episode_0191

Seria smiled awkwardly and greeted me, then looked at me and hesitated. It wasn’t something I couldn’t understand.

We were both students at the same academy, so we passed each other a few times, but as Ceria put it, it had been a really long time since we had met face to face and talked.

But yes, I needed just that level of distance right now. A sense of distance that allows me to turn in either direction depending on my attitude.

“That――”

Seria tried to open her mouth first to lighten the mood, but I lightly raised my hand to silence her.

I saw Seria looking at me with her eyes wide open, probably surprised by the sudden blocking of her speech, and I smiled and said.

“Before we say anything else, I want you to stop calling me Charles.”

“Uh, suddenly… … . Why?”

“Why? That’s right――”

I smiled at Seria’s questioning words and quietly walked up to her and whispered softly in her ear.

“It’s unpleasant. The reason you call me so friendly.”

“Uh… … ?”

Seria’s eyes widened and trembled, as if she was quite surprised by what I said.

Yeah, you must have been surprised. You must be confused when someone you thought of as a friend or colleague suddenly stabs you in the back.

however… … . Why are you only this surprised? I haven’t even started yet.

“Char, Charles. Why did you suddenly say that… … .”

“Shall we change seats first? I don’t think there’s anything worth saying in a place like this.”

After saying that, I smiled calmly and tapped Seria on the shoulder, and Seria nodded quietly while swallowing dry saliva.

With Seria in tow, I walked outside the banquet hall, towards the main building of the mansion, a place that nobles would not often come to.

“… … .”

Ttogakttogak――

Silence was the only thing that came between me and Seria in the long hallway leading to the main building.

It was a frighteningly heavy silence that was completely different from when I was with Hermel, uncomfortable and uncomfortable.

“Over there.”

Naturally, it was Seria who broke the silence first.

I stopped for a moment, looked back, and smiled.

“I don’t want to talk much because it’s still a place where people can walk around. Can you wait a little longer?”

“Why did you say that earlier? I guess it was a bit harsh to say it was a joke… … .”

Ceria said that and opened her eyes.

“I asked you to wait a little longer… … . It’s so arbitrary.”

I looked at Seria while saying that, but Seria looked at me without paying any attention.

However, that gaze was not one of displeasure or irritation, but rather confusion and concern. Are you really worried about me now? You think there’s no way I could say something like that?

At this point, I was confused as to whether this was because he was really nice or if he was suffering from good kid syndrome.

If not that too… … . He must be a half-broken human like me.

“I’m sorry. but… … . I want you to tell me why you did that. If I did something wrong or something happened to you――”

“If that’s the case, what are you going to do?”

“… … ?”

“… … What are you going to do?”

I interrupted Seria once again and slowly blinked my eyes and looked at Seria.

Seria looked surprised, as if she didn’t expect me to react so sharply, but she soon made eye contact with a determined face.

“I will do my best to help you.”

Those words were by no means empty words, nor were they pretentious. He was really saying those things to help me.

He is such a good person that I get sick of him. No, at this point, he’s not good, he’s just broken. It’s clear that I’m broken in a different way than I am.

I chuckled, tilted my head to one side and asked.

“Why? What did I do?”

“You did a lot for me.”

Seria said that and started listing the things I did one by one.

“For me, meeting you for the first time, you let me take the entrance exam, lent me a bed, and lent you clothes.”

As she continued to speak, the emotions in Seria’s eyes began to gradually subside, and soon no wavering emotion could be seen in her eyes.

“I remember saying it clearly at the time, but it was just a small consideration as it went in at the end. And the reason I lent you clothes and a bed was simply because I was interested in the new possessor. I had absolutely no intention of helping you.”

After hearing what I said, Seria nodded lightly and continued speaking calmly.

“I see. But if what you felt when you first saw me was simply interest, then what helped me after that? You bought me a new dress and an artifact so I could watch special events. No, if it had been just a matter of interest in the first place, you could have just ignored me and gone in to prevent me from taking the entrance exam.”

“It was out of necessity. Because there were some things I had to check.”

