Ch.126 "Fountain" 5

Pichan.

The sound of water echoes.

"Ruru-san is a normal girl."

It seemed like Ruru-san can't hear me very well, since there's no sign of her coming running.

So I keep talking.

Maybe it's listening carefully.

"She's just a normal girl who has lots of friends, loves to talk, and likes to have sleepovers."

"HARU-CHAN! LOUDER!"

"...See, she's such a lively child. But because of No Name-san, he's always getting scratches and other things, and so many unfortunate things have happened to her, so everyone is scared of her... I also heard that her parents were seriously injured too."

[Bhuwaa!]

[Why do you say that, Haru-chan...]

[Rather than talking about her turning small (?), she's talking about Ruru-chan...?]

[Haru-chan...]

[Haru-chan, isn't she too good of a girl?]

[Yeah……]

[After all, an angel]

[Haru-chan is Haru-chan no matter what she looks like]

[Oh no, Ruru-chan says she can't hear her and starts walking closer!]

[Haru-chan, hurry up!]

Ripples on the water surface.

So you're listening, No Name-san.

"...No matter how much you love Ruru-san, this is terrible. So please stay away from her right now. I'm fine with you coming at me, so please, from now on..."

The bottom of the lake is beginning to glow.

...I don't think anything in particular happened at that time a year ago, but that just shows how active No Name-san is now.

"That is my wish. ...If I could make another request, I would like you to make up for all the misfortune she had experienced up until now to Ruru-san and her parents in the future. Give them many times, even dozens of times, more good fortune than the time she spent crying. She had been injured and suffered pain... We'd never say this to her, but I'm sure everyone who has avoided her said mean things to her, and made her cry so much, so please give her smiles to make up for all the tears she's shed. A wonderful life to make up for it."

"...Haru-chan, could it be...!"

[Haru-chan...]

[Too innocent...]

[Maybe: She's an angel after all]

[Isn't that obvious?]

【Angel】

[No Name-chan, be quiet for a moment.]

[No Name-chan, just listen to Haru-chan]

【Roger】

[Uhuh]

[lol]

[The good scene is now ruined!!]

I hear the sound of running.

...I'm sorry.

But this is my wish.

[Oh, wait, another breaking news]

[Ah, shit, here we go again]

[What now?]

[Umm...more missiles...]

[Huh?]

[Why?]

[Again?!]

[...Because her wish will.... come true...?]

[That's not it... Is what I wanted to say]

[Yeah, it's Haru-chan so I'm numb to it, but this is still pretty bad.]

[Ahh... if this really makes her wish come true, then-]

[The whole world is gonna look for giant dungeon... No Name-chan]

"I wish Ruru-san all the luck she can get. I wish her happiness beyond what No Name-san has caused her. I beg of-"

"--Haru-chan!"

She hugs me from behind and at the same time puts her hand over my mouth.

...Yeah, I guess she got it.

That I've been lying all this time.

"You don't have to care about me, just wish for yourself!"

"Wa-pu... I'm sorry, but, it's already..."

I can hear the sound of bells clanging.

The lake becomes brighter.

The surface of the water...no, I can feel the same vibrations at my feet as before.

[Eek]

[The missile]

[I can see them flying back in on the live broadcast!]

[What are we gonna do? The last one had such a big hole!?]

[It's scary!]

[Two missiles with obviously strange power... and yet causing almost no damage to the surrounding area]

[Our prediction was correct...]

[Yeah……]

"Haru-chan, even now... Waaa?!"

"Ruru-san."

The earth began to rumble and the shaking became more intense, until the fountain's finally unable to stand.

"My wish... Has already been made."

"Haru-chan...! Why... why! Because Haru-chan! Ah, that's right! Me! My wish too! I came here too!"

[That's right, Ruru-chan came too, even if it was just for the sake of it.]

[It's a conquest party after all!]

[No Name-chan!]

【Not possible】

【Designation】

【Subject】

【1】

[Seriously?]

[Ah, certainly...]

[This time's conquest was originally only for Haru-chan.]

"Hurry! My wish is――"

"Ruru-san"

Click.

I secretly activated Ruru-san's escape device.

"Ah, E-even though I haven't said anything yet... Then, H-Haru-chan's too!"

"-- About that."

I hold the screen of my wristband up to her.

"--It's broken. At such a crucial time too."

"――――Eh?"

At that time.

