Turning Point (2)
"I made a spectacle of myself. I apologize."
Unlike moments before, Ser had steadied her emotions. She dropped heavily into her seat and bowed her head. Then she summoned a tiny water spirit over her bloodied hand.
"It may not be my place to say this after how worked up I just was, but Sirin will be fine. So I think it would be best if we focused on what we can do."
Ser's words reached us clearly enough—yet it felt as though she were speaking less to us than to herself.
"Once again, I am sorry."
She bowed a second time, then squeezed the spirit in her palm—
-Kyui? Kyuuuuk...
"Wait. I'll—I'll do it for you."
Seeing that, Rubia hastily snatched Ser's hand.
"Is there any need to go to such trouble? I can simply—"
-Kyuaaaaaah!
"No! I said I'll do it! When a person is talking, you listen!!"
"Understood."
Watching Rubia frantically pour divine power into the wound, Ser dismissed the spirit and chuckled under her breath.
"Lady Rubia seems quite fond of cute things."
"It's not that I like cute things. I'm doing this because your insane stunts might give Lady Hermila a heart attack."
"Is popping a single spirit truly something to be shocked by?"
"Ha, are you insane?"
Rubia glared at Ser with pure contempt. Ser stared blankly back at her for a moment, then shook her head.
"Hmm. Close, but not quite. If you wish to imitate me, lower your tone a little more. Drop the ends of your sentences as well. Now, try following along. Ha, are you insane?"
"I wasn't imitating you, this is—"
"Pfft..."
Hermila, who had been watching the exchange, covered her mouth as her shoulders shook with laughter.
"Lady Hermila. Lady Rubia's behavior is nothing to mock. Any intelligent human would naturally wish to resemble someone as outstanding as myself. So please do not feel embarrassed, Lady Rubia. This Ser understands completely."
"Would you stop with the nonsense... Haah... No, forget it. Just stop talking before I lose my mind."
Having roughly finished the healing, Rubia sighed and pulled me into her arms.
"Haah... Noah, you are not allowed to learn any of that. Understood?"
"Y-yes, yes..."
"Learning a little would be fine. Life becomes much easier once you become shameless."
"That isn't shamelessness—that's insanity."
"Geniuses are always a little mad by nature. Well, that is only from an ordinary person's perspective. It is not madness, but excellence. In any case. The atmosphere seems to have lightened somewhat, so I will ask again. Lady Hermila. Was everything you have told us so far the truth?"
Hermila moistened her throat with the now-cold coffee and nodded.
"Yes. There were no lies."
"No lies, yet it sounds as though there are things you are still hiding. Tell us everything. Do you not fear the wrath of this Tower Master?"
Ser's tightly clenched fist rose for all to see.
"I thought you disliked the title of Tower Master?"
"I do."
"Yet you refer to yourself as such."
"Because from this moment on, I must become not ordinary Ser, but Tower Master Ser."
"I have been thinking it for a while now, but you truly are... peculiar. At any rate, there were no lies. And what I withheld concerns the events after Lady Rubia was kidnapped, so there is little need to speak of it."
"Hmm. Is that so."
Ser slowly unclenched her fist, crossed her arms, and nodded.
In that instant, an indescribable, dense killing intent blanketed the entire area.
"Lady Hermila."
And then the space around Ser warped, cracked, and twisted.
"Do I look like a fucking joke to you?"
Shabak— shabak—
A spirit in the slender form of a woman stepped forth.
"Oh my... A highest-rank spirit. This is my first time seeing one in person... She seems quite furious."
At the same time, all expression vanished from Hermila's face, and a savage aura began to pour from her body.
"I do not wish to kill you, a friend of Sirin. Therefore, speak truthfully."
"There are times when ignorance is the better medicine."
The wild aura raging from Hermila's body compressed in an instant the moment she rose from her seat, sinking back into her flesh.
"And there are times when one must pretend not to know, even when one does."
Hermila's fist clenched.
"An arrogant, peerless Tower Master cannot become anyone's puppet. Even if such a thing were possible, the only one who could make it so is Sirin."
Hundreds of thousands of spirits filled the sky.
"How insolent."
Hermila's form grew hazy.
"I have every right to be."
From the highest-rank spirit's hand, a calamity that would shake heaven and earth began to take shape.
And then—
A warm sensation settled over the fist that carried the weight of Reversal.
"H-Hermila...!"
At the fidgeting touch that kept squirming atop my fist, I lowered my gaze slightly.
There stood Noah on tiptoe, her tiny palms wrapped tightly around my clenched hand.
