Night.
Here.
It's been quite a while since I've been here.
The top floor of the watchtower is smaller than my room.
About the only things I could fit in here are a wooden crate and a chair.
The stone floor and walls are worn and grimy with age.
So I always wondered what Mineha-san found so appealing about this place.
And it's open-air. On days with heavy rain, wind and water come right in without mercy.
A broken branch from one of the giant trees even came flying in once. Cleaning that up was a nightmare.
".........."
The top floor of this shabby little tower had... taken on a distinctly Eastern air.
The first thing I noticed was a colorful carpet covering the stone floor. It was laid out edge to edge with no gaps.
Beautiful wallpaper had been hung on the stone walls, and veils were draped from the ceiling—canopies.
There was something between the open-air pillars, too.
In the center of the room sat a relaxed, loose sheet.
Along with round cushions and long, narrow ones. A lamp sat a short distance away.
Not for lighting, though. There's the light sphere I got from Riv-san up on the ceiling.
Maybe it's aromatherapy? Essential oils. That was a bit of a surprise.
The now-grown Mineha-san sat on the sheet with her knees hugged to her chest, patted the spot next to her, and spoke.
Sit down.
Y-yes.
I sat down next to Mineha.
Mineha was dressed casually in a plain white shirt and pants.
The shirt was obviously men's — in fact, it was mine.
The one I'd lent her back when she'd done her laundry and told me she had nothing to wear.
Since then, for whatever reason, whenever she went for a casual look, this was it.
I wasn't about to ask for it back at this point, but I did wonder what she saw in it.
Even so, the grown-up Mineha really didn't look ten years old.
Her orange hair fell in a glossy cascade, and her beautiful features held not a trace of childishness.
She was a full head taller than me, with a bust and hips that were clearly not those of a ten-year-old.
She looked much older than Pakira or Vitt — almost oddly sensual.
Was it the aromatherapy? There was a faint citrus scent.
I liked this smell.
Maybe it was the effect of that scent, but I gathered my courage and apologized.
"Um, so… I'm sorry."
"About what?"
Mineha tilted her head to the side and looked at me.
Her honey-colored eyes wore an innocent, childlike expression.
"Um, because of me, Spear…"
"That's fine. It's no big deal."
"But you did it to protect me."
"I protected you, so that's all that matters."
She kept looking straight at me.
"…Miss Mineha."
"And I even got the 'Orianess'."
She smiled softly.
"So that settles it. Okay?"
"Y-yes."
I nodded and looked around the top floor, trying to change the subject.
"…It's an incredible room. I barely recognized it—I'm genuinely surprised."
"I tried to recreate my childhood home."
"Your childhood home was like this?"
Was it Oriental in style? That was unexpected.
"Yeah. Hey, Wof—I know it's late, but I'm sorry for using this tower without permission."
Mineha apologized. I stared at her blankly, then laughed.
"It's a bit late for that."
"Yeah, you're right."
"Were you actually worried about it?"
"…Yes, I was."
"Then you should've said so sooner."
"Because, that's… embarrassing…"
Mineha's cheeks flushed faintly, and she buried her face in her own lap.
So that was the reason. Well, I had known it was against the rules and left it alone, so…
"O-oh, by the way—is it okay to stay in your large form?"
"…I wasn't good at it before, but I've practiced and gotten used to it. I used to only be able to hold it for about a day, but now I can manage around three. Really, if I want to be a delver, I'd need to hold it much longer."
As she spoke, she traced idle circles on the carpet with one finger.
"You can hold it longer with practice?"
"Practice, or more like habituation—the energy cost of reverting back also drops as you get used to it. That's why I can stay large longer."
"Huh—you weren't good at it? Why not?"
"The sensation. When you grow larger, everything feels different from your original body. Some people really can't handle it. There are even those who throw up from the adjustment."
"It's that different?"
So growing large shifted the senses enough to cause vomiting.
