— The time has slipped back over half a day before Garfiel dashed into the shelter.

“So, like, Hetero tripped and almost cried, right? So Mimi held his hand! Then Tibby looked all lonely, so I had to grab both their hands!”

“…I see.”

“Yeah! And when we got back, the young lady was super happy!”

Despite receiving a lackluster response, the small girl walking beside Garfiel was giggling away. With her bright orange fur and big round eyes, Mimi, a beastfolk girl, displayed a carefree demeanor that somehow made her one of the enemies that stuck close to him.

Since they arrived in the city of Pristella. No, actually, looking back, it feels odd how attached Mimi has become since she came as an envoy to Roswaal’s Mansion for this matter.

At first, Garfiel suspected it was due to Emilia’s faction being wary of him, their strongest asset. However, watching her attitude and actions since then, most of that suspicion faded away. Now, he simply considers it a mystery why he was somehow liked.

The reason for that mystery, however, eluded Garfiel as he tilted his head in confusion.

— Currently, Garfiel and Mimi strolled side by side through Pristella just before evening.

It wasn’t as if one had invited the other; rather, it was that Mimi had just followed Garfiel out of the inn.

Garfiel, who preferred solitude, found it awkward to voice his desire for privacy. Also, getting the feeling that Mimi was notably oblivious to such subtleties, he ended up engaging in this aimless chit-chat while wandering through the city.

“Garf, you’re making a weird face. What’s up? Do you have something fun?”

“If it were fun, I’d be wearing a cheerful face. I don’t wanna talk about it. Or rather, I have no obligation to.”

“When you start saying ‘giri’ and ‘ninjou,’ you sound like Joshua! You should just enjoy yourself and have fun, that’s what Mimi thinks! Garf, it’d be cooler if you laughed like an idiot!”

“What do you mean ‘like an idiot’?”

Mimi’s overly blunt words made Garfiel bare his fangs, to which she squealed, “Eek!” and darted away. However, she soon paused a little ahead, beaming with a grin as if she had forgotten the earlier exchange. Watching her made Garfiel feel a strange shame for his current smallness.

Claiming he needed to shake off dinner before heading out, it had only been about an hour since Garfiel challenged the Sword Saint Reinhardt to a spar.

The strongest in the kingdom—or perhaps even the strongest in the world.

Prior to meeting him face-to-face, Garfiel had heard about Reinhardt’s prowess from Subaru.

A friend, a benefactor, and someone with a complex parting according to Subaru, running into Reinhardt in such an unexpected place was a fortunate encounter.

It seemed that Subaru was able to clear up the awkwardness that had been lingering for a while, and with his worries dissolved, Garfiel felt no need to hold back.

To Garfiel, the sound of “the strongest” held a pure special meaning.

Being the strongest. Aiming for the strongest. Becoming the strongest.

Garfiel firmly believed that being born as a man meant having that lofty goal towering above him from the moment of his first cry.

Many people want to pinch off the fleeting dream of becoming ‘the strongest’ at least once during the long road of life, only to forget it eventually. However, Garfiel never forgot.

He had always envisioned it, continually striving toward it his entire life. The title of ‘the strongest’ is one that Garfiel felt was only natural for him—born as a man—to pursue, and it was a crucial condition to protect everything he wished to safeguard.

Thus, before a man renowned as the pinnacle of strength, Garfiel had no means to suppress the throbbing of his fangs and claws.

With Subaru’s assistance, he had gained Reinhardt’s consent to spar.

The Sword Saint retained a surprisingly gentle appearance that seemed far from the summit of martial skill. He seemed so relaxed he could break a piece of dry bread in one hand!

But Garfiel knew that the stronger one was, the better they hid their strength. Unlike Garfiel, who was always emanating a tense presence, true powerful individuals often don’t look the part. Roswaal is one, as is Subaru.

And so Garfiel judged that Reinhardt belonged to that same realm.

