"〈──Can you hear it!? The ground is 3/10, the enemy is 7/10! I Repeat! The enemy is 7 parts out of all areas, Goddamn it!!〉
──Excerpt from the communication record of the initial report conveying the start of the major offensive in Ardennes on December 17, 20XX, stored in the central government's lost items──"
-----
The "place where the heart and body warm up," reached with Rapunzel's guidance, was located about 40 minutes away from the house where Moore received treatment, as reported in the communication record of the initial announcement of the major offensive in Ardennes on December 17, 20XX, stored by the central government.
However──
"Is it warmer than before? Don't you feel more relaxed here?"
"──What's different? Isn't this place just an ordinary shack, too?"
──Neon's impression told the whole story. Although the location had changed, the arrived house didn't look much different. Moreover, with the walls and roof mostly collapsed due to aging and snow accumulation, and only one room to consider, the previous house might have been better.
While Neon voiced her thoughts, Rapunzel, with a wry smile, gently lowered Moore, whom she had supported, to the floor.
"──Well, unlike the place before, there's only one room here, right? So it should be warm all the time."
"...Just got smaller, didn't it?"
It could be said that way too. After shrugging her shoulders, the saint looked around at the three of them.
"Now, everyone. I'm sorry, but... as a decoy and also to check the surroundings once again, could you please go out?"
"...Now? Is it us again?"
"Yes. Please."
The disciple with thin purple hair, who seemed reluctant to leave her injured teacher, turned her gaze to Moore and then exchanged glances with the squad leader, Rapi, and Anis.
Rapi nodded slightly, but Neon noticed that Anis, for some reason, had a troubled look, with the usual cheerful sparkle in her flaxen eyes dimmed.
"...Understood. We'll go. Commander, we're going."
"Yeah. Sorry, but I'm counting on you. ...Can you leave the gun here?"
As he nodded while sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, Rapunzel urged Rapi to hand over her assault rifle hanging from her shoulder.
She seemed reluctant, but considering the need for self-defense, she must have reconsidered it. Rapi handed over the assault rifle, and Neon placed Moore's belongings, which he had brought, near him.
"...I'll return this too. Don't smoke too much."
"...Thanks. I appreciate it."
Perhaps as an afterthought, Rapi rummaged through her jacket pocket, took out his beloved cigarettes, and oil lighter, and handed them to Moore. It seemed typical of Rapi not to forget to drive the nail in firmly. Soon, she left with Anis and Neon, leaving only Moore and Rapunzel.
They quietly watched the door close, and silence fell in the small room.
"──Arara~~~.. in this case, it becomes a closed room for just the two of us again."
Suddenly, Rapunzel blushed, her gaze wandering as she tucked her golden hair, which she had put into a veil, behind her ear.
"...The time until the three return is short..."
Casually, she let her forget-me-not-colored eyes melt, leaned against the wall, and stared at Moore, who was inserting the magazine into her assault rifle just returned by Rapi, putting it in the pouch of her body armor.
"...During that time──to the commander who lost his sanity due to pain, forced unto me~~...!!"
Her brain, worn out by years of use, became surprisingly robust when it came to delusions like this.
The entirety of his physical form has not been clearly revealed, thanks to the last fortress defending his modesty. However, the rest of his skin has been firmly engraved into Rapunzel's memory. At least for a year, she won't have trouble recalling it.
The trained muscles are nothing but proof of a robust and sturdy man. To show something like that, Rapunzel thinks she wouldn't mind being counted as a saint. The scent of the man, emitted in an almost disorderly manner, is too powerful a potent drug.
"──Haah, haah...!"
While shining with deep, sparkling brown eyes, she didn't even try to hide her beastly desires. Pushed down to the floor, it felt as if the robustly trained body, built only for fighting, covered her──how wonderful──no, what a shameless delusion she was having.
However, in a sense, Rapunzel had received a certain kind of revelation. To be honest, ever since the day she saw the photos sent from Snow White to her mobile device, she had spent countless nights contemplating. ──Of course, it had proved to be quite a useful reference for her hobby of writing novels.
