Volume 8
Chapter 31
A sudden, but firm, confession from Lisa. Nozomu's heart pounded as if it would leap from his chest, and an intense heat flooded his entire body. Meanwhile, seeing Nozomu speechless from the shock, Lisa looked dissatisfied.
"...Why are you
so surprised? I'm a little hurt."
"Well, it's
just..."
"In the first
place, if I didn't like you, I wouldn't have invited you to 'go adventuring together again,' would
I?"
It was exactly as she
said. Nozomu had been aware of Lisa's unchanging affection, but he had almost
no experience being hit with a confession so directly. In fact, when he first
started dating Lisa, he was the one who had confessed. They had spoken words of
affection while they were together, but perhaps because the time they'd spent
apart—the time he'd spent running away—had been too long, her direct words hit
him with an impact he hadn't anticipated.
"Well,
that's..."
"Sigh, the Nozomu
from the past was so passionate, but now you've become such a wimp. When you
grabbed my hand when I was caught by that monster, I thought you were back to
your old self~~"
As Lisa sighed, hand
on her cheek, Nozomu also turned his face away, pouting.
"You're the one
who's changed too much."
"You're the one
who changed me. Or rather, I guess you changed me back? You were so pushy with
me when I was moping, forcing me to face you, as if to say, 'Look at me!'..."
"W-Wait, it's
just..."
As Lisa began to
fluently recount the things Nozomu had done, he started to get flustered again.
In fact, his actions after deciding to face Lisa could easily have been seen as
those of a stalker by an outsider. He didn't care what rumors went around or
how much Lisa rejected him; he just kept pushing forward.
"And to top it
all off, just when I thought we'd get back together, you rejected me at the
very end. You're so cruel..."
On top of doing all
that, Nozomu had just brushed off Lisa's confession. It was no wonder Lisa,
having been turned down, was dissatisfied. But her tone and the location for
voicing this complaint were terrible. The people in Central Park, who were also
relaxing, began pointing at Nozomu and whispering. To make matters worse, Lisa
even started fake-crying, and the glares directed at Nozomu turned even more
ominous.
"Hey, hey... your
phrasing! Your phraaaaaasing!"
"Sorry, sorry!
It's a joke, a joke!"
Lisa laughed, brushing
off Nozomu's scream, and the surrounding glares softened. They had apparently
realized Nozomu was just being teased. Instead, the gazes turned into the
lukewarm ones reserved for a fresh young couple. "Ah, youth," someone said, as the onlookers dispersed. Nozomu
glared after them, his shoulders slumping as he let out his unspeakable
fatigue.
"S-Stop it, it's
bad for my heart."
"But... I was
happy. That you saw me, really saw me, and caught me..."
Suddenly, Lisa stood
up, moved in front of Nozomu, and peered down into his face.
"Hey, Nozomu. Can
I try again?"
"Wh-What are you
thinking?"
"You know what..."
Lisa's hand gently
cupped Nozomu's cheek. Her face filled his entire field of vision.
"Because... I
thought this was my chance. After seeing you two this morning. Once I thought
that, I couldn't stay quiet."
Her tear-brimmed eyes
reflected Nozomu's face as she once again began to fluently lay bare her heart.
"I love you,
Nozomu. More than anyone in the world..."
A quiet confession,
seeping deep into his ears. Unlike the casual confession from before, this was
a feeling that resonated in his very core, slowly, steadily seeping into
Nozomu's heart like water into a desert.
"Please, be with
me. Stay by my side, forever..."
"Lisa...
I..."
Nozomu felt his
consciousness fading, as if being sucked away. Her smiling face, filling his
vision. She was so charming, so ephemeral, and so terrifyingly alluring that he
reflexively wanted to pull her in and hold her. Her wavering eyes reflected his
face, as if pleading. Thump, thump.
The quiet beat of his heart sounded terribly loud in his ears. Had she always been
this captivating? It wasn't just Nozomu who had been broken, lost love, and
stood back up. Lisa, too, had been completely broken and stood back up. She had
faced her dream once more. Her once-brittle spirit had grown rapidly, and she
was beginning to acquire the charm of an adult woman. The girl he'd been drawn
to since childhood, who had, for a time, been his lover. Even now, his
affection for her remained deep in his chest. He still wanted her to achieve
her dream. That's why he had kept trying to face her, even when she kept
rejecting him.
"...I'm sorry. I
still can't go with you right now."
