Noah was indeed near the carousel.
The kid was leaning against the fence there, fast asleep.
The problem was that his expression looked pained.
He was drenched in cold sweat and groaning as if he might die at any moment.
“Noah?”
Having undone my transformation, I approached Noah in my Shin Hyun form. To change his situation even slightly, I entered one of the ride’s vehicles.
I laid Noah down in a small room-like space, but he still appeared to be in agony.
“Ugh…no…no…”
What kind of nightmare is he having right now?
“Auntie…no…ugh…”
…My dream?
Noah continued calling out to me while making anguished expressions. What exactly are you doing in there, dream-me?
Should I feel flattered that he usually trusts me enough for me to appear in his nightmares, or should I feel sorry for causing him this much distress?
Even as I cradled Noah on my lap and stroked his head, there was no sign of improvement.
Flap.
A white dove fell before me, folding its wings.
“QQQ!”
“Noah sir!”
“QQQ.”
“Mr. Shin Hyun, could you hold onto Noah sir for just a moment?”
QQQ landed on Noah’s body and emitted a faint light, similar to the purification Natalie had used earlier.
But it lacked brilliance compared to hers.
The limits of being a mascot instead of a magical girl.
Noah continued to make pained noises without waking up.
“QQQ… Noah sir won’t wake up…”
“QQQ, how do we wake him?”
“There are two ways to wake Noah sir. Either use a powerful purification magic, or force a strong essence into his body to forcibly circulate mana.”
There’s no option of purification magic.
QQQ’s magic failed, and I don’t know how to use such magic anyway.
But strong essence…
“Kkomkmu, do you still have that thing?”
“What thing?”
“The essence. Remember the one we got last time?”
After some deliberation, Kkomkmu answered.
“From Bag, right?”
“Yeah. The essence we got from Bag.”
“Yes, if you need it, I can bring it out right away. But is it okay?”
That seemed to concern QQQ.
How would a regular person get such a strong essence? There’d be nothing to say if asked that question.
It’s illegal for ordinary people to possess essence like that. And QQQ specializes in detecting mana.
It probably wouldn’t be difficult for them to figure out who the original owner was.
“Ugh…auntie…it hurts…”
Still, I couldn’t just watch Noah suffer.
Even if I face QQQ’s questioning later, or if Noah finds out, right now…
“Bring it out.”
“Yes, I’ll get it.”
Swish.
A dazzling crystal emerged from the shadows.
The pure essence we obtained after dealing with Bag.
When QQQ saw it, they exclaimed in surprise.
“Mr. Shin Hyun? Where did you get that…?”
“…I’ll answer later.”
“…This essence feels like that Orc we met before…”
“That too, later.”
“…Didn’t rumors say that Orc was eliminated by Kraken?”
“…”
Persistent.
QQQ’s gaze felt sharp.
I hesitated for a moment before showing them.
The familiar tentacles protruding from my shadow.
“…!”
“QQQ.”
“How could you…! Did you approach Noah sir with this intention from the start?”
“Calm down, QQQ.”
“Don’t touch Noah sir, Kraken! I will definitely protect Noah sir-”
“I want to protect Noah too, QQQ.”
QQQ’s words were cut off.
Their eyes showed they couldn’t comprehend.
I understood.
After all this fighting, saying I want to protect him now must seem strange.
However.
“Is there another way besides me giving Noah the essence?”
“…”
“Is there a way to deal with that demon without waking Noah?”
“…QQQ…”
“If not, just watch. I’ll explain after it’s all over.”
QQQ didn’t say anything more and stepped back.
“…Thank you.”
“…I will definitely hear what this is about.”
“Of course, I’ll explain.”
Now, what to do with this?
“How do I give him this? QQQ.”
“In normal circumstances, the essence should be absorbed into the body. But since he’s like this, we have to use a primitive method.”
“Primitive method?”
QQQ nodded.
“Chewing and grinding it before swallowing.”
“…Hmm, but Noah is…”
“That’s why someone else has to do it in this situation.”
QQQ stared at me intently.
“I hope your claim to protect Noah sir isn’t false, Mr. Kraken.”
Her words were barbed.
As expected, she’s suspicious despite my assurances.
But that doesn’t matter right now.
“…Haa…so basically, I have to feed it to him directly.”
