“Bride.”
I couldn’t accept the meaning of the word, so I had no choice but to ask.
“W-Wait, Rowen. What do you mean by that?”
“A bride is a bride!”
“…Bride. Is that the word for a spouse?”
“What else would it be?!”
“…Does that mean that in the past, Nosfy and I were in a marital relationship?”
“That’s why I’m mad, kid!”
“…I was the husband, and Nosfy was the wife. Is it really okay to recognize that as what’s commonly called a married couple?”
“You two were husband and wife! That’s why Nosfy was fighting, wasn’t she?! But Kanamin, you’re too cruel!”
“—…!”
I was stunned.
However, perhaps because I had gotten used to it thanks to my experiences since coming to this Another World, the confusion was surprisingly minimal. It was probably because, somewhere in my heart, I had braced myself for something like this to happen.
So, I was able to check Nosfy’s expression. Her expression was the opposite of mine, and she tried to calm Rowen down as if it were nothing.
“Rowen, that was a thousand years ago. The country that recognized us as husband and wife has disappeared. Therefore, to claim that would be a mistake.”
“Proof, proof, huh? No, kid, I’ll prove it! Besides, even without that, husband and wife are husband and wife, right! If you’ve sworn your love, isn’t that something eternal!?”
Nosfy denied Rowen’s words with a slightly stern expression.
“We did not swear. That was a marriage of convenience, a contract full of lies and deception. It was a meaningless ceremony. Therefore, it is completely different from the marriage Rowen imagines. And Rowen forgets that. If so, there is nothing more foolish than to claim that I am the wife right now.”
“Foolish, Nosfy…! But, but…!”
After silencing Rowen with her calm words, she turned her gaze to me.
“Hey, Uzunami. It’s inconvenient now, isn’t it?”
Her jet-black eyes, like obsidian, gazed at me as if to confirm. She seemed to imply that any falsehood, and even any mistake, would not be forgiven.
To that overly heavy question, I couldn’t nod or shake my head.
Without any memories, I didn’t know how to answer.
However, Nosfy accepted that non-answer with a smile.
“That’s how it is, Rowen. We are no longer husband and wife, but former husband and wife. Of course, if that is alright with Uzunami, please do not mention it. Now, this conversation is over.”
“If that’s okay with Nosfy, then it’s fine… My sister is sulking…”
She forcibly ended the conversation and moved on to the next topic. It seemed that the topic of marriage was something that neither I nor she wanted to talk about.
Leaving Rowen, who pouted beside me, Nosfy answered my question.
“It’s about a thousand years ago… Although, my story from a thousand years ago is simple. I **received** Uzunami, who had tried to get revenge on Apostle Sis and was defeated. After that, Uzunami fled north, so we invaded with our entire country. And finally, he was killed by the ‘Ruling King’… It’s really just that.”
“…Wait a minute, I lost to Apostle Sis?”
While the adopted statement and the reason for the war were problematic, the most important thing for me was the battle with Apostle Sis.
I only had the memory of winning against Apostle Sis. I tried to confirm that discrepancy.
“Yes, it seems you won in the end, but you lost in the first battle. At that time, Uzunami’s heart was broken, and I was the one who treated it.”
“I lost at first… Well, in that case, thank you…?”
“Gratitude is not necessary. It was simply my role. At that time, Nosfy and Uzunami were nothing more than pieces on a board. It was just that two pieces happened to be placed next to each other.”
“So, a thousand years ago, I—”
With Nosfy’s story, a few gaps in my thousand-year-old narrative began to fill.
According to her, the board a thousand years ago.
I, who was determined to get revenge after my sister was killed, chased after Apostle Sis, who had fled south.
However, I was defeated in the first battle and fell into the enemy’s hands. Then, Apostle Sis induced Nosfy, the ‘Imperial Banner’ of the South, into a marital relationship to draw me in. However, I somehow regained myself and escaped. Learning that I couldn’t win alone, I went north and joined hands with Rowen. After that, I caused a war that involved the continent and tried to kill Apostle Sis. Was it at the end of that battle that I and Rowen chased Apostle Sis, abandoning the north? If so, it adds up.
And after defeating Apostle Sis, it’s as I saw in my memories from the previous ‘Shaka Hōkan Jin’. Tiara persuaded me, who had despaired. I moved on to creating the Labyrinth, was deceived by Apostle Legacy, and here I am now—
…Is this really correct?
