After my return, the remaining monsters were swiftly dealt with.
Most of the monsters, having lost their purpose after the stone was destroyed, scattered, and there weren’t many left to handle.
“Ke-eeen…. Uwaaah…!”
As I tidied up all the monsters, Raphne, who was sobbing, clung to me for comfort.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Just calm down now.”
It seemed she was shedding tears of relief, so I tried to soothe her by patting her back.
“Why are you so scrawny…! Uwaaah!”
Apparently, it wasn’t just about the tears of relief.
‘… I did lose a lot of weight.’
It had been a week here, but a whole year on the other side.
I had become just as I was when I used the Calorie Burn skill.
Thanks to that, I was able to help significantly with defeating the remaining monsters.
If it were before the diet, I would have been supporting Emily from the rear, but now I confidently stood at the front, taking down monsters.
Adrian, seeing me for the first time like this, had a surprisingly astonished expression.
‘You look completely different from a week ago… Amazing.’
His words filled with admiration made my shoulders involuntarily rise.
For some reason, even Siegfried, who was listening beside us, seemed happier and smiled.
Mary and Emily, who knew about my weight loss, didn’t look too surprised.
But for some reason, they both avoided making eye contact as usual.
Then there was Raphne.
I thought she would congratulate me on my diet as well, but…
“Waaah, Keeeen… how long have you been starving…?”
Tears streaming, she held my face as if she were a mother confronting a child whose fridge was empty.
“It’s okay, Raphne. I’m actually healthier than before.”
Saying this, I raised my arm to show off my muscles.
The noticeable bulges were a stark contrast to before.
In that moment, my eyes met Emily’s, who was looking over Raphne’s shoulder.
Unlike before, where she stared blankly at my arm, she quickly turned her head away when we made eye contact.
“There’s nothing but bones left!!”
And upon seeing my confident self, Raphne only wailed louder.
“But… I’m really glad you came back safe.”
While comforting the crying Raphne, Mary approached from behind.
A slightly choked voice caught my attention when I turned my head.
Hug.
Mary pressed herself against my back.
I could feel her trembling hand resting on my shoulder.
“I really worried a lot…”
“I’m sorry. But I truly had no choice but to go alone.”
After all, I couldn’t let someone else endure a year in such a hellish place.
Suffering alone was quite enough for me.
In the end, everything was resolved well.
“Y-yeah! That’s right! At least you should have consulted us!”
Following Mary, Emily, who had been listening, blushed and stepped closer.
“Ah, owww?!”
“This! This is punishment! How could you worry us like that… Ugh, sniff!”
Soon, tears welled in her eyes as she looked at me.
It seemed her feelings had burst, set off by Raphne’s loud cries.
“But… ugh, are you okay not eating? Aren’t you hungry?”
She who had been angry, suddenly asked with tears streaming down her face.
It seemed my face was more important than her rage as she gently placed her hand on it.
“It’s fine. I lost weight completely, so I don’t need to eat right away.”
I simply explained, thinking she must have confused my state with the Calorie Burn skill.
It was meant to reassure her, but Emily was in tears as she placed her hand on my face.
“Ugh, really… You’ve gotten so thin… Ugh, how much have you suffered…?”
Then she deeply bowed her head, resting her forehead against my shoulder.
‘Did I get that thin…?’
Seeing only the swamp of hell for a year, I hadn’t had the chance to see myself, but in my mind, I was definitely at a normal weight.
…But to her, who was most familiar with my chubby self, my suddenly slimmer appearance probably looked skinny.
Still, I was just thankful that everyone was unharmed and that we could reunite like this.
Surrounded by my elated companions welcoming my return, I smiled and said,
“First off, shall we head back to the city? I want to eat something tasty.”
Growl…
With my words, my stomach growled, signaling hunger.
And immediately, Raphne reacted to that familiar sound.
“Ken! You’re hungry, right?! Ugh, I’ll make anything for you! Let’s hurry and eat!”
“Oh, I was actually wanting to eat what you made, Raphne.”
“Ugh, okay… I’ll go… ugh, waaah…!”
Hearing such happy words, I honestly shared my feelings, but we were back to square one with Raphne bursting into tears again.
Sighing, I calmed them down a bit more, and we made our way back to the city from the 10th floor.
We had the key for the shortcut we aimed for, but challenging the 100th floor right now was still too much.
Both the weary me from a year of survival and my companions from the monster rush all needed rest.
So, on our way back to the city…
“Ken.”
As the monster attacks calmed down, we leisurely walked along the path when Adrian called out to me from beside.
Turning my head, I found him looking at me with a serious expression, lacking his usual cheeky smile.
“Thank you.”
“… Wasn’t it a pain instead?”
I tilted my head at his sudden thankfulness.
“It was originally supposed to be my job.”
“… Ah.”
He was referring to the purpose of our journey.
It was about erasing Raphne’s predestined fate of prophecy.
To erase that fate meant to also repel the demon’s invasion.
Originally, all of that was supposed to be something the royal family—him—had to do.
It was a gratitude of that nature.
“What do you mean? I did it because I wanted to.”
“…Even so, it was something that could have gotten you killed.”
