After the Subjugation (2)
“All right, then. Let’s hear your reason. Why are you so determined to go as far as Karahan?”
After my relentless persuasion, we finally decided to hear Hepais out.
The place: Hepais’s forge!
But… there had definitely been a whole line of adventurers waiting outside the door. The moment they saw us, they scrambled away in a panic…?
Screaming like they’d just seen a monster, even…
Well, those screams couldn’t have been because of me.
No matter what weird rumors were going around, there was no way anyone would be terrified of someone this small and genuinely human-looking.
Which meant they must have run from Rubia…
Granted, Rubia’s regenerative power was… kind of monstrous.
Like… even if her arms and legs got twisted the wrong way, they’d just whip back into place with a whoosh.
And if a hole opened in her stomach, it would seal itself up with a soft shuuuk…
It did look a little… not-quite-human… hmm…
But still! Screaming like you’d seen a monster was going way too far, wasn’t it?
She only did all that to protect you people!!
If you hadn’t abandoned her, none of that would have happened!
You rotten bastards!
If this had been my gaming days, I’d have… huh?! I’d have taught every last one of you a lesson!
“Your forge is finally starting to do well, isn’t it? I still don’t understand why you’d risk the danger just to travel with us.”
Rubia sipped the coffee in front of her, her expression remaining thoroughly stern.
She looked exactly like a mother-in-law grilling a prospective daughter-in-law.
“Ah… um…”
Sitting across from her, Hepais fidgeted and mumbled, clearly at a loss for words.
“Even if you do come with us, what about the return trip? We’re only passing through Karahan on our way to Cartia Village. Shouldn’t you be coming back to Roholan?”
Now that she mentioned it… yeah…?
How had she planned to get back?
She had a house here, and a shop… she absolutely had to return.
Her entire fortune was right here!
“If things go well… there is a way back. But… um…”
Rubia’s face crumpled instantly.
“And if things don’t go well? What then?”
Hepais didn’t answer.
She simply looked at us with a bright, smiling face.
“Is it that important?”
“Yes.”
This time the reply came without hesitation—completely different from a moment ago.
“Important enough to risk your life?”
“…Yes.”
This time she answered with a look of pure resolve.
“…I see.”
A crack appeared in Rubia’s relentlessly stern expression.
I quietly slurped the milk in front of me.
It wasn’t all that tasty.
“We won’t be traveling in any particular hurry.”
“That’s fine.”
“We’re only passing through Karahan. We don’t have any business there.”
“I know.”
“We won’t even go to the summit. Just the mid-slopes—”
“It’s all right. As long as I can set foot at the entrance to Karahan… I’ll handle the rest myself.”
Seeing the absolute, unshakable look on Hepais’s face, Rubia let out a long sigh and scrubbed a hand over her own face.
“…Haa… Fine. We’ll go together.”
Then she drained the rest of her coffee in one long gulp.
“Thank you. Thank you so much!!”
Finally granted permission to join us, Hepais sprang to her feet and bowed deeply.
Rubia bowed back.
Hmm… then I should…
“Th-thank youuu…”
But was I supposed to thank Rubia?
Or Hepais…?
Both?
Well… I still needed jelly, so… better thank Rubia too.
“Ru-Rubia, thank you too… for allowing it.”
“Even so, your jelly is confiscated for a while.”
“…Yeees…”
Tch… way too sharp…
“Close your mouth.”
“Mmph.”
“And fix that face.”
I beamed.
“Good girl.”
Pat-pat—
“Pfft… W-what are you two doing right now?”
Hepais, who had been staring straight at us, spoke while trying to hold back laughter.
I-I’m embarrassed too, you know?!
But… but! If I want jelly, I have no choice!
Besides, I got everything confiscated because I kept begging to bring you along!
How dare you laugh?!
W-well… I did get a little tempted by the free forging, but…
Anyway!
“I-it’s because of you, Hepais… that this happened… Don’t laugh.”
“Ah, is that so…?”
“Of… course it is.”
“Th-then shall I buy you some jelly?”
“Huk…”
There was such a good method…?
I carefully checked Rubia’s expression.
Her eyes stayed the same, but the corners of her mouth had curled up just a little.
And the hand that had been stroking my head had stopped.
Um… uh…
“H-Hepais… you don’t have to buy me any… It’s… fine…”
I rejected the temptation of jelly and turned her down.
I had no choice but to refuse…
“Well, can’t be helped then. Oh, and please just call me Hepais instead of Hepais-ssi. It’ll only be a short while, but… wouldn’t it be nicer if we got along?”
“S-should we…?”
“Yes! And I’ll call you Noah instead of Noah-nim… uh… by the way, how old are you…?”
“I’m… twenty, and Rubia is… Rubia is twenty-five.”
“Wow… so I’m the youngest? I’m eighteen! Then I’ll call you Noah Unni!”
Uh, Unni?!
