NOVEL NEXT Chapter 137
“It’s been half a month, hasn’t it… Allen-sama?”
As I stepped into one of the now-familiar rooms of Hotel Rose, I found a woman dressed in a striking red gown waiting for me. The dress, which hugged her figure closely, was paired with a beige bolero, and a red-and-white accessory adorned her notably low neckline.
“Is that really you, Nias? I’m shocked.”
“Hehe… After I went to all this trouble to dress up, saying you’re shocked is a bit rude, don’t you think?”
The Nias I knew had always been someone who exuded an air of lethargy. Her slightly wavy, reddish-brown hair and understated appearance gave her the impression of a typical researcher—focused, almost to the point of being gloomy.
But the woman standing before me now, with her vibrant red hair that rivaled the boldness of her dress, was unrecognizable.
“You dyed your hair?”
“Y-yeah… My natural color is pretty flashy, so I always toned it down.”
True to her words, hair as vividly red as hers is rare.
Among the people of the Imperial Sakura Kingdom, who often had Japanese ancestry, black hair was the norm. Though dyed blond hair wasn’t uncommon, such a bright red hue was a rarity. Even in the bustling entertainment districts I’d visited upon arriving in the capital, I hadn’t seen anything quite like it.
“But the wanted posters still had you with reddish-brown hair. Have you always been like this?”
“I got teased about it a lot as a kid… So, I started dyeing it early on.”
Nias scratched her cheek as she explained, mentioning that even before becoming a wanted criminal, she had always kept her hair subdued.
“So, why the sudden change?”
“Well, once I move to the Imperial Sakura Kingdom, my wanted status will be erased. And Keine-san—the woman from the Kingdom who came to visit after you and Rene left for the capital—insisted this would look better.”
After I’d decided to stay in the capital, it seemed that a woman named Keine had visited Nias and Rene at the research facility. According to Nias, Keine was something of a personal attendant, similar in status to Yuzu or Eri. Keine had also apparently been the one to insist on coordinating Nias’s current look, stopping her from showing up in her usual plain attire.
“I’ve been so focused on my nanomachine research that I’ve never bothered with makeup or anything like this…”
Nias wasn’t unattractive, but it was clear she wasn’t the type to put effort into enhancing her appearance. Among the women I knew, Saionji was somewhat similar, though her role as the leader of a rising adventurer team meant she had to engage in social settings, at least to some extent.
By contrast, Nias was by far the least interested in such things.
“And I’ve never worn a dress like this before, so it feels a bit awkward.”
“Well, that’s…”
Wearing a striking red gown with a low neckline wasn’t easy to pull off.
The fact that she managed to look this good was a testament to Keine’s excellent sense of style, but for someone like Nias, who wasn’t used to being in the spotlight, it must have felt unsettling.
“You look amazing. Honestly, this might be the most surprising thing I’ve seen since arriving in this world.”
It felt like a corny line, but it was the most fitting praise I could muster for how stunning she looked.
“So, Rene’s mind is set, huh?”
“Yeah… I really wanted her to come with us, but I can’t force her.”
After our reunion, the first topic we discussed was our mutual friend, Rene.
For Nias, who had an even closer bond with Rene than I did, her decision to stay behind on Zerad was bittersweet. While she respected Rene’s choice and wanted to celebrate her new journey, her feelings were clearly conflicted.
“You can go visit her anytime, Allen-kun. But for me… that’s not so simple.”
Even with the advanced technology of this future, traveling between neighboring galaxies was no small feat. Unlike me, who could use the Moon Gate to move instantaneously, traversing millions of light-years required immense time and resources.
Though it might take only a month or so, the cost of such travel was astronomical—far beyond what an individual could afford. For Nias, this could very well be a farewell forever.
“Did you say your goodbyes?”
“Yes, back at the research facility, before I left for the capital.”
Rene had seemingly known deep down that it would be her last meeting with Nias.
As for me, she’d sent a lighthearted message suggesting that if I ever had the time, I should visit Zerad. She’d promised to show me around its many cities when I did, a sign that she had already made peace with her decision.
“If I were going to leave the planet, I think this would’ve been the outcome either way,” Nias admitted.
She had anticipated that Rene, once assured of her safety, would begin to drift away.
Although Nias claimed she was prepared, the sadness in her expression was evident.
“I’m sorry! Here we are, on what should be a celebratory day, talking about something so gloomy.”
“No, it’s fine. Even if our time together was short, I care about her too.”
When the conversation lapsed into silence, Nias deftly shifted the topic to something lighter, steering us away from the lingering sense of melancholy.