The conversation with ‘me’ had roughly come to an end.
Now, I had to talk to some very bad friends who had been hiding something very important from me.
Thud– ‘me’ and I jumped off our chairs at the same time.
And, squelch– squelch– we approached the group in the back, who were sweating bullets.
Carpen, Sonya.
Luisar.
Frey, Brunhilde.
These folks might not know, but anyone enjoying a drink here surely would.
“…Can we really go outside?”
“Well, I don’t know.”
Cartia pretended to look away.
Clink– Ser tilted his glass without a word.
“Uh, um. You must not know much about these things.”
Primavera deflected while petting a small spirit sitting in her palm.
Lastly, Sirin said, “I’m not hiding anything.”
Her lips quivered as she confessed. “I mean… while I was, you know, fighting alone for so long… you guys were just watching the fights here?”
It hurt.
It really hurt a lot.
If they had seen everything that took place, they would know what I went through.
Sure, I wasn’t… terribly fatigued.
Just mindless labor. Repetitive tasks. It was just a fight where I had to deal with hordes of attackers, and it was so easy I felt sorry for comparing it to the battles I previously faced.
But.
But!!
I was lonely.
Super lonely.
Especially since all these people were still alive…
Well, I never imagined they would still exist in this world.
So, so, on the day of the festival in the territory…
Under the fireworks that were bursting, I cried.
Out of joy, regret, and gratitude.
“Ugh…”
But, but…
It was also disappointing.
Super.
“Boohoo… it’s just… so… much… I… I… wanted to see everyone… All of you… I wanted to honor what you’ve said to me… sniff… I really tried hard…”
My vision blurred.
Hiccup, gasp, hiccuping as my legs trembled not from anger but sorrow.
Being upset was one thing.
But why am I crying?
“Uh, uh…? Hey, why are you crying? Hey! Why are you crying!”
‘Me’ suddenly rushed over when she saw my tears, fidgeting without even being able to touch me.
“What’s going on? Why is she like this?”
Cartia, who had jumped up from her seat, was the same.
Even Ser, who had been pretending to look away, and Primavera, and even Frey and Brunhilde, who were smoking on the second floor, all gathered around.
Carpen and Sonya, who had been trembling in a corner, hurriedly surrounded me.
Lastly, Rubia and ‘Rubia’.
They arrived last, but with the most worried expressions, both hugged me tightly without saying a word.
‘Me’ gasped, “Ah!” but just chewed her lips and held my hand instead.
And in front of me sat Sirin.
Sirin was just staring at me, mouth agape, unable to say anything.
…What suddenly happened?
I just wanted to express my anger.
To scold my friends for their nasty lies.
So why am I crying?
It’s embarrassing.
Embarrassing, embarrassing, embarrassing.
“Um… alright. First of all, I’m really sorry.”
Eventually, Sirin got up and tightly held my empty hand with both of hers, conveying a heartfelt apology.
“…But I think there’s a bit of misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding…?”
“Yeah. It’s not that we’ve ignored you while you were fighting alone. We couldn’t leave.”
“…Sirin’s right. I should probably apologize to Noah. I’m sorry, Noah. Due to my lack of ability, I couldn’t help you.”
Ser offered his apology right after.
It sounded like he was mocking at first glance.
But there was no hint of such emotions in Ser’s voice or tone.
It was filled only with genuine remorse for me.
Ah.
I felt even more embarrassed.
So…
This time it was so embarrassing that even saltier tears flowed than before.
Meanwhile, bang– the door on the second floor swung open.
“What’s going on? What’s happening?”
Luisar bolted out in a rush, not having a clue.
But.
“Clueless jerk who doesn’t know when to jump in, just get lost.”
“…Uh, my bad.”
Luisar nodded, sulking, and went back inside.
It was so funny, but…
If I laugh while crying…
…I might get fur on my butt.
And become even more embarrassed.
I forcibly swallowed my laughter.
*
“Anyway, that’s how it went down. So please don’t feel too upset.”
As I stopped crying, I was eating jelly and strawberry milk whose origins I didn’t know while listening to Ser’s explanations.
There were many complex terms I didn’t quite grasp, but the conclusion was.
At that time, my divinity was continuously becoming enormous, and because of the adjustments, I was on the brink of obliteration.
“At first, I thought the divinity of the Nameless One, which absorbed the power of Lady Lilith, would be sufficient. So I prepared a space that fit that. But Noah, your divinity exceeded our expectations immensely. That’s why we were a tad late. I’m sorry.”
