Chapter 615 - A Token of a Promise
—During lunch, she immediately noticed an anomaly far too great to be called a mere sense of unease.
The young man she loved and the girl who was her rival in love. Some time had passed since they had started living in the same place, and these two precious people seemed to have grown even closer to each other.
With her work on the Four Pillar War and other duties finally settling down, they had been missing each other a lot lately. So, this was a rare chance for the three of them to sit down together... Iris had eagerly made her way to the private ristorante, only to grasp the other two's condition at a single glance.
""...""
"...Are you two okay?"
"Ah... 'We're just a little sleep-deprived.'"
A reply in unison via voice and text, though it was likely unintentional. And on top of that, they were both stifling yawns and had the same sleepy look in their eyes.
Same time, same lack of sleep, perfectly in sync.
A bad feeling... No, she didn't particularly have one. She didn't, but... she knew it was her own fault for being so busy lately. Still, she couldn't help but feel annoyed.
Besides, it wasn't really her fault, was it?
She had been busy because she was working hard to fulfill her duties as a faction leader, not because she wanted to be left out.
And so, having reached that conclusion in less than a second,
"Haru, Nia, wake up. And pay proper attention to me."
"'Sorry...'"
"Also, tell me all the details about your all-nighter. Don't hide anything. Be honest. Tell me everything."
"'Yes...'"
To these two—and one other person, whom she had lately started treating as naturally as family—she spoke without reservation.
The Princess decided to voice her dissatisfaction and show them she was sulking.
◇◆◇◆◇
A little over half a day had passed since last night's adventure, and a few hours since we'd been scolded by a jealous Iris. Nia and I, having both pulled all-nighters after getting too absorbed in our 'work,' took a nap. I woke up in the evening.
Alone, I waited for my partner in our [Azure Sky] clan home.
My preparations were perfect, but my mental resolve was only so-so. Nia, and Iris during lunch, had both fired me up so much it was like they were asking, 'Are you two really okay with things as they are?' But since this was something I'd decided on my own, I had no intention of backing down.
I had called Sora-san over on short notice, telling her I had some business to take care of. I wondered how she would react... or more accurately, just how far her reaction would go.
Honestly, it was terrifying in many ways, but still.
It felt a bit strange to say I was 'looking forward to it,' but the fact that my eager heart was pushing me to go through with it today meant that this was something I truly wanted to do.
I was on the expensive sofa in our familiar shared space. I sank deep into it, swinging my legs back and forth, and held my hands up toward the ceiling light—four pieces of new equipment, two pairs, black with silver patterns.
They were Kagura-san's masterpieces, newly crafted just the other day. I was extremely fond of this man-made unique gear... and it was the very reason I had rushed to get another equipment update.
Just then.
"Haru?"
"Yes, it is Haru."
Following the sound of teleportation, I heard my partner's familiar voice. The girl's face peeked over the back of the sofa into my field of view, and a few strands of golden thread brushed against my cheek.
It was soft, and very ticklish.
For a moment, without words or any particular thought, we just stared at each other, upside down.
"Hehe... Good evening."
"Yeah, good evening. Sorry for calling you over so suddenly."
We both started laughing, and as usual, exchanged our slightly delayed greetings.
"No, not at all. You seemed tired yesterday, so I thought you'd be taking today off... I'm happy to see you."
"I'm banning you from saying such cute things so naturally."
"It's not natural. I'm aiming for it, very carefully."
"Seriously, everyone's been trying to kill me with cuteness lately."
"Hmph... You're talking about other women right after we've met."
"Iris said she's finally going to have some free time, so she wants to see you. Nia jumped on that and suggested you all have another girls' party soon."
"Oh, really? That sounds wonderful, I'm looking forward to it."
"You guys have gotten really close."
"Of course. We're comrades-in-arms, chasing after a certain self-proclaimed difficult person."
"I... can't argue with that on so many levels..."
The voice that had been coming from above my head was now beside me.
My body swayed slightly to one side from the girl's modest weight, and I carefully straightened myself to keep from leaning into her nearby warmth.
We exchanged some playful banter, but even though we were alone, Sora wasn't being clingy. When I glanced beside me, her amber eyes were waiting intently for my next words.
It seemed she had perfectly read the somewhat serious, or rather, the particular mood in the air. Excellent. Please, by all means, keep blocking my escape route.
"About that thing from yesterday, I ended up getting it from Lux. I wasn't sure what to do since it was such an unexpectedly big find, but... she insisted I take it, saying she only came along to help me find materials in the first place."
"Ahaha... That sounds just like her. Lux-san loves adventuring, but when it comes to treasure, the 'finding' is what's important to her; she has no attachment to the items themselves."
"I think I get it. Considering how she is with managing the things she picks up."
