“Were you that impatient?”
Grrk- Crack- Grrrk-
Instead of a response, only blood foam oozed from the mouth of the woman clutching her own insides.
However, Sirin didn’t mind and continued speaking.
“The core of the Mage Tower, you lot, was so eager that you couldn’t even recognize the power of the true daughter before casting a curse?”
Grrrk- Grrk-
“Or…”
The corners of Sirin’s mouth curled up.
“Did you receive a blessing too? Firma.”
The neatly folded body of the woman, Firma, trembled.
At the same moment, Sirin’s smile broadened.
“How vile. I don’t know if it was your desire or not, but… let’s hear your story.”
The magical power bursting from Sirin enveloped the alley.
The blood from the citizens soaked back in, and their pallid complexions returned.
“If even one of the citizens had died… there wouldn’t have been a chance given to you.”
Firma was no different.
Her crumpled and warped body loosened—Pudk- Pudk-—and her insides returned to their places.
The smashed jaw reformed, and the blood that had spilled seeped back inside her.
After sitting blankly for a while, Firma soon began to frantically touch her own body and gag repeatedly.
“So, what’s your answer?”
“Ugh… Gah, you… what… what even are you?”
“Firma, simply answer the true daughter’s question. Did you want the blessing, or was there another reason?”
“…If I say—”
“That’s alright.”
“What…?”
“I swear on my heart. Regardless of what truth you say, you will not die.”
As Sirin’s oath ended, a black thread rose near her heart.
The thread flowed along Sirin’s arm and seeped into Firma’s heart.
“Heart…? No… could it be a Dra—”
“You sure talk a lot. Do you want your jaw to break again?”
“Ugh… No…”
“And your replies are too short. Should I stretch your tongue to make them longer?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Good, now give it a try.”
Feeling around her own chest and chewing her lips for a while, Firma slowly moved her lips.
“My brother… is trapped in Erden…”
“And?”
“He’s sick… and… a Fragment of End is growing in his body…”
“Hm, do you know the cause?”
“…Erden.”
“You know well. So why have you been stuck there all this time without any thought of coming out?”
“Because there’s no one else who can stop his illness, besides Erden… So, I had no choice—”
Sirin let out a shallow sigh and sat down, meeting Firma’s gaze.
“Have you ever killed someone?”
“I’ve… never killed anyone myself.”
“Do you think you’ll pay the price?”
“I would gladly accept anything if my brother could come back.”
“But why is your mouth so dirty?”
“…That’s… I’m sorry—”
“Whatever, it’s fine. Do you want to save your brother?”
“…Yes.”
“Are the elders all the same?”
“Yes…”
“Is the Mage Tower master, Ser, the same?”
“Yes… the Mage Tower Master is also…”
“Is that so…”
Sirin stood up with a bitter smile.
“They’re all liars.”
“Ah… damn.”
[Sa Ra Je Ra.]
Crack-a-doodle-doo-
In an instant, Firma’s twisted and crumpled body seeped into the hole that appeared in mid-air.
“Mage Tower… Mage Tower, huh… I must go and see.”
As she collected all the magical power scattered around, Sirin snapped her fingers.
“Ser… that kiddo is in a lot of trouble.”
*
Rubia and I couldn’t speak for a while.
Sure, we were too shocked by Sirin’s power to say anything, but there was another reason for my silence.
‘You can’t just rely on stats.’
Sirin’s final words echoed in my head before our bodies were moved to the inn.
Words that someone from this world could never understand.
Words that shouldn’t be known, and that I didn’t want to share.
Words that roused me once again.
Sirin knows what kind of world this is.
She knows what I am.
Perhaps, she could be the same kind of being.
She had known me even before meeting me.
Rubia, Charlotte, Hephaestus, and Yuria—all of them knew.
In the game’s story, there was no tenth master.
The tenth master was the player.
It had always been like that.
Which means Sirin is the player?
Then… what am I?
A character in this game?
An NPC?
Yeah.
I never held the arrogant thought that I was the protagonist.
But I didn’t think I was a worthless being either.
I’m an outsider.
Someone who has seen the end of this world.
A being amidst many occurrences.
Many people have died, and many flows have emerged.
But…
I wasn’t the only one in that flow.
Rubia was there too.
That means…
The center of the incident, the core of the flow, is not me but Rubia.
Am I an unnecessary being?
Am I a meaningless NPC that exists everywhere?
Am I a mere accessory to illuminate the protagonist?
If Rubia abandoned me.
If Rubia no longer existed by my side.
Does that mean I have no reason to exist anymore?
Then, why would the player, Sirin, want to be my master?
Why must she be my sky?
Why convey such ambiguous words?
