Chapter 42 – After the Subjugation (3)

Chapter 42 – After the Subjugation (3)

“Alright, but promise me one thing,” Rubia said as she gripped my hand tightly.

“It’s a promise you absolutely must keep, Noah.”

I nodded quietly.

“If anything happens—like in Roholon, if I get seriously injured—you have to focus on what needs to be done. Understand?”

Rubia’s warm expression made me uneasy.

“You saw what happened last time. I’m really fine… Just prioritize the important things.”

“What if you die?”

“I won’t. Ever.”

Her warm smile blazed into something brighter, melting a bit of my resistance.

“You’ll come to save me no matter what, right? If I wait, if I hold on… you’ll definitely come for me. So I won’t die.”

Trying to be serious while saying something so cheesy…

You’re making me look like the weird one here.

“… Fine. Do whatever you want.”

I turned away and let go of her hand.

The heat from my flushed face made me sweat.

My hand felt sticky from the jelly.

Suddenly, all these things that hadn’t bothered me before started getting to me.

Her belief in me…

It was so heavy, yet… strangely welcome.

I couldn’t hold on anymore.

I didn’t want to hold on.

“Oh? Why’d you let go? Do you hate it?”

“I don’t hate you, Rubia… Ugh… Forget it.”

Seeing Hephaestus getting ready, I used that as an excuse to end the conversation.

It was getting too embarrassing.

Too weird.

“Everyone! Here you go!” Right on cue, Hephaestus emerged with milk, coffee, and even bread.

Rubia had already returned to her usual stoic expression.

“Bread?”

She made me feel so awkward, yet she managed to go back to normal so quickly.

So annoying…

“Yes! I baked it myself! Try some!”

Rubia’s face twisted slightly.

“You… baked it yourself? Here?”

“Yep!”

Hephaestus smiled brightly as she answered.

“In the forge?”

“Yes! The heat makes it taste great!”

“Um… what about sanitation…”

Rubia’s wrinkled expression twitched.

“Doesn’t the heat sterilize it? I eat it all the time, and nothing’s happened!”

Hephaestus looked like she genuinely believed what she was saying.

Uh… I mean, maybe that makes sense?

You see that in movies all the time, where they heat up needles to sterilize them before stitching wounds, right?

And the bread looked pretty tasty…

It didn’t smell metallic either.

Maybe I should give it a try…?

Cautiously, I reached for a long piece of bread.

“N-Noah…!”

I steeled myself and took a bite.

“Mmph? It’s good.”

It was surprisingly tasty!

Chewy, even!

“Right? This batch came out especially well, so I wanted to share it with you!”

Hephaestus laughed heartily and offered some to Rubia.

“Oh, uh… Thanks. I’ll… try it.”

Forced to accept the bread, Rubia reluctantly took a bite.

“Huh…? Actually, it’s… much better than I expected.”

She looked genuinely shocked as she swallowed.

See? I told you!

Maybe Hephaestus has a knack for cooking.

She’s baking this well in a forge… imagine what she could do with proper equipment.

“Right? From now on, I’ll take care of all your meals! I love cooking! Haha…”

“Alright, I’ll hold you to that. Now… Shall we get ready?”

“Sure! I already packed, so I’m ready whenever!”

Hephaestus slapped her travel bag, brimming with energy.

Meanwhile, I quietly chewed on my bread and nodded along.

After that, Hephaestus and Rubia started revising our plans little by little.

They discussed renting a wagon since there shouldn’t be any monsters left in Halvion, and since we were getting a wagon, why not bring more supplies?

Their conversation continued with back-and-forth suggestions.

But was it really okay to take a wagon? We’d be traveling farther than just Halvion…

Would we be able to return it anywhere?

Also, didn’t Rubia say she didn’t want to draw attention? And that time was running short?

Now that I think about it, her attitude has changed a bit.

She used to be so harsh and… rude.

Maybe something’s changed.

Maybe she’s made up her mind.

Whatever it is, it doesn’t really matter…

“So, what do you think, Noah?”

“Um, I… agree.”

“With what?”

“Uh… the wagon?”

“And you agree with the next part too?”

The next part…?

What were they talking about…?

I was lost in thought and missed it!

“O-Of course.”

“Hmm… Is that so?”

Rubia gave me a sly smile and a teasing hum.

What… What did I miss…?

“Yes…”

“Alright. Then, no more jelly for a while.”

Huh?

W-What?!

“W-Why?!”

“See? You weren’t listening…”

Rubia pressed her finger against the tip of my nose.

“Mm…”

“We agreed to save up and pay Hephaestus for her work. She made the greatsword you used in the fight against Carpeng. Besides, when the entire village turned their backs on us, Hephaestus was the only one who cared.”

