The Great Sword is not the Main Body!-Chapter 84: And...

"Ugh... I'm so full..."

"Are you done eating? Should we head out now?"

I wanted to enjoy my meal a bit more leisurely, but... Rubia finished eating in a very battle-ready way, so I ended up rushing through it as well.

"Huh...? Can't we rest for a moment before we leave? I'm so full..."

"But you said we didn't have time."

"Yeah... I guess you're right."

The situation with Lilith had become more serious than I expected, and during our meeting, a lot of divine power was wasted.

It feels like we spent three or four hours more than planned...

Rubia, who had been quietly staring at me, asked cautiously.

"...What time are you planning to sleep?"

"What time? Ah... pfft... sniff... uh... What time will I sleep?"

Rubia, who tried to phrase it as nicely as possible so I wouldn’t feel hurt, was so cute that I burst out laughing.

"Heh, are you laughing...? I-I’m not—"

"A-ah... No, I mean, hmm... the time."

I checked my divine power and estimated the time.

At this rate, I can manage—

"Maybe around 1 AM?"

"1 AM... Got it. Let's go."

Rubia, who had been looking at her watch, suddenly stood up.

It was 6 PM now.

So, we have about 7 hours left.

I nodded and jumped off the chair.

"Where to now?"

"I spotted a store on my way here. Want to come with me? How about shopping?"

"Shopping? Yeah, sure."

I didn't have anything else to do, so anywhere was fine.

"I'll pay and come out. Want to wait outside?"

"Okay."

I noticed the shopkeeper seemed like he had something to say, so I quickly left.

I wanted to thank him properly, but I just nodded.

Sitting on the bench right in front, I watched the people go by until Rubia came out.

Even in the scarlet world, Rubia's white hair stood out, unaffected by the color around her.

Yeah. She's definitely beautiful.

"I ate well, Noah."

Rubia smiled at me as she wrapped herself in her robe.

It was Rubia who bought everything, so why was she telling me that?

I tilted my head for a moment before answering.

"Yeah. I ate well too."

"Then, shall we go?"

I nodded and followed Rubia.

Even as time passed, and sweat poured down, people continued laughing and cleaning up.

"I guess there won’t be any more blizzards in Ursphere."

"Yeah, probably."

The blizzards in Ursphere had been caused by Tylant's magic leaking out of the seal.

But, with Tylant defeated, and the remaining magic completely dissipated, there shouldn't be any more problems.

"There won’t be any more casualties either."

"...Yeah."

"Buildings should change too, right? There won’t be a need to prepare for blizzards anymore. I bet it’ll look much better."

I couldn’t really imagine it. The Ursphere I knew had always been covered in ash.

I wanted to see the changes.

"People who sold blizzard-preparation goods might be a bit upset though."

Rubia’s pace slowed down.

I kept walking without slowing down.

"Still, if they survived, it’s better than the alternative, right?"

There’s a saying that even rolling around in a pile of shit is better than dying.

"...Yeah. If they survived..."

"Exactly. Surviving is the most important thing."

But, I didn’t agree with that statement.

I had said it, but... it’s funny that I don’t agree with it. Anyway.

"Do you really think that?"

A pointed question.

I didn’t feel the need to elaborate.

"Yeah. Really."

"...Alright. Here we are. This is the store."

"Huh...? This... here?"

"Yes."

A lingerie store.

The lingerie displayed on the mannequin right in front was ruthlessly provocative.

I didn’t think I should go inside.

"Wh-what... I only need bandages..."

"Heheh- but you still need things below, don’t you?"

"That... that’s true, but..."

"I also need to buy something. Let’s go inside."

Rubia, her whole body wrapped in a robe, pushed me from behind.

But... if she was going to hide her body like that and still want to go inside... why not just go somewhere else?

"I’d like you to pick something, Noah... Is that okay?"

"Uh, ugh...?! B-but I... I mean..."

I’m not the Noah Rubia knows!!

If I pick something... I might make me jealous, right?

In fact, I’m terribly jealous, you know?

But Rubia ignored my feelings entirely and shook her head.

"I want you to pick something. And... we’ll come back again tomorrow."

"Ugh... fine..."

I took a deep breath and moved my feet.

This moment felt more tense than when I was facing off against Tylant.

Jingle-

The door opened.

"My god..."

Did... did they really hang these up as lingerie?

What are these stringy things even supposed to cover?

These insane...

What’s with the hole in the middle...? What the hell is that supposed to be?

Hiding in the face of these vicious lingerie items, I heard Rubia swallow nervously behind me.

I’m really scared.

"Did you really... need to change into those?"

"Of course. How old are those underwear?"

"They were super clean though..."

"No. If I say so, then it’s like that."

The unnecessary soft texture twisted my body.

I bought four sets of weird lingerie.

I told her I just needed bandages... but she insisted I buy them.

Then... they were also selling clothes inside, so I bought a few.

The clothes weren’t the usual stuff... and I could make them from Tylant’s materials, so I didn’t need too many.

They weren’t normal clothes either...

Ugh... How many times did I have to try these on?

