Soft, tinkling sounds that would have been overlooked elsewhere entered Gaius’ ears as the dust clouds began to clear. The first thing Gaius saw was the countess’ head of blue hair, which had little sparkling fragments mixed into it, falling off as she got up slowly.

With a little hint of surprise, Gaius noted that she wasn’t badly injured. Sure, blood was dribbling out of her mouth, and her body moved in ways that the boy associated with bruises, but there was surprisingly no hint that her bones were cracked or broken. As far as taking punches from him went, this was probably one of the best results he’d ever seen.

Gaius examined her closely as he landed. Her uniform was okay, but he could see crystalline dust fall out of her clothes as she got up slowly, and the boy had a weird look on his face. Clearly, her apparel was also imbued with the same properties as the ornaments on her hair, but that didn’t extend to her uniform.

In that case, it was probably her…

The boy shuddered all over. Turning underwear into something that would turn into dust wasn’t something he would even consider remotely comfortable. Sure, it was probably rarely used, given her station, but still. At any rate, crystalline dust with unknown properties in close contact with sensitive areas was a recipe for rashes.

“Still want to fight?” Gaius asked. “I don’t think you can take a second punch from me.”

His eyes lingered on the small pit he created, before drifting over to the horrified Mrs. Clara, who was staring blankly at the crater.

“No,” she said. “I-I surrender. Y-you win.”

Her voice was quaky, and more crystalline dust fell out of her clothes as she hobbled off the stage. Gaius watched her leave silently, and moments after she vanished, Mrs. Clara came back to life.

“T-the winner is Gaius!”

Her words precipitated a small storm of applause. Showered with claps, Gaius left the arena, making his way towards Isabelle and Nakama.

“I’m back,” he said.

“Good job!”

“Nicely done, Master Gaius.”

The boy rubbed Nakama’s head, and then left the stands. He could still feel the eyes of Class 1-S on him, but they didn’t bother him much. Right now, he was pre-occupied with what he should get the countess to do — she was obliged to accept any three requests he had.

“Any thoughts on that little spar earlier?” Gaius asked, after they left Twilight Elysium.

“Those ornaments were quite useful,” Isabelle said. “They seem to be automated, one-use defensive artefacts.”

“Or maybe they seem to be one-use because I overloaded them with a single attack,” said Gaius. “I’m thinking of getting a steady supply of these baubles for us with my second request, what do you think?”

“That’s a good idea,” said Isabelle. “What about you, Nakama? What do you think?”

Gaius glanced at the little girl, who frowned for a moment before asking, “Why does she have the same weapon as you do?”

“Weapon?” Gaius took out the Moonshot. “It seems that within the Western Holdings, artefacts like this have quite the significance. When I took this out earlier, she seemed to recognise it for some reason.”

“Maybe it’s a weapon reserved for the nobility. The caste system in the West is very strict,” said Isabelle. “You taking it out could very well indicate that you’re a noble from the Western Holdings too. Might account for why she’s that shocked. Come to think of it, how did you acquire it anyway?”

“Hmm.” Gaius narrowed his eyes. The past few years had been very confusing for him personally, what with the Last Star, the war and whatever else that had happened. It didn’t feel like two years; it felt like eight to him for some reason. Maybe it was the sheer volume of stupid things that had happened to him, but his memory wasn’t working all that well anymore.

“I think I took it from a bunch of fools that tried to attack me, back in Heritage,” said Gaius. “Before I met you, Isabelle. Now that I think of it, these fools were from the Western Holdings, which meant that they were definitely the talented ones. I wonder if the good countess would draw a connection?”

“Even before I met you, your life was rather interesting.” Isabelle stifled a giggle. “I remember waking up in a strange room, where you and Nexus proclaimed to be a messenger of the dead or something.”

“Messenger of the dead?” Nakama asked, her eyes blinking. “Never heard that one!”

“It was while you were dreaming,” Gaius replied, a gentle smile on his face. “But yes, life was always interesting. Full of challenges too. A pity I never brought you to Heritage Basestation. There were lots of nice people there, but now…”

He shook his head. “Well, they at least escaped the assault of the Last Star. How are they doing now? I wish I knew an answer to that question, at least. Is the impending invasion going to affect them too?”

“Don’t think hard,” said Isabelle. “You’re too far. Whatever will be, will be.”

But her words didn’t have that much effect on Gaius. Some part of his mind noted that he was becoming oddly introspective for some reason, but it was a luxury he could have for now. And he wasn’t alone either — Nakama, who had also made friends in Heritage Basestation, was also feeling down.

“You two…” She shook her head.

“It’s normal for people to have some emotional baggage,” said Gaius. “I don’t see what’s wrong with that.”

“No, it’s just that it’s somewhat painful to watch the two of you mope.” She fluffed up Nakama’s hair, but the little girl’s face still had a moping feel to it.

“It’ll pass,” Gaius replied. “Anyway, you’re one to talk, aren’t you? The mention of your elder sister managed to throw you off-kilter so much more than us. Pot, kettle…”

“I get it, I get it!” She turned away in a huff, and Gaius smiled.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ll be fine. Just let us mope around for a while. There’s ice-cream at home, and that’s going to do the trick.”

“If you say so.” Rolling her eyes, she led the way back, Gaius and Nakama trailing in her wake.