— The spar was set to take place in the inn’s gravel courtyard.

He dismissed Garfiel’s suggestion to fight in the open for fear of collateral damage, insisting instead on the courtyard inside the inn. He even added the caveat, “Just don’t wreck the garden.”

It felt nothing short of humiliating. Even if he’s a man at the pinnacle of martial arts, that was applying a bit of a double-standard. Garfiel had every intention of making him regret underestimating him.

Facing off in the courtyard, Garfiel bared his fangs as he awaited Subaru’s signal to begin. He was fixated solely on hitting the red-hatted hero with all his strength.

“—”

Such thoughts vanished the moment the signal was given.

The presence of the man before him transformed in less than a blink.

The gentle aura that had been surrounding the man until then evaporated into the abyss, and what stood there was either flames or a single razor-sharp blade.

For an ordinary person, being in the presence of that blade would have put them on guard, barely managing to stay composed.

Those who had dabbled in martial arts to any degree would plummet into despair due to the immense pressure of the strength gap.

Yet, Garfiel was neither of those.

At the very least, Garfiel possessed sufficient power to engage the Sword Saint in a spar.

A jolt of terror crept over him, but rather than shy away from that pressure, Garfiel stifled his hesitation with a roar and lunged at Reinhardt.

Rushing into the pre-agreed spar—one where they wouldn’t inflict significant wounds on each other—he made the first strike reflexively, aiming to claw at Reinhardt’s throat.

However, that first attack completely missed, causing him to stumble and realize the chasm in their strength.

“—I lose.”

After that, he endeavored to strike from every angle he could think of, but Reinhardt evaded them all, flowing smoothly as he dismissed Garfiel’s attempts with effortless finesse.

Remarkably, Reinhardt did all this without even moving from the spot where they began their match.

In other words, Garfiel lost with everything he had focused on the upper half of Reinhardt’s body.

A forceful sweep left Garfiel airborne, and as he feel face-to-face against the ground with Reinhardt’s fist hovering before him, Garfiel declared his loss.

The Sword Saint managed to avoid drawing his blade, completely outclassing Garfiel at a fistfight, which was Garfiel’s forte.

Following that, he couldn’t quite remember what Reinhardt had said or what Subaru had commented.

All he knew was that he narrowly escaped humiliation and managed to utter a few words before exiting the inn.

As emotions churned inside him, he couldn’t quite pinpoint what they were.

Leaving him beaten down by feelings he couldn’t articulate, Garfiel set out alone in a bid to seek answers in the dusk-covered watergate city—

“Garf! Garf! Look here! The sunset is reflecting beautifully on the water! It’s super red! Look! Amazing!”

Mimi, who had caught up, was tugging on his sleeves, hair, and shoulders without reservation, leaving him no room to indulge his somber thoughts after he had bothered to step out of the inn.

“Would you shut up already? Can’t you be a bit quieter?”

“No, impossible!”

“Wow, you answered that fast!”

Grabbing Garfiel’s arm, Mimi spun about, pulling Garfiel into a whirlwind of movement. Thoughts of bolting and running away swiftly crossed his mind, but considering the unknown limits of Mimi’s beastfolk speed, he discarded the idea; she might easily catch up to him.

It would be quite a spectacle to stand out in the city like that.

Before setting off for Pristella, he had received firm warnings from Frederica and Ram about acting too conspicuously. He didn’t want to bother Emilia or Subaru due to his antics; Otto was the only one he could annoy—he was a brotherly figure good at cleaning up messes.

“…Ugh!”

“Hey, hey! What’s wrong, Garf? Are you troubled? Trouble… what’s on your mind?”

“Is that what you mean, trouble?”

“Yes, trouble! Just spill it, spill it!”

Still unable to voice his concern, Mimi began play-acting with little punches, urging him to open up with her tiny dependable figure making Garfiel feel oddly disarmed as he ground his teeth lightly.

