Ch.157Witness – 3

“A way to escape from here.”

Was the past Laura making such plans?

Well, after repeating regression into the four digits, it would be abnormal not to want to escape somehow. Whether she couldn’t complete the plan or lacked the ability to carry it out, she seems to have failed in the end.

If she had succeeded, she wouldn’t be living as Laura after sealing her memories. She would have escaped this world long ago.

Actually, I had thought about methods too. I just couldn’t suggest specific means. All I had were speculations that if I caught the Demon God, or received help from the Goddess, I might be able to return to the original world.

Or defeat them both in battle. Either way, I had been prepared since Priscilla and I discussed the ending.

The way I returned in the first world is out of the question. I don’t want to think about it, and there’s no point in contemplating a method that isn’t feasible.

“What’s wrong, Mira? What’s written there to make you look like that?”

Seeing my unusual expression, Rosaria and Elisier stopped teasing Laura and read the diary, then made similar faces to mine. Priscilla, who was in my arms, did the same.

Taking advantage of the moment, Laura, whose face had turned bright red, composed herself and returned to her seat. But her cheeks were still flushed.

“Indeed, that expression is warranted. It seems the pre-amnesia you was more capable than I thought, Laura. To have considered such methods.”

“I concur. Unfortunately, I don’t know the detailed method.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? Isn’t it written here?”

“Keep reading. Then you’ll understand what I mean.”

Confused, I turned to the next page. After passing two sentences, each taking up an entire page, suddenly powerful mana began flowing out.

As if rejecting anyone looking at it, Priscilla, Rosaria, and Elisier flinched. Laura looked at me as if she had expected their reaction.

“Well? Can you read it?”

“Hmm… more or less?”

The interference magic persistently tries to divert my attention, but not enough to make the content unreadable. With proper focus, I could manage to check the content.

“Fortunate that you’re here. Sadly, I couldn’t verify the contents either. I presume the same applies to all of you?”

The red eyes scanned the three beside me one by one. Priscilla and Rosaria looked a bit dejected, while Elisier bit her lip in frustration.

“You couldn’t read it either? Why?”

“How could I guess what my pre-amnesia self did? Anyway, it seems you’re the only one who can read it, so please continue.”

Nodding, I focused more intently on reading the diary. Breaking through the interference magic that persistently tried to block my vision, the letters on the notebook gradually became visible.

[Sorry. I know I said you qualified to read this, but I hid the most important part. I had no choice. Whatever entity trapped me here, I needed to minimize the chance of it finding out. I had to conceal my existence as much as possible while writing. Leaving a doppelganger outside, preventing any magic used here from leaking out. If it noticed how much I knew, who knows what it might do.]

It seemed that even pre-memory Laura didn’t know what entity had put her in this situation.

[Since you can read this, I’ll continue. This is important, so I’m pressing hard as I write. The way to escape this world is to kill the entity that trapped me here. I believe it’s either the Goddess or the Demon God. That’s my theory anyway.]

The Demon God or the Goddess.

‘She thinks the same as me.’

If Laura suspected those two, then my thoughts weren’t wrong. The Demon God obviously gives off villain vibes, and the Goddess clearly seems to be hiding something.

[The problem is, I’ve never met either of them. Not once during hundreds of regressions. The Demon God was supposed to be a character introduced properly in Part 2, but since it ended with Part 1, I can understand if that existence disappeared. But I don’t understand why the Goddess won’t meet me. She can communicate with the hero through the holy sword and even bestowed power directly during the holy maiden selection, so why is she silent only to me? Are they both truly non-existent?]

‘She never met either of them?’

Something felt off.

The Demon God had directly expressed interest in me, saying it would appear soon, and while the Goddess is avoiding me now, we had previously conversed through the holy sword.

Yet Laura, who had repeated regression hundreds of times, never met either of them. I wondered how that could be possible.

