Tap-tap-tap
[Huh…? If you’re the first challenger—]
“Shall we just wrap it up for today and talk more next time? I have my next schedule as well. You can take this communication crystal, Rubia. Sirin has a lot of spares. Well then, let’s chat again later. I had fun today. See you next time, Noah.”
[Ah… Yes. Thank you for your help, Hermila.]
[Th-thank you…!]
“Yes, we are grateful as well. Please rest well and have a happy time.”
Click—
With a gentle smile, Hermila finished speaking, turned off the crystal, and sank into her chair.
Hoo…
“It seems like we’ve gotten quite close.”
“Right, Yuria?”
“Yes. When I was with you, it wasn’t this much… That… kiss… Ahem. You seem to have become quite bold.”
Embarrassed, Yuria turned her gaze away and sat across from Hermila.
“Speaking of which, aren’t you also waiting for Hephaestus to become an adult? Quite the thief, I must say. Didn’t you say you were like a parent last time?”
“…Ahem.”
“Heh, it’s quite something, isn’t it? There wasn’t a future like this anywhere.”
“If that’s the case…”
“Yes. The reason Hephaestus was taken in was because of her grace. It was necessary to create the Elixir. And…”
Rustle—
Hermila trailed off and opened a worn book on the table.
“At this juncture, Hephaestus should have died.”
Yuria’s face twisted.
“Lucie has died, and Hephaestus has survived. Heinzel’s arms have been severed, and Yuria’s legs have not been.”
Thud— Hermila closed the old book and shut her eyes.
“Thanks to that, the balance of the world has collapsed, and thanks to that, the Elixir has been completed.”
She then resumed tapping on the desk, tap-tap-tap.
“I have no idea what kind of ripple this will create, but we can’t just worry about it.”
“What content has been added to the Revelation?”
“Red Moon. The one who leads the lost past. The best and the worst. Choices. I interpreted it as much as I could, but this is about the limit. I have no idea what it means…”
“Damn those bastards. Would it hurt them to write it plainly? Don’t you think? Such unnecessary bravado.”
The burly man next to them, who was eating a sandwich, scratched his head.
“That’s right. By the way, have you finished preparing, Alex?”
“Uh, more or less.”
“Alright. And, Yuria. Have the others arrived in Ursphere?”
“Yes. I received a message from Jur.”
“Good. Then let’s get ready. Yuria, could you hold onto this for me?”
Yuria stood up, putting the book Hermila handed her into her pocket dimension.
“How many are there?”
Tap-tap-tap
“Ninety-three.”
“Hey, weedy! What’s that when you divide it by three?”
Alex, shouldering a massive hammer, smirked at Yuria.
“…Thirty-one. And if you call me weedy again, I’ll grow weeds out of your mouth.”
Tap—
“Yeah, flower.”
Tap—
“Look forward to it. Starting tonight, pretty flowers will bloom from that trashy mouth of yours.”
Thud—!
Hermila stopped her fingers, got up, and opened her eyes.
“We’ve arrived. Let’s tidy up quickly and head out, too.”
“Where’s the destination?”
Her eyes, bathed in brilliant colors, looked to the place where Cartia lay.
“Cartia.”
Towards the Cartia where Noah and Rubia were.
Soon, the door opened.
Ninety-three experiment bodies.
Incomplete masters poured in.
*
The communication crystal turned off, and Rubia’s deep sigh filled the room.
“The first challenger…”
But.
What is a challenger…?
Why does everyone know but me…?
“Rubia… what is the first challenger…?”
“Oh, right. Noah hasn’t heard anything about this. Well… to start with the challengers, I suppose we should talk about Erden.”
“Er, Erden…”
“On the surface, it looks like a very sacred order, and it’s known to be the group I lead, right?”
“Yeeah.”
“But the reality is… as Sirin just said, it’s a group of very bad people…”
“Very bad people…”
“Yes. That’s about all you need to know, just that it’s a group of very bad people. The details are too shocking, and you shouldn’t know them, Noah.”
“But… I’m an adult…”
Rubia squeezed my squishy thigh and licked her lips.
“Being an adult and this is a separate matter. Anyway, Erden is that kind of place. Always be careful. Extra careful. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Next, we’ll talk about the concept of termination and the sun god, Lilith.”
“Termination…!”
I know termination too.
It was the final boss of the story until that point.
“Yes. Termination. You might have heard of it. When the balance of the world collapses, and Paradise descends, it leads fire to burn the world and brings darkness to return everything to the beginning… that existence.”
Hmm… I don’t know such fancy words.
“And the only ones who can stop that existence are shamans.”
The hand that was rubbing my thigh.
The hand wrapping around my waist goes cold.
“For now… from my personal interpretation, it seems like a seal. The seal of Termination. That seal is the shaman.”
A slight tremor in her voice.
The wild heartbeat transmitted from her back.
“When termination descends and I vow to sacrifice, I thought—perhaps the sun goddess, Lilith, might inhabit my body… heh.”
Self-mocking laughter and a despondent sigh.
I released Rubia’s hand and turned to wrap my arms around her neck.
“…It’s okay.”
“Yes. You said you’d protect me for life.”
“Uh-huh… that’s right. So… don’t worry too much.”
Peck—
“Oh? Are you kissing me to reassure me? Didn’t you say to do that in a private room when we were alone?”
“…W-well… um…”
Sirin giggled, burying my face in her chest.
