"Well, well, well. If it isn't the one and only Liohime Kitagami."

Only one minute after the conclusion of the conflict within the Paradisus Legion Tower, reinforcements of the first Shinigami Group had arrived, as Harvey Hallvack, Jolene Aurora and a few others from other groups had entered the room, rendering Liohime and the Hallory Circuit group speechless.

"What?" Harvey asked with a bothered tone, clearly irritated as he instantly noticed Liohime's presence. "We caught up with you guys, it seems. Anyway, why the fuck does the mood in here screams 'Damn, did we really just had to bury someone?'"

"...Why are there only a few people in your group?" questioned Yariko, with a deeply concerned face. "Did the rogue Magical Beasts in the first layer go on a killstreak or something?"

"Hm? Oh no, we did lose like four people in total, but-"

"F-Four people?"

"...Buuut, most of the other groups have already taken the initiative to descend to the lower layer, including the rest of our Polar Town co-workers, while the rest of us were just curious enough to check on the cause of the giant fucking hole in the tower's wall. I'd bet my life savings on it being your fault, Lio."

"Eh!? Me!?"

In a sense, he was not wrong, though.

Then, without warning, Jolene had run straight into Liohime's arms as he panicked for a split second, and she burst out in comedic tears while everyone watched on intently.

"Oh, my knight in shining armor! I finally managed to catch up to you!!"

"H-Hey!! What are you…!?"

"Oh, my dearest Lio!! I thought that I was going to die out there!!"

She embraced him tightly and shamelessly while Harve rolled his eyes and strutted over towards the duo.

"My love, you should have stayed behind with me! I was so lonely and I was struggling-GUH!!"

"Okay, that's enough of your forced fawning," Harvey snapped while tugging her away from Liohime by the collar. "Also, at least try to lie with something barely believable. You were the only person who barely struggled at all out there, dammit."

"Fuck, you're so right. I'm way ahead of everyone else. Thanks for reminding me."

"Oh, for fuck-ugh. Look, Lio, we're about to head towards the second layer now," Harvey proclaimed as he shifted his attention towards Liohime. "We got extra food and water in our Mythical Rings if you need any."

"..."

"We got extra food and water in our Mythical Rings if you need any."

"Huh, so I wasn't daydreaming just now when you mentioned that line. That's the first time in a while that you offered any hospitality."

"I was joking, you dumbfuck."

"Aaaand there it is."

"Aww, he was just scared that he accidentally showed his sensitive side to you for once," Jolene butted in, giving Harvey a nudge.

"..."

"..."

"Now that I think about it, I kinda ship you tw-"

"Please, for the love of God, shut the fuck up," was the synced reply from the two young men who exchanged disgusted glances afterwards.

Does this happen in real life? Like, do people actually romantically ship others?

…I need to talk to more people.

Anyway, although Liohime Kitagami was eager to head towards the second layer, he was tired, and still a bit stressed from the sequence of events that had happened so far. Also, he was pretty much unsure of if there would be a safe resting place in the second layer due to his knowledge of each layer being more dangerous than the previous one.

No, actually, there might not be any safe space there at all, he pondered as he glanced over at the slowly descending sun that continues to float downwards in the orange hazy sky.

The sun had begun to set, and this tower, although it posed some risks of its own, was probably the safest option to rest up for the night. As he learned from Shihon's advice, it was better to monitor his health instead of pushing himself too hard.

"Plus, Shihon needs to rest up in order to return to her full strength," he muttered under his breath, placing his left hand right under his chin as he continued to think while Harvey and Jolene exchanged glances and shrugged.

With the option of resting over heading straight into the second layer being a clear go-to for him, Liohime decided to pick the former.

"I think that I'll stay here for the night and rest up, before descending to the second layer in the morning."

"Huh? Seriously?"

Jolene was a bit shocked, knowing Liohime's vigorous behavior firsthand, and continued:

"You do know that you have a bet to win, right? Or are you trying to flex on us by practically giving us a headstart?"

"I'm only looking out for my health, that's all. Please rest assured that I'm still going to win that bet, though."

"Oh, we'll see about that. Good luck."

With a simple wave, she turned around without a care in the world and marched towards the exit, with the rest of her group following her, including Harvey.

Then, Liohime turned to Yariko and his group.

"What about you guys? Will you rest here, or keep on going?"

Yariko averted his eyes, but then faced Noriko, one of the leading figures of the Hallory Circuit.

"What do you think?"

She paused, but then folded her arms and sighed before replying with a stern voice:

"Whichever way you want to take is fine, Yariko. You're our ace, after all, so I'll follow you no matter what. Still, even though I don't know the opinions of the others here, I don't want to fall behind the other groups just yet."

With her teammates nodding in agreement, Yariko finally advanced towards Liohime and then stopped right in front of him.

"I guess that this is where we'll part ways then, Liohime."

"R-Right."

"Of course, I look forward to the day that we reunite if fate allows us to."

He stretched out his right arm towards him, and Liohime accepted the handshake.

"Thank you for saving my teammates and my life once again, Liohime. I will do my best to help successfully complete this mission for my co-workers….and for Jack, thanks to you."

"Yeah. Good luck out there, Yariko."

With that, Liohime had been finally left to himself as the first day of the Paradisus Legion mission was about to come to a close.

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