Did you just hit me?
A slap. You just slapped me, right?
I gently caressed my slightly stinging cheek.
It doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t hurt, but… my heart hurts.
I’ve never been hit by my mom or my dad…
I slowly turned my helpless head.
And there…
“…I haven’t seen you in your underwear, Rubia, you bad girl…”
Tears welled up in Jong-eon’s eyes as she bit her lips.
“What, what did you say…? Didn’t you just say you saw it—”
“That was! I said it to make you mad! And… we did go on a date with Rubia, but we didn’t hold hands!”
Beep-beep Jong-eon screamed.
As the sound echoed, the tears that had gathered in her eyes rolled down.
“…r-really?”
“Ask after it’s all over!”
Now even her feet started bouncing as she expressed her grievances.
“You, you’re worried I’d be sad! That you’d hate it! I… wasn’t even close to Rubia! But… but you?! You went on a date holding hands?! You bad jerk!!”
“…s-sorry.”
It might be a bit late, but I bowed my head apologetically.
After staring at me while angrily fuming for a long time, Jong-eon finally said.
“Um… I’m sorry for hitting you too.”
She bowed her head like me and apologized.
After a moment, watching when Jong-eon would finally lift her head, I raised mine first, worried my legs would give out.
Was Jong-eon doing the same?
As soon as I lifted my head, she did too.
An awkward silence.
During that time, Jong-eon was the first to speak.
“So, was it fun?”
“…It was fun.”
“Did you meet while going through trials?”
“…Uh-huh. ‘Rubia’ came to visit.”
“I see. So that’s what you were preparing for. Hehe.”
Wiping her tears with her soft arms, Jong-eon started to grin as if she hadn’t been crying.
If you cry and laugh, hair grows on your butt.
“So, what did you do for fun?”
Finally, Jong-eon plopped down on my dad’s lap and asked, tapping the front.
After following her gesture and sitting down, I thought for a while about how to respond.
Should I tell the truth?
Then… wouldn’t she get mad again?
Hmm… it might be better if she gets mad.
If that would change Jong-eon’s mind… yeah. Telling the truth seems like the best option.
I steeled my resolve.
Slowly, I parted my lips.
“At first… ‘Rubia’ came to me and hugged me.”
“…Hugged you?”
“Uh-huh. I was comforted for a while—”
“Comforted?”
Zing A chilling premonition flashed through my mind. Caught off guard by her stronger reaction than expected, I quickly added.
“Uh, I cried. ‘Rubia’ comforted me while I cried.”
“I see.”
A smile spread on Jong-eon’s twisted face.
The chilling premonition that had constricted my throat vanished.
I… let out a sigh of relief and continued speaking slowly.
“Then we walked to my house, introducing the neighborhood and various cultures. Then… um…”
The stories during that time… I figured I didn’t really have to tell.
…Let’s skip that part.
“When we got home, we had soybean stew—”
“Hey.”
“U-uhm…?!!”
“Tell me.”
“…What about?”
“The thing you just hid.”
…How did she know?
“Are you not going to get mad?”
“Yep. It’s all in the past. I won’t get mad.”
“R-really…?”
“Ugh… sigh… Yep. I won’t get mad.”
Jong-eon leaned back as if to show she wouldn’t leap at me, and gave a small smile.
“I’m not a kid; would I get mad over something like that?”
After watching Jong-eon for a while, I cautiously opened my mouth.
“…Rubia kept asking to see my underwear… so I showed her.”
“Heyyy!!”
Jong-eon lunged at me.
*
Both Jong-eon and I were so drained that no real fight was taking place.
A child-like brawl.
But it was intense.
After that extended battle, we made a firm promise not to get mad again.
We began to share stories about our time with Rubia during the time we spent apart.
I told her how ‘Rubia’ kissed me on the forehead.
Though I hadn’t seen her in her underwear, I heard she picked some out for me.
We fought.
I said ‘Rubia’ looked pretty in her school uniform.
I heard she smiled at me, not as me, but toward ‘me,’ lit up by the sunset; she was beautiful.
We fought.
I heard we shared cotton candy with each other.
I heard we fed each other desserts.
We fought.
Then I told her I held hands with ‘Rubia.’
After a snowball fight, I heard Rubia warm my cold hands by holding them tightly.
We fought.
I heard we watched fireworks together on the Ferris wheel.
I heard we saw fireworks together at Ursphere’s park.
We both cried.
Finally, I said that ‘Rubia’ put a ring on my finger. I proudly held up the sparkling ring.
I heard that I confessed my feelings to Rubia and told her I loved her.
We fought really hard.
*
“Ugh… Heh… Huu… Ugh…”
“Pinching is against the rules… You coward…”
“W-what… You pinched me first, you know… Huh…”
“No way…? That was… that was just a mistake when I was grabbing you?”
