Makeshift Wolf Brigade 6 / Starry Night 2
Night.
It’s been quite a while since I last came here (to the top floor).
The top floor of the Watchtower is smaller than my room.
That’s why about the only things that can fit are a wooden box and a chair.
Stone floor and stone walls covered in years of ingrained dirt.
That’s why I wondered what Mineha-san liked about it.
Besides, it’s open-air.
On days with heavy rain, wind and rain mercilessly pour in.
There were even times when broken branches from giant trees came inside. Cleaning them up was a real hassle.
“…”
The top floor of such a shabby Tower… had somehow become quite oriental.
The first thing that caught my eye was the vividly colored carpet covering the stone floor. It was laid out without any gaps.
Beautiful wallpaper was also pasted onto the stone walls, and a veil was hung from the ceiling. It was a canopy.
There was also something between the pillars reaching up towards the ceiling.
In the middle of the room, Sheets were spread out comfortably.
And also a round cushion and an oblong cushion. A little ways off, there was a lamp.
It’s not for light, is it? There’s the Orb of Light I got from Liv-san on the ceiling.
Could it be Aroma? Essential oils. I was a little surprised.
The grown-up Mineha sat on the Sheets with her knees drawn up, patted the spot next to her, and said.
“Sit.”
“Y-yes.”
I sat down next to Mineha.
Mineha-san was dressed casually in a simple white shirt and pants.
The shirt was clearly meant for a man; in fact, it was mine.
It was the one I lent her previously when she said she had nothing to wear after doing laundry.
Ever since then, for whatever reason she took a liking to it, this has become her go-to casual outfit.
I won’t ask for it back now, but I do wonder what she likes about it.
Still, seeing Mineha-san in her larger form, she looked nothing like a ten-year-old.
Her orange hair flowed glossily, and her beautiful features held not even a hint of childishness.
She was a head taller than me, with ample breasts and hips that clearly didn’t belong to a ten-year-old.
She looked much older than Ms. Pachira or Bid-san, and was strangely alluring.
Perhaps it was an aroma effect, but there was a faint Citrus Scent about her.
I like this scent.
Maybe it was because of that effect, but I mustered up my courage and apologized.
“Um, uh, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
Mineha-san tilted her head slightly as she looked at me.
Her honey-colored eyes held an innocent, almost childlike expression.
“Um, because of me, Spear…”
“It’s fine. Really.”
“But it was to protect me…”
“That’s why. Because I was able to protect you, it’s fine.”
She gazed at me like that.
“…Mineha-san.”
“Besides, I received the ‘Orianess’ too.”
She let out a small chuckle.
“So, this conversation is over now. Got it?”
“Y-yes.”
Nodding, I looked around the top floor, as if trying to gloss over something.
“…This room is incredible. I hardly recognize it; I’m surprised.”
“I tried recreating my family home.”
“Is Mineha-san’s family home like this?”
Oriental, huh. That’s unexpected.
“Yeah. Um… Wof. I know it’s rather late for this, but I’m sorry for using this Tower without asking.”
Mineha-san apologized. I was so taken aback, I laughed.
“It’s a bit late for that now, don’t you think?”
“I suppose so.”
“Don’t tell me it’s actually been bothering you?”
“…Well, yes.”
“Then you should have told me sooner.”
“B-But, that’s… embarrassing…”
Mineha-san blushed slightly and buried her face in her thighs.
So that was the reason. Well, I knew it wasn’t exactly legal, but I ignored it.
“Th-That reminds me, are you alright staying in that large form?”
“…I wasn’t very good at it, but I practiced and got used to it. Before, I could only maintain it for about a day, but now I can somehow manage around three days. Honestly, if you’re going to be a Seeker, you really need to be able to hold it for longer, though.”
As she spoke, she poked and prodded the carpet with her index finger.
“So you can maintain it if you practice?”
“It’s less practice and more getting used to it, I suppose. The energy consumed when reverting back also decreases once you get accustomed to it. That’s why I can stay bigger for longer.”
“Oh? You said you weren’t good at it. Why is that?”
“It’s the sensation. When you get bigger, the feeling is quite different compared to your original body. Some girls really struggle with it, and there are even those who end up throwing up because of the gap.”
“It’s that different?”
