Karpeng Fight - Aftermath (3)

"Alright. But promise me one thing."

Rubia tightly grasped my hand.

"It's a promise Noah must keep."

I nodded silently.

"If, by any chance, something happens to me—like in Roholan, where I got badly hurt—you must focus on what you need to do. Understand?"

Rubia's warm smile... grated on my nerves.

"You saw it last time, right? I'm really fine, so just prioritize finishing the important tasks first."

"And what if you die?"

"I won't. Absolutely not."

Her warm expression soon turned into a fiery smile, melting my emotions a little.

"Noah, you'll definitely come to save me, right? If I wait, if I hold on somehow... you'll come for me. So, I won't die."

She's acting all serious, but when she says something that cheesy...

It just makes me feel like I'm the odd one here.

"... Do what you want."

I turned my head and let go of her hand.

My body was warm, and I was starting to sweat.

My hand, sticky from the jelly I ate earlier, suddenly bothered me.

And her unshakable faith in me... felt both heavy and yet somehow comforting.

I didn't want to hold her hand. I didn't want to accept it.

"Oh? Why are you letting go of my hand? Do you not like it?"

"It's not that I don't like you, Rubia... Ugh, just forget it."

Seeing that Hephaestus was about ready to come out, I cut off the conversation.

It was embarrassing.

It felt strange.

"Everyone! Here you go, please enjoy!"

Right on cue, Hephaestus appeared with milk, coffee... and even bread.

Rubia returned to her usual strict expression.

"Is that bread?"

After making me feel all weird, she switched back to normal in an instant.

Annoying...

"Yes! I baked it myself! Please, give it a try!"

Rubia's face slightly crinkled.

"You baked it yourself? Here?"

"Yes!"

Hephaestus responded with an innocent smile.

"You didn't... bake it in the forge, did you?"

"Yup! The heat makes it taste even better!"

"The dirt of that place..."

Rubia's already creased expression trembled slightly.

"If it's hot, isn't it disinfected? I eat it all the time, and nothing's happened to me!"

Hephaestus said this with a sincere expression.

Uh... is that how it works?

Thinking about it... that might be true...?

They always show people in movies heating up needles before stitching wounds, right?

And the bread looks fine on the outside...

I don't smell any metal either.

Should I... try it?

Quietly, I reached out and grabbed one of the long pieces of bread.

"N-Noah...!"

After a moment of resolve, I took a bite.

"Mm? It's delicious."

It tasted much better than expected!

It was chewy and soft!

"Right?! I really wanted to share it with you since this batch turned out so well!"

Hephaestus beamed and handed Rubia a piece of bread.

"Ah, um... thank you. I'll... enjoy it."

Rubia, now reluctantly holding the bread, hesitantly took a bite.

"Huh...? It's surprisingly... delicious."

She gulped it down, her expression a mix of surprise.

See? I told you!

Maybe Hephaestus has a hidden talent for cooking.

If she can bake bread like this in a forge, imagine what she could do in a proper kitchen...

"Right? From now on, I'll take care of feeding my unnis! I love cooking, after all! Hehehe..."

"Well... I'll count on you then. Now, let's start preparing to leave."

"Oh, right! I've already packed everything, so I'm ready whenever!"

Hephaestus patted her bag confidently.

I quietly nodded as I continued to chew on my bread.

After that, Hephaestus and Rubia began making small adjustments to our plan.

They discussed renting a carriage since there wouldn't be many monsters left around, and even considered bringing more supplies.

I wondered if it was really okay to use a carriage, considering we had to go beyond that point... Hmm...

Speaking of which, she's changed a bit.

She used to be so prickly and rude...

Maybe something happened to her.

Or maybe she's made up her mind about something.

Not that it really matters...

"So, what do you think, Noah?"

"A-Ah... I agree..."

"With what?"

"Uh... the carriage?"

"Do you agree with the next part as well?"

The next part...?

What did they talk about...?

I was too distracted to hear!

"O-Of course."

"Hmm... really?"

Rubia let out a nasal hum, her smile mysterious.

Why... what is it...?

"Y-Yes..."

"Alright then. No more jelly for a while."

Huh?

Wha—?!

Why?!

"W-Why?!"

"See? You weren't listening after all..."

Rubia pressed a finger against the tip of my nose.

"Ugh..."

"We decided to save up to pay Hephaestus for the forging. Remember the greatsword we got from the battle with Karpeng? Plus... when the villagers ignored us, Hephaestus was the only one who cared."

I grasped the hilt of the greatsword hanging at my waist tightly.

Without it, things could've gone much worse.

And it was crafted to be so similar to my old greatsword, but better in every way.

