Master (2)
“Would you care to share a few words with this one?”
Sirin set down her coffee cup, opened her eyes, and fixed her gaze straight ahead.
…What the hell?
There stood Cartia, frozen in place with a thoroughly flustered look on her face.
“I prepared this seat because I have something to say to you. Forgive me if it feels rather sudden.”
Sirin’s voice was not her usual light tone; it had sunk deep and heavy, and she offered Cartia a cryptic little smile.
Noah—is she all right?
“Are you fretting that the child Rubia might do Noah some harm?”
No, that’s not… well, yeah, I’m worried about that too. But more than that, it’s that weird bastard I’m worried about. She listens well enough, but something about her just feels off.
Cartia let out a small sigh, fully solidified her form, and flopped down onto the sofa with a heavy thud.
“The Beast of the End.”
Yeah, that. What a goddamn pretentious name.
“That crimson wolf’s name is Carpeng.”
Don’t know about the red part, but I already know the name.
Watching how easily Cartia answered, Sirin studied her face for a long moment before tilting her coffee cup again.
“Cartia. How far do the memories of the age you lived in still remain?”
Dragon’s neck… no, the one I killed… mm, up through the subjugation.
Cartia opened her mouth with her usual casual flippancy, then remembered the person in front of her was a dragon and carefully chose her words.
There weren’t many of her kind left even back then. Saying I chopped a neck might piss her off.
Could’ve even been family, for all I know.
But Sirin seemed utterly unbothered. She simply nodded and continued.
“Are those memories complete? Leading tens of thousands of soldiers, severing a dragon’s neck, claiming victory—every last one of those things, are they whole memories? And what of the memories after that? What became of the world once the war ended?”
Well, of course—
In that instant Cartia’s face crumpled.
Tens of thousands of soldiers… dragon… victory… the end of the war.
Turning Sirin’s words over and over, she began to dig up memories she had not touched in a thousand years.
My mental image was victory. Using that as the foundation, I slowly paid the price and headed for the dragons. And when I arrived at the Central Continent… humans… the army. Dragons. Me, who couldn’t even reach the sky—what the hell did I… do?
She lifted her head and looked at Sirin, whose eyes were closed.
You… what exactly do you know?
“The price of the victory you offered up.”
…What?
“The true content of the victory you wished for.”
Hey, wait—how the hell do you know that—
In that instant—
KRAAANG—!
A massive impact shook even Sirin’s barrier.
“Tch. They won’t leave us alone for even a moment. We shall continue this conversation another time. And… I would prefer you not enter that room. Those two have much to discuss as well.”
Fucking hell… fine, whatever. Where’s Ser? I’ll go watch her make artifacts or something.
BOOM—!
“You’ll find her if you look in the innermost room.”
Sirin pointed toward the farthest chamber, then immediately turned her back and strode out beyond the barrier.
Cartia watched her go until the very end.
The pact with the Grand General… to drive the dragons into the earth.
She sat quietly on the sofa and murmured to herself.
Red hair… wolf ears, tail… that battle-crazy bitch…
Clink—
The moment the handcuffs Rubia had brought snapped shut around my wrists, every ounce of strength drained out of me in a rush.
Completely. Enough that I nearly dropped the greatsword I was holding.
And on top of that… for reasons I couldn’t begin to guess, Frey—who had taken the form of a bracelet—slipped free as well.
Which meant I couldn’t hear Cartia’s voice anymore either…
“Uweh… Ru-Rubia. My body feels weird…”
“I’m sorry, Noah.”
While I floundered in confusion, Rubia stroked my cheek and offered an abrupt apology.
Is she apologizing for last time… when I was alone with Ser like that?
Or is she apologizing for putting these handcuffs on me right now…?
No, wait—was there even anything for Rubia to apologize about with Ser?
It was for treatment… I wasn’t thinking anything weird.
And Rubia said she only likes me… me… just me…
Mmm… so maybe she’s sorry about the handcuffs?
Yeah. That makes sense. These are definitely suspicious handcuffs.
Suddenly all my strength is gone, and my connection with Cartia got cut off.