His gaze drifted toward the waterway, squinting slightly.

“Ah… It truly is a wonderful view.”

“See, I told you! Amazing!”

Though Garfiel initially thought Mimi’s enjoyment sounded half-hearted, the sight of the lingering sunset reflecting on the water was indeed an eye-catching and beautiful sight. The orange sky above bathed the world in flame, with crimson glimmers on the water’s surface seeping into his heart like a gentle tug.

Before he realized it, Garfiel found himself sitting on the bank of the waterway, idly gazing at the passersby along the stream as he lost track of time.

“Hmm, hmm, hmm~”

Seated beside Garfiel, a swinging Mimi was cheerfully humming a song. Although her nature didn’t allow for complete silence, the gentle buzzing of her humming was easy enough to tolerate. She tugged at Garfiel’s shoulder, swaying her head from side to side.

Glancing sideways at her radiant profile made Garfiel realize the warm orange tones of Mimi’s fur mirrored the sunset’s colors. Unable to resist, he reached out to pat her head, prompting Mimi to nuzzle happily against him.

“Fluffy? So fluffy? Mimi gets touched a lot by the young lady too! She says it feels soothing, like she’s a plush or something!”

“Yeah, it does feel nice to touch. That soothing thing, I guess the captain mentions that too occasionally; maybe that’s it. I kinda get it now.”

“Garf, getting all touchy-feely?”

“Now that changes the meaning completely!”

“Huh?”

The innocent expression as Mimi tilted her head made Garfiel chuckle despite himself. Somehow, that lightened the heavy thing weighing in his heart. The feelings of defeat and humiliation were turning into sheer rebellious spirit.

“…I can’t just suddenly become the strongest, you know. I’m still on my way up.”

“Oh, that long, long slope to the peak of strength!”

“Heh, looks like you get that better than I expected. Indeed, that is the path to becoming the strongest.”

As he answered while tracing the white scar on his forehead with his finger, Garfiel found himself reluctantly uplifted. Had he been alone, he might have wallowed in self-pity. It felt right to be glad that Mimi was by his side.

“I should thank you. Hey, short stuff. Wanna stop by the stands for a snack? My treat…”

“Garf, look over there!”

“Huh?”

Just as Garfiel was getting up to lead Mimi to food stalls, she pointed across the waterway. Following her voice, Garfiel glanced over to see a troubling sight and squinted.

There, across the waterway, one of the small boats was adrift after the rope securing it had come loose, and it was heading downstream without a person on it. That wasn’t the issue at hand.

“Kids!”

Mimi called out loudly, looking toward the direction the boat was flowing, where five children, unaware of the approaching boat, were playing in another attached boat.

If the drifting boat collided, it would likely overturn, sending the kids tumbling into the waterway.

Mimi’s voice alerted others nearby, but it was too late—one of the boat owners, rushing from the docking area, had already realized the situation and dashed out.

The kids finally became aware of their predicament, turning pale as their panic began to rise at the sight of the oncoming small boat.

Then—

“Hey, kids! You better thank the cat girl who noticed first!”

“Garf!”

With a single leap to the small boat across the waterway, Garfiel landed almost without rippling the water’s surface, showcasing a remarkable sense of balance. To the kids witnessing this, he must have appeared like a sudden specter from the sky.

With bared fangs and a menacing grin, the golden-haired man left the children frozen in shock—then, taking advantage of their stillness, he swiftly swooped in and scooped all five children together as he leaped once more.

He soared from the boat, landing on the walking path along the waterway. Just after freeing the children, he heard the thud of the boats colliding behind him, causing the one the kids had aboard to tip over.

Instantly, he sensed other nearby boats were about to collide, too. Garfiel quickly manipulated the rope tethering the small boat he had secured the children in, pulling it firmly to halt it in its tracks.

