Ryu left.
With Deter's arrangents, she packed lightly and set off on the road to the City of Swords.
Her golden hair caught a soft halo in the sunset, and in her blue eyes there was no longer only cold hatred. There was sothing else now.
Hope.
Genichi stood by the window and watched her figure fade around the corner. Then he withdrew his gaze.
He turned toward the living room doorway behind him.
Deter stood there with her hands clasped behind her back, wearing an expression that tried very hard to look casual.
But the mont Genichi's eyes landed on her, her body visibly stiffened.
Genichi didn't speak.
He just looked at her in silence.
There was no anger in those dark eyes. No accusation. Only a calm, almost appraising scrutiny.
Deter found herself getting unnerved under that stare.
Her amber eyes started wandering. Ceiling. Floor. Window. Anywhere but his face.
After a few seconds, she finally spoke.
"Why are you looking at like that?"
Her voice sounded a little weak, the kind of weak that ca from guilt.
Genichi still didn't answer.
He watched her for a few more seconds, then—
"Nothing."
He withdrew his gaze, walked to the desk, and pulled out the coin pouch holding the remaining valis.
The money Deter had given him to buy equipnt.
He didn't even count it. He set the whole pouch down on the desk and slid it across to her.
"What's left. I'm returning it."
Deter blinked, picked up the pouch, and opened it to look inside.
Then her expression changed.
"You only spent not even a million valis?"
She looked up at Genichi, and anger imdiately rose in her amber eyes.
"Didn't I tell you to buy better equipnt? How could you—"
"The weapon situation was… special."
Genichi cut her off and, in a calm voice, briefly explained what had happened at the Hephaistos Familia: Tsubaki Collbrande showing up, the blade's background, and the price of five hundred thousand valis.
"For a weapon, this one is enough for now."
He paused.
"As for armor, I bought a cuirass and kneeguards. It'll do for a while. I'll consider upgrading later."
His gaze t Deter's directly.
"Using gear that's too high-end is too conspicuous."
Deter opened her mouth, ready to argue, then found she couldn't.
Of course he was right.
A Level 1 adventurer wandering the Dungeon with a weapon worth tens of millions, plus expensive armor, might as well put up a sign saying: Please, surround and rob .
But still…
It made her chest ache.
He could have had better things. And yet, because of reasons like those, he could only use this.
Deter puffed out her cheeks, her amber eyes plainly unhappy.
Genichi didn't react to her sulking at all.
He turned away and started organizing the equipnt he'd bought, as if he couldn't even see her pouting.
Deter pressed her lips together, watching him stay utterly unmoved, and a complicated emotion rose in her.
She rembered the mont she'd barged in earlier. The sight of Ryu with her collar open. The wave of rage and panic that had surged through her.
She rembered the terrifying thoughts that had flashed in her mind.
She rembered how her voice had trembled when she demanded, "What are you doing?"
She'd thought—
Forget it.
Deter took a deep breath, walked up beside Genichi, and spoke softly.
"I'm sorry."
Genichi's hands paused for a fraction of a second.
"About earlier," Deter continued, guilt and apology in her voice. "I misunderstood you. I shouldn't have stord in like that, I shouldn't have questioned you like that, I shouldn't have—"
"I'm not angry."
Genichi cut her off, tone calm.
He truly wasn't.
In that situation, anyone who cared about him would've reacted the sa way.
And Deter… was his sunlight and moonlight, in her own way. He wasn't going to get mad at her over sothing like that.
Deter froze for a mont, then a flash of delight passed through her eyes.
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Then…"
Deter suddenly smiled, a sly glint appearing in her amber eyes.
"As thanks, take this!"
As she spoke, she pulled sothing out from behind her back and thrust it toward him.
A book.
The cover was made of so kind of dark leather, with no words or markings at all. Only a dull, dark gemstone set into the center.
That gem held a faint, flowing shimr under the light, almost like it was alive.
Genichi's pupils shrank sharply.
A grimoire.
A priceless item that could awaken magic in an adventurer, a rare object ford from magic itself, with only a handful left in history.
He jerked his head up to stare at Deter. The calm in his eyes shattered, replaced by a sharp, almost piercing intensity.
"This grimoire…"
His voice dropped, tight with restrained tension.
"Where did you get it?"
Deter flinched at his sudden intensity.
But she recovered quickly, and a smug smile surfaced on her face.
"Relax. I didn't go looking for it."
She paused.
"It was a gift."
Genichi's brows knit tightly.
"A gift? From who?"
"An old friend."
Deter's smile turned mysterious.
"She heard I'd taken in a newcor with a lot of potential, so she had soone deliver this grimoire. She said it was a congratulations gift for recruiting a good familia mber."
Genichi fell silent.
An old friend?
What kind of old friend casually gave away sothing this priceless?
And more importantly—
"You told her about ?"
A dangerous edge slipped into his voice.
"No, no!"
Deter waved her hands in a hurry.
"I only said you had potential. I didn't say anything else. She didn't ask, either."
Genichi stared at her, the dark in his eyes sharpening into scrutiny.
After a mont, he spoke again.
"Who is this 'old friend'?"
Deter t his gaze for a mont, then let out a quiet sigh.
"Fine.."
She paused.
"It was Dionysus."
Genichi's expression shifted.
Dionysus.
"Why would he give a grimoire?"
Genichi pressed.
Deter shrugged.
"I told you, didn't I? He heard I'd gotten a good new mber."
She looked at Genichi, her amber eyes gentle.
"I don't really know, either. I ran into him today, and when he heard I'd taken in a new familia mber, he wanted to give a congratulatory gift."
"As for why a grimoire…"
She smiled.
"Probably because I'm on fairly good terms with him."
Genichi didn't speak.
He stared at the grimoire in front of him, thoughts churning.
A gift from Dionysus.
That mad god he'd been wary of. The god who wanted the earth to sink back into chaos.
Had he noticed Genichi?
A faint gloom passed through Genichi's eyes, but he had no choice now. He could only seize every chance to grow stronger, and hope this grimoire—
After a long ti, he reached out and took it.
"…Thank you," he said quietly.
He knew this wasn't Deter's fault. He wasn't going to bla her.
Deter looked at him, and the smile on her face froze.
"You're welco."
(End of Chapter)
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