“I showed a disgraceful scene. I apologize.”
Unlike a moment ago, Ser, who had collected their emotions, slumped into their seat and bowed their head.
Then, they summoned a small Water Spirit above their bleeding hand.
“I may not be the one to say this, considering how excited I was just earlier, but Sirin should be fine. So, I think it’s best for us to do what we can.”
Ser’s words were clear to us, but it seemed they were not aimed at us, but rather at themselves.
“Again, I apologize.”
As Ser bowed their head once more, they tightly held onto the spirit in their hand – squish!
“Wait. I-I’ll do it.”
Seeing that, Rubia hastily snatched Ser’s hand.
“Is it really necessary to go through all this bother? Just like this—”
Gaaahh!
“No! I said! I’ll do it! Can you just let me talk!!”
“Understood.”
Ser watched Rubia pour her Divine Power in shock and snickered – chuckle.
“It seems Lady Rubia has quite the fondness for cute things.”
“I don’t like cute things; I’m just worried that Hermila will be shocked by that crazy thing you’re doing.”
“Is bursting one spirit really that shocking?”
“Are you insane?”
Rubia glared at Ser with a look of disdain. Receiving that gaze, Ser stared blankly at Rubia and then shook their head.
“Hmm, it’s similar, but a bit different. If you want to mimic me, you should lower your tone a little. Also, drop the endings a bit. Now, try to repeat after me. Are you insane?”
“I’m not mimicking you; this is—”
Snicker…
Hermila, who had been watching the exchange between Rubia and Ser, stifled a laugh as her shoulders shook.
“Hermila, Lady Rubia’s actions are not something to ridicule. It is only natural for an intelligent being to want to resemble someone as exceptional as me. Thus, Lady Rubia, do not feel embarrassed by this. This Ser understands well.”
“Enough with the nonsense… Hah… No, forget it. I feel like I’m losing my mind, so just stop talking.”
After hastily finishing her healing work, Rubia sighed and pulled me into a hug.
“Hah… Noah shouldn’t learn things like that. Got it?”
“Yes, yes…”
“A little learning is fine. Becoming a shameless human makes life easier.”
“That’s not shameless; that’s insane.”
“Geniuses are usually a bit insane. Well, that’s just from a common person’s perspective; it’s not craziness, it’s excellence. Anyway. Now that I feel the mood has lightened a bit, let me ask again. Hermila, is everything you’ve said so far the truth?”
Hermila, sipping on the now cold coffee, nodded.
“Yes. There are no lies.”
“Even if there are no lies, it sounds like there are things being hidden. Please tell me everything. Aren’t you afraid of the Mage Tower Master’s wrath?”
Ser’s tightly clenched fist rose defiantly.
“Don’t you dislike being called Mage Tower Master?”
“I do.”
“But you refer to yourself as Mage Tower Master now.”
“From now on, I must become the Mage Tower Master Ser, not just an ordinary Ser.”
“I’ve felt this since a while ago; you’re quite… peculiar. Anyway, there are no lies. The hidden matters relate to after Rubia was kidnapped, so I don’t think it’s necessary to talk about them.”
“Hm, is that so?”
As Ser relaxed their fist and crossed their arms, they nodded.
In that moment, an indescribable and thick killing intent enveloped the area.
“Hermila.”
As the space around Ser twisted, shattered, and contorted.
“Do you see me as a joke?”
Step… Step…
A slender spirit in the form of a woman walked out.
“Oh my… a high-ranking spirit. I’ve never seen one in person before… You seem quite angry.”
Simultaneously, Hermila’s expression vanished, and a brutal aura began to ooze from her body.
“I don’t want to kill you, who is a friend of Sirin. So please, speak truthfully.”
“Sometimes, ignorance can be a blessing.”
The wild energy emanating from Hermila instantly compressed and absorbed into her body as she stood up.
“And sometimes, you must pretend not to know when you do.”
Hermila’s fist tightened.
“The arrogant and unparalleled Mage Tower Master cannot become someone’s puppet. Even if it were to happen, only Sirin can do that.”
Countless spirits covered the sky.
“How presumptuous.”
Hermila’s figure began to fade.
“I have that right.”
From the hands of the high-ranking spirit, a catastrophic force began to unfold.
And—
*
With the power of Reverse Heaven contained in her fist, a warm sensation was added.
“H-Hermila!”
I reflexively lowered my gaze to the persistent sensation on my fist.