By leveraging the movement of the overturned boat, he effectively prevented the initially untethered boat from flowing downstream, wrapping up the whole incident with minimal chaos.

“And there, it’s sorted out!”

As he tied off the rope again tightly, Garfiel wrapped things up, a wave of cheers and applause erupted from the onlookers watching the scene unfold.

Even the boat’s overseer, who should have been watching for trouble, hurried to the scene, bowing his head gratefully as he waved his hands in thanks, while Garfiel bashfully scratched his head.

Just then—

“Th-thank you, big brother!”

“Oh?”

The children he rescued showered him with gratitude.

Turning around, Garfiel was met with sparkles in the children’s eyes, contrasting from the terrified expressions they had shown in the boat moments earlier.

As this exchange unfolded, the applause around Garfiel swelled even louder.

Feeling oddly elated amongst the praise, Garfiel wiped his nose lightly with a finger and remarked,

“No problem, it was just coincidence… Yeah, just a coincidence. It was the sunset and damp wind that told me: In this watergate city surrounded by constant water… if someone’s tears flowed, this waterway would overflow!”

“—”

Garfiel proudly declared this, but applause suddenly began to falter.

Cheers hung in the air, transforming into a stuttering series of half-hearted exclamations. In contrast, the kids before him responded with unrestrained enthusiasm.

“So cool!” “So awesome!” “You dive into danger for tears!” “No backing down! No yielding! You never back down!”

With the children’s excitement escalating, Garfiel nodded in satisfaction.

Then, as he clicked his fangs together while grinning, one of the kids asked,

“Big brother, what’s your name?”

“I’m not really worthy of a name, but if I had to say… I’m a tiger. The golden tiger! They call me the Gorgeous Tiger!!”

“Gorgeous!” “Tiger!!”

Garfiel struck a pose, stretching both hands toward the sky and leaning back.

The kids gleamed with excitement in their bright-eyed expressions, mimicking his pose in return.

Just then, Mimi came running, taking a detour to join in, her eyes sparkling as she exclaimed,

“—Garf, you’re so cool!!”

She hastened toward him and joined in the posing, generating shared laughter that echoed through the twilight around the waterway.

— Meanwhile, the applauds and cheers had faded, leaving just the boat owner standing as a lonely figure, casting dry smiles as he watched the joyous commotion before him.

※※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※　※

Garfiel, accompanied by the excited children he bonded with, strutted confidently down the street after completing their snack run.

“At that moment, I declared, ‘You shall not advance another step, you punks! This is the captain’s domain! You’ve already fallen right into my trap!’”

“Amazing! So cool!”

“Wow, that’s thrilling!”

Walking amidst a Pristella basked in sunset hues, Garfiel was met with cheers from Mimi and a golden-haired boy who heard his tales of valor.

By the way, what he recounted was one of the most memorable events in the year: a chapter dubbed “The Earth Spider Hunt.”

During that time, a huge number of “Earth Spiders” had appeared in a village, leading Garfiel, Subaru, and Otto, the trio of men, to the bizarre situation of having to take down the monsters as smoothly as would be expected from Garfiel’s combat prowess.

One boy among the children, maybe around six or seven years of age and with charming features, displayed an eagerness that hinted he would perhaps grow to become quite the lady killer.

Although enthralled by Garfiel’s ventures and remarkable battle tales, he was unaware he was on the verge of making a bad decision.

After finishing the snack run, Garfiel was delivering each child back home, having made sure that four out of the five had arrived safely. This boy was now the last one to send home.

“For crying out loud! You kids ventured out pretty far by yourselves, didn’t you? Isn’t that dangerous?”

Garfiel lifted an eyebrow, noticing that they’d walked quite a distance to get to the boy’s house.

The boating children had played close to the established docks between the first street, home to the inn, and the second street, where the Muse Company was located. As lost as he was in his own thoughts, he never discounted how far they had ventured.

The children would have to go deeper into the third street to get home, meaning reaching it directly would take them nearly an hour on foot.

