123
Chapter 123
'Would it be more considerate to tell her, or to pretend I don't notice and just let it go?'
I stared at Rubia's feet while having such silly thoughts. ...It wasn't because I had any impure intentions.
Rather, it was to prevent any impure intentions from arising.
If I raised my gaze just a little, our eyes would meet.
Not with Rubia, but with a cute little bear.
Pajamas are a matter of preference, and I understand that she was in such a rush that she forgot she was wearing them.
No, beyond understanding, I was actually a little thankful.
Wasn't that proof she was worried about me and rushed out so urgently? Thinking about her feelings, it was definitely touching.
But....
'That bear just awakened the Sharingan.'
And a pink Sharingan, at that.
Pajamas made of thin material.
Because of her poor stamina, the sweat from running all the way here slightly revealed the shape of what was underneath.
It would have been nice if she had worn something underneath.
Why on earth was she wearing nothing underneath? It was an absolute disaster.
The result was the sudden awakening of a pink Sharingan on the cute bear drawn right on her chest.
I guess a Sharingan is still a Sharingan.
It was casting an Illusion on anyone who looked, throwing their mind into chaos.
It was truly a violent spectacle.
"You're back? Did anything happen?"
Yet she remained completely oblivious, her red hair fluttering around her proud, haughty face—it was a tragedy of the highest order.
I couldn't even process what she was saying. In the first place, just looking at her face was difficult enough.
They call it the aesthetics of concealment.
Human aesthetics are quite complex, to the point where hiding things actually amplifies their destructive power.
She was clearly wearing an extra layer.
Yet it defied the laws of physics, granting it even more destructive power than being naked.
It was a violence akin to a subtly wet, see-through white shirt, occasionally exerting a greater impact than an ordinary swimsuit.
That was exactly the kind of power she held right now.
We would continue to know each other from here on out. If I were to have a healthy, natural reaction here, it would naturally make things awkward for both of us, wouldn't it?
That was why I had no choice but to avert my gaze from her.
Perhaps interested in the new faces, she continued to throw questions at me.
I answered her questions to continue the introductions, ignoring the bear's Illusion as best as I could. As naturally as possible.
The comrades of the hero whose existence had been erased.
The human who was once called the Weapon Master.
Though we did bring about their ruin. The Cardinals and Archbishops of the Holy See who, for some baffling reason, worshipped me to a bizarre degree.
And finally, the First Prince of the Empire.
And....
Sounds of "Huh? Wha? Eh?" reached my ears.
A reaction as if she had broken down.
Unable to snap out of the Illusion, I only then realized.
The Weapon Master.
The heavy hitters among the Cardinals.
And topping it all off, a Prince of a nation.
Kidnapping the eldest son of the Empire's Emperor was quite a shocking incident.
Even setting all that aside, kidnapping a Royal was a crazy act that even Black Fang wouldn't dare attempt.
After dumping all that information at once, it would have been stranger if Rubia hadn't malfunctioned.
Her wobbling legs.
The moment I saw that, I rushed over and supported her. And....
Pop, I heard a sound.
A sound like something bursting.
And it was obvious that something had burst. Though the bear and the sweat-soaked pajamas were so destructive that my gaze wasn't drawn there.
Pajamas that were clearly the wrong size.
Because they couldn't withstand Rubia's overwhelming and magnificent assets, they were screaming in protest.
Slipping, running around, and moving violently like that must have caused the buttons on her chest to pop off.
Leaning against me, she checked her condition with a pale face... and finally realized.
All the embarrassing displays she had made up until now.
But what's done cannot be undone.
The burst buttons would never return. She looked at me with a face flushed red from shame, on the verge of tears.
...What kind of clumsy mess is this?
No, more importantly, why aren't you wearing anything under these pajamas?
And I was wondering about that white showing through the bottoms. Is that... what I think it is? Were you really wearing that?
I had many things I wanted to say, this and that.
Her face had turned into one on the verge of tears.
Tear ducts that looked ready to burst at any moment.
"H-help me......."
I wasn't cold enough to push away the girl asking for my help with a trembling voice.
I used my body to cover the fully exposed area where the buttons had come undone, and in that state of holding her, I made my way to her room.
Babysitting for the first time in a while.
Handing her a handkerchief, patting her head, and even telling her a sweet lie that no one saw anything.
It was a bizarre experience, even fetching her some clothes to wear.
"D-Did you perhaps see it?"
She rambled about how she usually doesn't wear anything when she sleeps because it feels too stuffy.
