“…Heh, everyone seems tired.”

“…Right.”

Having defeated the Sloth Witch Beatrice and successfully obtained the sacred relic from the buried Dwarven kingdom, we were finally on our way back to the city.

Yoon Si-woo, who had gone through a fierce battle with the witch, and the members of the exploration team who had spent quite some time digging through rocks and dirt, all seemed exhausted as they quickly fell asleep after getting onto the starry mass created by Sylvia.

With only Sylvia and me awake, gazing at those who had succumbed to slumber, I soon found myself questioned by Sylvia, who seemed to doubt why I was still awake.

“…By the way, is Lady Scarlet alright not sleeping? You must be tired too.”

“…I’m fine. I’m not that sleepy.”

Honestly, I was tired, but I shook my head and replied to Sylvia, not for any particular reason.

You know, isn’t it a bit awkward for the passenger in the front seat to fall asleep while their friend is driving?

Moreover, even if the witch was tired, she didn’t really need to sleep if she didn’t want to.

So I thought I’d stay awake to keep Sylvia company.

But perhaps she sensed something in my answer.

“…Hmm, is that so?”

“…Wha?!”

With a mysterious smile, Sylvia suddenly pulled me towards her.

Caught off guard, I was inadvertently pulled into her side, resting my head on her lap.

It was what you would call a lap pillow.

The warm and soft sensation was felt against my cheek.

It felt so nice that I momentarily felt my mind go blank.

I wondered if it was the cause of my sudden thought that it smelled good there.

Without thinking, I let my nose…

‘…Hah! What am I doing…!’

I regained my senses right after that.

Realizing that I couldn’t smell anything.

…That was close.

If my sense of smell hadn’t failed, I might have lost my composure for a moment.

“Sy, Sylvia? Why all of a sudden…?”

Anyway, after regaining my composure, I asked Sylvia why she was acting this way, showing my flustered feelings.

Sylvia lowered her head.

Her face came closer, and I closed my eyes tightly.

“…Why do you think?”

Sylvia whispered in a small voice, leaning her mouth close to my ear where my head was resting on her knee.

With her voice tickling my ear, I felt a shiver and blushed.

“…I, I don’t know.”

“Why do you think? It’s because Lady Scarlet is lying.”

“…I didn’t lie or anything.”

As I denied her claim that I had lied, Sylvia whispered as if she knew everything.

“I don’t know if it’s because we’ve been together for a long time, but I think I can catch on to what Lady Scarlet is thinking little by little. For example, just now, you stayed awake because you were sorry I was awake. Wasn’t that what you were thinking? You don’t need to worry about that…”

Sylvia, who had been whispering, muttered with a bittersweet expression.

“Even this time, I couldn’t help Yoon Si-woo or you when you fought the witch… All I can do is lend Lady Scarlet my lap like this when she’s tired.”

As she muttered, she suddenly smiled brightly, as if she hadn’t just worn a bittersweet expression.

“Well, just don’t mind me. If you’re tired, feel free to use my lap to rest. Got it?”

“…I’m really not sleepy. So let me get up.”

Even though the truth of my lie had been exposed, I still feigned innocence to Sylvia.

Because acknowledging that I had lied would mean I had to rest on Sylvia’s lap, and that made me a bit embarrassed. So I desperately tried to get up.

However, my attempts were thwarted by Sylvia’s hand firmly pressing my head down.

Sylvia, with a knowing smile as if it was obvious, whispered to me.

“Well, if that’s what Lady Scarlet says, then we’ll leave it at that. But just lie down. It’s more comfortable than sitting up, right? If you get sleepy, it’s okay to just sleep like that.”

I tried to sit up a few times, but her unwavering attitude made it impossible for me to resist, leaving me no choice but to use her lap as a pillow.

I tried not to fall asleep to keep my last shred of pride intact, but…

“It’s okay… you don’t need to worry; everything will be alright…”

The voice that whispered as if she understood my heart, and the gentle, warm hand that patted my head made me, for a moment, forget my worries and concerns.

I unknowingly fell into a deep sleep.

When I opened my eyes again,

“Lady Scarlet, we’ve arrived.”

Before I knew it, we had arrived in the airspace above the city.

“Everyone made it back safely. Now I can stop worrying.”

“…Fortunately, it seems no one is seriously injured. That’s a relief.”

We, exhausted, arrived in the city.

Upon hearing the news of our arrival, Martina and Dwight promptly rushed out to welcome us.

Seeing them waiting for us, we couldn’t help but feel speechless.

“…I think the one who needs worrying is actually you two.”

The two of them looked even more fatigued than us, who had just completed our journey.

Dwight looked unusually weary, and Martina had dark circles under her eyes.

“What on earth happened while I was away?”

Inquiring about the two of their deathly pale appearances, they replied with a strange expression, as if they had come from another dimension.

“…Didn’t you hear? All the mages in the city are preparing for large-scale magic, just in case the Witch of Gluttony revives.”

“…While staying up all night, researching magic in old documents and securing magical power for the spell activation while also installing the large magic circle. Everyone had a very busy time. Very.”

…Now that I think about it, I feel like I’ve heard something like that before.

I must have been too occupied with thoughts of defeating Beatrice to pay much attention.

Anyway, it seems the shortage of mages during this expedition was due to that magic preparation thing.