"It varies a lot from person to person. I'm on the better end, so…"
"…I see."
"Being small is more comfortable, but being large is more convenient."
Well, when she's in fairial form, she rides on my shoulder or on Dagaar and stuff when we're moving around.
With a wry smile, I looked up at the sky from the open ceiling.
It was a starry sky with barely a cloud, shining as though to fill every last inch of the night curtain.
And the moon, mother of the night, was draped in silver light tonight.
The satellite Sisters, keeping the mother moon company, were putting on a display of dreamlike beauty as well.
"............"
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes."
When I noticed, Mineha-san was gazing up at the night sky just like I was.
"I... when I first came to this tower, I regretted it. It was dirty, and cramped, and just filthy all around."
"Then why come to the tower?"
"Fairials like high places. Their actual dwellings are like that."
"Is that so?"
"And, self-centered as it is, I also didn't want to have to face you."
"Huh?"
Mineha-san's face had gone bright red, and for some reason she was glaring at me.
I was confused. Had I done something to make her angry?
"I realized... that I'd just invited myself into a man's home because I had nowhere to stay."
"............"
A truth I was hearing for the first time. She'd been dwelling on it.
"There were inns and all sorts of places to stay, but back then... I was anxious."
"Anxious?"
"Right at the start, you got into a fight with Axe and the others, didn't you? That was a bad move."
"Well, that's true."
"Because after that, I just didn't know what to do"
"......"
Surprising. So back then, she'd been wanting to do something about it, at least a little.
Was that why she'd spoken to me in the first place? To try to fix things?
"So at the time, that was the only way I could think of to do something about it. I wasn't thinking clearly, and I forced my way into your house. But once I calmed down, I realized I'd done something ridiculous. So the moment I spotted the tower, I ran. And then I regretted it. It was just... disgustingly filthy."
"A-Ahaha......"
"But it was already nighttime, and I had no one to blame but myself, so I decided to stay at the tower. Back then I was...... bitter. Pathetic and bitter about my own stupidity...... and that's when I saw this starry sky."
Mineha gazed up at the night sky.
As if it could pull her in at any moment — it swayed her heart, made it tremble.
"Moonlit night."
When I murmured those words, Mineha turned toward me. Then, slowly, she moved her lips.
"Hey. Wof. I figured it out. Why today, when I found out you were hiding things from me, I felt so...... sad and so lonely."
"Mineha......"
"Wof. I thought of you as family."
"......Family?"
I was shaken. But when she said it, it fit perfectly — and strangely, everything fell into place.
So that was it. Family. That's what it had been. Mineha looked away from me.
"Yeah. Living together, eating together — I started to think of us as family."
"......"
"Isn't it strange? It's not like we were together that long. Just a few months. But I was living with you. Honestly...... this is embarrassing to say, but I... my life now... you know? I really love it. I'm just as fond of it as I am of this tower."
"I'm pretty fond of this life too... eating together with Mineha and Dagaa."
When I cook, her requests are pretty much all meat, but honestly, that wasn't so bad.
Cooking for someone else was fun. My heart would skip a beat every time she said it was delicious.
"I'm glad. I'm a little embarrassed saying this, but... I was scared to."
Mineha hugged her drawn-up knees with both arms.
"Scared? Why?"
"Because something like this... I might get shot down. It's weird, after all."
"I won't shoot you down. I felt the same way when she told me, so I get it."
"Wof..."
"I want to keep spending time with you like this, Mineha. Is that not okay?"
When I said it straight out, Mineha looked up. She stared right at me.
"It's not that it's not okay, but..."
"I'm glad."
"Yeah."
Mineha nodded slightly too, like she was trying to hide her embarrassment.
I felt relieved. I was happy about the idea of living with her.
"That's good."
I murmur it once more, without thinking.
"Wof. The stars are pretty tonight."
Mineha said that, then turned her face toward the starry sky.
"Yes. It's beautiful."
I smiled.