The initial observation point of the newly emerged Gate was an open lot in Covent Garden, London.
The moment the British Hunter Association confirmed the appearance of the new Gate, they immediately cordoned off the surrounding area and called in every available force they could muster on short notice.
Even if the British Hunter Association was currently suffering from a severe shortage of personnel, they couldn't just stand by and watch a newly appeared Gate do whatever it pleased.
"…You're saying a princess is nearby?"
"Yes, yes! Princess Elicia Rose Winder is at a restaurant in the vicinity right now!"
"Damn it all! Get back on the line with the Hunters!"
Critically, word came in that British Princess Elicia was at a restaurant near the Gate.
It was more than enough news to send the already-busy British Hunter Association into a full-blown emergency.
Elicia, who boasted an especially enormous popularity even among the British royal family, was the British Hunter Association's top-priority protection target.
Because of that, the British Hunter Association was literally running themselves ragged, putting every measure at their disposal into motion — but then.
"D-Director! We're getting a report that a massive airborne object has been spotted at the scene!"
"…A flying-type monster showed up too? A wyvern? A griffin? What species is it! What rank!"
"Well, it's… it's…. …They're saying it's a dragon."
"A d-dragon? The kind I'm thinking of?"
"…Yes."
Around the time the forces the British Hunter Association had scraped together by any means necessary were just beginning to arrive on scene —
An unexpected report reached the Association that an unidentified massive dragon was also flying toward the Gate.
London's citizens were looking up at the enormous shadow in the sky, posting on social media asking what on earth was going on.
The Hunters on the ground, who hadn't been given any information about any of this, were already in a state of panic.
— Flap.
— Flap.
"Wh-what is that?"
"…I think we're going to need to expand the civilian evacuation perimeter. Am I the only one thinking that?"
"Bloody hell. Has Britain's luck finally run out…!"
Two enormous wings cutting across the skies of London.
A shadow of literally overwhelming scale blanketed the entire Covent Garden area.
The Hunters on the ground, having judged it impossible to handle that dragon with their current forces, urgently tried to request backup from the British Hunter Association — but then.
— Thud!
The dragon, having finally descended to the ground, paid not the slightest attention to the bewildered Hunters and instead slowly turned its head toward the Gate.
And then, it opened that enormous maw wide toward the monsters oozing out of the Gate one after another.
"Wh-what is it doing right now?"
And so, at the very moment one Hunter's baffled voice rang out —
— KABOOOOOOOOOOM──!!!!!!
A violet light gathered within the dragon's massive jaws, and it unleashed a breath of tremendous firepower.
Aimed not at the Hunters, but at the monsters pouring from the Gate.
— Crack, crackle.
— Crumble……….
Under the ferociously unleashed breath, not only the monsters but the Gate itself beyond them began to slowly collapse.
The Gate, having lost all its power at last.
In the end, the Gate in the open lot could no longer maintain its original form, and it came crashing down in a heap.
It had been a mere ten minutes since the Gate was first observed.
***
— Creak…….
— Step.
— Step.
"Ji-woo."
"Oh, Erdi. Are you done?"
"…Yeah."
Thump. Erdi, having taken down all the monsters on my orders and returned, sat back down beside me.
The steak that had been served just before Erdi left was still warm. The plate was still warm too.
I hadn't known, but apparently it's standard practice for restaurants like this to serve plates pre-heated. So even if a little time passes, the food doesn't go cold. In fact, if you want your steak cooked a bit more, you can just press it against the plate.
"What about the people? Is anyone hurt?"
"No."
"Phew, thank goodness."
I'd honestly been a little startled when an emergency alert started blaring while I was in the middle of eating, but it seemed like no one had died or gotten hurt.
When I asked Erdi for a few more details about what she'd done at the Gate, she said she'd simply cut down every monster in sight. And she'd found the Dungeon Stone and smashed it to pieces too.
"The lizard would've handled the rest."
"Hm? Arkiel came too?"
"She would've sensed it."
Apparently a few monsters had slipped past Erdi, but Arkiel, who had been waiting outside the Gate, took care of all of them.
Erdi told me that Arkiel can sense the energy of a Gate too, so the moment she noticed one had appeared near me, she flew straight over.
— Flap.
— Flap.
— Thud.
"Whoa."
Sure enough, just a moment later, an enormously massive dragon came flapping in on her wings. The instant she landed, a tremendous tremor was transmitted all the way into the restaurant.
Thanks to that, the table shook and Erdi's knife clattered to the floor. At Arkiel's size, just touching down on the ground is enough to cause an earthquake.
— Patter patter!
— Fling!
"Are you alr——. …Actually, are you okay, Ji-woo?"
"Yeah. Welcome back, Arkiel."
Since Arkiel was here right now not as my summoned creature but as a Hunter affiliated with M.M.L.I, she spoke to me casually.
Like Erdi, Arkiel's cover in front of other people was that she and I were just older and younger sisters who knew each other.
