The fire was finally out, the smoke had cleared, and I had… well, second-degree embarrassment and a roasted left shoe. But we were alive. Mostly intact. And slightly more emotionally entangled than I'd ever prepared for.
A perfect time for dinner.
"Who wants burnt rabbit?" I offered, holding up a very questionably charred piece of something that might've once hopped through a meadow. "I call it 'Campfire Disaster Stew.' Patent pending."
Lina stared at it like it had insulted her ancestors. "That's not stew. That's an edible crime."
Iris, without looking up from her notes, replied flatly, "It's only edible by technicality. The nutritional value has entered a Schrödinger state."
"Rude," I muttered, poking the meat with a stick. It oozed something that sizzled ominously. "Fine. No one appreciates culinary innovation."
We were camped on a small grassy hill just outside the village, overlooking a valley bathed in twilight. The last rays of sun painted the sky pink and gold, and the world felt… temporarily peaceful. After almost dying by fire, time-freeze nosebleeds, and monster goo, that counted as a win in my book.
Lina eventually sat down beside me, holding her own plate—a far superior meal of dried fruits, bread, and actual cooked meat. She nudged me with her elbow.
"You get points for trying, chef," she said with a small grin. "Negative points for everything else, though."
"Noted," I said, nibbling my charred regret.
Iris joined us a moment later, daintily eating something she'd apparently summoned from a pocket dimension of snacks. Seriously—where did she keep those tea cakes?
For a while, we just ate.
No monsters. No magic mishaps. No System pop-ups blaring in my face.
Just the three of us.
And then, as if she'd been saving it for dramatic effect, Lina spoke.
"So… we're a team now, right?"
I blinked.
She looked at both of us, her cheeks slightly pink from the fire—or maybe the question.
"I mean, we've done a quest," she continued. "We almost died twice. You two saw me cry and I saw you get launched into a tree by a slime. If that's not a team, I don't know what is."
I looked at Iris.
Iris looked at her cake.
"I accept the designation 'team' if it results in decreased solo mortality," she said. "Also, Raizen is amusing. I wish to observe further anomalies."
"…Thanks?" I said, unsure whether I'd just been complimented or classified as a science experiment.
But Lina wasn't done. She leaned in a little, poking my arm.
"Hey. You're the one with the weird System. You're technically our... accidental leader, right?"
I choked on my mystery meat.
"Leader?!" I squeaked. "I'm not even qualified to lead my own laundry basket!"
"You started this," she said, smirking. "You pulled us together. That's leadership."
I scratched the back of my head, suddenly very aware that two girls were looking at me with expectation. I felt like I was supposed to say something cool. Something inspiring.
So of course, I panicked.
"I, uh… I'm gonna make a guild."
Silence.
"A guild," Iris repeated, blinking.
"Yes?" I said, trying to sound confident. "Like… a real one. Not now! Later. After we… level up more. And survive another slime incident. But I will. Someday. My own guild."
Lina's grin grew. "What, gonna call it the 'Guild of Fireproof Underwear'?"
"I was thinking something cooler," I said defensively. "Like… uh… 'Linked Hearts.' Or something."
Iris blinked again. "...That's unexpectedly poetic."
"I like it," Lina said, tossing a small pebble into the fire. "Has a nice ring to it."
I looked between them, blinking. "Wait… you're not laughing?"
"Why would we?" Lina asked. "You're dreaming big. I like that."
"I reserve judgment," Iris added. "But I admit, the concept of building a structured hierarchy around chaotic romantic entanglements is… academically compelling."
"Y-yeah, well…" I rubbed my neck. "I just thought… if I'm stuck with this weird Harem King System, I might as well build something. Something good. A place where people belong. Where we belong."
Lina's gaze softened. Iris nodded ever so slightly.
For a moment, I thought maybe I'd said something smart.
Then Lina leaned over and booped my forehead with her finger. "You're still not naming it 'Linked Hearts' without letting us vote."
I smiled. "Deal."
And so, under a starry sky and the faint aroma of burnt rabbit, the world's weirdest party made an unspoken promise.
We were a team.
And someday, we'd be a guild.
End of Chapter 13