Or how, like a security blanket, she had only worn the same brand of pajamas since she was little because she liked the feel of the fabric, and this was the largest size they had.
She even begged me not to misunderstand, insisting she wasn't some kind of pervert.
After spewing out all sorts of TMI, Rubia hesitated for a long time before finally blushing and asking me cautiously.
Naturally, my head started to spin.
"No, what are you suddenly talking about?"
I didn't see anything.
I definitely didn't see that white something showing through her damp bottoms, which was far too thick to be underwear, and I had absolutely no idea what it could be.
That was what I told her.
She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, only to realize that even excluding that, her embarrassing behavior from earlier hadn't disappeared, and she buried her face in her hands.
"Could you... pretend what just happened never happened...?"
Rubia asked in a completely defeated manner.
Looking at her puppy-dog eyes, I nodded with complicated feelings.
How should I put this....
She truly was a consistent Noonim.
*****
There was Rien, nonchalantly wandering around me whistling with her clothes on backwards. When Lucy saw her and pointed it out, firing off a barrage of questions, Rien ended up on the verge of tears.
When Rubia returned after changing clothes, everyone avoided her gaze with awkward coughs. Realizing the truth behind my sweet lie, Rubia burst into tears and locked herself in her room.
Then I had to coax her into coming out of the room again.
There were quite a few little incidents like that.
But eventually, the situation somehow settled down.
With that, we were finally able to gather the executives, call a meeting, and get down to business.
Though she still couldn't meet my eyes.
Looking at Rubia—who was no longer wrapping herself tightly in a blanket and claiming she would live in there for the rest of her life like she did an hour ago—I opened my mouth.
"How to deal with the First Prince and our future course of action are definitely important... but there's something else that's the top priority right now."
True to form, Rubia became sharp when it was time to work.
The moment I brought up a serious topic, she cleared her throat and listened intently.
Looking at her, I continued.
"This entire situation. If even a little bit of it leaks to the outside world, we're in serious trouble."
It was an obvious point.
The Cardinals of the Holy See were cooperating with us. I had snatched away the Hero's Right-hand Man—the girl who had been used as the Empire's Corpse Puppet—and made her my comrade.
We had even kidnapped the First Prince.
If even a single detail were to leak out, the entire nation would be turned upside down.
The First Prince's mind was incredibly resilient, and it became certain that Aria's treatment would take at least a month or two.
We needed to hide somewhere and proceed with our work.
In a safe and secretive space that would absolutely never be exposed to the outside world.
However, there was no way we'd conveniently find a suitable place like that, which was exactly why I had come to Rubia.
There was no one better suited for this task than her.
Sure enough.
Without a moment of hesitation, she told me to follow her and set off.
And the place we arrived at was....
"......?"
A warehouse.
The very same warehouse I had rummaged through last time to find cheap swords and Elixirs.
I looked at her triumphant expression, and then at Rob, who for some reason was wearing an even more triumphant expression beside her.
Had the shock from the earlier incident really been that huge?
I watched them with worried eyes, wondering if Rubia had broken down from shame and Rob had gone crazy from being overworked previously.
As I stared at the two of them with those worried eyes, Rob smiled with a face full of pride and spoke.
"Why don't you try shaking hands with this doll."
A cute Teddy Bear with the exact same design as the one drawn on Rubia's pajamas, making it painfully obvious whose tastes were reflected in it.
Doubting Rob's sanity, I grabbed the doll's hand. And....
The Teddy Bear transformed in an instant.
The doll, which had only looked cute and seemed to be stuffed with harmless cotton, suddenly began to transform with a series of Clank, clank sounds.
Before I knew it, a cybernetic mechanical monster armed with a cannon, a Particle Cannon, and even a Railgun stood in front of me.
The mechanical monster stared at me, then emitted a green light from its eyes to scan me.
[Highest-tier administrator recognized.]
Gone was its bizarre and overwhelming appearance from earlier; the mechanical monster was now nuzzling against me affectionately like a puppy.
At the same time, the surrounding scenery underwent a complete transformation.
A glossy black base.
Complex mechanical devices made of golden gears. Mana Stone fuel flowing through transparent tubes.
The warehouse—or rather, the elevator shaped like a warehouse—let out a Clatter as it began to descend.
And then, the sight of a massive Underground City unfolded before us.
Naturally, my face filled with astonishment.
'......Crazy.'
Those Dwarf bastards.
What the hell did they build in just a few days?