The Request

But now, although the upper limit of his strength had risen considerably, the difficulty of breaking through his limits had increased as well.

Because of this, Kast had no choice but to go out and seek an opportunity to make another breakthrough.

He already had a few leads.

However, Kast had never expected Laila to stop him from leaving, even going so far as to risk getting hurt to keep him there.

As he had said before, Kast didn't want to hurt her. After all, she had helped him a great deal. But now, he had no choice.

This left Kast feeling helpless.

With no other option, Kast stared into Laila's eyes and said seriously,

"This is your last chance. What is it you want?"

Looking at Kast's serious expression, Laila opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something.

"I..."

But after uttering just one word, she swallowed the rest. A faint blush colored her cheeks, and she grew bashful.

"..."

Seeing Laila's expression, Kast felt helpless. He wasn't a fool. After spending so much time with her, and seeing her like this now, he knew she had feelings for him. But as far as Kast was concerned, this wasn't the time for romance.

He knew—and understood—the kind of opponents he would face in the future.

And precisely because he knew about the powerful beings he would encounter, Kast, who understood how vast the universe was, couldn't afford to slack off in his training.

But he couldn't bring himself to reject her outright, either. From their time together, he knew Laila had complicated feelings. If he rejected her directly, she might break down and lash out, and that was the last thing he wanted.

There was another reason, too. Kast had feelings for Laila that he couldn't quite explain. They seemed like familial affection, or perhaps friendship, or maybe even love?

Whatever those feelings were, Kast didn't want to hurt her.

But now he had no choice. Furrowing his brow, Kast put it gently.

"Laila, you probably don't know what my goal is."

At that, Laila calmed her unease and asked,

"My goal?"

Looking at her confused expression, Kast explained,

"My goal is to become stronger—to keep growing stronger and breaking through my limits. But right now, I can't make a breakthrough anytime soon. That's why I need to leave and look for a way to break through."

As he spoke, Kast looked Laila in the eye and said seriously,

"I thought you would understand. But what you're doing now...?"

"It's not like that, I... I..."

At Kast's words, Laila opened her mouth, but couldn't get anything out.

Seeing how flustered she was, Kast comforted her.

"All right, all right. You don't have to say anything. I know what you want to say. You didn't mean it that way—you just have something else to tell me, right?"

"..."

When Laila didn't respond, Kast continued,

"How about this? I'll agree to one more thing you ask of me. If it's something I can do, I'll agree to it. But only if you stop trying to keep me from leaving."

After saying this, Kast turned to Laila, waiting for her to tell him what she wanted.

Laila, standing nearby, calmed her emotions and closed her eyes to think.

A moment later, she opened her eyes and looked at Kast, her expression serious.

"Fine! Then I'll make my request now."

"What is it?"

Kast didn't hesitate, inviting her to continue.

"I only have one request! You can leave, but I want you to take me with you!"

After saying this, Laila looked straight at Kast, her eyes full of hope.

"..."

Kast was speechless. He had suspected this might be her request, but he still didn't know what to say.

"What do you say?"

When Kast didn't answer, Laila hurriedly pressed him.

With no other choice, Kast looked at Laila's hopeful expression and sighed helplessly.

"I knew you'd say that. But I can't, Laila. At least, not right now."

"Why!?"

Laila looked at Kast in frustration.

"You said you'd agree to anything you could do, as long as I didn't stop you from leaving. So why are you going back on your word now?"

As she spoke, Laila's emotions began to grow unstable.

Seeing her expression, Kast tried to reassure her and explain.

"Laila, it's not that I'm unwilling. It's just that I can't right now. Once I've taken care of something, if you still want to come with me, then you can."

At that, Laila's eyes lit up, and she asked happily,

"Really?"

"Yes."

Kast nodded, and Laila exclaimed excitedly,

"Great! But I need you to give me a time limit. Within one year, whether or not you've finished what you need to do, you have to agree to my request."