episode_0024

“What are you thinking, Oppa?”

“I’m sorry.”

Not long after I returned to the mansion, Chris came back with a face full of anger, and I knelt before her, begging for forgiveness.

“You know exactly how dangerous it is outside right now, so why would you do that?! And the Academy, of all places? Are you insane?”

“I… I have nothing to say…”

“Hah… Fine. I get it. I did keep you locked up in the mansion too much. But that doesn’t mean you had to go this far! Why did you do it?”

The urge to say, “Because Anna teased me, so I wanted to tease her back~” was overwhelming, but I barely held it in.

If I said that, Chris would stop seeing me as her pitiful older brother and start seeing me as a pitiful, incurable lunatic instead.

After all the effort I put into shaking off the “crazy” label…

“Well… you see…”

I bowed my head, desperately shifting my eyes around as I scrambled for a decent excuse.

Then, when I spotted the people outside the window, that excuse gained more weight.

“I missed it.”

“Missed what?”

“The world outside.”

“Ugh…!”

Got her. Seeing Chris’s slightly twisted expression, I was sure—this would work without fail.

“Even though I knew I’d regressed, I still wanted to see it. To see if the outside… really wasn’t that hellish landscape anymore. You know I already failed once, right? So I wanted to steel my resolve. To make sure I could protect this world again.”

“Oppa…”

Chris quietly handed me a piece of paper.

“Chris?”

“Your Academy re-enrollment notice. You said you wanted to go, right? You went there thinking your special student privileges were still active?”

“Ah. Now that you mention it, yeah. I thought since I never received any documents, my special student status for this year was still valid—”

“I hid them. I used my privileges to arrange for flexible attendance.”

“You hid them? Why?”

“Asking because you don’t know? Because I was worried about you!”

Chris raised her voice, but that didn’t work on me.

I lowered my tone and spoke in the same exhausted voice I’d used a few days prior.

“Chris.”

“Y-yes?”

“I asked you not to give me unnecessary consideration. That was the only thing I ever asked of you—to not worry about each other. Was that really so hard for you to follow?”

“No, it’s not like that, I just—”

“You already have enough on your plate as the family head, don’t you? You barely have time to focus on your own responsibilities, so stop wasting energy on someone like me.”

We agreed to pretend not to see each other even if we did. That was the promise Chris and I made.

But my little sister wasn’t that easy to handle.

“…And you think words are enough?”

“Huh?”

“Who was it that almost died after getting caught by the other sisters while sneaking out? You, Oppa. And who sent Anna to bring you back to the mansion safely?”

“Chris.”

“And who mediated between three people who could’ve exploded at any moment?”

“C-Chris…”

“And finally, who summarized everything that happened to make sure you could survive a little longer?”

“LADY CHRIS!!!!”

“Even if you say you don’t care about us, if one of us—or you—dies, it’ll be a problem, won’t it?”

“Y-yes…”

“So let’s behave, okay?”

“Yes.”

I must’ve underestimated Chris too much.

As she said, even if we pretend not to care about each other, in life-or-death situations, we have no choice but to rely on one another.

Chris must’ve found her own way to stay by my side.

Good. That’s good.

If we can just protect what we need from each other, that’s more than enough.

I’d rather skip the crying and clinging.

“Now, let’s get back to the topic. Sister Cecile already has her eyes on you.”

“Why single out the Saintess? If what you say is true, all of them are already obsessed with me anyway.”

Even as I said it, I knew I sounded a little obnoxious. But denying the truth would only hurt me.

Thinking, “They like me? Yeah, right,” might work in some ridiculous rom-com, but in my case, that kind of thinking would get me killed.

There’s a joke: if you wonder, “Do they like me?” you’re usually wrong. But if you think, “Do they fcking like me?” with frustration, it’s usually true.

But in my case, all rationality goes out the window—I have to panic at the level of, “Are they confessing to me?!” just to survive in this world.

Now that I said it out loud, I’m pissed.

What a goddamn trial.

