Chapter 595 - Slowly, Slowly Surfacing
"—…Sorry, I'm okay now. It seems I was hit harder than I thought, but it's just simple frustration, not the kind of thing to overthink or make a huge fuss about, so you can let… let go, you…!"
"Nuh-uh. It's rare to see you in your younger-brother mode these days, so just a little longer… a-alright, alright, I get it! Stop glaring at me for real."
In terms of time, it was only a matter of minutes. But the fact that I had indeed let myself be coddled fueled an endless well of embarrassment, allowing me to kick away my weaker self.
When I put on a show of struggling with what little output my avatar's body was beginning to regain, Nia reluctantly let go of my head with a tease and hopped off the armrest.
"Geez, you're such a shy one."
"Don't get cocky."
"Heehee. Sooo cute."
"Tch… …………"
Given the circumstances just before, anything I said now would just sound like a sore loser's whining or a younger kid's bravado. I did my best to ignore the sensation of my body temperature rising from an indigestible sense of shame—
"Um, why did you just get even cuter?"
"When your body gets smaller, your subjective view makes the sofa seem huge, enhancing the feeling of being buried."
I activated [Trance] without warning. In response to Nia's question, I tossed back the most random excuse imaginable while sinking deeper and deeper into the cushions.
It's not like I was trying some petty, desperate maneuver to escape my embarrassment by burying not just my face, but my entire body in the sofa. Not at all. I simply decided to focus on resting my tired body and wisely took measures to increase my recovery efficiency.
"Hey."
"Yes."
"This blushing, pouting, cushion-buried beautiful girl is too cute. Can I take a picture?"
"No, you may not."
Unfortunately, from Nia's perspective, the situation had apparently become even more hopeless. A truly regrettable state of affairs—not that I'm concerned about that sort of thing, not at all.
"Aww… well then, um… hmm…"
"I already told you. Don't worry about me so much."
Now that things had more or less settled, she was probably wondering whether to bring the topic up again or not. From my sea of cushions, I stuck out a hand and gave a little wave at the hesitating Nia.
And just like that,
"Okay, okay—so if your work for the selection match is over, does that mean you have no plans for later? I don't really know anything about how the Four Pillars is run."
With just a word or two, she would switch gears completely. That's a quality of hers I can trust, one that I find simply and powerfully 'nice.'
…And so, the ramblings of a man being steadily pulled into her swamp are irrelevant.
"Well, I'm pretty much free. I'll get called if something comes up, but basically all the rankers besides Goldow and the twins are free to do as they please."
That said, we each have our own quota… we've been asked to 'do what you can, when you can' to earn funds for the faction's operating costs, as usual.
But it's not a major burden, not even a minor one, so it's safe to count that as being 'free.' It seems it's mostly a way for us top rankers to show that we're contributing to the faction.
"Oh, so that's how it is. So very Istia-like… whoops, never mind."
"I mean, Hina-san often assists Goldow, and Tetra apparently supports the twins a lot, so the only ones who are truly doing whatever they want are the three battle junkies: me, Irori, and Gen-san."
"My, my? Did you just admit to being a battle junkie?"
"Not a junkie. But I'll admit I'm skewed pretty heavily in that direction."
And it's not like we're slacking off, either.
We, whose very beings are specially oriented toward combat, are simply continuing our lives of training because we are expected from many quarters to 'be as we are.'
Besides us rankers, there are plenty of other reliable faction members.
—I'm going on a bit of a journey.
That's what my master said last month when she went off to find a 'self worthy of being Rank One.' The Eastern Faction supports each other and is united in its own Eastern Faction way.
…As for the Tenth Seat, who was re-appointed two months ago, I still haven't had a chance to meet them, so I can't say much. I'll just have to wait for our encounter—
"So then, so then, does that maybe mean you're free this afternoon? If so, what a coincidence! Nia-chan, who's been completely neglected by a certain someone, is also free—"
"Ah… sorry, I'm going to watch the rest of the selection matches, so I can't today."
"Aww! I knew it!! I was just hoping, that's all!!!"
I casually placated the pouting Nia… and was then scolded with a "Don't placate me casually." As I did, I let out a breath, my heart feeling so much lighter than it was before I came here that it was almost laughable.
Thanks to a certain someone, my newly freed-up thoughts turned toward a senior I had yet to meet, one whom I had almost certainly played a part in bringing back to the ranks.
Goldow said something like, "They'll probably just show up randomly one of these days," but… I wonder when 'one of these days' will actually come.
Personally, I'd like to meet them soon.
[Screen], the one who handed the [Sword Saint] a loss in a one-on-one duel, the original [Trickster].