“Uwaah… n-no… th-that… just call me Noah, please…”
“No way! I can’t do that! I’m a whole two years younger! So Noah Unni, you should speak casually to me!”
“Eugh… d-don’t call me Unni…!”
Hepais leaned in with an incredibly excited face.
“But this face is twenty…? Unni, you’re ridiculously baby-faced. Look at that skin… How do you take care of it? Hmm… maybe I should try smearing some magic-beast blood on mine…”
“A-aah… Unni… I’m not your Unni…!”
I shoved her overly close face away with both hands.
And why would you smear blood on yourself?!
“Why not! If you’re two years older, you’re Unni!”
“That’s right. But Noah, why don’t you ever call me Unni? You’re a whole five years younger.”
This time Rubia, who had been quietly listening from the side, needled me in a scolding tone.
Stop bullying me!
“Uh… then what does Noah Unni call the Priestess?”
What.
I’m Noah Unni, but Rubia is still Priestess-nim?
Then just call me Noah-nim too!
I hate Unni!!
“She hated it so much that I just told her to call me Rubia. But… why is Noah ‘Unni’ while I’m still ‘Priestess-nim’?”
The arrow that had been flying at me suddenly changed direction and shot toward Hepais.
In that case… now’s my chance…!
“Th-that’s right. Call Rubia ‘Rubia Unni’ the same way you call me…! C-come on, try it. ‘Rubia Unni.’”
The moment the words left my mouth, the entire forge went dead silent.
Why…? What…?
W-was I not supposed to get involved…?
“How… completely self-centered…”
“W-what is…?”
Even after my question, Rubia simply stared at me in silence. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out several pieces of jelly.
“J-jelly… is Rubia going to… eat them…?”
She’d definitely said she didn’t like them…
But they were right there in her pocket, so… maybe she got hungry after all.
They were all mine, though…
“No. They’re for you, Noah.”
“Huh?! R-really?!”
“Of course. Here.”
Jelly tumbled from Rubia’s hand into mine with a soft plop-plop.
The chewy, springy texture made me feel instantly better.
“Heheh… hnn… looks delicious.”
“Well… hmm… all right. First let’s fix Hepais’s way of addressing people. Now… Noah? Tell her.”
“Yeees…! Try saying it. Rubia Unni…!”
More jelly dropped into my hand again!
If I do as I’m told, she gives me jelly?!
I’d better be a good girl!!
“Uh, is it… really okay to call you that?”
“Of course. And while we’re at it, why don’t we drop the formal speech with each other too?”
While I chewed the jelly with little munch-munch sounds, Hepais also worked her mouth as if practicing.
And finally—
“Ru-Rubia Unni!”
She shouted it with a bright, beaming smile.
Was calling someone Unni really that fun?
Hmm… no matter how hard I thought about it, I still didn’t get it.
“Hoo! Living long enough, you really do see everything!! If Master found out… uh, um… she’d be happy, I think.”
Hepais had looked overjoyed, but then her expression suddenly clouded over.
As if she had noticed something, Rubia carefully opened her mouth.
“Could it be… that the reason you’re going to Karahan is—”
“Rubia Unni! Shall I make more coffee?”
She brightened right back up!
“…Yes. That would be nice.”
“Yes! Noah Unni, milk for you?”
“Yeees. And I’m not Unni…”
“Two years older is Unni! Anyway! I’ll be right back!”
Hepais waved her hands energetically as she headed for the kitchen.
And then—
She slumped down onto the floor and made a face as if she were crying her heart out.
There was no sound.
Because she had clamped both hands over her mouth.
My Qi Sensing… could feel through walls, so I saw everything…
Hepais probably didn’t know that, right?
“It really does seem that way, doesn’t it, Noah…?”
Rubia whispered very quietly.
“Mmm… it does.”
I nodded for now.
And kept chewing the jelly with little munch-munch sounds.
It still wasn’t all that tasty.
“I’m not sure what we should do… It’s a bit difficult.”
Rubia’s face grew thoughtful.
“Why?”
“Because… it’s dangerous. Your condition isn’t exactly good either… and that place isn’t somewhere an ordinary person like Hepais can just walk into. Even if she has a blessing… it’s a crafting-related blessing, so…”
True enough.
Karahan was dangerous.
The environment was harsh, and the magic beasts that appeared there weren’t weaklings like Nol.
But.
“Even so, we have to help her.”
The feelings I had been forcing down
spilled over,
just a little.
“I don’t want anyone else I know to die.”
A tiny crack appeared in the thick mask I wore.
“I… can read expressions with Qi Sensing now. So I saw Hepais’s face.”
That expression
had been Luci’s expression,
and my father’s expression.
The face of someone prepared to die.
The face of someone who didn’t care if they died at any moment.
And
the face of someone who would achieve their goal even if it killed them.
“So… we have to help her.”
Somehow keep her alive.
What on earth was she thinking, making a choice like that?
How were the people left behind supposed to keep living?
How were they supposed to endure that hell after being left behind?
I wanted
to hear her answer.