As night fully descended while we made our way down the mountain, we once again found ourselves on the nerve-wracking, narrow road back to the inn.
To prepare this time, I interwove Silveit along my fingertips, creating a setup that allowed me to cast magic without needing to free my hands in case of any sudden dangers. As I experimented with this new technique, born from my recent reflections, my father, seated in the front passenger seat, spoke in a low voice.
"I never thought he'd demand something so unreasonable," he said. "Leaving a child behind... it's unacceptable."
Renji-san, driving carefully through the mountain road, added, "It might be his way of testing Itsuki-kun's determination, seeing if he's truly ready."
"Maybe, but still... how can anyone accept leaving a child behind as payment?" my father replied, sounding both angry and perplexed.