A-and… for handcuffs, they’re all soft and fluffy with fur… wow, super suspicious.
I should ask her to take them off right away… I can’t see her face, but I still want to see her expression.
“Ah, okay, so first could you just unlo—”
“I can’t help it either.”
“…Can’t help what?”
“I don’t… want to see Noah get hurt anymore.”
…Huh.
Rubia was acting a little… no, a lot strange…
“Um, Rubia…?”
“I’m sorry, Noah. I didn’t know you’d gone through such a hard time. I had no idea… hic… no idea at all, sitting in a warm room…”
Warm droplets pattered down onto the cuffed wrists.
“Uh… Ru-Rubia, are you crying?”
“N-no… ngh… hic— huu…”
“Uh, umm…”
Clink—
I reached up to wipe her tears, but… where were her eyes again?
Clink— clink—
I followed the trail of tears up from her chin…
“There, dab…!”
I gently patted the tears away so I wouldn’t scrape her skin, and Rubia suddenly seized my hand.
“I… I saw everything.”
“Saw what…?”
“Huu… the times you trained with Lady Sirin.”
Rubia seemed to have calmed a little; she steadied her breathing and began speaking clearly, word by word.
“I… saw you d-die… hic… every single time…”
And then she started crying again.
“Wuhh…? How did you see that?”
Don’t tell me there were security cameras?
No… no way.
Then how? It’s already been more than a week…
“With Lady Sirin’s magic. She showed me the memories from back then.”
“Waaah… so magic can do that too.”
Is that just because it’s Sirin?
Or can every mage do it…
Wait… then does that mean I could rewatch all the dramas and movies I saw back on Earth?
Holy crap… I definitely have to ask Sirin later.
No, should I not ask?
Hmm… Sirin already knows I’m not from this world, so it should be fine, right?
If she says yes, what drama should I ask for?
Would Rubia like watching them too?
If she asks what they are, what do I even say?
No, wait.
I can’t see them anyway…
Aww… I got all excited for nothing.
Realizing every happy fantasy that had just popped up was nothing but pie in the sky, I let out a small sigh—only for Rubia to throw her arms around me and pull me tight.
“It must have been… so hard.”
“Ah, n-no…? I managed just fiiine…”
“Don’t lie… I saw you crying too.”
“I-I didn’t cry.”
…Okay, I did cry a little.
Cartia kept teasing me about peeing myself…
That humiliation tried so hard to squeeze the tears out that I let one slip.
But I really didn’t pee. That was just drool from fighting with my mouth open.
Who at my age would do that? Seriously, give me a break.
Next time I see Cartia I’m giving her a knuckle sandwich so hard it’ll ring.
Anyway.
What does any of this have to do with the handcuffs?
How did we even get from handcuffs to this… mmm.
Rubia seemed to be settling down at last, so I tried again.
“Sooo… first, Rubia. C-could you take these handcuffs off…? They’re really weird. All the strength’s gone from my body… and I can barely lift the greatsword…”
I wriggled and pushed against the Rubia who was still hugging me, then rattled the cuffs with a clink-clink.
“I can’t do that.”
The answer that came back was incredibly firm.
“Eh… why not?”
“They’re not dangerous. I just… put in a little of my divine power, a little of Noah’s blood, a little of Lady Sirin’s mana, peeled off a bit of Lady Cartia’s rank and put that in, and sealed a touch of Lady Ser’s spirit magic inside. A special custom pair of handcuffs you couldn’t find anywhere else in the world. The only pair that exists. Noah’s very own handcuffs.”
“…Wh-what did you say?”
“Since you can’t use your strength, it looks like the effect is working perfectly. And they look sturdy too.”
No… no no no.
Did she just say she put my blood in them?
And what? Pretty much everyone’s powers in this place went into them?
“W-why would you put so much… effort into making handcuffs…?”
“That’s how much it takes to keep Noah from using her power and stay nicely tied up.”
“…Why are you tying me up…?”
“Because it’s dangerous. Because I don’t want Noah to get hurt.”
“Isn’t the fighting all over…?”
I definitely saw the archer run off far, far away.