When we were fighting No Name-san and diving down to land the final shot.

Something hit me hard.

I thought it didn't hurt at all, but it turned out it had hit my wristband directly.

I only realized that after I woke up a while ago.

I lied again.

[Run awaay... Eh?]

[Huh?]

[Um, missile]

[Ruru-chan's is fine, but-]

[Haru-chan's broken?!]

[You're kidding me!?]

[This isn't something that could be broken that easily, though!?]

[No, just now...Ah no, the dragon battle was yesterday. Haru-chan was very acrobatic, firing off a rocket launcher, diving down from the sky and slamming a slingshot...and on top of that, the missile yesterday was so bad that Haru-chan and the others lost consciousness...?]

[Huh?]

[Ah]

[Bad news: Haru-chan's wristband is broken]

[Like what happened with Ruru-chan...?]

[Come to think of it, Lili-chan's was broken during her rescue too...]

[No Name-chan, isn't that too harsh?]

[No Name-chan?]

[Huh? She's gone...?]

"---So, I'll say goodbye here for now."

"Haru-chan! You can't! I'll give you mine right no-"

"Ruru-san"

Rocks tore off from the ceiling and fell to the surrounding area with a thud.

The fountain is slowly becoming muddier.

"I came here because I wanted to protect you."

"Me too! So let's go back together."

"You have a place to go back to and people waiting for you."

Unlike me.

Mom and the others?

Well, sons tend to separate from their parents when they're old enough, so they'll probably be fine.

Girls are worried about no matter what they do, but guys tend to be left alone with the attitude of "Just do whatever you want."

That's probably better for a man too, because it makes things easier.

So even if I'm gone, I'm sure they'll wait patiently, thinking, "I bet he's out adventuring somewhere far away."

I'm sure.

...I see the countdown on her wristband has started.

When she saw that, she also looked stunned, realizing that it couldn't be stopped...and I felt relieved.

"From today, Ruru-san will be a normal high school girl. Sure, you may still go into dungeons and stream, but you're a normal girl who is no longer scared or teased by others. Ah, but from today on, you'll have a little bit more luck."

"But... but!"

Her eyes were filled with tears of intense emotion.

[Ruru-chan... is crying...]

[That's true, because...]

[Leaving herself aside...]

[Haru-chan...]

"I'm fine."

A magic circle appears at Ruru-san's feet.

--I see.

I've never seen or heard anything like this before, but "when a dropped item is activated, that's how the magical circuits are activated."

I don't know why I can see this now, and why I can understand it intuitively, but I understand it now.

"Water, food... and plenty of stones for the slingshot. I even have a bag full of tablets to kill time. I'll use this rope to hold on, and then I'll find a nice hollow and somehow make it back... It might take a while, though."

"But!"

"Don't worry. No Name-san will sort it out for me."

All lives are not equal.

Especially in emergencies, women are more prioritized than men.

We all know that younger people are more important than older people.

That's why high school girls like Ruru-san is more important than I am, an adult man.

Both objectively and from my subjective point of view.

...Besides, it was my wristband that broke in the first place.

Since I brought her here and made her spend so much time with me... I absolutely have to let her go home.

"Well, see you later."

"Wait, Haru-chan--"

--Hyung.

"...Phew."

She's gone.

No matter how many times I see it, it always looks like an emergency departure, like teleportation.

This is also an escape item that comes from a dungeon, so I guess dungeons do at least consider the safety of those who enter them.

Is that right, No Name-san?

[Haru-chan...]

[Another missile...]

[Perpendicular to the hole in the dungeon...]

The shaking becomes so intense that I can't stand up.

I quickly wrapped the robe around my body...or so I tried, but then I realized that my magical power is already making me unsteady, and I felt like, "This might be dangerous."

But I'm happy with this.

"No Name-san"

It feels like some great force is approaching.

It happened before, but I wonder what that is.

Before, Dragon-san used some amazing breath, but what about this time?

...Well, it's okay, I'll find out soon anyway.

"I don't want to make Ruru-san sad. Please protect her if possible."

...I've felt this way before.

------------------Snap.

My consciousness was cut off there.

Previous | ToC | Next

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Author's note:

There's 3 chapters left.

If you'll be supporting us from now until the final chapter and beyond, please don't forget to leave a ♥ or a supporting comment below, or rate us ★~★★★ and follow us from the table of contents.

https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330662854492372

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー