Noah arrived in front of the hospital room where she was admitted after walking along the corridor.
She checked once more to see if she had brought the right object.
Rustle.
What was in the basket was all snacks or drinks with pictures of fruit on them, that probably contained 1% fruit juice, but there was nothing else she could do.
She never expected that even the control equipment would be that expensive.
Because of that, she found herself in a poor state, and aside from the money coming in from selling the mask, she was in a situation where she had to get the rest from somewhere else…
However, not wanting to go empty-handed, she had no choice but to choose a gift set of snacks worth 36,200 won in total.
At that moment.
Bang!
A man with an incredibly cold demeanor slammed the door shut on her with sharp eyes.
“Yikes.”
He glanced at her for a moment and then looked disdainfully at the snack set in her hand before trudging off down the hallway.
‘That person must be…’
The faint smell of blue hair she saw from behind.
It had a scent reminiscent of the sea, similar to what she occasionally sensed from Noah, but somehow heavier and more profound.
After a while of recalling that smell and color, she finally remembered its source.
‘…The head of the Arka clan.’
The head of the clan Noah belonged to.
Most people from that clan were known to be ruthless and harsh.
Most clans or groups did not want to offend them lightly.
They had produced numerous heroes and participated in various major incidents, but because they were so rough, just slightly insulting them could lead to a rapid decline in wealth or honor.
Descendants of the sea who only dreamt of the revival of their clan.
Among them, the current head of the Arka clan, that is, Noah’s father… was particularly strict and known to be quite severe.
“That’s right, so…”
The head of the clan had spent nights with many women from various clans, and one of the children born among them was Noah.
And the fact that such a person came out from here meant.
‘No matter how I think about it, it’s not a good situation.’
Thinking this, she opened the door and entered, finding Noah as downcast as she expected.
“Senpai!”
She placed the snacks she had brought on the table next to her.
Then she slowly looked at her feelings.
“These are visiting snacks!”
“What is this…?”
Seeing Noah’s confused expression regarding the fruit she had just handed over, she cautiously brought up the previous conversation about the clan head.
“Ah, the fruit from the grocery store is really expensive these days, right? So I brought these snacks with pictures of fruit! Nowadays, even drinks labeled as ‘fruit flavor’ have only 1% fruit juice.”
“Ah…”
“By the way, a really unfriendly-looking person just passed by. Was something going on?”
Then Noah smiled as if nothing were amiss.
“No, it’s nothing.”
Though in reality, it seemed quite the opposite.
But since she said so, there was nothing more for her to say, so she buried her nose into the blanket she was covering.
If she had been a man as per her original gender, it would have been considered perverted behavior, but now she was in the body of a clear girl.
This was definitely a natural privilege that could be afforded due to being of the same gender and in a close relationship.
Rustle.
The smell of the blanket was a light sea scent mixed with that of old trees.
It was the same scent that came from her body, not the blanket itself.
Whether it was due to drinking that had heightened her sensitivity, at least for now, her nose was accurate enough to distinguish this.
The scent was much lighter than that of the clan head earlier but still favored her taste.
‘Indeed, she is my favorite character.’
This was already enough of a reason for her to stubbornly stick to her until the end in countless routes.
Of course, if she were to bring this up in front of her, it would drastically decrease her favorability, so she refrained from mentioning such things, akin to a psychotic person babbling about characters.
“Umm, it’s nice!”
“Eh… Aesha?”
Moreover, being this close was also to ensure that she wouldn’t carelessly spill the beans about the time she toppled the old man.
“Ah, by the way, about the time you saved me…”
“……”
Yeah, just like now.
Though others might not grasp the context at all and might not be able to tell, if she were to elaborate further, it would reveal that she had hit the old man.
There might be some reward for her, but… this time, it was overwhelmingly dangerous.
Whether the doomsayer had noticed her identity was uncertain, but judging by the bishop’s reaction at that time, it was highly likely that he hadn’t.
In that case, she had to use them further without her identity being discovered.
Setting aside the selling of masks, if it became known that she had caught the bishop, it would be realized that the hypnosis had been undone.
“I would prefer not to talk about that too much.”
“Ah… okay.”
Fortunately, Noah was much smarter than she had thought and nodded.
