The end of the day had arrived and already the first colors of twilight were painted on the immensity of the sky. At the military base, all of the new recruits had finished their training day and had returned to their dormitories or break rooms to relax a bit before going to dinner and sleep.

But for Itami and his team, the schedule was different tonight. As agreed, in three days they should all return to the other side of the gate, to Alnus hill. But before that, and to enjoy one last free evening, Itami, his team, and of course Rory, Tuka and Lelei, all gathered on the grassy hills a few hundred yards from the base, in order to have a little fun there.

All were gathered around a small campfire on which marshmallows bought the day before by Itami for the occasion were roasted.

Both sitting on the hood of the military jeep, Tuka and Lelei watched curiously as Itami prepared to hit the golf ball with the club. Tozu, Sasagawa and Higashi were also watching, their beer bottles in hand. Itami concentrated, huffing softly and punching as hard as he could. The little white ball flew far into the air to fall further into the grass. Tozu, Sasagawa and Higashi clapped and laughed too.

_ "Look and admire, guys. This is called marksmanship!" Itami said, quite proud of himself.

_ "Nice shoot, daddy!" Tuka applauds with a smile. Itami thanked her by sharing his laughter with his friends. Lelei, more serious, as usual, let the scholar in her gain the upper hand and took the golf club in hand.

_ "Hmmm ... and what is the main interest of this game from your world?" Lelei asked, examining the object.

_ "Well, there are official competitions organized all over the world. I even know that there are champions. But tonight is mainly for fun. Do you want to try?" Itami asked, coming to join her. Lelei, still curious to discover new things in this world, nodded at Itami's request. The latter then took a new golf ball and put it in place. He then showed Lelei how to hold the club correctly and how to position herself to hit. Tuka, on the other hand, still sitting on the jeep watching in amusement, then winced after trying a sip of beer from her bottle.

_ "Yuck ..." said the young elf woman, putting the bottle down next to it.

_ "Not very fond of alcohol?" said Mari Kurokawa, the team medic, coming to sit next to her, also holding a beer in her hand.

_ "Let's say yours are different, that's all. But don't think I'm judging you ..." Tuka explained, a little embarrassed and red cheeks. Seeing her like that, Mari smiled and laughed softly, and put her arm around Tuka's shoulder. Seeing that she didn't blame him, the elf relaxed and laughed with her friend. Their attention was then drawn to one side of the jeep.

A competition was taking place. Wataru, the heavy weapons specialist on the team, was thrown into a push-up contest, against Rory Mercury. The two competitors, side by side, had started many minutes ago. Around them were Kuwahara, Nishina, Tomita and Furuta, who at the same time encouraging the two participants, were counting the sets of push-ups performed ...

_ "60 ... 61 ... 62 ... 63 ..." counted in unison the members of the team.

But at the end of a certain number, Wataru, despite his stoutness and muscles, began to show exhaustion, his face soaked in sweat, and finally he collapsed to the ground, breathless. Rory, she, declared as the winner, got back to her feet, without having perspired a single drop and showing no sign of fatigue.

_ "Well, Wataru? Already tired? I was starting to have fun." said the demigoddess of the war with a smirk.

Wataru couldn't even say a word anymore, he was so blown away. Kurawhara and Furuta, for their part, got back the money they had bet on the winner. Nishina and Tomita were disgusted at having lost and sulked in their corner.

A little apart, Kuribayashi was in the middle of a discussion with Kurata. Like everyone else, Kuribayashi was aware of Kuruta and Persia's romantic relationship, and what the young man wanted to do once he returned to the Special Region.

_ "Well, listen Kurata ... I'm very happy for you that you want to marry Persia ... even if the idea of a human marrying a cat girl remains for me ultra weird, but hey each has his own tastes. .. in short, above all, she must not know that you are a virgin, ok?"

Kurata, at these words, gasped and turned red with shame.

_ "Hey, wait a minute, who told you I was a virgin? It wasn't true first!"

_ "Come on, we know very well that you are a virgin! Did you see your face?" Kuribayashi mocked, coming over to pat his sulky friend in a friendly way.

_ "Oh, give him a break, Kuribayashi. You can see he's stressed enough like that already." Mari said arriving with Tuka in the conversation.

_ "Well me, I tell you in advance all my congratulations, Kurata ..." declared Tuka coming to take him by the hand. "I find that too adorable. If you want, I could help make Persia's wedding dress. I could add a little elven touch to it, that would look beautiful on her."

_ "Ah ... ah? That ... that would be cool, thank you." Kurata stammered, all red, already imagining Persia in her beautiful wedding dress. Seeing him blush like a ripe tomato, the three girls gently laughed at him. Itami, meanwhile, came to have a beer in the cooler next to the jeep, observed this conversation with a contemplative smile.

_ "Kurata and Persia, together for life ..." Itami breathed taking a sip ... "he who has always had a fantasy for women with animal ears, he is going to marry one ..."

