“I’ll deliver the subjugation payment to the accommodation you wrote down here.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Huff-huff- Instead of calming down, Rubia continued the conversation.
Still holding me in her arms…
Once I finally regained my composure, I felt incredibly embarrassed.
It seemed she had no intention of letting me go.
She told me to drop earlier, though.
I have no idea why she’s acting like this now.
“What’s the plan moving forward?”
“Well… I’m planning to rest for three days. I’m a bit… tired.”
Revuze nodded as she organized the stack of documents in front of her.
“I see. This city is quite a good place to rest… it shouldn’t be bad.”
Just as she was about to leave the office…
“Oh… this is a personal question, but do you happen to know… Yuria?”
Rubia’s question caught Revuze off guard.
“Yuria… are you talking about the adventurer Yuria?”
“Yes.”
Revuze turned her back to us.
“I know of her, but… what about?”
She had a peculiar expression.
It looked like she knew something.
“I came with her disciple. She’s called Hephaestus.”
Revuze’s face slightly frowned.
It was a change I could only sense.
“Yuria left this city ten days ago. I heard she’s heading to Karahan.”
“Is it possible to know her reason for departure?”
“Well… It shouldn’t be a problem for me to share this, but… I will.”
After taking a while to consider her words, Revuze slowly spoke.
“She followed Master Sirin to Karahan.”
Sirin?
Was there a master named Sirin among the NPCs?
No matter how much I ignored the story, I would remember the masters.
“Master?”
“Yes. She recently became a master for the tenth time.”
That expression… it looked like she was hiding something.
It was a very subtle change, but I could tell.
Rubia seemed oblivious to it.
I should tell her later, right?
“I see… Thank you.”
“Yes, so if you ever need help, don’t hesitate to call for me.”
With that, Revuze left the office.
Her footsteps sounded… somewhat urgent.
“Master… Sirin must be incredibly strong, right?”
I recalled the masters I saw in the game.
The very first master I met…
I can’t remember the name, but the character wore black armor and wielded a very old sword.
He had a massive pride.
Then, for some reason, he fell and ended up facing the player.
But… I never managed to win against him.
After all, he wasn’t designed to be beaten!
No matter how much I leveled up, there was no way.
Even though I believed I was quite skilled…
They were simply made not to be defeated.
Anyway, in response to Rubia’s question…
“Super… super strong.”
After all, they were in a whole different genre.
With the “munchkin” tag…
“If Noah thinks that, she must be amazing.”
“Super… super strong.”
“I see… But have you seen her in person? Or…”
Rubia’s expression suddenly turned fierce.
The arm that was holding me tightened.
“Did that master tell you something?”
Master…?
Ah, I did say I called the game master that last time.
But why does it seem like Rubia is so angry…?
“Uh, y-yeah… actually…? I mean… I’ve seen her.”
“Where?”
“Umm… where was it… I can’t read the map, heh heh.”
Rubia sighed heavily and shook her head.
“I get it. Then shall we head out?”
“Uh… yes.”
With that, I rubbed my eyes and stepped out of Rubia’s embrace.
“Hehe… Noah, your face looks ridiculous! Should we wash up before we go?”
Rubia pointed at the sink in the corner of the office.
“Is it really that bad…?”
“Yes! Your face is a mess with tears and snot. Hehe…”
“Uh… then I’ll just wash my face… before heading out…”
I don’t think I was actually snotty…
I slowly walked to the sink and turned on the faucet.
As the water poured out ferociously, I brought one hand closer to wash my face.
“Okay, Noah. Sniffle!”
Rubia’s hand came close to my face.
“Huh…? Sniffle…?”
“Yes! You need to blow your nose.”
“Into your hand…?”
Rubia nodded as if it was the most obvious thing ever.
“That’s… that’s really dirty…”
“You can wash it off with water.”
“Well… still…!”
“It’s fine! Hurry up- sniffle!”
From her expression, it didn’t seem like she was teasing me…
“R-really…?”
“Yes.”
“Y-you’re really going to do it…?”
Nod—
“Ah, no… never mind, I don’t want to do it anymore… I’ll do it myself… you go away. It’s too embarrassing to do it in front of you…”
Honestly…
I almost did it instinctively just now.
I held back.
It’s so… so shameful.
Blowing my nose into someone else’s hand!
I poked Rubia lightly and turned my back.
Then, to minimize the sound due to embarrassment, I went huff-huff as quietly as possible.
After doing it a few times, I felt somewhat better.
Huff…
But it still wasn’t enough…
Ensuring Rubia wouldn’t see, I completely turned away… and was about to blow my nose again when…
“Ha.”
“Sniff-huuuu-!”
Rubia’s wicked hand suddenly approached from behind.
