Epilogue. Sorting the Hierarchy

The story with ‘I’ was roughly over.

Now, I had to talk to those very bad friends who had been hiding something very important from me.

Pop- ‘I’ and I jumped off the chairs at the same time.

And, patter- patter- I approached the group who were sweating profusely behind me.

Carpen, Sonia.

Luissar.

Frey, Brunhilde.

Even if they didn’t know, the beings gathered here, leisurely drinking, would surely know.

“…Really, can we go outside?”

“W-Well?”

Kartia pretended not to know and turned her eyes away.

Clink- Serr tilted her glass without a word.

“H-Hum. This one, doesn’t really, know about such things.”

Primavera stroked the small Spirit sitting on her palm and made excuses.

Lastly, Sirin.

“…I, I didn’t hide it.”

She confessed, her lips trembling.

“So… while I was fighting alone for so long… you were just watching the fight here?”

I’m disappointed.

Really, really disappointed.

If you had all been watching from here, you would have known what situation I was in.

Of course, it, uh, wasn’t that hard.

Simple labor. Repetitive work. It was just a fight where I had to deal with the guys who rushed at me recklessly, so it was easy to the point where I felt sorry to compare it to the battles I had experienced so far.

But.

But!!

I was lonely.

So much.

I was so lonely and desolate.

Besides, I never imagined that all these people were still alive…

Well, that they still existed in this world.

So, so, in The Capital, on the day of the festival.

Under the exploding fireworks. I cried my eyes out.

I was so happy, sorry, and grateful.

“Sniff…”

But, but… but…

I’m still upset.

So much.

“Hic… It’s too, too… too much… I, I… I, hic… I, everyone, wanted, wanted to see… everyone, hic… the words you said to me, I wanted to keep them… hic… I worked so hard…”

My vision blurred.

I hiccuped, hiccuped, as if I couldn’t breathe.

My legs, which had been soaked in anger until just now, trembled as they were stained with resentment.

I’m upset, but.

I… why am I crying?

“Uh, uh, eh…? Hey, are you crying? Huh? Hey! Why are you crying!”

‘I’, who saw my tears, suddenly approached and fidgeted without even touching me.

“What… what is it? Why is she like this?”

Kartia, who had jumped up from her seat, was the same.

Serr, who had been turning her head away, Primavera, and Frey and Brunhilde, who had been smoking on the second floor.

Carpen and Sonia, who had been trembling in the corner, also rushed over and surrounded me.

Finally, Rubia and ‘Rubia’.

The Rubias, who came the latest but with the most worried expressions, hugged me tightly at the same time without saying a word.

‘I’ screamed “Ah!” for a moment next to me, but she just bit her lip and held my hand.

And, Sirin, sitting in front of me.

Sirin.

She couldn’t say anything, her mouth agape.

…Why did it suddenly turn out like this.

I, I was just trying to express my anger.

I was just trying to scold my friends for their bad lies.

Why am I crying?

I’m embarrassed.

I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed.

“W-Well… yeah. First of all, I’m, I’m sorry.”

Eventually, Sirin, who had stood up from her seat, grabbed my empty hands with both of hers and offered an apology filled with sincerity.

“…But, I think there’s a bit of a misunderstanding.”

“Mis, misunderstanding…, hic… misunderstanding?”

“Yes. We weren’t ignoring you while you were fighting alone. We couldn’t get out.”

“…Sirin’s words are correct. In a way, I should be asking Noah for forgiveness. I’m sorry, Noah. I couldn’t help you because my abilities were lacking.”

Serr also offered an apology following her.

It was an apology that sounded sarcastic at first glance.

But Serr’s voice and tone didn’t contain such emotions.

It only contained the feeling that she was really, really sorry to me.

Ah.

I’m even more embarrassed.

So… so.

This time, I was so, so embarrassed.

Even saltier tears flowed out than before.

In the meantime.

Bang- The door on the second floor opened.

“What’s going on?”

Luissar, who didn’t know what was going on, rushed out urgently.

But.

“You have no tact, and you don’t know when to join in, so just get lost, old man.”

“…I, I will. My apologies.”

At Brunhilde’s harsh curse, he nodded dejectedly and went back into the room.

That was so funny.

But if I laughed while crying now.

…Hair might grow on my butt.

And I might get even more embarrassed.

I forcibly, forcibly swallowed my laughter.

“Anyway, that’s what happened. So please don’t feel too resentful.”

The crying stopped.

I ate a lot of jelly and strawberry milk, which I don’t know where they got from, and listened to Serr’s explanation.

There were so many difficult words that I didn’t understand it properly, but the conclusion was.

At that time, my Divinity was constantly growing, and in order to adjust it, they were on the verge of disappearing.

“At first, I thought that just the Divinity of the Nameless One who absorbed Lilith’s power would be enough. So, I prepared a space suitable for that. But, Noah. Your Divinity far exceeded my expectations. So, it was a little late. I’m sorry.”