“Well, all of us want you, Oppa. But out of all of us, Sister Cecile seems a bit more… proactive.”

“Proactive? Didn’t you all agree to act like you don’t remember me? Is she planning to confess in public or something?”

“Who knows? Even Cecile isn’t that stupid. If she confessed to someone right now, that person would instantly become a target of attention.”

“Then it’s fine.”

“But… she could try to purge the Church on her own.”

Hmm. That’s a bit too extreme. Sure, the Church is rotten enough to warrant it, but it’s still too early.

Cecilia should know that much, right?

“Even if she tears down the Church, it’s not like I’d look at her any differently. Why go that far?”

Chris fidgeted with her fingers.

“Because it’d lighten your burden.”

“What?”

“Cecile wanted to see you again no matter what. She contacted me over and over. In the end, she even apologized to me.”

“Wait, you’ve been in contact with them?”

“Yeah. Today was the first time we actually met, but we exchanged letters occasionally. Most of them were meant for you, though.”

“I never got any letters.”

“Because I intercepted them. Most of what the sisters sent was the same stuff, so I figured it didn’t matter if I just threw them away without reading.”

“And you’re still alive?”

“If it weren’t for me, you’d have no way to communicate with them at all. Even if it’s annoying, they have to play by my rules.”

“Good job.”

“Good job? I thought you’d scold me…”

“Why would I scold you? If anything, I’d be in trouble if they’d already gotten to me.”

I have to keep pretending to have lost my memories. That way, my range of movement expands.

If they start feeling guilty and try to “protect” me by restricting my freedom or binding me, it’ll only cause problems.

Otherwise, the result won’t be any different from the first round.

They might give up on defeating the Demon Lord if it means keeping me, but I have to defeat the Demon Lord even if it means giving up on them.

“But why Cecile, of all people?”

“Hmm… It’s better if I just show you. Wait a second.”

Chris dashed out of the room and returned shortly after, arms full of letters.

“They sent this many in just a few weeks?”

“No.”

“I didn’t think so.”

“This is just the count of letters Cecile sent me.”

“What?”

“She must’ve realized sending them to you was pointless, so she sent them to me instead.”

Rustle—

I unfolded the stack of letters.

“Ah, it’s better to read them in order. The order you opened them in.”

“Got it.”

I picked up the topmost letter and started reading.

The first one was short.

‘Hey, it’s you, right?’

“What is this?”

“That’s it. She sent about five of these to you first.”

“So she started sending them to you after that? Understood.”

I moved on to the next letter.

‘You’re really resorting to this? Not like they’d even reach Eric anyway. I just ended up crying like an idiot while writing them. Tell me how he’s doing.’

Rustle—

‘Why aren’t you replying? The other girls aren’t getting answers either, right? If you see this, just reply, okay?’

Rustle—

‘I said reply, damn it. Is it really that hard? I don’t know what state Eric’s in, but I’ve mastered healing holy magic perfectly, so if anything happens, just answer me.’

Rustle—

Rustle—

Rustle—

“What the hell is this?”

Dozens of pages, all just demanding a reply.

“I told you. It’s all the same. The other sisters at least didn’t ask about whether you were alive or dead, but Cecile…”

“Yeah. I get it without you saying more.”

I held the last letter in my hand. It was so densely packed with writing that it was hard to read.

‘I’ve mastered healing holy magic perfectly. If necessary, I can even mobilize the Church’s healing priests. I’ve already gathered all the evidence from the higher-ups. If you need anything else, just tell me. How is Eric? Is he hurt? If he is, you can contact me anytime. As long as he’s alive, it’s fine. If he’s alive, I can save him no matter what. So please, just let me see him. No, it’s fine if I don’t meet him directly. Don’t get upset over nothing. Just give me a sign that he’s alive. Is he alive? He’s alive, right? He’s alive, right? He can’t die. If Eric dies, I—’

The rest was smudged beyond recognition.

This is worse than I thought.

“How did it get to this point?”

Chris looked at me with an exasperated expression.

“Who do you think made her like this?”