The Great Sword is n Chapter 52

I stayed in bed all day without moving.

Except when Rubia brought food from the dining hall on the first floor during altis, I just... lay there.

I held off on going to the bathroom too.

After enduring such painful ti.

When Rubia's scent was almost gone from the pillow I was clutching...

"Sigh... I'm back..."

Hephaestus returned.

"He, Hephaestus...!"

I shot up and looked in the direction of Hephaestus' voice.

"Ah, Noah unni."

I heard an extrely exhausted voice.

It sounds like he had a tough ti...

"Did you eat... sothing?"

"Yeah, I ate. How about you, unni?"

"I, I also... ate."

Rubia kindly fed . But, the atmosphere was so different from usual... I still feel like it's lingering.

Ugh...

I heard the sound of Hephaestus' dragging footsteps.

"By the way... I tried to finish it by today, but it was too much... It's not the usual equipnt, so it's unfamiliar... The fragnts are so tough... Sorry, Noah unni."

"Mm... It can't be helped... You don't need to apologize..."

I didn’t expect much, but... I did hope a little.

But, as expected, it didn’t work out.

"By the way... is Rubia unni sleeping?"

"Rubia is... sleeping?"

"Yeah. She's lying on the desk. Should I wake her up?"

Wasn't she lying down with us yesterday...? Could it be that sothing’s bothering her, and she couldn’t sleep...?

Could it be... because of

yelling at her...?

No, that can’t be it. Why would she be worried enough to not sleep because of sothing I said?

"Well... let her rest."

Hm. But, if she’s sleeping on her stomach, her back will hurt when she wakes up.

Hmm... maybe I should wake her up and have her lie down on the bed...

"No... I think it’s better to wake her up. Let’s tell her to lie on the bed..."

"I guess that’s better."

I heard Hephaestus' footsteps fading away.

He’s probably going to wake Rubia up.

"Unni, Rubia unni!"

"Ugh... Hah... Ah, Hephaestus is here... Mmm..."

I heard Rubia's voice soaked in exhaustion.

I pulled the blanket back over myself and laid back down.

I hated Rubia.

I didn’t even want to look at her...

"Sigh... I must’ve dozed off. Did you finish it?"

"Ah, yeah. It should be done by tomorrow. Honestly... it wasn’t regular monster fragnts but Carpen’s, so they were really tough."

"That makes sense. But Noah... Ah."

I heard Rubia stumbling over to .

I tightly hugged the blanket.

"Noah. Are you sleeping?"

The bed sunk on one side.

It seems Rubia sat on the bed.

"Ah, no, I'm not sleeping."

I curled up even more.

"Can you show your face?"

"No..."

"I'm sorry for falling asleep..."

"Well, it can’t be helped..."

Actually, There’s no need for Rubia to apologize. I don’t need to be upset with her.

When my greatsword is gone, and I can’t see... it’s really just my personal problem.

Rubia doesn’t need to worry about it.

But.

Still... I feel disappointed.

She’s my friend. My best... best friend, she said.

Last ti... she stayed next to

all day. But why... today...

If she was going to act like this, she should have said so from the beginning. Making

expect sothing for no reason...

Again, my nose tingled and my eyes got warm, and I held my breath.

I don’t even want to let out a sound of crying.

I heard Rubia sighing from right next to . And Hephaestus' snoring was coming from the front.

Then, a mont later...

"Unnies, do you want a late-night snack?"

Hephaestus’ random question broke the silence.

"Late-night snack?"

"Yeah. Rubia unni hasn’t eaten yet."

"I...? I ate—"

"You didn’t, right? There's only one serving here."

Huh? Rubia didn’t eat?

She definitely said she was going to eat earlier...

"Hmm... What kind of late-night snack are you thinking of? Do you have sothing in mind?"

I heard Rubia’s awkward response.

She didn’t eat.

"Hehe... I saw a place on the way here. I’ll hurry and get it, so don’t sleep, okay?"

