Roholan Village (8)
I had lived buried in games.
I threw myself into them to forget reality.
Inside those games, I was happy.
I met people, grew stronger, laughed, cried.
And in the end, I saved the world.
No matter how I built my character.
No matter what weapon I chose.
No matter which route I took.
No matter what life I lived.
No matter what trials I faced.
Even if I carried a disability, just like my own body.
I never broke. I saved the world.
I reached the ending where every NPC survived.
But there was one person missing.
The priestess was never in that world.
The priestess who could only save the world by dying.
She sacrificed herself and said she was happy.
Happy that she could save the world with her own life, she threw herself away.
Then what?
If she died like that—
What about the one left behind in the world?
The one who remembered every moment they shared?
The one who had been there in all the happy times?
The one who had promised a future together?
The one who could not forget any of it.
Who could not let it go.
Who spent days that felt like hell.
How was that person supposed to keep living?
I wanted to know the answer.
I chased an answer I would never find in my lifetime.
And so I never learned it.
Because the priestess was only a character in a game.
A character who lived exactly as she was written.
There was no one in this world who could give me that answer.
After that, I never watched the story again.
I could not watch it.
I did not want to see another sacrifice.
I did not want to remember the past.
I did not want to remember my parents, who died saving me.
So.
I would save Rubia.
By any means necessary.
No matter what I had to go through.
As long as she was still breathing.
Nothing else mattered.
Before “my” self was swallowed.
Before “I” disappeared.
Before I became just another game character.
I had to raise her affection.
I had to.
“...Noah.”
Rubia’s trembling voice reached me.
I closed my eyes, let the tension drain from my body, and opened my mouth.
“Y-yes?”
“S-so... what did you say I was like?”
“What do you mean...?”
“J-just now... you said something about my face...”
“Ah, that you were pretty?”
Rubia swallowed hard and patted the bed a few times.
“Hnn... n-no, I mean... can you really tell what someone looks like just by touching them?”
“Mmm... roughly, yeah...?”
“Then... would it be okay if I asked... what I look like?”
Sudden shyness flooded her voice.
Well... if someone told you your face was this and that and that you were pretty... yeah, that’d be embarrassing.
My own face might have exploded...
“Okay. Mmm...”
I reached toward Rubia, calling up the face I had once seen on a monitor.
The first place my fingers found was her collarbone.
“Eep... that tickles, Noah...”
Slowly.
Carefully, so I would not poke her eyes, I moved with the lightest touch.
Up along the line of her shoulder, past her neck, to her face.
“First of all, Rubia... mm, your skin is really nice. Soft and smooth... and your forehead is round. A cute forehead...”
I drifted down and gently traced the corners of her eyes.
“Your eyes... whoa, your lashes are so long. The shape is... a little fierce, but still kind. And big, too.”
My fingers slid down the bridge of her nose.
“Your nose is slim... and high. And your ears...”
I let my hand drift sideways to the curve of her ear.
“They’re secretly cute... mm... I don’t know how to explain it. Your earlobes are super soft. Hehe... the squishy feeling is fun. And the outer part... hmm? Rubia, do you have a fever? Your ears are hot...”
“Noah...”
The hand that had been about to descend toward her lips was caught by hers.
“Y-yes...?”
“I-I’m... going to the bathroom for a second.”
In a flustered rush she bolted for the bathroom, footsteps clattering.
That urgent, huh...?
Well, after my body changed... holding it in got a lot harder for me too...
Understanding her completely, I nodded and waited at my leisure.
I had not noticed while Rubia stayed right beside me even without the greatsword...
But it felt terribly empty.
No greatsword, no Rubia, and no... p-pants.
Empty in every way...
“Ru-Rubiaaa... when are you coming back?”
My composure vanished almost at once, and I called toward the bathroom a little too loudly.
“Ah... ahem, I-I’m coming out now.”
The door opened and Rubia stepped out.
Then she strode straight toward me.
“Noah.”
“Y-yes?”
I turned my head toward the sound of her voice.
“Yap.”
“Eek! Wh-what was that!”
Water droplets splattered across my face.
“Pffft— it’s water. Cold, right?”
“Ugh... why all of a sudden...! Go wipe it off already.”
I scrubbed the wetness from my face, grumbling.
“I just suddenly felt like you were being cheeky. Heh...”
With that strange little laugh she closed the distance and suddenly dove at me.
“Mmph—! W-wait, I—”
Then her still-damp hands began kneading my face without mercy.
“I’m not letting go until I’ve wiped every last drop on your face.”
After thoroughly massaging my cheeks she even pressed her own face in close.
“Ru-Rubia! Did you just wash your face?! I-it’s cold!”
Her face was dripping too...
Ugh, uuugh...!!
I... I’m not holding back anymore!!
I’m wiping all this water on your clothes!
“C-come here!”
I thrust my arms up to grab her.
And what met my hands was something soft—soft—
“Why is it so soft...? Ru-Rubia... y-you’re not wearing underw—”
“Oh my, oh my?”
“Uh...? N-no... I-I’m s-sorry...!”
I yanked my hands back at once and bowed my head.
No... this is unfair...
She started it!
Th-those... those things are just unnecessarily big!
Totally unfair!
