Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: God of Light and Order☆ (1)
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I jolted awake on the sofa.
"…!"
I smoothed down my messy, light pink hair, pushed aside the silver blanket covering me, and sat up. To shake off the sleep, I glanced around, only to see the familiar living room.
‘I must have dozed off while the kids were at school... Now that they're in elementary, there's less to look after.’
A spacious living room for a family of four.
On the table sat a half-empty teacup and a graduation photo album. The sunlit room was filled with the languid air of the afternoon. Comfortable, pastel-toned furniture... The interior of our home was quaint and vintage.
In truth, most of the furniture was chosen to my taste.
Our two daughters also preferred the things I picked out.
'If I left it all up to him, the house would turn into something like a barracks or an administrative office...'
When we first moved in together, I was so surprised by his stark taste.
Thinking I was reliving my military life, I struggled against it. That's just a memory now.
‘Military… life. Goodness…!’
The word from my past world, which I hadn't thought of in years, made me laugh.
"Oh my, 'military life'...! Hehehe♪ It feels like it's been ages since I've said that."
The memories of my time as a man were now so faint they felt like a dream... Before I knew it, my tastes and personality had completely changed. Living as a mother of two, there were times I even wondered if my days as a man had ever really existed.
'Back in the Academy City, I felt like my personality was split half-and-half...'
Now, I've just become an ordinary married woman.
Even my memories from my student days were gradually fading.
“…I should have taken more photos back then.”
In front of everyone.
When we wore wedding dresses together,
doting on each other like fools.
I regretted being so needlessly shy.
“…”
Now it feels like a romantic memory, but back then, I was so mortified I didn't know what to do. That's why, even though I knew Hilde wanted to capture the moment in a photo, I pretended not to notice.
'Looking back now, it's not like it would have killed me to play along...'
I still feel sorry to him for preparing all of it.
Two girls, one in pink and one in silver, shyly wearing wedding dresses...
It was a scene I could only recall from faint memories now.
That time when we were clumsy with even dating, let alone marriage.
If I saw it now, I'm sure it would have been so cute my heart would flutter.
I can't remember it clearly anymore.
'Ah... what a waste.'
When our skin was still firm,
and we still had a youthful air about us,
we should have taken tons of pictures together.
“Haaah…”
We were going to see every side of each other anyway, so what was I so embarrassed about that I had to act coy...
My dear matriarch's cheeks were so round and girlish back then, how cute was she?
Everything shines brighter when you're young...
Only after it's passed do you realize it was a precious memory.
'When we started living together after graduation, the way we went wild day and night like two unbridled fillies... that's a memory too, hehe.'
She's lovely now as a flawless queen,
but her clumsy, bold self from the past had a cuter side.
'Now we're married and older, just a couple of middle-aged women too embarrassed to even suggest taking new wedding photos at a studio...'
I sighed, resting a hand on my cheek.
"Haaah... Time is cruel, so cruel...♪"
In that moment.
The silver ring on my left hand seemed to sparkle,
as if to comfort me and say it was okay.
Well…
Hilde would still tell me I'm beautiful, but honestly, there's nothing you can do about getting older. The emotions that once sparkled ceaselessly like stars, the bubbly, irrepressible way of speaking—they had all mellowed out before I knew it.
Even the invincible Clara changes with age.
The pink-haired girl of the Academy City was gone, replaced by a mother of two.
“…”
The years had passed like a dream.
A short nap had brought it all back for the first time in a long while.
A memory… shining like a rainbow.
“…”
Recalling the nostalgic feeling, I murmured.
"I miss it."
I miss it…
*
-I miss it…
-I miss it…
-I miss it…
"...I miss it—☆"
"Miss what?"
A voice from my side snapped me back to reality.
"Huh—☆"
"...Senior?"
Alvitt was looking at me from the seat beside me, tilting her head. Freyja was also sitting nearby, and she started to chide me while sipping her black tea.
"Y-You suddenly spaced out... A-Are you meditating or something...?"
"Is it because the dress is uncomfortable? It does look rather restrictive."
"B-But a w-wedding dress, already... The way it excessively reveals the figure... and the patterns and embroidery that seem to show off possession... It's a design that really feels like it came from the c-creator's dark fetish..."