There, standing on tiptoe, was Noah, snugly gripping my fist with her tiny palm.
“U-Um… I… I was… uh… What was I going to say?”
“Noah?”
“Noah! What the…!”
“Noah, what are you doing?”
“Ugh…”
Noah, who had been fidgeting while holding my hand, suddenly trembled, as if all eyes were on her.
Yet, she did not let go of my hand, vigorously shaking her head and shouting.
“W-Wait, Rubia! H-Hermila and I have… something to talk about!”
“What do you mean—”
“P-Please believe me!”
Then, as Rubia’s footsteps drew closer, they halted.
The spirits that had once filled the sky disappeared.
Yet the Divine Power enveloping Noah remained, and the high-ranking spirit, reeking of thick blood, was still reaching towards me.
In this suffocating situation, where even breathing felt difficult due to the killing intent,
Why was Noah in front of me smiling so broadly?
“Noah? Suddenly… could you explain why you’re acting like this?”
“H-Hermila! We are friends, right…?”
“…Friends?”
“Yes… friends. You said before that you would be my first friend…”
Noah, trailing off, scrunched up her face and trembled.
“Ugh… D-Did you lie about that?!”
“…Uh, no. That’s… not it…”
“Not a lie, right…?”
“…Yes.”
“R-Right? Hehe… That’s right, we are friends.”
With just one word of denial, Noah started smiling again.
“Um… Since we’re friends… I’ll believe you.”
She even took her hand off the Great Sword’s hilt and placed it on my fist.
“Rubia said… that there should be no secrets between friends.”
As she pulled my hand down with both hands.
“And Hermila and I, we are friends…”
Looking straight at me with her eyes wide open.
“What does that mean…?”
In an instant, my words escaped me.
The clarity in her gaze was so bright.
Showing a deep trust in me.
Reflecting my dirty past back at me.
“Uh…”
“Hmm… Let me tell you. We… should have no secrets.”
After finishing her words and attentively listening for my reaction, Noah nervously opened her mouth again.
“So… uh… Uh… Would you like me to share my secret first, since Hermila might feel embarrassed…?”
Noah, having completely removed her hands from mine, pointed at her own eyes and giggled.
“I… can’t see anything if I don’t hold the Great Sword. Oh, wait? It’s not that I can’t see… um, I don’t feel the vibe or anything.”
And then, for a moment.
Tilting her head, she suddenly turned away.
“Eek… I was supposed to tell Ser, too…! Ser is… a friend, too…! It’s not that I was hiding it. Um… I just lost the timing. Really…”
Seeing Noah fluster as she searched for words, Ser let out a sigh mixed with a chuckle and shook their head.
“Hah, the great Mage Tower Master Ser cannot be friends with a fool like Noah.”
“…Huh?”
“But.”
For a moment, as Ser approached slowly while unsummoning the high-ranking spirit, they looked at Noah with a gentle smile.
“Though I may not be the Mage Tower Master Ser, it might be possible to be friends as the genius Ser.”
“Uh… is that so…? Then we will be friends—”
“Not yet, so don’t get ahead of yourself. Hehe.”
“Ugh…”
Messing up Noah’s hair roughly, Ser turned to me.
“Hermila.”
“…Yes?”
“You are quite the bastard. Are you aware of that?”
“Hahaha… I can admit that a little.”
“So, take just one hit. With this hit, I’ll forgive you.”
As before, a tightly clenched fist was raised.
Click… Click…
“If you want our cooperation, you need to explain properly. Hermila.”
Following that, Rubia, with a crunch of her teeth, walked over and hugged Noah.
“Yes. I will tell you all the stories you wish to hear, the ones I have hidden. But before that.”
She knelt and met Noah’s gaze.
Then, she raised Noah’s hand and placed it on the hilt of the Great Sword.
“Eh…”
“Noah, do you think of me as a friend?”
“Of course.”
“Even if I were to do something bad?”
“Well… that doesn’t mean Hermila is a bad person.”
“…Why do you think that?”
“Well…”
Noah, free from Rubia’s embrace, reached for the blade of the Great Sword and grabbed it tightly.
“Noah?!”
And then.
Clang!
The razor-sharp Great Sword, which looked like it could slice anything, did not cut Noah’s finger as it rebounded from the force of Reverse Heaven, rolling to the ground.
“By doing this… you tried to protect us, even if it meant shortening Hermila’s lifespan.”