In response to Garfiel’s concern, the boy grinned and replied,

“You know, sometimes the songstress comes to that first street’s Cohen! We went to see her!”

“The songstress… now that’s something. I’ve heard her voice is quite exceptional; the captain said so too, but I’m feeling a bit skeptical.”

Garfiel scratched his nose, not quite agreeing with the boy’s innocent answer.

He had only glimpsed the famous songstress Liliana in the Muse Company for a painfully brief moment. Yet even that fleeting encounter was enough to leave a robust impression; she was quite the striking girl, but her demeanor seemed anything but aligned with the pure image one might expect of a songstress.

“Garf, haven’t you heard the songstress sing? Whoa, it was incredibly awesome!”

“You kids managed to catch that?”

“Yep! I stayed awake all the way through! I’m amazing, right? Praise me!”

Garfiel dismissed the head she offered for praise as Mimi bounced excitedly, “Yay!” and rushed off, then returned his focus to the boy, asking,

“So, did you get to meet the lady of song?”

“Nope, I missed her. I was a bit late. But since I came all the way to the first street…”

“So you ended up playing by the river, huh? Well, good thing I made it in time!”

“Gorgeous Tiger!”

“Oh yeah!”

The boy raised his hands to the skies, and Garfiel mimicked the action.

This is the existence known as the Gorgeous Tiger.

However, right after this cheerful pose, the boy slowly lowered his hands and sighed heavily, capturing Garfiel’s attention with a tilted head.

“What’s up with that? Stop with the sighing. You’ll scare away all the happiness.”

“Uh, well… when I get home, my sister’s gonna be mad.”

“Huh?”

The boy reflected feelings of dread, unsure of how to face his sister, making Garfiel react dramatically. As the boy shook, Garfiel swiftly reassured, “Hey now, there’s no need to panic.”

“But… I snuck out.”

“Aha!”

Apparently, the boy’s outing to hang out with friends had been a covert operation he didn’t want to report back. By now, his family was probably worrying, and the boy feared the inevitable storm of reprimands looming over him.

Garfiel understood that sentiment well; the concept of a sister was, after all, an insurmountable wall for a brother.

Even if ten years had passed and the physical age gap had closed, the boy’s fear must have felt even greater.

“Alright then, you can count on me.”

“Huh…?”

The boy looked shocked at Garfiel’s offer, which brought a grin to Garfiel’s face, bared sharp fangs in reassurance.

“I get how scary sisters can be. I’ll lend a hand. When your sister shows up, I’ll be right here to back you up.”

“Big brother!”

The astounded boy leaped onto Garfiel, who returned the embrace. Just then, Mimi also leaped onto Garfiel’s back.

With kids clinging to him from both sides, Garfiel resolutely began walking toward the boy’s house.

The sunset was approaching rapidly, and it seemed he wouldn’t make it back in time for dinner at the inn. However, he didn’t mind much today.

As for Garfiel, he still hadn’t returned to full composure to have a calm dinner with Reinhardt. At least, after a night’s rest, he could recover enough for that.

After all, it was thanks to the kids who looked up to him and Mimi, who brought him some kind of inexplicable vigor.

“—Fred!”

Just then, while he was immersed in reflection, a bright voice sliced through the air.

As Garfiel elevated his face at the sudden tone, he saw a girl racing towards him from afar, her long blonde hair flowing behind her as her eyes locked onto the boy clinging to Garfiel.

Upon hearing her voice, the boy looked up, spotting the girl and sighing in exhilaration,

“Sister…”

“How much more do you intend to worry people?!”

As the boy leaped forward, the girl executed a dynamic flying kick, colliding perfectly with the small frame of the boy, who flew backward with ease.

Saving her brother’s trajectory perfectly, she capped off a graceful landing, but in the next beat, she fixated on Garfiel, glaring at him with a sharp expression often only seen in patrons adorned with beauty.

