SO_V15_SS

"Does Ais Wallenstein Dream of a White Future?"

How to Lay the White Rabbit on Your Lap!
● First, make them faint. ● Gently lift their head. ● Slowly and carefully place
them on your lap.
That’s it.
As Ais confidently practiced this technique atop the city walls, the little Ais
within her mind threw up her hands to the heavens in exasperation.
"Animal cruelty!" "Say no to violence!" "Do you even know what 'technique' means?"
The little Ais in her head hoisted protest signs, complaining loudly.
But the moment Ais began cradling the white rabbit—Bell Cranel, the boy—on her lap,
the little Ais in her mind suddenly cheered, "Yay!" and began chasing imaginary
rabbits in a garden, intent on cuddling them. One rabbit fell, then another… As Ais
nodded in satisfaction at the scene her mind conjured, she reached out her hand to
the boy beneath her.
His hair was as white as virgin snow. It wasn’t fluffy like an actual rabbit’s fur,
but it was soft. Silky, even.
Though some time had passed since their last encounter, how many times had she
indulged in this sensation?
Ais suddenly realized something. She enjoyed stroking the boy’s head. She liked it.
“Oh… I see. I like this…”
She didn’t realize her lips had curved.
It was a tiny, almost imperceptible change, but her delicate lips were smiling.
Day Two of Her Secret Training:
Sitting atop the high city wall, surrounded by the crisp chill of the air and the
endless blue sky, Ais continued to cradle the boy.
She felt the weight resting on her lap as comforting.
Her fingers combed through his white hair again and again.
She regretted not reclaiming this time sooner.
Strangely, that thought surfaced in her mind.
She wished this moment could last forever.
Above all else, that was her strongest desire.
Ais raised her head and narrowed her eyes at the boundless blue sky.
“Ugh… uh…”
Bell began to stir.
Having forced him into this lap-pillow scenario countless times, Ais immediately
recognized the signs.
The subtle movements of his white hair against her thigh signaled his imminent
awakening.
Soon, the left side of his brow would furrow slightly, followed by the faint
fluttering of his right eyelid. And, sure enough, it happened exactly as she
expected.
This peaceful sleeping face would soon be no more.
Lowering her gaze from the sky, Ais looked at the boy’s face below her.
Finally, Bell’s eyes cracked open.
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?”
Just as Ais had anticipated his awakening, Bell too quickly grasped his predicament
the instant he regained consciousness.
Faster than Ais’ wind or his own flame lightning, his face turned beet red as he
let out a strangled scream, attempting to flee from her lap.
Ais had foreseen this as well, considering stopping him by firmly saying, “No,” and
grabbing his shoulders to prevent his escape.
But she decided against it, afraid it might make Bell dislike her.
The little Ais in her mind whined loudly, "What!? No fair!" flipping their attitude
in an instant.
Bell, flustered and panicked like a startled rabbit, leapt from Ais lap, landing
with a shallow arc on the stone pavement below.
In the blink of an eye, with movements so swift and reflexes so sharp that they
embodied the very definition of a first-rate adventurer, Ais found herself thinking
anew:
“You really have become a first-class adventurer…”
Still kneeling on the ground, she muttered those words, her tone filled with a deep
sense of reflection.
For Ais, it was a profound realization, though her expression remained as
inscrutable as ever to others.
“Eh…? Oh, um… t-thank you…?”
Bell, still flushed bright red, kneeled with one leg up, maintaining a defensive
stance. Startled by her sudden remark, he blinked repeatedly in confusion before
stammering out his thanks, unsure of what was happening.
Hiding a small smile behind her lips, Ais gently patted her lap, as she always did.
It was her way of saying, “Come back.”
Bell, ever the defiant student, vigorously shook his head side to side, refusing
with all his might, his ears just as red as his face.
Ais found even these repeated exchanges amusing. She narrowed her eyes slightly,
her amusement evident. As usual, she shifted her approach and patted the spot
beside her instead.
Bell hesitated, his face twisting in a mix of reluctance and resignation. Like a
child unable to resist a tempting offer, he eventually gave in, scooting closer
with a sheepish expression and sitting down next to Ais.
He left a gap between them, roughly the width of half a person. This, too, was
their usual routine.
A lap pillow, sitting side by side, a brief moment of rest—this unspoken agreement
had naturally become part of their training sessions atop the city walls since the
very beginning.
“You’ve reached Level 5 now…”
“ ...Huh? Yes, I have…”
Despite having known this for some time, Ais’ sudden comment caught Bell off guard.
Still unable to fully suppress the warmth on his cheeks, he turned to face her with
a puzzled expression.
