A silence fell between us, heavy like a lowered curtain.
I swallowed hard as I looked at Yurina. “Uh, w-what did you say?”
“I-I said I’m done washing.”
I stood up to head toward the shower. “T-then I should also...”
However, Yurina grabbed my arm. Avoiding my gaze, she turned her head away, lips jutting out in a small pout. “D-Dale, you don’t need to wash up. Y-you didn’t even fight much.”
“No, still.”
“I-I said it’s fine! When you were next to earlier, you didn’t sll at all!” She pulled my hand closer and sniffed it. “Hehe. Slls nice.”
“Obviously, it slls.”
“I-it slls nice, so it’s fine!”
Her grip tightened as if she refused to let go to the shower. I let out a short sigh and sat back down. Yurina sat right beside and quietly leaned toward my shoulder. Her damp hair brushed against , and a faint shampoo scent tickled my nose.
Clutching the towel wrapped around her like a cloak, Yurina spoke in a tiny voice. “Reward. P-please give my reward now.”
“Why are you suddenly speaking so politely?”
“H-huh? Did I just, uh, talk politely?”
Her face went bright red as she flailed, forgetting even what she had said monts ago.
If a painter could capture her expression right now, her eyes would’ve been drawn in spirals.
Suppressing a laugh, I slowly placed my hand on her head. As soon as my hand touched her crown, she let out a soft sigh. The girl who had been flustered enough to fly off at any second suddenly relaxed, settling down. I gently stroked her head with just enough pressure.
Clutching the soft towel wrapped around her like soone warming themselves beside a stove in winter, Yurina smiled shyly. “Hehehe. Dale, your hand is warm.”
The mont I unconsciously imagined what lay beneath that thin towel, my heart pounded as if it might explode.
“Dale.”
“Yeah?”
“In my previous life, was I ever like this?”
“Well, you never sat by my side begging to pat your head, if that’s what you an.”
Yurina glanced down at the sword lying on the table. “N-no! That’s not what I ant! I ant... Was I ever shaken like this? From killing soone.”
“Hmm.”
To be honest, I wasn’t sure.
I explained, “We only beca party mbers ten years after graduation. I don’t know what happened to you before that. But the Yurina... No, when I t Yuren ten years later, he never hesitated to swing his sword. Whether the opponent was a demon or a hero, it didn’t matter.”
Yurina lowered her head with a small nod. “I see. You said that, in your past life, I beca the strongest swordsman, right?”
“That’s right.”
Yuren was the last hope of humanity, the Heir of the Sun, and the swordsman closest to reaching the pinnacle since Reynald Helios. Countless titles were attached to him.
Gazing down at her sword, Yurina looked uncertain. “Do you think I can still beco that? A hero like that.”
I chuckled softly as I stroked her hair. “No. You won’t beco like Yuren.”
“Then what?”
“You’ll surpass him.”
You’d reach a height even Yuren never reached. You’d beco a moon shining brighter than the brilliant sun.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’m sure.”
In a small, subdued voice, she asked, “How can you be so certain?”
She bit her lip, trembling. “I’m acting like such a ss just because I got blood on my sword!”
I shook my head firmly. “You’re not a ss. I may have pushed you forward, but you made the decision.”
I slid my hand down to hold hers. Her hand trembled slightly, the mory of the mont still vivid.
“And if you were the kind of person who could kill without worry or hesitation, honestly, I would’ve changed my mind about you.”
“Changed your mind?”
I looked down at the bloodstained sword. “Yuren once told sothing. A sword without hesitation or anguish is too light. It can never reach the pinnacle.”
Yurina’s eyes widened in disbelief. “I said sothing like that?”
“Well, I never really understood what it ant.”
But one thing was certain.
“Yurina, you’ll reach the place Yuren reached. No, you will go far beyond.”
She closed her eyes for a mont, deep in thought, then softly said, “So, in your past life, I beca a man, didn’t I?”
“Yeah.”
“Back then, what was I like?”
“What do you an?”
She fidgeted with the towel in her hands. “Like, was I sad about it? Or disappointed?”
“Hmm. I didn’t even know Yuren used to be a woman back then, so— Ah, but there was one thing.”
“What?”
“When Iris and I were together, Yuren nagged us a lot. Asked if it was really the ti to goof off.”
Yurina let out a soft laugh. “Haha. Sounds exactly like now... So that’s how it was.”
She slowly rose from the sofa, and her shadow fell over my head as I remained seated.
