Interest

"I'd like you to keep that advice in mind-nya. Syr is complicated and could try to understand you better, finding out what it is that torments you so much. Make her understand clearly what you want. Otherwise, that girl will not understand it-nya."

Her smile grew sincere. Syr and Chloe had a relationship that hovered over friendship, despite the difference in opinion between them, Chloe loved Syr, and didn't want to see her chasing someone like Haru at all. She had experience dealing with broken hearts, brutal pasts, it was not the first time she had seen this attitude while facing a wound, and it made Haru tough to approach in her eyes.

Realizing Chloe was worried about Syr as he felt a feeling of protection in her words, Haru did not respond. Turning her heels to go warning Syr Haru had arrived.

"Now one can see it from your appearance too, though! Syr probably won't mention it, but try telling her the truth, you'll find out how kind her soul can be."

With these parting words, Haru had confused thoughts. However, as he tried to tidy up his thoughts, and minutes passed. He saw Syr coming out of the kitchen with a plate of eggs and what appeared to be bacon.

'It looks a lot like an American breakfast...'

That was his first thought. Since many things were still recognizable as similar to many things present in his previous world, Haru used to make small comparisons as if to clear his mind.

On the other hand, if Haru focused on the breakfast he was given, Syr was staring at him instead. From the moment their eyes met, she understood something was wrong, and once again, Syr's curiosity was stirred, being able to notice also the condition his eyes were in.

They exchanged pleasantries once they met each other. Haru began eating while Syr sat next to him, watching him eat with a small smile on her face. The atmosphere was quiet, but at the same time anxious as Haru knew there was no way for someone as smart as Syr not to have noticed his condition, while the latter wanted to investigate the reason for these eyes so emotionally devastated. But she knew the two did not know each other enough. Only a day had passed since they met.

But anyway, Haru managed to recover a minimum thanks to the breakfast, tasty enough to heal his heart from the wounds that continued to torment him and would probably last until he would meet his end.

"That was delicious..!"

His lips curled up in satisfaction. Besides, Syr's face was a little blushing. It was a strange feeling to be complimented on her kitchen after all the time had passed since the last time she had seriously attempted to cook something, which is why she wasn't mentally prepared to be complimented.

"I'm glad you liked it..."

Nodding, Haru met Syr's eyes once again. She was resting her head on her hand, with a satisfied and cheeky smile he had never seen before.

But after a quick conversation, Haru knew he was running out of time. Since he was late, he had to move because today, he had a meeting with the Takemikazuchi familia.

"How much do I owe you for breakfast?"

Expecting a revolving figure of 400-500 Valis, Haru had already taken that amount of money from his bag, but before he could continue, Syr shook her hands.

"I don't need payment. I would love if you could come here to eat whenever you want to, though."

In his own words, Haru realized what he meant. If he became a sort of regular customer Syr could make breakfast for him every day. And instead of asking for money for a gesture that she wanted to do of her own free will, Syr was indirectly asking Haru to spend more time here, and especially to spend on food only here, which widened the smile on Haru's face.

"This breakfast is a way to make me spend more for the Hostess of Fertility's sake...not that I'm complaining though, eating here is satisfying. However, I don't know if I'll always have enough Valis to come here.."

It could happen that Haru didn't have enough money because of some emergency. So, he wanted to make it clear that even if the idea was acceptable for the time being, it didn't mean from today to tomorrow he would remain 'faithful' only to this pub, which Syr knew well, But that wasn't important to her.

"...You caught me..."

Smiling at him like a cheeky girl who had just been discovered at the hide-and-seek and had lost, Syr took the empty plate as she had to wash it. With his smile not fading, Haru knew he had recovered from when he entered the club, as he aimed his sight at the door. Exchanging a word of 'goodbye' with Syr successfully, he left the Hostess of Fertility as green eyes reminiscent of the meadow watched him from afar, with nothing more than an amused expression.

---

"...And he went away. Are you okay, Syr?"

When asked with affection by a girl brown-haired reaching the height of her neck and eyes of the same colour turned in an expression that accompanied her gentle tone, Syr nodded.

"You don't need to worry, Lunoire, everything went accordingly to my expectations. However, his expression. I'm sure that before coming here he cried."

