With my lecture to Lilia-san finished, I decided to ask about the parts of our current situation that were still weighing on my mind.
"By the way, what happened to the Hunting Competition?"
"Due to the incident with the Black Bears, the competition has been cancelled," Lilia-san answered.
"Well, even if we were to calculate the points now... no matter how you look at it, the Death King-sama would be the winner," Lunamaria-san added.
I see, so it was called off. Well, under the circumstances, it couldn't be helped.
"In that case, what about the Fruit of the World Tree?"
"I heard it will be carried over to next year’s Treasure Tree Festival. The Fruit of the World Tree is a mystical object that doesn't deteriorate with age, so apparently, holding onto it for another year isn't a problem at all."
"I... see."
The Fruit of the World Tree would be the prize for next year, which meant Lilia-san and her group wouldn't be able to get their hands on it this time. Given how they must be feeling, I couldn't find the right words to console them.
A brief silence hung in the air before Lilia-san turned toward Sieg-san.
"Sieg, I’m so sorry. After all those things I said to get your hopes up, I couldn't get the Fruit of the World Tree in the end..."
"..."
In response to Lilia-san's apology, Sieg-san pulled a memo pad and a pen from her pocket. She scribbled something down and held it up for us to see.
『I’ll apologize first, then. Lili, I'm sorry.』
"Eh? Wait, Sieg... you can't mean..."
"..."
The message was almost identical to what I had said to Lilia-san just moments ago. As Lilia-san processed the words, the color drained from her face.
Sieg-san pulled back her fist, winding up, and drove it into Lilia-san without a moment's hesitation.
"Gyagh!?"
She sent her flying!
It was a haymaker that made my previous noogie look like a gentle tap. Lilia-san’s body was knocked backward with terrifying force. Wait, she definitely put Magic Power into that punch... Is Lilia-san actually going to be okay?
"...That hurt..."
Despite my fears, Lilia-san sat up while clutching her face.
No, no, she did two full somersaults in the air! To walk away from that kind of impact with just a "that hurt"—even if she reinforced herself with Magic Power—Lilia-san really is a bit of a monster in her own right.
Sieg-san glared at Lilia-san, whose eyes were tearing up as she held her bruised face, and wrote another message.
『Stop deciding how I feel for me. I’ve told you this many times. I do not resent you.』
"...Sieg."
『I don’t regret losing my voice, and I don’t regret resigning from the knights. All that is in my heart is the relief that I was able to protect the person precious to my best friend. That is all.』
"..."
I had a feeling that was the case. While Lilia-san had been desperately trying to "fix" Sieg-san's body, Sieg-san hadn't looked like someone who wanted to be cured; she had just looked sad whenever she saw Lilia-san’s guilt.
Sieg-san then turned toward me and offered a faint smile.
『Hearing what Kaito-san said earlier woke me up as well.』
"Me?"
『Lili, I’ve never been able to tell you this properly until now... but to be blunt, I have never once thought that I wanted to heal this wound.』
"What!?"
Lilia-san forgot all about her throbbing face, her eyes widening in shock at the words on the pad.
『But I knew you felt guilty because of me. I thought that if my voice coming back would make you feel even a little bit better, then I should just stay quiet and wait for it to happen. That’s why, if you had won the Fruit of the World Tree, I intended to accept it without a word.』
"...Sieg."
It was a nearly silent conversation conducted through paper and ink, yet Sieg-san's emotions resonated with incredible strength.
Ah, I see. That’s why Sieg-san had looked so sorrowful whenever she looked at Lilia-san. To her, the truly painful thing wasn't the loss of her voice...
『Lili, I’m just like you. Ever since that day, I’ve been carrying a sense of guilt toward you.』
"...What?"
『I thought if only I had been stronger, if only I had been more capable, I wouldn't have forced such a heavy burden onto my precious friend... Just as you wanted to restore my voice, I wanted to lighten the load you were carrying, even if only by a little. I believed the best way to do that was to stay silent and accept your atonement. But I finally realized just now that I was wrong.』
Just as Lilia-san felt responsible for Sieg-san’s injury, Sieg-san felt responsible for the suffering Lilia-san went through because of her own perceived weakness.
That was why Sieg-san couldn't stop Lilia-san from being so desperate, even though it pained her to watch. She believed it was her own fault, and that the only way to make amends was to play the part of the person being "saved."
In the end, Lilia-san and Sieg-san are remarkably similar. They both have such a fierce sense of responsibility that they couldn't forgive themselves, and that's why they've been at cross-purposes for so long.
『I was just running away. I was ashamed of my own incompetence and used "doing it for Lili’s sake" as an excuse to avoid facing you directly. But if I truly care about you, I have to stop running and state my will clearly. That is why...』
Sieg-san stopped writing and reached for the muffler wound around her neck.
She unwrapped it, exposing the deep, discolored scar she had hidden for years to keep from upsetting Lilia-san. She looked Lilia-san straight in the eyes. Then, she placed her hand against her throat, and a faint, red light of Magic Power began to glow.
"...Li...li..."
"!?!"
"I... am... no...t... re...gre...tt...ing... i...t."
It was a voice squeezed out with everything she had, terribly raspy and broken. She was likely using Magic Power to forcibly vibrate her vocal cords to produce a "sound like a voice."
The sound was painful to hear, but at the same time, it felt like the most beautiful voice I had ever heard.
"Thi...s... sca...r... is... m...y... pri...de."
"...Sieg, you..."
Those were the words she had wanted to say most of all. To Sieg-san, that large scar wasn't a mark of shame; it was proof that she had fought to protect what was important to Lilia-san. It was her pride.
That method of speaking must have been incredibly taxing. Sieg-san’s shoulders were heaving as she gasped for air, yet she still maintained a gentle smile as she picked up her pen again.
『See? I can produce a voice quite easily. So, Lili, please stop blaming yourself. Please don’t try to erase my precious pride.』
"...Sieg... I... I..."
『You’ve always been so kind, Lili... and ever since we were children, you’ve always been such a crybaby.』
"How long ago... are you talking about... the only one... who knows about that... is you, Sieg..."
As if the heavy weight she had been carrying for years had finally vanished, large tears began to spill from Lilia-san's eyes. Seeing this, Sieg-san gently pulled her into an embrace.
They looked just like sisters.
It was as if they were finally mending the distance that had grown between them ever since that day...
"Miyama-sama... shall we give them some space?"
"Yeah, let's."
Lilia-san buried her face in Sieg-san's chest and began to wail like a small child. Lunamaria-san whispered to me, and I nodded, following her out of the room.
Dear Mother, Father—I’ve realized once again just how difficult the human heart can be. Even though they both cared for each other and tried to be considerate, those very feelings ended up driving them both into a corner. But today, I believe the relationship between Lilia-san and Sieg-san has finally, truly, been mended.