Sirin organized everything again and poured strawberry milk into my empty glass.
Sonya floated transparent ice cubes on top of it.
“I’m… also sorry… for misunderstanding…”
“Yeah. I’ll gladly accept your apology.”
With a bow from across the table, Ser’s nonchalant voice came through.
“Still, we are somewhat glad. The thought of you keeping your word and writing it down in a book to pass it down to future generations… Hehe. This choice seems incredibly wise for someone like Noah.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with Ser’s words, looking at me with warm gazes.
But.
Right next to me.
“What book?”
‘Me’ squinted and glared at me.
“What book?”
“Uh, uh…?”
“Just now, didn’t the spirit… no, Ser mention something about a book?”
‘Me’ almost called Ser a spirit before hastily catching herself and sighed.
Hmm… I thought we weren’t that close when we last talked, but I guess things had gotten pretty awkward.
“Why aren’t you answering? Are you actually writing something? What, a fantasy novel with you as the protagonist?”
“…N-no, I’m not the protagonist…”
“Then?”
“It’s… a secret… You don’t need to know.”
“…You’re really trying to make me upset, huh?”
“Upset…? Hey… you’ve not shared so much with me either…”
‘Me’ sighed heavily with disbelief.
“My narrative wouldn’t do you any good, and I’m just being cautious so you don’t get unnecessary sympathy. You wanna hear a filthy dark story? Huh? I told you not to worry about me! It’s not like it’s related to you anyway—”
“…That actually upsets me more.”
My voice was small, but it was enough to disrupt ‘me’.
“What…?”
“Ugh. That actually upsets me… Why shouldn’t I know your story…? You’re still you. If you hadn’t been there, I would’ve had to face all of that myself. So, I wanted to know… I wanted to know…”
This abstract conversation made Carpen and Sonya slowly back away.
Frey and Brunhilde had quietly slipped away to the second floor with drinks.
Luisar appeared to be deep in thought, glancing around nervously at everyone.
Among them, only Rubia and ‘Rubia’ nodded slightly, as if they understood my feelings.
“…Um… alright. I’m sorry.”
‘Me’ felt the same.
The atmosphere chilled in an instant.
A heavy silence settled, and clap! with an exaggerated clap, ‘Rubia’ broke the ice.
“By the way, why were you all fighting a little earlier?”
Fighting?
Ah…
“Uh, well… we were just trying to sort out the hierarchy a bit…”
“Hierarchy?”
“Hierarchy?”
“Yeah, since… this place was made by Sirin, we were… um…”
I didn’t know how to explain this…
I glanced at Sirin, who nodded and gestured dismissively.
Then a screen floated in the air.
‘Me’ and ‘Rubia’ gasped as they looked around.
They didn’t take long to grasp the situation, probably because they knew so much more than I did and Rubia. Hmm… Perhaps ‘me’ had experienced it as Jong-eon and ‘Rubia’ had as Lilith.
“Oh, so this is that kind of place. But why the hierarchy?”
“To determine the owner of this connection… In other words, we were having a duel to decide the master of this space for a moment.”
“The owner of this space…”
‘Rubia’ murmured softly.
Moments later, she widened her eyes and looked at me.
“Noah.”
I understood immediately, and she grabbed onto my shoulder.
“Can you win?”
“…Uh? Of course!”
“…Really?”
That gaze was filled with meaning.
What? What’s it about?
Right now… Are you doubting I’ll lose?
“…Are you really looking at me like that because you think I might lose?”
“Not really. I’m just… worried you might do something foolish like not hit a friend while fighting.”
“Me? Stronger than you?”
“Do you really think you’re stronger than me?”
Her voice cold as ice.
Her chilling crimson gaze pierced into me as I mustered up all my strength to reply clearly.
“…Yeah. I beat you before.”
“Always letting me win.”
“Letting you win…? Don’t you remember? You… you couldn’t even get up, and I, like… thud! got right back up!”
“Of course, I could’ve gotten up! I just didn’t need to!”
‘Me,’ who had been staring at me incredulously, also got up to face me.
“Words are one thing…”
A quiet murmur.
Yet in this mansion where only our voices could be heard, it rang loud and clear.
“…Hah.”
Snickers– ‘me’ quietly stood up.
Following suit, everyone’s gaze turned toward ‘me’.
Rubia looked on with concern.
The others were filled with anticipation.
At the center of it all, ‘me’ said,
“Come at me.”