Tickle-tickle…
“Nooooo! Don’t do it! Hyah!”
“I can’t let the lying Noah off the hook!”
“When did I ever… snff! lie?! Hyuu…!”
Her fingers, initially tickling my sides, began to wander up my spine and invade the area around my armpits and neck.
But… the thing is!
There was… ugh… snot on one of my hands…
I couldn’t stop Rubia’s evil scheme…
“Yuck! Sniff…! Please don’t! Hyuuuuu-!”
I twisted my body trying to escape Rubia’s grasp, but the more I struggled, the closer she clung to me.
Just when our bodies were completely pressed against each other…
“Ugh… huff… I… really need to… use the toilet…!”
Click- The door swung open.
“Oh, by the way, what about dinner—”
Revuze walked in and stared at us blankly.
“Oh my.”
Rubia, flustered, immediately let go of me.
“Hyyy… sniff… I… almost… p-p-piss… myself…”
Having been held by Rubia and lifted into the air, I thudded down to the floor.
“Um… Ah… dinner… pardon me…”
The door closed, and the office fell into silence.
Only my tired breathing filled the room.
*
“No… Noah. I’m sorry.”
“Forget it… just go away…”
“Should we eat some jelly…?”
“I’m not eating.”
I evaded Rubia who was creeping towards me and retreated to the end of the bed.
“Stay there…!”
“Uh… okay…”
I didn’t want to look at Rubia’s expression, fearing I’d soften my resolve…
But her voice just sounded so defeated… I peeked a glance at her.
She looked like a abandoned kitten…
Though I hadn’t planned to say anything for a while,
her face made my heart soften.
Why did I look?
“I said… I want to use the bathroom.”
“Yes…”
“And when did I lie…?”
“Sorry…”
“I could’ve… um…? W-what would you do if it was a real mistake?”
“I’m sorry…”
“And Revuze saw us! Wh-what would she think?!”
The more I talked, the more heated I got, slamming my hand on the bed.
“This was entirely Rubia’s fault! I’m not letting it go…”
With that, I turned my back roughly.
I was furious…
“I, um, sisters? What about dinner—”
A fidgety Hephaestus finally spoke.
“I-I’m not eating. You and Rubia go without me.”
Rubia quietly swallowed.
She looked incredibly shocked too.
I still wasn’t gonna give in.
Last time I asked her not to tickle me, she completely ignored it.
Tickling me all day!
Even now, when I said I really needed to go to the bathroom, she didn’t stop!
She probably saw my underwear too…
On top of that, creating weird… weird misunderstandings!
I was furious and irritated.
“Noah… are you really not going?”
“Yup.”
“Sis, we’re having dinner and dessert! Are you really not coming?”
“… Ah, I’m not coming…”
I suppressed my hunger and waved my hands.
“Hmph…”
Rubia seemed shocked by my behavior, which I would never normally do.
But… I had to be firm this time.
“You need to go…!”
I hugged the Great Sword and lay down.
“I’m going to sleep…”
I pulled the blanket up to my head and curled up.
A moment later, I heard their footsteps fade and the door creak open.
I think I heard them whispering as they left, but I couldn’t catch it since I was under the blanket.
Click- The door closed, and after counting to ten in my head…
I discreetly expanded my senses.
Yup. They definitely went down to the first floor.
I then pulled the blanket off and sat up.
I started scouring the area.
I’m sure… I left the jelly and the sugar-coated strawberries somewhere.
“Ah…!”
I sprinted towards the bag lying in the corner.
Shake-shake-
As I shook the bag, the sound of sugar powder rattled.
“Hehe…”
The smell was magnificent.
The color… couldn’t see it, but the shape was spot on!
The texture was…
“Oh… so soft.”
Perfect!
I popped it straight into my mouth and chewed.
The first taste was sweet from the sugar, followed by the flavor of strawberries! Sour!
“Delicious…”
This is super tasty…!
The texture was amazing too.
Much softer and chewier than the jelly I had in Loholan…
I could live off only this for the rest of my life…
Before the jelly’s flavor faded away, I quickly gulped it down.
Then with all my fingers full, I shoved it into my mouth.
“Waaang-”
The frustrations that had piled up melted away as the jelly filled my mouth.
So… so delicious. I was so happy…
The sweetness flooding my body washed away my sadness.
While I was gleefully chewing the jelly that was almost too much to swallow…
I remembered there was something I wanted to say to Rubia.
Revuze seemed to know something about Yuria…
I totally forgot because I was too upset…
Well… I haven’t left yet so I guess I can tell her tomorrow…?
I’m not going to speak to Rubia today either.
I’ll sleep in the other room with Hephaestus.
Rubia can sleep here alone!
