"An, give me your baby!"
For a moment.
The air froze with a sharp, crackling chill.
In the silence.
Just a moment ago, the whole place must have been noisy and rowdy and chaotic.
Unbelievably.
Now, not a single person opened their mouth.
Not even the two Amazons who had been clinging to each other and trying to wrestle one another down.
Not the middle-aged Pallum who had been at his wit's end over them.
Not the four gods and the Pallum girl who had been sighing over the troubles ahead.
Not even the background characters flustered by the lust that had bloomed from last night's fierce battle.
Even the cries of the seagulls circling the beach and the sound of the waves that had been rolling and surging just moments ago were gone.
A space where not even a breath could be heard.
It felt like everything had stopped.
Yes, as if the world itself had come to a halt.
[Stop time, my world~!]
...As if that would ever happen!
Brushing the bizarre signal that naturally surfaced in the corner of my mind aside, my body finally reacted, belatedly and without my permission.
"Pffft!"
Thank goodness I hadn't been holding orange juice in my mouth.
Honestly, that would have been way too indecent.
"Cough, cough! T-Tiona. W-what did you just say..."
"Hey, you idiot little sister!"
Then Tione reacted too, raising her voice.
Right, I believed in you.
No matter what anyone said, she was Tiona's one and only dependable older sister.
Even if she was blinded by love and sometimes...
No, often...
...routinely did insane things, if you set that aside, she was still a pretty solid voice of reason.
Even in that crazed way she expressed her love, she at least had her own standards and boundaries.
I was sure that someone like her would properly call out her younger sister, who seemed on the verge of running wild.
Go on, Tione.
Show me the experience and authority of an older sister!
"The one giving birth is you! She's the one doing the... you know!"
"Huh? Really?"
"You absolute airhead! That's just common sense!"
"Heeheehee, deh-heh!"
"..."
It took only one second for my faith to shatter.
As expected, people are betrayed because they expect things in the first place.
If I hadn't expected anything from the start, I wouldn't have been betrayed.
Ah, wise sage of life, so well suited to that choker necklace.
Today, you've won again. Damn it.
Would it kill you to lose once in a while?
"An, let's make a baby together!"
"Hey, dummy! You have to get married first!"
"Eeeh? Can't we make it first and then do that?"
"Well...! Would that be okay? No, actually, if you're going to establish the facts first and then do it, the aftermath and management might be easier."
...Calm down.
Count prime numbers and calm down.
This was exactly when courage mattered most.
Prime numbers are lonely numbers divisible only by one and themselves.
They'll give this fake bride some courage.
1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 2... what came next again?
Eh, I don't know.
Anyway, these crazy Amazon sisters were hopeless.
From the start, expecting common sense from a race whose instincts occupied half their brain capacity was a mistake.
So I quickly turned my head and asked for support from the other side.
Without saying a word, just through our eyes, we understood each other.
Help me, goddess-emong~!
Get to work, Muu-Roki.
"I'm absooooolutely against this marriage!"
Thankfully, this time my expectations weren't betrayed.
In fact, Loki voiced her opposition even more strongly than I had hoped.
"I already can't stand that one little rabbit over there, who's got our super-duper cute little Ais all flustered and half-mad, and now you're adding this on top of it?! Enough already! My precious daughter will never, ever be handed over to some worthless punk like that! I'd rather have dirt thrown in my eyes, pwaak!?"
"Cut the shameless act, Loki."
"Y-you crazy little milk cow, you're throwing sand in my face?!"
"Why? You asked me to."
"Y-you little brat!"
Ah, useless Muu, honestly.
Unlike my expectations, even that was stopped almost immediately.
As I stood there, dumbfounded in a way I usually wasn't, the goddess's gaze turned to me.
Looking into those eyes of my mama...
Ah, yes.
I didn't want to understand it, but I understood all the same.
She wasn't going to allow me to keep turning away, closing my eyes, and pretending not to know like an idiot anymore.
