Around late afternoon. I woke up. I went back to the village.

"I did it! Alberto!"

The Mayor of the Great Village welcomed me with a loud voice.

Young villagers have been dispatched to fight the Kowloon.

I'm sure they've already reported it.

The other villagers applauded me.

"That's it! That's the Son of the Lord!

"You're the hero!

"Thanks to you, this village is saved!

Their faces were filled with joy. There was a smile.

The look on my face made me feel rewarded. There's no need to talk dark about them trying to give someone away.

Someone approached me then.

"... thank you..."

She was a woman who wanted to help in the lake. Her eyes were glowing with tears. The moment he held my hand, the tears began to flow.

"Thank you! Thank you for saving my life! Because you came to me - I am!

The woman lay down.

The tears flowing out of her eyes fall into a woman's hands.

"... but am I the only one who can help you... or is it bad for the people who have been dying so far..."

I shook my head.

"... don't worry... if you were in the opposite position to them, would you resent me?

"... I don't think I want to resent you..."

"I'm sure they'll say this. I'm glad. It's important we don't forget them."

Yes, it is.

The peace that had been preserved was due to the presence of the women who had been sacrificed so far. Only this village was sacrificed.

We must not forget their sacrifices.

... I want to build a monument in this village. I thought so. As proof of their presence, the village continued to defend the territory of Luminas.

I thought that was not a bad idea.

The woman took her hands off me and lowered her head.

"Thank you very much.... I won't forget this."

The villagers continued to speak.

But I couldn't concentrate because I had other concerns.

The Kowloon fell - I'm back.

Such a thing is known throughout the village. Then we can't find the person who's supposed to show up immediately.

"I'm sorry, where is Laura?

What, Mr. Laura?

The villagers looked at each other with that feeling.

"Oh, he's nowhere."

"I didn't see it today...."

The villagers looked around.

Why isn't he here...?

Driven by anxiety, I headed for the house we were assigned to.

And then...

It was because it was faded.

――

I lost my word. Why isn't Laura here? I wonder if the Kowloon escaped in fear. No, that's not true. Laura is not such a person.

I screamed unintentionally.

Laura! Laura! Where are you?

In doing so, the villagers who followed me started calling me Laura.

"I'll see if Laura's around!

When thoughtful villagers say that...

"Ah, um..."

I heard a familiar voice.

When I looked back in a hurry, there was a gray-haired girl standing there.

"Are you looking for me?

Laura!

The villagers gave way to Laura.

Laura came to me with a feeling of regret.

"What's wrong, Laura? Where have you been?

"Ah, well...."

Laura seemed to be in trouble after a while.

"Actually, Alberto was worried and went to see the fight. When I was relieved to see you win, I fell asleep."

That's how I lowered my head.

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep my word."

"No, it's okay... don't worry about it"

I took a breath of relief.

"If Laura's okay, that's fine."

"... you won. To Kowloon."

Ah.

"Look, I told you. Mr. Alberto says he can win."

Laura smiled softly.

"Good work, Mr. Alberto!

The words sounded very pleasant.

The words alone seemed to blow me out of my body.

Maybe I wanted to hear the words - I wanted to hear them from Laura's mouth - and I worked hard to the end.

Now that I've finally finished a series of cases - I feel that way.

Thank you, Laura.

◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇

The next day, when I left the village, Laura and I were on a magic arrow flight to the territorial capital of Luminas.

It's almost dusk. It is not suitable for magic arrow flight at night, so it is time to descend.

"Summer vacation is over."

"That's right!

Laura replies cheerfully.

"What kind of summer vacation was it for Alberto?

"It was kind of too much...."

There was a lot going on.

Reconcile with your father to succeed the House of Luminas, travel to various lands to discover this territory, and finally fight the dragons.

"It was a busy summer vacation. But it was fun."

Probably because someone was next door.

Probably because the neighbor was Laura.

"How was Laura?

"I don't know! It feels amazing! That's all there is to it!

Then Laura went on like this.

"But I had fun too!

I see. Good, then. "

I was glad Laura said that.

"A-ah!"

Laura raised her voice.

"Alberto, wow! It's beautiful over there!

We were just past the terrain surrounded by mountains. In an instant, the view opened and the landscape switched to the great plains as far as the eye could see.

On the other side of the horizon, I saw a sunset red sunset. The sunlight thrown illuminates the grasslands red.

It was certainly beautiful.

I often see the sunset on magic arrow flights, but I thought this was more beautiful today than usual.

Humidity and cloud cover - miraculous.

"Sure is beautiful."

I thought so at that time.

"Yes, it's beautiful! I wanted to see this scenery with Alberto! Good memory!

Laura laughed with a pleasant voice.

"I won't forget! Happy summer! So remember, Mr. Alberto!

"Of course. I won't forget about Laura this summer."

Yes!

Laura answered happily.

This is how...

Our summer story was over.