[So I wondered if the settings had changed from what I wrote, and I analyzed this world in my own way. It’s nothing to brag about, but the power accumulated through hundreds of regressions isn’t just for show. I sacrificed an entire regression cycle to overturn and analyze the world, and concluded that this world is sustained by a single medium. In other words, if that medium is destroyed, this world will collapse with it. And I should be able to return to my original world.]

‘A medium.’

The key would be what that is.

[But I don’t know what it is.]

“…”

[I thoroughly searched the world while my body was functioning properly, went through every book in this world, but found nothing. Even now as I write this diary to seal my memories.]

So she gave up too.

[That’s why I think it’s either the Demon God or the Goddess. I question whether they even exist, but they’re the only ones I haven’t met. Oh, and don’t worry about being caught in the collapsing world. Theoretically, at least. If not, I’m sorry… but we have to try, right? That’s all I can tell you.]

I thought it was over, but there were a few more hastily scribbled lines at the very bottom.

[Lastly, if the person reading this isn’t “me” recovering memories but someone else, I have one request. Could you seriously consider the option of me not recovering my memories at all? Honestly, there’s nothing good about remembering any of this. I doubt I could handle it. It would be a shame to find a way back only to become mentally broken and ruined.]

—Please, I’m begging you. Consider this as payment.

Next to the sentence written in handwriting twice as messy as the rest of the diary, there was a lip print that looked like it had been made with heavily applied lipstick. It seemed she had placed a spell to reveal it only after all the text was read.

The pages after that were still sealed. They would contain memories of past cycles, but there was no point in forcibly unsealing them. I closed the diary. All eyes focused on me.

“What did it say?”

“It says we might need to kill either the Demon God or the Goddess.”

I explained that there was a medium sustaining this world, and that the Demon God and Goddess were likely candidates. I also explained why the pre-amnesia Laura thought so.

Everyone seemed to share my confusion about Laura never having met either of them.

“You’ve already conversed with the Goddess, and the Demon God has shown interest in you through the demon sword… why would they not appear to my past self? It’s puzzling.”

Even Laura herself was no exception.

“Um, maybe it’s because they’re both female?”

“What does them being female have to do with them only appearing to me?”

“…Because this is a yuri romance fantasy world?”

“By that logic, they should only appear to Laura, right? Like you said, it’s a yuri romance fantasy world.”

“Uh… male intrusion?”

“You know that makes no sense, right?”

Seeming to realize her own words were absurd, Rosaria laughed awkwardly. Elisier and Laura were looking at her like she was some kind of bug.

Rosaria defensively claimed she was just making a joke because the atmosphere was too heavy, but neither of them was buying it.

“They certainly wouldn’t hide themselves for such vulgar reasons, but there must be something about those two entities. Otherwise, the past Laura, who could use such powerful magic, couldn’t have failed to meet them.”

“I agree.”

It seemed our remaining options were to either get Leona’s help to meet the Goddess, or to find the Demon God directly, or wait for it to come to us.

“Right. Laura, do you have any ideas about how to find the Demon God? We can’t just sit around waiting while it leisurely completes its plans and preparations.”

“…Not particularly. It was a boss I planned to introduce in Part 2, and since I intended to end with Part 1, I didn’t think more settings for the Demon God were necessary.”

Laura hesitated before meeting my eyes and speaking.

“And if I were to write Part 2, the plan was for the Demon God to descend upon this world, not for us to seek it out.”

No choice then. For now, we’ll have to wait for the Demon God to come to me. If we try to meet the Goddess first and she gets upset, that could be trouble.

You might think a Goddess wouldn’t act that way, but you never know.

“Oh right. I’ll return your key. I don’t know why you needed it, but here.”

I recalled the key in my pocket and returned it to Laura. She received it with a meaningful smile.

“Did you use it?”

“Isn’t that why you gave it to me? It fit perfectly in the front gate and main door of the villa. Why? Is there something special about it?”

“Nothing at all.”

Her meaningful smile deepened.