[Yes, there's no Chapter 66 — it's an error from the author.]
The snow in Buena Village was thick.
Four figures, two adults and two children, moved faintly in the wind and snow. The crunch of snow underfoot was interspersed with Rudy's questioning voice.
"Roruji-ojiisan, what are the main monsters in this riot? So I can target them with my magic."
Roruji led the way in front. Rudy followed half a step behind, while Allen and Sylphy walked side by side behind them.
Roruji glanced back at the two and replied.
"Mainly D-rank monsters with high reproduction rates — Hayashi Hebi (Forest Snake), Kyo Nezumi (Giant Gnawing Rat), Nokogiri Usagi (Sawtooth Rabbit), Hyoukashio Kaeru (Frost Tide Frog), Itachi Kuma (Marten Bear), Akame Maenko (Red-Eyed Demon Monkey), and Sou Itachi (Frost Weasel)."
As Roruji rattled off the list like a menu, Rudy's face grew paler and paler.
"So many?"
"It's always this many every year. Just this year is worse. We should've cleaned them up better last year. We even asked for help from other villages, but they said they're facing monster tides too."
His words carried frustration, blown apart in the wind and snow.
Unlike the chatty exchange up front, Allen and Sylphy were unusually quiet.
Allen's attention clearly wasn't on the conversation. He absentmindedly cleared the snow around Sylphy, tilting his head and staring into the falling snow as if lost in thought.
Sylphy walked by his side, still small enough that her head only reached his chest. She had grown a lot this year, but Allen had grown even faster, making her seem shorter by comparison.
Yet time had undoubtedly left its mark on her.
She had shed much of her childish look. Though her clothes still hung loosely, the lines of her waist and legs already bore the shape of a young girl. With her hands behind her back, she took large, steady steps on the path Allen cleared. Her green hair danced in the snow, and through the strands her reddish-brown eyes glanced sidelong at Allen mechanically sweeping the snow.
Crunch. Crunch.
"Would fire magic be more—"
Roruji and Rudy's voices mixed with the sound of their steps. Sylphy withdrew her gaze from Allen's profile, suddenly stepping forward and turning to meet his eyes.
"Allen, is something bothering you lately?"
Allen blinked and looked at Sylphy's little face reddened by the cold.
"Huh? No? Why do you ask?"
The next moment, Sylphy hopped lightly, her hair flying, and poked his brow with her finger.
Plop. Her feet landed and she kept walking backward while facing him, staring into his eyes.
Her characteristically soft, slow voice drifted into his ears.
"If nothing's bothering you, then why have you been frowning for half a year now? And talking a lot less?"
"...Have I?"
Sylphy tilted her head and quietly watched as he forced his brow to relax.
"It's not just that you talk less. Even your eyes look strange, as if there's something very far away right in front of you that you keep trying to grasp but can't."
Allen met her gaze through the snowflakes swirling in the wind.
Between their eyes, snow and mist tangled.
[Current stage: Childhood Phase. Cumulative participation score: 90 points.]
[It seems only one step away from full marks, yet that final step is often an uncrossable chasm.]
Allen looked at the system panel floating up. Even though Sylphy's face was behind it, he simply couldn't force a smile.
A year.
And still ninety points.
No progress at all.
For a whole year he kept using his usual methods to farm favorability with Paul's family, but no score increase notification ever came.
He even tried with Somaal-san.
...Though he didn't care to elaborate how he got scared off by too much enthusiasm from her.
Now, with only half a year left in the childhood phase, he was growing impatient.
Whether the locator system was useful or not was secondary. This feeling of being just a bit short yet never quite reaching it was truly frustrating.
'Hey, system, you keep saying "uncrossable chasm," but every time I ask for details you run away. Can't you give me an actual hint?'
The panel froze for a long time before finally reshuffling its letters.
[Honestly, letting yourself get caught up in trouble might actually yield results. But if I told you exactly what to do, you might never gain those final points.]
'You're being cryptic again? Speak clearly.'
[Allen, you're too rational. Too focused on results. You like logic. You're good at finding patterns. You always have to understand everything and then subconsciously make choices that avoid harm and maximize gain.]
[I understand that comes from your pre-reincarnation environment — growing up in an orphanage and scraping by on aid until college added fuel to that mindset. That mindset did give you certain "abilities," and thanks to those abilities you obtained Chiyuryoujutsu Mamon (Healing Magic Crest), dealt with the cheating incident quickly, won favor from Lilia, Zenith and the rest, and accumulated lots of points.]
[But that doesn't necessarily mean you're on the right path.]
[Do you understand what I'm saying?]
The "memo" page full of 'future visions' flashed in Allen's mind. He was dumbfounded and wanted to retort, but the words stuck in his throat.
Rationally weighing every choice. Always picking the "optimal" solution for the current situation. Playing the calm "adult."
Isn't that just what a corporate drone does?
What's wrong with avoiding harm?
As he silently muttered to himself, the panel seemed unwilling to say more and faded into the wind and snow.
Sylphy, still walking backward to better see his expression, noticed he hadn't answered for a long time. She lowered her gaze to the fresh snow at her feet and softly said:
"Allen… could it be..."
Her soft voice snapped Allen out of his daze. He blinked blankly.
'...Got caught up arguing with the system and forgot I was talking to Sylphy… She actually noticed something was wrong. "Something far away yet right in front of you," huh? That's accurate.'
'Wait… Could it be that the future kind and understanding "Mama Shiro" in her childhood form can give some constructive advice?'
With that thought, Allen pulled himself out of his confusion and looked down at Sylphy, waiting for her to finish.
Sylphy's eyes drooped, watching the snow at her feet.
"Could it be…"
Allen nodded internally, echoing: 'Could it be…'
"You're missing Roxy-sensei?"
'I'm missing Ro—'
'Huh?'
Allen froze mid-thought.
The wind and snow still raged around him.
But he felt the surroundings go oddly quiet for a moment.
Then he realized, stunned, what Sylphy was actually saying.
'Huh??? Wait, what do you mean the thing I keep trying to grasp is because I miss Roxy? How does that logic even make sense?!'
He opened his mouth to argue, but when he looked up, he froze again.
Roruji and Rudy had at some point stopped walking, both turning to look at Allen.
One tall, one small, with completely different stances — yet their faces were identically serious.
Deeply grave.
(End of Chapter)
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