“You suspicious character! What do you intend to do to my Fred?!”

“That… doesn’t hurt, but can you stop kicking little ones, kid?”

Garfiel softly replied to the girl’s defiant retort. The girl took a step back, forsaking her boldness, perhaps wondering if Garfiel appeared angry. Garfiel wasn’t angry; rather, he was still in shock.

It was unexpected to confront a sister who would execute a kick straight onto her brother without hesitation.

Meanwhile, the kid who had been flung away was caught with a “Yip!” by Mimi, softening the impact as they both landed on the ground in a cute tumble.

Both stood up, shaking off the dirt, while Garfiel sighed, assessing the whole encounter.

“What’s with that attitude? I’m telling you, Garfiel isn’t bad. We will make sure neither Fred nor you does anything strange… and you better watch out when I’m angry.”

“First of all, I’ll declare it’s a misunderstanding! And don’t go executing big kicks on someone who can’t even do a proper parry; you could seriously hurt someone! You hear me?”

“Uh…”

Garfiel squatted down, keeping his voice calm and addressing the girl.

The boy’s sister looked to be about ten—still in that adorably rebellious age. She seemed somewhat intimidated by Garfiel, her earlier confidence faded, teetering on the edge of dropping tears from her eyes.

Putting up an unyielding facade against Garfiel’s appearance, she surely mustered her courage for this confrontation—a fortunate circumstance; having to deal with someone flaming wasn’t as scary at all.

“G-Gorgeous Tiger… please, don’t frighten my sister too much.”

As he regarded the quivering girl, Fred’s expression remained conflicted between protecting his pride and shielding his sister. Luckily, he still managed to keep a strong stance in Garfiel’s presence.

“Unless I am the villain, it’s hard to understand this situation, you know?”

“You’re the villain! You’re a bad guy! No bad guys allowed! Gorgeous! Tiger!”

Mimi, returning from her small detour, playfully jumped up, playfully tapping Garfiel on the head. It was a harmless yet somehow irritating thing to endure.

The exchange between the sister and brother and Garfiel continued as they locked eyes.

Just then—

“Big sister! Fred! Where have you been?”

Another voice triggered a sudden break in the standoff spirit currently being held.

A soft feminine voice broke across the tension as the siblings exchanged puzzled looks before bolting toward the origin of the voice. Garfiel watched as they approached, wide-eyed.

Turning around the bend was a golden-haired woman, presumably their mother.

“Mom!”

“Mom! A suspicious guy—Gorgeous something—that hurt Fred!”

Fred, with tears coming to the surface, clutched his mother, while the sister pushed forward to defend her brother’s honor.

The mother, while receiving her children, wore a smile laced with concern, almost as if she sympathized with their distress.

Garfiel exhaled, shaking his head at the family dynamics playing out.

If this led to the city watch being summoned, he’d have a problem on his hands. With a sense of relief washing over him as a calmer adult figure had entered the fray, he stepped forward to explain.

“—”

Just as he moved toward the amused mother, smiles brimming across her face, Garfiel halted in his tracks.

“Garf?”

Mimi curiously broke the spell, glancing at the suddenly immobile Garfiel.

Yet, stunned, Garfiel couldn’t respond to her or anything else; he felt utterly overwhelmed by confusion and turmoil running rampant within him.

Because standing there was—

“I’m truly sorry. It seems my children have caused you trouble. If you’d be so kind as to share what happened with me.”

The woman spoke pleasantly, utterly devoid of malice or suspicion. When she took a step forward and stood right in front of him, Garfiel’s mouth quibbled as he attempted to piece together what was happening, but the feminine figure before him tilted her head, puzzled and intrigued by his reaction.

Her countenance, demeanor, and voice resonated with a tremendous force that shook Garfiel to his core.

“—Mom?”

He mumbled quietly, an ash-gray voice faintly escaping his lips.