Chapter 56

Well, what should I do now?

“Noah.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Can’t you let me go now?”

“Not possible.”

In order to escape from this evil grasp of Noah.

“Noah, aren’t you hot? It’s been incredibly hot these days.”

“I’ve turned on the air conditioner.”

“Oh dear, that’s not right. Using electricity like that will lead to the world’s end.”

“Perhaps it would be better to lose you than to waste so much electricity.”

Noah showed no intention of releasing me.

I felt like a tied-up boat with QQQ knots.

Noah had anchored me firmly. There was no way to escape.

I resigned myself and gently hugged Noah.

“Is this okay?”

“…Yes, it’s fine. But…”

“Hmm?”

“Could you… hold me a little tighter, until I can’t breathe?”

“…”

“Does that make you uncomfortable?”

What to do. Seeing Noah’s sniffling expression softens my heart.

The guilt of doing something I shouldn’t and the regret of making Noah cry mix in my mind, causing a headache.

I don’t know what to do anymore.

“Ahh…”

Granting his wish, Noah let out a flustered breath. His small body snugly fit into my arms.

It feels like his energy is being drained into my body.

“Hehe…”

“Is it good?”

“Yes, it’s warm…”

…Well, since I’ve put him through so much trouble with hypnosis, I should at least do this much.

I gently stroked Noah’s back.

“Go to sleep quickly.”

“Uum…”

Noah looked tired.

Of course, he would be after all the commotion last night.

Children need plenty of sleep to grow well, don’t they? Noah still has a lot of growing up to do, so I have to make him sleep now, even if I have to force him.

With the appropriately warm blanket, adequately dry and cool outside the blanket, and the luxury of having both the blanket and air conditioning, Noah seems to be getting sleepy.

The much softer bed than a dormitory bed must have helped too.

Noah spoke in a drowsy voice.

“Master…”

“Hmm?”

“Will you…not go anywhere?”

Noah pleaded as he came closer. I still couldn’t find the right words to say.

“Don’t go anywhere. Please stay with me.”

“…”

“I don’t want to be alone.”

His voice was moist with emotion. Truly, he’s perceptive. How did he know I planned to run away while he slept?

Noah mumbled with his face buried.

“Please… always stay with me…”

“…”

“If you leave… I’ll be sad.”

And he shed a tear, showing just how lonely he must have been.

Even though I’ve been with him every day, it wasn’t enough for him.

While Noah had fallen asleep, I used his sleep-talking as background music, stroking his hair.

“Mmm…”

“…”

“…Big Brother…”

Even in his sleep, he’s looking for me. When I stroked his hair, Noah wore a peaceful expression.

Looking at his face, I took a sip of water.

“‘Don’t go anywhere…'”

If only I could, I’d do anything to stay with him. But for that, I must survive the upcoming battles.

“…Can I survive?”

I recalled.

The great calamity that would soon arrive. The day when everyone might d*e.

+++++

This game has two major boss battles.

One is naturally defeating the final boss, Demon King Luder.

And the other boss is Lust.

She is the mid-boss of this game. Appearing towards the end of summer vacation, she differs from previous demons.

“The first time I saw her, I was quite shocked.”

To describe her: a massive blob. A chaos that views people merely as objects of pleasure.

In case of defeat, not only magical girls but an entire city turns into her nest.

Men become nutrients, women egg carriers.

And the process where powerful magical girls meet their fate—there’s no need to elaborate on that.

Especially Iris meets a particularly terrible end.

She loses consciousness and experiences vivid pain.

Moreover,

“…Summer vacation doesn’t have long to go.”

Summer vacation is almost here, and it’s such a short one.

Lust will appear soon. She’ll emerge at some point, using the city as her stage, and heroes will launch large-scale raids.

Even fighting Iris didn’t make me this tense. Just thinking about Lust’s terrifying appearance made me break out in cold sweat.

“It’s hard enough for me to be by your side.”

Lust attacks over a wide area. Moving around responding to emergencies makes it difficult to stay close to Iris.

I’ll be included in Lust’s attack range, and I’ll have to avoid the heroes as well.

“…Sigh.”

“Why are you sighing?”

“QQQ, are you alright?”

Under the bed, Kkomkmu and QQQ playfully crawl out.

