Without a sound, 3 people walked through a dim street at night.
One of them was tall but heavyweight. With well-trained muscular body, yet was surprisingly nimble, moving without any futile movements.
One of them was small and slender to the point you would mistake as a child. However, the movements were too polished to be one.
The last one of them had no particular features. Average height, average figure. A silhouette where no one remembered despite seeing it multiple times. However, the agility shown was astounding.
” Here? ”
Slender murmured and Average nodded. The 3 of them looked up at the tall and sturdy wall, the height and thickness similar to the castle wall.
Tall suddenly grabbed Slender and… Threw Slender up, who then landed on the top of the wall perfectly, just like a cat.
Silently throwing down a rope, Slender pulled both of them up at once, displaying strength disproportionate to that slender figure.
In a low murmur, like saying it was just in case, Tall chanted.
” 《影》” [TN: Kage, Shadow]
And the 3 bodies just melted into darkness.
Not careless, yet not tense.
Used to this, yet not letting down their guard.
No gap in their attack, with more than enough to spare.
The 3 who were obviously pro in this field calmly walked into the premises.
◆
——A few hours before, at dawn——
Like always, I took Mary-san’s hand and we walked to the dining room.
This me had turned 4 years old!
Before I even realized, a year had passed and it’s time for my birthday party again. Time passed so fast! Thinking back to a year ago, it was all thanks to the birthday debut that I had made a friend. Ah… to think how nervous I was that day.
….Rather than that, I was already 4 years old so please stop with the hand holding! How embarrassing! Please stop…
But how did I tell her..!?
Every time I saw how she looked at me, like she looked at her grandchild, I could never get myself to say it. The hand holding was fine at 3 years old since my walking was still unstable but it was about time to stop…
If it remained like this, I was afraid that this matter would simply be dragged out forever.