Farewell

The air suddenly fell silent for a second.

Then, everyone's eyes, Lance's included, turned in unison toward Nia.

Since saying Lance had lost the worst was a "well-intentioned lie,"

then the real unlucky victim was painfully obvious.

"Ahhh!"

Nia's face instantly turned as red as a ripe tomato.

She covered her face in mortification, feeling as though both her intelligence and card skills had been utterly humiliated.

"Amber! You might as well have just said it was me!"

Watching the two girls tussle, Lance lifted his wineglass and took a sip.

What an incredible magical item.

Not only could it detect lies, it could even distinguish the motives and morality behind them.

The witch who had made this deck of cards must have been a high-level practitioner specializing in the mind.

As the night deepened, the coals in the grill occasionally spat out a spark or two.

The group sat around the long table, taking turns drawing cards. With alcohol loosening everyone up, the atmosphere grew increasingly lively.

The questions appearing on the cards also became stranger and stranger.

For example, [Tell everyone about the most embarrassing part of your past that you want to erase.]

Or, [If Lance ran home after racking up a huge debt outside, would you pretend not to know him, or help him pay it off?]

Faced with these absurd interrogations, everyone gave all sorts of answers under the influence of alcohol, and the courtyard was filled with cheerful laughter.

Until it was Nia's turn.

She reached out and drew an Ace of Diamonds from the deck.

As magic seeped into it, a line of text appeared on the card:

[What kind of future do you hope for?]

Nia blinked, then blurted out her answer with hardly any thought.

"The future I want is for everyone to keep living in Grayrock Town forever."

Resting her chin in her hand, the girl's eyes were filled with longing.

"I want to eat the new treats from the dessert shop every day without worrying about gaining weight, and climb to the tallest clock tower in town at dusk to watch the sunset."

"And when we all become old men and old ladies, I want us to still gather like this with a few good friends, playing cards, eating, and drinking."

As her words fell, the edges of the crystal card slowly lit up.

It was an incomparably pure azure glow.

It represented absolute sincerity.

This was the truest reflection of her heart.

Nia happily waved the card in her hand, ready to accept everyone's teasing.

Yet when she looked up at the people around her, she realized that no one was returning her smile.

Amber's hand holding her wineglass froze in midair, her gaze drifting uncertainly.

Flora lowered her head to stare at the hem of her skirt, her fingers twisting together uneasily.

Even Lance, who was usually so composed, wore a somewhat stiff expression.

"What's wrong?"

Nia tilted her head in confusion as she looked at everyone's strange reactions.

"I wasn't lying. It's blue."

"Flora, it's your turn!"

Flora, sitting opposite her, seemed to snap back to herself. She hurriedly pushed up her glasses.

"Mm—mm! Is it my turn?"

To hide her embarrassment, Flora barely even shuffled before absentmindedly reaching out to draw a card.

The Ace of Spades.

When Flora saw the question on the card, the color drained from her rosy face.

[Have you already decided on a specific date to leave, but kept it from everyone because you were too afraid to tell them?]

Why did she have to draw this one?

Flora tightly pinched the corner of the card and instinctively glanced at Nia beside her.

"N-no."

She answered softly.

But in the next second,

the originally transparent card did not display the blue of truth.

Instead, it gave off a gentle yet dazzling warm golden glow.

It was a well-intentioned lie.

The courtyard instantly fell silent.

The smile slowly vanished from Nia's face. She stared blankly at the glowing card, then at Flora, who had lowered her head.

"Gold—"

"Flora, you're leaving?"

Under everyone's gazes, Flora looked utterly at a loss.

She nervously twisted her fingers and looked around for an excuse, but in the end, she crumbled beneath Nia's gaze.

The girl lowered her head, her voice as soft as a mosquito's hum.

"I-I might need to go to Viridia to study alchemy."

"Aunt Morwenna secured a recommended place for me. It's a rare opportunity—"

Although Lance had long known that Flora aspired to become a professional Alchemist, he had never expected their parting to come so soon.

"That's amazing."

Amber let out a heartfelt exclamation, breaking the silence.

"Viridia is the holy land in the hearts of Alchemists across the continent. Being able to study there is an opportunity countless people could only dream of."

But that did not make Nia happy.

Her expression was strange, even carrying a trace of panic.

"Then—will you come back?"

"Of course I will!"

Hearing that, Flora abruptly raised her head, her eyes unusually resolute.

"We promised to be best friends for life. Once I finish my studies, I'll definitely come back!"

She held out the pinky finger of her right hand before Nia.

"Pinky promise."

Nia sniffled and extended her own pinky, firmly hooking it with Flora's.

"Then it's a promise. We'll be best friends for life."

With the touch of their fingertips, the small barrier between the girls seemed to dissolve into the evening breeze.

Watching the two reconcile as though nothing had happened, Amber let out a soft sigh.

She looked between their linked pinkies, then finally seemed to make up her mind.

"Actually—"

Amber lifted her wineglass and gulped down a mouthful before speaking with the courage the alcohol gave her.

"I'll also be leaving Grayrock Town for quite a long time."

As soon as she said that, Nia, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, froze completely.

Amber gave a bitter smile and continued explaining, "Recently, one of my dad's former teammates came looking for him. Their adventuring party is preparing to regroup and explore a new ruin, and they invited him back."

"He retired and came home to raise me because my mother fell ill and passed away."

"But I know he's always missed that kind of life."

Amber's voice grew low.

"I often see him sitting alone at the bar in the middle of the night, staring blankly at photos of them when they were young."

"I want him to be happier, so I decided to support him going back."

"As his daughter, I have to go along and handle logistics too, so that careless old man doesn't starve himself to death on the road."

At this point, Amber looked seriously at her friends.

"But I'm not going far. Whenever the team takes a break, I'll come back often."

The two successive bombshells left Nia completely stunned.

Her expression became extraordinarily complicated as her gaze shifted back and forth between Flora and Amber.

One good friend was leaving to pursue her dream.

The second good friend was leaving for family.

No way—

An intense sense of panic surged up within her.

Instinctively, she turned to look at the only man there, the owner of the house.

However.

When she looked at Lance, she found that there was no surprise on his face. Instead, his expression was full of conflict.

It was an expression carrying a hint of apology.