Cartia (2)
It was freezing.
A dagger of ice had driven straight into my chest.
But don’t worry.
The hand is faster than the eye.
Straight into Rubia’s mouth… one bite of peach jelly.
Swoop—
“Heh… hehe… Rubia…”
Rubia’s head turned quietly toward me.
“I-It’s good, right?”
“I’m not in the mood for games, Noah.”
Rattle—rattle—
“Ugh…”
The lurching carriage felt like it was speaking for my stomach.
After finishing my talk with Charlotte, saying goodbye to Yuria and Hepais, and even giving notice to Ruvije, we left Urusphier at once and set out for Cartia.
Missing the Flame Festival was a shame, but the moment we heard what Sirin’s artifact had to say, staying any longer was impossible.
That Ser was slowly dying under a vicious curse, and that only Rubia could lift it—those were the conclusions.
As for everything else we were curious about, Sirin promised to explain as much as she could, so please just come.
The moment Rubia heard those words, she started packing without a second’s hesitation—partly to help Sirin, but mostly because she insisted she had to help Ser no matter what.
Whether she and Ser had been close, or whether she had some other reason, I still didn’t know.
“Um… how far have we come…?”
“I have no idea either, Noah.”
“R-Right…”
And… Rubia was furious.
From the moment my conversation with Charlotte ended until now—three whole days—she hadn’t said a single word to me.
She smiled and chatted just fine with everyone else, but with me… with me she said nothing.
No—she had said one thing.
That question: What exactly are we to each other?
I… couldn’t answer it.
Not because I didn’t understand what she meant, but because I did.
Becoming that kind of thing with Rubia… I just couldn’t picture it.
Saying I’d never even thought about it would be a lie…
I hesitated, I guess.
If a deep relationship could last forever, of course I’d want it. But when I thought about the end… I was too scared to start.
It might sound strange to already be thinking about the end before we’ve even begun.
But I can’t help it.
Still… staying just friends with Rubia forever was something I hated just as much.
Greed kept growing inside me.
I wanted to be closer.
I wanted to share more things, to trust each other even more deeply.
I wanted every first Rubia ever experienced to be with me alone.
Happiness, sadness, gloom, anger, joy—
I wanted her to feel every single one of them with me.
More than anything else…
Just imagining Rubia smiling with someone who wasn’t me made me want to burst into tears right then and there.
Just like the words I’d once said to her.
Just like the words she’d once said to me.
For the rest of our lives—until one of us died—
I wanted the deepest relationship possible.
It was hard.
So hard it made me want to scream.
I just… wanted to rip my brain out and wring it dry, crack open my chest and pound my heart into submission.
“Haa…”
I couldn’t keep putting off the answer forever.
And I didn’t want to put it off either…
If I just answered lightly, everything would end nicely—but I didn’t want that.
I wanted to answer with my whole heart.
So… I needed a little more time to think.
I let out a shaky breath, stood up, and plopped down right beside Rubia.
Her body flinched, but I didn’t hesitate—I linked my arm through hers.
“Rubia… do you… l-like me?”
“Yes.”
Not a single second of hesitation. A laugh burst out of me before I could stop it.
“Is… that funny to you right now?”
“N-No… it’s not that… I just… I’m happy…”
The corners of Rubia’s tightly set mouth twitched.
A tiny smile no ordinary eyes could ever catch—something only my Qi Sensing, locked completely on her, could feel.
Yeah.
This was the Rubia I liked.
“…Hah. You think I’ll be happy just because you say that? You’re going to dodge it again like always—”
“I like you too, Rubia.”
“Huh…?”
Her smile vanished.
In its place came a flood of fluster and hope.
“‘Like’ isn’t enough. This is… a much deeper feeling.”
My face burned.
It felt like every scrap of heat in my body had rushed straight to my cheeks.
Like hot steam was pouring out of my ears…
I was so embarrassed, so mortified by how I must look, that I threw both arms around her and buried my face against her.
“But… I need time to think.”
“What? What do you mean—”
“It’s not in a bad way. Definitely in a g-good direction… I want to be even closer to you too. I want to do more things together… and I want you to look only… only at me.”
Rubia’s body started trembling hard.
No… was that my body shaking?
I couldn’t tell…
“I want every first of yours… to be with me.”
I lifted my head a little and gave her a shy smile.
“And I want every first of mine… to be with you too.”
I slid the arms that had been around her waist up to cup her face.
“So… just wait a little. Just a tiny bit. I promise… I’ll give you an answer you’ll like.”
Then I pulled her closer.
“Okay…?”
And pressed my lips to her cheek.
“Oh my god…”
Thump—thump—thump—thump—
It felt like my heart was beating inside my skull.
No—like it was pounding through my entire body.
The breath I exhaled was scorching.
I was shaking. Dizzy.
Embarrassed. Embarrassed. So embarrassingly embarrassed.
I ducked my head again and fled into Rubia’s arms.
Her chest made the position pretty awkward, but… at least it hid my face, so that was fine.
