A Lead

Once Sir Fluffles was all clean, Nova stared at the wet dog with a strange look.

『...Nova, why is my fur so puffy?』[Sir Fluffles]

The dog seemed to have puffed up at least twice the size he previously was.

『It's wet. Let's dry you off.』[Nova]

He put his hands on Sir Fluffles and stroked his hair in an attempt to comb it.

『Blessed Flame Rebirth.』[Nova]

The water slowly evaporated off of the both of them as the blue flames enveloped both of them.

After running his hands through his fur, it straightened out and he returned to normal, save his now glossy coat of fur and his shiny tail and wings.

『See? Perfect!』[Nova]

Sir Fluffles seemed to be content as he spun around, admiring his new fur.

Nova, on the other hand- was breaking out into a nervous sweat..

「...To be honest, I had no idea if that was going to work...」[Nova]

Nova picked Sir Fluffles up with both of his arms and walked out of the bathroom before he was greeted by a strange sight.

Mune and Kitsu seemed to be doing some strange kind of training.

Kitsu jumped forth from the walls, ceiling, and basically any surface there was, while Mune tried to catch him.

『...Is this another kind of training?』[Nova]

Mune seemed to have trouble speaking, as he chased after Kitsu with sweat forming on his brow.

『Gg… Ngh… No! I'm just… trying to… catch… Kitsu!』[Mune]

Kitsu seemed to be growling as he jumped about.

『...Why?』[Nova]

『I need to give… him a bath, as well!』[Mune]

They seemed to get faster and faster, until they both turned into a blur.

『...Alright…?』[Nova]

Nova took Sir Fluffles and was about to open the door when Mune shouted.

『No, wait! DON'T DO IT!』[Mune]

But it was too late.

He was already turning the door, and it opened a crack.

Kitsu turned into a white flash as he lunged for the door.

『CRAP!』[Mune]

Just as Kitsu was about to lunge through the crack, an elderly man grabbed onto him.

『Woah!』

Nova pulled the door open all the way to find Edwin standing there, holding a struggling Kitsu that yipped.

『Oho. Is one of you a summoner?』[Edwin]

He looked up to find Nova holding Sir Fluffles.

『...Are the… both of you summoners?』[Edwin]

Nova paused for a moment before he slowly nodded.

『...Wow! How unlikely! I didn't expect to see two summoners in one place!』[Edwin]

Mune was still panting, but he seemed to be in a good mood.

『Heh… I have very high standards for my Raidagem team, after all...』[Mune]

『I… I don't… I don't even remember if you knew I was a summoner or not, back then.』[Nova]

Mune smacked Nova lightly on his back while chuckling.

『Hey. I have an innate sense finding out if someone is talented.』[Mune]

『Yeah, sure, okay...』[Nova]

Edwin smiled.

『You two get along well. I remember the days where I was in school...』[Edwin]

He seemed to drift off in thought, but Mune brought him back.

『Anyways, you have something to tell us about, right?』[Mune]

Edwin nodded his head, turning somber.

『Right. The girl's location has been found.』[Edwin]

Their eyes suddenly opened wide.

『...Then, what are we waiting for?! Let's get her!』[Mune]

He shook his head.

『Not so fast.』[Edwin]

『What?! Why?!』[Mune]

『Because we need to get all the people who are participating together. Let's go.』[Edwin]

『Oh. Okay, sure.』[Mune]

Nova couldn't put his finger on it, but Mune seemed really on edge, and he jumped forth the moment Yudola's case was mentioned.

...Though, he couldn't say anything, because he felt the same way.

Edwin guided them through the halls after handing Kitsu back to Mune.

『Isn't Sarena involved as well? Where is she?』[Nova]

『I let her slip away, so Freyana isn't implicated. It should be okay.』[Edwin]

Nova nodded confidently, which caused Edwin to break into a smile.

『Alright… I think… it would be a good idea to keep the amount of people participating in this… limited.』[Nova]

『Right. If it's that easy to absorb people into the blood giant, a huge amount of people would be detrimental. We don't… have too many personnel either.』[Edwin]

『Oh? Then, are we sure that we can apprehend her? I can't imagine being able to with too little people.』[Mune]

Edwin nodded his head confidently.

『We should be able to with the people we have available, even if they aren't the best we have in the Kingdom.』[Edwin]

『You're confident that they can handle it? I'm not going to be happy if me and Nova here end up carrying this mission.』[Mune]

He smacked Nova on the back, playfully.

『Haha! You can try if you want to!』[Edwin]

Nova seemed deep in thought, though.

『...Hey, Mune.』[Nova]

He seemed a bit confused, as Nova wasn't following the conversation as he was anticipating.

『Yeah?』[Mune]

『What was it like inside of the blood giant?』[Nova]

He seemed to be caught a bit off guard, but he answered.

『...It was a big space of those red flowers… the lycoris flowers, if I remember correctly?』[Mune]

『Could you use your mana in there?』[Nova]

『...I could, but it didn't do anything to the surroundings. My energy was being sapped while I was in there, so struggling too hard didn't make things better for me.』[Mune]

Nova nodded his head, keeping that in mind.

Edwin seemed quite interested, however.

『Did you have an idea or something, Nova?』[Edwin]

『...No. Nothing yet.』[Nova]

He seemed to be onto something, but wasn't sure until he found something conclusive to give him strong footing.