Is it because I’m currently by Rubia’s side?
Because we’re building rapport and getting closer?
Or…
Is it just to use and discard me?
A being that no one would search for even if I vanished.
A remnant of ash, one that no one would care if I died.
Or, if not that, do they need not me but ‘me’?
Needing only my strength and not my ego?
No.
I don’t like it.
I don’t want to be abandoned.
I don’t want to be left alone again.
Even if it means dying, I want to die by Rubia’s side.
I want to exist.
I want to live.
So.
“Don’t abandon me…”
“…What?”
“I… I will work hard. No… No, I will do well. I can do better than now.”
“Noah?”
“I’ll do anything… anything for Rubia. I… I can even sacrifice my life. If you tell me to crawl on the floor, I’ll do it. If you ask me to lick your feet, I’ll lick them. I can do anything, anything. I can do well… So, please. Please.”
My trembling legs couldn’t support my body any longer, and I fell to the ground.
I had no strength left to grasp the Great Sword.
All I could do was pathetically crawl.
Desperately dragging myself, I clung to Rubia’s feet.
I rubbed my face against her feet.
I lowered my head.
What if my filthy fluids stained Rubia’s shoes?
With great effort, I swallowed hard, pressed my face down, and slowly begged.
I begged.
I begged and begged.
“Please don’t leave me alone… Please, please… please.”
You can curse at me.
You can hit me.
You can hurt me.
Make me miserable, humiliate me.
Tie a leash around my neck and make me crawl on the ground.
It’s okay even if you cut off my limbs and carry them around.
Please just don’t ignore me.
I don’t want to experience that hell again.
Please, please.
“I will ask like this.”
“Noah.”
Rubia’s quivering voice reached my ears.
Is she angry?
Why? Why?
Because I’m dirty?
Because I’m this filthy crawling on the ground?
I can’t tell.
I can’t see in front of me.
I can’t see anything.
I can’t grasp it.
I don’t know.
“I was wrong. I was wrong…”
The grip I had on Rubia’s feet slipped.
My sweat-soaked hand felt heavy.
“Lift your head.”
Her voice was harsh.
I must’ve been dirty.
I quickly wiped the sweat from my face and rubbed it on the floor.
Again and again and again.
Rubia’s hand grabbed my wrist.
The other hand cupped my chin.
I was forced to lift my head.
My face was raised.
“Noah, it’s okay. It’s okay, calm down.”
Rubia fiercely pulled my body close.
Her constricting arms tightened around me.
“I did something wrong… Rubia… I’ll do better…”
“Open your mouth.”
“Yes, yes…?”
“Open your mouth.”
“Oh, okay…”
A warm, slippery object fell on my tongue.
Peach-flavored jelly.
“Chew it.”
I chewed slowly as instructed.
“Good job.”
The rough movements.
The harsh arm.
Changed to soft and gentle.
“Again, Ah.”
Guh… Huh… Ah… Ah…
“What flavor is it this time?”
“Mmm, um… strawberry…”
“Correct. Chew and swallow it.”
I barely held back the vomiting as I swallowed the jelly.
Meanwhile, Rubia wiped the dirt from my face.
“Are you feeling a bit more settled now?”
“Huuugh… Ugh…”
“Not yet…”
Her hand that had been gently stroking my hair firmly pulled.
With a hug—a soft sensation enveloped my face.
“I don’t know why Noah says those things.”
Her voice trembled.
“I don’t know why he did those things either.”
Behind the softness, a fierce heartbeat echoed.
“But I can tell you one thing for sure.”
The hand that had been stroking my head slowly descended, lifting my neck.
“I will never let that happen.”
Rubia’s voice drew closer.
“No matter what happens, I won’t leave Noah alone.”
My exhaled breath grew heavier.
“Even if you say you’ll leave, I’ll hold on and not let go. As long as I’m alive, you must stay by my side forever.”
Our foreheads touched.
“Don’t go anywhere, don’t turn your eyes, don’t even think about anything else.”
Next, our noses.
“Only look at me, and think only of me.”
Then, everything fell away.
“How… How… Huh…?!”
Our lips met.
Prying open my firmly shut lips, her presence surged in.
Knocking on the tightly shut door.
There was strength in the hand supporting my neck.
The arm wrapped around my waist tightened further.
As if to say to open my mouth.
I bit down on my lower lip.
With the intensified pressure, my lips parted, unable to resist.
Through the thin gap, her tongue slipped inside.
Assertively and gently, tracing my gums and pressing against my palate.
As if to say, never forget this moment forever.
As if to claim everything of mine as hers.
Enveloping my tongue.
Without a moment to breathe.
Deeply.