“They get along well.”

“Yes, surprisingly, we communicate well.”

“QQQ, Kkomkmu is fun.”

“Are you gossiping about me?”

“Nope.”

“Not at all.”

They shake their heads simultaneously.

…Really? I gave them a suspicious look. They shook their heads as fast as possible, indicating it wasn’t true.

At that moment, Noah twitched his body.

Apparently, the rustling sound bothered him.

“Uuuh…don’t go…Big Brother, don’t go…”

“Noah, Uncle is here.”

“Don’t go…I’m cold…”

“Don’t worry. Uncle won’t go anywhere.”

I stroked Noah like that and made him fall back asleep.

Behind me, I could feel their gaze.

The two mascots were determined to give me a hard time, putting on their best act.

“QQQ…I’m so cold…”

“QQQ…don’t worry…I won’t go anywhere-”

“Go to sleep. I’m craving chicken and raw fish right now.”

“EEK!?”

“QQQUUU!?”

I chased away the startled duo and looked at Noah again.

He was sleeping soundly, like a fairy on a cloud.

“Mmm…heehee…Big Brother…”

“What kind of dream are you having?”

Pressing his mochi-like cheeks made him hum softly.

“So soft.”

I stopped because I thought he might wake up, but it’s addictive.

“Noah, we have to survive together.”

I patted Noah’s small back repeatedly.

Until dreams tempt me away.

+++++

“Master, where are you going?”

Chomp chomp. Noah stopped cutting the meat and turned around.

I told him honestly.

“To deal with the magical girls.”

“Are they attacking?”

“No, I’m just going to meet them.”

Noah looked worried at me.

“Will you be alright? Should I not go?”

“I’ll be fine, I won’t d*e.”

“Ahh…”

“Huh…”

After saying that line, I gave a sheepish smile.

“Really. Do you think I’d lose to them?”

Noah shook his head.

“So don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”

I patted Noah’s head. He was still uneasy, gripping my hand tightly and asked.

“…Will you definitely come back safely?”

“Anyone watching would think I’m going to d*e.”

“Still…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back.”

“Be careful. I’ll prepare something delicious, so you must come back, understood?”

“Got it. Then I’ll go.”

Leaving the residence, I waited on top of a tall building.

They should be arriving soon.

“Kraken!”

Right on time.

“Iris, give her back!”

Turning around at the familiar voice, there stood Black Heart.

“Did you come alone?”

“Stella and Natalia are still recovering.”

“Hm, get well soon then.”

Black Heart looked bemused. Well, anyone would react that way to such words from the villain.

He pulled out his black sword anyway. The flow of dark magic along the blade was intimidating.

“Oh ho, so you’re planning to fight me alone?”

“Iris, Stella, and Natalia aren’t here. But…”

Whoosh.

Black Heart’s eyes sparked with flames.

“Even so, I can’t just leave a nasty villain be, can I?”

“…I see.”

I inwardly cheered. That’s right. This is how Black Heart should respond.

I was worried he might chicken out and give up, but it doesn’t seem like that will happen.

Especially when…

“Black Heart!”

“Let’s fight together!”

“Sis…”

Seeing that, even more so.

“I’ll rescue my friend.”

“We can’t leave the youngest to fight alone, can we?”

“Sis…! Alright, let’s do this together!”

A scene of magical girls uniting to save their friend.

“Excellent.”

However, this isn’t a fairy tale. There’s no magical story where immense power suddenly surges and defeats the villain.

If you want to defeat the villain, if you want to protect what’s precious to you, there’s no other way but to become stronger.

“Good! Let’s see what you’ve got then!”

“…”

“Here, let’s have a festival with your bl**d!”

For that, you need to practice consistently.

“Come at me! Weaklings!”

I will also seriously train you. Because that’s ultimately the way to defeat the villain and protect what’s precious.

And most importantly,

To survive many times and return to where Noah waits.

“Haa…Uncle’s here…”

“You’ve arrived?”

“Ugh…I’m tired…Noah, let Uncle rest a bit-”

“Then…Master, would you like to shower? Have dinner first? Or if not…me-”

“Okay, stop there. Uncle’s going to lie down.”

Every time I come back like this, it does make my heart sink a little.

…That’s how a tiring month passed, both physically and mentally.

---