“Noah, you can’t just grab my chest like that. Not without permission, at least.”
“I-I didn’t grab... it wasn’t like that... a-and what permission...! Ah, um... I-I’m sorry.”
Rubia’s breathing drew closer and closer.
“So... how was it?”
“Y-yes...?”
The voice that had been right in front of my face slipped to my ear.
“Can’t you describe it the same way you described my face?”
“W-wh-wh-what... what kind of d-description...”
I jerked my body backward.
Rubia closed the gap again just as quickly.
“What you just touched. How it felt.”
“A-a-are you crazy?! Wh-why would you even...”
I pulled away once more.
And she chased me again.
“Crazy? I’m just curious. I’ve never heard what it feels like when someone else touches them. No one else has ever touched them, either.”
She really is crazy.
Definitely crazy...
Y-you were this kind of person?!
“Y-you’re teasing me. Don’t tease me...!”
“I’m not teasing... hey, stop moving, Noah.”
“No...!”
“No, if you go any farther you’ll fall—”
I kept scooting backward, hands planting firmly on the mattress.
A little farther—
“Uh...?”
The solid feel under my hands vanished and my body tipped.
The tilt felt like slow motion.
I... I was at the edge of the bed.
This is gonna hurt... right?
Definitely gonna hurt... uuugh...
Is the floor okay?
I’d rather crack my own head open...
Rubia can heal my head, but the floor would cost money to fix...
All those ridiculous thoughts flashed through my mind the instant my hair brushed the floor.
“Ugh... I told you to stop. Why won’t you listen?”
Rubia’s hand caught my back.
“W-whoa... n-nice, Rubia...!”
But her arms started trembling hard.
“H-hurry and get up... my arms hurt.”
“A-ah... y-yes!”
I answered and, with a surge of core strength, scrambled back onto the bed.
“Haa... that scared me... be careful, Noah. Even if I can heal you, pain is still pain.”
“Y-yes...”
“Mm... this won’t do.”
The bed began to rock and sway.
She’s coming toward me again...!
“Stay still. I won’t make you do anything weird.”
As if she already knew I was about to flee, Rubia pinned me in place with her words.
One step, two steps... she crawled slowly toward me, then sat behind me and wrapped her arms around my body.
“Ru-Rubia...?”
“This way you can’t run. And you won’t fall, either.”
Held this tightly, the soft sensation from earlier flooded back and I twisted in place.
“That’s true, but... uh, Rubia...! I want jelly! C-can you bring me some jelly?”
“No.”
A flat refusal...
“Uh, then... I-I need to use the bathroom...!”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Eh...”
C-crazy... she’s lost it!
Rubia’s gone crazy!
Why is she like this!
“You don’t have the greatsword right now, so going alone would be hard, right?”
“N-no, it’s fine...”
“No it’s not. It would definitely be hard. What if you trip?”
She started gently lifting me up.
“W-wait... just hold on a second.”
“Why? Was it a lie?”
Her voice cooled and sank, jabbing straight into my conscience.
Wh-what do I do...?
Just admit it was a lie and take the scolding, right?
Going to the bathroom together is... absolutely not happening.
Really not!
“Ah, um... uh... y-yes... i-it was a lie...”
“Noah. Are you playing hard to get with me?”
“Y-yes...? No! I-I’ve never...”
“Last time you hugged me first, so why are you saying you don’t want it now? Do you hate being held by me that much?”
“I don’t hate it... I’m just emb... arrassed...”
“We’re both girls, so why are you embarrassed? And normal ‘friends’ do this all the time. Besides, we’re ‘really close friends’ who share secrets, aren’t we?”
Friends...
Really close friends who share secrets...!
B-but guys don’t do this with each other, do they...?
“Uh, um... d-do girls usually... do this? I’ve never really had friends, so...”
After a brief silence Rubia answered with perfect calm.
“Of course.”
“R-really?”
“Yes. It’s not weird at all, so you can just relax and lean on me. Close friends all do this.”
“O-outside... people don’t seem to...”
“You never saw what they do inside their own homes.”
“B-but still...”
“Noah, do you just lie down outside like it’s a bed? No, right? You lie down because you’re home.”
“Thaaat’s true...?”
“Exactly. That’s how it is. Inside the house, in a comfortable space, everyone does this.”
Is that true...?
Is that just how girls are?
Or is it the culture of this world...?
She says it so confidently it almost sounds right...?
Am I... the weird one?
“Uh, um... okay. I’ll stay like this...”
Rubia’s hand stroked my hair.
“Good. Smart choice. From now on I’ll teach you how to get along with friends. Slowly.”
Her voice sounded like someone soothing an animal she was about to devour.
“I’ll even feed you jelly as a special treat.”
“Huh...? You have jelly? Wasn’t it on the table?”
“I put some in my pocket earlier.”
“W-wow... but then why didn’t you...”
“I forgot.”
“I seeee...?”
It wasn’t planned from the start... right...?
“Here. Open up.”
“Aaaah—”
I opened my mouth like a baby bird waiting for food, and Rubia’s finger slid right in.
A little... too deep.
“Oops, I pushed it in too far.”
The finger that brushed my tongue tasted exactly like the jelly that had entered my mouth.
“Slurp— aha, peach flavor.”
It was... peach flavor...