Alvitt said, glancing over at Hilde.
"...The person who chose it is wearing a similar outfit."
"T-That part... um, completes the darkness..."
Hearing their conversation, my mind slowly started to clear.
"Huh...?"
I looked around.
"...?"
A modest tea party.
There was no quaint, vintage newlywed home, only a small meeting room next to the main conference hall where tea and snacks had been prepared. We had finished the meeting and come here for the next event.
“…?”
Astrid's red eyes sparkled as she gnawed on a mountain of cookies with her fangs. And she was refusing the potatoes Anna was slyly offering from the side.
"Om nom nom... Enough. Take it away."
"Aw, why! I grew these with so much care! I still have a lot left!"
"Enough... This one has had her fill of potatoes... Ah, no, ohoho—! To the noble incarnation of the night, such fruits of the earth are like a curse! This one shall only accept these sweet blessings—!"
Hilde, wearing a dress similar to mine but with more restrained decorations, was boasting to everyone around her in a grand pose as if giving a speech.
"And so, Lara and I make an eternal vow, and pledge to be partners for the rest of our lives—!"
Skadi, with her legs crossed, rubbed the corners of her eyes and interjected in a weary voice.
"H-Hold on... is this a wedding? Or an engagement ceremony? Events like these should have procedures and an order of events, but you're being awfully reckless..."
"In matters of love, procedures and order are mere formalities. You are pitiful for not knowing this."
"...The fact that the strongest in the Academy City is a person like this, and that I'm here listening to such a lecture from you, is making me feel pitiful."
For reference, the representative Katrin and the Black Knight Helina, who had little interest in the wedding event (?), had quietly departed, and Eir had long since left after declaring her congratulations complete with three claps.
“…”
But even with just the remaining people, the scene was boisterous.
We had made a grand entrance before them in our wedding dresses, and were now playing around, creating a sort of reception atmosphere.
“…”
But what was that vivid, rainbow-colored scene I saw just now?
“…”
As my dazed mind slowly came back to me, I felt a rush of heat to my face.
“…”
What was that.
What was that…?
What did I just see…?
Why was I suddenly a married woman, calling Hilde 'him'?
What a shocking setup.
I even vividly recalled memories of our frenzied nights when we lived together.
'My way of speaking, my inner monologue, it all completely changed to that of a married woman...'
…
…
…
“…”
Good grief.
“…”
I covered my burning face with both hands.
“…”
I'm a disgrace to all men.
What kind of 4D delusion was I just having?
‘Has my 'pretty filter' and all that just disappeared...? Where has my pride gone...’
Just from wearing a wedding dress once, have I fallen so far that I'm basically shouting, 'My dream is to be a good wife and wise mother'?
“Waaaaah—☆”
“S-Senior?!”
“Oh dear... Is this... m-marriage blues...? This must be why they say r-rushed weddings are a bad idea...”
As I was letting Freyja's nonsensical words wash over me.
“…Lara.”
“…Hilde?”
“…”
“…?”
Hilde, having finished her grand speech, stood before me, fidgeting. She had her hands hidden behind her back and seemed at a loss, wanting to say something.
Hilde spoke in a hesitant voice.
“Um… Lara. How about we... take a commemorative photo to finish things off.”
“…”
“…Would that be okay?”
“…”
Normally… I probably would have tried to gently dissuade her, saying that this was more than enough to start a rumor.
To be honest, even wearing matching dresses was pushing the very edge of my psychological boundaries.
“…”
But…
“…”
The girl in the dress adorned with silver and blue.
Dressed in an outfit similar to mine, wanting to be congratulated by others.
Seeing her like this.
My mind automatically connected her to the sharp, silver-haired woman in her thirties from my delusion.
Just as the married Clara from my dream had said, her youthful, chubby cheeks were noticeable.
‘…She really is still young.’
This naive, unrestrained side of her…
isn't this her true heart, showing itself as if to make up for all her lonely days?
-No matter who you were in the past, Lara, my feelings won't change.
For this girl who loves every part of me, including my past, can't I at least play along this much?
[Looking back now, it's not like it would have killed me to play along...]
