The Great Sword is not the Main Body!
Chapter 181 – The End of the World (3)

“My feelings are not fabricated by someone else. They are undoubtedly genuine.”

Rubia spoke sharply, as if rejecting Laila’s gaze. She gripped my hand tightly while glaring at the elf.

But Rubia’s hand was trembling.
The unconscious sweat forming on her palm, the cooling warmth of her skin—these betrayed her emotions.

My mind reeling from the suddenly enormous scale of these revelations, I hurriedly squeezed Rubia’s trembling hand in return.

[It sounds as if your emotions matter more to you than your very purpose for existing.]

“That’s right. Whatever I am or was meant to be… at this point, it’s all meaningless talk. But suggesting that my feelings are completely fabricated—that’s something I find quite irritating.”

She tightened her grip on my hand, as if asking me to believe in her. Her touch conveyed both anxiety and hope.

I gently loosened my fingers, then slid them between hers.
I interlocked our fingers so she couldn’t pull away even if she wanted to. I locked my thumb over hers, holding on firmly.

I don’t doubt Rubia.
Even if her emotions originated from Lilith, as long as they’re directed at me,
As long as they match my own,

I don’t care.

I’ve walked a path too joyful and filled with love to start doubting or resenting her now.
No matter what happens, I could never dislike her.

I squeezed her hand tightly, answering her unspoken question.

[Haha… Ahahaha!! Beautiful in your foolishness, pure in your naivety. Yes, indeed. That was precisely the answer I expected from you both. Hahaha!]

After laughing heartily for a moment, Laila looked at us with a much lighter expression.

[Priestess, have you always known what you truly are?]

“I didn’t know about Lilith until now… but I had sensed something about my existence.”

[So you were working with theories from your descendant?]

“That’s correct.”

[Then, descendant, how much did you anticipate about Lilith?]

“I had roughly guessed what you forcibly shoved into my mind just now. And I am not your descendant.”

[Hoho, how clever.]

Laila, who had been alternating her gaze between Rubia and Serr, now fixed her eyes on me.

[What about you?]

“…Pardon?”

[Is this the first time you’re hearing these revelations?]

“Y-yes, it is.”

[And yet, you immediately affirmed her emotions?]

Nod

Laila’s expression shifted from curiosity to interest.

[Why?]

“Because it’s Rubia…”

Her interest transformed into amusement.

[Even if you yourself were also an artificial creation?]

“Even then… I don’t think Rubia would ever dislike me…?”

Her amusement gave way to astonishment.

[You are truly a naive and utterly hopeless fool.]

“…I-I am not!”

“Hmph.”

“Hmm…”

“Um… why are Serr and Rubia looking at me like that…?”

Didn’t I just say something incredibly touching?

Laila and Serr, I can understand, but Rubia—Rubia shouldn’t look at me like that!

She should be moved!!!

[Fufufu, I see. So that’s how it is.]

As I floundered in confusion, Laila nodded with a satisfied smile and leaned back against Yggdrasil’s roots.

[Though I still have questions, some have been answered. Now it’s your turn. What would you like to ask first?]

As Laila finished speaking, Rubia’s lips hesitantly opened and closed several times.

[I’ll answer everything within my knowledge, so feel free to ask.]

While waiting for Rubia’s question, Serr—who had been restraining herself—burst out as if releasing pent-up tension.

“Then I’ll ask first. Laila, what is your purpose? Why aren’t you attacking us? And this ash tree, Yggdrasil, which should only exist in the Spirit Realm—why is it here? What connection do you have to the spirits?”

[Khehehe… Calm yourself. I’ll answer everything in due time. Let’s see… starting with your first question about my purpose.]

Gently stroking the tree’s roots, Laila smiled mysteriously at Serr.

[Like a tree that blooms in spring, provides cool shade in summer, displays golden splendor in autumn, and offers itself to those in need in winter after fulfilling its role—I wish to live beautifully and die meaningfully. That is my goal.]

“Oh, if you were to die for us right now, that would be the most meaningful death imaginable. Would you kindly die? Please, just die for us.”

“Gasp…”

“S-Serr!”

[Hahaha! Thank you for the suggestion, but I cannot oblige just yet. I haven’t yet displayed my golden splendor.]

Despite Serr’s blunt rudeness, Laila laughed heartily and shook her head.

“For someone who’s lived as long as you have, what golden splendor are you talking about? Tsk.”

[Kuhahaha! To show such boldness before someone as powerful as myself—you truly must be my descendant. Hahaha, how delightful!]

“That descendant nonsense again. Please, just hold your breath. About 300 minutes should do it.”

