“Let me get this straight… You want to meet up with Ririna, but you don’t have anything planned. Are we supposed to find her just by walking around?”

  “Ahahahahaha! It will work out, I’m sure… I know it sounds silly, but minor convenient coincidences happen more frequently than you think. Ririna’s waiting for me, so if we check out some important spots, we’ll find her in no time.” Carol and I walked side by side through the streets of Ebrilyon. The time in this world more or less mirrored ours, so we were entering the late afternoon. The sky was still bright, and it was just the right temperature to walk around in light clothes.

  “Whatever you say. You’re the one who wants to find Ririna, so good luck. It’s actually better for me since I won’t have to worry about her getting one over on me if you don’t find her.” Carol was right to complain. I should have worked something out with Ririna yesterday. It’d be nice if she had a phone so I could message her, but… They don’t exactly exist in this world, do they? Ours still get signal. Funny.

  “We’re gonna find her. You can trust me a little, you know?” We arrived through the fast-travel station and passed by the hotel and restaurant from the other day. No signs of Ririna there, so now we’re headed to the garden with the big statue. Even though Carol was right to not believe me, sometimes lucky bullshit leads to some funny moments. “Ah! Look, there she is.”

  “Huh?! How!?” Carol looked where I was pointing in complete disbelief. “This makes no sense! Did you set this up? Are you trying to mess with me?” Carol skeptically looked up my way, somewhat annoyed.

  “I didn’t set up anything! It was pure coincidence, I swear!” I took a step to the side and moved past her. “Come on, I’m gonna say hi to her.” Carol clicked her tongue and followed me.

  “Ririna!” She turned my way and saw me waving while running her way. “I’m here! It’s been so long! I missed you so much!”

  “Right… You saw her yesterday.”

  “Iroha!” Carol’s nagging was completely ignored, and Ririna’s face filled with joy as she saw me. She ran my way and went for a hug. “I missed you too, Iroha!” After a tight squeeze, she went for a quick kiss on the cheeks.

  “Ah!” Ririna…! She… She’s so gosh darn adorable! I can’t believe such a perfect girl fell in love with me! Ririna loosened her grip on me with a satisfied smile. No way I’m letting go! I haven’t had enough! There’s so much I want to do!

  “Hey! What do you two think you’re doing? What happened to self-control?” With a red face, Carol pried the two of us apart. “Kissing so easily in public… Don’t you have any shame?”

  “Woah…” Ririna was surprised by Carol’s strength. Only now did she notice she was there. “You can only say that because you’ve spent this whole time with Iroha. I finally found someone I love. Of course I wanna be close to them all the time. Must be nice for you… I bet you’ve done all sorts of things with her…” She was jealous of Carol, but not because she wanted to monopolize me. Having to be apart during her honeymoon phase was what hurt her.

  “Haah?! We didn’t do anything! I’m not a pervert like you two!” Carol crossed her arms and looked away. That’s right… Even though we were together since then, we didn’t do anything special. Just talking and being together with someone you love is nice, but… it’s not everything. Ririna’s honest with her feelings, so she has no problem sneaking in a kiss whenever she can. Carol’s different. For all her posturing, she gets embarrassed rather easily. It’s not really fair, is it?

  “Carol…” I called her name and leaned forward. “I love you.”

  “Gaaah!?” She pressed her hands against her cheek in a panic after receiving a sudden kiss. “Wh- wh- wha- what was that for?!”

  “Uhh… Well… It’s to keep things fair. This is how I feel, so I thought it’d be nice for me to be honest sometimes.

  Carol moved in the direction of the statue, turning her back toward us. “Who asked to do something like… *mumble mumble…*” Whew… I think she liked it. She turned back to us the next moment, now fully composed. “So? What’s next? You’ve found Ririna like you wanted, so what are we doing?”

