Roholan Village (1)
“Those guys...! And me...! Wh-who are you closer to?!”
“Haa... Fine. I guess I saw this coming. It isn’t the first or second time. I’m not flustered anymore. Yeah. Really not.”
Aileen sat on the bed, head bowed, muttering to herself.
Scary...
Ever since I woke up, Aileen had been acting strange.
Was me coughing up blood and passing out that big a shock?
Well... maybe it was?
But it didn’t seem as serious as I feared.
Something like this had happened once before.
Back when I first felt Qi Sensing, probably.
The flood of information and terrain pouring into my head had been so fascinating that I kept expanding it farther and farther until I blacked out.
Hermila had found me then, thank goodness... otherwise the magic beasts might have finished me off.
Hermila was a true lifesaver!
Not in some vague, indirect way—an actual, genuine savior!
“So. Who am I closer to, you ask?”
I nodded.
“Obviously...”
Me, right?
It’s me!
I became friends with her first!
We’re friends!
“Hmm. I wonder.”
Uh.
Uhhh...
My mouth fell open.
I couldn’t close it.
I wonder...? I wonder!!
“Uh, e-eh...? Wh-why...?”
Aileen crossed her arms and idly touched her lips.
“It feels like Noah is hiding far too much from me. You can’t be friends with someone who has that many secrets.”
Secrets...?
“I-I don’t have any secr...ets.”
“Really?”
Umm... that I used to be a guy.
That I came from another world...
That this world is inside a game...
Even if I said those things, she wouldn’t believe me.
She might just write me off as completely insane.
So I can’t say any of that.
“Yeees...”
“Hmm. I see. If Noah says so, then...”
But.
Hearing “I wonder” still hurt more than I expected.
I’d thought we’d gotten pretty close...
Even if I couldn’t cook, I’d tried to make her breakfast... I’d even made her coffee.
When she said it tasted awful I’d practiced over and over, and forced down every failed batch myself...!
That forced coffee had made my heart pound so hard I thought I was going to die!
And I’d beaten every single Noll so she wouldn’t get hurt!
My nose stung.
My eyes burned too...
Living alone out here in the middle of nowhere.
Barely able to speak properly, with Hermila as my only friend.
And now Aileen was like this too... it was just...
“B-but... hic... y-you said we were... f-friends... hic, i-is it because... I didn’t call you Unni...? Hic... b-but... buuut...”
It’s not fair...
These aren’t my tears.
They’re this body’s tears...
Really...
“Uh, um, Noah...? First, stop crying...”
“A-Aileen... hic... I-I can’t even... m-make coffee... or c-cook... waaah... s-so, sooo...”
“N-no... it isn’t that. First...”
I wanted to talk.
But my body kept twitching and my diaphragm kept hiccupping so the words wouldn’t come out.
“Huuu... uuu...! Uugh! A-Ail... Aileen... kkh...”
“Sigh... All right. Come here.”
Aileen let out a long breath and opened her arms wide.
I whipped my head away.
I’m not going.
I don’t want to.
She said we weren’t close.
I like Hermila, who actually likes me.
I don’t like Aileen anymore.
Always putting on airs.
Always nagging...
“Hmm... You don’t want to? Really?”
Aileen’s arms swayed gently back and forth.
What, do I look like a puppy that runs over the second you dangle a toy in front of its face?
“I-I don’t... want to, hic... I-I’m... not... going.”
Absolutely not.
Not going.
“I was going to buy you that sugar apple you said you wanted earlier if you came for a hug... What a shame.”
Th-this devil of an Aileen...!
You think I’m going to fall for such an obvious temptation?!
“I was going to buy the jelly they were selling next to it too.”
I shot up from my seat, let go of the greatsword, and dove straight into Aileen’s arms.
I must have jumped too hard, because her body toppled backward.
“I-it’s not because of the jelly... n-no way...”
“Mm. Sure. I know. Would a grown adult do that?”
“Hic— Exactly... huff...”
Aileen’s soft hands stroked my hair and back in slow, comforting passes.
“Huuu.. hu...”
“Have you calmed down a little?”
“Hic— huuu... Yeees...”
“Of course I’m closer to Noah. Those people are just... helping us. I’m grateful, that’s all.”
“R-really...?”
“Of course.”
Aileen stopped stroking and pulled my head tighter against her.
It was a little hard to breathe, but the clean scent of freshly washed Aileen was so comforting that I just stayed still.
“Now that you’ve settled down... shall we start again?”
“Yeees.”
“Shall we talk like this, or sit facing each other?”
“U-umm...”
Aileen gave a small laugh.
Her hair laughed with her, tickling my face.
“Let’s talk like this. You don’t mind, do you?”
I nodded.
Answering out loud would have been too embarrassing.
“I’ll go first. This is very important, so listen carefully. All right?”
I nodded.
“I’m telling you all of this because I want to get even a little closer to Noah...”
I nodded harder.
“Hehe... Good. Then, where should I start...”
Aileen drew a deep breath and began choosing her words with care.
“Um... Noah.”
“Yeees?”