"Ah... Okay. Be careful."

I heard Hephaestus walking toward the door.

I kicked off the blanket and poked my head out cautiously.

"Alright, take care."

Then I quickly withdrew back under the blanket.

"Okay! I’ll be back soon!"

I heard the door open and close.

"Noah. I’m sorry..."

Rubia’s hand brushed over my shoulder.

"It’s... fine..."

Another sigh from Rubia.

But.

I can’t take it anymore...

Now that Hephaestus is gone...

I threw off the blanket and slowly got up.

I carefully reached out and walked slowly, feeling my way forward.

"Noah...?"

Ignoring Rubia’s words, I continued walking.

And a little later...

"Ah... Done."

I touched the wall!

Now, I just have to follow it...

Swish— swish—

The palm of my hand brushed against the wall, making a strangely pleasant sound.

I passed the curve... Ah, this is a table.

Swish— swish—

And then...

"If you want to go to the bathroom, just say so..."

When my hand touched the door fra, Rubia’s hand wrapped around my waist.

"I- I can go alone... Rubia... you don’t need to..."

I pushed Rubia’s hand away and turned the doorknob.

Creeeak— The sound of the bathroom door opening.

"I'm sorry..."

"Rubia, you don’t need to apologize... this, this is... my problem."

I stepped inside the bathroom and closed the door behind .

From the other side, I heard Rubia’s deep sigh.

"Sigh..."

Hearing that, I couldn’t help but feel... lancholic.

No.

It’s fine.

I can do this alone now...

I gathered my resolve and finally managed to take care of the task I had been putting off.

Now, I feel like I can breathe a little...

As I washed my hands, I adjusted my twisted expression.

Then, I felt my way along the wall again and opened the bathroom door.

Rubia’s uneven breathing was right in front of .

"Noah..."

"Before Hephaestus gets back... I’ll lie down on the bed."

I kept a stiff expression and continued walking, holding onto the wall.

Maybe halfway through...

I tripped on sothing hard at my feet, and my body swayed.

"Ugh...!"

But... I didn’t fall.

"Even if Noah doesn’t want it, I’m still going to help you."

Rubia’s trembling hand was supporting my waist.

"Ugh..."

"I’ll take you there."

Then she carefully wrapped her arms around

and slowly walked

back to bed.

"Th- Thank you..."

"It’s nothing."

After replying, Rubia carefully sat down on the bed.

Is she looking at ? Or... looking sowhere else?

It’s frustrating not being able to see anything. It’s annoying...

Now, I’m too embarrassed to pull the blanket over , so I hugged my knees and lowered my head.

Then, a mont later...

"Ta-da—!"

The door swung open with a bang, and Hephaestus, panting, entered.

I lifted my head and looked in the direction of Hephaestus' voice.

"Wow, you’re back...?"

"Yeah!"

"Kebabs... and is that alcohol?"

Alcohol?

Did he buy alcohol...?

"Yeah!!"

"Hephaestus... Aren’t you underage?"

"Of course, I’m not drinking!"

"No, it’s not about drinking or not drinking... How did you even get this?"

"They gave it to

when I went to run an errand for my mom."

Huh...? Is it really okay to just hand out alcohol like that?

Well, when I was younger, I would get alcohol or cigarettes when I ran errands for my parents...

"Alright, enough talking. Let’s eat! I’m starving!"

I heard Hephaestus walking toward , the sound of a crinkling bag.

Eating is fine, but...

If I try to eat this, I feel like my blindness will get exposed.

Of course... I don’t mind telling Hephaestus that without the greatsword, I can’t see.

But I really don’t want to say it myself.

Besides... it’s our secret, mine and Rubia’s.

If I just blurt it out, Rubia might be upset...

Right now, I’m annoyed at her...

But, I won’t stay angry forever.

Ugh, whatever. If it happens, it happens.

Hephaestus probably won’t do anything bad to

anyway.

As I struggled to get up, soone’s hand gently tapped .