"Hehe, you're right."
"That's great. It seemed to be a material beyond the dimension of just 'very good,' so it should be more than enough for a ranker's equipment, right?"
"Yeah. A certain renowned jewel crafter even gave it her seal of approval as a special-grade unique item."
As I let that slip... well, not really, but Sora reacted to my words with a twitch.
"...Could it be that yesterday, after that, it was just the two of you?"
She must have realized that our farewell greeting of 'Alright, disbanded, good work' had been a lie. My partner, having been lied to, shot me a half-lidded, reproachful glare...
"Yup. And then, we argued back and forth endlessly while the two of us... made some equipment."
I deliberately ignored her glare, looking off into the distance as I spoke unapologetically.
Naturally, a dissatisfied sound came from beside me, but an instant later,
"...The two of you made it? Not that, you know, you requested it from Nia-san?"
The brilliant girl, a first-class expert in reading me, didn't miss the subtle nuance I'd woven into my words.
As expected of her. But even for the amazing Sora-san—
"Well, you see, it's like this. I'm now a fledgling magic crafter myself, you know."
I bet she couldn't have predicted this.
"When you realize you can do it yourself, you kind of want to make these kinds of things on your own."
While still looking away, I held out the hand I had kept clenched.
I opened it before my blinking partner's eyes.
"—...Eh...?"
Two radiant pieces of jewelry.
"You see, I got new armor for my hands and feet, right? The ones that used to match yours."
"..."
"And, so, Sora, you didn't say anything, and I thought maybe you didn't mind or something, but..."
"..."
"But it kinda bothered me. I mean, updating my gear was necessary, but something about it just didn't sit right with me."
"..."
"This is embarrassing to say, but I really liked that we had matching gear as partners, it felt special... And it was the first selfish request you ever made of me, back when we had just met."
Her wide eyes and slightly agape mouth, followed by silence, spoke volumes about the depth of her reaction... But I had started down this path, and there was no stopping now.
"Even if our relationship has changed, I swore that I'd always stay by your side as your partner... so. It might be a bit weird for me to bring it up, but I wanted to follow through on that..."
"...Haru."
"Ah, yeah."
"Haru, did you... make this for me...?"
Her quivering amber eyes were fixed on the pair of jewels—slender rings, each with small, beautifully square-cut diamonds circling the band.
A set of two partner rings.
"...Honestly, I agonized over whether rings were the right choice until the very end, for all sorts of reasons... but surprisingly, Nia really pushed me to go for it."
"Nia-san did?"
"Yeah, um... She said I should spoil you as much as I want, since you're my precious partner. She said Iris would definitely say the same thing."
"..."
And she was right. I got a big circle for my answer during lunch today.
But even without that, in my heart.
"I wanted to do it too, if you two would let me, so I chose these rings. Ah, no, wait! When I say I 'made' them... a magic-crafting rookie like me can't just mess around with unique materials. All I did was come up with the design idea, work on some minor parts that don't affect performance, and do the final assembly. The fundamental parts were all handled by the pro, Nia, so it's not even on a level where you could call it a 'collaboration'."
"But."
Her small, soft murmur silenced me with ease. I steeled myself and turned my face, which I had averted, back toward her.
"You prepared this for me, because you yourself wanted to, right, Haru?"
"...Yes. I did."
For a moment, I thought she might, but there were no tears in the girl's eyes.
My partner was simply giving me a soft, gentle smile.
"...Since you went to all this trouble, would you put it on for me, Haru?"
"...Seriously?"
"Yes, seriously. Since you went to all this trouble."
There was no way I could refuse the left hand she offered me.
One of the two. I picked up one half of the separated pair and took Sora's hand.
Since I was giving her a ring, I had naturally anticipated this development. And so, I had already decided which finger to choose when she asked.
"—...Hehe."
"Haha..."
Her left middle finger. It was a fitting spot, making a pair with the [Cradle of Sword-Craft] on her right middle finger.
To be honest, I'd completely ignored all the stuff I'd looked up beforehand about the 'meaning of ring placement on different fingers.' I chose her left middle finger because—from my perspective, it's on the opposite side of where her other half resides.
A position that stands alongside the vessel that holds a part of her soul, a promise to continue being her other half.
It was a reason that some might find questionable, and one I would absolutely never tell her.
"...The size is a perfect fit."
"It's a magic ring, after all."
"I was wondering what I'd do if you had chosen my ring finger."
"Yeah, that would have been a real problem..."
Sora, who had just given me a pure, beaming smile—
—probably hit her limit right then, because the next thing I knew,
she had leaped at me with great force, and I was pinned beneath her on the sofa.
The meaning held within its design is something that, surely, neither of them knows.