Chapter 460 - Meanwhile: Side The Scales & The Traveler
Like a switch being flipped, consciousness surfaced in a sudden, rapid rush.
The alarm that had begun to ring in her head finished its duty in a few short seconds, and a pair of amber eyes, reflecting the sky of the world far above, blinked open.
1:00 AM. The earliest possible awakening, permitted only to those who—as predicted—had managed to skip the second night's raid. As if to shake off the uncanny feeling of waking up so refreshed, so devoid of any lingering drowsiness that it felt unreal, the girl sat up and let out a small yawn.
—And watching her with a gentle smile was another.
"Morning, Sora-chan."
"…Good morning. Did you get enough sleep?"
Beside a small, gentle stream, in a campsite so spartan it could hardly be called one, Sora stored the petal that had served as her bed—a single piece harvested from a monstrously giant flower—into her inventory, then turned a half-lidded gaze to her companion, who had woken up a little earlier.
It was a sidelong glance, still a bit softer than the one she reserved for a certain someone.
It was a reflection of the familiarity and fondness she'd developed for this [Traveler], who over the past two days had—truly, honestly, from the bottom of her heart—utterly turned her world upside down.
"Heehee, no worries! I slept like a log thanks to you all!"
She claimed she was just an early riser because she fell asleep so quickly, but Sora had to wonder if falling asleep within a second of lying down could really be dismissed as just “falling asleep quickly,” no matter how much the event's debuff induced drowsiness.
Just like yesterday, she had, of course, been subjected to having her sleeping face observed. A small part of her felt embarrassment. The larger part was a mix of exasperation and admiration for the boundless energy of the person who had been mercilessly dragging her around for over fifty hours. This was the source of her sidelong glance.
To be honest, she was enjoying this in its own way.
But as she wished for just a little more restraint, she was reminded of the subtle considerations of her other partner, the one who always seemed to do as he pleased, and her feelings grew complicated.
"Oh, I know that look."
"…And what look is that?"
As she dispelled the magic swords that had been floating around her even while she slept, freed from her control, Sora deliberately responded to Lux's cheerful words with a sullen tone.
It wasn't that she was taking a strong stance of “if you won't hold back, neither will I.”
"That's the face of someone who's missing her partner while she's with her buddy—"
"Alright, let's get going, Lux-san. I'll leave anyone who says strange things behind."
It was one hundred percent a way to hide her embarrassment from the Northern Faction's number one ranker, whose ability to read people was so sharp it might as well be a default skill for all of Arcadia's top players.
And so, in the still-dark pre-dawn hours, under the [Traveler]'s guidance, the girl resumed her journey toward a distant, unknown destination. From her feet—
"Good morning, Ruby. Thank you for keeping watch."
Two “tails” unfurled, and a shadow leaped onto her shoulder. Receiving its master's praise, delivered with a gentle tickle to its neck from her fingertips, the small patch of starry sky quivered with delight.
Mostly an interlude. There's about an 84% chance I'll post again tonight.
[Pygmy Ted Flower] — A type of 'tree' that resembles a giant flower with petals large enough for a person to lie on with room to spare. Its seven light-blue petals are actually 'leaves,' and its thick, log-like stem is, in fact, a 'trunk.'
The leaves that Sora (and Lux) used as beds have the property of becoming 'independent' the moment they separate from the trunk, changing into 'seeds' over time without withering. In addition to repeating their life cycle in the place where they take root, long ago, 'travelers' like them would carry the leaves as bedding, allowing new flowers (trees) to sprout wherever their journey took them.