"Hozuki Mitsuru, we've worked together for nearly ten years now, haven't we?" Higashino Kanade wore a nostalgic expression, his tone somewhat complicated.
"Y-Yes." Hozuki Mitsuru lowered his head shamefully, not daring to meet Higashino Kanade's eyes.
"Including this time, this is already the second time you've betrayed me."
"I-I was forced! I had no way to defy that Pharaoh's orders."
"I know."
"Please spare me. I really never wanted to betray you. I don't want to stay in Africa anymore—I want to go back to Japan!" Hozuki Mitsuru pleaded through tears.
"I understand. Sign this contract."
"Where are you sending me this time? South America? Northern Europe? Don't tell me it's the Arctic!"
Cold sweat poured from Hozuki Mitsuru's body as he stared at the contract Higashino Kanade offered him, too frightened to take it.
Nilria could not stand it any longer. She glared angrily at Higashino Kanade.
"You're not allowed to bully Brother Hozuki! He really was forced. I can testify for him."
"I know..." Higashino Kanade looked at Hozuki Mitsuru with a complicated expression, took a sip of black tea, and let its faint bitterness spread through his mouth.
"...Originally, I planned to send you to Antarctica to scrub toilets. But after thinking it over calmly, if you hadn't gotten involved with me, you wouldn't have been this unlucky or repeatedly run into such dangerous situations."
"If we had never met, then two years after becoming the Bomb Mage, you should have been dealt with by a girl with Mystic Eyes, had your Future Sight cut away, and lived an ordinary life afterward."
"So, Hozuki, you're fired. From today onward, you have nothing to do with me anymore. You're free."
Higashino Kanade smiled faintly, recalling how he had first met Hozuki Mitsuru.
Perhaps they had never been friends