Ouch!
When Charlotte asked, “Can I hit you?” I seriously considered whether I should rewind time for a brief moment, but Charlotte didn’t give me the time to finish my thoughts.
In an instant, my vision flashed, and a pain spread across my forehead.
With the thwack sound, it seemed Charlotte had given me a “delicious” smack on the head.
Although, it certainly didn’t taste sweet at all.
If I were to rewind time, I could avoid that too, but—
“Phew.”
Behind the dazzling flash, Charlotte’s expression looked so refreshing that I decided not to rewind time after all.
Fortunately, I didn’t shed any tears. Not that it didn’t hurt, but I had the urge to rub it, though I held back.
With my hand hovering over my forehead, I watched as Charlotte settled into her chair.
“Alright then.”
Charlotte plopped down in her chair and said,
“You must’ve shared information with His Majesty because you have something planned for later, right? You didn’t just randomly come to me without any thoughts.”
Hmm…
It’s not like I had ‘no thoughts’ about it.
The biggest issue was suddenly changing my solitary plan into a group effort.
But what can I do?
I’ve already decided to do it this way. Otherwise, I would have already changed things back several times and made sure this incident never happened.
Taking a moment to gather my thoughts, I took a deep breath.
*
In the end, my argument hadn’t changed much from before.
But the number of people definitely increased.
I had summoned everyone I had considered before rewinding time.
Well, Jake and Roti are Imperial citizens anyway. I didn’t think Jake would reveal the truth of this incident to his father. Roti would likely keep it to herself as well. If Jake doesn’t say anything, Roti probably won’t either. I thought these two wouldn’t be much of a problem.
Next up, Rena.
I was a bit uneasy about Rena. Given the circumstances, she was definitely someone sent by the autonomous region to keep tabs on me.
However, her pure nature, coupled with the timing not being right for a trip to the Northern Region, might be why nothing significant was coming up.
“Do you understand? You cannot tell anyone that you are part of this operation. Especially not your family or superiors.”
I made sure to reiterate that several times, but strangely, Rena continued to sparkle with excitement throughout the reminders.
“As long as I’m associated with the Academy, I’m also a student of the Empire. It’s only natural for me, as a soldier, not to disclose any operations carried out under a specific command.”
“……”
To be precise, this is not even an ‘Imperial operation.’
I wasn’t sure why she was looking at me so eagerly while I spoke… Could it be that she trusts me that much?
Or could it be that her inner “chuunibyou” is being stirred up by the idea of a “secret operation”?
Not knowing what else to say, I simply nodded.
Surprisingly, in the original story set during an ongoing war, the protagonist’s party didn’t commit ‘murder.’ No matter how many people were set ablaze, stabbed with ice spears, shot, or slashed with swords, after the battles, the enemies would just kneel and surrender rather than die.
Yes. The righteous protagonists worry about the lives of nameless extras even in their fights.
……I’m the one who has seen people shot several times, and saying that it’s possible in reality doesn’t make sense.
No matter how “not quite right” the chuunibyou types are, you can’t expect to remain mentally sound after shooting someone.
Not just Rena, but all the kids I’ll be going with.
Well, if we really need to ‘shoot’ someone, I’d be the most reasonable choice.
“How about Leo?”
When I asked Claire, who was coming over after checking her weapons, she looked a bit ambiguous.
“They’re still talking alone, just the two of them.”
They still couldn’t figure out who was older. Although, having a boyfriend all of a sudden would be quite weird for whoever is the older sibling, whether it’s an older brother or younger brother.
Of course, it’s not like he really got a girlfriend; it’s just that one girl has a one-sided crush on Leo.
From Claire’s perspective, she might be thinking, “What does she see in him?”
I’m curious how Claire would react if Leo actually built a harem like in the original story.
Of course, for that world to exist, I would have to stop existing, and if that happened, the world would roll on ‘like the original.’
They say there’s no such thing as ‘if’ in history.
No matter how much one can rewind time, there come moments when you simply don’t want to or can’t anymore. Beyond such standards, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that time becomes ‘fixed.’
“Then let’s wait a bit longer.”
After I replied, Claire nodded, and the room fell into silence once more.
It’s a sudden operation launched without a word until now. To be honest, it’s strange that everyone gathered so nonchalantly.
“……”
Looking around the room, anyone I meet my gaze with could be considered a ‘friend.’
For some reason, I felt a baseless trust that I could leave my back to these people.
In that moment, I had to suppress a smile that was about to burst out from sheer absurdity.
Well, they were characters I already liked from the beginning, but honestly, they’ve only known me for just over half a year.
Why can they trust me so much?
……Well.
At the very least, I ought to be able to become someone who can reciprocate that trust.
*
“Sylvia.”
After chatting with Sophia for a while, Leo came out and called me.
“Sophia said she wants to talk to you.”
Leo’s expression was exceedingly serious as he said that.
As the traditionally ‘righteous protagonist’ in an JRPG, Leo had the kind of personality that would feel sorrow over the death of extras barely mentioned in the game.
It’s only natural that he wouldn’t feel good seeing Sophia confused after hearing about our operation.
I nodded to Leo and walked towards the door he came out of.
Charlotte’s room has an attached dressing room. Unlike me, who tends to wear nearly identical dark clothes and Alice, who didn’t enjoy going to parties, Charlotte often mingled with nobles and sometimes attended balls.
So that ‘dressing room’ isn’t really that cramped. It might even be bigger than a monthly-rent room in a university that’s built to squeeze out students.
In the middle of the dressing room, two chairs were facing each other, and Sophia was seated in one of them.
Sophia was glaring at me.
And honestly, I couldn’t blame her.
I slowly walked over and sat down in front of Sophia.
“……Did you think I would betray my country because of Leo?”
“Historically, there have been those who betrayed their country for love. Of course, I don’t think you would do that.”
At my comment, Sophia contorted her face as if to protest, so I quickly added.
Sophia continued to glare at me as if telling me to explain.
“The reason I brought you here is—”
In fact, Claire and Charlotte had the biggest reactions. If those two hadn’t been so opposed, I wouldn’t have brought Sophia here. Moreover, considering Sophia’s position, she’s likely much more comfortable thinking we backstabbed her.
But, since I brought her here, there’s only one reason for that.
“……Because you are our friend.”
“…….”
At my words, Sophia’s eyes widened for a moment.
The protagonist’s party in this game had a common trait.
Except for the protagonist Leo, everyone had gone through a childhood seriously lacking something.
They were kids raised in a noble society. It’s only natural that children growing up around adults who think it’s a virtue not to show emotions and act inhumanly wouldn’t know how to open up to others.
If we were to unravel the intertwined stories in the Chronicles of Aetherna, that would be it.
Through the always honest protagonist Leo, everyone ultimately opens their hearts and becomes true friends.
What happens with the Goddess, or how the war unfolds, or the religions… All of those were just decorations. The most important story in that game was ultimately about the friendship of the protagonist’s party.
That’s what made it so enjoyable and immersive for me.
The reason I had resentment for Sophia’s position in the original story was that she barged in and disrupted the nearly complete ‘friendship’ of the protagonist’s party.
But that’s no longer the case.
She appeared much earlier than in the original story.
Moreover, to be precise, the ‘character that shouldn’t be here’ wasn’t Sophia, but me.
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