Anyone could tell she'd put a lot of thought into making it, so...

Rubia was absolutely right.

"In that case... I understand."

"Of course, I was half-joking. You can still have some jelly. We're not that poor. After all, we've got the reward from the monster hunt."

Oh, right.

The bounty.

For defeating Karpeng and killing thousands of monsters, we're going to receive an enormous sum.

However, as Rubia said, since there's no Adventurer's Guild in Roholan, we'll have to claim it in Ursphere.

The adventurers who fled will also receive a portion for the monsters they killed, and Luchi and Heinzel... luchi's reward came to us instead.

She gave it to us, saying it was for us to use as we see fit...

"Anyway, you can eat as much jelly as you want. No worries."

Rubia's finger moved away from my nose as she smiled sweetly.

For some reason, that earlier expression came to mind, and I nodded shyly.

"Since Noah agreed, Hephaestus, make sure to accept the payment. Got it?"

"Ugh... Alright."

"Though we'll probably give you the full amount in Ursphere. Since there's no guild in Roholan, we can't collect the bounty here."

"That's perfectly fine! I wasn't expecting anything in the first place! You can pay me bit by bit if needed!"

Hephaestus scratched her head bashfully.

"Well then... now that everything's settled, should we head out? We don't want to end up leaving tomorrow at this rate."

"Oh, right! Yes! Let's go!"

"Yeah..."

Both Rubia and Hephaestus dragged their chairs back and stood up at the same time.

And I... hopped off my chair.

Everyone's so tall...

Hephaestus grabbed her bag, while Rubia... for some reason, tried to grab me like I was a piece of luggage.

"Here, give me your hand."

"Y-Yeah... uh..."

My hand, which was about to reach for Rubia's, froze in midair.

Then, I awkwardly pulled it back and fiddled with the hilt of my sword instead.

Normally, I'd reach out and grab Rubia's hand right away.

But this time... I couldn't do it.

I just couldn't.

"Noah?"

Rubia's hand waved gently in front of me.

"Mmm..."

I wiped my hand on my clothes and carefully took her hand.

"Were you worried about your hand being sticky from the jelly?"

That's not it, but...

"...Yeah."

"Hehehe... You're so thoughtful. It's cute."

"I always... think about you..."

"Oh? Do you now?"

Nod—

Rubia's expression was infuriating.

It's nice being able to read her face now, but sometimes... I wish I couldn't.

I walked ahead of her and opened the door to the blacksmith.

"L-Let's go."

I had to hide my flushed face.

"Then I'll go rent a carriage!"

Hephaestus cheerfully waved as she headed for the stables.

"Alright. We'll go pick up some extra supplies then. Let's meet at the west gate once we're done, okay?"

"Sounds good! See you soon, unnis!"

With a bright smile, Hephaestus trotted off toward the stable, her large bag bouncing on her back.

She moves so easily even with that huge bag...

"Shall we go, too?"

"Yeah..."

Rubia, seeming in an oddly good mood, swung our hands slightly as we walked south.

As we approached the ruined southern gate, I noticed a familiar figure surrounded by several adventurers.

"Huh...? Isn't that...?"

The woman from the central guild... what was her name again?

Anyway, the one who handed me the Shard of the End.

"Oh, that's Jur."

Ah, right!

Jur!

But why is she here? Didn't she say she was leaving?

Maybe she hasn't left yet?

"Are you curious, Noah?"

"A l-little...?"

"Then let's go say hi."

A subtle smile crossed Rubia's face.

"Don't we have a tight schedule...?"

"We'll just take a moment. Then we can go about our business."

With that, Rubia firmly grasped my hand and started walking toward them.

As we got closer, I could make out parts of their conversation.

They were discussing bringing in materials from another location.

"Hm? Oh, Noah. Is there something you need?"

The high-ranking woman who had given me the magic stone greeted me with a polite business smile.

Just like last time, I felt awkward around her...

I cautiously hid behind Rubia.

"Ah, and the priestess is here as well. Hello."

"Hello, Jur. We saw you and thought we'd drop by to say hello. But things seem to be progressing faster than expected?"

Rubia also wore an incredibly friendly business smile as she spoke.

But... what's going fast?

"Yes, things have turned out well... As you can see, I'll provide the full report in a moment."

"Yes, please do."

Jur's smile shifted from professional to genuine.

"The reconstruction of Havlon, which you requested, is proceeding smoothly. However, it will be difficult to recreate the exact same materials as before."

"...Wait, what reconstruction...?"

I looked up at Rubia.

She gazed down at me.

Once again.

That smile that made me want to let go of her hand.

That heated my whole body.

She whispered quietly.

"It's a gift. A small gift for Luchi... for protecting this world."