Friends?

The girl was quite cute.

While she wasn't as beautiful as Haruhime, she was quite fine on her own.

She wore a Far East kimono with a sarashi underneath.

Her hair was tied in a side ponytail, and her face showed surprise and happiness when she saw Haruhime.

"Haruhime-dono! Haruhime-dono!"

She was so happy that she called Haruhime several times.

Haruhime was quite overwhelmed by this girl's enthusiasm and subconsciously hid behind Tsukasa.

The girl also quickly noticed Tsukasa, which surprised her since she somehow felt this person was familiar.

"Is she your friend?"

Tsukasa asked.

"Friend?"

Haruhime didn't remember that she had a friend, but she looked at the girl for a moment before she identified this girl unsurely.

"Mikoto-chan?"

"That's right! I am Yamato Mikoto! It's been a while, Haruhime-dono!"

Mikoto was happy when Haruhime remembered her name.

Tsukasa wondered whether Mikoto came from the Far East.

Unlike his country in the original world, the Far East in this world was quite a miserable country since they were often hit by famine.

While many people thought that the land of the Far East was fertile and it was impossible for them to be hit by famine, that wasn't the truth.

It was true that this country had fertile land, but the number was limited since most of the area in this country was a mountain. Many of the harvested crops were also taken by the nobles of that country, leaving only some to the rest.

If someone was lucky, they could stay alive with a minimum amount of food.

If one was unlucky, one would pass away.

Haruhime was born as a noble, so she was okay, but the trajectory of life turned her into a prostitute before she was saved by Tsukasa.

On the other hand, Tsukasa could tell that Mikoto might be a poor girl who somehow connected with Haruhime.

'Maybe, when she was a noble, she gave her food?'

Tsukasa looked at Haruhime and asked, "Do you want to talk with her for a while?"

"Er..."

Haruhime hesitated for a moment before she nodded. "Can I?"

"Why not? She's your friend, after all. I will wait for you over there. Is that okay?"

"Then, I will talk with her for a while."

While her meeting with Mikoto was quite surprising, Haruhime cared more about Tsukasa. While it might sound exaggerated, he is her whole world now, after all.

When there were only the two of them, neither of them wasn't sure what to say.

"Um..."

Mikoto, who was excited, also started to deflate before she said, "I am sorry, Haruhime-done!"

"Huh? What? Why?"

Haruhime was confused.

"I-I plan to save you, especially when you were... you were..."

Mikoto wanted to say that she had heard about her position in the entertainment district, but somehow she couldn't bear to utter it in her mouth.

"It's okay. You don't need to mention it. It was also because of this that I could meet him."

Haruhime glanced in Tsukasa's direction with a gentle smile.

Tsukasa noticed Haruhime and waved his hand.

"Done?"

"Wa-Wait a moment!"

Haruhime then looked at Mikoto again and said, "While I want to talk with you, I am afraid that I am quite busy now." Frankly, her relationship with Mikoto wasn't that close. After all, they had separated for so long, and during her small cage-like childhood, Mikoto and the rest were part of the reason why she was disowned since playing with them would cause her father to disown her and cause a lot of misunderstanding.

However, Haruhime didn't blame Mikoto since even when she was small, her father didn't seem to like her. Maybe, she knew it was kind of wrong to feel like this, but she was glad that she was disowned since if such a thing didn't happen, she wouldn't meet him.

"Are you part of Takemikazuchi-sama's Familia?"

Haruhime heard about Takemikazuchi since it was the only Familia from the Far East.

"No, no, I am in the Hestia Familia now."

Mikoto quickly said.

"Hestia Familia?"

Haruhime titled her head since she had never heard of Familia. However, it was a normal thing since she had never taken an interest in knowing the outside world, especially when her life could be sacrificed anytime by Ishtar.

From someone who wasn't involved in her matter and didn't understand her situation, they could only say sorry and look at her in pity before they told her that everything was for "everyone," so she didn't need to worry.

However, when they were in her place, they would only realize how scary it was to be sacrificed.

Every day she lived in horror, not knowing when she would die.

The only thing she could do was to desperately cling to the story of the hero, which she read during her childhood time.

Unfortunately, her hero didn't come until she met him.

He was her hero, no matter what the people said about him.

"It's a new Familia. However, even though it is new, we're still growing up now, and I am being lent to this Familia by Takemikazuchi-sama."

Mikoto explained before she asked, "How about you?"

Somehow the two had a tacit understanding, not to mention Haruhime's past, since this wasn't something that was worth to be told, especially when they were in the middle of the street.

"I am part of the Loki Familia now," Haruhime said with a gentle smile and pride on her face. As a member of the strongest Familia in the Orario, she must admit it boosted her confidence.

"Lo-Loki Familia? That Loki Familia?" Mikoto was dumbfounded.

"Yes." Haruhime nodded. "If you're free, you should play." Anyway, she knew Loki loved a cute girl, so she knew that Mikoto was more than welcome to enter Twilight Manor.

"That's good." Mikoto sighed in relief and said, "It's good that you're alright now, Haruhime-dono." While she wasn't the one who saved Haruhime, she knew that she was alright, and that was the most important thing. She knew how tough Haruhime's life was, and it was all good that she was living a happy life. Somehow, her eyes started to get wet, and she was a sobbing mess now.

"Why-Why are you crying?"

Haruhime somehow was also in tears when she looked at Mikoto.

The two cried for a while before they knew it was time for them to leave.

"Huh? Mikoto-chan?"

Haruhime and Mikoto subconsciously turned and saw three people waving in their direction.

One of them was a boy with silver hair, a cute Pallum, and a young man with red hair.

Haruhime only glanced at them before she said, "Then, I will go back first, Mikoto-sama."

"Ah, um, yes, can I visit you?" Mikoto asked.

Haruhime thought for a moment and said, "The Loki Familia might be quite busy in the past few days, so let's make the appointment later."

"Okay!" Mikoto nodded and agreed after a moment of curiosity, wondering what was happening to Loki Familia. While she was curious, she knew what one shouldn't ask and should ask.

"Tsukasa-sama!"

Haruhime waved her hand and moved to Tsukasa.

"Done?"

"Um."

"Good."

Tsukasa rubbed Haruhime's head, which made her purr again. He looked at Mikoto and said, "Then, we will leave now. You should visit in the future."

"Ah, um, yes!"

Mikoto was dumbfounded.

"Bye Mikoto-chan."

"Um, bye Haruhime-dono!"

However, Mikoto couldn't react since she realized the person who was right beside Haruhime. When they left, she hadn't woken up until her shoulder was patted by the cute Pallum girl.

"What's wrong, Mikoto?"

"Sirius?!"

"......"

The three looked at Mikoto in confusion.