I was thinking that everyone was working hard behind the scenes when Martina suddenly turned to me with a question.

“…So, you secured the sacred relic, right?”

“Oh, yes. Here…”

In answer to her inquiry about the sacred relic, I showed her the small flame flickering near my shoulder.

After confirming that was indeed the sacred relic, Martina nodded and murmured with a serious expression.

“…Yeah. With this, we’re ready to face the Witch of Gluttony.”

By her words, I too felt it sink in once more.

Having defeated Beatrice and secured the sacred relic was indeed something to rejoice about, but at the same time, it was merely one part of the preparation process.

Collecting the sacred relics with all our effort was solely for the purpose of facing the Witch of Gluttony.

Therefore, we still couldn’t afford to let our guard down.

This world was still on the brink of annihilation.

However, we now had everything prepared to prevent the destined destruction of this world.

All that remained was the final battle that would determine the fate of the world.

“Everyone worked hard, so take some rest. When the time comes, I’ll call you.”

With those words from Martina, we ended our meeting.

In the following days, perhaps because of the impending great battle, the atmosphere was tense yet eerily calm, like before a storm.

During this time, I prepared my heart and adapted to my damaged senses.

I mean, not being able to see out of my right eye was a critical problem in battle.

“Hoo… Hoo…”

That’s why I was sparring with the enraged lesser demonic beasts in the open area outside the boundary zone.

The problem was that despite their frightening appearance, these creatures were surprisingly weak in close combat.

Since their bodies were made of fire, and they’d never experienced a physical fight, they seemed rather clumsy.

Could this really prepare me for a fight with the Witch of Gluttony?

…I feel like something like Ari would have made a good sparring partner.

But sadly, Ari was recovering from exhaustion, so that was impossible.

While I was lamenting over that, training with other enraged lesser demonic beasts to adapt to my situation, a guest arrived.

“…What are you doing?”

“…Yoon Si-woo?”

The guest was none other than Yoon Si-woo.

I stopped the enraged lesser demonic beasts and slightly ruffled my hair that I had let fall to the back before asking him.

“What brings you here?”

“…Oh, I just happened to be in the area and saw you.”

Yoon Si-woo said with a vague expression.

Upon hearing those words, I couldn’t help but smile faintly.

…This guy really can’t lie well.

Given the location, what would bring this busy guy out to such a place?

So, giving him a look that said “Don’t lie to me,” Yoon Si-woo sighed a moment later and admitted.

“…Sorry, that’s a lie. I actually came to see you, Scarlet.”

“What, I see. But what for?”

When I asked like that, Yoon Si-woo hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“…Is it wrong for me to just come and see you?”

…His bold statement left me at a loss for words.

‘Is he trying to mess with me again?’

I realized that this guy was lying once more.

Wondering what on earth he was trying to pull, I soon figured out why he was lying.

Yoon Si-woo’s subtle glances were directed toward my right eye.

I flinched and checked my hair, which I had intentionally let fall forward earlier.

…In this state, it must look like my right eye is not visible to Yoon Si-woo.

Confirming that my eye was indeed concealed, I sighed inwardly and muttered to myself.

…Seriously, this annoying guy.

He had come to check if my previous eye injury was really okay without the Sacred Truth Sword, hence the lies.

It was quite obvious, yet to be considerate, I played dumb and replied to him.

“…I don’t really mind.”

“…Oh. Is that so?”

Pretending I was oblivious worked, and Yoon Si-woo’s face lit up with joy, pleased that his plan had worked.

What a foolish guy.

Nonetheless, feeling that Yoon Si-woo’s interest had somewhat shifted away from my eye, I quickly decided to further distance him.

“So, is that all you wanted?”

“Huh? Well, sort of….”

“Then now that you’ve seen me, could you leave? As you can see, I’m sweating a lot from training, and it would honestly be a bit embarrassing if you keep staring at me.”

This was actually my heartfelt opinion.

Isn’t it embarrassing to have someone who is better than you watching you while you’re doing your thing?

So I asked him to leave if he wasn’t going to help train, yet Yoon Si-woo looked incredibly apologetic as he responded.

“Ugh… I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. Then I’ll leave, so train hard.”

And with that, Yoon Si-woo turned to leave.

Watching him, I suddenly felt a twinge of guilt.

Thinking about it, he had come just to check on me today.

He had even resorted to telling lies for my sake and, regardless of his intentions, I had also lied to him.

I pressed my right eye, which was hidden beneath my hair, with my hand.

…Right, after all, I can’t keep this hidden forever.

“…Yoon Si-woo, wait a moment!”

“…Scarlet?”

Once I made my resolve, I grabbed Yoon Si-woo’s wrist and stopped him.

“Um… you see, I…”

I gulped while looking at him, who turned back with a questioning gaze.

“…I have something to confess to you.”

Having made that big decision, I tightened my grip firmly.

Yoon Si-woo’s expression went blank at my words.

“To me…?”

“…Yeah. Once this battle is over, I’ll tell you.”

I couldn’t keep it hidden any longer.

So, after this battle, I planned to finally be honest about my abilities.

If I could defeat the Witch of Gluttony, this world would be safe.

With this thought in mind, I told Yoon Si-woo so,

Seeing his expression stiffen, I inadvertently turned and ran away.