After discussions with the people of the city, the day was decided to hunt down the Witch of Lust.

Having finished the meeting, I headed straight to the room where Yoon Si-woo was sleeping.

I intended to borrow the Holy Sword of Truth that Yoon Si-woo possessed to pinpoint the location of the Witch of Lust.

“Yoon Si-woo, I’m coming in for a moment.”

As I entered the room, I naturally received no response to my greeting.

The owner of the room, Yoon Si-woo, was lying on the bed, completely motionless, just as he always did.

“…You’re still sleeping like a log today.”

Seeing how he showed no intention of waking up, I couldn’t help but wonder if he thought he was some kind of sleeping princess from a fairy tale.

I approached the side of the bed and muttered while looking at him.

“…Are you waiting for a prince’s kiss to wake you up? What would you think, Yoon Si-woo? If you woke up after being kissed by a guy while asleep.”

I giggled for a moment at the thought of Yoon Si-woo waking up, startled to realize his lips had been stolen by some guy, but then I sighed.

“…I really wish you would wake up somehow.”

Looking at the sleeping face of Yoon Si-woo only made me feel down again.

If only there was a way to wake him up like that.

Then, I would have been able to get him up somehow.

Having a debt of life, what couldn’t I do for Yoon Si-woo?

If there was something needed, I would be confident in doing anything, but without knowing how to make this guy open his eyes left me just feeling frustrated.

“…Hah.”

I let out a sigh and reminded myself of today’s original purpose for visiting Yoon Si-woo, casting my gaze towards where it was located.

The Holy Sword of Truth was neatly placed next to Yoon Si-woo’s pillow.

I reached out to pick it up and then looked back at Yoon Si-woo.

As expected, he was just as he was a moment ago.

I smirked and muttered.

“…Even though we’re friends, I should be stopped if I try to take someone else’s belongings without their permission.”

I had no idea how I would use this if I took it.

There was a time when one of my friends borrowed an eraser without asking and wore down the corner I had been saving, leading to a huge fight, so I might end up treating it carelessly too.

As I entertained that thought, I whispered to Yoon Si-woo in a pleading tone.

“…So please, say something, you idiot.”

But despite my wishful words, I received no answer from Yoon Si-woo.

As expected.

“…What am I doing to someone who can’t even respond?”

Right, that was the usual thing now.

There was no need to feel discouraged or sad about it.

Yet, it was inescapable to feel somewhat bitter, so I muttered with a wry smile.

“Anyway, Yoon Si-woo, I need to borrow your sword. We have to go hunt down the Witch of Lust soon, and I need the abilities of the sword you have. I’ll be careful with it and return it in its original state, so don’t worry too much.”

Of course, he probably wouldn’t hear this anyway.

As I silently muttered that and got ready to leave the room with the Holy Sword of Truth, suddenly—

“…Huh?”

A faint glow began to emanate from Yoon Si-woo’s body, stopping me from turning away.

“What’s this…”

I was astonished and thrilled by that strange phenomenon, unable to comprehend.

Given that Yoon Si-woo had been unresponsive to anything up till now, I thought perhaps this was a sign that he was beginning to wake up.

However, as if to deny my hope, the still-lying Yoon Si-woo maintained his position while emitting light from his body.

Before long, I discovered the source of the light emanating from him.

“…The Radiant Sword?”

The splendid sword, the Radiant Sword, appeared abruptly above Yoon Si-woo’s body, shining brightly for an unknown reason.

That sword, which had suddenly revealed itself while scattering light, floated in mid-air, aligning with my eye level.

I found myself gazing directly at the Radiant Sword hovering in front of me.

I thought there had to be some intention behind its sudden appearance.

But as 10 seconds passed in that state…

“…”

20 seconds passed as well.

“….?”

The Radiant Sword merely floated in front of me without showing any signs of movement.

What is this, really?

At that moment, unable to understand anything, I tilted my head in confusion, and only then did the seemingly inactive Radiant Sword begin to move.

It tilted slightly, then returned to its normal position.

If I had to describe its movement, it seemed as if it had tilted its head, just like I had moments ago.

It gave me the impression that a speech bubble saying [……?] should have been appearing next to it.

Growing momentarily perplexed by the Radiant Sword’s unknown actions, I felt slightly frustrated and asked it directly.

“…Hey, why did you suddenly appear?”

As I asked that, the Radiant Sword paused for a moment, then tilted to the side and returned to its original position.

This movement, resembling the tilting of a head as before, felt a bit different this time.

If the previous movement had seemed to express pure curiosity, this one felt somewhat like it was flustered.

Yet, even with that, I couldn’t ascertain the exact intent of the sword, so I remained silent until the Radiant Sword finally began to move again.

This time, it floated toward me and seemed to extend its handle as if inviting me to grab it.

In that movement, I instinctively understood what the sword was trying to say.

“Um… are you offering to lend me your power?”

It nodded.

In response to my question, the Radiant Sword gave a nodding motion as if to say yes.

And only then did I realize why the Radiant Sword had suddenly appeared.

“I asked to borrow a sword earlier, so you came out to lend me your power…”

It nodded vigorously.

The Radiant Sword seemed to affirm my mumbling as it extended its handle toward me again as if to offer its strength.

Oh wow, what a kind-hearted sword this is.

I was moved by the benevolence shown by the Radiant Sword, but since I couldn’t lie, I confessed awkwardly with a smile.

“Well, um… I really appreciate it, but the one I wanted to borrow was not you, but the other one, the Holy Sword of Truth… I need the tracking ability that the Holy Sword of Truth possesses… So, uh, I’ll just take your kindness.”

As I said that, the Radiant Sword inclined drastically as if shocked.

It really showed a movement that indicated great surprise.

With the sound effect of “Thud—!!”, it wouldn’t have seemed out of place to have a line like [So, what the!!] accompanying it.

Anyway, as the Radiant Sword was frozen in that state, the Holy Sword of Truth in my hand began to vibrate with a “weeing” sound.

Then, suddenly, as if having a fit, the Radiant Sword began to shake and emit light.

Seeing the Holy Sword of Truth vibrating while the Radiant Sword responded in kind, I figured they were having some form of conversation.

They say swords choose their masters, and it turns out they had a level of self-awareness to engage in a chat.

With a sense of wonder, I felt a rush of curiosity about what exactly they were discussing.

Being magical swords, surely their conversation was high-level and intellectual, right?

As I looked at the vibrating swords, lost in such imaginings, before I knew it, their conversation seemed to conclude as the repeated shaking stopped.

Just as a moment of silence passed…

“Ugh?! W-What…!”

Suddenly the Radiant Sword erupted with brilliant light.

That light converged in one spot and then abruptly flowed inside my body.

What is this? Did it do something to me?

Though I couldn’t quite grasp what was going on, the Radiant Sword finished its purpose and soon trembled vigorously, then instantly transformed into light and vanished into Yoon Si-woo’s body.

“What just happened?”

In the blink of an eye, I found myself in a stupor, but I soon realized that at least I had completed the borrowing of the Holy Sword of Truth from Yoon Si-woo, so I decided to leave the room.

Before leaving, I took one last look at Yoon Si-woo, but I felt less gloomy than before.

It was probably thanks to the sword I just saw.

The fact that the swords remained with Yoon Si-woo was proof that he was still alive.

Just that alone made me feel reassured that Yoon Si-woo had not completely departed from this world.

And with that, I felt a little more at ease.