*Hoo… Okay, anyway, that’s how it is. Next is the story about the Master.”
“Ugh!”
I wanted to say “Master!”
But I couldn’t speak properly since my face was buried in her chest…
“Yes. Not the strange masters we’ve met, but the real masters like Kalt.”
After my breathing settled, Rubia carefully released me and continued.
But how did she understand so well?
How did she get it?
“Well… to put it simply, there are a total of ten masters in the world, right?”
“Yeeah.”
“Take Sirin out of that, and you can think of all the others as being on Erden’s side.”
“…Gasp.”
“Nine… um, Kalt is dead, and the second master lost power sealing Tyrant, and the first master is missing, so… there are six left.”
“Uh… that’s a lot, isn’t it…?”
Kalt was said to be the weakest among masters, just difficult to deal with.
…If they’re stronger than him…
“But well… according to Sirin, none of them are a match for her. It would be fine to take them one by one instead of rushing in all at once. She would say, it’s rude to rely too much on her, but since she couldn’t catch the Monster of the Termination, she should at least help with this.”
“Huh?”
Rubia’s eyes widened as she covered her mouth with her hands.
“Could it be she just left…?”
“Uh…”
Before Sirin left, she definitely said…
That she would take responsibility, that she would make it easier for me to move…
Creak—
“She probably has already left.”
The sudden voice of Ser echoed from the slightly opened door.
Tap-tap—
“I’ve been looking into the locations of the masters for a while now. It seems like you planned this from the beginning. Truly a cheeky little monkey.”
Tsk— Ser clicked his tongue, offering two coffee cups as he sat down.
“Drink up. Noah, you have strawberry milk, and Rubia, you have coffee.”
“Th-thank you…”
“…Yes, thank you. By the way, do you know where Sirin is headed, Ser?”
“I don’t know. That’s what bothers me more. But you don’t need to worry. She should easily beat a master or two and come back… But I didn’t think she would act this decisively. What a prideful brat.”
“Gasp… S-so eloquent…”
Watching Ser, I set down the great sword leaning next to me and took a sip of the strawberry milk.
Slurp-
Hah…!
At just the right warm temperature…
Slurp-
“That aside, do you like strawberry milk, Noah?”
Gulp— “Mhm… yes, I like it…”
While Ser was licking his lips looking at me, he tilted his head.
“Hmm… did you say you were an adult?”
“Y-yeah…?”
“Then no matter how much you drink, you won’t grow.”
Puff—!
Rubia, who was tilting her coffee cup next to me, shuddered and struggled to hold back her laughter.
“What’s wrong?”
“Boobs.”
“…Eh.”
Clink— As Ser elegantly lifted his coffee cup.
He slightly lifted his chest and spoke.
“Rather, I think the small ones Noah has right now are cute and fitting. So even if they could grow, they shouldn’t.”
“W-what…?”
Ser’s sudden and completely unexpected comments wiped my mind clean.
“Well, that’s how it is. So you should be satisfied with what you have, Noah. There’s nothing good about chasing something that can’t be reached. Right, Rubia?”
“Um… Haha… Hmm, yes, that’s right. Just think of it as always being sore in the shoulders, and when you eat, it spills down to your chest, and if you sit too close to a high desk, the desk gets in the way. Finding the right underwear is quite hard…”
…Her sincerity is palpable.
Does she really think it’s uncomfortable?
“Uh… is that so…?”
“Yes. Rubia’s words are correct. When you look down like this, you can’t see your shoes, and when you wear clothes or a robe, you look quite fat. Such downsides exist. Besides, you swing a great sword, don’t you? It must be even more inconvenient.”
“Oh wow… it really sounds uncomfortable…”
“So don’t pursue what is totally useless and unreachable, Noah. Be satisfied with what you have now.”
“Can’t reach…? Uh-huh…”
All of that is right.
There isn’t anything wrong.
So why do I feel… weirdly upset?
“Why does your expression look like that? Are you wanting to grow after all? Even if it won’t help at all? Don’t you always hear from Sirin, ‘The body of the chosen is the strongest body in the world!’?”
Ser suddenly raised his voice, mimicking Sirin.
But his face stayed the same, which was quite creepy…
“Oh my, you just sounded exactly like Sirin.”
“Heh, thanks. I used the power of the wind spirit to change my voice, seems like it worked well. After all, I’m a genius.”
Then, as he set down the coffee cup with a clink—, he looked back and forth at us.
“I thought the atmosphere was too stiff, so I mixed in a bit of a joke. Are you feeling better now?”
“Oh, yes. Heh heh… you always do that when making silly jokes, don’t you, Ser.”
“I’m not being silly. At least it was beneficial for you, Noah.”
“…L-let’s stop…”
“Heh, understood. May I move on to the main topic?”
I pouted and sipped my strawberry milk.
Rubia nodded her head.
“Then, Cartia, are you listening? I would like to have a conversation.”
[…Uh, I’m listening.]
With Ser’s words, Cartia, who had been absent for a while, shimmered into view.
As Ser looked back and forth at my great sword and Cartia, he cautiously spoke.
“What is the relationship between Cartia and Carpen?”
“Uh…? Ca-Cartia and Carpen… Huh…?”
[Huh, this is why I hate quick-witted little bastards. Tsk.]
Scratching his head, Ser looked at Cartia sitting on the table and spoke in a serious voice.
“Are the two of you lovers?”
