Tomorrow

It might sound out of the blue, but.

Rubia is beautiful.

Her hair, shimmering under the light.

Her mystically sparkling blue eyes.

The softness within her sharp gaze.

Her beautifully sculpted nose.

Her suggestive pink lips.

She’s incredibly, unbelievably beautiful.

The most beautiful in the world.

Too beautiful to be captured by any Artifact in this world, or by any painter’s brush.

Hermilla is also beautiful.

Her slightly dull blonde hair complements her light green eyes and round, gentle gaze.

Delia, Yuria, Mia, and Hephaestus too.

They all possess different charms, but they are all beautiful.

Heinzel is.

Heinzel is… bald.

And, Charlotte.

Charlotte, smiling before me, is also beautiful.

Her tanned skin, her eyes blazing like the sun.

Countless piercings, a sharp gaze.

And, with about four buttons of her shirt undone, her upper chest is exposed outside the shirt. Below that, a firm and slender figure, the complete opposite of mine.

Yes. Charlotte is… beautiful too.

Beautiful, but…

“Oh my… Noah?”

“…What?”

The first thing I did upon seeing Charlotte’s face was to hug Rubia around the waist.

“Why are you suddenly doing this?”

Why I’m doing this… I don’t quite know myself, but.

The moment I saw Charlotte’s face, I felt the need to protect Rubia.

No, I know exactly why.

Charlotte is… a golden sunbae.

A textbook golden sunbae.

Even the smile she gave while looking at Rubia in her casual clothes seemed very, very dangerous.

No, it actually is dangerous.

Charlotte likes women.

And, she likes Rubia too.

Moreover, she’s the Empress. She has power, she has money…

Before, when I couldn’t see, I didn’t fully grasp Charlotte’s appearance, so I only had simple worries.

But now, after seeing her like this…

“Ah, no…!”

My instincts screamed.

My intuition sounded the alarm.

Rubia is in danger…

I have to… protect Rubia.

“We haven’t met in a while, and instead of a greeting, all I get is ‘no.’ What’s not allowed?”

Charlotte, seemingly dumbfounded, chuckled and sat down, rustling something.

“Here, eat this.”

And she tossed something towards me.

Thud—without even catching it, it landed on my shoulder.

“J, Jelly…?”

It was a bag full of jelly.

Jelly I’ve never even seen before.

“It’s a specially made jelly for this inauguration ceremony. I rushed to make it after hearing you were back, so I don’t know how it tastes, but give it a try and let me know what you think.”

“…Umm…”

I carefully released my arm from around Rubia’s waist and took the jelly in my hand.

It had a considerable weight.

Squish, squish—a springy texture.

“T, Thank you…”

For now, it looked delicious, so I bowed my head.

“Alright. Tea will be brought in soon. I got strawberry milk for you, Noah, is that okay?”

“Ah… Thank you…”

I’m tired of strawberry milk… but still, she prepared it thinking of me…

I bowed my head once more and hugged Rubia around the waist.

“Oh my…? Hehe, hehehe… Hehe…”

Then, Rubia completely melted, letting out clumsy giggles.

I’m incredibly worried…

Seeing that, Hermilla sighed and shook her head.

And Charlotte.

“Yeah… I get that you don’t want to be apart after meeting again after so long, but damn it, I’m so busy these days I’m starting to grow cobwebs! I’m already lonely enough, so sit down before I throw you in for treason.”

“Hic…”

I gritted my teeth and ran a hand over my face.

As twilight faded and everyone fell asleep.

“This is… haa… I was prepared for it, but I didn’t expect it to be this much.”

My story.

That is, the name known to the world, End’s Demon Beast.

Charlotte, having listened to the stories of the forgotten heroes one by one, buried herself in the sofa, exhausted.

Hermilla was also staring at the notes she had taken with a serious expression.

Rubia, hugging me like a teddy bear, was sniffling.

I’m a little… scared that snot might drip on my hair.

“All of them were challengers like you… no, heroes of that era?”

“Yes. Their races were different, but they were all… incredibly strong heroes.”

“I see…”

Eventually, Charlotte covered her face with both hands and let out a deep sigh before flopping down.

“This isn’t something that can be ended with a speech, we need to write a book or something.”

“I agree. Leaving it as a story by writing a book doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”

Hermilla also leaned back on the sofa and sighed.

Everyone seems incredibly tired…

And the real story hasn’t even started yet.

“Umm…”

“…Noah. Why do you have that expression?”

“Y, Yes?”

“Is there something you want to say?”

“Ah, no… well… um…”

I raised my head slightly and looked at Rubia.