Lunoire sighed at her words. There was no need for Syr to point it out. Like Chloe, she had been able to glance at the boy who had managed to interest her, and it was evident how much of an open book he was. Only not even he seemed to have realized it, even when Chloe pointed it out to him.

"Don't beat yourself up just because he didn't want to talk to you about it, Syr. Remember that it's been less than 24 hours since you met. Sooner or later, by showing him the kindness that hides in your heart, I'm sure that boy will trust you enough to fill your curiosity. But what you should start to ask yourself is once he's opened up to you, how are you going to continue your relationship with him? I know you don't need this kind of advice, but if you have any problem with him, you can try asking me, I'll do my best to help you."

Like Chloe, Lunoire loved Syr. However, she expressed her straightforwardly caring for her. Instead, Chloe preferred to act and infiltrate directly into the heart of the matters than Lunoire, that was more of a listener who would lend an ear to all the surrounding people she cared for who needed it.

"...You don't have to worry about me. However, I appreciate your concern."

Syr was very fond of Lunoire's gentle attitude, but since she behaved in the same way with everyone, to Syr, it seemed as if she was exploiting her. Which is why she preferred to have casual conversations with her, trying not to get in the way of personal problems, even if she was sure Lunoire would be ready to listen to her whenever she wanted.

"The atmosphere is livelier than usual."

It was certainly not just Lunoire and Chloe who had witnessed the scene. In the great room where the events had taken shape, there was another figure who, like Lunoire, had limited herself to observing the events. She was perhaps one of the people who held Syr the closest in her heart, possessing green hair like a forest, and blue eyes resembling the sky.

"Nothing important happened-nya. It only took one glance to realize that boy is like us, probably some past injury that we can define as recent, and as sad as it is, he's not my type, so Syr you can take him freely-nya."

To Chloe's words, the woman who had spoken before did not react whatsoever.

"Are you mocking him?"

The woman, named Ryuu, was known as she was not of many words, but every single word she said was enough to cut through the point of the conversation. At her question, Chloe sighed. She would not normally do this, but because he was a younger boy, he still fell into the category of people who she could tease into her mind, but if it was the person Syr was interested in, she would have to try restraining herself.

But as Ryuu stared at Chloe waiting for an answer, Syr had her cheeks red. Her interest was not romantic, yet only Lunoire seemed to consider this point.

"P-Please...Ryuu, Chloe, stop. As I said my interest is not in that way."

Trying to be heard by the two, Ryuu nodded. One of the few things she did not tolerate, was that someone mocked someone else's past. No matter how bad or good it may be, Ryuu couldn't help but imagine the immense anger she would feel in hearing someone make fun of her past, and in the same way, she didn't want others to have to feel such fury.

With Chloe apologizing shortly after for her behaviour, Syr sighed in surprise as a simple conversation had brought tension between Chloe and Ryuu for a moment. But after a while, the girls knew it was time to continue working, so they restored the relationship that was between them so that they could face serenely this new day that looked like the others but in no way monotonous.

'What will I do once I know his pain...'

With this question stirring in her head, Syr and the others saw Mama Mia arrive in the pub changing the sign from closed to open, proclaiming the beginning of a new day.

"I think I'll know by then."

---

"Takemikazuchi familia's party is on its way here. If you want, while you wait I can take you to the room where the meeting will take place."

Having nothing else to do, for the time being, Misha had volunteered to accompany him into the room, and since the idea did not sound bad, Haru accepted. Compared to the morning shortly after he fell into negative emotions, Haru had the opportunity to rejoice with a minimum of good food and a bit of conversation. He also regained motivation on the road that separated the Hostess of Fertility from the Guild. Which, although not long, was still enough to make Haru think.

'Right now, I feel like slaying monsters.'

The first time Haru saw a monster, his survival instincts were stimulated. The dread feeling of being brutally killed almost took over his emotions. The second time the effect was considerably reduced, and so on.

Combined with the knowledge that the previous Haru had already had many opportunities to see monsters, He quickly got used to their presence and the fact that if he wanted to survive, running away was not an option. All he could do was slay. And even though this had not much influence on his mind since they were nothing but mana constructs, Haru still felt he had become much more used to the idea of killing or in general, to hunt.

---

(You can guess the Hostess of Fertility will be important in the story, so please don't rant in the comments saying this is just filler, I've never written filler. All matters are useful to this story, remember this as well)