The Three-Second Rule

"You really can't manage without me, can you? Hmph."

Even the moonlight held its breath in the pitch-dark back alley.

A woman with her hood pulled low came to a stop in the shadows. Crimson hair spilling through the gaps stood out vividly even in the dark.

"……Did you bring it?"

"……Here it is."

Mixed into the eerie whisper of the wind, a bent-backed old woman slipped her trembling hands into her robes.

A moment of secret, dangerous exchange.

"It's the real deal, right?"

"……Of course. No room for doubt. Though I heard things have been quiet lately—no incidents to speak of. Why come looking for recovery items all of a sudden……?"

"Ha? Is that any of your business? Quit the chatter and hand it over."

Ruby snatched the goods from the old woman's hands as if ripping them free.

A rare treasure almost never seen even on the human black market—Ruby hastily shoved it deep into the inner pocket of her jacket, as if it were stolen loot.

"And what are you planning to use that for? It won't be for yourself, I take it."

"Ha……? Do I have a reason to announce it?"

Ruby snapped back curtly and turned on her heel. She fled the alley as if escaping, then pressed her palm lightly over the pocket.

Rustle.

The texture of the packaging against her fingertips. A grumble slipped through her twisted lips.

"……With this, that fragile little bastard should be fine."

Tick. Tick.

The only thing cutting through the silence of the hotel room was the second hand of the antique clock on the wall.

I was buried in a velvet sofa soft as a swamp, clutching my throbbing lower back.

"Is it already this late……?"

After the keyboard war with Gogumador, it was time to receive Ruby again.

First things first—I should call her.

I swallowed a groan and tried to force myself upright.

That was the exact moment.

BOOM!

A rupture of sound that nearly split the eardrums. The heavy hotel door screamed as it was flung open.

"……?"

Through the rising cloud of dust, hair like living flame swayed into view.

Cool eyes looking down at me, one hand braced crookedly against the doorframe. Ruby Scarlet.

She strode over like a debt collector come to collect, then tossed something onto my lap.

"Hey, you little brat."

"……What is this?"

"What are you staring at like an idiot? I was walking along and this trash was just lying in the street."

She snorted, deliberately looking the other way.

"Couldn't be bothered hunting down a trash can, so I brought it. Do whatever you want with it."

"……?"

What?

I blinked in bewilderment and picked up the object on my knees.

This was definitely……

A consumable that boasted a nightmarish drop rate even inside the game—the absolute endgame of bruise treatment. In real-world terms, it was roughly the luxury brand of pain-relief patches.

And this precious thing was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just rolling around on the street?

Had some passing elf been running a charity event, scattering medicated patches?

I looked up at her with thoroughly suspicious eyes.

But her flushed red ear tips were already telling the whole truth.

Shoving the facts in her face here would be amateur hour. Playing dumb and going along with it was better for my health.

"Haha. Giving me the disease and then the cure, is that it?"

"Ha……? Who said I gave you medicine? I picked it up, I told you!"

"……Yes, yes. Even if you picked it up, this works out well. Thank you."

"Hmph."

Ruby whipped her head away.

But I could tell.

This violent baby predator had, in her own rough way, felt bad enough to go scrounge up medicine for me.

Right. First, stick it on and see.

I needed this on if I was going to get through a counseling session at all.

I hiked up the hem of my shirt, intending to apply the patch to my throbbing side. But the injury was closer to my back, making it awkward to handle alone.

"Ugh……."

I twisted my arm this way and that, but the adhesive kept sticking to the wrong fold of shirt or gluing itself to itself.

The sight of me grunting and straining must have been quite a show.

Watching with her arms crossed and a crooked tilt to her stance, Ruby's brow crumpled hard.

"……Ha. Hey."

"Ugh, just a second. Almost……."

"Argh, this is unbearable! Give it here!"

Ruby roughly snatched the patch from my hand and circled behind me.

"Ru—Ruby?"

"Hold still. If you move, it'll stick in the wrong place."

"No, at least be a little gentle— YAAAGH!"

SMACK!

