Ais's vision blurred as she sat there on her knees in a daze.
Because of her selfish request, Emiya Ritsuka had expended too much magical power and energy before entering the Dungeon, then been plotted against by a god and gravely injured.
It was all her fault...
"It has nothing to do with Ais. Hundred-Beast Slayer is an ultimate technique that demands exceptional physical ability and reflexes. It doesn't consume much magical power."
"The reason I was hurt so badly this time definitely, definitely had nothing to do with Ais."
The gentle Maiden rubbed Ais's smooth golden hair and pulled her back to reality, her eyes already slightly damp.
Ais focused her gaze and looked at the Maiden before her.
"Ritsuka, are you the hero of that girl named Miyu?"
Thinking back to that night, when she had intended to chat with her new companion and ask how to become stronger, only to overhear something, she asked the question as if possessed.
Realizing what she had just said, Ais's cheeks flushed slightly.
Emiya Ritsuka was the kind of hero from the stories she liked—the hero who belonged to one person alone, who would give everything to save that one irreplaceable person.
But she was not Ais's "hero"...
"Eh? Why does it feel like all of you know what Riveria and I talked about?"
Ritsuka scratched her cheek awkwardly. How had what she thought was a secret of her life suddenly become something everyone knew?
Could Riveria not keep a secret?
"...It was Loki. One night, when Ritsuka was making new desserts in her room, a drunk Loki said it in the hall."
Ais looked away as she sold Loki out.
Though she had eavesdropped that night, it was also true that Loki had let it slip while drunk. Thus, Ritsuka's