As Valentine headed to the capital with the royal knights and soldiers, Clarisse headed straight for the collapsed golem.
The golem, which had embraced the truth for a long time, now looked like just an ordinary rock, but upon closer inspection, several stones formed a single golem.
Clarisse carefully placed her hand on its surface.
She quickly realized that it was a stone that could receive magic.
“Hello.”
She spoke carefully, but there was no answer. She matched the corners of her lips to transmit magic, and gradually a response came back.
[Oh, the golem master is here. Welcome, yeah. Have you eaten?]
“Ah, it’s Clarisse. I have… eaten.”
[Kids who say that always end up talking about how they’ve gained weight or whatever and go around starving all day. Just picking up cookie crumbs or something.]
“That’s not true.”
[No way, just look at that wrist. It’s so thin it’s like it’ll disappear any moment! Hasn’t your father been feeding you?]
“F…father?”
As she said that, Clarisse naturally thought of the Duke.
[Yeah! Otherwise, how could our precious Golem Master become so skinny? This won’t do. I’ll get up right away and catch a few wild chickens to cook thoroughly. Let’s have them as a quick snack.]
“You’re going to get up right now?!”
Is it getting up this easily?
Clarisse, who had come prepared to perform the ritual, was surprised but also glad, her eyes sparkling.
“Yes! Tell Father to put some water in a pot… Ah.”
“Why are you doing that?”
[Phew, I forgot. Oh dear, I forgot again…]
The Golem repeated its self-reproachful words a few more times.
[Why do I keep forgetting like this? For now, I need to stay still. Ah, but who will cook the chicken?]
“Why are you staying still?”
[Oh, well, I have to maintain the preservation magic until I find the six people who need the truth!]
Clarisse was also familiar with preservation magic. She had seen it demonstrated by Noah when they were faced with the corpse of the wizard Mavis.
‘The Golem Master can do that kind of magic too.’
Though the exact method was unclear, it might be similar to the sensation of changing the size and shape of Mallang.
‘More than that, six…people who need the truth.’
Given the larger number than she expected, Clarisse cautiously asked a question.
“Do we really need to find exactly six people? The earnestness of one person might be deeper than gathering six.”
[How can you speak so beautifully? Your mother must have taught you very well. But what should I do with this? I can’t open it unless the six of you want the truth. It’s the master’s order.]
Somehow the Golem seemed sorry, so Clarisse quickly shook her head.
“No, strictly following orders is proof of a great Golem. You’ll be an example to other stones.”
[Speaking of other stones, it reminded me. Ah, I forgot again…]
“Yes?”
[The two small pieces have gone somewhere and haven’t come back. One of them is a golem that the master made separately. It seems to roll around here sometimes.]
“The small pieces?”
[Yeah, if you happen to meet those kids, could you tell them that this old lady is waiting? Without them, even if we find the six who need the truth, we won’t be able to get up.]
“Of course I will.”
Clarisse lowered her hands and took a moment to look around the Golem’s surroundings.
The ground, made uneven by soldiers digging, was scattered with a great number of pebbles.
Clarisse picked up and examined a few of them, but there were no small fragments that resembled what the stone had described.
After wandering around the area for over an hour, Clarisse, slightly exhausted, rested her chin on her hand and gazed up at the massive rock.
Despite being without a master for a long time and only replenishing its magic with the full moon, it still maintains the preservation magic left from long ago.
“If a wizard of that level created a Golem, it’s highly likely that they had some purpose and are still active… Huh?”
Clarisse suddenly stood up from her seat.
Now that she thinks about it, there was one.
‘A Golem created with a ‘purpose’ and still actively ‘operating’—that of the former leader of the previous generation!’
* * *
When Clarisse came back covered in dust, Rosalie was startled and sent her into the tub.
“Goodness, I didn’t expect you’d come back after playing in the sand, even as a grown lady.”
“That’s because I was looking for something. It seems I ended up searching in the wrong places, though.”
“Some things can be found if you look for them.”
“But, Rosalie.”
Clarisse, with her face half-submerged in the water, muttered and finally mustered the courage to speak.
“I don’t know if I should go look for it…”
One of the pieces of rock Clarisse had in mind was the red stone embedded in Noah’s face.
That beautiful stone was filled with the magic of the previous leader, and it had been faithfully protecting Noah until today.
‘The lingering effect of that magic was so beautiful that I hardly realized it.’
It was definitely a part of the collapsed golem. Clarisse realized this easily with her instincts as a golem master.
But the problem is.
‘…That’s a stone to protect Noah.’
So, in the current unstable situation, it might be better to leave it on his body.
‘But that’s also my selfishness.’
