Side Story – Regression (2)

*

Right now, everyone’s gathered around the bonfire for dinner, so causing a ruckus might draw everyone’s attention.

Robin, having made that judgment, suggested they continue the conversation later that night when Jennifer was on night watch, and slowly brought the meat to his mouth.

Jennifer sighed once and slowly nodded.

After dinner, Jennifer asked her companions, who were gathering around the bonfire to escape the chilling forest winds, to switch her night watch shift to the first one.

She added a hastily made excuse that she wanted to stand guard first and then take care of Robin’s condition all night, and the kind-hearted party members granted her request without suspicion.

Soon after, the party members left Jennifer behind and began to enter their tents one by one to sleep.

In this quiet forest, devoid of even a single cricket, if you listened carefully, you could hear all the nearby sounds.

Slow, rhythmic breathing could be heard.

Even faint snoring could be heard.

Convinced that everyone was completely asleep, Robin stealthily emerged from the tent.

The bonfire, a little ways from the tent.

Jennifer, who was taking turns on night watch and adjusting the size of the fire with a light spell, greeted Robin as he approached and wordlessly offered him a cup of warmed water.

Robin took the cup and gently wrapped his hands around it.

As he warmed his fingers with the hot heat and sat next to Jennifer, she slowly opened her mouth.

“So, what were you talking about earlier?”

“…Jennifer. Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

“…”

“I know it’ll sound like bullshit, but please don’t dismiss it and just listen.”

Robin slowly told Jennifer everything he had experienced.

Robin’s face showed no hint of playfulness as he carefully enunciated each word, worried that Ed, sleeping in the tent over there, might hear him.

Perhaps because of that, Jennifer listened silently without interrupting Robin even once.

Robin had faith in Jennifer.

She was the only one who had conspired with him in the plan to kill Ed, and he hoped that as an expert in magic, she might be able to explain the current situation.

It was faint and buried in a time of pain, but still, she was his wife for 20 years.

Among them, she was his first wife and his lover from the start.

He didn’t care when he was blinded by the fact that she had spread her legs for Villard and she had met a cruel death, but perhaps it was because he was now facing her in her beautiful youth and having a conversation,

Robin even felt a lump in his throat when he talked about Jennifer’s death.

After spending a whole hour telling the story, Robin looked straight at Jennifer and said.

“I know it sounds crazy. But let’s not do it. We have to stop. Let’s just remain heroes as we are.”

“…Robin.”

Robin smiled slightly at Jennifer’s voice, which called his name softly.

He thought his sincerity had gotten through.

“…Are you a fucking idiot?”

“Huh?”

Ssak!

Jennifer slapped Robin hard across the cheek.

“You’re driving me crazy.”

“…Jenny,”

“Shut up.”

Jennifer rudely cut off Robin, who was calling her name, and raised her hand to press her thumb and forefinger into her temples.

Robin clutched his tingling, heated cheek and looked at Jennifer with trembling eyes, and Jennifer glared down at Robin coldly and bluntly rebuked him.

“Is it because of affection? Or do you suddenly feel a sense of responsibility to set an example as a hero? Did you feel so guilty that you had such a grandiose and stupid pipe dream? Then you should have said you couldn’t do it from the start.”

“Goddammit, I know you don’t believe me, but it’s all true…!”

“Really? Then answer me, what was the name of the son we had together?”

“…!”

At Jennifer’s question, Robin could only move his lips with a bewildered expression.

Son, my first son.

Our son who was murdered by Ed, and then resurrected as an undead only to be killed again by my hand.

The one who resembled me the most, the son I cherished the most.

…What was his name?

Robin couldn’t answer.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember the name of his beloved son.

Jennifer, watching Robin’s face as he struggled desperately to remember, urged him on with a mocking, sarcastic voice.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and tell me? What was the name of your son that Ed killed?”

Robin answered, sweating coldly.

“…It’s, it’s because so much time has passed that I can’t remember.”

“Huh,”

At Jennifer’s snort, Robin pounded his chest as if he felt wronged.

Each time his torso resonated, he felt anger welling up in his throat and overflowing.

That anger poured out as an angry voice.

“Goddammit, I was tortured in my soul for an immeasurable amount of time, you hear? Longer than all the time I’ve lived combined!”

“Pah- Don’t bullshit me.”

“Jennifer!”

“There’s no such magic. It’s all physically and theoretically impossible.”

Jennifer stated cleanly.

Of course, Robin knew nothing about the theory of magic.

But he clearly had vivid memories of being subjected to that ‘impossible’ thing, and he was very displeased with Jennifer’s attitude of flatly dismissing it as impossible.

But at Jennifer’s gaze, which seemed to look at him as if he were a pathetic barbarian lacking common sense, Robin could only stupidly ask back.

“Magic that only the Demon King can use, or something…”

“The Demon King doesn’t use magic from another world. He just uses magic very powerfully.”

“But,”

“But my ass, stop spouting bullshit and shut up, because I’m starting to feel too pathetic for worrying about you all day today.”

Robin was speechless.

He felt like he was suffocating, not just in his words but even in his breath.

Jennifer looked at Robin and hardened her expression.

“Shall I guess? Why you can’t remember the name of the son you cherished so much?”

“…”

Jennifer no longer mocked Robin.

Her face was filled only with the unpleasantness of seeing vomit dried on the side of the road.

“It’s because you had a fucking dream. Goddammit.”

“No! The pain I felt!”

“Maybe you just got a cramp while you were sleeping, and at that timing you had a nightmare that stimulated your guilt. Or maybe you had sleep paralysis while you had a cramp? Well, it’s a pretty harsh mission for a country bumpkin, isn’t it?”

“Are you treating me like an idiot?”

“Of course, you’re just spouting idiotic bullshit.”

Contempt, pity.

A cold gaze filled with only those things enveloped Robin.

It was just a dream?

All of that?

Robin was confused.

It was a strange feeling.

That terrible pain, which is still surprisingly vivid, is in stark contrast to the fact that, as Jennifer pointed out, even the name of his own son is vague and he can’t remember it.

Robin dropped his head powerlessly.

*

“What the hell is going on…”

Jennifer snorted softly as she looked at Robin, who had his head down.

She thought he looked pathetic, but she was also somewhat suspicious.