_ "Yes ... fate likes to be ironic sometimes ..." commented Rory, sitting on the hood next to it, and holding in her hand a bottle of beer that she had already emptied completely. Further on, Lelei still continued to play golf balls with Tozu, Sasagawa and Higashi. Seeing all these friends having fun, talking and laughing together like that, Itami was seized with a strange feeling ... he felt ... like this was the last time this was happening ... but very quickly, he decided to get the feeling out of his mind and sat down next to Rory.

_ "And you, Rory, tell me ... love ... marriage ... have you ever thought about it?" Itami asked, curious.

_ "Why? Do you have something to ask me, Itami?" replied the demigoddess in a seductive voice and with a flirtatious look, almost coming to stick against him. Itami swallowed, turning red and stammered in his words.

_ "Uh, no ... I mean ..."

_ "Calm down, idiot, I was saying that to tease you ..." Rory laughed giving him a friendly nudge in the ribs. But very quickly, the demigoddess became more serious again, raising a thoughtful gaze to the starry sky. "Obviously, I had plenty of time to think about it, but with my condition, I could never live it ... I believe that on the one hand, that's why I want to become a goddess of love when I will leave my carnal body ... so that in the future I can give others the chance that I never got ..."

Itami had listened intently and was quite touched by his friend's words. Rory remained contemplative of the sky, having lost her smile and even seemed to sink into a melancholy. Knowing that you will never know love ... it was a terrible fate ... Knowing that Rory was over 960 years old, she had very few years to live in her body until her 1000th year. Itami knew he would still be alive when that day came, and it haunted him sometimes ... what would happen to Rory when she became a goddess? Will she live in another world and he will never see her again? The thought of losing a friend scared Itami, but who was he to question the fate of a future goddess? No, he told himself. Pitying her is not the solution, and knowing her, it's surely not what she wants.

Rory then felt her friend's elbow gently tap against her shoulder. She saw Itami smile at her, and the mere sight of it was enough to give her some joy.

_ "You will be an excellent goddess of love, Rory. I am sure of it." the lieutenant said sincerely, holding out his bottle of beer towards her. Rory held out her bottle in turn, coming to drink with her friend. She also leaned towards him to come and put a little kiss on his cheek. Itami blushed from this.

_ "Thank you, Itami." was the demigoddess's response before drinking another beer.

But suddenly, a golf ball flew at high speed between the two and hit the jeep's windshield full force, forming a huge impact of shattered glass. Itami and Rory jumped in surprise at the moment and simultaneously turned their gazes in the same direction. Tozu, Sasagawa, and Higashi, their eyes wide, and Lelei, her eyes too wide and showing a sorry face, the golf club in her hands.

_ "Lelei!" Rory growled, annoyed and glaring at her.

_ "I ... sorry ... I still have difficulty controlling the aim of this game ..." said Lelei, really embarrassed.

_ "There are no injuries, that's the most important." Itami replied, not wanting her to feel bad. Hearing the sound of shock, Kurata came running up and seeing the impact in the windshield, turned white, his mouth open and his eyes wide.

_ "Oh shit ..." Kuribayashi commented, her hands in front of her mouth.

_ "The jeep! Oh no! I was responsible ... Hazama will kill me!" Kurata started to panic, a little too much for a simple shock in the windshield.

_ "I... I'm so sorry... I'll pay for the repair..." Lelei said coming over and starting to take some gold from her satchel to give to Kurata. Seeing her do it, Itami held her back and took her by the shoulders.

_ "It was an accident, Lelei, you don't have to be forgiven ... it can happen to anyone ... and then, the impact is not that great, it will be repaired quickly . Isn't that right, Tomita? "

_ "Yeah ..." Tomita sighed "... I'll go to the garage tomorrow and the windshield will be like new ... it's okay, you can stop crying, Kurata, it's getting awkward."

Shortly after the incident with the windshield and after the others had managed to reassure Kurata and make him understand that he would not have any sanctions, the whole team gathered around the fire with the beer bottles and the marshmallows, grilled properly over the fire.

_ "Cheers!" Itami and his team shouted in unison. Each took his little stick with his marshmallow impaled at the end and tasted it greedily. Seeing Itami and the others eating these treats, Rory, Tuka and Lelei did the same. Their reactions were immediate and they seemed to really appreciate it.

_ "Hmmm, it's delicious!" Tuka commented, feasting.

_ "I love the texture, it's super nice." Rory said in turn.

_ "This is one of the best things I have ever tasted ... I will have to bring some back to my master ... he will surely appreciate." Lelei said.

_ "No problem ..." Itami said to her, putting down his beer "... I will buy some tomorrow. Might as well take advantage, because in three days, we go back to Alnus. And as there's no events planned for the moment, therefore, no regrets to leave."

The others listened to Itami still talking about those geek events he loved and some dug their hands into their faces. But in the end, the good atmosphere remained and the whole team was able to share good times that evening ... but what they all ignored, was that it would probably be the last ...