The Great Sword is not the Main Body!

I stayed in bed all day without moving.

Except when Rubia brought food from the dining hall on the first floor during mealtimes, I just... lay there.

I held off on going to the bathroom too.

After enduring such painful time.

When Rubia's scent was almost gone from the pillow I was clutching...

"Sigh... I'm back..."

Hephaestus returned.

"He, Hephaestus...!"

I shot up and looked in the direction of Hephaestus' voice.

"Ah, Noah unni."

I heard an extremely exhausted voice.

It sounds like he had a tough time...

"Did you eat... something?"

"Yeah, I ate. How about you, unni?"

"I, I also... ate."

Rubia kindly fed me. But, the atmosphere was so different from usual... I still feel like it's lingering.

Ugh...

I heard the sound of Hephaestus' dragging footsteps.

"By the way... I tried to finish it by today, but it was too much... It's not the usual equipment, so it's unfamiliar... The fragments are so tough... Sorry, Noah unni."

"Mm... It can't be helped... You don't need to apologize..."

I didn’t expect much, but... I did hope a little.

But, as expected, it didn’t work out.

"By the way... is Rubia unni sleeping?"

"Rubia is... sleeping?"

"Yeah. She's lying on the desk. Should I wake her up?"

Wasn't she lying down with us yesterday...? Could it be that something’s bothering her, and she couldn’t sleep...?

Could it be... because of me yelling at her...?

No, that can’t be it. Why would she be worried enough to not sleep because of something I said?

"Well... let her rest."

Hm. But, if she’s sleeping on her stomach, her back will hurt when she wakes up.

Hmm... maybe I should wake her up and have her lie down on the bed...

"No... I think it’s better to wake her up. Let’s tell her to lie on the bed..."

"I guess that’s better."

I heard Hephaestus' footsteps fading away.

He’s probably going to wake Rubia up.

"Unni, Rubia unni!"

"Ugh... Hah... Ah, Hephaestus is here... Mmm..."

I heard Rubia's voice soaked in exhaustion.

I pulled the blanket back over myself and laid back down.

I hated Rubia.

I didn’t even want to look at her...

"Sigh... I must’ve dozed off. Did you finish it?"

"Ah, yeah. It should be done by tomorrow. Honestly... it wasn’t regular monster fragments but Carpen’s, so they were really tough."

"That makes sense. But Noah... Ah."

I heard Rubia stumbling over to me.

I tightly hugged the blanket.

"Noah. Are you sleeping?"

The bed sunk on one side.

It seems Rubia sat on the bed.

"Ah, no, I'm not sleeping."

I curled up even more.

"Can you show your face?"

"No..."

"I'm sorry for falling asleep..."

"Well, it can’t be helped..."

Actually, There’s no need for Rubia to apologize. I don’t need to be upset with her.

When my greatsword is gone, and I can’t see... it’s really just my personal problem.

Rubia doesn’t need to worry about it.

But.

Still... I feel disappointed.

She’s my friend. My best... best friend, she said.

Last time... she stayed next to me all day. But why... today...

If she was going to act like this, she should have said so from the beginning. Making me expect something for no reason...

Again, my nose tingled and my eyes got warm, and I held my breath.

I don’t even want to let out a sound of crying.

I heard Rubia sighing from right next to me. And Hephaestus' snoring was coming from the front.

Then, a moment later...

"Unnies, do you want a late-night snack?"

Hephaestus’ random question broke the silence.

"Late-night snack?"

"Yeah. Rubia unni hasn’t eaten yet."

"I...? I ate—"

"You didn’t, right? There's only one serving here."

Huh? Rubia didn’t eat?

She definitely said she was going to eat earlier...

"Hmm... What kind of late-night snack are you thinking of? Do you have something in mind?"

I heard Rubia’s awkward response.

She didn’t eat.

"Hehe... I saw a place on the way here. I’ll hurry and get it, so don’t sleep, okay?"

