The truth is, one of the reasons I ended up here is that I was afraid of death.
Just because I can turn back time doesn’t mean I’m invincible. The first few times I turned back, it wasn’t really my choice, but at least I didn’t die. To be exact, I thought I ‘myself’ was not going to die.
After that, it was all me turning back time on my own.
In fact, it’s probably more accurate to say that my strong desire influenced the first few times. I don’t know if this ability is truly ‘mine’ or if it’s some other power watching me from above. I didn’t meet a god or receive any explanations during the process of coming over to this side, nor did I have a system or status window.
It’s also different from saving and loading. Unlike saving at a specific moment and then rewinding, my ability is to turn back time to a necessary point whenever I need it.
The trigger is said to be a ‘strong desire,’ but it doesn’t necessarily have to be at the moment of life-threatening danger. Time easily rewound just by me feeling embarrassed or desiring a different choice.
But what if I couldn’t have such desires?
Like getting shot. Or my body being shredded before I can do anything about an explosion.
… Or being impaled by an ice spear.
Mia Crowfield was a huge threat to me. She might not yet have the means to kill me, but with that Marmaros, it could be possible. After all, her specialty is ice magic.
I don’t want the main protagonist party to be in danger, but I can’t disregard my own life either. For now, I should hold onto this, and when the chance of Mia Crowfield being able to kill me almost disappears, I could hand it over. Until then, I won’t be able to easily obtain a Marmaros of this level before the first semester ends, which gives me time.
The problem is, I have no way to explain this reality.
What they’re curious about now is not why I brought this, but how I knew to bring it.
“… I can’t tell you yet.”
In the end, as I grew frustrated for not being able to answer, I could only dodge the question.
“…”
Alice’s gaze, fixed on me without moving aside, felt prickly, but I tried hard not to change my expression and spoke again.
“I’ll tell you when the time is right.”
Alice watched me silently.
She’s gotten somewhat skilled at reading my expressions. She might have noticed that I was flustered right now. Though I’m not too sure how she would interpret my expression.
“…”
“…”
For a while, we stared at each other in silence.
“… Phew.”
Fortunately, it was Alice who broke the silence first.
“… You know,”
Alice said, glaring at me, “I have a good memory. I’ll never forget that you said such a thing. If a moment comes when you can really tell me, please make sure to do so.”
“Understood.”
Well, I had thought so anyway.
After we’ve become close enough and when everything is over, if I no longer need to use this ability again, and if my relationship with the protagonist party is positive at that point, there wouldn’t be anything to hide. By then, my whole concept would mean nothing anyway.
But not now. It’s only been a week since the story started to unfold properly. It’s too early to reveal all the hidden agendas, and doing so could put the protagonist party in danger instead. If they’re a bunch of fools who only know this much, they would immediately antagonize the Emperor.
Above all, once Charlotte learns that the Kingdom of Velbur and the Empire of Aetherna are on a collision course, she wouldn’t just sit back and watch.
“When that time comes, will I be able to hear about it too?”
“… Probably.”
When I said that, Alice’s expression brightened a bit.
“The fact that Sylvia said this means she’s confident about it. Perhaps Charlotte will hear it together with you when the time comes.”
“Is that so?”
Alice’s tone suggested she was willing to let it go for now, but Charlotte seemed to not be able to fully trust me yet.
That’s understandable. After all, I directly threatened King of Velbur, Charlotte’s father.
“… Well, then, there’s nothing I can do. If you, Sylvia, keep your mouth shut… Honestly, I don’t see any way to open it.”
I had built that image quite well in everyday life. While Alice could read my expression, to others, I was an enigmatic presence. As long as they give up first, that would be enough.
“Are we done? Then let’s head outside. Honestly, it stank the moment we came in. I feel like my nose is almost numb now.”
“… Let’s change our clothes first. I might not be able to wear this outfit again.”
… Indeed, it seemed my coat was likely to smell. Will it wash out?
“And since we’re at it, how about we all gather together for parfait? After we change.”
Alice said this while turning back to me, smiling brightly.
“You like parfait, right?”
…Even though I was maintaining my expression, it seemed I couldn’t hide it from Alice.
“Was that the expression of someone who liked it?”
“She wears her feelings on her face.”
After Alice said that, she turned around and started walking ahead, and Charlotte looked at Alice as if something was strange.
At least at this moment, I couldn’t help but empathize with Charlotte.
I really have no idea how she figures these things out.
*
Even after waking up early, carrying out requests, exploring the sewers, washing up, changing clothes, grabbing a light meal at the café, and even eating parfait, it was still not yet 3 PM.
I thought, “Wow, mornings are so fast that there’s actually this much time”.
“Do you have more things to do?”
When I said I had things to do after finishing the parfait, Alice gave me a slightly annoyed look.