And the greatsword guy is definitely dead.
Rubia sighed and tightly clasped my hands.
“Didn’t you feel my divine power inside the bodies of the humans you met?”
“…How did you know? Did you meet them too, Rubia?”
“If more humans like that show up… what will Noah do?”
“I’ll kill them.”
A cold voice slipped out of me before I could stop it.
“Even if I tell you not to go?”
“They’re beings who defile Rubia. Rubia’s divine power… shouldn’t be used in a place like that.”
But in contrast to my icy tone, Rubia spoke with a warm voice.
“I thought you’d say that. That’s why I prepared this artifact.”
“What do you me—”
In that moment—
KRAAANG—!
A massive impact that sounded like it would shatter Sirin’s barrier thundered through the air.
“Huh? Rubia… th-this…”
“I don’t want to be apart from Noah anymore. Even if a situation comes where we have no choice but to separate. I want to know where Noah is, what she’s doing, whether she’s hurt, whether she’s sleeping well, whether she’s eating properly, what she’s thinking. Everything. Absolutely everything.”
“Huh? No, now’s not the time for that kind of talk… isn’t something happening outside?”
Clank—
“So Noah is staying right here.”
My strengthless arms were left dangling in the air.
“W-wait…”
“I’ll go take care of it.”
“No, Rubia…!”
Tap-tap— tap-tap—
The sound of footsteps on the wooden floor began to grow distant.
No, this isn’t right.
Rather than Rubia going… it should be me…
Should I try to reassure her?
How? What do I do?
Ugh… for now, use the gift I was going to show her to keep her feet planted?
Ah, screw it!
“Rubia!”
Thud—
Whoa, I can raise my voice that loud?
No, that’s not important right now.
“Th-there’s a way.”
“A way?”
“Uh… a w-way to know even if we’re far apart. And… a w-way to prove that we’re something special.”
BOOM—!
An even bigger shock than before rattled the room.
I don’t know how many people are outside or what’s going on.
But Sirin and Ser are there, so…
It should be fine for a little while.
Before Rubia could get any farther, I frantically groped along the floor and found the necklace I had asked Ser to make.
“L-look at this, Rubia.”
“…A necklace?”
“Could you come closer…? You can’t see it from far away.”
Thud—
“Ugh… hurry.”
Tap-tap— tap-tap—
The footsteps drew nearer.
I put on the biggest, goofiest smile I could manage and held the necklace out for Rubia to see.
“C-can you… see this?”
“My… name is written on it?”
“That’s right…! This is, um… where I used to live… something we put on a pet dog… ahem. On a precious family member…”
“Fa-family…? Wait, this is for a pet—”
“Anyway! I’m going to… wear it around my neck like this… and the thing is… if you put Rubia’s divine power into it… then Rubia and I get connected. W-want to try?”
“Family… family, family, precious family…”
“Aah… hurry…!”
Rubia, who had been murmuring blankly, finally reached out at my urging and took the necklace.
After confirming the warm, gentle energy seeping into it—
“Okay… now put it on my neck for me. I… can’t see, so it’s hard…”
I pressed the necklace into Rubia’s hand and used my free hand to lift my hair out of the way.
“Hah… hah… okay… I-I understand.”
Breathing roughly, Rubia fastened the necklace around my neck with trembling hands—click.
“There… now, try thinking about me?”
At the same moment Rubia swallowed hard—
A hot energy bloomed at my throat.
Did it work? It must have worked, right?
“Tada! Hehe… s-so? Can you maybe see something like a string…? Only Rubia can see it… if you follow that, you’ll find me…! And if you pour divine power into the string, you can know my location, my condition… even my emotions—”
Clank—
A ticklish sensation brushed against my backside at the same time—
“Mmph—?!”
Rubia’s tongue plunged fiercely into my mouth, tangling with mine.
“Pwah—! Ngh… Ru-Rubia!”
With one arm bound and no strength left in my body—
“Hah… cough, don’t… pull on the necklace…! I can’t… breathe… w-wait, hah…!”
—all I could do was accept Rubia’s rough hands.