So getting bigger changes the sensation enough to make someone vomit, huh.
“There are large individual differences, you see. As for me, well, I’m one of the better ones.”
“……I see.”
“The original form is more comfortable, but the bigger one is more convenient, you know.”
Well, when she’s Fairial, she usually rides on my shoulder or on Dagaa when we move.
With a wry smile, I looked up at the sky through the open ceiling.
It was a nearly cloudless sky, brimming with stars. They shone so brightly they seemed to fill the entire curtain of night.
And the moon, the mother of the night, was also clad in silver light tonight.
The satellite moons accompanying their mother, the Sisters, also revealed a fantastical beauty.
“……”
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
When I realized it, Mineha-san was looking up at the night sky just like me.
“…I… regretted it when I first came to this Tower. Because it was dirty, and cramped, and… just plain filthy.”
“…Why the Tower?”
“Fairials like high places, you know. That’s actually where they live.”
“Oh, is that right?”
“Also… it was selfish of me, but another reason was that I didn’t want to see your face.”
“Eh?”
Mineha-san, her face bright red, glared at me for some reason.
I was bewildered. Had I done something to make her angry?
“…I realized. That I just walked right into a man’s house myself, just because I didn’t have anywhere else to stay.”
“…”
This was the first time I’d heard this truth. So it had been weighing on her mind.
“Even though there were places to stay, like inns and stuff… back then… I was anxious.”
“Anxious?”
“We got into that fight with Ax and his group right when we met, didn’t we? That was a bad move.”
“Well, yeah.”
“And after that, I just didn’t know what else to do.”
“…”
That’s unexpected. Did she really want to do something about it back then, at least a little? Was calling out to me also an attempt to improve things?
“That’s why, back then… I just felt I had to do something, you know? I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I ended up forcing my way into your house. But when I calmed down, I realized what a terrible thing I’d done. That’s why I ran off as soon as I found the Tower. And then I regretted it. It was just too awful.”
“Ah, ahaha…”
“But it was already night, and since it was my own fault, I decided to stay the night in the Tower. Back then, I… I was so frustrated. Miserable and frustrated with my own foolishness… That’s when I saw this starry sky.”
Mineha-san gazes at the night’s starry sky.
A sky that looked as if it could swallow you whole—it stirred her heart, making it tremble.
“Starry Night.”
When I muttered the word, Mineha-san turned around. And slowly, her lips began to move.
“Hey. Wof. You know? I figured it out. Why I felt so much… sadness and loneliness today… about you keeping secrets.”
“Mineha-san…”
“Wof. I thought of you as family.”
“…Family?”
I’m shaken. But hearing her say it, it felt strangely right and made perfect sense.
I see. Family, huh? So that’s what it was. Mineha-san averts her gaze from me.
“Yes. Living together, eating meals… I thought of us like family.”
“…”
“It’s strange, isn’t it? It’s not like we were together for that long. Just a few months. But I lived together with you. Honestly… it’s embarrassing to say this, but, I… this life now… you know? I really like it. I’ve grown as fond of it as I am of this Tower.”
“Me too… this life now… eating meals together with Mineha-san and Dagaa. I’ve really grown fond of it.”
Her requests when I cooked were almost always for meat, but that wasn’t so bad either.
I enjoyed making meals for someone else. Hearing her say it was delicious made my heart leap.
“I’m glad. It’s embarrassing, but… I was scared to say this,” Mineha-san said, hugging her drawn-up legs with both arms.
“Scared? Why were you scared?”
“Because… I was afraid you might reject me for saying something like this. Because it’s weird.”
“I won’t deny it. When I heard that, I had to agree.”
“Wof…”
“I want to keep living with you like this, Mineha-san. Is that wrong?”
When I said it so clearly, Mineha-san looked up. She gazed at me.
“Well, it’s not like it’s wrong, but…”
“I’m glad.”
“Yeah.”
Mineha-san gave a small nod too, as if trying to hide her embarrassment.
I felt relieved. I was happy that I could keep living with her.
“I’m glad.”
I murmured again, unconsciously.
“Wof. The stars are beautiful, aren’t they?”
Mineha-san said, turning her face towards the starry sky.
“Yes. They’re beautiful.”
I smiled.