Casually, she flushed her cheeks and, with a troubled sigh, turned her gaze toward Moore. Forget-me-not-colored eyes focused on him, still holding the assault rifle in his left arm, and somehow, he had a cigarette clenched between his teeth.
However, he hadn't lit it. While the oil lighter was held in the palm of the hand supporting the assault rifle on his left arm, its lid remained closed.
And his expression──
"...Ahh, It's not the right atmosphere."
──A mixture of impatience, anguish, and various other emotions showed on his face.
Instinctively, even Rapunzel's abnormal state of mind originating from her fantasies seemed to naturally settle down in response to his expression.
Holding her sacred staff, she sat down next to Moore, aligning her legs, and peeked at his profile not covered by bandages.
"...What should we do... Are you troubled by such worries?"
Rapunzel, sitting beside him, asked. ──However, whether he wanted to continue pondering silently, or he didn't want to vent the various conflicts, anguish, and impatience swirling within him, he remained silent.
──An awkward person.
A candid impression leaked from her along with a sigh in her heart. There was a slight sense of bewilderment as to whether he should be so stubborn, but Rapunzel sensed an even greater relief.
"...Hmm... If you want, would you like to talk to me about your troubles?"
While facing the ceiling, Rapunzel murmured, resting the tip of her finger on her well-shaped chin.
It would be much more constructive than bearing it alone, she implicitly urged him.
Then Moore's left eye moved, and his deep brown eyes were directed at her.
──To you?
A non-verbal gesture returned in response to the question. She nodded slightly and reached out, taking the oil lighter held in his left hand.
Making a metallic sound, she opened the lid, and the wheel turned.
A small flame lit up. He slowly brought his face closer, using his slightly painful right hand, which had been dislocated once, to cover Rapunzel's hand with his left hand that clutched the oil lighter. He then singed the tip of the cigarette clenched between his teeth, exhaling a faint purple smoke into the room. She didn't miss the sound of a sigh hidden within it. After closing the oil lighter, she handed it back to him, gripping his large left hand with her right hand.
"──Sometimes, humans want others to understand what they're hiding inside."
"...Even if I talk..."
Where should he start?
He sent his gaze to his tightly clenched left hand, and immediately, he emitted purple smoke with the cigarette still in his mouth.
"I'll listen to everything. Whatever you're troubled about. So please, talk. I won't despise whatever story you have."
With a smile, Rapunzel prompted him to confess.
Her demeanor──unavoidably made Moore feel compelled to reveal the various things swirling within him.
Is it okay to talk about it?
Acknowledging the swaying deep brown eye exposed, the saint who felt it clenched his left hand tightly again.
Sensing that, he released a small sigh and purple smoke, and eventually, in a calm but complete manner, confessed everything about this incident.
Unusually for him, it might be said, Moore laid out everything about this incident to her.
During this time, Rapunzel did not interrupt, responding occasionally with silent nods, demonstrating that she was listening attentively.
However, Unchained──the moment that word escaped his lips, Moore didn't miss the instant Rapunzel gripped his hand firmly.
"I see... So, it was Unchained... Unchained, huh..."
Sensing that he had finished explaining everything, Rapunzel nodded multiple times while carefully choosing her words.
He, too, gained inner conviction from her voice and gestures that leaked out. She knew something.
"So, being shot there last night..."
Recalling Moore, who was on the verge of death, bleeding on the stormy beach last night, Rapunzel understood the situation. Then, she turned Forget-me-not-colored eyes toward him.
"So... what does Brother think? Now that you've been done in, you understand, right? That not all NIKkES are allies..."
"...I experienced personally with my body."
In a calm and persuasive tone, as if delivering a sermon, she spoke. There was no element of denial, and he, surprisingly, nodded without a trace of irony.
"If NIMPH hadn't been there... I might have been shot in the heart or head without luck──"
Rapunzel forcefully grasped Moore's mechanical left hand. This act, where she deliberately exerted strength to give herself the courage to convey merciless words to him, would be proof.
