Satisfied.
After that conversation, Sophia doesn’t say strange things to me anymore.
Leo never really had a misunderstanding, and Alice just wanted to tease me halfway, so there’s no reason to bring up that story anymore.
Charlotte sometimes looks at me with sad eyes, but that’s all; she wasn’t planning to associate me with Leo any further.
There’s nothing as satisfying and uplifting as solving a big incident without rewinding time.
In the past, I thought it was fine to use my cheat ability anytime… but now my relationships have changed.
The friends around me were literally my ‘friends’. And each conversation with them was a cherished memory.
The act of rewinding time meant recovering from my mistakes, but at the same time, it also meant all those memories would vanish.
At the beginning of the semester, I used my abilities several times for the sake of my perfect image… of course, if I feel my image might shatter too much at this moment, I would still consider using them, but I didn’t want to use my powers for every little mistake. Especially after conversations that affect relationships.
Thus, being satisfied simply by the fact that I didn’t use my powers while forming a relationship with someone is quite something.
Well, that being said, it’s not like there aren’t any occasions to use my powers at all.
“Seriously, you’re so unpredictable.”
Saying that in a dying voice was Kiara Verati.
Lying on the bed, wrapped in bandages, she looked at me and smiled weakly.
“Even with such an uncomfortable outfit on.”
“Even if I look like this, it’s a uniform made of a lot of new materials. It doesn’t hinder my activity.”
I said that as I sat down on the chair beside the bed.
Thud.
A sound came from the door. There was a louder crash a couple of times, and someone was mumbling outside.
Naturally, even if they were injured, they were knights of the Cathedral. Even without weapons in hand, they are beings that can easily overpower common soldiers, so even in this injured state, they were trapped deep inside the Imperial Capital.
…Though I wonder if there’s even a need to go this far for someone who’s injured like this.
“How do you plan to get out…? I guess you wouldn’t answer if I asked, right?”
“Well, who knows…”
At Kiara Verati’s words, I shrugged and replied.
“Depending on the conversation we have from now on, I might tell you.”
“Hmph. Still, you’ll only tell me what you want anyway.”
“I promise. I’ll make sure to reveal my secrets adequately.”
As long as the mask girl doesn’t suddenly pop out, there shouldn’t be a reason to rewind time.
And at this point, I don’t think there’s a need for her to pop out. The mask girl… only appeared in relation to the Divine Relics.
Whenever that Divine Relic first appeared before me. I confirmed the bag that the last Emperor picked up long ago, quite a while ago. It was so well hidden that I had to do things I didn’t really want to just find out, but everyone who hurt me back then is fine now, so isn’t that okay?
So, the mask girl might have been unable to use her abilities because of that Divine Relic. Just like how my abilities were sealed whenever she showed up.
The goddess’s power is related to the item, blocking both my and the mask girl’s abilities.
“And do you plan to kill me or something?”
“……”
If the moment my powers are blocked comes, maybe.
At my silence, Kiara Verati frowned.
Then, after a while of thinking, she let out a deep sigh.
“…… Fine, tell me. Is there something you want to discuss?”
“Will you share it with me?”
“Do I have a choice?”
Thud, again there was a sound from the door. They might be preparing some magic or cannon over there.
No, probably not a cannon. The Emperor might stop that.
“What did Lucas ask you last time?”
“About the Divine Relic.”
Kiara Verati answered as she had said herself.
“She asked what that Divine Relic is and why we are searching for it.”
“You said you don’t know much since you’re not in a high position, right?”
“Did you actually believe that straight away?”
“Well, not exactly.”
It wasn’t like I thought she’d give me more information just because I asked. What’s more, I couldn’t torture someone in front of Alice, right?
“……”
Kiara Verati clenched her lips and then spoke.
“I’m a person dispatched to the Empire to investigate the Divine Relic. And even if it’s not Northwood, there aren’t many places worth searching for the Divine Relic. For example, this place, the Imperial Palace.”
“Are you saying you intentionally got captured to search for the Divine Relic?”
“No, I didn’t get captured intentionally. But having been captured, I tried to turn the crisis into an opportunity.”
“Did you succeed?”
“No.”
Kiara Verati answered with a scoff.
“Even though it’s such an important place to bring an important prisoner, it appears the Divine Relic is hidden in another location.”
“How do you plan to find that Divine Relic?”
“The Papal State hasn’t been idle for the past few hundred years. To find the sacred Divine Relic and return power to the Goddess… so that the Goddess can descend into this world, we were trying to complete the device. Of course, we don’t move only based on records from hundreds of years ago. There’s a sacred magic that only the highest people of the Papal State can use. It’s a magic used on people, and even if I don’t know the principles, someone who accepts that magic will feel discomfort when near the Divine Relic.”
“Have you ever felt that discomfort?”
“The Papal State trains using its own Divine Relics, so they ensure that feeling is unmistakably recognized.”
“And one of those Divine Relics is currently in the Empire.”
“…… That’s right.”
Kiara Verati sighed deeply as she answered.
“Can you tell me more details about that magic?”
“No. No matter what, the high-ups of the Papal State wouldn’t want that magic to spread externally. The magic itself puts the subject to sleep and leaves no evidence afterwards. If you think maybe I got a tattoo or something, that’s a misconception. Something might have been marked, but to confirm that, you’d need the Papal State’s specific magic.”
“I see.”
Thud!
There was another sound, and I turned my gaze to see the door significantly dented to the point I could see it from my side.
“Can I know why you’re telling me this story?”
Feeling that time was limited, I asked that question.
Just a little while ago—when Lucas barged in and got hit hard before losing consciousness. Back then, she was thoroughly uncooperative.
“Sigh, indeed.”
Kiara Verati gazed blankly at the ceiling as she spoke.
“I thought I could just die for the Goddess. According to doctrine, suicide is not permissible, but still… I was ready to do what I could and die for the Goddess.”
But.
“Now that I’ve come this far, the Papal State has been leaving me here without any way to save me, and even some inhuman guy suddenly appears and claims to have killed my old comrade. The Papal State was left without the Divine Relics. I just… wonder what this is. It feels like everything I’ve believed in until now has shattered. To be honest, I wish I hadn’t just woken up after losing consciousness back then.”
“Is that the reason?”
“Yes. And you mentioned you’d tell me about your abilities, right? How you found me, and how you plan to escape from here. To be honest, I’m really curious.”
The hinges of the door were shaking like they were about to fall off.
“Is that so.”
I nodded and replied.
“Then I’ll answer you. I knew about the things that were going to happen before they happened. Because I looked outside of this world and returned.”
“…… You mean you knew the future?”
Kiara made a sound of disbelief.
“And secondly, I have the ability to turn back time.”
“……”
“So there’s no need to think about an escape route. All I have to do is go back once I get what I need.”
“Heh.”
Kiara Verati let out a laugh as if she found it absurd.
“Do you not believe me?”
“No, that’s not it. Logically, it doesn’t make sense, but if I think of it as ‘such an ability’… it fits perfectly. I just…”
Kiara Verati spent quite a while gazing silently at the ceiling.
Bang! The door completely shattered, and the sound of clattering armor followed, but I was waiting for Kiara Verati’s words.
They were shouting at me to lie down, but even through that, Kiara Verati’s words were clear.
“How empty. I worked so hard for the Goddess’s power… but in reality…”
But her words didn’t continue further.
Well, I guess I heard enough from her at this point.
Again.
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