“By the way, is your family okay? It was a really big incident this time.”
“Ah, yeah. That’s right.”
Noah always feared bringing up stories about her father.
For her, the clan head was an existence that one could not speak of carelessly, even beyond its severity.
However, this only applied to her father.
Though it had just crossed her mind, discussions about Noah’s mother had always been a topic she could discuss naturally.
In the game, selecting options related to that would raise her affection points, albeit slightly.
“In fact, my mother has passed away.”
“Ah… I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
However, unfortunately, that was a lie.
There was no way she wouldn’t know that her mother had already died.
“What kind of person was she?”
Yet, despite that, she continued to converse.
The girl was showing that she wanted to have more conversation with a relaxed smile.
“Do you know the Nazarene clan?”
“Oh, of course!”
The Nazarene clan.
It wasn’t a particularly large clan, but it was quite famous regarding wood processing and plant growth, as well as the properties of lumber.
They had produced a majority of botanists, and it was the clan from which Noah’s mother had come.
The name was definitely Nazarene Ariel.
“My mother is from that clan. When I was little… she used to make a lot of wooden ducks for me.”
“Did she carve them herself?”
“No, it felt more like they came out from the plants as if they were fruits.”
“Ooh… that’s amazing!”
Wooden ducks that sprout from trees, indeed.
“Can you also make them?”
“I can grow plants quite well, but, how should I put it… I can’t do it like my mother.”
“That’s a shame. Wait. Can you perhaps do it with grapes…?”
If she could assist in plant growth… could she possibly do it with grapes?
Why hadn’t she thought of this before?
If that’s the case, she could directly make wine…!
Moreover, knowing some land that takes a bit longer but is otherwise useless, maybe she could produce her own alcohol!
“No, that won’t work.”
“Ah.”
“Could you not reveal your pure intentions so openly about what you want to use it for? It may be fine outside the Academy, but inside, I would feel guilty.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“……”
She felt like she had been caught on something important, and her heart was pricked.
Diverting her gaze as she felt her expression was somewhat incredulous, she changed the subject.
“But, Noah, your surname is Ariel, right?”
“Oh, I forgot to mention that. My father is from the Arka clan, and my mother is from the Nazarene clan, so I was born from their marriage.”
“Ah…”
Though she spoke as if she was just informing her now, she had already known about it.
“But neither of them is related to the surname Ariel.”
“My mother has always been a better person than my father. I just forced that name to be my surname after her.”
“Is that allowed?”
“Well, I guess I might have been left alone since I’m not particularly important to the clan?”
Indeed, without adhering to any existing clan’s family name, Noah used her mother’s name to create her own surname.
This was why her name was ‘Ariel Noah,’ not Nazarene or Arka.
“Don’t you regret it?”
“It’s just a name, after all. I can always change it if I want…”
“Is it possible to change it?”
“I don’t actually plan to. Probably won’t think about it in the future either.”
After calmly discussing this topic with her, she opened one of the snacks she had brought.
“Do you want to eat together?”
“You’re already stating the conclusion before we even get there, aren’t you?”
“It’s impolite not to share food!”
“Okay, I’ll eat.”
Having eaten countless chocolates recently, the taste of the newly tried fruit candy was quite nice.
‘Maybe next time, I’ll try putting alcohol in candy.’
Slowly melting candy releasing the taste of alcohol might not be bad.
“Well, I should get going now.”
“Are you really leaving after just opening one snack?”
“I have things to do. You still have some injuries yet to heal… and there are other people here too.”
“Ah, that’s true.”
Since this wasn’t a space solely for them, continuing to talk freely would disturb the rest of the patients.
Even if she had caught the bishop and guaranteed their safety.
As she turned to leave the hospital room, she spotted a man sleeping with his head on the pillow in the adjacent bed to Noah’s.
By the looks of it, seeming to have lost one arm, he was certainly that guard whose arm had been cut off back then.
‘But where have I seen him before?’
He reminded her of a character she had seen somewhere in the game prior to that incident.
But she couldn’t recall where exactly.
‘…Well, he probably wasn’t an important character.’
There hadn’t been any one-armed characters among the main ones she remembered, to begin with.
Thinking this, she moved towards her next destination.
