Episode 209. Interlude – Red Moon (2)

“……”

“……”

A silence that fell like a curtain.

I gulped dryly as I looked at Yurina, who was covering herself with a large towel.

“Uh… what, what did you say?”

“I… I already washed.”

“Then, I should too…”

As I got up to head to the shower, Yurina grabbed my arm.

She averted her gaze, pouting her lips.

“D-Dale, you don’t need to wash. You didn’t really fight, right?”

“No, even so…”

“I-It’s fine! You didn’t smell at all when you were next to me earlier!”

Yurina shouted, pulling my hand closer and sniffing it.

“Hehe. It smells nice…”

“…It’s just a smell.”

“I-It’s a nice smell, so it’s fine!”

Yurina tightened her grip on my hand, as if determined not to let me go to the shower.

I let out a short sigh and sat back down.

*Swoosh.*

Yurina sat down next to me and leaned her head slightly toward me.

Her damp hair and the faint scent of shampoo tickled my nose.

“…Head.”

Yurina, clutching the towel wrapped around her like a cloak, spoke in a creeping voice.

“P-Please… pat my head.”

“…Why the sudden formal speech?”

“H-Huh? Did I just use formal speech?”

Yurina’s face turned bright red, flustered to the point of forgetting what she had just said.

If an artist were to capture her current state, they would probably draw her pupils as @ symbols.

I stifled a chuckle and slowly placed my hand on Yurina’s head.

“Ah…”

As my hand touched her crown, Yurina let out a soft sigh.

Her body, which had been fidgeting as if about to fly away somewhere, quickly calmed down.

*Swoosh, swoosh.*

I gently stroked her head with a bit of pressure.

“Hehe. Dale’s hand… it’s warm.”

Yurina, holding the soft towel wrapped around her like a blanket, smiled brightly, as if she had found a spot next to a winter fireplace.

Unintentionally imagining what lay beneath the thin towel, my heart pounded as if it might burst.

“Dale.”

“Hm?”

“In my past life… did I ever do something like this?”

“Well, you never sat next to me and begged me to pat your head.”

“N-No! Not that!”

Yurina looked down at the sword on the table and continued in a low voice.

“…I meant, was I ever shocked by killing someone?”

“Hmm.”

Honestly, I don’t know.

“I only became part of Yuren’s party ten years after graduation. I don’t know exactly what happened in between.”

But.

“At least the Yuren I met ten years later… didn’t hesitate to swing her sword, whether the opponent was a Mine or a Hero.”

“…I see.”

Yurina nodded her head slightly.

“In Dale’s past life, you said I became the strongest swordsman, right?”

“Yeah.”

The last hope of humanity.

The Sun’s Descendant.

The swordsman who came closest to the ‘pinnacle’ of the sword after Reynaldo Helios, and so on.

There were countless ways to describe Yuren Helios.

“…Can I become that? A hero like that.”

Yurina looked at the sword with an uncertain expression.

I stroked her head and chuckled.

“No. You won’t become like Yuren.”

“…Then…?”

“You’ll go beyond that.”

The place where the ‘Yuren’ of the past life couldn’t reach.

A moon that shines even brighter than the radiant sun.

“…Really?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“……”

Yurina asked in a slightly subdued voice.

“How can you be so sure?”

Yurina bit her lip.

“I’m just… so pathetic after just staining my sword with blood…!”

“You’re not pathetic.”

I shook my head firmly and continued.

“I was the one who pushed you, but the decision was yours.”

I took her hand with the one that had been stroking her head.

Yurina’s hand trembled slightly, as if the sensation from that time was still vivid.

“And if Yurina had been someone who killed without any hesitation or guilt… I would’ve changed my mind.”

“Changed your mind…?”

“In my past life… Yuren once told me something.”

I looked down at the blood-stained sword.

“A sword without any hesitation or anguish is too light. It can never reach the pinnacle.”

“…I said that?”

Yurina’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure what it means either.”

But one thing is certain.

“Yurina. You’ll reach the place Yuren reached… no, you’ll go even higher.”

“……”

Yurina, who had been lost in thought with her eyes closed, spoke softly.

“If what Dale says is true… then in my past life, I became a man, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What was I like back then?”

“What do you mean?”

Tilting my head, I asked, and Yurina fidgeted with the towel in her hands.

“Was I… sad? Or regretful… or something like that?”

“Hmm. I didn’t even think Yuren was a woman back then… Oh, but there was something.”

“What?”

“She often scolded me and Iris when we were together. Saying things like, ‘How can you be so carefree at a time like this?’”

“Haha. That’s just like now.”

Yurina let out a light laugh.

“I see… that’s how it was.”

Yurina slowly got up from the couch.