"But still... do you want to search for Unchained, even without NIMPH?"
"I want to."
"──Even though you might be betrayed again?"
"...Being betrayed doesn't hold much meaning. At least not for me. Even if someone betrays me, I won't retaliate by betraying them back."
"──"
"Betrayed, tasting bitterness, covered in humiliation... even so, I want to find it."
While letting the purple smoke from the cigarette drift, Moore quietly confessed his feelings. In those words, there was a hidden──determination. Sensing that, Rapunzel briefly held her breath.
──An awkward person.
"──Haha..."
──But a strong one.
Unconsciously, a smile spilled from her, and Rapunzel herself couldn't help but smile.
"...You're still hesitating about other things... but when it comes to helping Nikke, you don't hesitate."
No, he would probably throw away his life and body willingly for anyone if it meant helping them.
She knows that.
She knows a similar kind of person.
"So... it's not that you've become distrustful of Nikke, right? Are you still undecided about whether to return to the Ark for now or to continue searching for Unchained, whose location is unknown? Are you still hesitating?"
Moore was well aware that he had to make up his mind.
The decision is the commander's duty. It's Moore's mission, no one else's.
In essence, for the sake of minimizing casualties and rebuilding the forces, they should prioritize returning to the Ark.
However──Unchained. Without having the anticipated encounter with Snow White, who could be presumed to have clues about that substance, Moore, who didn't desire the outcome of returning to the Ark, is surprised at himself.
That hesitation is probably his true feelings.
Resolving to step back also requires courage. He understands that. However, his heart refuses. No matter how much he orders it to be silent, one rejection after another wells up.
Moore didn't give a clear answer. However, with only his wavering eyes, Rapunzel seemed to sense his inner thoughts.
"I understand. As thanks for showing Brother's hidden thoughts, I'll tell you a secret I've been keeping. Actually, I──"
"──You know about Unchained, don't you?"
Anticipating the words she was about to speak, Moore spoke in her place. Rapunzel, upon hearing this, responded with a small nod, not showing much surprise.
"...You noticed."
"...Wouldn't it be natural to notice?"
Without showing surprise at being guessed, the saint stared at him as he extinguished the cigarette's ember with the sole of his boot. Eventually, Moore tucked away the extinguished butt into the chest pocket of his winter combat jacket.
"Yes, you are correct. But I can't provide details."
He hoped she wouldn't tease him after saying that much. Once again, his intense brown monocle was directed toward her.
"Rapunzel."
"E-Even if you say that with such a wonderful low voice...! I-I mean, really, just this much... no matter how much you toy with me with this and that...!! Haah, haah...!"
The scent of the man exuding such disorder was certainly potent, but his somewhat troubled low voice was equally so.
How is Ark maintaining public order while leaving the owner of such a wonderful voice unattended? This is a serious violation of public morals.
As Rapunzel's breath became irregular again, he was getting increasingly unsure of how to respond.
"...Don't worry. I don't intend to force anything."
"...R-Really?"
"Absolutely."
With an attitude as if saying he had no interest, he nodded.
His demeanor seemed refreshing, almost refreshing enough to be considered nice. Yet, as she was, after all, a woman, Rapunzel couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.
"...Well... what I'd like to know is why you can't tell me. I just want to hear that reason."
"...It's because... it's not a secret that belongs to just me. So... won't you come with me?"
Guiding the lost lamb, the saint tightly grasped his left hand, which was not a flesh and blood hand. Or perhaps she deliberately adopted that tone to conceal her true feelings, that she still didn't want to part.
"──To the promised land, which is only open on the first of every month."
"...The land of Genesis? I'm not much into theology..."
Rapunzel did not miss the fact that his left eyebrow, not hidden by bandages, shifted toward the center.
While smiling wryly, she explained that it was the place where she, Snow White, and the crimson pilgrimage pilgrims would meet every month for reunion and confirmation of life and death.
In that case, the original goal of contacting Snow White would also be fulfilled. He nodded in agreement with Rapunzel's proposal.
"...So... let's prepare right away..."
"No, we can't."
