Festival (2)
Two days ago, together, shopping?
What was that supposed to mean?
Two days ago I would have been asleep—
"I-I'm sorry, Noah."
Rubia's head drooped.
Two days ago...?
Then that wasn't me... it was another Noah?
That... could be possible...
Yeah. It made enough sense.
I'd been asleep for a whole month, after all...
"T-Traitor..."
Huh?
"Rubia is... a traitor..."
Wait...?
My mouth kept moving on its own.
The words just spilled out, completely beyond my control.
This... this was definitely something I'd only been thinking deep inside my head.
No—not even my head.
From the absolute depths of my heart...
"N-Noah...?"
Rubia's flustered expression was almost funny.
Funny, and cute, and hateful, and infuriating, and irritating.
I was angry.
Yeah.
Since I'd already let it all out...
Might as well go all the way.
I could just... uh... blame it on the aftereffects of waking up so recently, right?
No... but... what if saying all this made Rubia hate me...?
It might come off as clingy...
She could get upset.
Uh... umm...
Screw it! I don't care!
"I hate you. I hate you so much... Rubia's a traitor. A playboy... no... wait. A playgirl...?"
This was Rubia's fault, plain and simple!
No... of course hanging out with a friend wasn't wrong in itself.
Friend... friend.
She said she didn't have any friends besides me!!
I... I don't have any friends besides Rubia either...
She said I was her closest friend!!
I ground my teeth and shuffled over to sit heavily beside her.
"Someone like me who can't even see... who's stupid... who can't even talk properly... a total noob Noah who couldn't even beat the Tyrant... I'm not good enough, right? Yeah... of course not."
"No... what are you talking about? I would never—"
"What. I'm not? You're saying I'm not? Then... then why did you go play with that other Noah instead of me...? You bought... underwear... and you probably ate together too, huh...? Yeah? Ate a meal... and dessert... and then went for a walk to digest it all. Definitely..."
"...There were... circumstances—"
"Mmm... I see. Yeees... sure. There must have been circumstances. Of course. I understand... heh... fine. I don't need any of that... I don't need any of it. Just answer one thing..."
I spat out the biggest question swirling in my head.
"Which of the two do you like better...?"
"W-What...?"
Still perched on the edge of the bed, I twisted my body around.
My clothes caught against the mattress and rode up a little.
At the same time Rubia's gaze dropped.
But I didn't care. I forced the words out as clearly as I could.
"Between the super strong Noah who went shopping for... u-underwear with you... and the noob Noah who just slept the whole time—me... which one do you like better..."
At least she seemed to know she'd done something wrong; she still couldn't lift her head.
I was... a little willing to let it slide.
So answer properly, Rubia!
"You're... not going to answer?"
"Ugh... a-ah... right. Of course I like Noah."
"Th-There's two Noahs...! Which one of them...!"
Rubia's head slowly rose.
She licked her lips and swallowed hard.
Was she wetting her mouth to tell a lie?!
"Not the noob... the Noah who's talking with me right now."
"Really...?"
"Of course."
"...Why?"
I'd asked Rubia whatever I wanted.
And Rubia had given me the answer I wanted.
But why?
I didn't even understand my own thoughts.
But... but I wanted to know.
"W-Where... do you like me...?"
I couldn't even see her face.
Without my greatsword I could barely walk properly.
Cooking, talking, even making coffee—
There wasn't a single thing I was good at. So why did she like me?
"Hmm..."
The moment Rubia's lips parted, I let go of the greatsword.
I was too scared to see her expression.
If I found out it was a lie... it would hurt too much...
Just as my second shaky breath left me, Rubia's hand touched my cheek.
"Even with your eyes closed, the way your eyelids twitch with every emotion is so cute."
"Ugh..."
"Your messy, uncombed hair is cute too."
"Hic..."
"I like how soft your skin is, and the way your little nose wriggles so hard when you don't have your greatsword is adorable."
"Haaah..."
"The way the corners of your mouth tremble when you smile awkwardly, and the inside of your mouth that peeks out just a little when you smile brightly."
"W-What... what are you—"
"Every single strand of your hair, your small thin fingers, your cute toes, your fingernails, your toenails, your sweet scent."
"S-Stop... I get it already... just... stop—"
"The way you promised to protect me for the rest of your life, the way you always stand in front of me and keep moving forward, and yet still lift me up when I fall—that's Noah."
Her voice reached me far too clearly.
The bed swayed.
The hem of Rubia's clothes kept brushing against my knees.
Her scent drew closer.
Without thinking I clenched the hilt of the greatsword again.
In that instant—
"I like you so much."
A smile I had never once seen before appeared.
A smile so radiant that even the word "happiness" felt too small to measure it.
Rubia was smiling like that.
"Uh, ah... uh..."
"So don't say things like that. And don't doubt me either."
"I... underst..."
"Even if everyone in the world came to hate Noah, even if they called you a heretic and cast you out—I will always be on Noah's side."
Rubia spread both arms wide.
"Come here. Let me hold you."
I couldn't.
If I let her hold me... I'd just start hoping for more, imagining more...
"Hurry."
"Ugh...!"