"Ah... Okay. Be careful."

I heard Hephaestus walking toward the door.

I kicked off the blanket and poked my head out cautiously.

"Alright, take care."

Then I quickly withdrew back under the blanket.

"Okay! I’ll be back soon!"

I heard the door open and close.

"Noah. I’m sorry..."

Rubia’s hand brushed over my shoulder.

"It’s... fine..."

Another sigh from Rubia.

But.

I can’t take it anymore...

Now that Hephaestus is gone...

I threw off the blanket and slowly got up.

I carefully reached out and walked slowly, feeling my way forward.

"Noah...?"

Ignoring Rubia’s words, I continued walking.

And a little later...

"Ah... Done."

I touched the wall!

Now, I just have to follow it...

Swish— swish—

The palm of my hand brushed against the wall, making a strangely pleasant sound.@@novelbin@@

I passed the curve... Ah, this is a table.

Swish— swish—

And then...

"If you want to go to the bathroom, just say so..."

When my hand touched the door frame, Rubia’s hand wrapped around my waist.

"I- I can go alone... Rubia... you don’t need to..."

I pushed Rubia’s hand away and turned the doorknob.

Creeeak— The sound of the bathroom door opening.

"I'm sorry..."

"Rubia, you don’t need to apologize... this, this is... my problem."

I stepped inside the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

From the other side, I heard Rubia’s deep sigh.

"Sigh..."

Hearing that, I couldn’t help but feel... melancholic.

No.

It’s fine.

I can do this alone now...

I gathered my resolve and finally managed to take care of the task I had been putting off.

Now, I feel like I can breathe a little...

As I washed my hands, I adjusted my twisted expression.

Then, I felt my way along the wall again and opened the bathroom door.

Rubia’s uneven breathing was right in front of me.

"Noah..."

"Before Hephaestus gets back... I’ll lie down on the bed."

I kept a stiff expression and continued walking, holding onto the wall.

Maybe halfway through...

I tripped on something hard at my feet, and my body swayed.

"Ugh...!"

But... I didn’t fall.

"Even if Noah doesn’t want it, I’m still going to help you."

Rubia’s trembling hand was supporting my waist.

"Ugh..."

"I’ll take you there."

Then she carefully wrapped her arms around me and slowly walked me back to bed.

"Th- Thank you..."

"It’s nothing."

After replying, Rubia carefully sat down on the bed.

Is she looking at me? Or... looking somewhere else?

It’s frustrating not being able to see anything. It’s annoying...

Now, I’m too embarrassed to pull the blanket over me, so I hugged my knees and lowered my head.

Then, a moment later...

"Ta-da—!"

The door swung open with a bang, and Hephaestus, panting, entered.

I lifted my head and looked in the direction of Hephaestus' voice.

"Wow, you’re back...?"

"Yeah!"

"Kebabs... and is that alcohol?"

Alcohol?

Did he buy alcohol...?

"Yeah!!"

"Hephaestus... Aren’t you underage?"

"Of course, I’m not drinking!"

"No, it’s not about drinking or not drinking... How did you even get this?"

"They gave it to me when I went to run an errand for my mom."

Huh...? Is it really okay to just hand out alcohol like that?

Well, when I was younger, I would get alcohol or cigarettes when I ran errands for my parents...

"Alright, enough talking. Let’s eat! I’m starving!"

I heard Hephaestus walking toward me, the sound of a crinkling bag.

Eating is fine, but...

If I try to eat this, I feel like my blindness will get exposed.

Of course... I don’t mind telling Hephaestus that without the greatsword, I can’t see.

But I really don’t want to say it myself.

Besides... it’s our secret, mine and Rubia’s.

If I just blurt it out, Rubia might be upset...

Right now, I’m annoyed at her...

But, I won’t stay angry forever.

Ugh, whatever. If it happens, it happens.

Hephaestus probably won’t do anything bad to me anyway.

As I struggled to get up, someone’s hand gently tapped me.