For some reason, Adrian averted his gaze, filled with guilt.
He continued to speak.
“Honestly, I didn’t fully trust you at first. It was just a hunch that you, having died and come back, might know something I didn’t.”
He was speaking about the incident of the cursed reaper.
The absurd miracle of coming back to life after having died.
“I’m curious about how you knew all that, but I won’t pry. I have my own things I keep hidden, too.”
“… You’re not going to ask?”
“Rather than your personal matters, the result is what matters.”
He certainly didn’t question my resolve to conquer the tower.
He merely believed and followed the result where I had solved the reaper curse incident.
His desire to save Raphne was evident, after all.
“So I’m just thankful to you. You brought a solution to Raphne’s problem, which was in disarray. …And you even risked your life for it.”
“It’s still not over. The final trial is waiting.”
“Pfft, I’m not worried about that part.”
Adrian looked at me with a smile.
It wasn’t the usual smile he had while teasing others.
It felt as if respect and expectation were housed within that smile.
“I have this feeling you’ll eventually pull it off. Before, I was a bit uncertain, but… now I’m sure.”
With his words full of trust, I scratched my head shyly.
Feeling a strange mix of emotions as I received Adrian’s gratitude, we finally arrived at the city.
“Delicious…!!”
I shed tears of gratitude at the special cooking course made just for me by Raphne.
“Eat up! Here! Try this! And this too!”
“Ugh, ugh! W-Wait a moment, slow down…!”
Feeling the seriousness of my diet, Raphne kept piling food into my mouth.
Without taking even a single bite herself.
“Stop it, Raphne. Honestly, while the old Ken was cute, isn’t this version much better?”
Emily, who was sitting next to Raphne, joined in to stop her.
“Definitely… the old version was cute, but… ugh.”
Mary, agreeing with that statement, chimed in, catching my eye and then quickly averting her gaze with a blush.
‘… What are they talking about?’
I get that they think the current me is fine.
But to say the old me was cute, what about that chubby guy…?
‘They all see me in a good light.’
Feeling grateful that they had viewed my previous self as cute, I couldn’t help but feel warm.
Of course, there was one person who went a bit overboard.
“What are you both talking about! Ugh, Ken has gotten so scrawny now!! I can’t even bury my face in his fluffy belly anymore!!”
“W-Wait a moment…! Raphne…!”
I tried to stop her from blurt out such embarrassing things to the two, but…
“Bury your face?”
“On the belly…?”
Suddenly, it seemed to have registered within their ears, and both of them looked at me with strange expressions.
“No, um… what Raphne is saying is, uh…”
Bang!
The sound of me banging my fists on the table interrupted my excuses.
Emily glared at me with her fists clenched tightly.
“I-I’ve never done such a thing—!”
“…Huh?”
“Me too… I’ve never done it either.”
“…You too, Mary?”
I was taken aback by the unexpected remarks.
I thought for sure I’d hear things like, “You creep!” or “Pervert! Die!”…
But the two of them looked at me with aggrieved expressions instead.
“Why did we lose weight without having done such things?!”
“Yeah, it feels like we’ve been shortchanged….”
“You both just said that you thought being thinner was better until moments ago….”
Just as I was taken aback by the sudden change of attitude, another voice echoed from across the table.
“Oh? Is that so? Then I want to try that too.”
Adrian, who had been eating with us, chimed in.
Shivers ran down my spine at the serious smile he wore while looking at me.
“Indeed, it was nice and soft back then.”
Siegfried, who had been quietly eating meat, joined in as well.
“Eek! Y-You two, stop it!”
Imagining things I shouldn’t, I reflexively wrapped my arms around myself and backed away.
“Come on! Ken! Have another bite!”
“Uwaah!”
“I’ll give you mine! Eat this too!”
“Waaah!”
“Please, have mine too… Can I gain weight just to lose it again?”
“Gulp….”
A continuous rush of “just one more bite” requests.
It felt like an unending flow of food, more burdensome than a monster rush.
The meal I had yearned for during the past year ended with this trial of gluttony.
In the quiet and dark forest,
A female voice, cold and eerie, echoed within the strange purple bushes.
“…Master, you have indeed deceived me well.”
There, sitting beside a sword stuck in a tree, was a woman caressing a monster.
Numerous monsters were gathered around her, sound asleep.
Muttering words loaded with resentment, she suddenly flushed bright red.
“…Haah, what a sharp mind you have…!”
She recalled the man who had struck her and expressed her infatuation.
“But thinking this means we’ve parted ways is a huge mistake. Heh heh.”
Blushing as she gazed at the moon above, she smiled while caressing her lips.
“…The contract of master and servant has ended already.”
Recalling the taste of her master’s blood, Tirpione once again pondered the day they would reunite.
“Soon… the moment you need me will come.”
Then she stood up and approached her true form—a sword.
Grasping the hilt, she tugged hard to pull it out, but…
“…Ugh!! This is just too much!! If you stick it in this deep, I can’t pull it out at all—!!”
Straining and failing to remove her own true form, Tirpione again voiced her accusations mixed with resentment.
It would be only the next day that she would extract the sword with the help of the monsters.
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