Her shadow fell over my head as I sat.

“So, the dream my past self longed for is right in front of me now?”

“Huh? What dream…?”

“Dale.”

*Swoosh.*

Yurina unfolded the towel she had wrapped around herself like a cloak.

“……”

The first thing that caught my eye was her pale skin illuminated by the moonlight.

The silver moonlight streaming through the window created a dazzling scene, as unreal as a deep dream.

And the next thing that caught my eye was the luxurious underwear covering her pale skin.

Black stockings that reached her thighs, connected by a strap.

It was the kind of underwear often called a garter belt.

“H-How is it…?”

“……”

The visual impact was so intense that I froze, unable to respond.

I forgot to breathe.

My bloodshot eyes scanned Yurina’s body up and down.

“W-What do you think? D-Does it suit me?”

“……”

The design wasn’t too flashy, nor too plain.

It was more elegant than provocative.

If you asked if it suited Yurina…

“Honestly, it doesn’t suit you.”

“Ugh. I-I knew it! I knew this would happen!!!”

Yurina made a tearful face and stomped her feet.

“I told them I didn’t want to wear this!”

“But.”

“Huh? Kyah!”

I suddenly stood up and lifted Yurina into my arms.

Holding her in a princess carry, I looked down at her with bloodshot eyes.

“Whether it suits you or not, if you’re asking if it had an effect… my answer is this.”

“Huh? D-Dale? Wait… Kyah!”

I carried Yurina and strode toward her bedroom.

Yeah.

Honestly, the underwear felt a bit too mature for Yurina.

It was like a freshly graduated hero wearing top-tier artifacts, you know?

But.

So what?

‘A garter belt… a garter belt, huh?’

Who cares if it doesn’t suit her?

Top-tier artifacts have the power to instantly elevate a hero’s level by two or three stages.

And.

The equipment(?) Yurina was wearing now was definitely on par with those top-tier artifacts.

“D-Dale! Y-Your eyes! Your eyes are scary!”

In the face of that overwhelming destructive power, the walls of my reason crumbled effortlessly.

“Kyaaaah!”

Along with Yurina’s scream.

*Bang.*

The bedroom door closed.

* * *

The next day.

The sun had already passed its zenith.

“D-Dale, you pervert!”

*Thud, thud, thud!*

Yurina’s pillow hit me square in the face.

“I… It was my first time! Y-You didn’t even let me rest!”

Yurina’s face was bright red, on the verge of tears.

“I… I’m sorry.”

Having been utterly defeated in the tug-of-war between reason and instinct, I bowed my head like a criminal.

“Haa, haa… Y-You’re really…”

Yurina pulled the blanket over herself, glancing at the underwear that had been tossed aside on the bed.

“You said it didn’t suit me…”

“I told you. Not suiting you and not having an effect are two different things.”

“Hmph. You didn’t even care about the underwear halfway through!”

“Well… that’s…”

True.

“…Hmph.”

Yurina, who had been curled up like a ball under the blanket, slowly moved closer to me.

She puckered her lips slightly.

As I gently hugged her and kissed her, a bright smile spread across Yurina’s face.

“Hehe… We finally kissed.”

“We kissed a lot yesterday too.”

“B-But I was too out of it to really feel it back then!”

Yurina’s face turned red as she pinched my side.

“So, you won’t sulk about not having your first kiss anymore, right?”

“Hmph. When did I ever sulk?”

“Oh, come on. You’re saying that now?”

I looked at Yurina in disbelief, and she put on an innocent face, as if she had no idea what I was talking about.

As we playfully teased each other…

“…Dale.”

“Hm?”

Yurina leaned her head gently on my shoulder.

“I’ll become stronger. Much stronger than my past self.”

“…Yeah.”

“And… I’ll be happy. I’ll take the happiness my past self couldn’t have.”

Yurina clenched her fists, determined.

“Why bring up your past life all of a sudden?”

“Hmm… You said it before, right? That because of my past self, the current Dale exists.”

“Ah, yeah. I did.”

“Then, that means my past self played some part in changing my current life.”

Ah.

So that’s why she said she’d take the happiness her past self couldn’t have.

“Hmm. Then I guess there’s no choice.”

“Huh? What do you mean, no choice?”

“I was going to stop today since Yurina seemed tired… but if I have to make up for your past self’s share, then… I guess I have no choice.”

I quickly got up and grabbed the blanket covering her.

“W-Wait, Dale! You’re not planning to do more here, are you?!”

“Ahem.”

“Kyaaaah! D-Don’t take the blanket! Eek…!”

Yurina’s face turned red as she hit me with a pillow.

“D-Dale, you pervert!”

The sun was high in the sky.

In the room, a red moon was shining.