“W-Will you wait for me…?”
“…Absolutely.”
“Heh… hehe… th-thank you.”
“But I have a condition.”
“A condition…?”
Rubia’s hand lifted my chin.
“Do that again. On my lips this time.”
“Wha…?”
“If you don’t, I won’t wait.”
“Th-That’s mean!”
“Do you even know who’s being mean right now?”
“Ugh… f-fine…”
I raised the hands that had been around her waist and cupped her face again.
If I held the greatsword I could do this more easily, but…
If I saw her expression right now… my face really would explode, so I gave up on that idea.
“Ugh… haa…”
I felt around with my thumbs until I found her lips, then slowly pulled her in.
And… I completely missed.
“Pfft— Noah… what are you doing?”
“Eh… uh… th-this isn’t…”
“I asked you to kiss my lips, not bump noses with me.”
Yeah… our noses had crashed together and our lips never met…
I froze in pure panic, still holding that exact pose, until Rubia’s hands covered mine.
“If that was an act just now, you’re a genius at seducing people.”
“It wasn’t an act! I-I’ve just… never done this before… so I d-didn’t know…”
“That’s… genius in a whole different way.”
“Wha…? No, that’s not fair— mmph…”
Along with the words, “You tilt your face a little for a kiss,”
soft, warm lips that still tasted of peach pressed against mine.
The texture, the feeling…
It was so similar to the jelly I’d been eating that I let my tongue slip out and licked her lips.
Deeper.
Brushing past hard teeth.
To the peach-scented gums and the sweet underside of her lips.
At the same moment Rubia jerked violently and shoved me away.
“W-What… what… wh-what… what are you doing?!”
Hearing Rubia stutter even worse than me was so funny that I licked the lingering sensation on my own lips and burst into giggles.
“It’s delicious… hehe.”
Two days after I finally told Rubia what was in my heart,
we arrived at Cartia—the final destination of the named request.
Just because the request was over didn’t mean Rubia and I would part ways, but still… I felt strangely restless.
“Hah! We’re finally here.”
Rubia opened the carriage door, which was thick with the scent of peaches, and spoke in a voice that had become thoroughly cheerful.
“…Y-Yeah…”
I, on the other hand, was completely… completely exhausted.
I picked up the greatsword that had been rolling on the floor, straightened my clothes, and climbed down from the carriage.
The first thing that painted itself in my senses was the long line of people waiting to be inspected before entering Cartia.
Next came the walls—easily as massive as Urusphier’s.
No… maybe even bigger…
Wait, but hadn’t they said Cartia was a village?
“W-Wow, it’s huge…? Wasn’t it supposed to be a village…?”
“Hehe… a little big for a village, isn’t it?”
“I-It’s bigger than Urusphier…”
“That whole city isn’t Cartia. The small piece of land right in the center that no one can just walk into—that’s Cartia.”
What on earth was she talking about…?
“The land… is Cartia? Not a village…? Huh?”
“It’s also called the Cartia Sanctuary. It has nothing to do with Erden, but people still call it a holy land.”
“Th-That’s too confusing. Um… so… wait, then what’s this city’s name?”
“Cartia. Hehehe.”
I tilted my head at an explanation that still made zero sense no matter how I turned it over. Rubia stroked the head of the annoying horse that had pulled our carriage and continued.
“Well, the name Cartia actually comes from a Savior who was active during the Chaos Era. Her real name was ‘Cartia Frey.’ But back then people apparently couldn’t pronounce it properly, so nowadays everyone just calls her Cartia.”
“The Chaos Era…? A Savior?”
“Yes. I don’t believe it myself, but they say that era was full of dragons and all sorts of fantasy races. There were lots of spirits that have hidden themselves now, and even a Spirit King. Fairy-tale stuff, really.”
Dragons… they still hadn’t been revealed in this time period, but they definitely existed.
The sealed ancient dragon, Sirinias.
And the Spirit King existed too.
“Setting all that aside, there’s one legend I think you’ll find interesting, Noah.”
“A legend? Wh-What is it…?”
“They say the sword that the Savior Cartia Frey used is hidden somewhere in Cartia.”
“O-Ohhh… but you know I… I can’t use anything but a greatsword…”
Rubia stopped stroking the horse, spun around, and looked straight at me.
“Cartia Frey used a greatsword. A very heavy, very thick one—just like yours.”
“Hah…”
This… this never showed up in the game at all.
Or maybe… it was because I never paid attention to the story?
No… I’d memorized everything related to greatswords.
“Well? Sirin is supposed to meet us in about two days. Want to look around a little in the meantime?”
“S-Sure! Ah… um, but didn’t you say no one can just walk into Cartia…? Y-You’re not planning to sneak in, are you…? We can’t do that…”
Rubia walked over with a little snort of laughter and held out her hand.
“Noah, who am I again?”
“Th-The Priestess…”
“That’s right.”
Then, before I could even take it, she snatched my hand and smiled in the most mischievous way possible.
“Who would dare stop me?”