ALL NOVEL Chapter 107 - Peaceful Chaos☆ (2)
I rode [Bifrost] and jumped straight into Hilde’s bedroom in the
“…!”
While walking in. I flinched seeing only the handle of the giant lance – [Gungnir] remaining on the table.
But I deliberately ignored it and approached Hilde.
“Hilde, Hilde, what’s that about—☆”
“Lara…?”
Tap tap tap—
Far away in front of the mirror.
Hilde, who was combing her hair, tilted her head and looked this way. Her silver hair that always floated a bit had settled down calmly.
“…”
I still found that flowing appearance a bit unfamiliar.
‘…She’s been fixing her hair often lately.’
She used to not care whether it fluttered on the battlefield or not.
After the fight with the prophet… I started expressing affection more actively from my side. Since then, Hilde began tidying her hair that used to stick up.
As much as her hair settled down calmly, her excessively hot gaze also settled warmly.
It seems like she shed something, but I don’t know what it is.
‘Something… seems to have changed…?’
Until now, Hilde’s image was long hair like an ungroomed lion’s mane. But seeing her recent tidy style… it showed a princess-like neatness.
A somehow maturely changed appearance.
‘…Could it be post-nut clarity?’
Has the girl’s adolescence finally ended?
‘After begging so much…’
Chewing on my hair, appreciating my iliac and pubic lines, changing me into various clothes, subtly putting her hand under my clothes in the past.
‘When she murmured ‘Lara drinks 19ml at a time…’ while looking at the teacup I drank from, it was really…’
Is she saying goodbye to that turbulent history and her immature self?
‘But why are you causing trouble again, Hilde!’
I looked at her with disapproval in my eyes, crossing my arms. Hilde’s gaze became serious too.
“…”
“…”
Hilde looked this way.
After being lost in thought for a while, she made an ‘Ah.’ sound and stood up. Then she fumbled and put her hand inside her skirt.
Hilde smiled contentedly while awkwardly lowering her panties.
“Ah! I see…! I didn’t know Lara would ask first. …But I’m happy. I’ll take a shower and be right back.”
Her way of speaking had softened considerably.
“No, keep them on—☆”
“Keep them on? Hmm… if that’s Lara’s preference…”
“No, no, no☆ We’re not doing it—☆”
“Why…?”
“What’s not allowed, is not allowed—☆”
“…”
The sight of me being swept along like a paper doll while subtly holding Hilde’s hand passed through my rainbow vision.
A future at the level of possibility.
‘No! There’s no time now…!’
So I spoke even more firmly.
Hilde’s expression darkened rapidly.
“…We’re not doing it?”
“We’re not doing it!”
“…”
Sulk—
She slowly pulls up her underwear again. Then she made an expression like a 3-year-old Maltese abandoned at a rest stop during Chuseok holiday.
-Whine…
A puppy with wet fur around its mouth from the rain.
An expression that says ‘Ah, my days of being found cute are over.’
Her always smiling mouth turned downwards… that kind of expression.
“…”
Seeing that expression, a corner of my heart was pricked.
‘To show such a suddenly weak appearance.’
Compared to that always confident appearance I’ve seen, I feel sorry and affectionate, and my heart softens.
“…”
That child who couldn’t gauge distance with others well, because she wasn’t loved since childhood. She finally put down the tension she always had…
“…”
Unable to overcome the pity, I blurted out.
“…Next time.”
Hilde’s face brightened again.
And she slid her panties down again.
“Now?”
“No!”
* * *
After a commotion passed.
We sat side by side in front of the table with the lance handle and talked calmly.
The gist of the story was this.
Rather than her already weakened self recovering again, it’s faster to quickly find the next leader candidate who can lead the academy city.
Rather than regaining the authority of a weakened absolute being, it’s better to prepare for the birth of a new hero.
Hilde pointed at herself and said:
“Moreover, I’m a 3rd year now, and my birthday has long passed… In the end, I’m someone who will leave this place soon. The real crisis needs someone who can stay and lead everyone in the future, not someone like me.”
“Hilde…”
“I don’t need to be an eternal legend, it’s enough to be remembered as a senior who once protected the academy city well.”
“I see.”
“I kept thinking about what you said, Lara. Why I wanted to leave something behind for people other than myself…”
“…”
“Only after becoming completely weak, I think I came to understand a little. That [Azure Lightning Lance] is not eternal… that in the end, those left behind have to carry on.”
Only after having her strength taken away by the prophet, she started thinking about a future beyond the duty imposed on herself.
Hilde who was lonely to the end in the game, and smiled seeing the scenery of the academy city they protected at the end.
“Hehe…”
Now she’s showing that smile beside me.
She was letting out a refreshed laugh through her slightly parted lips.
‘Actually, she’s still in the top five of the academy city even now… but such comfort probably isn’t necessary.’
