Tomorrow

Hermilla, who had been gaping with wide eyes for a while, swallowed hard and asked as if trying to confirm my words.

“…You said you brought them to heel?”

“Yes…”

I nodded and leaned into Rubia’s embrace. Rubia, who was just as surprised as Hermilla, supported my body with a sense of stability.

It was soft, cozy, and felt good.

“…From where?”

This time, it was Rubia’s question.

Because we were so close, the gentle vibration that resonated from Rubia’s throat tickled the back of my head. I rubbed my head against it and said,

“That… I don’t know.”

“…Pardon?”

I don’t know where that place was.

A space…? A world…? Where I couldn’t distinguish between the sky and the ground, and the concept of time was ambiguous.

A place where I didn’t feel hungry, didn’t feel sleepy, and didn’t need a bathroom.

Hmm… So, how should I explain this…?

No, rather than explaining that place, it seems like it would be easier to proceed with the story if I explained what happened before that first.

Hmm…

“Then… um… I’ll tell you the story after I separated from Rubia.”

I fully enjoyed Rubia’s embrace and raised my upper body.

However.

“Eh?”

Rubia’s arms pulled my upper body back into her embrace.

Then, she asked me and Hermilla as if seeking agreement.

“It seems like it will be a long story, how about we listen on the way back to the Imperial Capital? Or, it wouldn’t be bad to do it in Charlotte’s presence either.”

“…Charlotte?”

Well, I don’t mind.

Why did she specifically mention Charlotte?

As if she noticed my question, Rubia chuckled and said something shocking.

“Yes. Um, Charlotte has become the Emperor.”

“E-Emperor…?”

Hermilla added.

“Yes. She will probably be the Emperor with the strongest [Imperial Authority] in history. There are still about two days left until the coronation ceremony, though.”

“W-Wow…”

“Anyway, um… I guess so. It seems like it would be better for Charlotte to hear this story as Rubia said.”

“That’s right. After all, it would be more detailed to hear Noah’s story than my story. There are also stories of people we don’t know… forgotten people.”

While I was surprised while thinking about this and that, Hermilla and Rubia nodded as if they had finished talking to each other.

“Okay. Then, Noah, you rest here. I have a lot of work to do, so I think I’ll be busy until tomorrow.”

Hermilla, who had an incredibly bright smile that didn’t match the face of someone who had a lot of work to do, smiled kindly and reached out her hand.

“And, I’ll say it again.”

I don’t know what the outstretched hand meant, but I grabbed it first.

Then, Hermilla’s other hand was added, tightly wrapping around my hand.

“Thank you. For saving us, for saving this world. And… thank you for coming back.”

Then, she bowed her head with a very polite voice and a serious expression.

“O-Oh… Y-You’re welcome… I’m, I’m thankful too…”

My heart is ticklish. My lungs are a little ticklish too.

My ribs are tingling, and I feel strange.

I wondered why, and I thought… it’s because I haven’t realized it yet.

Everything is over.

All the unhappiness has disappeared.

Despair, suffering, pain too.

Of course, it hasn’t completely disappeared.

If the jelly I want to eat is sold out and I can’t eat it, I will be unhappy.

I won’t, but if Rubia catches a cold, I will be in pain.

If, by any chance, Rubia and I were to fight one day… it would be so hard that I would cry.

But, those are trivial things.

Even if it’s hard, even if I feel like crying, if I grit my teeth and get up, I can somehow solve them.

Compared to the despair that has struck this world so far, which humans could not possibly do anything about, they are very trivial things.

It has become such a world.

I made such a world.

Me, Rubia, and many friends.

Precious friends that people don’t remember.

So, I can’t realize it.

That it has become a peaceful world.

That it has become a world where I can dream of happiness.

Will I be able to realize it if more time passes?

If I meet many people and spend days filled with laughter, will I be able to realize it?

Maybe, that’s right.

Surely, that will be the case.

Even now, as I am held in Rubia’s arms.

Every time I hear Rubia’s laughter, I am slowly realizing it.

“Then, get some rest. Oh, right. This place is soundproof, so you don’t have to worry. Even so, it’s probably better to refrain from it. It hasn’t been long since you came back. But I can’t stop you.”

“Oh my… Hehehe.”

As I was continuing my thoughts blankly, Hermilla, who was holding my hand, smiled and went out of the tent.

“…S-Soundproof? Refrain…?”

I turned my head and looked at Rubia. Rubia, who was looking at me, was wearing a very dangerous smile. I swallowed.

“R-Rubia…?”

“Yes?”

“Umm… It’s nothing.”

Chu. I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, then wriggled and turned to face Rubia.

She’s still thin.

She has more energy than when I first saw her at [World’s End], but she is much more haggard than she was before we parted.

I’m upset.

“…I’m sorry.”

I stroked Rubia’s slightly rough hair and hugged her neck.

“It’s okay. I’m okay.”

Rubia hugged me back and shook her head.

“Because you’re back… Because I’m being held like this, I’m okay. And, you’re not going to leave again, are you?”

“That’s right… I’ll be separated for a while, but I won’t be separated for as long as this time.”

