As she stared up at the evil creature above her in a helpless daze, Rio's
face flashed across Latifa's mind. He had saved her after she tried to
assassinate him, looked after her, and was somewhat similar to the young
man in her other self's memories. A kind, gentle person.
"Onii-chan!"
Before she knew it, Latifa was yelling that name — the name she had
always wanted to call, but had never been able to.
Just then, a large boulder came flying from the side, easily blowing away
the Lizardman's body and causing the other Lizardmen to stir at the sudden
ambush. Latifa jumped to her feet as quickly as possible and turned in the
direction the boulder came from. There, in a black robe, stood the boy several
years older than her — Rio.
A flicker of hope burned in Latifa's eyes.
In contrast, the Lizardmen, instinctively sensing that they had something
to fear, backed away gradually.
Rio held his sword at the ready and released a fierce, intimidating aura.
His tawny brown eyes glinted sharply, taking in the Lizardmen observantly,
before suddenly springing forth. He moved like the wind, closing the gap
between them and placing himself before Latifa instantly. After cutting the
neck of the one in front of him, he stomped firmly against the ground. In
response, the ground before him warped, shooting up like a spear to attack
the Lizardmen.
While he wasn't able to deal effective damage against the thick-skinned
demi-dragons, he successfully broke up their formation. Jumping at that
chance, he swung his sword to fatally wound them.
"K-Krraaah!"
After reducing a few of their numbers, their leader signaled for their
retreat, and the group of Lizardmen all began to withdraw at once.
Watching their retreating figures, Rio let out a small sigh. He slid the
longsword in his right hand back into the scabbard at his waist, then made
eye contact with Latifa.
"Sorry. The Lizardmen just now were probably in cahoots with the
Winged Lizards earlier. Their goal was to split us up."
"...O-Onii-chan!"
Latifa lost all the strength in her body, wailing "onii-chan" loudly as she
bawled her eyes out.
Rio had no idea who "onii-chan" referred to, but he slowly approached
and knelt before her. Latifa clung to him.
"Onii-chan, I was so scared!"
"Huh? Umm... I'm sorry."
Does she mean me when she says "onii-chan"? Rio hesitated for a
moment, before reaching over to pat Latifa's back awkwardly.
"No... Thank you. For saving me." Latifa choked back on her sobs,
reaching out to tightly grasp Rio's robes.
"Umm, by the way," Rio began in a slightly tentative voice. Latifa raised
her head to peer up at Rio's face.
"You said 'onii-chan'..."
It took Latifa a few seconds to process the meaning of Rio's words.
Realizing how long she spent gazing at his face in a daze made her blush with
embarrassment.
"Err, ah, umm! S-Sorry!"
"No, it's not something you need to apologize for..." Rio said with a
troubled face at Latifa's panicked apology.
"Huh? Really?!" Latifa's expression suddenly brightened up.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"I-Is it okay if I call you onii-chan...?"
"E-Eeh...?"
"Or... not... You wouldn't want that..."
"I don't mind. But why?"
"I just thought it'd be nice having you as my Onii-chan..." Latifa trailed
off towards the end, then glanced up at Rio nervously.
"...I see."
Rio's expression conveyed his complicated, hard-to-describe state of
mind. He didn't think he had done anything overly brotherly-like on their
journey until now. Knowing they'd part ways eventually, he had kept Latifa
at a distance while treating her with a gentle disposition. That was all Rio had
intended for in his interactions with her.
But what Latifa thought as she journeyed with him was a different story.
Ever since that first night when she cried, she had rapidly started to open her
heart towards him. The emotions she had suppressed during her slave days
burst forth like a broken dam.
That was understandable — Latifa had been starving. Starving for
kindness, for affection, for love... It made sense that the object of her desires would be pointed towards Rio, the one who saved her, in a nearly dependent
form.
"Onii-... Rio. I'm sorry," Latifa apologized, watching for Rio's reaction
fearfully. Her expression was like a crestfallen puppy that had been
abandoned. Rio sighed at that thought.
"Whichever way is fine."
"Huh?" Latifa's mouth dropped open as she looked at Rio blankly.
"You can call me whatever you want." While he knew it was a compliant
judgment to make, Rio couldn't help but tell her that. He had gotten too close
to Latifa without even realizing it himself.
"R-Really?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
"Ehehe..." Unable to hold back the giggle that bubbled up within her,
Latifa smiled joyfully.
No, there was no need to hold back. It had been so long since she had felt
happiness this warm, after all.