“My name isn’t Aileen.”
“Nweh...?”
I pulled back a little from her embrace.
“W-what do you mean...?”
“I’m sorry for deceiving you. My real name is Rubia. Rubia, the Priestess of Erden.”
“Ru-Rubia?”
“...Yes. I’m... truly, truly sorry.”
Aileen bowed her head deeply and apologized with formal sincerity.
No matter how much of the story of Black Sun I had forgotten, that name I still remembered.
Because she had been the protagonist of Black Sun.
Rubia, the priestess who served the Sun Goddess Lilith.
Rubia, the priestess who would save the world.
And Rubia, who had turned her back on that salvation and fled.
I couldn’t recall the finer details of her story, but her face—I remembered that crystal clear.
A face that had been insanely, insanely, insanely beautiful.
And that absolute stunner was... my friend...?
Ah.
From now on I would no longer introduce myself as “Shin Noah, eight-year veteran of Black Sun.”
I would be “Shin Noah, Rubia’s best friend.”
Looking at how we were lying here hugging, we clearly were best friends. Hehe.
“Noah...?”
Oh right.
I should answer.
But what was I supposed to say?
“O-oh, is that so?”
“Yes...?”
“I see...!”
Aileen tilted her head.
“Uh, um... well...? I’m not trying to be full of myself, but... I-I’m... actually a pretty famous priestess, you know?”
“Ooooh...!”
“Th-the priestess who will save the world...”
“That’s so cool...!”
Clap- clap- clap-
“...”
“...”
An even deeper silence settled over the already quiet inn room.
“Noah.”
“Yes...?”
“I said I’m a priestess.”
“Yeees.”
“The priestess who will save the world.”
“Th-that’s so cool!”
“That bitch of a goddess handed down a prophecy.”
“Gasp...! Ru-Rubia...! Watch your language...”
“When the balance of the world collapses, the End will appear. That End will burn and burn the world until, at last, it returns everything to the way it was.”
“An evil villain...!”
“But if I sacrifice myself, I can stop the End and save the world. If I die. I can save this goddamn world.”
Um... uh... y-you must have had it really hard...?
“Uhh... w-watch your language... pretty words...”
“So I ran away because I didn’t want to do that.”
“Mmm... You must have suffered a lot... You’ve been through so much.”
I stretched out my arm and stroked Aileen’s hair.
Aileen and Hermila had always done this for me, after all.
Maybe it would comfort her a little too?
“You’ve worked so hard...”
Stroke- stroke-
“...”
Stroke- stroke-
“......”
My arm’s starting to hurt...
“Um, uh... Rubia.”
“...Yes.”
“It’s okay.”
“Wh-what is.”
Rubia’s breathing quickened.
“If you’re tired, y-you can... rest a little. Rubia’s been running without stopping this whole time. You’ve worked so hard.”
Stroke- stroke-
Drip- a lukewarm drop, then another, fell onto my hair.
“Huff... sniff... huu...”
They seemed to be Rubia’s tears.
Drip- ugh. That one felt like snot...
U-ugh...! I want to wipe it off... but if I do she’ll get hurt, right...?
“So... um, Rubia can enjoy the world a little more. Visit lots of pretty places, eat lots of delicious food... and... uh... watch lots of fun plays.”
“I-I... am I... really... allowed to...?”
“Yes. It’s truly okay.”
When I nodded, she hugged me even tighter.
Ugh... I’m not a comfort doll.
Still, she was crying so heartbreakingly that I hugged her back.
And patted her back—pat-pat-
“Noah... Noah...! I’m, I’m sorry... If I don’t save the world... then in the end Noah will... hic... No-ah will too...”
Rubia kept pouring out tears without end after that, and began to speak of her past.
The story of her parents’ deaths.
The story of her peaceful village.
The story of being swindled.
And even the story of her dead little brother.
I listened in silence, never stopping the gentle pats on her back.
A long time passed like that, and when Rubia had calmed a little,
I opened the mouth I had kept tightly shut, hoping to change the heavy atmosphere.
“Mmm... Shall we go eat some jelly...?”
When things are hard, sugar is the best medicine.
“Pu-puhuh... hic... wh-what kind of... jellyyy...”
Pick one—crying or laughing!
And... you can’t do that!
You promised to buy it earlier!!
“The jelly Rubia said she’d buy me... d-don’t tell me just because your name changed from Aileen to Rubia... you’re going to pretend you don’t know?!”
“Haa... huhuhk... Seriously, seriously because of Noah... I’m going crazy... kkh... Fine. Let’s go... kngh...”
“Ah, and Rubia... there’s something else I want to say...”
The timing felt a little off to bring it up now.
But I still had to say it.
“Huu... What is it?”
“That... don’t learn one-handed swords or polearms... l-learn the greatsword... romance lives in the greatsword...!”
“Huff...! Puhahaha! A-ah... a greatsword?”
“Yes!”
“Ugh... but what can I do. I’m too weak to swing something like a greatsword. Hehehe... I’ll just take the thought.”
“Uh, ah... e-even if you try hard... you could wield such a cool weapon...!”
