"Why are you staring at me like that?"
The beautiful witch asked teasingly. Shade stood beside her, looking through the courtyard's glass doors at the setting Sun outside.
"Ever since coming to this island, it feels like I've been busy with one thing or another every day. Moments of leisure like this are truly rare. I was wondering, if I had really come here as an ordinary tourist, waking every morning at the Harpoon Hotel to the sound of waves, then wandering around the island with a backpack, what kind of story would have happened?"
Claire Reinhart, holding a wineglass, smiled.
"Then you wouldn't have had the chance to stand here and chat with me."
Shade shook his head.
"Then imagine this scene instead: I'm carrying a backpack, teasing the Cat on my shoulder as I walk down a path in the Snow Mountain. After struggling against the wind and climbing up a cliff, I raise my hand to shield my eyes from the sunlight—only to see, in the direction of the rising Sun, a young lady with long platinum-blonde hair standing alone high on the Snow Mountain, her hands behind her back as she watches the sky."
Before she could offer her opinion, Shade continued.
"Or perhaps I'm walking through the bustling crowd in town, holding a bag of freshly bought smoked fish. By chance, I look up and see you standing by the railing of the long bridge outside Snow Mountain Hall, propping up your face as though you're bored and waiting for someone. Then you see the person carrying a paper bag in the crowd, while I see you tilting your head beneath the clear blue sky."
He summarized.
"According to diviners, if our meeting is part of some Destiny, then even if I hadn't come to