Looking into his beautiful ruby-red eyes, Ais posed a question.
“Why is it, Bell… that you’re able to grow stronger so quickly?”
It was the same question she had asked over half a year ago, in the very same
place.
The truth was, the reason Ais had agreed to train Bell in the first place was to
uncover this mystery.
Ais, who yearned for strength and sought power, wanted to learn the secret behind
Bell’s rapid growth.
She hoped to uncover the source of Bell Cranel’s extraordinary progress, to perhaps
integrate some of it into herself, and to use it as a foundation to achieve her own
long- cherished goal.
Of course, the guilt she felt for injuring him when he first faced the Minotaur
also played a part. That desire for atonement was genuine.
But at the time, Ais’ motivations were undeniably calculating.
(But now…)
As she met Bell’s wide-eyed gaze, just as she had back then, she reached deep into
the transparent part of her heart.
She knew she likely wouldn’t get the answer she was truly seeking this time either.
Bell himself probably didn’t fully understand the reason behind his exceptional
growth. Still, Ais had an idea of what he was about to say. She couldn’t help but
hope.
“ …Because there’s someone I desperately want to catch up to… and there’s a place I
absolutely must reach. That’s why. I still feel that way.”
Bell gave the same answer as before, unchanged from half a year ago.
There was no hesitation in his voice now.
His gaze was clear, unwavering.
No matter how much faster or stronger he had become, Bell’s core—his pure and
unshakable essence—remained unchanged since then.
Looking at that unyielding and pristine part of Bell Cranel, Ais let a soft, gentle
smile grace the corners of her lips.
(You truly haven’t changed where it matters most.)
Please, never change.
Aware of how selfish the thought might be, Ais nonetheless held onto it.
She wished for it with all her heart, no matter what the future might bring.
“ …Also, there’s one more ‘promise’ now.”
As Ais was lost in thought, Bell spoke, showing a hint of reflection before saying
those words.
“‘Promise’…?”
“Yes. Like just now… A promise to laugh together again under a clear sky, and… a
promise to fight together again.”
Ais quickly realized what Bell was talking about.
Even someone as oblivious to human subtleties as Ais could see through this one.
It was undoubtedly about a certain group of “monsters.”
The bond with the Xenos—those strange monsters—whom Ais had once rejected, only to
eventually relent and let go. It was surely tied to the reason for today’s training
—the boy’s determination, spoken atop this city wall, to “become stronger.”
Ais understood this, but surprisingly, she didn’t feel any shock.
Even hearing that Bell, who sought strength to catch up to someone, was now also
seeking strength for the sake of those “monsters” didn’t make her feel upset or
jealous.
For the first time, Ais found herself puzzled by her own change in perspective.
The Loki Familia had decided to set aside the issue of the Xenos for the time
being.
Following that flow, Ais had prioritized her purpose, trying not to dwell on it too
much.
Yet now, she felt no deep concern, unlike that night when Bell had decided to part
ways.
She hadn’t come to accept the Xenos, not at all.
And yet, Bell seemed to sense—or perhaps believe—that Ais’ heart had shifted,
enough that he could talk about this “promise.”
It was as if he trusted her, believing it would be okay to share this now.
Ais found it strange.
Both herself and the gaze Bell was giving her now.
“ …Bell, do you understand me?”
“Eh…? Uh, no, not really…”
When Ais spoke her thoughts aloud, Bell looked completely taken aback, flustered as
he stammered.
He seemed confused as to why she had suddenly asked such a thing, or what had led
her to that question. Seeing this, Ais felt a pang of guilt and thought to herself
that perhaps the reason Loki and the others called her “naïve” was because of
moments like this.
“ …Um, but… I might not understand you as well as Tiona and the others do…”
Ais, who had been sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees, lifted her face.
Bell, now visibly nervous, gathered what little courage he had and, with trembling
lips, spoke:
“ …But I do want to know more about you, Ais… That’s how I feel…”
Now it was Ais’ turn to blink in surprise.
Bell couldn’t even glance in her direction, his face redder than it had been all
day. Staring at the ground, he looked as though he might collapse from sheer
embarrassment.
Ais didn’t understand why he was so flustered.
But she turned the warmth now filling her chest into words.
“I… also want to know more about you, Bell.”
Resting her cheek on her knees, she smiled softly.
Her long golden hair spilled over her ear as it slid down.
Her cheeks felt faintly warm, and she thought that perhaps Bell’s blush stemmed
from the same feelings now blooming inside her.
Bell, startled, raised his head and met Ais’ gaze. His expression quickly morphed
into a myriad of emotions.
He looked happy, embarrassed, moved, surprised—and yet, it seemed like he wanted to
jump for joy.