Pushing Moore, who was about to grasp the assault rifle and stand up, Rapunzel reached out with her slender arm to his shoulder and gently laid him down.
"...Fortunately, it's not too far from here. If we depart early tomorrow morning, we'll arrive by the evening of the next day. So, first... please recover your stamina."
"But──"
"What Brother needs is rest."
A scolding tone, as if scolding a child. Moore thought about it. He was a man with a mental age not so low, and a physical age befitting his appearance. Yet, when Rapunzel continued to gently stroke Moore's head with a tender touch, any resistance he had strangely vanished.
He thinks it's unlikely, but perhaps it's because he's a skeptic.
"...Please sleep now. I'll be by your side."
"......"
"...If you can't sleep, how about a song? Or maybe a book?"
She knew well that humans often couldn't sleep immediately. Thinking that maybe she could read aloud a handwritten novel she had accumulated over the past few decades, Rapunzel reached for an old book in her belongings when Moore's lips trembled faintly.
"...Can you sing hymns?"
"...Huh? Yes, of course."
"...Then... please."
It was an unexpected request, but Rapunzel felt a sense of nostalgia. When she asked which one he preferred, the answer came after a brief pause.
"...Do you have a favorite?"
"...No. But sometimes, I just feel the need to hear it."
"I understand. Well then..."
In response to Moore's request, with his head resting on her lap, Rapunzel took a moment to regulate her breathing.
Unfortunately, this place wasn't a house of God, nor were there any solemn instruments to accompany the sacred lyrics.
However, when those beautifully shaped lips began to weave the holy lyrics, thanks to none other than her voice, a momentary pain ran through his mind.
Yet, that pain disappeared the moment Rapunzel gently started stroking his head.
An inexplicable relief. As it filled his chest, Moore adjusted his grip on the assault rifle, closed his exposed monocle, and fell into a short slumber.
----
Author: Strange... It's almost like Rapunzel is the heroine.
As for the specific hymn number, I hesitated to mention it here, so I'll reveal it on Twitter.
"〈──Can you hear it!? The ground is 3/10, the enemy is 7/10! I Repeat! The enemy is 7 parts out of all areas, Goddamn it!!〉
──Excerpt from the communication record of the initial report conveying the start of the major offensive in Ardennes on December 17, 20XX, stored in the central government's lost items──"
-----
The "place where the heart and body warm up," reached with Rapunzel's guidance, was located about 40 minutes away from the house where Moore received treatment, as reported in the communication record of the initial announcement of the major offensive in Ardennes on December 17, 20XX, stored by the central government.
However──
"Is it warmer than before? Don't you feel more relaxed here?"
"──What's different? Isn't this place just an ordinary shack, too?"
──Neon's impression told the whole story. Although the location had changed, the arrived house didn't look much different. Moreover, with the walls and roof mostly collapsed due to aging and snow accumulation, and only one room to consider, the previous house might have been better.
While Neon voiced her thoughts, Rapunzel, with a wry smile, gently lowered Moore, whom she had supported, to the floor.
"──Well, unlike the place before, there's only one room here, right? So it should be warm all the time."
"...Just got smaller, didn't it?"
It could be said that way too. After shrugging her shoulders, the saint looked around at the three of them.
"Now, everyone. I'm sorry, but... as a decoy and also to check the surroundings once again, could you please go out?"
"...Now? Is it us again?"
"Yes. Please."
The disciple with thin purple hair, who seemed reluctant to leave her injured teacher, turned her gaze to Moore and then exchanged glances with the squad leader, Rapi, and Anis.
Rapi nodded slightly, but Neon noticed that Anis, for some reason, had a troubled look, with the usual cheerful sparkle in her flaxen eyes dimmed.
"...Understood. We'll go. Commander, we're going."
"Yeah. Sorry, but I'm counting on you. ...Can you leave the gun here?"
As he nodded while sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, Rapunzel urged Rapi to hand over her assault rifle hanging from her shoulder.