Depending on which route you take, I had to modify my plan a little bit. There was no other reason.

“Then why did you help me when I had to duel with a second year senior? Was that interesting too?”

“It would have been difficult if you had been broken there.”

If some of the plans centered around you go to waste, you have to make plans again from then on, and that’s annoying. It would have been more efficient for me to train you instead of just sitting on the sidelines and increasing the workload.

“Then who helped me when I was captured by Gryphon?”

“… … .”

Ceria said that and looked straight at me.

In her mind, it seemed like I had already been nailed down as a wicked person who had no choice but to commit evil for some reason.

“Even if it started out of interest, even if it was for something else, it is true that it helped me.”

In the past, I was thankful that people misunderstood me like that, but not now.

“This is an extremely stubborn theory of results.”

I sighed as I looked at Ceria looking straight at me.

“What I can see is limited, and what I can know is limited.”

“Didn’t I advise you last time to look at the forest, not the trees?”

Seria smiled awkwardly at my words and scratched her head, and I looked at her for a moment and then smiled.

After thinking for a moment, I slowly wiped the smile off my face, looked at Seria, and asked her a random topic.

“Let’s talk about the game for a moment.”

“Huh? Uh… … .”

Seria blinked and nodded, as if she had no idea that the game would suddenly come up in this situation.

“Blooming under the moonlight… … . It’s a famous game. I didn’t know we would be possessed here.”

“That’s right. I was very surprised at first too. Actually, even now it doesn’t feel that real… … .”

“It seems so. So I told you over and over again that this was reality. If I had known that you wouldn’t hear me like this, I wouldn’t have said anything.”

He spoke harshly and shook his head.

Ceria’s face brightened, perhaps because she thought it was a joke or because she thought it had lightened the mood a little, but unfortunately, the reason I said this was not to play into her illusions.

“Okay, whatever. Being in a game is not something that can be easily accepted. If you think about it, there are times when you can be more proactive because you think it’s in a game. Isn’t that right?”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I want to tell you this much. Even though it’s a game world, I’ve never thought of dealing with other people as a joke.”

Seria answered with a serious face, and I chuckled at her.

“I see. You are so kind. Honest and upright.”

Seria looked puzzled by my sudden praise.

“From the moment I first saw you, I had this question. You, who entered the body of the protagonist, and I, who entered the body of the villain. What is the difference? … . I say so.”

And why did you show up only after things got to this point?

After swallowing back the words that came to mind, I looked down at my hands and clenched and unclenched them.

“Appearance? No, that’s not it. That’s no reason. Did they calculate how unhappy they lived in their past lives and divide them into main characters and extras? No, probably not that either. Well, I am unhappy and have lived an ordinary life without any ups and downs.”

“What are you trying to say… … ?”

“Shut up and listen, because I’m trying to tell you why I help you, which you’ve been wanting to know so much.”

As I said that, I saw a young maid passing by and gestured for her to come over.

The maid, who made eye contact with me, smiled happily and approached me. Without knowing what might happen to me.

“So I took you with me to find out what was different. So, I help you and stay by your side to see what you do, what you think, and what kind of life you live.”

―I hope everyone here, including you, is happy.

“And then I figured it out. What is the difference between you and me.”

“Yes, did you call the Duke?”

Seria was startled by the greeting of the maid who had suddenly approached her and looked at her. I patted the maid’s head.

The maid was surprised when her master suddenly stroked her head, but she also seemed to like it and smiled awkwardly.

I smiled at the maid and snapped my fingers to create a soundproof barrier around her.

“It’s desire.”

After saying that, I placed my hand on the maid’s head and gathered magical energy into my palm.

“Now, wait… … !!”

Because Seria was born with a natural affinity for magic, when she felt magic gathering in my palm, she was shocked and tried to stop me.

“I want everyone to be unhappy.”

Everyone but me.

“No――!!”

“It’s late.”

Ceria quickly stretched out her hand to try to block it, but light flashed before her hand could reach the maid.

Thin brain fluid and sticky blood, along with fragments of shattered skulls and brain fragments, decorated the walls.