I clenched the hilt of my greatsword at my waist.

Without it, things would’ve been much worse.

And she’d made it to resemble the one I used before.

The quality… was even better than the last one.

Anyone could tell she’d put a lot of care into making it, so…

Rubia was absolutely right.

“If that’s the case… fine.”

“Of course, I was partly joking. You can still have jelly. We’re not that short on money, thanks to the subjugation reward.”

Oh, right.

The subjugation reward.

We earned a massive bounty for slaying Carpeng and killing thousands of monsters.

However, since there wasn’t an Adventurer’s Guild in Roholon, we’d have to collect it in Ursphere.

The other adventurers got their share, and Luchi… and Heinzel got some too.

Heinzel didn’t need the money, though, and donated it to the village’s reconstruction. Luchi’s share, however… was handed over to us.

Like we knew what to do with it…

“Haha… So don’t worry, Noah. You can eat as much jelly as you want.”

Rubia removed her finger from my nose and smiled warmly.

Her earlier expression flashed in my mind, making me lower my head and nod.

“Alright. Since Noah agreed, Hephaestus, just accept the payment, okay?”

“…Alright.”

“We can give you the money once we reach Ursphere. There’s no guild in Roholon, so we can’t collect the bounty here.”

“That’s perfectly fine! I wasn’t expecting payment in the first place! You can pay me whenever!”

Hephaestus scratched her head shyly.

“Well… now that we’ve sorted out the money and everything else, should we head out? At this rate, we’ll leave tomorrow instead.”

“Right! Let’s go!”

“Yes…”

Rubia and Hephaestus pushed their chairs back with a loud scrape and stood up.

As for me, I hopped down from my chair.

Everyone’s a bit taller than me…

Hephaestus grabbed her travel bag.

And Rubia… for some reason, tried to take me along like a bag.

“Come on, give me your hand.”

“Sure… uh…”

As my hand reached for hers, it paused in midair.

I awkwardly withdrew it, pretending to fidget with the hilt of my sword instead.

Normally, I’d grab her hand without hesitation.

But something…

I just couldn’t do it this time.

I didn’t want to.

“Noah?”

Rubia waved her hand gently in front of me.

“Mmm…”

I rubbed my hand against my clothes and carefully took hers.

“You worried your hand’s sticky from the jelly?”

That’s not it, but…

“… Yeah.”

“Haha… How sweet of you. Thinking of me.”

“I-I always think about that…”

“Really? That’s sweet.”

Nod-

Rubia’s smug expression was annoying.

Being able to see her face now was nice and all, but…

Sometimes… it’s not so great.

I walked ahead and opened the door to the forge.

“Let’s go.”

I needed to hide my flushed face.

“I’ll go rent us a wagon!”

Hephaestus raised her hand with a cheerful shout and hurried off to the stables.

She moved pretty easily, even with that giant bag on her back.

“Shall we?”

“Yeah…”

Rubia seemed to be in a surprisingly good mood as she swung our joined hands slightly while we walked southward.

As we got closer to the collapsed south gate, we noticed a familiar figure among several adventurers.

“Hm…? Isn’t that…”

It was the woman from the Central Guild who had given me the shard. What was her name again…?

Ah, yes—Juur.

She’s still here?

I thought she’d left.

“Curious, Noah?”

“K-kind of…”

“Then shall we go say hello?”

Rubia gave me a mysterious smile.

“Don’t we have somewhere to be…?”

“We’ll just say hi and head out. It won’t take long.”

With that, Rubia squeezed my hand and led us toward the group.

As we got closer, I could start to make out bits of their conversation.

Something about acquiring necessary materials…

“Oh? Hello, Noah. Is there something you need?”

Juur greeted me with a friendly smile, though it felt a bit too… sales-like.

Like last time… I still found it uncomfortable.

I carefully hid behind Rubia.

“And the priestess is with you as well. Hello.”

“Hello, Juur. We saw you as we passed by and thought we’d say hi. You’re moving quickly, I see?”

Rubia flashed her own business smile.

But… what’s moving quickly?

“Ah, yes. Things have gone surprisingly well… You’ll understand once I explain.”

“Please, go ahead.”

Juur’s smile softened from professional to genuine.

“The reconstruction of Hablon, as you requested, is proceeding without any issues. Unfortunately, we can’t replicate the exact material for the barrier walls.”

“… What reconstruction…?”

I looked up at Rubia.

She looked down at me.

And once again…

With that smile that made me feel warm and flustered…

She whispered softly.

“It’s a gift. A small token of thanks to Luchi for protecting this world.”