She seemed reluctant, but considering the need for self-defense, she must have reconsidered it. Rapi handed over the assault rifle, and Neon placed Moore's belongings, which he had brought, near him.
"...I'll return this too. Don't smoke too much."
"...Thanks. I appreciate it."
Perhaps as an afterthought, Rapi rummaged through her jacket pocket, took out his beloved cigarettes, and oil lighter, and handed them to Moore. It seemed typical of Rapi not to forget to drive the nail in firmly. Soon, she left with Anis and Neon, leaving only Moore and Rapunzel.
They quietly watched the door close, and silence fell in the small room.
"──Arara~~~.. in this case, it becomes a closed room for just the two of us again."
Suddenly, Rapunzel blushed, her gaze wandering as she tucked her golden hair, which she had put into a veil, behind her ear.
"...The time until the three return is short..."
Casually, she let her forget-me-not-colored eyes melt, leaned against the wall, and stared at Moore, who was inserting the magazine into her assault rifle just returned by Rapi, putting it in the pouch of her body armor.
"...During that time──to the commander who lost his sanity due to pain, forced unto me~~...!!"
Her brain, worn out by years of use, became surprisingly robust when it came to delusions like this.
The entirety of his physical form has not been clearly revealed, thanks to the last fortress defending his modesty. However, the rest of his skin has been firmly engraved into Rapunzel's memory. At least for a year, she won't have trouble recalling it.
The trained muscles are nothing but proof of a robust and sturdy man. To show something like that, Rapunzel thinks she wouldn't mind being counted as a saint. The scent of the man, emitted in an almost disorderly manner, is too powerful a potent drug.
"──Haah, haah...!"
While shining with deep, sparkling brown eyes, she didn't even try to hide her beastly desires. Pushed down to the floor, it felt as if the robustly trained body, built only for fighting, covered her──how wonderful──no, what a shameless delusion she was having.
However, in a sense, Rapunzel had received a certain kind of revelation. To be honest, ever since the day she saw the photos sent from Snow White to her mobile device, she had spent countless nights contemplating. ──Of course, it had proved to be quite a useful reference for her hobby of writing novels.
Casually, she flushed her cheeks and, with a troubled sigh, turned her gaze toward Moore. Forget-me-not-colored eyes focused on him, still holding the assault rifle in his left arm, and somehow, he had a cigarette clenched between his teeth.
However, he hadn't lit it. While the oil lighter was held in the palm of the hand supporting the assault rifle on his left arm, its lid remained closed.
And his expression──
"...Ahh, It's not the right atmosphere."
──A mixture of impatience, anguish, and various other emotions showed on his face.
Instinctively, even Rapunzel's abnormal state of mind originating from her fantasies seemed to naturally settle down in response to his expression.
Holding her sacred staff, she sat down next to Moore, aligning her legs, and peeked at his profile not covered by bandages.
"...What should we do... Are you troubled by such worries?"
Rapunzel, sitting beside him, asked. ──However, whether he wanted to continue pondering silently, or he didn't want to vent the various conflicts, anguish, and impatience swirling within him, he remained silent.
──An awkward person.
A candid impression leaked from her along with a sigh in her heart. There was a slight sense of bewilderment as to whether he should be so stubborn, but Rapunzel sensed an even greater relief.
"...Hmm... If you want, would you like to talk to me about your troubles?"
While facing the ceiling, Rapunzel murmured, resting the tip of her finger on her well-shaped chin.
It would be much more constructive than bearing it alone, she implicitly urged him.
Then Moore's left eye moved, and his deep brown eyes were directed at her.
──To you?
A non-verbal gesture returned in response to the question. She nodded slightly and reached out, taking the oil lighter held in his left hand.
Making a metallic sound, she opened the lid, and the wheel turned.
A small flame lit up. He slowly brought his face closer, using his slightly painful right hand, which had been dislocated once, to cover Rapunzel's hand with his left hand that clutched the oil lighter. He then singed the tip of the cigarette clenched between his teeth, exhaling a faint purple smoke into the room. She didn't miss the sound of a sigh hidden within it. After closing the oil lighter, she handed it back to him, gripping his large left hand with her right hand.