She just wanted Noah, whom she loved more than anyone else, to be safe.
In fact, he had tried very hard to remove the stone embedded in his face.
“Why don’t you ask the wizard Sinnet?”
“Yes?”
Clarisse was startled and looked up at Rosalina when she spoke while washing her hair.
“H, how did.. you know?”
“How could I not know? Whenever you make that face, it’s always related to the wizard Sinnet.”
“…Rosalie is like a wizard.”
Clarisse lowered her head again, unable to deny it.
The affectionate hands stroking her hair continued a little longer.
“It used to seem natural to discuss everything with Noah…”
Clarisse thought back to the time when there was nothing to be concerned about between her and Noah.
“Do you want to go back to that time?”
“It’s true that I cherish those times. However… I don’t want to go back.”
The current situation wasn’t particularly better.
But the fact that she had realized that she liked him was worth a lot to her.
“I, I like Noah. It’s a bit… strange, isn’t it?”
“No.”
Rosalie poured warm water on Clarisse’s head and smiled.
“That’s a wonderful thought. It’s almost pitiful that the wizard Sinnet doesn’t know this.”
“Ugh, I absolutely can’t say it!”
“Why is that?”
“That’s…”
Clarisse pursed her lips.
There were many reasons why she couldn’t tell Noah her honest feelings.
The situation was not good.
She lied to him, pretending to like someone else.
Since the last time she got angry, things had gotten awkward between them.
But those weren’t the ‘real’ reasons why Clarisse couldn’t tell him how she felt.
｢I want the future.｣
｢All the futures that Clarisse Lennon Grezekaia holds.｣
Before she knew it, Clarisse really wanted to hand over her future to him.
It wasn’t that she wanted him to protect her uncertain future.
Clarisse wanted to hand over the complete future that she had firmly grasped with her own hands.
To Noah.
“I’m embarrassed to tell you why.”
Fortunately, Rosalie didn’t ask any more questions.
Instead, she insisted on taking out a pretty nightgown that was too pretty for something to wear before going to bed.
It was as if it was pushing Clarisse to go meet him immediately.
* * *
Rosalie even tied a white ribbon around Clarisse’s wrist as a decoration.
She said that she couldn’t wear a ribbon on her still-wet hair.
With the ribbon that always gave her courage beautifully attached, Clarisse felt ready to knock confidently on Noah’s door.
“…”
Of course, just because it ‘seemed’ like it would happen, it didn’t necessarily mean it would. Clarisse hesitated.
‘What should I talk about first?’
Jump straight to the point? Should she start with some small talk about the weather to gauge his mood? Or perhaps…
While she was thinking about what to say, Mallang suddenly popped its head out of her pocket and jumped down.
Seeing Mallang confidently extend its short arms toward the door, it was clear it intended to knock on her behalf.
“N, no!”
When Clarisse loudly stopped it, Mallang sighed deeply, turned around, and ran down the hallway.
That’s a relief.
‘I thought I’d face Noah without any mental preparation… Ah.’
Clarisse soon realized that she had made a ridiculous mistake by falling for Mallang’s trick.
Wasn’t it just a matter of letting Noah know that she was outside the room by shouting so loudly?
‘D, did he hear? There’s a chance he might not have heard because he was reading…’
But, the door opened with a sound.
“Girl.”
“H, hello, Noah.”
When she awkwardly waved to greet him, he simply nodded while pressing down his mask.
“What’s going on here?”
He seemed to be wary of Clarisse for some reason.
“I have something to talk to Noah about….”
“Is it urgent?”
“Mhm, over there. I have something to discuss about the collapsed Golem.”
“I see, then I think it would be best to ask the Duke to meet with you and listen to it together.”
As expected, Noah seemed uncomfortable with Clarisse. The words that seemed to push her away felt quite cold.
Even knowing it was unavoidable, a part of her heart ached nonetheless.
“Before I tell the Duke, to Noah…”
Clarisse hesitated for a moment and decided to address him differently.
For some reason, it seemed better right now.
“I have something I’d like to discuss with Wizard Sinnet. So… this is strictly from a wizard perspective.”
“….”
“Of course, I’m not a proper wizard, so the only person I can consult about this is…Wizard Sinnet.”
“….”
“Can you help me?”
Noah, who had been silent the whole time, finally opened the door a little wider. He was allowing her to come in.
“Thank you, Wizard Sinnet.”
Clarisse entered his room, feeling both relief that he had opened the door and hurt that she had finally been allowed to come in after calling her Wizard Sinnet.
Noah looked back at Clarisse while leaning against the desk.
The fact that he didn’t offer her a seat seemed to mean that he wanted to finish the conversation quickly and send Clarisse away.
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