A rupture of sound like a full-powered back slap, and my spine arched like a drawn bow.

"Ow! Seriously, what are you doing to a patient?!"

"Hmph. Shut up. Medicine works best when you slap it on with some spirit."

Ruby answered curtly and pressed the patch down hard.

Just as I was about to wince at the stinging pain—

"……Tsk."

For something she'd slammed down so roughly, the hands that followed were excessively careful.

As if determined not to let the edges lift, she pressed her palm flat against my bare skin and rubbed in slow, firm circles.

Buried inside those clumsy motions was a caution she couldn't quite hide.

Over the throbbing ache, her body heat settled in a dull, warm layer.

"……."

"……What? Does it hurt?"

"It hurts, but……."

I turned my head slightly and looked up at her behind me.

"Your hands are surprisingly warm."

"……!"

The hand against my back flinched and went rigid.

A strange stillness hung in the air for a beat.

Ruby's crimson eyes wavered, unable to settle.

But only for a moment.

"……Ha? Wh-what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are you even saying! You idiot!"

Thud!

"Ugh!"

She yanked her hand away and, as if to bury the embarrassment, punched me once more between the shoulder blades.

"I-I only did it so you'd heal faster! Don't get the wrong idea, you moron! Keep talking nonsense and next time it won't be a patch—I'll cauterize you with fire!"

Ruby retreated to the far end of the sofa like she was fleeing, red all the way to the nape of her neck, huffing and puffing.

I rubbed the stinging spot on my back and still couldn't stop the soft laugh that slipped out.

The place she'd hit hurt—and yet, somehow, a corner of my chest was tingling.

Definitely a more potent prescription than Tiger's Strength.

"……Your hands really are something else."

"Ha? ……Cut the nonsense."

Ruby sat on the sofa and crossed her legs.

"……Just start the counseling already. Planning another massage or something?"

"Hmm."

I propped my chin in my hand and pretended to deliberate.

"If you want one, I wouldn't refuse. Your reaction last time was quite favorable."

"……I'll kill you. For real."

A red spark crackled at Ruby's fingertips.

One more joke and this hotel room was going to be grilled well-done.

"Hmm? You did agree to listen carefully to what I say, didn't you?"

"……Are you actually a pervert?"

"A pervert? I mean, if I wanted to, I could……."

"Oh my god, seriously!"

Of course, I could do a massage……

But right now my lower back was one breath away from declaring a full strike.

"Haha, I'm kidding. Then……."

I let out a quiet sigh and fixed my eyes on her.

Time to shift the look in my eyes to something serious.

"Today, rather than recovering physical fatigue…… I'd like to dig into a more fundamental cause."

"A fundamental cause?"

"Yes. The reason you had no choice but to go buy that expensive elf-made pain patch."

At my words, Ruby's brow tightened.

"……Ha, ha!? When did I ever buy a pain patch? I picked it up, I told you! And if you get hurt, you put something on it……."

"Yes, yes, you picked it up. Anyway, Ruby—your injuries weren't caused by 'accidents,' were they?"

I tapped the empty patch packet on the table with one finger.

"Throwing your own body into the fight to smash the other person. That's your combat style."

In an instant, Ruby's eyes cooled and settled deep.

The flustered embarrassment from moments ago was gone without a trace.

She crossed her arms and sank deeper into the backrest.

"……So? You want me to hang back like a coward and just shoot magic?"

"No."

I shook my head firmly and pulled out the notebook I'd prepared in advance.

"I want you to smash them more efficiently. Without putting a single scratch on that pretty body of yours."

At that, she twisted the corner of her mouth with a flat ha, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"……Hmph. You've got a silver tongue, I'll give you that. What would a little brat like you know."

Ruby snorted—but her deep crimson eyes were trembling, just slightly.

The word efficiency.

For someone who could never control her own power and always ended up hurting herself too, there was no sweeter temptation.

I tapped a page of the notebook with the tip of my pen.

"Ruby. Your combat style and your interpersonal patterns share one common point."

"……A common point?"

"Yes. In technical terms, it's called defensive projection."

