Chapter 104 The Girl Carrying A Mission
I was led by Diona into an empty room that nobody used, which had become a storage room.
Diona, who had entered the room, was listening carefully at the door to sense any presence outside, but when she realized there was no one, she let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the spot. I, still holding her hand, sat down in the same way, watching her series of actions.
"Diona-san, um..."
"I-I'm sorry!"
Diona quickly released my hand and bowed her head.
Her face, which briefly looked up at me, was deathly pale.
"Um, your face is really pale. Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry to have worried you. I'm fine."
Her fingers, which had been grasping mine tightly, were shaking. Her hand, which had been holding mine until just now, was as cold as ice.
It was clear that Diona was running away from someone who was calling out her name. But what could be threatening her in the relatively safe place of the castle?
The man's voice that had called out Diona's name was definitely not Reinhardt-san, Sieg-san, or Leon-san. It sounded like an older, more mature man's voice...
I didn't know if it was okay for me to intervene, but after seeing Diona's desperate expression, I couldn't just ignore it.
"If it's a question you can't answer, you can just ignore me. Are you being chased by someone?"
"No, it's not that I'm being chased..."
I took another step forward, trying to get closer to Diona, who was evading the question.
"But, the man's voice calling out your name..."
I thought she might try to deceive me, but...
"It's from Rustu."
Diona furrowed her brow, gazing at the ground, and muttered her response.
After a brief silence, Diona turned to me and smiled ―― no, it was more like a bitter laugh.
"It seems they heard that Hero-sama and we were in contact, so they came to investigate."
――Ah, somehow, I figured it out. It seems that the leaders of the Rustu people are putting pressure on Diona and the others.
Diona is probably shouldering the expectations of the Rustu people all by herself. I remember what Sieg-san said before ―― Diona has an extraordinary power that surpasses others in the current Rustu tribe. She's been carrying this heavy responsibility on her frail shoulders since she was young.
I recall how pale she looked when she met Lukas. As a player, I only saw hope for the future in the encounter between the protagonist and the heroine, but ―― for Diona now, Lukas might be the embodiment of an inescapable heavy responsibility.
"I got tired of being questioned and decided to run away..."
Diona tried to feign a carefree smile, but her pale blue face, drained of blood, couldn't hide her true feelings.
Imagining Diona's mental state when she chose those words, my heart aches. Indeed, Diona might be a chosen one, but she's still just a young girl who hasn't grown up yet.
I struggled to find the right words to say ―― but before that, I decided to warm up her chilled body. I stood up, approached the door, and was about to leave the room.
"I'll bring a healing potion to warm you up."
"Ah...!"
Diona's panicked voice came from behind me. I turned around, smiled reassuringly, and tried to calm her down.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that Diona-san is here."
As I said that, Diona's relieved expression made my heart ache again.
I didn't want to leave her alone, so I quickly headed to the synthesis room. There were some healing potions stored there.
When I reached the synthesis room, I tried to open the door quietly, so Lukas and the others wouldn't notice my return, but――
"Hey, Laura?"
I caught the attention of my childhood friend due to a small noise. I quickly grabbed the healing potion I needed and hid it behind my back, planning to make a swift exit before being pursued. I smiled at the 3 people who were staring at me in surprise.
"Ah, haha, I just forgot something... Don't mind me, let's chat!"
I could feel their suspicious gazes on my back, but I couldn't think of any more excuses, so I just left. I'm not good at lying.
I hurried down the hallway and arrived in front of the room where I was earlier. To avoid causing any unnecessary anxiety, I introduced myself as "Laura" before knocking on the door and entering.
Diona was sitting in a wooden chair inside the room, looking a bit cramped and uncomfortable. I took another chair nearby and sat down beside her.
"Diona-san, please..."
When I handed her the healing potion, Diona politely bowed her head and said "Thank you," then downed it in one go.
After she finished drinking, Diona let out a sigh of relief. Then, she glanced at me with a curious expression.