"──Sometimes, humans want others to understand what they're hiding inside."
"...Even if I talk..."
Where should he start?
He sent his gaze to his tightly clenched left hand, and immediately, he emitted purple smoke with the cigarette still in his mouth.
"I'll listen to everything. Whatever you're troubled about. So please, talk. I won't despise whatever story you have."
With a smile, Rapunzel prompted him to confess.
Her demeanor──unavoidably made Moore feel compelled to reveal the various things swirling within him.
Is it okay to talk about it?
Acknowledging the swaying deep brown eye exposed, the saint who felt it clenched his left hand tightly again.
Sensing that, he released a small sigh and purple smoke, and eventually, in a calm but complete manner, confessed everything about this incident.
Unusually for him, it might be said, Moore laid out everything about this incident to her.
During this time, Rapunzel did not interrupt, responding occasionally with silent nods, demonstrating that she was listening attentively.
However, Unchained──the moment that word escaped his lips, Moore didn't miss the instant Rapunzel gripped his hand firmly.
"I see... So, it was Unchained... Unchained, huh..."
Sensing that he had finished explaining everything, Rapunzel nodded multiple times while carefully choosing her words.
He, too, gained inner conviction from her voice and gestures that leaked out. She knew something.
"So, being shot there last night..."
Recalling Moore, who was on the verge of death, bleeding on the stormy beach last night, Rapunzel understood the situation. Then, she turned Forget-me-not-colored eyes toward him.
"So... what does Brother think? Now that you've been done in, you understand, right? That not all NIKkES are allies..."
"...I experienced personally with my body."
In a calm and persuasive tone, as if delivering a sermon, she spoke. There was no element of denial, and he, surprisingly, nodded without a trace of irony.
"If NIMPH hadn't been there... I might have been shot in the heart or head without luck──"
Rapunzel forcefully grasped Moore's mechanical left hand. This act, where she deliberately exerted strength to give herself the courage to convey merciless words to him, would be proof.
"But still... do you want to search for Unchained, even without NIMPH?"
"I want to."
"──Even though you might be betrayed again?"
"...Being betrayed doesn't hold much meaning. At least not for me. Even if someone betrays me, I won't retaliate by betraying them back."
"──"
"Betrayed, tasting bitterness, covered in humiliation... even so, I want to find it."
While letting the purple smoke from the cigarette drift, Moore quietly confessed his feelings. In those words, there was a hidden──determination. Sensing that, Rapunzel briefly held her breath.
──An awkward person.
"──Haha..."
──But a strong one.
Unconsciously, a smile spilled from her, and Rapunzel herself couldn't help but smile.
"...You're still hesitating about other things... but when it comes to helping Nikke, you don't hesitate."
No, he would probably throw away his life and body willingly for anyone if it meant helping them.
She knows that.
She knows a similar kind of person.
"So... it's not that you've become distrustful of Nikke, right? Are you still undecided about whether to return to the Ark for now or to continue searching for Unchained, whose location is unknown? Are you still hesitating?"
Moore was well aware that he had to make up his mind.
The decision is the commander's duty. It's Moore's mission, no one else's.
In essence, for the sake of minimizing casualties and rebuilding the forces, they should prioritize returning to the Ark.
However──Unchained. Without having the anticipated encounter with Snow White, who could be presumed to have clues about that substance, Moore, who didn't desire the outcome of returning to the Ark, is surprised at himself.
That hesitation is probably his true feelings.
Resolving to step back also requires courage. He understands that. However, his heart refuses. No matter how much he orders it to be silent, one rejection after another wells up.
Moore didn't give a clear answer. However, with only his wavering eyes, Rapunzel seemed to sense his inner thoughts.
"I understand. As thanks for showing Brother's hidden thoughts, I'll tell you a secret I've been keeping. Actually, I──"
"──You know about Unchained, don't you?"
Anticipating the words she was about to speak, Moore spoke in her place. Rapunzel, upon hearing this, responded with a small nod, not showing much surprise.
"...You noticed."