“—Yes, I think it’s roughly correct. However, since I was a piece called the ‘Imperial Banner’ of the South, I don’t know the details of what happened after Uzunami left the South… I’m sorry.”
When I confirmed with Nosfy, incorporating the information I knew, it seemed there were no major mistakes. However, my relationship with Nosfy seemed to be short, and I couldn’t get a detailed answer.
In reality, asking Rowen would be the best, but he stubbornly refused to talk about the past. Furthermore, Rowen started tending the garden as soon as the conversation turned to old stories.
He seemed unwilling to recall things from a thousand years ago.
“No, what’s important is ‘Now’ rather than the ‘Past,’ so it’s fine. So, you mentioned ‘Curse’ and things like that for ‘Now’ Nosfy…”
“—When I was alive, I was born with a Curse Technique embedded in my body, and a certain ‘Curse Technique’ was constantly leaking. However, I can control it now. As Uzunami predicted, it seems I was purified of various things in the process of becoming a Guardian.”
As she explained, Nosfy let a radiant Magic Power leak from her body.
I felt a strange power from that light, as if it were absorbing everything.
“This light is Nosfy’s?”
“It is the light of enchantment. With this, I rallied the southern soldiers.”
“Enchanting soldiers? What a wicked ‘Curse Technique’.”
“It does not affect those with power. It is completely nullified for Uzunami and Rowen. It probably won’t affect that Liner either.”
I looked at Liner, who was watching from behind.
He nodded his head and said “It’s okay,” confirming that Nosfy was indeed in control of her power.
Then, with the thousand-year-old story concluded, Rowen rejoined the conversation.
“Ah, so that’s it. That power is gone, huh? I wondered why that painful glare was gone. Good for you, Nosfy. Now both the kid and Nosfy are free from the ‘Curse’!”
“Yes, Rowen seems very light too, which makes me happy. I didn’t dislike the curse-like solemn you, but it suits you better to laugh like a child.”
Rowen clung to her like a child, and Nosfy accepted him with loving eyes. In the meantime, Rowen suddenly stopped. He seemed to have noticed something very important.
“Hmm! Perhaps this is the long-awaited feeling of having a friend of the same sex!?”
“Yes, if someone like me is acceptable. Rowen, please take care of me.”
“Woah! Yay! I did it!”
Apparently, female friends were rare. Rowen rejoiced with an expression of unprecedented childish regression. However, I understood his feelings very well. It is difficult to relax without a friend of the same sex. Nosfy murmured again as Rowen manhandled her.
“—Is this also different?”
My 《Dimension》 sensed that small, small voice. Had she been feeling lingering desire for reconciliation with Rowen? And from those words, I understood that this was not Nosfy’s lingering desire.
“Then Nosfy, let’s talk in the kid’s room from now on! I have a lot of things I want to confirm!”
With that, Rowen tried to take Nosfy away.
“Wait, Rowen! I also have a lot of questions for her!”
“The kid also has a lot to talk to Nosfy about! As girls! —That’s right, as girls!”
Rowen emphatically emphasized them being girls, but what I had to say was about my memories. I thought it couldn’t be compromised because it’s related to future Labyrinth攻略— but perhaps that’s why Rowen was interfering.
“No, let’s put off that girl talk for later. I really have a lot of important things to discuss…”
“…No. The kid also has a lot of important things to tell you. Besides, Kanamin should properly remember the memories of married life first! Until you do, the poor, poor Nosfy belongs to the kid! Let’s go, Nosfy!”
Then Rowen, holding Nosfy in a princess carry, took her out the garden window. I was unable to react to the sudden abduction and just watched them go.
“And besides, don’t you have a room in the castle…?”
I wished she had at least stayed within the castle, but Rowen had disappeared into the town. I thought about using 《Dimension》 to read their lips and eavesdrop on their conversation, but I gave up because she insisted it was girl talk. Above all, given their abilities, there was a high probability that they would notice me trying to eavesdrop.
Left behind in the castle garden, I asked Liner.
“Hey, Liner. Did you know…?”
“Hm? Ah, that…”
Even without me asking “what,” Liner seemed to have grasped the subject of my question.