And yet, the words
that came from Nozomu's mouth were the same as before. If he were the boy he
was when he first came to this city, he probably would have taken her hand
without hesitation and built a life with her. He would have left Arcazam,
adventured with her, and one day returned to their home village to raise
children. He would have walked that path. But something in Nozomu was holding
him back. A calm warmth, different from the burning passion he'd felt in the
past. It was telling him that this was wrong. But seeing Nozomu's state, Lisa
didn't look disappointed. Instead, she had a calm smile.
"...Well, I knew
you'd say that. You're stubborn, Nozomu."
"Am I that
stubborn?"
"Yeah, stubborn, so
stubborn. You're just like your father in that regard."
I knew. At those words,
Nozomu's expression turned somewhat apologetic. Sensing his negative feelings,
Lisa gave a wry smile, but waved her hand dismissively, as if to brush away his
guilt.
"I told you
before, right? You already fulfilled your promise to me."
With a bright smile,
Lisa looked away from Nozomu for a moment and murmured.
"I still want to
be a real adventurer. What about you, Nozomu? What do you want to be in the
future?"
Not what he should do,
but what he wants to do. Not duty or responsibility, but a desire. What he
wants to become. Even when asked that, nothing came to Nozomu's mind. The only
things that surfaced were Tiamat, his own strange ability, and his impatience
with his own lack of progress.
"...I don't know.
There's just too much going on..."
"Hmm, so you
won't accept my confession, but you 'don't
know'..."
Lisa began to poke at
Nozomu's heart again. A cold sweat beaded on his forehead. Nozomu, feeling
conflicted about Lisa, averted his gaze slightly. In that instant, she plopped
down onto his lap.
"Lisa, what are
you... Whoa!"
Nozomu let out a
high-pitched cry at the sudden increase in closeness. Meanwhile, Lisa sat on
his lap, straddling his knees in a side-sit, and peered into his eyes again.
"Just as I
thought. You seemed to be really, really worried, but this is what it's
about..."
Ignoring the flustered
Nozomu, Lisa looked up at the sky, as if she'd come to an understanding.
"Hey, why don't
you just do what you want? You've probably already decided what you want to do,
right? You just can't see it right now..."
You already know your
path. At Lisa's words, Nozomu instinctively held his breath.
"...Anri-sensei
told me the same thing."
"Oh, so that
teacher really is watching you closely. If you still don't get it, should I tell
you?"
The impatience
swirling deep in his chest was goaded by a desire that felt like starvation. I
want to hear it. I want to know. I want to do something about this suffocating
situation. Such desires overflowed endlessly.
"...No, it's
fine. I think this is something I have to answer for myself. Or, in this case,
maybe 're- assess'?"
But Nozomu didn't want
to hear his own answer from Lisa. It was something he had to find for himself.
If he heard it from someone else, their intentions—be they small or large—would
inevitably get mixed in. I don't want to
suffer. I don't want to think. It was a temptation whispered by his own
negativity, and Nozomu was well aware of it.
"Yup, that's my
Nozomu. That's how it should be!"
Lisa returned a beaming
smile at his words. She, too, was someone who, though she didn't say it, had
been moved by the sight of Nozomu finally getting his feet back on the ground.
So, while she smiled brightly, her heart fluttered even more for him, who had
properly rejected her suggestion.
"Nozomu, if you
think about it and still don't know, you should try just emptying your head
again."
"Empty my
head?"
"Yeah. Just
forget about all the extra, unrelated stuff, like Irisdina-san and the
dragons."
"It's not extra,
and it's not unre..."
"It is unrelated.
In reality, you aren't Irisdina-san, and you're not related to the Francilt
family by blood. The whole Wajiart incident was a Francilt family problem from
the start, right? It's a different country, and the problem is just too big for
a single student to handle."
Lisa cut off Nozomu as
he tried to say it wasn't unrelated. But in truth, Nozomu, as a mere student,
had no right to stick his neck into a problem that started with a secret pact
between two families, or the establishment of relations between Forsina and the
Dizard Imperial Kingdom. Essentially, this problem was unrelated to him. When
he thought about it, the issue was simple: whether the Wajiart family would
succeed in establishing relations with the Francilt family, and by extension,
the Kingdom of Forsina. If anything, Nozomu getting involved would only
complicate matters. That's why Jihad had warned him not to get involved.
"Maybe they'll
just sign the treaty and nothing will happen?"
"But... maybe
not..."
"Well, there's no
point in thinking about the conclusion now, right? The final negotiations
haven't even started yet."
The future is unseen
and undecided. It's pointless to keep worrying about an uncertain future.