Then, it carefully took my hand and helped me stand.

An incredibly familiar hand.

Rubia’s hand.

"Here, sit down!"

The hand slowly guided me to Hephaestus' side.

"Noah, take this."

She brought a skewer in front of me.

"Th-thank you..."

I carefully took it.

My heart melted. The stiff expression I had started to loosen.

It’s the smell of the skewer. Not because Rubia took care of me.

"I’ll eat well, Hephaestus. But... the atmosphere now is a bit different from when you asked to take me from Rohallan, isn’t it?"

Hmm, now that you mention it...

Back then, I looked so desperate. But now, it feels a bit more relaxed?

"Ah... well, this is embarrassing to say..."

I heard Hephaestus rummaging through something.

"It’s because of this..."

What’s this...?

I can’t see!!

"...A shining stone?"

Nice, Rubia!

But... why a stone?

"It’s not just any stone... Hmm, it was given to me by my master..."

Hephaestus took a breath before continuing.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

"Once, I almost got seriously injured during an important errand... But after that, my master gave me this stone... To put it simply, if the person is alive, it shines, and if they’re dead, it turns off. So this means... my master is alive... Hehe..."

Ah... It’s the stone of fate.

The kind of in-game item that you’d give to someone when you marry them, like a wedding ring...

I’ve never received it, and I’ve never given it either...

And honestly, If you open the friend list... it tells you where they are and if they’re alive.

It’s useless!

That’s why I never cared about it.

Of course, I still don’t need it. Since I can’t see it.

It doesn’t mean anything. It’s useless. I’m not jealous at all.

Really.

"Then, why were you so desperate in Rohallan?"

"That’s... When I was in Rohallan, it was flickering. But when I got here, it’s fine now."

Flickering? Does it malfunction?

"Well, that’s a relief... But are you planning to go look for your master?"

"Yeah. Something... feels off, and I can’t just stay still. Of course, I’ll finish the equipment repairs properly. At times like this, I need to be even more thorough."

By the way, does the stone of fate have no meaning in this world? In the game, it meant 'let’s get married.'

But, I guess in this world, it doesn’t mean much since players made those kinds of things...

Still, I’m glad to hear that Yuria is fine.

And... now that everything has gotten a little livelier...

I feel a bit better.

I took a bite of the skewer to hide the small smile creeping up on my face.

But.

"Hah, phew... Aah... It’s, it’s spicy!"

I felt a pain like someone slapped my tongue really hard.

It’s so spicy. It’s really, really spicy!

"Mu, muul... Ru, Rubia... Hephaestus...! Anyone... wa-water, p-please... huff, sigh... so... s-spicy..."

"Unni! Here!"

Hephaestus brought a cup to my mouth.

I took it and gulped it down.

"Eeeek... Is, is this alcohol?!"

Bitter! It’s so bitter and spicy!

It’s even spicier!!

"Ah, I mixed it up with water. Sorry... Unni, this one’s really water."

Hephaestus quickly placed the cup next to my hand.

I fumbled around, grabbed it, and drank.

"Ugh, ugh... It’s... awful..."

My tongue is tingling... It’s still spicy...

So bitter too... Ugh...

"Are you okay, Noah? First, eat this."

Rubia brought something soft to my mouth.

Jelly? Is it jelly?

I opened my mouth and quickly accepted it.

It’s definitely jelly!

"Umm..."

I swallowed the jelly, and Rubia immediately brought more to my mouth.

I accepted it again.

This time, it’s grape flavor.

Jelly’s delicious... But my stomach is burning.

Could it be because of the spice?

Or... because of the alcohol?

It’s getting... warmer... and warmer...

"Noah...? Are you... drunk?"

Since I came to this world, no one offered me alcohol...

Could I really get drunk from just one drink?

There’s no way that’s possible.

"Ugh...? Do I look drunk? I’m totally... not drunk... Hehe..."

See? I’m fine.

"Hehe..."