Can Aso Laugh?

When I finally arrived at the Sanctuary, what I was met with was something rather frightening.

"Seo Jju!!"

It was the fact that she had been the one to pin the nickname 'Seo Jju' on me, yet still went about her days alive and well.

"Clara, call me Seojun."

"Eeeep."

Cute and endearing, no? Though I would have to agree with that remark about wanting to smack her.

But why on earth would I ever do such a thing! Why, in all the world! I could sooner die than stoop to such antics, so kindly keep those wild delusions to yourself. Please.

In any case, Clara was a lovely child.

Her face was more pretty than cute; her mannerisms were adorably clumsy, her bearing a little scatterbrained — and yet, through it all, her earnest efforts shone through.

She was the sort of child one found impossible to dislike. As a person, that is. And if she were to be seen as a woman — how could anyone regard a child as such?

Were I to view that child as a woman, I imagine the viewers would have flooded me with chat like this:

Fortunately, however, I am not that kind of man.

Even a straw sandal has its matching pair. I had once thought that if the gap between two such sandals was too great, how could anyone be expected to wear them...

Or so I had thought, at one time. That, too, is now a thing of the past.

Someone once said this to me: that when a pair of straw sandals differ in size, it is Heaven's way of telling you to share one of them with another.

Hearing that, I felt I might need to reconsider my thinking a little.

But looking back on it now, I come to a different understanding. My own body was smaller than that of an ordinary woman — perhaps that was why she said such a thing in the first place.

"Well then. She's still a child after all."

She was, by nature, at an age when a child ought to be running about, whimsical and carefree.

Which was precisely how the outlandish nickname 'Seo Jju' came to be — but what can one do about it?

"With a child, one need only smile, and all is well."

"Um... Seojun, Clara is not a child."

"Not a child, you say?"

Granted, her face carried a fair measure of a young woman's grace — but look at her manner, her height, everything else. Was she not, unmistakably, a child?

"Clara turned twenty-three this year."

"Impossible...! What manner of statement is this — that Aso is a genius!"

"Aso...? Clara's small frame is because she received divine power far too great for her age, so in truth she isn't that young at all."

"Touching what is young is not something a person ought to do..."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing at all."

"Hmm, well. It has already settled in as 'Seo Jju'; I can hardly force her to change it now."

"Then I can keep calling you Seo Jju?!"

"As you please."

"Phew... I'm sorry."

One of them was losing her mind, and the other was apologizing on her behalf. Truly a sight.

Seeing her apologize in Aso's place like that, they clearly weren't on ordinary terms.

It was a question I had carried ever since the Behemoth's assault.

"So what exactly is the relationship between you two? It seems hardly an ordinary one."

First, that deep golden hair and those blue eyes.

I had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heard that in the Western lands, blonde hair and blue eyes were the mark of noble bloodlines.

And hers were exceptionally deep in color — she had to be a high-ranking noble.

Sila had already been revealed to be an imperial princess. Surely Clara, too, had something of the sort about her.

"Clara is the daughter of my father's younger brother."

"Now that you mention it, you do look a great deal alike."

"Hehe..."

"Then go and rest for now. You must be very tired."

"But I've rested plenty!"

"The others must be tired."

Young she may be, but a child must not behave without sense.

Not that Clara struck me as the kind of child who lacked such discernment, mind you.

"I need to rest as well, so off you go."

"Okay..."

As I watched Clara turn away with a reluctant air, heading off somewhere across the corridor, Princess Sila spoke to me.

"What are your plans from here?"

Plans... What plans would I have?

"I must make for the old grounds of Amsia."

It was the fulfillment of a promise I had made of my own will — I had vowed to take the Queen back to that homeland of hers.

"Once this place is settled, I intend to depart with the Queen."

And it would not take all that long. With the Skip function left on, it would be over in no time.

On the way back, the blizzard had all but ceased; all that remained now was to wait for the deep snows to melt.

Whether mending this ruined land was even possible depended entirely on what course the Abyss would take — and there was no time to spare for waiting besides.

"And so, I shall leave."

Toward the Abyss.

At this point, I think I finally understand why this game — this world — was named In the Abyss.

"Into the Abyss itself."

"...I pray that the gods' favor will attend your path forward."

"I will return one day. Worry not — now go in and rest."

Even if the spirit is wearied, the body knows its own needs, after all.

I logged out of the game and returned to the Profile House.

Having gazed upon nothing but blizzards and snow-buried vistas, stepping into this place scattered with lush greenery felt wonderfully refreshing.

"That will be all for today."

"I suppose I should have some chicken tomorrow."

"Picking bones clean is simply too much bother."

"Now, now. Tastes differ from person to person, do they not?"

"My tastes, you say... Are you asking after my ideal type?"

"I favor mature women."

And I did not speak of the body alone. The spirit, too, must be mature.

By that measure, Clara fit nowhere at all, did she not?

Yet I held Clara dear for one reason only — because she was, quite purely, adorable.

"I hear there are those in this world who claim that 'cute' is the ultimate truth."

"What on earth is the matter with you all?"

What an inscrutable lot. I hadn't the faintest idea what they were trying to say.

But then, among the chatter, I caught sight of a comment I could not afford to ignore.

"Took what, exactly?"

"Whatever could you people be talking about?"

So that's what they meant.

It was the very moment I read that comment.

"Aso is calling... I suppose I should take it."

"Teach!! Wasn't that going a bit too far...?!"

"Hmm... It simply slipped out without my thinking, you see."

"No, even if someone looks young, they could still be an adult! But saying that I'M a genius, of all things...!"

"Hm-m..."

I had nothing to say, it seemed.

"My apologies, then."

"Also — why are we on 'Teach' terms?"

"Is there some problem with 'Teach'?"

Asking to call me by my name — what manner of outlandish request was that supposed to be?

"Aso. What am I to you?"

"Yes, yes? Yes? Um, my Teach?"

"Right. For now, 'Teach'..."

No wonder, having gone and coined such a peculiar nickname.

"Am I not something like your master?"

"Yes, that's right."

"And where in all the world is there such an unfilial wretch who calls her master by his given name!"

"Urk..."

My voice had apparently come out rather loud. But then, one must be able to endure such things.

"Princess Sila is, plainly, another person entirely. But you are not, are you?"

And thus, out of nowhere, my competitive spirit had chosen the strangest of battlegrounds.

"I have only one disciple. But I have only one 'disciple-like thing' as well."

Of the two, each is the only one of its kind.

"You may well take pride in that."

From now on, 'disciple-like creature' would be the better term. That Aso — she was born to be teased, wasn't she?

Hm. Or was that, in fact, the very essence of Aso?