In the end, Bell wore a clumsy, childlike smile, like a silly clown who couldn’t
hide his delight despite himself.
Ais let out another soft, amused chuckle.
“Will you tell me more about yourself, Bell?”
“Y-yes!! Ask me anything!!”
“Then, what have your other mentors taught you?”
“Eh?”
“Between me and the other mentors, who’s the better teacher?”
“Eh!?” “Me or the other mentors… who do you prefer?”
Pressing for an answer, Ais leaned forward slightly, repeating her request to “tell
me.”
It seemed that Ais still harbored a lingering grudge—no, curiosity—about the other
mentors (both of whom were blonde elves).
In truth, she was fixated on the matter.
For Riveria and the others, who remember a young Ais with no interest in anything
but fighting and becoming stronger, they would likely say, "Well, at least this is
an improvement," as if it were none of their business.
From Bell's perspective, though, his face would twist into a hundred different
expressions, and he would let out a pathetic cry of, "Eeeeeehhhhhhh!?" One moment,
he was over the moon, and the next, it felt like he had been plunged into the
depths of hell. His face paled, sweat poured down his forehead, and his expression
shifted with alarming speed.
"A-Ais-san has her own great qualities, and Master and Ryu-san also have their own
good points, so I can’t really say who’s better or anything, um, uh…!"
"Then… can you call me ‘Master’ too?"
"Why!?"
"Because I was the first to teach you how to fight."
"That’s true, but calling you ‘Master’ would be too much for me mentally! Just
imagining the golden hair and faces of my other mentors overlapping with yours
gives me nightmares, and my legs start trembling like I’m on some hellish
battlefield!"
" …I can be harsher than any battlefield."
"That’s not what I mean!"
As Ais’ cheeks puffed up and her competitive spirit flared to life, Bell’s screams
soared through the metaphorical sky like a rocket piercing white clouds.
With a sharp, almost spring-like motion, Ais stood up. The moment of peaceful rest
had come to an end.
Resuming their training, Ais incorporated techniques she had extracted from Bell's
other mentors. Mimicking their brutal methods, her relentless sword dance battered
Bell to no end. In no time, Bell was reduced to a battered state, barely clinging
to consciousness through sheer willpower, before finally succumbing after four
desperate attempts to keep going.
Afterward, as she gazed silently down at Bell’s collapsed form, Ais tilted her head
in confusion, feeling something wasn’t quite right. Reflecting on her actions, she
let out a small sigh and, as if to apologize, gently placed his head on her lap
once more.
"I want… you to know more about me…"
While stroking Bell’s hair and softly caressing his face and head until his
tormented expression melted into peaceful slumber, Ais whispered quietly.
It made her happy to think that Bell wanted to know more about her. It warmed her
heart deeply.
At the same time, though, part of her didn’t want him to know.
She didn’t want Bell to discover what truly lay inside her—the dark flame nestled
deep within her heart, so utterly opposite to Bell's pure, white light.
She didn’t want him to notice how different they were. She feared it.
"If you come to know me… will you still stay the same, Bell?"
There was no answer.
"Will you still train with me?"
His eyes remained closed.
"Will you stay by my side?"
His white hair swayed gently in the wind.
Even so, Ais couldn’t stop herself from murmuring, and after pressing her lips
together tightly, she finally asked.
Would Bell, even if he realized that the dark flame within her was monstrous,
refuse to abandon her—just as he hadn’t abandoned that girl, the "monstrous girl,"
whom he had reached out to on that night?
"Will you… save me?" ──Someone, please save me.
It was the same silent plea she had whispered on that night when her feelings had
overflowed.
Now, under the bright blue sky, she let the same question fall once more.
And again, there was no answer. The response Ais longed for was nowhere to be
found.
Yet, as if responding to the gentle motion of her fingers tracing his face, Bell
shifted slightly, almost imperceptibly, and gave the faintest of nods. At least,
that’s what it felt like to Ais.
Even if it was nothing but an illusion, that alone was enough to make her happy.
It was enough to give her the strength to keep going, just a little while longer.
──A name and face she couldn’t remember.
──Would someone like you save me?
In the grotesque, purple-fleshed womb, deep within the frozen blue barrier
shielding the girl, she curled into a fetal position, hugging her knees. The
golden-haired, golden-eyed girl dreamt of a past long gone.
"What kind of dream are you seeing, Aariaaa!?"
A corrupted voice cackled, incapable of being a lullaby, as her strength was
continuously drained.
Writhing in pain, her body slowly decayed, inching closer to collapse. A new, sharp
crack appeared in the icy blue barrier that encased her, marking the approach of
her life’s limit.