So this was what they meant by a conversation through the eyes, where you understand everything without saying a word.
That's harsh, our goddess mama.
"Meet someone's sincerity with your own sincerity."
"..."
"You're a smart boy, so I won't meddle any further."
At that firm declaration, I couldn't say a thing.
Then I turned my gaze and looked at Tiona.
Those eyes of hers held a thread of expectation, and at the same time, a faint fear she couldn't quite hide.
Looking at her, I finally.
"Haa."
Let out a short sigh.
Then I drew in a deep breath.
And circulated the Mana in my body down into my legs.
Tap!
"Eh?"
"Huh?"
"Hm?"
I ran.
Like a marathon lancer on the road.
This was exactly the time to use a Joestar family trump card.
So I kept running until my breath burned at the tip of my throat.
"H-he ran away!"
Run awaaay~!
"That bastard...!"
"Huh, I heard he was badly injured. He sure can run."
"No, his running form is pretty sloppy. That just proves he hasn't fully recovered yet."
"And yet he's still pretty fast. As expected, that's strange."
The sidelines were noisy with this and that.
None of that mattered right now.
The only person I needed to worry about was one and only one.
"Ah..."
Tiona had been left speechless by my sudden escape, staring blankly for a moment.
Then tears welled up slightly in her eyes.
She probably thought I had rejected her to her face.
It would have been nice if the story had ended there.
But she quickly wiped away the tears with her arm and.
"I-I won't let you get awayyyy!"
Started running after me in pursuit.
Hmm, she recovers fast.
No, in times like this, should I say she's stubborn, or that she doesn't know how to give up?
Either way.
"As expected, you're strong."
She really is a strong woman.
And the fact that I don't hate that about her is rather bitter.
Yes.
I don't hate her either.
I don't dislike her.
So.
"Wait right there, aaaah!"
I thought this was the right amount for us right now.
Maybe pushing any further really was impossible.
If that was the case.
Then I supposed I'd better steel myself too.
Because sincerity had to be answered with sincerity.
"Haa, haa..."
"Haah, haah..."
In the end, after all that running, the place the two of us reached was that familiar beach of white sand.
The very spot where everyone had first come to the port city of Melren and enjoyed their long-awaited vacation.
There, the two of us... no.
"Tiona."
"An."
'I' finally stood face to face with one woman named Tiona Hiryute.
With a shamelessness that said I'd forgotten all about my one-sided avoidance until now.
She met my gaze just as directly as always.
As if she, too, didn't remember such trivial things.
"Are you angry?"
"I'm not angry."
Yes, she said it with that kind, easy smile of hers.
Ha, so this was really trash behavior.
And yet that was me.
I might as well bury my sincerity and die.
But before that.
"Tiona..."
"Hey, An."
Is An someone you hate?
Before I could open my mouth, Tiona spoke first, bracing herself.
I stayed silent for a moment.
"I don't hate you. No..."
I think I like you.
At that answer, Tiona's expression lit up with joy.
Yes, she'd be happy.
She'd think her feelings had been answered, that I felt the same way.
It was an answer that could only be taken that way.
But precisely because of that.
"But if you ask me whether that's the feeling called love... I still think the answer is no, Tiona."
I decided to explain my meaning in detail so there would be no misunderstanding.
At the same time, Tiona looked confused, as if she didn't understand what I meant.
"W-what do you mean, An?"
"Exactly what I said."
Tiona.
Strong and beautiful Amazon, who had fallen in love with this inadequate, wretched man.
"I don't know love."
Of course, in the dictionary sense, I know the meaning and concept of the word love, when and how it should be used, and its purpose and means of application.
I know it as knowledge.
Through experience, I have a rough idea of what it is.
"The love between parent and child, the love within a family, the love between teacher and student that makes them care for one another, the love of friendship that values comrades and knows how to rely on them."
I know that kind of love too.
In this world, and in the one before it.
I felt it clearly, and experienced it clearly.
But precisely because of that.
