When Yuki stepped into Artemisia's bathroom, he noticed the usual bath supplies—and something else. Tossed over the edge of the bathtub was a small, tight-fitting triangular garment.
Yuki's eyebrow twitched slightly. Blue and white stripes... interesting. He gave it a second look, then picked it up between two fingers. No, he wasn't some kind of pervert, so naturally he didn't... do anything weird with it. He simply moved it aside, then started washing up.
Thirty minutes later, Yuki finally finished his shower. Since Artemisia's washing machine had a dryer function, he was able to put on a clean pair of pants right after. When he stepped out of the bathroom, he saw Artemisia busy cooking in the kitchen.
"Well, since my pants are clean now, I'll be heading out." Seeing her focused on preparing dinner, Yuki decided not to intrude any further.
Hearing that, Artemisia immediately perked up. "W-Well... would you like to stay and have a meal?" She smiled gently, extending the invitation. "Think of it as my apology for dirtying your pants."
Yuki considered it for a moment, then declined. "No, that's alright."
Artemisia felt a little disappointed seeing him refuse. But on second thought, it made sense. They had only just met, after all. She might have feelings for him, but that didn't mean he felt the same. These things couldn't be rushed.
"Okay. Then let me walk you down." She set down her kitchen knife and moved to take off her apron.
"No need. I can see myself out. You're still making dinner, aren't you? I'd just be in the way." Yuki shook his head and slipped out the door before Artemisia could respond.
Watching him leave so quickly, she pouted a little. "I'm not going to eat you. Why the hurry?" she muttered to herself, then went back to making dinner.
But she was in a good mood today—humming a tune while chopping vegetables. If you listened closely, you could tell it was one of Miku's songs. Her mind was already working on how to pursue Yuki.
"Now that I think about it, he was wearing a school uniform... from the High School around here, right? Hehe~ A cute underclassman. Lucky me." A playful smile appeared on her face. "But... would people say I'm robbing the cradle?" She frowned slightly as another thought crossed her mind. "Oh well, I'm not that old. I'm only eighteen. If I went by age, I'd probably still be in high school, wouldn't I?"
As that thought settled in, Artemisia's smile faded, replaced by a wistful look. She had been raised by Infinity Corporation since childhood and trained under Ellen Mira Mathers, the world's strongest magician. Day after day of training, all so she could become a magician. It was something many would envy—being recruited and trained by Infinity Corporation from a young age, then hired straight in. That alone put her leagues ahead of most people.
But that kind of life came with a price. And that price was a normal childhood. She never got to go to school like other kids. Never got to make friends her own age. Thinking back on it now, she felt a pang of regret. Without realizing it, she found herself standing in the kitchen, staring toward the living room's floor-to-ceiling window and the night view beyond, lost in thought.
Back to Yuki. As soon as he stepped out of Artemisia's apartment, he hadn't gone far when he noticed over a dozen figures huddled around the corner of the hallway. More than a dozen pairs of eyes were peeking around the corner, watching Artemisia's front door.
Yuki rolled his eyes. These were obviously the magicians from Artemisia's squad—the ones who lived here too. Their reason for hiding around the corner was simple—they smelled a juicy bit of gossip about their ace captain. After all, this was the first time they'd ever seen her bring someone back to her place—and that someone was a man. Naturally, they had already labeled Yuki as her boyfriend.
Yuki pretended not to see them and walked by without a glance. The moment they saw him approaching, they instantly switched from covert surveillance to pretending they had just been standing there chatting. Only after he passed did they resume their watch over Yuki and Artemisia's apartment.
"How long has it been?" one asked in a hushed whisper. "Reporting, Captain—over thirty minutes." "Thirty minutes? What kind of level is that?" "I'm not sure, but I've heard that for a normal person, it's usually around ten minutes."
"Oho~ Sounds like our captain's boyfriend has some stamina." "Right? And only the guy came out. The captain didn't. That means she's probably worn out and resting." "Whoa—!!" "Amazing! He actually managed to take down our ace captain? Impressive." "Uh... Captain, what are you all talking about? I don't get it." "Ahem. Don't ask so many questions if you're underage."
Yuki overheard this string of wild remarks and couldn't help but twitch his mouth. What kind of magician squad is this? They know more than women in the red-light district. Staying in that kind of team environment would taint even the purest soul. Yuki shook his head, ignored them, and took the elevator down.
On the elevator, he pulled up the group chat. The reason he hadn't stayed for dinner at Artemisia's place? There was one. While he'd been showering, he'd browsed the chat group out of boredom. At first, everyone was just casually chatting. Lillies was reporting on how many churches they'd built, and March was sharing her latest discoveries in the universe. But then Raiden Ei changed the topic.
She had been dealing with some frustrations lately—specifically, managing internal affairs. As a warrior through and through, Ei was completely out of her depth when it came to politics. After Yuki had helped her realize she no longer needed to pursue an unchanging "eternity," she threw herself into governing Inazuma. And that's when she truly felt how limited she was.
If it were about leading troops into battle or slaying gods, she was unmatched. But sitting in a government hall, handling administrative matters? That was not her strong suit. Her familiar, Yae Miko, was clever and helped where she could, but Yae had her own work to do. So most of it still fell on Ei's shoulders. And that was the root of her frustration.