As Machina had predicted, I clearly remembered our interaction in the dream even after I woke up.
To be honest, persuading her had been such an ordeal that a part of me wished I could forget it. It wasn't that she was bad at listening—she generally followed my lead—but her excitement was off the charts. Every time I spoke a single word, her delusions would balloon a hundredfold, sending her into a frantic, obsessive monologue until she eventually snapped herself out of it by literally hitting herself. It was a cycle that repeated ad nauseam.
After a conversation that moved at a snail’s pace, I finally managed to get her to agree not to interfere with the party this time.
Shaking off the memory of those dream-world struggles, I turned my attention to the guests relaxing in my room.
"Tre, what are you reading?"
"Hm? This? It’s a Catalog of New Magic Tools. Not from our company, but from another merchant guild. These things have different characteristics depending on the guild, so they’re actually quite interesting."
Tre was lounging on the sofa, flipping through the pages. She had come over for a visit today, accompanied as usual by Cento and Sien. The two younger sisters sat on the opposite sofa, enjoying the tea and sweets I’d set out.
"Are you going to buy something?"
"Actually, I’m thinking about buying this detection magic tool coming out next month. It’s supposed to be high-performance, working even in high-density mana zones where other tools fail. If I keep the transmitter on me, it might actually work as a countermeasure for my habit of getting lost."
"I see. That sounds like a great idea."
If it made finding her easier, it would certainly take a load off Cento and Sien’s shoulders. They must be hap— Wait, why were they making such conflicted faces?
"Tre-neesama, please don't. It's just a waste of money," Cento sighed.
"She's right," Sien added. "It'll just break down the moment you actually need it. Even if we aren't hurting for cash, we should avoid throwing it away."
"N-Now, wait a second! Maybe this one will work out!" Tre protested.
I tilted my head, not quite following. Sensing my confusion, Cento gave me a weary smile and explained.
"Ah, you probably didn't know, Kaito. This isn't the first time Tre-neesama has bought a detection tool. It’s not that she gets lost on purpose; she genuinely feels bad about the trouble she causes us."
"The problem is that she's such a positive monster," Sien added with a wry grin. "As soon as she gets separated, she just assumes she'll run into us eventually and starts doing whatever she wants. She does try to take precautions, though. This is far from the first tool she's bought."
Tre puffed out her chest. "Actually, I own almost every single type of detection magic tool on the market!"
"Which means... based on their reactions... they don't work?" I asked.
"Exactly. For some reason, no matter how high-performance the tool is, it refuses to function specifically when Tre-neesama gets lost," Cento explained.
"It's not just the detection tools," Sien continued. "We even bought high-end communication tools so she could call us, but they go completely silent the moment we're separated. The weirdest part is that as soon as we find her, they start working perfectly again, as if the previous failure was a lie. We've checked them for defects, but they're always in perfect condition."
"That certainly is mysterious..."
It really was strange. Whenever Tre went missing, she couldn't be caught by detection magic, and all her countermeasure tools supposedly malfunctioned. Honestly, it made me wonder if she was cursed.
"I’m telling you, it’s like I said! Putting a collar on her and having you two hold the leash is the only way!"
"Stop that!" Cento cried. "Are you trying to destroy Sien and me socially? Besides, even if we did that, I have a feeling the leash would just snap or the collar would vanish at the worst possible moment."
"Tre-neesama doesn't get lost every single time, so we can't exactly keep her tied up 24/7 either," Sien noted.
"Yeah... nothing ever seems to go quite right," Tre sighed.
Just as they said, Tre was at least trying to do something about her habit. Then again, she was such a positive monster that if a plan failed, she’d likely just shrug it off and move on.
"If only we could find her quickly, but searching for Tre-neesama truly takes an immense amount of time," Cento lamented.
"It’s bizarre," Sien agreed. "Both Cento and I have enough power to look through every corner of a small town in under a second, yet we still fail to find her every single time."
"Hmm... but Kuro-sama always finds me right away, don't they?"
"Is that true?" I asked.
This was new information. Cento and Sien both nodded in confirmation.
"As Tre-neesama says, Kuro-sama always finds her effortlessly with detection magic. Whenever we're truly stuck, we end up having to ask for her help."
"Is it just the gap in our abilities?" Sien wondered. "But detection magic isn't supposed to be influenced that much by raw skill..."
"Oh, and Kaito finds me quickly too!" Tre added.
"Actually... she's right," Cento realized. "It might just be a coincidence since it's only happened a few times, but you found her incredibly fast during the White God Festival. Compared to the hours Sien and I spend searching every time, your track record is remarkable."
Hmm... Wait a second. Kuro finds her effortlessly. I find her effortlessly. But Cento and Sien—both high-ranking Count-class demons—struggle for hours.
A sense of unease settled in my chest. It was almost as if Tre’s "lostness" was a phenomenon tied to Shiro-san’s power—something Kuro could nullify, and I was immune to thanks to Shiro-san’s Blessing. No, surely that was a stretch. Why would Shiro-san do something to Tre?
I glanced toward the empty air where I knew she was watching.
As if in response, I felt a distinct sense of silence that screamed "guilty."
Serious-senpai: "...As expected of the main culprit."