"I'm sorry for showing you my pathetic side."
"No, it's okay. Do you need to rest in the infirmary?"
Diona shook her head slightly in response to my question.
"I'm fine, really... I'm sorry."
I didn't know how to respond to Diona's apology, so I just shook my head and fell silent.
The silence was broken only by the sound of the clock's ticking, which seemed to be getting louder and louder. But then, Diona's soft sigh interrupted the sound.
I looked at her beside me. Diona had a similar bitter smile on her face as before.
"Laura-sama, I'm really okay now. Thanks to the healing potion, my body has warmed up completely. Thank you very much."
I had given her a healing potion with instant effects, but it was still too early to feel its effects. It was clear that Diona was trying to put on a strong front so as not to trouble me.
"Reinhardt will be here soon. I'm sorry for getting you involved in this."
However, when she said that with a smile, I hesitated to stick my neck out any further. I pulled my chin in and tried to nod. ――At that moment, I noticed that Diona's hand holding the healing potion container was still shaking.
I can't forget her cornered expression, and the ice-cold fingertips that grabbed my wrist.
My unreliable intuition was telling me that I shouldn't leave her alone.
"...If it's not too much trouble, may I stay with you until Reinhardt-san arrives?"
"Eh? Ah, yes."
It looked like she let out a sigh of relief ―― or maybe I just wanted to believe she did. I moved my chair closer to her, deciding to stay put.
I didn't ask any unnecessary questions. My only thought was to distract Diona, even if just a little, until Reinhardt-san arrived.
"Do you like sweet things, Diona-san?"
Unfortunately, I didn't have many conversation topics, so I decided to start with a random question. Diona's amber-colored eyes widened in surprise, but after a few seconds, she nodded slowly, still looking the same.
"I, I like them."
"Great! Is there a particular sweet thing you like?"
This was the first time I was having a casual conversation with Diona. But since we were around the same age and both girls, I thought we might have some common ground.
Diona took a little time to answer my question.
"...I like cookies."
"Ah, cookies are delicious! Are there any shops in the city that sell them?"
As I asked, remembering the taste of the cookies my mom made, Diona quietly shook her head.
"No, there weren't any shops like that in the city that sold such luxuries."
――Cookies are a luxury, you say? That's an unheard-of value in Emme Village, deep in the forest. The people of Rustu might be living a more frugal life than I imagined.
I felt a little regretful about my previous conversation topic, but it would be silly to suddenly change the subject now, so I tried to continue the conversation somehow.
"So, did you make them yourself?"
"Yes. At first, my brother made them secretly. Then we started making them together."
I imagined Diona's brother ―― Sieg-san and Leon-san, no doubt ―― standing together in the kitchen, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
"You, Sieg-san, and Leon-san are really close, aren't you?"
Diona just gave a vague nod to my words, without any further reaction.
As the silence began to fall again, I hurriedly spoke up.
"Recently, a new bakery opened in the royal capital. Would you like to go there with me sometime? They have fluffy bread with sweet cream inside... it's really delicious."
Diona's amber-colored eyes widened, and then she smiled faintly. Her mature, beautiful smile overlapped with the heroine's smile from "Last Brave".
It's only natural, since they're the same person, but seeing Diona, a living, breathing human, overlap with the game character, I felt a pang. It was as if I was being reminded once again that I was living in the world of a game I played in my previous life.
"Please, let me join you."
I also smiled at Diona's answer.
――To be honest, I don't know when "next time" will be. But whenever it is, I strongly vowed to keep this promise.
From now on, Diona will face hardships due to her surroundings. Even if it's a mission imposed on the heroine of this world, the suffering and smiling woman in front of me is not just a game character. She's a living, breathing person with blood flowing through her veins.
So, it's okay if she has a daily life where she can enjoy sweet treats. She needs that kind of daily life too.
Diona, who had no hesitation in calling cookies a luxury item, was utterly helpless.
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