“Magiluka, Safina, I’m counting on you both to hold the fort here,” I said.
“You can leave it to us,” Safina replied energetically.
“Lady Mary, please don’t push yourself too much,” Magiluka added, worried about me.
“I-I’ll try to keep it reined in...” I replied.
“Oh, I didn’t mean it like that...”
“Please be careful, my lady,” Tutte said.
It might’ve looked like Magiluka was urging me to be careful not to get hurt, but of course, there was an amusingly more accurate nuance to her choice of words. For my part, I didn’t want to screw up any further by doing something like accidentally destroying the stage, after all, so I took my friends’ words to heart and braced myself for combat, collecting the Legendary Sword (Cringe) from my maid.
“B-Big sister, I’ll go with you too,” Noa insisted, entrusting Lily in her arms to Tutte as she approached me.
“It’ll be dangerous,” I warned. “You’ll be up against Argent Armors.”
“Argent...Armor...” Noa murmured. She visibly shrank, her tiny body quivering terribly as her face grew awash with fear.
Why does she seem so terrified of the armor? Did they do something horrendous to her? I was tempted to ask, but now clearly wasn’t the time for conversation. I wasn’t keen on prying anything out of her either.
“Don’t push yourself, Noa,” I said gently. I petted her head in hopes of soothing her fears, and she began to speak her mind.
“B-But I’m sure that the Argent Knight is related to my memories, and the sooner I remember, the more useful I can—” I hugged her gently, causing her to stop mid-sentence.
“Thank you, Noa,” I said. “But there’s no rush. You can take your time. Take it slow, one step at a time, to recover your memories, okay? We’ve still got plenty of time to spare.”
When I realized that her trembles had died down as I was hugging her, I peered into her face. Her eyes were glossed over as she gazed into the distance.
“Plenty...of...time,” she murmured.
She wasn’t looking at me. It didn’t seem like she was repeating what I’d said, but more like she was reciting a phrase she’d been told by someone else.
“What are you dawdling for, Mary?!” Orthoaguina roared, breaking the moment. “Make haste and go on! We can’t let them approach the stage!”
Noa and I didn’t have the time for a proper discussion right now. “G-Got it!” I yelled back. “Tutte, I leave Noa to you!”
“Yes, my lady,” Tutte replied.
Noa still didn’t seem to have returned to reality, but I passed her onto my trusty maid. Noa outstretched her arm as though she wanted to chase after me.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll protect you. Please don’t make such a pained face.” I smiled at her and reassured her gently, but her eyes were still distant. Then her expression changed once more.
“No... No...” she whispered. “I... No...”
Was she layering someone else over me? She clearly wasn’t speaking to me, but to someone else. I wanted to stay by her side and unravel her memories, but now wasn’t the time to do so. As Orthoaguina said, it was unwise to let the suits of armor approach the stage. Especially since I might destroy it during a fight if we’re too close.
“Let’s go, Snow!” I shouted.
“Aye, aye.”
I leaped onto Snow’s back and looked up at the sky toward the approaching shadowy figures. I’ll beat ’em up in a flash and appease the spirit too. I’m gonna pave a path to Xeoral whether anyone likes it or not!