“…Separated for a while?”

Twitch. Rubia’s body trembled.

“Why? Is there anything left?”

“Um… There isn’t anything left… but I will have things to take care of.”

“What is it?”

I hugged Rubia’s body, which was trembling again, tightly.

“I’ll tell you later, I’ll tell you later.”

Still, Rubia’s trembling did not stop.

I feel sorry for her. I’m sorry, and I’m very upset.

At the same time, I feel good. My heart is pounding, and my legs are twisting.

I shouldn’t have these feelings… Why am I like this?

I sighed and shook my head.

I pulled my upper body away a little and looked at Rubia.

Her moist, blue eyes are trembling.

“Still, don’t worry. I’ve taken care of most of the things.”

Chu. I kissed her forehead and tried to think of things that would reassure Rubia.

Hmm…

“Um… Just think of it as me earning money…! Um… Husband…? No, wife…? Huh…”

Husband? Wife…?

What am I…?

“F-For Rubia, as the head of the household…? I have to do… things…? If you think of it that way… does that work…?”

Head of the household…? Am I the head of the household…?

Hmm… How do I explain this?

While narrowing my brows and thinking of a clearer explanation.

“…Head of the household?”

Rubia, with her eyes wide open, looked at me.

“…Head of the household, you say… Noah?”

“Oh, um…”

Head of the household. What is the head of the household?

Isn’t the head of the household the person who leads a family?

Then, then… I am…

“I am the head of the household. I will be the head of the household.”

“…Oh my god.”

Rubia, who was about to say something, pursed her lips. Then, she made an indescribable expression and sighed.

“No. This, it can’t be like this. Later. I want to hear it later in a more wonderful and cool place.”

“…D-Don’t I get to be the head of the household? Is R-Rubia going to do it?”

“No, that’s not it. Um, haa… It’s not that. Anyway… this, it’s not right. You shouldn’t say it in a place like this. Yes, first… I have to meet Charlotte.”

The words that followed were muttered so quietly that I couldn’t hear them, but I knew that Rubia’s face was filled with tremendous determination.

“Silly Noah.”

“…Gasp.”

Silly.

Silly… Isn’t this the first time Rubia has called me silly?

“I-I’m not silly…!”

“No. Noah is silly. You’re clumsy and stupid.”

Rubia, who was glaring at me as if she was very sulky, bumped her forehead against my forehead.

“But I like you anyway. I like you because of that. No… I just like you.”

Then, she smiled very brightly. She smiled so beautifully that it took my breath away.

“I love you.”

“…I, I too… I love you.”

A little more than Rubia loves me.

Exactly… by 1 Noah.

Rubia, who was chuckling and touching her forehead to mine, put her hands under my armpits and said.

“Noah, shall we take a walk for a while?”

“…Is that okay?”

I wanted to look around this area too, but I couldn’t.

Since everyone gathered here seemed to have gathered to find me, as soon as they saw me, they cheered, shouted, and shot magic into the sky… I couldn’t show my face as I pleased.

That’s why I was hiding in this tent…

“Yes. Wouldn’t it work if we covered ourselves with a cognitive interference robe? There’s a place I want to show Noah. Hermilla will guide you when she comes back anyway, but um… I want to show you.”

“A place you want to show me…”

I don’t know where it is, but I nodded.

There’s no way I can refuse when Rubia says that.

“Thank you. Then, let’s go right away.”

Rubia, who carefully put me down, smiled.

“It might be a little big since it’s what I used to wear… well, it’ll only be for a while.”

Then, she put the cognitive interference robe that was hanging next to her on me.

“Oh my.”

As Rubia said, the robe she used to wear didn’t fit me.

To what extent did it not fit…?

“I didn’t know it would drag on the ground.”

…It drags on the ground.

“Pfft… Pwahahahaha!!”

Rubia burst out laughing at the sight.

“D-Don’t laugh…!”

“Ah, heh… I’m sorry… Cough… Hehehe…”

“Eek…!”

I’m annoyed that the robe doesn’t even think about getting off the ground even if I raise my arms or stand on tiptoes.

Am I going to trip over it while walking?

Of course… I can regain my balance right away even if my body leans.

Still, still… this is, too… embarrassing.

“Haa… Hehehe, cough… Hoo… Please bear with it for a little while even if it’s uncomfortable.”

Rubia, who still couldn’t stop laughing, put on another spare robe.

“Then, shall we go?”

I grabbed the white hand that was extended towards me.

Slender fingers intertwined.

Rubia’s hand.

It was Rubia’s hand that I had always held, but now… it was so damaged that it was pitiful.

From now on, if I stay by her side, take care of her, and pay attention to her, it will come back quickly.

But, I couldn’t help but feel upset right now.

1 year. It was a hand that made me realize how hard she had worked for a year.

When using [Divine Power]…

Huh.

[Divine Power]?

…Oh… I think I had something to say to Rubia.

What was it…?

“Noah?”

“Ugh… Ah, yes… L-Let’s go.”

Well… I can think about it slowly.

Now, there’s plenty of time.