Then, it carefully took my hand and helped

stand.

An incredibly familiar hand.

Rubia’s hand.

"Here, sit down!"

The hand slowly guided

to Hephaestus' side.

"Noah, take this."

She brought a skewer in front of .

"Th-thank you..."

I carefully took it.

My heart lted. The stiff expression I had started to loosen.

It’s the sll of the skewer. Not because Rubia took care of .

"I’ll eat well, Hephaestus. But... the atmosphere now is a bit different from when you asked to take

from Rohallan, isn’t it?"

Hmm, now that you ntion it...

Back then, I looked so desperate. But now, it feels a bit more relaxed?

"Ah... well, this is embarrassing to say..."

I heard Hephaestus rummaging through sothing.

"It’s because of this..."

What’s this...?

I can’t see!!

"...A shining stone?"

Nice, Rubia!

But... why a stone?

"It’s not just any stone... Hmm, it was given to

by my master..."

Hephaestus took a breath before continuing.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

"Once, I almost got seriously injured during an important errand... But after that, my master gave

this stone... To put it simply, if the person is alive, it shines, and if they’re dead, it turns off. So this ans... my master is alive... Hehe..."

Ah... It’s the stone of fate.

The kind of in-ga item that you’d give to soone when you marry them, like a wedding ring...

I’ve never received it, and I’ve never given it either...

And honestly, If you open the friend list... it tells you where they are and if they’re alive.

It’s useless!

That’s why I never cared about it.

Of course, I still don’t need it. Since I can’t see it.

It doesn’t an anything. It’s useless. I’m not jealous at all.

Really.

"Then, why were you so desperate in Rohallan?"

"That’s... When I was in Rohallan, it was flickering. But when I got here, it’s fine now."

Flickering? Does it malfunction?

"Well, that’s a relief... But are you planning to go look for your master?"

"Yeah. Sothing... feels off, and I can’t just stay still. Of course, I’ll finish the equipnt repairs properly. At tis like this, I need to be even more thorough."

By the way, does the stone of fate have no aning in this world? In the ga, it ant 'let’s get married.'

But, I guess in this world, it doesn’t an much since players made those kinds of things...

Still, I’m glad to hear that Yuria is fine.

And... now that everything has gotten a little livelier...

I feel a bit better.

I took a bite of the skewer to hide the small smile creeping up on my face.

But.

"Hah, phew... Aah... It’s, it’s spicy!"

I felt a pain like soone slapped my tongue really hard.

It’s so spicy. It’s really, really spicy!

"Mu, muul... Ru, Rubia... Hephaestus...! Anyone... wa-water, p-please... huff, sigh... so... s-spicy..."

"Unni! Here!"

Hephaestus brought a cup to my mouth.

I took it and gulped it down.

"Eeeek... Is, is this alcohol?!"

Bitter! It’s so bitter and spicy!

It’s even spicier!!

"Ah, I mixed it up with water. Sorry... Unni, this one’s really water."

Hephaestus quickly placed the cup next to my hand.

I fumbled around, grabbed it, and drank.

"Ugh, ugh... It’s... awful..."

My tongue is tingling... It’s still spicy...

So bitter too... Ugh...

"Are you okay, Noah? First, eat this."

Rubia brought sothing soft to my mouth.

Jelly? Is it jelly?

I opened my mouth and quickly accepted it.

It’s definitely jelly!

"Umm..."

I swallowed the jelly, and Rubia imdiately brought more to my mouth.

I accepted it again.

This ti, it’s grape flavor.

Jelly’s delicious... But my stomach is burning.

Could it be because of the spice?

Or... because of the alcohol?

It’s getting... warr... and warr...

"Noah...? Are you... drunk?"

Since I ca to this world, no one offered

alcohol...

Could I really get drunk from just one drink?

There’s no way that’s possible.

"Ugh...? Do I look drunk? I’m totally... not drunk... Hehe..."

See? I’m fine.

"Hehe..."