“QQQ, yes. Transfer it mouth-to-mouth.”
So this is practically like kissing, isn’t it?
Well, there is a legitimate reason, but…
“…Hmm.”
It’s quite peculiar.
Why does Noah’s past comment come to mind right now?
“Something like…that princess thing…you know? Like Sleeping Beauty…or a kiss to wake up…”
Waking up Sleeping Beauty with a kiss.
It may be ambiguous to call it a kiss, but it’s technically lip contact.
I put the essence in my mouth and started chewing slowly.
It wasn’t very hard, about as tough as candy.
When it was crushed into swallowable pieces, I opened Noah’s mouth.
Thump.
My heart was beating even in this situation.
“Focus, Shin Hyun.”
This is purely an action to save Noah.
I pressed my lips against Noah’s cherry-colored ones and began transferring the essence slowly.
Kkomkmu quietly gasped at the sight.
“Sugar kisses, huh? Didn’t know you actually knew how to do that…oh, wait, essence kisses?”
Exactly.
Who would’ve thought it would come to this?
Might as well let him experience what it feels like to be a sleeping princess.
+++++
Noah wasn’t feeling well.
“Again…”
The sensation of being frozen.
The unpleasant feeling of being tightly bound by sturdy ropes all over.
In front of Noah, trapped in forced slumber, unfolded a vision of hell.
The scene of his father being murdered and the bedsheet turning red. Watching it unfold while being unable to do anything.
Even though it’s the second time seeing it, it’s still horrific and nauseating.
“…Huh…”
Noah closed his eyes and exhaled.
After an unknown amount of time passed,
“Noah.”
A very familiar voice rang out.
“Auntie?”
That man was someone Noah called “auntie”.
Average height with black hair. His unique smiling eyes glinted with blue irises.
Why is Auntie here?
…No, this is probably just a dream.
That must be it.
…Because.
“Noah, can you help Auntie out?”
Otherwise, there’s no way Auntie would be captured.
“Auntie!”
He was hanging by a rope around his neck. Nearby, rabbit-like monsters were carrying out the execution.
“Stop!”
Noah ran forward.
His heart raced and his breath caught in his throat.
No matter how much he ran, he couldn’t reach the execution site.
The dolls began counting down.
“3.”
No.
“2.”
Please stop.
“1.”
Don’t!
“0.”
As the countdown hit zero, the platform made a clunking sound and disappeared.
The man’s body fell downward while still having the rope around his neck.
The dangling man’s neck.
Ordinarily, hanging causes instant death by breaking the neck, but the man didn’t die.
No, he shouldn’t die in the first place.
This is all an illusion created by his nightmare.
However.
“Khak…cough…khak…!”
There’s no helping the anguish.
Noah closed his eyes and listened to the man’s breathing cease.
The sound of gasping for air. The sound of reproach for not coming sooner. The sound of cursing, wishing for a painful death.
It hurt.
To hear that man say such things.
However, Noah managed to regain his senses.
He’s ultimately just a figment of the dream.
There’s no way the real Auntie would say such things.
“Still, it’s okay, Noah.”
“Huh?”
A voice whispered in Noah’s ear.
It was the usual caring and gentle tone he always heard.
“Don’t be too sad. You survived, that’s all that matters.”
Damn it, the dream is now spouting lines the Auntie would actually say.
The Auntie wasn’t sad or distressed anymore. Even with his neck tied by the rope, he tried comforting Noah with a smile.
“Sorry, Noah.”
“…”
“I guess I won’t be able to pat you on the head anymore.”
“A…Aaaa…AAAA!!!”
Noah was driven to extreme anguish.
Even knowing this is a nightmare.
Thud.
Noah collapsed.
If only someone could rescue him.
Like the prince saving a princess from a fairy tale, someone to wake him from this dream.
Please, save me.
…Just as he wished for it, someone else appeared.
It was Auntie.
He stared at Noah before extending his hand. Noah looked at him suspiciously, but the man reassured him by stroking his head gently.
Closing his eyes at the warmth of the touch, Noah wondered – Is this really Auntie this time? Not a dream, but actually present?
To the Noah who hoped with such expectations, the man spoke.
“Let’s see how well our Noah is doing without Auntie, shall we?”