Nozomu fell silent at Lisa's words, which implied just that.
"So, if you're
really worried, instead of overthinking it, just empty your head. You'll be
able to see your own dream better, and what you need to do for it. That's what
I think."
So, just do your best
at what you can do now. That's what Lisa was saying. With her sitting on his
lap, arms spread wide, Nozomu let out a long breath.
"Empty, huh...
Like you are now?"
"Exactly! Just
like m... Hey, what's that supposed to mean!"
"Well,
considering that incident at the smithy... you know?"
"That was,
well... that was an experiment, so it couldn't be helped! I'll be sure to
prepare properly next time!"
"So you admit you
lacked caution..."
Nozomu let out a
small, wry chuckle at his childhood friend, who turned away, blushing in
embarrassment. He felt the impatience smoldering in his chest ease, just a
little. A tiny moment of peace. But that small trigger had managed to slightly
loosen Nozomu's mind, which had been rigid with anxiety.
"So, how long are
you going to stay like this?"
"Hm? What?"
"I mean,
this..."
His anxiety had
subsided, if only slightly. But in its place, a different kind of anxiety was
welling up. Lisa was still sitting on his lap. Nozomu's cheeks flushed as he
felt the soft, distinctly feminine sensation on his thighs. What's more, this
was the girl who, though he'd rejected her, was his first love. The shame
welling up in his chest was immense. Her well-featured face, the faint sweet
scent. His heart was pounding, thump,
thump, and his whole body felt like it was made of hot iron.
"I'd like to stay
like this forever. We could even stop by one of those inns over there?"
Tilting her head
cutely, Lisa added a line that was impossible to ignore. Nozomu wasn't so dense
that he didn't know what "stopping
by an inn" implied. And that was precisely why his mind was in utter
chaos.
"H-Hey, you're
joking..."
"Do I look like
I'm joking?"
Nozomu flailed his
arms and legs like an insect dropped on water, resisting... or at least, he
might have, if he could. But contrary to his panicked mind, his body had frozen
solid. In that time, Lisa gently cupped his cheeks in both her hands and
brought her face in close.
"H-Huh?"
"Mmm..."
Smiling playfully, yet
with her eyes holding a bewitching, but serious, glint, Lisa's lips slowly
encroached on the distance between them. Her seductive charm melted his brain.
Her approaching cheeks were also tinged a faint crimson.
"W-Wait...!"
Their lips were almost
touching. They were so close they could feel each other's breath. But, when
their lips were a fingernail's breadth apart, Lisa's lips suddenly stopped. One
second, two seconds, three. And on the fifth second, Lisa's lips suddenly
pulled away.
"...Ah, too bad.
An interruption at the most important part. Oh well, can't be helped. I guess
someone couldn't stand it."
"Huh?"
Her seductive smile
vanished, and Lisa got off Nozomu's lap. Ignoring Nozomu's confusion, Lisa
landed lightly on the ground. She glanced at him, still sitting dumbfounded on
the bench, then leaned in close. She flashed a smile, not of the alluring woman
from moments ago, but of her lively self.
"Well then,
Nozomu, see you. Oh, and as a finder's fee for the shop, I'll be taking
these."
As she spoke, Lisa
held up her right hand as if to show him. In her hand, she held two or three of
the mithril bells Nozomu had made at the smithy.
"Ah! When did
you-!"
"Consider it my
finder's fee for introducing you to a good shop. You made plenty, so it's fine,
right? See ya!"
Before Nozomu even had
time to reach out, Lisa shoved the swiped bells into her top, spun on her heel,
and left. Left alone, Nozomu stared blankly at her retreating back, let out a
massive "Haaaa~~," and
leaned back against the bench.
"That's just...
so many fouls..."
For a moment, he had
almost lost his heart to his former love. Sighing at that fact, Nozomu sat on
the bench, staring up at the dim winter sky, waiting for his furiously pounding
heart to calm down.
***
While Nozomu sat on
the bench, staring at the sky, Lisa, now far from Central Park, turned from the
main street into an alley and suddenly stopped.
"Such bad
timing... Peeping isn't nice. Don't you agree, Shina-san?"
When she turned, two
girls were standing at the alley's entrance. Shina and Mimuru. Her schoolmates
at the academy, and people who had helped her during the Abyss Grief incident. Lisa
flashed a provocative smile at one of them, Shina Juliel, and jingled the bells
she'd swiped from Nozomu. At this sight, Shina's gaze, which had been
reproachful, began to fill with a dangerous color.
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