In the end I couldn't resist the temptation and threw myself into Rubia's arms.
And then—
A whole lot of things happened.
Clack—!
"Noah Unni!"
"Hmm? Hepais...?"
I grabbed the greatsword I'd left beside the bed.
"Unni... Unni!!"
The moment Qi Sensing activated, Hepais came flying in and hugged me with all her strength.
"Eek... ow!"
"Huuu... Unni, are you okay? Does anything hurt? Are you all right?"
"Ugh... yeah, I'm fine, so... let go a little..."
"Noah-nim... it's been a while."
While I was still thrashing around in Hepais's arms, Yuria walked over and peeled her off me.
"Rubia-nim looks much better as well."
"I've always been the same, you know..."
"Huuuuwaaah! Unniiiii!"
Hepais, still held by Yuria and bawling her eyes out, started pouring out snot as usual.
Ugh... gross...
"Charlotte wanted to come too, but she said she had a mountain of festival-related work... she said she'd drop by later on her own."
Ah. Right—Charlotte was an imperial princess, so of course she'd be busy.
Her behavior never looked the part, so I kept forgetting she was royalty...
"Heh heh... maybe it's better Charlotte isn't here."
Rubia stood and headed for the table.
"Would you like coffee? Or peppermint, chamomile... I also have strawberry milk."
"I'll take coffee, please."
"Hic... snf... I-I'll have chamomile..."
"Noah wants strawberry milk, right?"
"Yeees."
I nodded and got to my feet.
I smoothed down the hair that had been thoroughly ruffled, straightened my wrinkled clothes with a few firm tugs...
And while I was doing that, Hepais and Yuria started staring at me intently.
Why... why are you looking at me like that?
"Hmm... doesn't Noah Unni look a little shorter?"
"So the height reduction is confirmed after all..."
Huh?
What are you talking about?
I tilted my head and looked at Rubia.
She made an "oh no" face and came over to me.
"Um... Noah, there's something I forgot to tell you."
"Uuuh...?"
"That... Elixir Yuria-nim made, remember?"
"Ah, yes..."
"It had... a side effect..."
"A side effect...?"
Rubia kept turning her head this way and that, unable to meet my eyes, then finally hung her head and spoke.
"Noah's height... got shorter."
"What..."
My already short height got even shorter?
"H-How much...?"
I couldn't feel it at all.
No... wait, could I?
Come to think of it...
When Rubia hugged me earlier... the chest that used to reach around my chin had been pressing right against my face, hadn't it...?
"About... this much...?"
Her vaguely spread fingers settled on top of my head.
"Th-This much...?"
No... wait?
"But why... didn't I notice—ah..."
I hadn't even tried walking properly.
I hadn't swung the greatsword either.
And I hadn't noticed my field of vision getting lower...
I didn't see with my eyes anyway—I felt everything through the images Qi Sensing painted for me...
Of course I wouldn't have noticed...
"Roughly ten percent, you can think of it that way. The parts lost to injury were compensated by taking from other healthy parts... so the height loss was unavoidable..."
Then how much shorter was I...?
My original height had been 145.7 centimeters.
"Noah, the good news is... you still cleared 130—pfft... you still cleared 130... kuh—! Pffft..."
131 centimeters...?
Th-That can't be...
"Ru-Rubia... no... that can't be right... wait... no... nooo..."
The greatsword I'd been dragging around... I couldn't even stand it upright properly anymore.
Before, if I stood on tiptoe and stretched my arms all the way up, I could just barely manage it.
Now... not a chance.
"W-Wha... what is this..."
"Kuhh—! Pffhahahahahahaha!!"
Rubia finally set down the teacup and burst out laughing.
"Ahem... ahem, we'll need to shorten the greatsword a bi—kuh— shorten it a bit..."
Yuria turned her head away, shoulders shaking.
"Yeah, about... huff... fifteen centimeters, kuh—! sh-should do it. I'll finish it as fast as I can, Noah Unni!"
Hepais carefully sidled up beside me and was secretly measuring my height.
Everyone was smiling so happily.
Are you having fun? Are you enjoying this!!
I... felt like the world was collapsing!!
"I-Is there any way to... grow taller again?"
"Hmm... that depends entirely on Noah-nim's own growth, so I can't make any guarantees."
Growth?
Growth...?
"I-I'm a fully grown adult... I'm twenty... so..."
"Then it'll be difficult... huff—!"
"It's okay, Unni. You're c-cute...!"
"That's right, Noah. Um... well... your skirt got longer, so it'll be easier to cover things up."
You're the worst, Rubia.
"F-Forget it... everyone move... I want to be alone—"
The moment I hugged the greatsword and turned away—
A greatsword brimming with insanely powerful energy came swinging down.
At the same time I wrapped myself around Rubia and swung my own greatsword to meet it.
CLAAANG—!
Crimson-black mana exploded outward as if tearing the space itself apart, turning the surroundings into chaos.
"Ohh! You've already grown this strong?!"
And at the center of that chaos—
"Greetings! This body's name is Sirin!"
A little girl just a bit taller than me stood there, greatsword locked against mine.
"I have come to become thy master!"