  “I’m fine with whatever you want, Iroha.” Ririna grabbed my hand. “Even just talking would be nice.” My two girlfriends are too adorable… Let’s see… It’d be nice if the two of them got along better, but I also just want to have fun with them… What do lovers do for fun? Lovemaki- No, wait! That’s a couple steps ahead…

  “Ah! I know! Let’s go on a date!”

  “Ohhhh… Our first date…” Ririna’s eyes filled with wonder.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “A d- d- date?! No one told me about this!”

  “You don’t want to come, Carol? I guess I get to go alone with Iroha!”

  “Who said I wasn’t going?! Grrr…” Carol was annoyed by Ririna’s question and somehow ended up complaining to me. “Iroha! You should have told me before we left!” Her glaring stopped, and she brushed her hair cutely. “I would have liked some time to prepare, you know?” Guhhh! You’re cute enough already, Carol! You don’t have to worry about anything! Oh! But the thought of a Carol who’s going all out for a date is also incredible. Did I actually screw up?

  “I love you…” Did I just blurt that out? That’s not really a good response, is it? “Ah! I mean, sorry, I came up with the idea on the spot. You look great, though. You don’t have anything to worry about, okay?”

  “If you say so…”

  …

  “No way! Why should I have to get along with her?” That was Carol, lashing at me after I took the plunge and said I wanted both of them to get along. For this relationship to eventually work, I think both of them have to at least be friendly with each other.

  “You don’t have to get along with anyone. I just want you two to talk.” I squeezed her hand tighter, and she mellowed out. “Please, Carol. Like, isn’t there anything you’re curious about Ririna?”

  After we decided to go on a date, we started by taking a stroll through the gardens that surrounded the statue. It got quieter as the three of us got deeper into the garden, and we started holding hands.

  “*Sigh…* I guess we can talk, but only because you’re asking.” Carol liked holding hands, and she squeezed back. “I guess I have something I wanted to know…” With some reluctance, she focused her gaze on Ririna. “You’re supposed to be some kind of alchemist, right?”

  “Not supposed to, I am an alchemist. Why do you ask?” Ririna was a lot more open to the idea of me dating the two of them, but she was by no means on good terms with Carol. She was open to the idea of being friends. She wasn’t the type of person to hate others for no reason. But Carol’s hostile attitude made things harder for Ririna. Carol’s not a bad girl, but it’s easy to misunderstand her.

  “Is that even a real thing? Isn’t alchemy just mumbo jumbo about turning random crap into gold?” Carol’s question caused Ririna’s jaw to drop. She was shocked. How could someone say something so awful and ignorant?

  “It’s not! Are you dumb!?” Ririna raised her voice to a point I had never seen before and launched into a rant. “Gold?! Where did you even get that idea? Listen, the potential of alchemy is limitless! Alchemy is about discovering and figuring out the patterns that govern the world to arrive at your desired destination! With enough research, anything is possible, making master alchemists the true saviors of this world. Capable of curing any disease and solving any problem no matter how hard! Gold is nothing compared to the creation of literal hope and joy!”

  Ririna’s enthusiasm was so strong that Carol completely froze. “You see, Carol, Ririna has helped me out a lot with her creations. From bottles that let you shoot thunderbolts from your hands to a variety of useful potions.” Potions! I bet Carol will like this one… “She even made a potion once that temporarily increased my strength exponentially.”

  “Oh… It made you stronger?” Like I thought, Carol took the bait, then looked to Ririna again, who turned her nose up at her.

  “Forget it. All my creations are my babies! I can’t make anything for people who can’t appreciate them!” Now Ririna’s pouting…

  “Uhhmm… Ririna, Carol didn’t really mean it like that. She honestly just didn’t know. Just like me, she’s also not scared of the Torn Violence Potion, you know? She’s interested in getting stronger too, so she might give it a chance.”

  “Ehhh…” Ririna calmed down and looked at Carol. “You’re not scared of it either… Maybe I can give you another chance…” Whew… I’m glad we settled this… Carol, on the other hand, was a bit uneasy. Somehow, she had been roped into taking some sketchy-sounding potion.