"Uh, that is... y-you see... wait... w-what was I going to say..."
"...Miss Noah?"
"Noah! What on earth are you—!"
"Lady Noah. What do you think you are doing?"
"Euhk..."
Noah, who had been clinging to my hand and fretting, suddenly trembled all over under the weight of every gaze. Even so, she refused to let go. She shook her head hard and cried out,
"J-just a moment, Rubia...! H-Hermila and I... have something to talk about."
"What do you mean—"
"P-please trust me...!"
At that, Rubia's rushing footsteps halted, and the spirits that had blanketed the sky vanished from sight.
Yet the divine power stretched taut around Noah still held firm, and the highest-rank spirit, reeking of thick blood, still had its hand extended toward me.
In a situation where even breathing felt crushed beneath the killing intent blanketing the area—why was the Noah before my eyes smiling so foolishly?
"Miss Noah? Might I ask you to explain this sudden behavior?"
"H-Hermila. We're friends, right...?"
"...Friends?"
"Y-yes... friends. You said so before, Hermila... th-that, ahem... you would be my first friend..."
Noah's voice trailed off. Her face crumpled and her body shook.
"Huk... d-don't tell me that was a lie...?!"
"...Ah, no. That... wasn't..."
"It wasn't a lie, right...?"
"...Yes."
"R-right? Hehe... Yes, we're friends."
At that single denial, Noah began smiling foolishly again.
"Mmm... s-since we're friends... I'll trust you."
She even released the hand that had been gripping the greatsword's hilt and laid it atop my fist as well.
"R-Rubia said... that between friends... th-there shouldn't be any secrets."
With both hands she pulled my fist downward.
"And Hermila and I... w-we're friends..."
She opened the eyes she had kept shut and looked straight up at me.
"So... what does that mean...?"
For a moment, words failed me.
The eyes holding my reflection were far too clear.
They held such deep trust in me.
They seemed to lay bare every filthy karma I carried.
"Uh..."
"Ahem... I'll just say it myself. We... aren't supposed to have secrets."
Having finished speaking, Noah waited for my reaction, then fidgeted and opened her mouth again.
"Then... uh, hnn... H-Hermila might find it embarrassing, so should I tell my secret first...?"
She let go of my fully lowered arm, pointed at her own eyes, and giggled.
"I... can't see anything if I'm not holding my greatsword. Ah, wait, no. It's not that I can't see... yeah, I just can't feel Qi Sensing."
Then, after a brief pause, she tilted her head and hurriedly turned.
"Huk... I-I was going to tell Ser too...! Ser is... a f-friend as well...! Th-this isn't something I was hiding. Uh... I j-just missed the timing. Really..."
Watching Noah scramble for words, Ser let out a hollow sigh mixed with a wry laugh and shook her head.
"Ha. The great Tower Master Ser cannot become friends with a foolish little monkey like Lady Noah."
"...Eh."
"However."
A moment later, Ser dismissed the highest-rank spirit, walked slowly over, and spoke with a gentle smile.
"Becoming friends with genius Ser, rather than Tower Master Ser... may yet be possible."
"Uh... r-really...? Then we're frien—"
"Not yet, so do not get ahead of yourself. Fufu."
"Eut..."
Ser roughly ruffled Noah's hair, then looked at me.
"Lady Hermila."
"...Yes."
"You are a bitch. Are you aware of that?"
"Ahaha... Well, I can admit to a little of that."
"Therefore, take exactly one punch. With that single blow, I shall forgive you."
Just as before, her tightly clenched fist rose high.
Tok-tok—
"If you want our cooperation, you will have to explain everything properly, Hermila."
Right after, Rubia strode over, grinding her teeth, and pulled Noah into her arms.
"Yes. I will tell you everything you wish to know—everything I have been hiding. But before that."
I knelt so that my eyes met Noah's, then lifted her hand and placed it upon the greatsword's hilt.
"Eh..."
"Miss Noah. Do you truly consider me a friend?"
"O-of course."
"Even though I was about to do something terrible?"
"Mmm... that doesn't mean Hermila is a bad person."
"...Why do you think that?"
"Because..."
Noah slipped free of Rubia's embrace, reached out, and firmly grasped the blade of the greatsword.
"Noah?!"
And then—
Kaaang—!
The greatsword, so sharp it looked as though it would slice flesh at a glance, failed to cut Noah's fingers. Instead it was flung aside by the weight of Reversal and clattered across the floor.
"Like this... you tried to protect us even while cutting away at your own lifespan, Hermila."