[Oh? If I hold my breath for 300 minutes, will you be kinder to me? In that case, I can hold it for 300 hours, or even 300 years.]

With a graceful gesture, as if rolling up a sleeve, Laila raised her arm. At her gentle motion, flowers bloomed.

A shyly blooming flower turned its face toward Serr.

Snap — Serr scowled and broke the flower’s stem.

“I’ll be dead before that happens, so I’ll pass. Now, answer my second question. Why aren’t you attacking us? You, a Beast of the End—why are you chatting with us as if you’re enjoying yourself?”

Laila looked sadly at the broken flower before composing herself and turning back to Serr.

[Such a naughty child… Very well, I’ll answer your second question. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not attacking because I’m not the one meant to test you. And being a Beast of the End doesn’t mean I can’t laugh, does it? I’m simply enjoying myself. Looking at your lovely faces brings me such joy that I can’t help but smile.]

“Is that so? Then, among us, who do you find the most beautiful?”

[…What?]

…Here we go again.
Serr’s nonsensical questions had become so routine they no longer surprised me.

But wait…

Why does Laila suddenly look so serious?
And Rubia… why does she look serious too?

“I’m extremely curious.”

…Even Serr looks completely serious?

[This is… incredibly difficult.]

Laila’s face showed profound distress.

I wasn’t sure if such a simple question warranted such despair… but why was she reacting this way?

[Each of you has a different charm—too different to compare. The best in each category gathered here, and you ask me to choose just one? How cruel! But if I absolutely must choose—]

Slowly raising herself, Laila gently plucked a flower from the ground.

[To my ‘eyes,’ you are the most beautiful.]

“…Huh?”

She handed the flower to me.

“Fufufu, I see you have discerning taste.”

[Of course! Having lived through countless ages, I naturally have refined judgment. Hahaha!]

I tentatively accepted the flower that swayed in Laila’s hand.

A soft, freshly-laundered fragrance wafted from it—the exact scent I smelled every night before sleep, Rubia’s personal scent.

[Oh… so this is the fragrance you prefer.]

With a knowing smile, Laila gestured toward the flower, and suddenly, identical blooms began appearing one after another.

“Umm…?”

“Hmm? This scent seems quite familiar.”

“This is… my first time smelling it.”

With each new flower, Rubia’s scent—
The precious fragrance that only I had known—filled the air completely.

[These flowers emit the scent you love most. Do you like them?]

“N-no… ugh… P-please stop!”

As if determined to fill the entire world with flowers, Laila continued creating them until I frantically grabbed her wrist.

“Stop it!”

This is embarrassing!! This is cruel!!! Stop it!!!!

To say I like Rubia’s scent… Well, yes, I do like it.
I love it tremendously… but this makes me sound like a complete pervert!

[Now that you’ve experienced it so abundantly, I’m sure you recognize what scent it is. Hahaha!]

Serr gazed at me with utter exasperation, while Laila—wearing the warm smile of a neighborhood auntie—turned to Rubia.

“…So this is my scent?”

[Fufu, one cannot typically recognize one’s own body’s fragrance.]

“Hmm… So Noah likes my scent.”

“Urgh…”

Picking up a fallen flower and breathing in its fragrance, Rubia eyed me with a heated gaze.

“Enough idle chatter. Think of those waiting for us outside. Shouldn’t we finish quickly and leave?”

[Ah, you needn’t worry about that. Time flows differently here than in the outside world. Not even ten seconds have passed out there.]

“Damn it, why are you so capable?”

Shrugging her shoulders with an irritatingly familiar smugness, Laila smiled and said:

[Because I am a genius.]

“Hah, what an incredibly annoying thing to say.”

“What?”

“Hmm…?”

“What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?”

At Serr’s question, Rubia tilted her head in disbelief.

“Serr, are you honestly asking?”

“…Asking what?”

“That’s exactly what you always say. ‘Rubia. I am a genius.’ Just like that.”

“Oh… that really did sound just like Serr, didn’t it?”

“Hehe, right?”

“What do you mean ‘just like me’? I would never say something so… wait. Oh, shit.”

Trailing off mid-sentence, Serr covered her face with both hands and curled inward.

Laila, who had been watching Serr with an unwavering expression, smiled in exactly the same manner.

With the same calm tone, she spoke:

[That, right there. That will answer all your remaining questions.]

As if stating the most obvious fact in the world.

[Descendant, you wanted to know why Yggdrasil is here, what my connection to the spirits is, and what my true nature might be, correct?]

She continued:

[It is because I am Yggdrasil. Because I created the spirits. Just as Lilith created the existence of the priestess, I created your existence. That is why.]

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