"As for the love between lovers... between a man and a woman, I know nothing at all."
"I-I'm the same, An. I've never even had a single romance before. So from now on, the two of us can learn it little by little together...!"
"No, no, that's not the issue."
This wasn't that simple a story.
For an ordinary person, or a common-sense person, or even a slightly strange one, her words would be right.
It was valid and correct, and therefore a small problem that could easily be worked through.
But if it was me.
If I, as a human being, could only be a Magus.
Then it would no longer be just a simple story.
"Tiona, I'm a Magus."
"Yeah, I know. So... why?"
"I can't abandon myself as a Magus."
Once a Magus, always a Magus.
To stop being a Magus is to give up on myself.
And to give up on myself means I must also tear away the romance I've pursued all this time from my life.
That is one thing I absolutely cannot do.
For me, removing romance from my life is worse than being told to go out and die.
At first glance, it might sound like nothing more than stubborn wordplay, like I'm making a fuss over nothing.
But reality is what it is.
Because the goal I am finally pursuing, the destination I am trying to reach.
The final romance... is absolutely not something that can be reached, something that can be achieved, with such a lazy mindset.
"So I'm sorry."
I can't love you.
"I can like you as an acquaintance, as a friend, as a comrade. But..."
As a lover, as a man and a woman, I can't do that either.
I'm not going to accept your feelings for my own sake.
For one reason alone, endlessly selfish.
I'm going to deny your love.
"So I'll say it again. I'm truly sorry, Tiona."
"..."
Likewise, truly.
At that unadorned, selfish rejection, Tiona said nothing.
She simply kept her head bowed and kept chewing over my answer.
Ah, what expression did she wear beneath that lowered head?
Did it hurt?
It probably hurt a lot.
Because I had rejected a heart full of sincerity with sincerity of my own.
It must be painful, miserable, and sad.
But even so.
I can never give up on 'me.'
I cannot betray myself.
If one day I ever made that decision.
If the time ever came when that happened.
Then that would mean I had reached the end of what I pursued.
Whether I would finally arrive, be satisfied, and end there.
Or whether I would fail to arrive and crumble to pieces at the end.
That was a matter for the future, and only the future could tell.
"...Okay. I understand."
Looks like I was the one who was wrong.
"Tiona! You understand?"
"Yeah, I was wrong."
Just as I was beating myself up like that and apologizing to her.
At last, words followed from her lips.
Thankfully.
It seemed she was going to be considerate and yield to my choice again this time.
Ah, what a relief.
What a true relief.
That she didn't step outside my fence.
It was pretty disgusting that I was thinking such things right after rejecting her with complete sincerity, but even so, I truly felt relieved by her choice.
With this, we would go back to how things were before.
Back to the way it was.
We would continue together as acquaintances, as friends, as comrades.
Man... no matter how I look at it, I really am trash.
I rejected her, and yet I still don't want to break apart or go our separate ways and pretend not to know each other.
I'm practically a beast.
Lost in that self-criticism, I gently lifted her slumped body and brushed the dust and grains of sand off her with my hands, tidying her up.
Pat-pat, pat-pat.
"Yeah. It's a relief that you understand now, at least. But don't get too depressed. Just keep going as usual, like before, and..."
Thud, whoosh!
"Huh?"
Then.
My view flipped over.
There was a little impact on my back, but the sand was soft, so it didn't hurt much.
Oh, a very clean shoulder throw.
But why was that used on me...?
"T-Tiona?"
"An, I was wrong."
Just like my sister told me.
Men never understand anything unless you tell them with actions.
So.
"From now on, I'll treat An as a true Amazon."
"W-what exactly do you mean by that?"
Grin.
"Don't worry, An!"
If I count the grains of sand around us, it'll be over in no time.
As she said that and smiled, Tiona's expression was truly, utterly...
"Hehe, An, you're so mature. And a mature An deserves punishment, doesn't he?"
The very image of a lioness.
Hey...
Hey, nooooooo!
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