As expected, the biggest problem in the conversation just now was—
“—No, this is the first time I’ve heard that the Shiso has a wife.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard that too…”
It was the first I was hearing that I had been married a thousand years ago.
This was a very, very troublesome situation. It was becoming difficult to return to the ground, let alone my original world.
Was that why there was nothing similar written in the legends of Revannism? Was it because Tiara was considerate of me, or because I wanted to pretend it never happened, or was there another reason?
Of course, there was also the possibility that the entire story of us being married was a lie…
However, based on the appearance of the third party, it didn’t look like a lie.
“Do you believe what those two are saying?”
“Setting aside Nosfy, it doesn’t look like Rowen is lying…”
“While I’m at it, how old does that Nosfy look to you?”
“She was a little shorter than me. About 12 years old? That’s a bit criminal.”
“Right? Nosfy is really small… So, what do you think I should do?”
“Well, how about taking responsibility and remarrying on the ground?”
“I-Is that what it’s going to be?”
“…Don’t take it seriously, Christ. It was a joke.”
“A j-joke…?”
If everything could be resolved with a joke, I would be saved, but I didn’t feel that at all.
Judging by Nosfy’s demeanor, I felt there were circumstances that went beyond just marital issues. That’s why I wanted to hear more. I wanted to resolve Nosfy’s lingering desire early on.
Moreover, speaking the truth, I wanted to end Nosfy’s lingering desire before returning to the ground.
I have no intention of destroying evidence.
I wasn’t cheating by any means.
Yet, the warning signs that it would be a disaster to take her to the ground have not stopped ringing.
They didn’t ring even once when I almost died in the Labyrinth, but now they’re ringing uncontrollably.
In other words, reuniting with my companions on the ground is more dangerous than exploring a Labyrinth with a level difference of 40. …Honestly, I can’t deny that at all.
Just thinking about those rather peculiar companions gives me a stomachache.
I can’t imagine introducing them by saying, “Ah, this is my wife, Nosfy.” It wouldn’t just be an awkward silence; it would be a dying wish.
Therefore, I must do something about Nosfy quickly.
We’ve finally reached the 60th floor, and returning to the ground is just a matter of time, but I can’t go back like this.
Should I talk to Nosfy, even if it means interfering with Rowen?
No, or rather—…!
“Ch-Christ, you’re sweating more than I’ve ever seen you. Are you okay?”
“Okay…? Ah, I’m completely fine. I’m okay, okay! This is all usual…! There’s no problem at all…!”
That’s right. I’m used to this.
When I was traveling by ship, every day was like this.
I’ve just gone back to how things were. Ah, I’ve just gone back to how things were—
“I-Is that so? Is that usual…? But I think you must be tired from the Labyrinth exploration today, so it’s better to go to bed early. I’ll make dinner today… Come on, let’s go back to your room early…”
“—Early, sleep? …Hey, Liner. Am I really allowed to sleep? From your perspective, haven’t I made a wrong choice? When I wake up, will something be burning somewhere? Or—”
Thinking of my companions after so long, my body began to tremble.
Perhaps it was due to my stomachache, but I no longer knew what I was saying.
Let me be honest. I’m a little scared to return to the ground.
But I can’t help but go back.
I promised to save them. I promised to save my sister.
Now, thanks to the skill ‘Otherworldly Covenant,’ I am calm, but the passage of one year would normally be enough to drive me mad with impatience.
The policy of returning to the ground as quickly as possible cannot be changed.
“No, your body is trembling, Christ… Let’s try to rest early. You need to be in perfect condition, or it’ll be troublesome if something happens, right…? Huh?”
“—Ah, that’s right, Liner. We need to return to the ground quickly, so I have to be in perfect condition at all times…! B-But, I feel like I’ll regret it if I rest here, and it’s scary…! Ahh, for some reason, I’m inexplicably scared…! Why am I scared!”
“Just go rest…! I’ll make you some easily digestible warm soup, so wait in your room…!”
“U-Un.”
Defeated by Liner’s insistence, who forcibly urged me to rest, I honestly nodded.
After that, Liner took my hand and led me back to my room.
I realized that my mental state was such that I couldn’t possibly try to get Nosfy back from Rowen.
In the end, that night, after doing the minimum preparation for the next exploration, I immediately fell asleep.
I needed to calm my mind.
For some reason, that night, Liner was unusually kind, as if I were a patient…