What’s important is what she realized only after abandoning perfection.
Respecting that choice of being able to yield to others.
I held her hand.
“…I see.”
As warmth spread like paint in my palm, she also interlocked her fingers in response.
A warmth that can’t be felt when only one side is there is transmitted to both sides.
“…”
“…”
Thud—
I leaned to the right as I was.
Since Hilde was taller than me, I could naturally lean towards her nape.
Thud—
Hilde tilted her head to the left as she was.
Then her silver hair settled down like a curtain over my head, and her smooth cheek touched my crown.
“…”
“…”
A posture of leaning on each other like mirrors.
I was reminded of a passage in the corner of a photo book I saw once.
Since mirrors and photos are shapes distorted by light, the only way to confirm your true appearance is to exchange gazes with others.
The saying that humans are ultimately animals that live leaning on each other.
‘If there’s no one to lean on… do you die?’
Somehow the face of the embittered prophet flashed through my mind.
-I will save this world.
Is he living-
Or is he dying?
Can he truly save this world?
“…”
I asked Senior Verdandi, who knows him, what the prophet plans to do in the future.
But Senior Verdandi, whose memories weren’t intact, just smiled sadly.
-Defeat the dragon that will come to this land someday.
-For the sake of this world we love… stop him.
Inevitability.
No matter how much we stop
No matter how much we twist
In the end, the [Dragon Crouching in the Abyss] comes.
And the prophet intends to do something relying on that inevitability.
“…”
Urd in the chick’s belly also. Smiling apologetically, she said she would find what she could do.
-I’m not sure either…☆
-But… among the many [Fates] existing in this world, the strongest is the appearance of the ‘dragon’—☆ I can be certain of that much at least.
Urd held my hand tightly and said:
-You who have protected the fate of the [Three Heroes] alone until now weren’t wrong. They who have grown enough will now bloom in their own colors.
Breaking through my reverie, Hilde suddenly opened her mouth.
“…Lara.”
“…Yes?”
“You’ll… stay for lunch, right?”
“…Yes.”
“The juniors?”
“Now, they do well even without me.”
“I see.”
“…”
“…”
Hilde, while still holding my hand… reached out her other hand and grabbed the handle of [Gungnir] on the table. And while slowly stroking it, she said:
“…This, it’s something my family gave me around when I entered elementary school. I didn’t know where it came from… how it was made, no one told me. I just carried it around.”
“…”
In the game, I drew it from gacha.
“They told me to always keep it with me, so I carried it around.”
“…”
“Now it’s gone.”
“…”
I placed my hand on top of Hilde’s other hand. Again, I felt a warmth that wasn’t felt when only one side was there.
Then Hilde grasped that hand too and said:
“…It’s still here.”
“Yes.”
“I’m glad.”
“Yes.”
We were in a strange posture holding hands crossed like that.
“…”
“…”
“Want to stay for dinner too?”
“…Yes.”
* * *
The next morning.
I rode [Bifrost] and ran like a dog to
Crash bang—☆
A pink airhead appearing wrapped in a rainbow spiral in midair.
It was clearly a rare sight not seen anywhere else, but.
“I’m ba~ack—☆”
Kara who was tinkering with something with [Revolutionary Comrades] robots, the chick pecking at its large wings tidying its feathers, Rota reading a magic book with her feet in a water bucket, Alvit practicing handling the holy sword in training clothes…
They all accepted it indifferently.
“…You’re back?”
“Welcome back.”
“You’re here.”
“You came?”
“…”
To show such calmness even seeing the rare sight of a pink airhead appearing in midair… they were truly remarkable talents. Honestly, even I who gained the ability still get excited.
‘Did I show it too often?’
Should I put up a limited banner from now on, and only give [Bifrost] rides to kids who win by rolling gacha up to 100 pulls ceiling? I contemplated.
“Oh right. Senior, did you hear that rumor? They say Hilde suddenly said ‘Now kill each other.’ on the press department broadcast and is holding a group brawl, but since you’re close to her…”
Alvit walked towards me.
“…”
I measured Alvit’s ‘interval’. Pink ether vibrates minutely and rushes to envelop Alvit.
At that moment.
Swoosh—!
Alvit suddenly grinned and emitted small flame wings from her back. She instantly slid sideways several meters.
She avoided my ‘interval’.
“Oops—! Senior, I won’t fall for it anymore!”
“…”
That appearance.
Compared to her crying at the beginning of the semester seeing me with a bucket over my head… somehow my heart swelled.
‘I wasn’t wrong.’
So I could confidently approach and hand a piece of paper to Alvit.
Alvit received it and tilted her head.
“What’s this?”
“…”
I grabbed Alvit’s shoulders and gave a thumbs up with all my might.
“Now kill each other☆”
“…?”
[Ruby Flash] Alvit entry.