"...Wouldn't it be natural to notice?"
Without showing surprise at being guessed, the saint stared at him as he extinguished the cigarette's ember with the sole of his boot. Eventually, Moore tucked away the extinguished butt into the chest pocket of his winter combat jacket.
"Yes, you are correct. But I can't provide details."
He hoped she wouldn't tease him after saying that much. Once again, his intense brown monocle was directed toward her.
"Rapunzel."
"E-Even if you say that with such a wonderful low voice...! I-I mean, really, just this much... no matter how much you toy with me with this and that...!! Haah, haah...!"
The scent of the man exuding such disorder was certainly potent, but his somewhat troubled low voice was equally so.
How is Ark maintaining public order while leaving the owner of such a wonderful voice unattended? This is a serious violation of public morals.
As Rapunzel's breath became irregular again, he was getting increasingly unsure of how to respond.
"...Don't worry. I don't intend to force anything."
"...R-Really?"
"Absolutely."
With an attitude as if saying he had no interest, he nodded.
His demeanor seemed refreshing, almost refreshing enough to be considered nice. Yet, as she was, after all, a woman, Rapunzel couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.
"...Well... what I'd like to know is why you can't tell me. I just want to hear that reason."
"...It's because... it's not a secret that belongs to just me. So... won't you come with me?"
Guiding the lost lamb, the saint tightly grasped his left hand, which was not a flesh and blood hand. Or perhaps she deliberately adopted that tone to conceal her true feelings, that she still didn't want to part.
"──To the promised land, which is only open on the first of every month."
"...The land of Genesis? I'm not much into theology..."
Rapunzel did not miss the fact that his left eyebrow, not hidden by bandages, shifted toward the center.
While smiling wryly, she explained that it was the place where she, Snow White, and the crimson pilgrimage pilgrims would meet every month for reunion and confirmation of life and death.
In that case, the original goal of contacting Snow White would also be fulfilled. He nodded in agreement with Rapunzel's proposal.
"...So... let's prepare right away..."
"No, we can't."
Pushing Moore, who was about to grasp the assault rifle and stand up, Rapunzel reached out with her slender arm to his shoulder and gently laid him down.
"...Fortunately, it's not too far from here. If we depart early tomorrow morning, we'll arrive by the evening of the next day. So, first... please recover your stamina."
"But──"
"What Brother needs is rest."
A scolding tone, as if scolding a child. Moore thought about it. He was a man with a mental age not so low, and a physical age befitting his appearance. Yet, when Rapunzel continued to gently stroke Moore's head with a tender touch, any resistance he had strangely vanished.
He thinks it's unlikely, but perhaps it's because he's a skeptic.
"...Please sleep now. I'll be by your side."
"......"
"...If you can't sleep, how about a song? Or maybe a book?"
She knew well that humans often couldn't sleep immediately. Thinking that maybe she could read aloud a handwritten novel she had accumulated over the past few decades, Rapunzel reached for an old book in her belongings when Moore's lips trembled faintly.
"...Can you sing hymns?"
"...Huh? Yes, of course."
"...Then... please."
It was an unexpected request, but Rapunzel felt a sense of nostalgia. When she asked which one he preferred, the answer came after a brief pause.
"...Do you have a favorite?"
"...No. But sometimes, I just feel the need to hear it."
"I understand. Well then..."
In response to Moore's request, with his head resting on her lap, Rapunzel took a moment to regulate her breathing.
Unfortunately, this place wasn't a house of God, nor were there any solemn instruments to accompany the sacred lyrics.
However, when those beautifully shaped lips began to weave the holy lyrics, thanks to none other than her voice, a momentary pain ran through his mind.
Yet, that pain disappeared the moment Rapunzel gently started stroking his head.
An inexplicable relief. As it filled his chest, Moore adjusted his grip on the assault rifle, closed his exposed monocle, and fell into a short slumber.
----
Author: Strange... It's almost like Rapunzel is the heroine.
As for the specific hymn number, I hesitated to mention it here, so I'll reveal it on Twitter.