  “Hey, Ririna, after today, we might only come back after next week.”

  “Really? You two have to go home again? Sneaking off on your own doing who knows what?” Ririna was a bit sad but played it off lightly and teased us about it.

  “I wouldn’t do that to you… It’s just that a job popped up at home, and we have to take care of it.”

  “Guess there’s nothing you can do.” Ririna shrugged her shoulders and accepted it. “I’ve been curious about something too. What do you two do? You’re both stronger than average soldiers, but for some reason, you’re not adventurers, and you’re really secretive about it too.” Wow… This is the hardest question ever…

  “Hmm… Actually, we can’t tell you because it’s confidential.” Carol quickly said, trying to put an end to Ririna’s question.

  “It’s a confidential job? I guess I shouldn’t ask then…”

  “It’s not as serious as Carol made it seem.” I wanted to cheer Ririna up, and when thinking about it, telling people of this world won’t get anyone in trouble with the PSF. “It’s a bit too early right now, but I want to tell you everything soon. It’s just better that we wait until we have more time.”

  “Are you sure about that, Iroha? Don’t blame if something bad happens.” Carol looked away to avoid any of the potential fallout, not that there was any to begin with…

  “When there’s more time, huh…? Okay! I guess I’ll be waiting then!” Now it was Ririna’s turn to squeeze my hand with a wide smile.

  We held hands quietly for a moment, then another important topic popped into my head. “How did it go with the Alchemists’ Guild? I promised I’d go with you. Do we have time to go now?”

  “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. I got Flanne to go with me, and everything was settled.” It should have been a weight of her shoulders, but Ririna didn’t look happy.

  “Did something go wrong?”

  “Hmm… Well… Kinda…” She spoke with a calm voice to avoid worrying anyone. “You met Philip before, right? The head of the guild? He and everyone with ties to the demons left Ebrilyon and disappeared. They probably knew Flanne was going to arrest them and ran away at some point. With them gone, I should be fine for now. There’s no one left to target me. The only problem is that I ended up getting banned from the guild…”

  “Banned?! No way…”

  “But it’s okay!” Ririna forced herself to smile. “Even if I’m banned, I’ll be fine. I’m doing my own research right now, so I won’t need the guild for a while. Not being an official member will make it harder to get jobs, but I can still get some work in my hometown.”

  A sudden wind blew, causing the whole garden to rustle. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. I almost forgot where I was until I heard a whisper from behind me. “Hey, Iroha! Do something! Can’t you cheer her up or something?”

  “Carol? I thought you didn’t care about Ririna.”

  “Shut up… I still don’t just for the record. It’s just that she sounded really passionate about it… Even I can’t help but feel bad…” Carol didn’t want Ririna hearing her, so she kept whispering.

  “Hey, Ririna, no matter what, you’ll always be the greatest alchemist for me. You’re the only alchemist I’ll ever need. If I ever need anything alchemy-related, you’re the only one I’ll ask. And I’ll help you with your research whenever you need, okay?”

  “Iroha…” Ririna looked like her heart had skipped a beat. “Thank you…” Her mouth formed a beautiful smile that for some reason became smugger with each passing second. “That almost sounds like you want us to be exclusive… I accept, of course! I couldn’t ask for more.” She winked.

  “Geh!” Ririna’s words struck a nerve with the girl behind me. “Don’t twist Iroha’s words! Exclusive alchemist, not exclusive. Don’t get carried away, you alchemy maniac!”

  Ririna’s eyes widened. “Alchemy maniac… I wonder if I should take that as a compliment…?”

  “Ahahahahaha!” This is nice… They’re so cute! I couldn’t hold back and pulled them in for a double hug. This is exactly what I wanted. Things might get difficult in the future, but I can say one thing for sure. It’s gonna be fun.