“That ans I’m standing right in front of the dream my past self always wished for, right?”
“Huh? What dream?”
“Dale.”
Yurina opened the towel she had been wearing like a cloak.
I was speechless. The first thing that caught my eye was her skin, pale and luminous under the moonlight. The silvery glow spilling through the window scattered across her, creating an unreal, dreamlike sight.
Wrapped over that pale skin was luxurious lingerie. She had also worn black stockings that reached mid-thigh, connected by straps, along with a garter belt. It was exactly that kind of “sexy lingerie” one would imagine.
“W-what, what do you think?” she asked.
The sight hit so hard I couldn’t even form a reply. I froze, dazed. I even forgot how to breathe as my eyes traced every line of Yurina’s body.
“S-say sothing. D-does it... suit ?”
It was neither overly bold nor plain. It was a design that leaned more elegant than sexy. If she asked whether it suited her, the answer was clear.
“To be honest, it doesn’t,” I replied.
Yurina stomped, on the verge of tears. “Ugh! I-I knew it! I told that lady I shouldn’t pick this one!”
I abruptly stood and scooped her into my arms. “But.”
“Huh? Kyaaa!”
Holding her princess-style, I stared down at her with bloodshot eyes. “Whether it suits you or not, if you ask whether it worked, then this... This is my answer.”
With her in my arms, I strode straight toward her bedroom.
“W-wait, D-Dale? Hold on— Kyaaaa!”
Honestly, the lingerie did feel a bit too early for her. It was like a new graduate hero suddenly equipping top-tier artifacts. But so what? Who cared if it didn’t suit her perfectly?
A garter belt? A garter belt, of all things.
Top-tier artifacts had the power to raise a hero’s level by two, three steps in an instant. And what Yurina was wearing now definitely counted as sothing close to that.
Yurina shouted, “D-Dale! Your eyes! Your eyes look scary!”
In front of its overwhelming, destructive power, my reason crumbled far too easily.
“Kyaaaah!”
Along with Yurina’s scream, the bedroom door closed shut.
***
The next day, when the sun was already in the middle of the sky, Yurina scread at once she woke up. “D-Dale, you pervert!”
The pillow she swung smacked straight in the philtrum each ti.
Her face was bright red, eyes shimring as if she would burst into tears any second. “I-I was a-a first-tir! And you didn’t even let rest!”
I hung my head like a criminal, defeated in the tug-of-war between reason and instinct. “S-sorry!”
Yurina pulled the blanket up to hide herself. “Haa!Haa! Seriously.”
She glanced at the lingerie lying discarded at the edge of the bed. “You said it didn’t suit .”
“I told you. Not suiting you and not being effective are two different things.”
“Hmph. As if you cared about the lingerie at all after a while!”
“Well, you’re not wrong.”
Still wrapped in the blanket like a cocoon, Yurina inched toward . “Hmph.”
Once close enough, she pursed her lips. I pulled her lightly into my arms and kissed her.
A shy smile blossod at the corner of her mouth. “Hehehe, I finally got a proper kiss.”
“We did plenty yesterday.”
She pinched my side in embarrassnt. “T-that doesn’t count! I was too overwheld to even rember!”
“Now, you won’t sulk anymore about being the only one who hasn’t kissed yet, right?”
“Hmph. When did I ever sulk?”
I stared at her in disbelief. “Oh, really? You’re saying that now?”
She made a shaless face, pretending not to understand.
While we bantered back and forth, she called out to and rested her head on my shoulder. “Dale.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m going to get stronger. Much stronger than my past self.”
“Yeah.”
Her grip on my hand tightened as she solidified her resolve. “And I’m going to be happy. Enough for the version of who never got that chance before.”
“Why bring up your past life now?”
“Well, didn’t you say it before? That the reason you exist now is that my past self did.”
“Oh. Yeah, I did.”
“That ans my past life played a part in changing the course of my present one.”
Ah! That’s why she said that.
“Hmm. Well, then I guess it can’t be helped,” I said.
“Huh? What can’t be helped?”
I sat up, reaching for the blanket covering her. “I was going to stop for today since you seed exhausted, but if we have to make up for your past life’s share too, well... There’s no helping it.”
“W-wait, Dale! You’re not seriously thinking of continuing?”
“Ehem.”
Flushed bright red, Yurina grabbed a pillow and smacked repeatedly. “Kyaaaah! D-don’t take the blanket! No! D-Dale, you pervert!”
Under the bright midday sun, a red-tinted moon glowed inside the room.
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