Nell came jumping in front of me . I haven’t seen her since Asbell village .

However, now she felt more like the time when I visited her at night during that thunder storm rather than that time after the Fenril subjugation . No, maybe even worse than that .

The corners of her eyes were dark . Even her blue eyes looking straight at me seemed like they lost their radiance .

“… . . Nell, I am happy, we got to meet before parting . ”

That clears my regret . While feeling relieved, I got off Merry once again .

And when I actually stood in front of her, she looked even more depressed . As if she might break with just a touch .

“I heard from Lily . You’re returning to Avalon, aren’t you?”

“–?!”

It is true that it didn’t turn into a rumor inside the school yet but one can easily understand the reasons behind it with a little thinking . No, maybe no one even bothered making it the topic since it was too obvious .

No matter if they are the Wing Lord, Nell and Nero are the royalty of another country . There’s no way they would have the leeway to participate in Spada’s wars .

“It will be lonely without you but I am glad . You will surely be safe if you go to Avalon . ”

She will certainly be safe there . However, I don’t know how we would meet again . If she returns to Avalon, chances are high that she will just remain there .

It is difficult to say that Spada’s situation is stable now that a war is breaking out . Daidaros was also an opposing country but it has already been 10 years since the last war with them .

Spada is literally the front line in the war between the city-state alliance at the center of the Pandora continent and the invading army . It’s hard to think that she will be allowed to study in a country like this again .

Moreover, since she won’t be another student of the academy, there would be no chances for us to meet since I am just an adventurer .

Even before Lily told me last night, I saw it coming .

“That’s not… I-I, no matter how dangerous the situation, I wanted to be with you, Kurono-kun!”

We might not be able to meet ever again . It seems I didn’t even need to confirm that . She must have been holding it back . The tears came flowing down her cheeks .

This is my 3rd time seeing her tears . How many times do I have to make her cry?

“Thank you . You saying that is enough for me . ”

“I am sorry… I, can’t do anything…”

Nell even came with us to Iskia to protect her allies . Even when she knew the risk, she didn’t hesitate .

“… . . Kurono-kun . . at the very least… could you, at least, accept this…?”

Her tears showed no signs of stopping as she held out her trembling hand, on which lied one white feather . It was a beautiful white feather, giving out a dim and faint light . But I had seen it before .

“This is… Area Guard Feather?”

“Yes… The one I gave you before was made from my inexperienced divine protection but this is a complete artifact, made by the head shrine maiden of Avalon . ”

Now that she mentions it, it does give off a stronger magic presence than the previous one . But the size and appearance is similar and Nell’s one was also quite good .

“But, is that okay? Isn’t this something you should be keeping—”

“I am, fine . I want you to have it, Kurono-kun… This will surely protect you again . . ”

I nearly escaped death before because of the charm Nell gave before . This is possibly the best blessing .

“Thank you, Nell . ”

If I come back alive, I will go return this . Although I don’t know if I can give it to her personally once she goes goes back to the princess status . Even so, it will work as hope to definitely make it back alive .

And so, I obediently took the true Area Guard Feather from Nell and put it in the chest pocket like before .

“Ah, right, in return… well, I don’t think I will ever be able repay you for all the things you did for me but, I would like you to accept something as well . ”

I held out my arm and used Shadow Gate to bring out Nell’s present from my cuffs .

Normally, Hitsugi would lead the deposits and withdrawals by dimension but for some reason she didn’t react this time . She might reading the atmosphere . It has been a while since I selected something of my own will .

And then, from the shadows, a pinball sized gem came rolling onto my hand . At first glance, its radiance looks similar to Black Opal . Inside the shining sphere, one could see jet black and crimson color flickering like a flame . But it was cold to the touch .

The red light which kept flickering without maintaining a form looked like it was made from magic .

“Eh, no way… this is…”

“I don’t know if it’s an artifact or not, though . ”

I said with a bitter smile .

This is a gem I bought while preparing for the war alone before Lily and Fiona returned .

Although I returned from Asbell village desperately, after learning the details from Will, I got more than enough time and room to calm down . And that’s when I bought it as a present for Nell but who would have thought it would be as a parting gift?

Ever since Lily told me Nell would be returning to her country, I wanted to give this to her by all means and fortunately am blessed with a chance like this .

“You see, it seems they couldn’t understand its name nor effect even after an appraisal . But, since it’s a treasure excavated from an ancient ruin in Avalon, there’s no mistake that it’s a gem and has value . ”

It’s not like I am being stingy about buying a normal gem . Since it’s glowing and has magic inside, there’s no mistaking that it has value as a gem and a magic stone .

But still, since the details are unclear, it isn’t even comparable to the artifact gem Lily has .

There are several patterns when the effect can’t be understood even after an appraisal . The most common one is that there’s no effect . The next most common one is that the effect is so low that magic can’t detect it . And lastly, the effect is so enormously big that appraisal magic can’t measure it .

Such a large effect is called an ancient since it deviates from the model system and it only manifests in places with extremely strong monsters . As such, there’s a very low chance of something like that going around the market—a chance even lower than winning a lottery .

And if I were to add, I bought this from Mordred weapons’ shop and not a gem/magic stone shop so that tells me that the chances are high that it’s not that valuable . But it was on the excavated product corner and Mordred president also recommended it so the chances are not zero either .

“But if you have it with you, Nell, I feel like it might show some amazing effect . And so it might have a value high enough to even surprise the Avalon’s royalty—that’s what I am hoping . ”