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My eyelids felt heavy.
Every time I tried to open them.
The light hurt.
“……”
Still.
I slowly opened my eyes.
A white ceiling.
The smell of disinfectant.
A sound I’d heard somewhere before.
Tick.
Tick.
Only the sound of the clock echoed quietly.
“…Where am I?”
My voice was hoarse.
My throat was parched.
The moment I tried to sit up.
“Ugh…!”
A dull pain shot from my left shoulder down to my chest.
I held my breath without thinking.
“I see.”
My memories slowly came flooding back.
The forest.
A horde of goblins.
The new recruits.
And then.
The Goblin General.
“I took quite a beating…”
I tried to give a wry smile.
That was when it happened.
I felt warmth on my right hand.
“…?”
I turned my gaze toward it.
Leona was there.
Still seated in her chair.
She was holding my right hand with both of hers.
But.
She was asleep.
“……”
I couldn’t speak.
Her long red hair was tousled.
She hadn’t even changed her clothes.
There were faint dark circles under her eyes.
Even while I was asleep.
She must have been here the whole time.
Holding my hand.
The whole time.
“……”
I couldn’t say a word.
For five years.
The person who had kept waiting.
Now, once again.
Is lying here beside me like this.
A slight ache welled up deep in my chest.
I moved my hand ever so slightly.
It was at that very moment.
“…Hmm.”
Leona’s eyelashes fluttered.
Her eyes opened slowly.
Her gaze was unfocused.
Her hazy eyes looked at me.
A few seconds.
It felt as if time had stopped.
And then.
“…Alt.”
Her voice was hoarse.
“Yeah.”
“Good morning.”
With those single words.
Leona’s face contorted.
It wasn’t anger or sadness.
It was something.
Something much more complex.
Her grip tightened.
“Did you wake up?”
“Yeah.”
“How’s your body?”
“It still hurts, though.”
“…I see.”
That was all.
She didn’t yell.
She didn’t cry either.
She just.
Kept her head down.
And stayed silent.
“Leona.”
“……”
“Are you mad?”
There was a long pause.
Eventually.
“You have every right to be mad.”
“Hm?”
“You can be mad at me.”
“Why?”
“I’m the one who called you to the guild.”
“I’m the one who asked you to work there.”
“That’s why—”
“You went there.”
Her voice was quiet.
As if she were holding back her emotions.
That’s what her voice sounded like.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“I just acted on my own.”
“Leona isn’t to blame.”
“But—”
“You’re not to blame.”
“……”
“I couldn’t just leave them alone.”
“That’s all there is to it.”
Leona remained silent.
After a while.
“I was scared.”
She let it slip.
“Hm?”
“Because there was blood.”
“Alt’s blood.”
“Because it was there.”
She kept her head down.
Her hair fell over her face, hiding her expression.
“I thought I’d lose him again.”
“Just like five years ago.”
“Again.”
“I thought I’d never see him again.”
Hearing those words,
I couldn’t say a thing.
“That’s why I—”
Her words trailed off there.
The image of Leona repeatedly slashing at the Goblin General flashed through my mind.
Her hair stained red with spatter.
Her hands, trembling as she kept swinging her sword.
That wasn’t anger.
It was fear.
“Leona.”
“……”
“I’m sorry.”
“……”
“I’m really sorry.”
Leona remained silent for a while.
Eventually.
“Promise me.”
“Hm?”
“Don’t go doing anything reckless on your own anymore.”
She looked up.
She was looking straight at me.
Those eyes.
They were just a little red.
“…I’ll try.”
“No.”
“Promise me.”
“Leona.”
“Promise me.”
She wouldn’t back down.
Not even a step.
Those were the eyes of someone who had waited for five long years.
“I understand.”
I nodded slowly.
“I promise.”
At that moment.
A long sigh escaped
from Leona’s shoulders.
“If you break my promise…”
She cut herself off there.
Her voice was so soft—something I could never have imagined from the Leona I usually knew.
“Leona.”
“What?”
“It’s about time we let go of each other’s hands.”
“No.”
Her answer was immediate.
“I said no.”
“I don’t want to.”
“It’s hard to move.”
“I don’t care.”
“Leona.”
“I don’t want to.”
It was the third time.
Exasperated, I let out a sigh.
“…Fine.”
“Do whatever you want.”
With those words,
Leona lowered her eyes, looking slightly relieved.
Our hands were still clasped.
She wouldn’t let go.
I stared up at the ceiling for a while.
Outside the window, morning was breaking in the capital.
People’s voices.
The sound of carts.
A bird chirping somewhere.
The world kept turning, unchanged.
And yet.
There had definitely been five years I didn’t know about.
The warmth of this hand.
It told the whole story.
“Leona.”
“What?”
“Those five years.”
“It must have been tough.”
Leona didn’t answer.
She just…
…squeezed my hand ever so slightly.
That was all.
And that was enough.
A quiet moment passed.
Eventually…
Leona’s breathing gradually grew calmer.
Maybe she’d fallen asleep again.
I looked at the hand clasped in mine.
She wouldn’t let go.
Even while she slept.
She wouldn’t let go.
“…It really was tough for you, wasn’t it?”
I murmured, making sure no one could hear me.
Just then—
Knock, knock.
There was a soft knock on the hospital room door.
Leona’s grip tightened.
Her eyes are closed.
But she must be awake.
“Excuse me.”
A soft, familiar voice.
The door opens slowly.
Standing there was…
Serena.
A white cassock.
Beautifully groomed golden hair.
A holy symbol on her chest.
She should have looked just the same as always.
But.
The moment she saw me, covered in wounds,
her blue eyes—
fluttered ever so slightly.
And then.
Her gaze turned toward Leona.
Toward the hand she was still holding.
It was at that very moment.
Leona said nothing.
She didn’t even look at Serena.
She just—
squeezed my hand a little tighter.
Serena didn’t say anything either.
Still smiling, she quietly pulled out her chair.
The only sound in the hospital room was the ticking of the clock.
Tick.
Tick.
Silence lingered for a while.
And then.
“…Go home.”
Serena said nothing, her smile unchanged.
She walked into the room as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“…Serena.”
“Yes.”
“You came to see me?”
“Of course.”
She was smiling.
A gentle smile.
It was Serena’s usual smile.
She walked around to the other side of the room.
The opposite side from Leona.
And then.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, she pulled out a chair.
She sat down.
Next to my left hand.
She gently placed her hand on it.
Leona muttered under her breath.
“……Serena”
“What is it, Leona?”
“Go home.”
“I don’t want to.”
Her answer was immediate.
“I was here first.”
“I know.”
“Then—”
“But—”
Serena continued, still smiling.
“I was worried about you, too.”
Leona says nothing.
A long silence.
Eventually.
She clicks her tongue softly.
That was all.
But.
The grip on my hand tightened just a little.
I look up at the ceiling.
Leona on my right.
Serena on my left.
“…Hey.”
“What is it?”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
I gave a wry smile.
“It’s nothing.”
Silence returned to the hospital room.
Tick.
Tick.
Only the sound of the clock echoed.
My right hand felt warm.
My left hand felt warm, too.
In a place I didn’t know.
The burdens each of them had been carrying.
I felt as if they were all gathered in this room right now.
After a while.
Knock, knock.
There was another knock on the door.
All three of us turned to look.
“…Who is it?”
Leona muttered in a low voice.
From the other side of the door,
I heard two familiar voices.
“Can we come in?”
“Master!”
I kept my eyes fixed on the ceiling
and let out a quiet sigh.
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