Ch. 6: In the Courtyard of the Night
Before I knew it, the castle of Sinva had been completely wrapped in the night.
The castle contained a terrifying presence, and I ran about trying to find Leonie.
OO: “Leonie! Where are you!?”
But he didn’t answer, and my voice echoed down the empty corridor.
(Leonie, are you alright…?)
I turned around, thinking to look somewhere else, and headed to the courtyard.
And then…
In the center of the nighttime courtyard, I saw a suspicious shadow move to attack Leonie.
OO: “Leonie!”
Leonie: “OO!?”
Moving unnaturally, a toy soldier from before was going to attack Leonie.
(Oh no…!)
In that instant, I grabbed a discarded shovel and faced off against the soldier.
OO: “Go that way!”
Toy Soldier: “……!”
Trying frantically to drive it away, I threw myself into swinging the shovel.
Then the toy soldier became confused and ran off.
Ch. 7: Sharing Courage
An unidentified bird cried out as I ran into the garden of the night, rushing up to Leonie.
I was glad I had somehow managed to fend off the toy soldier, but Leonie still looked terrified.
Leonie: “Oooo…is it safe now? Did they leave?”
OO: “Yeah, we’re safe. Leonie, are you hurt?”
Leonie: “N-no…I’m fine.”
Knees plastered with mud, Leonie stood up.
He looked at me as if impressed.
OO: “What’s wrong?”
Leonie: “Nothing, just you. Even though you’re small, you were so courageous…”
His lips quivered as if he wanted to say something, and he turned his eyes away.
OO: “Leonie…?”
Curious, I called his name…
Leonie: “Hey, OO…!”
OO: “Eh…!? W-what!?”
His eyes were suddenly serious as he grabbed my shoulders.
Leonie: “Share a little of your courage with me! Please…! I want to be courageous, more than anything!!”
OO: “Share my courage? But…”
At a loss, I put my hand near my mouth and Leonie stared at me with earnest eyes.
(What should I do, sharing courage…)
I thought for a while, but I couldn’t think of a way to do it.
Leonie: “…”
(Leonie…)
His eyes seemed to be holding on to me, and I knew I couldn’t leave him hanging…
Leonie: “…OO!?”
I gently embraced him.
His slight frame shifted within my arms, and as if surprised he kept blinking.
We were like that for a while…
OO: “Well? Did it…go through?”
I ended the slight embrace, and looked up at him.
Leonie: “…”
Motionless, I looked into his almond-shaped blue eyes.
Caught in his gaze, my heart skipped a beat and sped up.
OO: “…did it not?”
I asked one more time, and his blond hair shook violently back and forth.
Leonie: “…ah, no! That’s not it. …it’s amazing, my body’s all hot…! Now I can do anything!!”
OO: “…really?”
Leonie: “Yeah!”
Leonie gave me a reliable smile as he looked at me.
A strong light that I’d never seen before dwelt within those eyes.
Leonie: “All right, now I need to exterminate those weird toy soldiers. I won’t give them the run of the castle!”
OO: “Yeah, but don’t push yourself.”
Leonie: “I’ll be fine!”
Thumping his chest, Leonie gave a deep nod.
And so we set off to exterminate the toy soldiers.
The castle of the night was wrapped in a strange eerie aura as I looked up at it from the courtyard.
Ch. 8: Received Feelings
Returning to the inside of the castle, the air was silent and still.
But then, a queer noise as if of a creaking hinge came from somewhere.
OO: “Seems like it came from deeper in the castle…”
Leonie headed off first, grabbing my hand.
We walked together in that way for a little while down the hallway in the meagre light…
Toy Soldier: “…!?”
OO: “Leonie, over there!”
I saw the toy soldiers moving strangely from within the darkness, standing in a row.
Leonie: “Now that I’ve got courage, I’m invincible! I am Leonie, the intimidating Lord of Sinva! Come get me!!”
As Leonie raised his voice, he daringly faced the toy soldiers.
Leonie: “Haaaaa!”
Leonie moved like a wild animal.
To the eyes, his movements were unstoppable, and the toy soldiers were taken out in one fell swoop.
(Wow…Leonie’s actually really strong.)
I was captivated by his flow of movements.
Not even five minutes passed, and the toy soldiers had all been reduced to scrap, but…
Leonie: “Hm? What the, there’s a note…”
OO: “Eh?”
Looking closely, there was a message written on the back of one of the destroyed soldiers.
Leonie: “Let’s see. ‘While you’re gone, I’ve set these toy soldiers to protect your castle. – Oswald’ …”
OO: “…Oswald, is that the same person you mentioned earlier?”
Leonie: “What the hell-!?”
Leonie’s shout echoed through the castle of the night…
After that, we made our way to the castle rooftop.
The stars glittered beautifully overhead as I looked up at the night sky.
OO: “In the end, it wasn’t a ghost, but toy dolls that Oswald had left.”
Leonie: “Yeah, from now on the townsfolk can rest easy! But damn that Oswald, going and leaving those dolls when he should have left me courage instead! Ah, but it’s all good now, cause I got courage from you OO!”
His eyes seemed satisfied, and he thumped his chest.
Raising both hands to the night sky, he let out a loud yell.
Leonie: “Courage is the best! If you have courage, you can do anything…”
OO: “That’s not quite right Leonie.”
Leonie: “Huh? Why…?”
Hearing my words, Leonie frowned.
OO: “…I couldn’t give you courage. It came from you, and you were able to draw on it more and more.”
Leonie: “What!?”
His blue eyes went round, and Leonie raised his voice in dismay.
Taking a small pause, his eyes filled with unease…
Leonie: “Then what the hell was it? What’s…this pounding in my chest…?”
OO: “Eh…”
He looked at me earnestly, then grabbed my hand and put it against his chest.
*thump* *thump* *thump* … I felt the beating of his heart through the palm of my hand.
(It’s a little fast…)
Leonie: “Tell me! Tell me what you gave me! My whole body, from deep in my chest, it feels hot. If it isn’t courage then…”
He tightly grasped my hand in his large one.
My heart sped up to match his…
Leonie: “I mean, it’s beating kinda fast right? What the heck is it…?”
In the faint moonlight, his eyes wavered uneasily.
OO: “…mine is too. My heart, it’s beating fast like yours…. I think it’s…”
Leonie: “OO…?”
(Is it the awakening of love…?)
But I kept those words close to my heart, and quietly gave myself over to his arms.
Only the gentle moonlight shone down on us.
END