“…”
For some reason, the murmurs of the married Clara from my delusion struck a deep chord within me.
“…”
“…Lara?”
I took Hilde's hands, which she had hidden behind her back.
Just as I thought, a camera was shyly hidden there.
And as I took the camera from her, I put on my brightest smile and said.
“…Yeah♪ Let's take one—☆ In fact, let's get everyone who's still here and take a big, boisterous group photo—☆”
At that… Hilde's face lit up.
“…Okay!”
…
Somehow, bringing up the word 'marriage' so quickly felt strange.
There was still so much left to do, and it felt like we were rushing to an answer, which left a bad taste in my mouth.
“…”
But at least.
Today's Hilde…
was smiling more brightly than ever… and for that, I felt relieved.
Anna took the camera with a bright smile.
“I'm taking it~! One, two, three…!”
Just then, Hilde suddenly rushed toward me and pressed her lips against mine.
Her sudden kiss was off-target and messy.
“Lara, I love you—!!”
“Waaah—☆”
“S-Senior—?!”
“Ohoho! What a truly frivolous performance!”
“Wow, that's intense.”
“I'm genuinely concerned for the .”
“T-The two of them are... b-being... absolutely... shameless.”
Click—!
A concept shot of a couple who had only confirmed their feelings for each other two months ago.
Two girls in pink and silver, shyly wearing wedding dresses.
It was far from funny,
and the embarrassment still gave me goosebumps, but…
I hoped that, at least for Hilde, it would become a dazzling memory she could cherish forever.
And so, we set the date for the next meeting and concluded the day's events.
*
With the date for the second joint conference set, we were on our way back to .
[…Please watch your step as you disembark.]
When we got off at the Aether train station,
the sun had completely set, and it was growing dark.
We walked, talking about what we had each seen on the Golden Street.
“So, you see!”
Twitch—!
Her orange cat ears moved incessantly.
Lotha said with a beaming expression.
“Senior Freyja asked if I could come by sometimes during the second semester to participate in her 'Fairy Tale Magic' research! She said that people who are used to the existing 'Golden Arms Magic' have a harder time with the new incantation methods!”
“Ooh—☆ That's amazing♪”
Lotha finished her boasting, then hesitated and said.
“S-So, um... I might have to stay over at sometimes... you know.”
Of course, we all readily nodded at her words.
“Yeah♪ Go ahead~ If anyone gives you a hard time, just tell us—☆ We'll pound them into a pulp, into little girl meatballs—☆”
“Comrade! We will be fine, so do not worry. If anyone bullies you, my [Revolutionary Comrades] squad, now stacked up to Unit 15, will be dispatched to retaliate!”
“Don't push yourself too hard, and have a good time. I'll take good care of these two. If anyone bothers you, just let me know. I'll help.”
“…B-But why are you all assuming I'm going to get bullied?”
“It's your imagination—☆”
“It is your imagination.”
“Maybe you're just imagining things?”
“R-Right…?”
I watched the juniors walking ahead with a pleased smile. And I walked on, marveling to myself.
‘The growth of the original protagonist's party... it's so fast and admirable...!’
And the growth of my own generation... the Five Colors, has also accelerated.
Everyone in the Academy City has united against far faster than in the original story.
That fact made me incredibly happy and proud.
“…?”
However, just before entering the school's main gate, a sense of unease made me stop in my tracks.
There was a presence there.
‘What is it…?’
The presence was too insignificant to be a delinquent student.
But its size was larger than a typical sub-adult Chaos Bug.
‘An animal…? Hmm, could it be... is it time for 'that thing in the basement' to awaken.’
As we passed through the main gate, we saw the source of the presence.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Cheeep—! Cheeep—!”
A chick, about two meters tall, was crying its heart out in the middle of the school grounds.
‘It's not supposed to awaken yet... I guess this is also happening faster than in the original story.’
The creature whipped its head toward me and spoke in a pathetic voice.
“Cheeep—! This place is too cold! Cheeep—! Why is the egg of resurrection and its nest in some corner of the basement—! Cheeep—!”
Surprisingly, this pathetic beast... was the ancient beast god, the god of order, the [Nameless Hawk].