Of course, I'd slapped the term on just to sound impressive.

I smiled faintly and drove the nail in.

"In plain language: a coward's preemptive strike."

Crack.

Ruby's eyebrows twitched, and lightning sparked in the empty air.

The temperature in the room shot up like a blast furnace.

"……Hey. Did you just call me a coward?"

"Isn't it true?"

I continued calmly, unmoved by the killing intent rolling off her.

"You detonate before the other person even attacks. Why? Because you can't stand the anxiety that they might hurt you."

"Ha! Don't make me laugh! I attack because I'm scared? I just get pissed off and——!"

"And where does that irritation come from?"

I cut her excuse clean off and pressed in.

"Take yesterday alone. When I grabbed your wrist, you shook me off. Why? Did I attack you? No. I simply touched you."

Zzzzt.

A ringing filled my ears.

My unique skill, Psychological Insight, began to lay her inner world bare.

Her aura wasn't the blazing red it appeared to be on the surface.

Deep inside, a fragile, precarious yellow light was flickering.

Proof that she recognized her own anger management disorder—and regretted it.

I didn't stop. My tongue kept working.

"You register contact itself as an attack. The moment someone comes close, you explode on reflex because you don't want to get hurt. That's the only shield you have."

"……Shut up."

"You're not getting angry. You're screaming. Don't come near me! Don't touch me!"

"I said shut up……!"

BANG!

Ruby slammed the table and shot to her feet. Magical power roiled violently around her entire body.

"What do you know about me?! Me, a coward? A shield? Don't talk shit! Shut your mouth before I burn everything to ash!!"

A blood-chilling threat.

Any ordinary person would have wet themselves and run.

But I didn't so much as flinch. Instead, I met her eyes dead-on.

"Look."

I pointed with my chin at her tightly clenched fists.

"It's the same right now."

"……What?"

"I poked a sore spot, so instead of talking it through or arguing back, you hid behind the shield called anger again."

"……."

"The way you look right now—not an enraged beast…… more like a child backed into a corner."

Ruby's mouth fell open.

Whatever retort she'd been about to fire caught in her throat; her lips worked soundlessly and nothing came out.

Normally, crushing people with force made them flinch and back down.

This bastard wasn't backing down at all—he was peeling off the shell of that rage and dragging the soft core out into the open.

Her fists trembled hard.

She probably wanted to hit me right now.

No—she might want to burn me alive.

But the second she did, she'd be proving my point: that she really was a coward.

Her confusion, trapped between both options. This was the moment.

I deliberately softened my voice and eased the atmosphere.

"So. Let's change the strategy."

"……What strategy."

"It's called the Three-Second Rule."

"Three seconds……?"

I held up three fingers.

"The instant the anger surges up. That isn't real rage—it's a 'false ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠alarm' your brain is sending. Your defense system is misfiring."

"……."

"So just three seconds. Stop for three seconds before you explode. And think. Is this bastard attacking me? Or is he just barking?"

I grinned and pointed at my own throbbing lower back.

"If you'd had those three seconds, my back wouldn't look like this."

Ruby stared down at me blankly.

A complicated expression—anger, shame, and a strange, reluctant understanding all tangled together.

She slowly dropped back into her seat.

The fierce momentum from before had lost a good half of its edge.

"……Ha."

She roughly raked her hair back and muttered.

"You really are…… an annoying little shit. Every single word gets under my skin."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It's not a compliment, you idiot."

Ruby snapped back curtly—but no more sparks flew.

She crossed her arms and tilted her head at a crooked angle.

"……So. That three-second thing, or whatever. How do you do it?"

"Oh."

"Go on and teach me. I'll…… listen."

Her ear tips flushed red again. I cheered silently to myself.

It felt like I'd managed to stroke the belly of a prickly hedgehog—just a little.

"The tuition fee ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is steep, you know?"

"I already gave you the patch! That covers it!"

"You said you picked it up, though?"

I laughed under my breath.

"……You. Do you actually want to die?"

"Haha. Understood."

Right.

This much made for an excellent first step.