“Well, that’s fine. I am curious about what your things are, but… honestly, even if I look more, I don’t think I can figure anything out.”
In that regard, I was genuinely grateful.
And Alice’s judgment was accurate.
I was planning to go to my room and roll around in bed.
After working for several hours, even going so far as to rewind time, I thought it was time for a little break.
Leo and Claire are still probably wandering around solving various requests, and Mia Crowfield will probably be holed up in her room.
“Charlotte, why don’t we go study together?”
“Then, shall we? Sylvia, today was quite fun. I don’t know exactly about you yet…”
“Right. How many times are we going to have to go into the Imperial capital sewers?”
I wondered what kind of expression Alice would make if I told her that we had to go to a much deeper place and face a hideous monster.
Well, thinking about it again, I realized that even if I told her, she would probably just ask me “How do you know about that?” rather than grimacing at the thought, so I decided to keep it to myself.
Sometimes, there are things you can figure out without needing to rewind time.
“Well then, let’s meet again around dinner.”
“Understood.”
I slightly bowed to the two who were leaving in front of me.
“…”
And then I relaxed my shoulders slightly.
Phew.
Even after going off on my own, I still felt drained, but now with two more people along, it felt like twice the exhaustion.
…Alright. From now on, I’m really going to do nothing.
I’ll head back to my room and roll around on the bed. And when dinner time comes, I will rewind time and roll around again, and then rewind once more to roll around. That should be enough for my mental fatigue to ease away.
“Oh, Crown Princess.”
And just like that, my expectations were shattered marvelously by some bronzed blonde punk.
I’m not kidding; he was really a bronzed blonde punk.
He was flanked by two girls.
“… What can I do for you?”
Aren’t you asking me that?
I barely held back those words and asked.
After all, this was our first encounter.
I didn’t know if he merely passed by and happened to speak, or if he had been deliberately waiting.
But… looking at him, it seemed more like he was the latter.
“Oh, my apologies.”
The bronzed blonde punk quickly bowed slightly toward me. Despite having a somewhat rugged demeanor, his greeting was soft and composed enough to make me impressed.
That’s to be expected since he was the eldest son of a fairly renowned duke family from the Empire.
For reference, the reason his skin is brown is that he really tanned. It’s not that he was born with dark skin.
But the girl with black hair beside him genuinely did have dark skin.
Among the two girls flanking him, one with a particularly emotionless expression… is a colonial. In illustrations, it’s hard to tell the difference between races, but in reality, she wouldn’t seem out of place to call “Indian.” However, she was not a pure blood colonial; she had some Imperial blood in her.
The bronzed sun who spoke to me had the girls acknowledge him, and despite the giggling noises a moment ago, they didn’t seem amused by my expression.
“I just happened to pass by and saw the Crown Princess, so I came to greet you. I apologize if I disturbed you.”
“…”
What’s the point of beating around the bush?
He’s also one of the main characters in the story.
When it comes to a ‘golden sun,’ many might think of them as a character stealing a heroine from a light novel, but that’s usually a setting found in adult comics or games. In fact, in media like this, golden suns are often just hot-headed fools.
While I can’t say this character is a complete hot-headed fool… well, he definitely has a character that can’t tolerate injustice.
He enjoys life, looks well-groomed, is popular with girls, but he’s only focused on one particular girl. The mixed descent colonial is merely a distant relative. Though he carries some of the Duke’s blood, in the end, she’s still just a colonial and remains by the golden sun’s side as his ‘maid.’
Nevertheless, she was able to enter the academy not as a servant but as a student, but since commoners usually receive different treatment, they ended up in different classes.
“I’m Jake Lindbergh.”
In the original story, he wasn’t skilled in plots. Although he wasn’t completely devoid of noble sensibilities, honestly speaking, he’s the type to act before he thinks.
He’s nice to girls but ruthless towards boys. He occupies a somewhat ‘comic relief’ role. He’s the typical protagonist’s friend character found in harem stories.
The production company likely placed him next to this character to avoid creating the image of being a harem disruptor.
However, because of that, he adds up some pure-hearted boy charm, securing his status.
“Sylvia Fanggriffon.”
As I responded like that, Jake Lindbergh straightened his previously bowed body.
“It’s an honor to meet you.”
“…”
Do you have anything else to say?
I threw that thought into my gaze, but honestly, the only person who could read my expressions was Alice, so the chances of this fool understanding my thoughts were much lower. As a result, Jake Lindbergh was just wearing a silly smile.
…But if he spoke to me, there must be a reason.
I slightly turned my gaze to the mixed descent girl next to Lindbergh.
In the original story… actually, she had a lot of interest in Jake Lindbergh as well, but her role was merely to assist him. While it’s possible to exclude one of them from the party, there’s no way for her to get involved with the protagonist.
I figured she must have told him to speak to me.
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