She nodded as if she knew what I wanted to say and smiled slightly.

I guess that means it’s okay?

“Ah, there are still many stories… left to tell.”

“…I knew there were more, but a lot more?”

“Yes…”

“How much?”

“…Um, what we just did wasn’t even half…”

“That…”

Charlotte shuddered as if she had eaten a lemon and jumped up from her seat, pressing the button next to her.

Then, —click.

The door to the office opened, and an incredibly dignified maid entered and bowed her head.

“Three coffees and…”

Charlotte’s eyes turned to me.

“C, Chocolate milk…”

“Three coffees and chocolate milk. Oh, and a little of the jelly and cookies we brought earlier, please.”

“Understood.”

The maid bowed politely and stepped back out of the office.

Thud. About three seconds after the door closed.

Charlotte, with a serious expression, opened her mouth.

“Let’s start again. Please.”

I nodded and opened my mouth.

The story of Sirin.

Everything she had done.

The reason she had no choice but to do so.

Regret, sorrow, loneliness, pain, guilt.

Sentence by sentence.

Each time I spoke of Sirin’s story, Charlotte’s serious expression crumbled, and Hermilla let out groans.

Rubia couldn’t hold back her tears in the end.

“Even I, who have experienced such things and seen such things… it’s a story I can’t believe.”

Charlotte, having already emptied her fifth cup of coffee, sighed.

After that, Charlotte remained silent for a while, lost in thought, before pressing the button again to call the maid.

A different maid entered than before.

“Postpone the inauguration ceremony by two more days.”

“Understood.”

Just like before, the maid bowed politely and quietly backed out of the office.

“There’s more left, right?”

Charlotte’s voice was slightly hoarse.

“…Yes.”

I guess there’s about half left now.

“Should we take a break and start again? Or…”

Charlotte’s eyes alternated between Hermilla and Rubia.

I also raised my head and looked at Rubia.

Then, Rubia kissed my forehead and shook her head.

“I’m fine with starting right away.”

“…Yes. I’m fine too.”

Hermilla also answered, crunching on a cookie in front of her.

“Alright. Then… please, Noah.”

Charlotte, who had been looking out the window, said in a voice that seemed less venomous than before.

A faint light was rising outside the window.

The light of dawn.

Seeing that light, I.

Began to tell the story of a magician I could never forget.

In a heavy atmosphere.

By the time Serr’s story was over, it was broad daylight.

I don’t know what time it is.

Only the sounds of soldiers and servants, ordered by Charlotte, running around putting up papers and announcing the postponement of the inauguration ceremony with Sound Amplification Artifacts could be heard.

“…Now, is there only one left?”

Charlotte, barely stopping her tears, asked with red eyes and a cracked voice.

One. Well, if you divide it into detail, there are three stories, but they’re all connected, so… yeah.

I guess I should say one.

“Sniff… Yes.”

I sniffed and answered, shoving the snot that was flowing out back in.

“…I see.”

Thud, thud—the sound of tapping on the desk followed Charlotte’s sigh.

Hermilla’s fingers were tapping on the desk.

That’s right. Hermilla always had the habit of tapping like that when she was thinking about something…

Rubia, not even tired, was hugging me tighter than before. Our backs were touching, her chest as wet with sweat.

Did the things I said… get across well?

Did they… understand?

I’m worried because I’m not good with words.

But I did my best to speak… there might be some parts that were conveyed incorrectly.

Maybe I should read the notes Hermilla took later?

I think that would work.

Now, I can see.

“Now… Sh, Shall we start?”

Nod. Charlotte nodded.

Hermilla, who had put down her pen, picked it up again.

Ahem. I cleared my throat and opened my mouth.

End, no.

The story of ‘I.’

I don’t know what path she walked.

But, I know what she accomplished.

For me, for this world.

I know the story of her who threw everything away for everything.

I told that story.

As detailed as possible.

As wonderfully as possible.

As the story progressed, Charlotte’s mouth fell open. Hermilla’s face twisted.

Rubia’s sobs grew louder.

My story didn’t stop.

The existence of the Nameless One.

I told them how pathetic that bastard was.

Everyone gritted their teeth and raged.

Charlotte’s teeth shattered.

Hermilla broke 13 pens.

Rubia clenched her fists so tightly that blood flowed.

Still, after hearing how hard I beat him up, everyone cheered in a similar way.

I felt good.

And, then.

Lilith.

When I told the story of meeting ‘Rubia.’

“…That bitch, did what to Noah?”

I could feel murderous intent in Rubia’s voice.

…Did I say too much detail?