“What are you saying… Then, I can do the same… Hieek…”
My trembling arms couldn’t support my body anymore.
In the end, I thud collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily.
Jong-eon also thudded down beside me, panting.
In the silence filled only with our breaths.
This time, I opened my mouth first.
“It was… fun, wasn’t it?”
“…What?”
“Playing with Rubia.”
Though the fighting hadn’t stopped.
Recalling the past, a different smile appeared on Jong-eon’s face.
Not an forced smile hiding dark emotions, but one filled solely with pure joy.
It was surely a smile recalling the past spent with ‘Rubia,’ not Rubia.
I couldn’t say how long she had endured alone, but she must have felt regret.
So she would have wished for more.
So she wanted to live more.
In this world, together with Rubia.
Thus.
Now, it’s time.
“Stop worrying… and leave it to me.”
I turned my head while lying down.
Jong-eon had been looking at me all along.
Her eyes were puffy, her face bruised here and there.
Was I in that kind of state too?
“…Sigh. Alright, fine. Let’s say I’m leaving it to you. Let’s say… I’m asking you to save me. So, what’s the plan?”
After exhaling a big sigh, Jong-eon struggled to sit up.
I followed her lead, sitting up, and faced her.
“Tell me. Let’s hear your plan.”
Plan. Plan.
First.
“…I’m going to kill the Nameless One.”
“Sounds good.”
“Uh-huh… And then, I’ll save Rubia.”
Jong-eon nodded, looking satisfied.
“What’s next?”
“Next is…”
I wiggled my fingers, pondering how to phrase it. Then I spoke.
“It’s a secret.”
“…What?”
“A secret.”
Snap A sound I couldn’t tell if it was from my mouth or a fist came from Jong-eon.
“Do I look like I’m playing around right now…?”
“No, it feels sincere.”
“Then why do you answer like that?”
“…I want you to feel this too.”
Hehe. I beamed at Jong-eon.
“You have a lot of secrets from me too, right?”
“W-wait, hey!!”
Again, Jong-eon crawled toward me.
But I didn’t indulge in that fight and instead stood up.
Reaching out to Jong-eon, who looked up at me with a bewildered expression.
“Thanks for worrying about me. But… it’s fine now; you don’t have to worry.”
“I wasn’t worried about you. I was worried about Rubia.”
“…Lately, I’ve been hearing that tsundere stuff is not cool.”
“Ha…”
Snicker Jong-eon laughed.
I laughed too.
Then for a moment, staring at the hand stretched toward her, and meeting my gaze, Jong-eon said.
“Alright.”
Thud She took my hand and stood up.
“Honestly, I have no idea how you’re going to save me. I can’t even imagine. But still…”
Whoosh—!
From the clasped hands of Jong-eon and me, a warm energy radiated.
Power I had never shown during our fight.
Divine Power.
The Divine Power enveloped me.
It rejuvenated my weary body.
Healed the wounds I had sustained and calmed my flushed face.
In the end, the Divine Power that completely healed my body rose up. It reached the nonexistent sky. A huge echo resonated.
“And, don’t die.”
The sky opened up.
The world opened.
The order that enforced the regulations.
The laws that suppressed balance.
The concept that repeated reincarnation.
The foundation that maintained the world.
But now, it could no longer fulfill its role.
Everything was entwined with my soul.
“Now, no matter who tells me to die, I won’t die.”
“Ah-ha!”
I laughed.
A bright and pure laugh that tossed away all burdens.
Knowing it wasn’t a farewell, I could smile like that, believing it.
“Thank you.”
The ‘me’ smiling brightly held my hand up and down. With every shake, her body faded, but she continued to shake regardless of that.
“For the last, let’s shake on our reconciliation. Let’s not fight anymore. Whether we meet again or not, it’s a promise. Got it?”
Hehe…
I laughed back.
“Well, by the way, you know, actually, there’s something I haven’t said yet.”
I spoke while laughing.
“During the Ferris wheel… I kissed ‘Rubia’…”
Pause My hand froze.
“Sorry, I… I’m truly sorry.”
And with a face that twisted intensely.
“Hey, you jerk—”
Just as she swung her other clenched fist at me. —Swoosh. Her body scattered.
Thus, her hand fell thud into the empty space.
It didn’t feel empty.
Because that hand had the warmth left by ‘me.’
Because it held the wishes of everyone who had helped me grow until now.
With that heavy hand tightly clenched, I lifted my gaze.
The dazzling light pierced my eyes.
Yet I opened my eyes wide and faced the light straight on.
I took a breath.
I gripped the Great Sword.
And then, I took a step.
Toward the place where the Nameless One is.
Toward the place where Rubia is waiting for me.
Toward everyone’s happy ending of this story.
Tap-tap—
My steps reached the light.
At that moment.
The world echoed.