If it had been me, I might’ve died of shame.

"Ahh... Well, now that I’ve digested most of it, shall we have dessert?"

"Huh? Dessert? Already?"

"Already? Well, the stomach for dinner and the stomach for dessert are different, aren’t they?"

"That’s... true."

It didn’t quite make sense to me, but my body understood it.

Even if I was full, I could still eat dessert.

Especially jelly or sugared fruits—I could eat those a lot.

"Come on, let’s go."

Rubia smiled and waved her hand.

I wanted to take her hand as it waved, but I just quietly nodded and followed behind her.

We spent about an hour in the clothing store.

As we walked outside, the people who had been working in the street started to disappear one by one.

The once-bustling street gradually quieted down.

I felt like it was time to start saying what I had been thinking.

"What do you want to eat?"

"Well... jelly and sugared apples and strawberries."

"Heh... Alright. Find a spot you like. I’ll bring it to the table."

"Can you carry it all yourself?"

"Of course."

"Well... okay. I’ll sit in that corner."

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I went to the farthest corner of the dessert shop and plopped down.

Once again, I checked my stored mana, checked my body for any issues, and made sure there wasn’t any unnecessary divine power left.

I also checked if there were any aftereffects from meeting Lilith.

As I was finishing up, Rubia came in holding a lot of delicious-looking items.

"Noah, I bought some extra stuff besides what you chose."

In addition to the things I picked, there were various fruits, and three different kinds of drinks... Rubia had her own choices too.

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"All this?"

"Yeah, if you get tired of eating, we can pack it up and take it with us. We still have places to go."

Rubia grinned, grabbed a fork, and stabbed into a cake.

Still have places to go?

Looks like she’s planned quite the busy schedule...

I thought to myself as I naturally opened my mouth.

But then Rubia tilted her head.

I did too... Oh right.

This isn’t it.

"Ahem... I was just yawning."

I had opened my mouth without realizing it.

It’s... because Rubia always fed me the first bite of dessert...

I picked up the fork without rushing, but Rubia’s fork was already right in front of my face.

"Huh...?"

The fork swayed gently.

"Mm... Ah, ah-"

The fork slipped in, and I closed my mouth.

"How is it?"

It’s delicious.

It’s delicious, but I didn’t respond.

As I lowered my head and chewed quietly, I heard Rubia giggle, followed by the clinking of a fork.

I couldn’t see what kind of expression she had, or what she was doing.

I should’ve brought the greatsword.

I stuffed jelly into my mouth, dunked the cake with my fork, and tried to cool off the heat in my body.

And... I decided it was time to bring up what I had been holding in my mind.

With the most natural smile I could muster.

In a roundabout way.

I spoke up.

"Well... since I’m the main character of this festival, let’s enjoy it... but after the festival, I’ve got something I need to do."

Suddenly, Rubia froze in place.

I continued speaking without caring.

"Ah, before that... the side effects of the elixir Yuria gave me, you know? I’ve mostly dealt with them, but the height thing... I can’t really fix that. I think I’ll shrink by about 10 centimeters. But there’s no major issue. I won’t have any trouble swinging the greatsword. My head might get a little worse though... but you’ll take care of that, won’t you?"

Rubia silently nodded.

"And then, after that... we’ll head to Cartia, right?"

"...Yes."

"The most important thing before we go... hmm, we need to prioritize {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} controlling my mana. But my mana isn’t like normal mana. It’s kind of hard to define... but if I had to, it’s probably similar to your divine power, Rubia. So it’s best if you teach me."

"Noah—"

I didn’t want to stop talking.

"And from now on, Rubia, you should be careful too. If you go through the trials in the Temple of Memory, there will be big changes. Mostly, they’ll be bad. You’ll probably face even tougher situations than now. But—"

I recalled the situation back then.

The trials I underwent in the Temple of Memory came back to my mind.

The burning flames.

The suffocating smoke.

The red world.

Pitch-black corpses.

I clenched my trembling hands and took a breath.

"Never, never give up. No matter what happens, even if I end up in some terrible state, even if I go mad, don’t give up. Even if we’re not strong enough, even if it seems like we’re about to die. Even if a ridiculously strong enemy appears."

I’m not sure if we’ll be able to overcome it.

Honestly, I think we won’t.

But...

"The trials of Erden must never happen."

We have to overcome them.

Because if we go through the trials of Erden...

We’ll awaken hypocrisy.

We’ll kill everyone around us, and keep killing them.

And in the end...

We’ll have to kill Rubia too.

"It sounds shameless, but... help me, so I won’t give up. Help me overcome it."

I’ll have to tear open my flesh, break my bones.

Take out my heart, and rip it apart.

"Please."

Rubia exhaled a trembling breath.

"Shall we talk while we eat the rest?"

She poked the jelly with her fork and brought it to her mouth.

"Do you want to hear about how I defeated Tylant? That bastard... he looked terrifying, but strangely, he used a ton of magic. So I—"

I wrote.

Like crazy, I wrote.

I felt nausea rising in me.

But my smile didn’t break.

I’m really glad.