After soaking in the hot springs, Shiomi rested in the room. Morgan lay napping with her head on his lap, while he casually patted her shoulder.
Everyone was gathered in the room watching TV, snacking, and playing video games to pass the time.
The only one not present was Touko. When she returned from outside, the first thing she did was look for Shiomi.
"Tenkei, could you come over for a moment? There's something I'd like to ask you to help with."
"Hm?" Shiomi looked puzzled. "What is it? You're being awfully polite."
Touko adjusted her glasses. "It's not my business, so could you step outside with me? I'll explain on the way."
Shiomi gave Morgan a light pat to check whether she was asleep.
"…Mm." Morgan sat up, shifted slightly, then leaned against the table. "Go ahead. It doesn't look like it's something minor."
And so, Shiomi was called out of the room by Touko, heading toward another floor.
"So, what exactly do you need my help with at this hour?" Shiomi asked again.
"Shiki's daughter has been sick these past few days," Touko said. "Tonight her condition suddenly got worse, and it's not easy to find a doctor around here. She came to me about it, hoping I might have some way to ease things."
Shiki had previously worked at Touko's Garan no Dou. While she never pried into Touko's identity as a Magus, she knew she was capable of some unconventional methods.
"So, let me guess," Shiomi said, understanding immediately. "Using Magecraft to treat wounds is fine, but curing illness is completely outside your specialty?"
Touko nodded. "Compared to me acting on impulse, it's obviously better to look for a deity who actually specializes in healing and saving lives."
"I only said I had that intention. It hasn't exactly happened yet, has it?" Shiomi laughed.
"That's only a matter of time." Touko pushed up her glasses again. "I'm very interested in the direction your future path will take."
"You're really something else."
Talking and joking along the way, Touko led Shiomi to the Ryōgi family's room.
She had been chatting there with the Ryōgi couple earlier when their daughter, Mana Ryougi, suddenly began feeling unwell. Out of concern, Touko had gone to seek Shiomi's help.
Shiomi examined Mana Ryougi briefly and confirmed that it was nothing more than a seasonal illness. Combined with the fact that the hot spring inn itself was steeped in spiritual disturbances, the young girl's condition had worsened and become unstable.
After addressing it using his Authority, Mana's symptoms quickly subsided. With proper rest, she would be back to normal by the next day.
"She's fine now."
After finishing the treatment, Shiomi returned to the living room with the others and said so.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Shiomi." Mikiya smiled gently as he poured a cup of tea and handed it to him. "I'm terribly sorry for troubling you so late at night."
Shiomi accepted the cup. "Don't worry about it. I'm a father too, so I understand how it feels when your child gets sick. And since Touko asked me, I was happy to help however I could."
"That's exactly it, Kokutou." Touko smiled slyly. "You were lucky to run into him this time. If it had just been me, I probably would've ended up making some kind of potion and having the girl sleep it off to recover."
Shiki looked at Touko. "Touko's potion… still doesn't feel as reliable as a doll."
"And I'm not Kokutou anymore," Mikiya reminded her.
"Sorry, sorry. It's been a while, and I completely forgot." Touko rested her chin on the back of her hand and looked over the Ryougi couple across from her. "Back then, I said if you weren't at ease, you could keep your eyes on her twenty-four hours a day. And the answer you landed on was marriage? Honestly, that does track."
Mikiya gave her a helpless smile. "And you, Miss Touko, left without even saying goodbye. You even cleared out the office."
"Keeping up with habits like Touko's must be rough for you, Mr. Shiomi?" Shiki asked, taking the chance to poke fun at Touko.
"For a Magus, one's innate attributes influence how they carry themselves," Shiomo said as he set down his teacup. His eyes lowered, and the edge of his gaze settled on Touko's fingertips. "Touko is 'Wind'—here one moment, gone the next. Trying to stay beside the wind forever, or trying to make the wind stay beside you forever… neither is a wise choice."
Touko laughed, genuinely delighted. "Exactly. Just like I don't need to worry about you two, you don't need to worry about me."
"It's less worry and more… surprise," Mikiya said. "That there'd be someone at Miss Touko's side in a situation like this."
"Right. I always figured Touko wouldn't even think about that sort of thing unless the world was already ending," Shiki said with a smile, offering her verdict.
Touko murmured under her breath, repeating the phrase. "The world ending… huh?"
It did sound like her.
Only when the world turned into a blank pall before her eyes would she ever consider staying. Even if the road ahead for humanity and the world was doomed to ruin, at least when she finally died and disappeared, she wouldn't be alone.
"It was just a joke," Mikiya said, thinking Touko had taken it seriously. "If you dwell on it too much, it gets a little weird."
But Touko shook her head. "No. I just realized—if the world really were going to end tomorrow, your choices probably wouldn't be anything unexpected."
"Are you saying the world's actually going to end?" Shiki asked, half joking.
"Maybe by now, this world has already been destroyed countless times, and just as many times, someone has saved it in secret. The people living on the surface—the humans who only know the visible world—can't notice that truth. That's why they can keep living in peace." As she spoke, Touko's gaze drifted to the back of Shiomi's hand.
The idea had a strange, romantic ring to it, and it reminded the Ryougi couple that Touko was still Touko.
Whatever had changed wasn't really something worth being shocked over.
Even if they didn't meet again until many years had passed, they'd still be able to catch up like nothing happened.
After finishing their tea, Shiomi and Touko stood to leave, and Shiomi politely declined when the Ryougi couple tried to insist on paying them.
Touko, however, stepped out a beat later than Shiomi.
Before she left the room, she said to Shiki with a weary note in her voice, "Sizing up strangers with your Mystic Eyes from behind isn't exactly a good habit, Shiki."
"I'm very sorry," Shiki admitted without hesitation. "I just wasn't fully comfortable letting Mana interact with someone we didn't know, so I went with my instincts and took a quick look. But… Touko's boyfriend is really something. It's hard to wrap my head around."
"If we're talking hard to wrap your head around, then yes. That's true," Touko said.
She didn't ask what Shiki had seen. She simply closed the door softly, stepped out, and caught up to Shiomi, who was waiting for her farther down the corridor.
Because Touko already knew the answer.
The Death-Seeing Mystic Eyes could perceive the "death" of all things, the lines death carved across existence.
But for him—someone who had overcome the very concept of death—there was nothing for those eyes to see.
Just a blank sheet of white.
That was all.