I pointed roughly in the direction I figured the greatsword ought to be and shouted.
But Rubia’s hair swayed left and right.
“No. A cool weapon like that doesn’t suit me. It only suits Noah.”
“I-is that so...?”
“Of course. Weak little me is better suited to a one-handed sword.”
“Mmm... th-that might be true.”
Yeah. That does seem right.
A tough greatsword like this really does suit me better.
The moment I understood it in my head and nodded,
a tremendous pain exploded on the top of my skull.
“Yaaah...! Wh-why did you hit me!”
It was Aileen’s knuckle rap.
“Because you agreed so quickly it hurt my feelings. I held back from hitting you a second time.”
Hah, unbelievable.
And unfair!
I looked up at Rubia with the most wronged expression I could muster, lips working soundlessly.
“R-Rubia... you’re the one who said that...”
“Even so. That’s just how women are. Hehe... Of course Noah is a woman too.”
That’s just how women are...?
This is too hard...
I scrubbed at my head and pulled away from Rubia.
“Fine... I want to go out now.”
“But I still haven’t heard Noah’s story.”
Ugh...!
“What do you want to know...?”
“Hmm, until yesterday I was so curious it was almost annoying, but thinking about it again now... I realized that if it’s Noah, something like that could easily happen. So... I don’t think I need to hear it after all.”
What.
Are you teasing me right now?
After making me this curious?
“No... y-you can’t just... make me curious and then brush it off like that...!”
“Heheh— It’s nothing big. I was going to ask about the survivor of Habron... about Luci. You already knew about him, didn’t you?”
Luci?
Ah, right...
Rubia had been looking for Luci, hadn’t she...?
“Uh, uhh... Back then my head was... hurting so much, and the Nolls were swarming in... I forgot.”
“Yes. I believe you. I don’t think Noah hid it out of malice. If it’s Noah, something like that could easily happen.”
Rubia’s body, which had been a little apart, pressed close to me again.
Then she wrapped both arms around me.
I really feel like a comfort doll now...
“Noah.”
“Yeees...?”
A brief silence.
Rubia slowly steadied her breathing and continued.
“I revealed that I’m a priestess... and Noah doesn’t seem bothered at all?”
“About what...?”
“Other people are shocked when they hear something like this. But Noah barely reacted, so I was curious.”
“It’s just that the person named Aileen’s name changed to Rubia, right? I’m a little hurt that you lied about your name, but...”
I squirmed a little, suddenly embarrassed by my own words.
Then I went on.
“Rubia is Rubia. Even if other people call you a priestess or a savior... to me you’re just Rubia, the friend I got close to right after Hermila.”
“Seriously... I’m going crazy.”
Squeeze-
Rubia hugged me as if she meant to crush me.
Ugh...! Can’t breathe!
“Mmph...! Mmff!”
“Thank you. Truly... thank you.”
“Mmffeh...”
“Just let me stay like this a little longer. Even if it’s hard to breathe, hold on a bit. Noah’s scent is so nice... I want to breathe it in a little more.”
Rubia’s strange breathing, her hot exhales, brushed the top of my head.
Now even her legs wrapped around my body.
If this keeps up something really bad is going to happen...!
I forced Rubia’s body away.
“U-uuuugh...! Rubia! F-first let’s go out? Jelly! Let’s go eat jelly...!”
“Huu... All right. Jelly... we should eat some.”
Nod-nod-
I nodded vigorously and walked slowly over to where I had set down the greatsword earlier, closing my hand around the hilt.
The moment I spread my Qi Sensing, I felt Rubia’s intense gaze.
“Ru-Rubia...?”
“Yes?”
“Uh, um... Never mind. L-let’s hurry out...!”
I spun around at once and headed for the door.
“Noah.”
But... Rubia’s heavily sunken voice stopped my feet cold.
“Wh-what is it...?”
“Will you sleep next to me later?”
“No.”
Something bad is going to happen...
A-and... it’s all damp with tears and snot!
I don’t want to!
Aileen rose and took one step toward me.
“I’ll buy you twice as much jelly.”
“I don’t want to...”
Two steps.
“Candy too.”
“A-ah, I can’t...”
Four steps.
“I’ll buy a whole week’s worth.”
“Ugh... just for today...?”
Rubia’s steps stopped.
“Yes.”
After standing still a moment, Rubia held out her hand.
Hm?
Why?
“Aren’t you going to take it?”
“Why... would I take it?”
Rubia carefully stepped closer and whispered into my ear.
“There’s a rumor that an evil mage from the Magic Tower lives in this village.”
“Heeek... w-we should be careful...”
I reached out and took Rubia’s hand.
Her long fingers slipped neatly between mine.
“Shall we hold on tight like this so it doesn’t come loose? That evil mage might dissect Noah’s body, after all.”
“Yes...!”
I nodded over and over, gripping her hand firmly.
“Hehe... Shall we go eat jelly now?”
“S-sounds good...”
With a somehow suspicious little laugh, Rubia led me by the hand.
I-it’ll be fine when we sleep later... right...?