morning, and various shops were having sales. People were walking around with heavy shopping baskets, as if their pockets loosened up just on this particular day.

Sales ended by the evening, and shops closed. After that, people went out on the streets, partying.

「Wow… I didn’t know it could get this rowdy.」Paula said.

Despite the cold that the end-of-year brought with it, the edge of the main streets was filled with tables and people having feasts. Magic lamps illuminated the streets brightly.

Unfamiliar songs rolled across town, songs about sailors. Vireocean’s capital, Ville Zentra, was after all, a city of sailors.

A song of a woman waiting for a sailor who had left on a distant journey, and a song of a man who regretted being away from home for so long but still chasing his dream. Hikaru found it curious that the nursery rhymes sung by children were the same here as they were in Einbeast’s Hopestadt.

「Hikaru, look.」Lavia pulled on his sleeve. Hikaru followed her finger and found a crowd of people in the middle of the street.

「Go, dude! Show that you’re a man!」

「He’s too egotistical. Dump him!」

「Louder! We can’t hear you!」

Spectators were goading. It sounded like a man was proposing to a woman. The crowd groaned in unison as the woman turned her back to the man.

「Luka! Wait!」

A familiar voice came from the crowd.

「Uh, Hikaru. It’s probably someone we know.」

「I really don’t wanna go, but I guess we have to.」

Hikaru, with a really bad feeling in his gut, wove through the crowd and entered the scene.

「It’s not what you think, Luka. It’s not that I wanted to leave you behind. I’m weak… and I have to become stronger!」

Luka was silent.

「Please, look at me!」

Sure enough, Claude and Luka were there. Hikaru and the girls originally planned to meet up with Luka in town, so she must have bumped into Claude.

「Hang in there, Claude!」

「You’re a man, aren’t you? Go get her!」

Behind Claude were Ivan and Roy, saying stupid things.

「Those guys are really hopeless.」Hikaru muttered.

Luka, with her back to Claude, seemed at a loss. Hikaru stood between Luka and Claude, while Lavia and Paula went to help Luka.

「What the… Hikaru?!」

「Why do you sound so surprised?」

Shock dawned on the three guys’ faces as Hikaru appeared. It almost made Hikaru wonder how close they were since they wore the exact same expressions.

「Claude. You came to this city, leaving Luka behind, and now you want to win her back. That’s too selfish, don’t you think?」

「No, that’s not… Why do you even know about that?!」

「I’m aware of the general gist of things. After all, she’s under my care.」

「What?!」

Claude’s face turned red at the word “care”.

「Hikaru!」Claude pointed at him.「What are you going to do with Luka?! Whether or not you’ll get away with it depends on your answer.」

A cheer came from the crowd.

「Yeah, you go dude! Let ‘im have it!」

「If someone steals yo girl, get ‘em back!」

Hikaru tried his best to play the villain.「Then swear, here, your love for her. Take an oath to protect her. Take her to the new world and promise to protect her to the very end.」

「What?!」

Claude and the spectators stirred after hearing “New World”.

「Hey, those guys are going to the New World?」

「They say that place is even more dangerous than the sea.」

「Taking a woman there is absurd.」

But Hikaru didn’t stop there.「Claude. Making sure everything is perfect is a bad habit of yours. There’s no such thing as perfect. If you want something, then take it. Now.」

「Yeah, okay. I get it. I hereby swear!」Claude took a deep breath.「Luka! I’m sorry. I didn’t believe in myself… I didn’t believe I could protect you! But I’m okay now. I don’t care about confidence as long as I have you. It’s hard without you around. So stay with me! I’ll give my all to protect you no matter what!」

Luka turned around and started running.「Claude.」

「Luka!」Claude rushed to her as well.

As they embraced, the crowd erupted in cheers, giving a round of applause.

「What’s with the silly drama?」Selica asked.

The moment Luka started running, Hikaru and the girls made their escape back into the throng of people.「Just don’t say anything. So what are you doing here?」

「We’re about to have a party. You guys wanna come?」

All members of the Four Stars were present. Judging by the food and bottles of alcohol they were carrying, they planned to have a party indoors, rather than outside.

「Wanna come, Hikaru?」Selyse said, wearing the same bright smile as always, but Hikaru knew by now that her smile was not to be trusted.

「Sorry, but we can’t.」

「Come on. No need to be shy. We’ve all gone on a trip together before.」

「I’ll have to decline the offer. I’ll be on edge being the only guy around anyway. You should spend the new year’s with your friends.」

「I suppose.」Selyse backed down easily.

「It’s been a long time since the four of us were able to spend New Year’s Eve together, so let’s do just that.」

Hikaru learned later that when the Four Eastern Stars were still in Ponsonia, they received invitations from nobles all over the kingdom during the Flower Festival.

「You’re very popular, Hikaru.」

「I don’t think you know what popular means.」

After parting ways with the Four Stars, Hikaru and the girls headed to the restaurant they frequented ever since coming to Ville Zentra.

Since they’d become quite the regular customers, they were able to reserve seats at the counter even though it was one of the busiest times of the year.

It was a large restaurant that could hold twenty people, but it was full today. A customer insisted on having a seat at the counter, so they were given seats on the second floor instead, right by the window.

Their table overlooked the main street, and they could see the moon shining bright high above the sky. They dug into the food—seafood dishes famous in Ville Zentra.

「Well there goes our plan to surprise Claude by making him bump into Luka on Grand Dream.」Hikaru said.

「But I think it was good for Luka.」Lavia said.「Feeling uneasy for the next three months would have been awful.」

「I like how you jumped into the fray and provoked him, Hikaru-sama!」

「Yeah… I thought Claude would be able to make up his mind if I mentioned going to Grand Dream.」

Claude declared in public that he would protect Luka. When Claude and Luka fell in love with each other, they entered into a forbidden relationship. They were cautious, because their secret being exposed meant their lives would be in danger.

That level of prudence was necessary at that time, but now it led to miscommunications and caused misunderstandings between them.

「Claude sure has matured in spite of his lack of confidence.」Hikaru said as he sipped his tea.

「Hikaru-sama, are you and Selica…」Paula swallowed the rest of her words.

「Hmm? What about her?」

「Ah, no. It’s nothing…」

「Paula’s worried that you might leave.」

「Lavia-chan?!」

「Me? Leave? Why?」

「Selica came from a different world like you, right? She’s wondering that maybe you two were talking about ways to get back to your world.」

「Oh…」Hikaru glanced at Paula. She looked downwards, worry in her eyes.「Yeah, I guess you could say we were exchanging information about how to return to our world. And we might have just gotten a clue.」

「What?!」

「Really? What kind of clue?」

Even Lavia was surprised, not expecting Hikaru’s answer.

「I don’t mind telling you, but before I do, let me just get something straight. If we find a way to connect this world to our world—」

Just then, various shades of light began to illuminate Hikaru and the girls’ faces, followed by loud explosions coming from the skies.

A fireworks display was set off to mark the start of a new year. But the three of them continued talking as if they didn’t notice it.