“Oh, it looks like someone from the castle is coming to pick us up.”

While Raph-chan and I were busy gazing into each other’s eyes, a familiar-looking carriage appeared, heading in our direction from Melromarc Castle Town.

And oh yeah, that was the corpse of the Spirit Tortoise that lay towering behind us. We had ended up right in front of it when we were transported back. A month had passed since we left, so the remains had been cleared away to a certain extent. The flesh and some other portions had been removed, and the flora from the mountainous areas had begun to spread . . . or at least it looked that way.

Ost . . . we made it back.

For a split second, I thought I could see a soft light radiating from the corpse of the Spirit Tortoise, as if in response to my sentiment . . . but surely it was only my imagination.

“Well then . . . I guess we should start getting caught up on things with whoever it is headed this way.”

“Agreed.”

“We have a lot to discuss, and all kinds of souvenirs, too.”

“You think Mel-chan will be happy?”

“Who knows?”

Filo was wearing pajamas that had been designed to resemble her own filolial form. She wanted to give them to her good friend Melty, the second princess of Melromarc, as a souvenir.

“Things are probably going to get busy from here on out, so be prepared for that, Raphtalia.”

That’s right. Much like Kizuna and her friends, we had all sorts of issues waiting for us that needed to be addressed, like dealing with the other three heroes that had lost to the Spirit Tortoise and been captured, for example. I really wanted to believe that they would finally listen to me after that.

“Understood.”

“Other than that . . . Yeah, I guess we’ll go if we can still manage it, after taking care of what needs to be done before the battle with the Phoenix.”

“Go? Where are you planning on going?”

“That . . . You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Umm . . . okay.”

“Fehhh . . .”

I had winked at Raphtalia suggestively, and for some reason Rishia responded with a frightened whimper. How rude could she be? Was it really so strange for me to wink?

After a few more moments passed, the approaching carriage and the knights escorting it came to a halt before us. The Queen of Melromarc stepped out of the carriage and gave a salutatory bow.

“I’m glad to see you made it back, Mr. Iwatani.”

“Long time no see.”

It had been a month since I’d last seen the queen, but she seemed pretty much the same as before. Her outward appearance hadn’t changed anyway.

“And were you successful?”

“I’m sure you already have a pretty good idea, don’t you?”

“We received confirmation of a bright light dissolving into the sky before heading this way. Am I right to assume that was proof you were able to successfully recover the Spirit Tortoise’s energy?”