However, Elicia still had a bewildered look on her face, clearly not quite understanding what had just happened.
"Ji-woo. We need to evacuate…."
"Ah, it's fine. Erdi took care of everything — she went in and whoosh whoosh, took them all out."
"Uh, huh?"
Even with my explanation, she still looked like she didn't quite get it.
In the end, I asked Erdi to explain on my behalf. Why we didn't need to evacuate.
While Erdi explained things to Elicia, I sat beside them cutting my steak. And then I popped a piece right into Arkiel's mouth — she'd worked hard alongside Erdi, after all.
"How is it? Good, right?"
"Why, why are you giving me…. …No, you eat it, Ji-woo. I don't need to eat."
"Arkiel worked hard too, so she should eat."
Arkiel was waving her hands trying to refuse the steak I was offering her, but I popped another piece right in.
Erdi had her own portion of steak, but Arkiel didn't. I had to share some of mine.
Either way, if it hadn't been for both Erdi and Arkiel, I would've had to evacuate without finishing my steak.
"───And so, the situation has been fully resolved."
"How did you close a Gate in such a short time…?"
"I determined that Ji-woo's meal could not be allowed to be interrupted. Does that answer your question?"
"……M.M.L.I is far more remarkable than I had imagined."
"You flatter us."
Having heard Erdi's explanation, Elicia sat back down and resumed cutting her steak.
Emily, Elicia's secretary who had been frantically making calls left and right, also glanced around cautiously and returned to her seat.
However, a moment later, a bodyguard in a suit approached our table and —
"I-I'm terribly sorry. The chefs and wait staff have all moved to the shelter at this time……."
"Pardon?"
"It seems that service for the remaining courses will be rather difficult to continue. We sincerely apologize."
— said this, asking for our understanding.
Wait, the guests hadn't evacuated yet. Why did the restaurant staff leave first?
Of course, if a Gate suddenly opens, it's common sense to run first regardless of whether there are guests — you can't lose your life over customers, so I understood.
…Still, not getting to eat dessert was a little disappointing. A mille-feuille? Something like that — a fancy cake by that name had been set to come out as dessert.
"I'm sorry, Ji-woo. I'd wanted to spend a little more time together…."
In the end, Elicia and I parted ways quickly. Even though the Gate had already closed, apparently staying near where a Gate had opened was still a bit dangerous.
Because of that, Elicia and I had to hurry out of the restaurant after only finishing the steak. Something about needing to move Elicia, as royalty, to a safe location quickly.
Originally we'd planned to have tea or something after the meal and take a short walk together, but the Gate that suddenly appeared cancelled all of that.
The British Hunters also needed to investigate the damage situation around the Gate.
Anyway, there was a lot to take care of, so we were told to clear the scene quickly.
"…Even after closing a Gate, it's not over."
Still, I was scheduled to meet Elicia again when filming the Biber advertisement later.
But parting in the middle of a meal like this left me feeling a little unsatisfied.
…Why does a Gate always have to appear right when I'm eating? This Gate had absolutely no sense of timing.
"…Ji-woo. What's wrong."
"…What do you mean?"
"Your face is full of complaints."
"No it's not."
Anyway, after parting with Elicia like that —
I boarded another limousine that had come to pick up me, Erdi, and Arkiel, and we headed back to the mansion.
Erdi explained that the follow-up handling of today's Gate would be conducted first thing tomorrow morning by getting in touch with the British Hunter Association.
"Was it dangerous?"
"…They were nothing worth mentioning. You don't need to worry about that."
"Ooh. As expected."
I gave Erdi a thumbs-up to say she was amazing for taking down the monsters so easily.
After arriving at the mansion, I told her I'd knead her shoulders as a reward.
After all, thanks to Erdi, I'd at least managed to salvage the steak. If I'd had to leave without eating it, that really would've been a tragedy.
— Knead knead.
— Knead knead.
"How's that?"
"…It tickles."
She'd reluctantly offered her shoulders when I said I'd knead them, but it didn't seem to be having much effect.
Still, since she didn't tell me to stop, I kept at it diligently. I was pretty sure someone had told me before that the way to raise Erdi's affection was through physical contact.
— Knead knead.
— Knead knead.
"…Haah…."
I kept kneading Erdi's shoulders until drowsiness crept in and my eyes slowly began to close. Partly as a thank-you for working hard as my bodyguard all day.
At least right now she'd returned to her child form, so her shoulders were small and easy to knead. Her skin had gotten somehow softer too.
"By the way, Erdi."
"…What?"
"That magic you use to turn into your adult form. Is it something I can't learn?"
"It's not impossible."
"Oh?"
"I just have no reason to teach you."
"Ugh."
I thought it'd look pretty cool if I could transform into an adult form and wear a suit like Erdi.
But Erdi flatly refused.
She said it would be more efficient to learn something else with the time I'd spend on magic like that.
"Then… is there magic that makes you grow taller faster?"
"Go to sleep."
"Meanie."