Sirin summarized it once again and filled an empty glass with strawberry milk.

Sonia floated transparent ice on top of it.

“I, I’m also… sorry… for… misunderstanding…”

“Yes. I will gladly accept your apology.”

Serr’s calm voice was heard from across the table as I bowed my head.

“Still, we are a little happy. To keep the words we said and to think of writing them down in a book to pass on to future generations. Huhu. This choice seems to have been a very wise choice, unlike Noah.”

At Serr’s words, everyone nodded together and looked at me with warm eyes.

But.

Right next to me.

“Book?”

‘I’ narrowed her brows and glared at me.

“What book?”

“Uh, uh…?”

“Just now, the Spirit… no, Serr said something about a book to you.”

Spiritualist.

‘I’ quickly picked up what she was about to call Serr a Spiritualist and sighed.

Hmm… When we talked before, she said she wasn’t on good terms with Serr, so she must have been very uncomfortable.

“Why aren’t you answering? Are you really writing? What, are you writing a fantasy novel or something? With you as the main character?”

“…N-No, I’m not the main character…”

“Then?”

“It’s, it’s a secret… You, you don’t need to know.”

“…Are you going to keep making me feel left out?”

“Left out…? Hey… you too… you too didn’t tell me a lot of things…”

‘I’, who was dumbfounded, sighed and rubbed her forehead.

“My story, it’s not good for you to know, and I’m afraid you’ll have unnecessary sympathy. Do you want to hear a disgustingly dark and dirty story? Huh? I told you not to worry about my story? That’s not related to you anyway―”

“…That makes me feel even more left out.”

My voice was small, but it was enough to interrupt ‘I’s words.

“What…?”

“That, that makes me feel even more left out… Why shouldn’t I know your story…? You too, you too… are me after all. If you weren’t there, then… all of that would have been what I had to go through. So, I too… I too wanted to know…”

At the very subtle conversation, Carpen and Sonia slowly moved away again.

Frey and Brunhilde had already moved away, taking the alcohol they were drinking on the first floor and drinking it on the second floor.

Luissar was lost in thought, looking at everyone’s faces.

Among them.

Only Rubia and ‘Rubia’ nodded slightly as if they understood my heart.

“…W-Well… yeah. Sorry.”

‘I’ was the same.

The atmosphere suddenly turned chilly.

As a heavy silence fell, ‘Rubia’, who clapped her hands in an exaggerated manner, opened her mouth.

“Anyway, what were you guys fighting about earlier?”

Fighting?

Ah…

“Oh, we were… s-sorting out the hierarchy… a little…”

“Sorting out the hierarchy?”

“Sorting out the hierarchy?”

“Yes, that… this place is now… made by Sirin, and inside here… that’s, uh…”

I don’t know how to explain this…

I glanced at Sirin.

Sirin nodded and waved her hand at once.

Then, a screen floated in the air.

‘I’ and ‘Rubia’, who saw the screen, were startled and looked around.

It didn’t take them long to understand. Is it because they know more than me and Rubia? Hmm… Maybe ‘I’ as End and ‘Rubia’ as Lilith have already experienced it.

“Ah, so this is that kind of place. But why are you sorting out the hierarchy?”

“We were having a sparring match to determine the hierarchy of this connection… that is, the owner of this space.”

“The owner of this space…”

‘Rubia’ muttered in a small voice.

A moment later, she widened her eyes and looked at ‘I’.

“Noah.”

‘I’ also grabbed my shoulder as if she understood right away.

“You, can you win?”

“…Huh? O-Of course?”

“…Really?”

A meaningful look.

What is it? What is it?

Are you… are you doubting that I’ll lose?

“…You, you don’t think I’m going to lose, so you’re looking at me like that?”

“No, well, it’s not that. I’m just worried that you’ll fight well and then do something stupid because you can’t hit a friend.”

“Stu, stupid…? Heh, ha… Hey, hey… I’m stronger than you, you know?”

“You’re stronger than me?”

A voice that had cooled down.

Cold, red eyes.

I, who met ‘I’s gaze, put strength in my eyes and said as clearly as possible.

“…Yeah. I won against you.”

“Hey. That’s because I let you win.”

“Let me win…? Don’t you remember the end? You… you couldn’t even get up properly, but I, like this, uh…? Snap! I got up from my seat…”

“I couldn’t get up? Huh? I didn’t get up because there was no need to get up, you know?”

‘I’, who was staring at me in disbelief as I got up from my seat, also got up from her seat and faced me.

“A-Anyone can say that…”

A quiet murmur.

But it echoed clearly in the mansion where only my voice and ‘I’s voice could be heard.

“…Huh.”

‘I’, who chuckled, quietly got up from her seat.

Following ‘I’, the gazes of those around her also gathered.

The Rubias with worried eyes.

The rest of the people with eyes full of anticipation.

In the center of that.

As if she didn’t care about those gazes.

‘I’ said.

“Come at me.”