Ch.351351. Changed Future (1)

As I had expected, Renias, exhausted from crying, began to nod off.

Renias fell asleep from fatigue, and after I arranged the towel and laid her on the bed, she quickly drifted into a deep sleep with soft breathing sounds.

Watching her like that, my hand moved on its own.

After tidying her hair with my fingers, she nuzzled closer as if enjoying it, and before I knew it, I was lying beside her with my arms and embrace fully offered.

Whether I was aware of it or not didn’t matter.

Back in Sirah, I used to pat her back in her single-person room to keep her from having bad dreams, and we’d both fall asleep. I’m not sure if she still has those dreams. But this time, I wanted to hold her tight enough so that when she woke up, she’d know for certain it wasn’t a dream.

And so I found myself holding her close, and we both fell asleep.

When I opened my eyes… it was evening.

-Flap, flutter.

“…Ah.”

I woke up to the sound of a crow’s wings. Usually, this sound would instinctively make me think a corpse had appeared somewhere, filling me with sorrow…

But outside wasn’t so chaotic. Of course, it was all over now. However, this small disturbance seemed to have awakened her from her sweet sleep.

“Mmm…”

Renias rose, rubbing her eyes with a disheveled appearance. The tear stains around her eyes had mostly faded, but they were still swollen. She had cried for quite a while, so it was understandable.

“Brother…? Why am I here… huh?”

But still, she’s so beautiful. Just holding her makes me happy. I feel like we could fall back asleep like this.

“Did I just fall asleep like that? No, I need to get up…”

“Let’s stay like this for five more minutes.”

“Eh? No way. After sleeping so long without eating anything, that would be bad.”

“Right now, this moment is more important than being hungry.”

“…”

I never thought I’d be the one saying such things instead of Renias. Back then, whenever she wanted to sleep more, I would wake her up saying it was time to get up, and I’d pull her away from being a sloth stuck to the bed to make her do some simple stretching exercises.

Back then, I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to sleep in… but now I think I get it.

“W-Well… just five minutes… okay?”

“Yes.”

As soon as she gave permission, I embraced her tightly again, causing her to let out a small “eek” as she buried her face. Wanting to see what kind of expression she was making, I tried to slightly change my position.

“N-No! I look… strange right now.”

Renias panicked, curling up her body and trying to hide her face.

“I saw you while you were sleeping, and you didn’t look strange at all.”

“S-Still! That was while I was asleep…”

Even though I told her she looked no different than usual, Renias shook her head repeatedly against my chest, adamantly refusing to show her face.

It was a bit disappointing, but what could I do? I was even thinking we could just fall back asleep like this, but it seemed Renias wasn’t going to sleep anymore.

“F-Five minutes are up, so it’s over! Let me go now!”

She even counted the five minutes precisely. But… it felt somewhat disappointing to let her go now.

“I should let you go now…”

“Let’s stay like this a little longer, okay?”

“No way! I need to wash up and make you something to eat.”

“If I’m like this, it doesn’t matter, right?”

“B-Brother! That’s unfair, using your strength…!”

Maybe because she just woke up, she didn’t have much strength, but even with her struggling, she couldn’t easily break free.

If possible, I wanted to stay like this for hours.

But then…

Unexpected intruders appeared.

-Chirr!

-Is he here? Wait, I’ll open the door. Want to see?

Click.

“Wow, he’s really—?”

“…Huh?”

“Oh.”

-Chirr?

Except for Chirr, who tilted its head in confusion, the three of us froze in place as a moment of silence passed.

After a brief silence, Nella, her face turning red, immediately took Chirr and closed the door.

“S-Sorry! We’ll leave right away!”

Slam!

-Chirr! It’s your fault, all your fault! You interrupted their intimate moment!

-Chirr? Chirrr?

-As punishment, no snacks today! Hmph!

-Chirr…

The voices of Nella and Chirr faded as they moved away. Now that the intruders were gone, I thought we could continue embracing, but…

Thump!

“Oof?”

“You’re really…!”

Seizing the opportunity, Renias escaped.

“Don’t move until I come back with food.”

“Fine… I got it.”

Renias immediately left the hospital room. But was it just my imagination that her ears looked somewhat red from behind?

***

Shhhhh-

Water poured from the shower. Renias had headed straight to the bathroom and turned on the water to wash up.

But…

“Ugh… really. Why am I like this…”

Even splashing cold water on her burning face didn’t cool down the heat.

The red flush on her face showed no signs of fading, making it impossible for her to leave the bathroom.

It, it was all Junon’s fault.

-‘The most precious thing in my life, in my existence, was none other than you, Renias.’

Until he scolded her for doing something so dangerous, she had just felt angry. But after waking up from crying herself to sleep, did she still feel the same way?

No, she didn’t.

Because she had become his reason for living. To protect her.

Hearing those sweet words that he wanted to protect her even at the cost of his life made her heart race uncontrollably with emotions she couldn’t manage.

That single sentence had brought a red flush to Renias’s cheeks, and when she saw him after waking up, his voice naturally replayed in her mind, causing a warm sensation to rise, forcing her to hide her face out of embarrassment.

If Nella hadn’t come in and created a distraction, her face might have completely burned up from embarrassment, but being caught was also a problem. It only added more heat to her already full capacity…

And that state persisted. Even with the shower running, even with cold water splashing on her, the heat that had spread from her face to her entire body showed no signs of cooling down.

“What am I going to do?”

Even though she had finished showering, she couldn’t bring herself to leave, afraid her face would flush again when she returned.

The long journey that had tormented him had finally ended, but now she couldn’t even control this one emotion.

It was time to say all the things she wanted to say, to gradually build on their relationship that hadn’t progressed, and create happy memories together… but a major obstacle had appeared: she couldn’t face him because of her embarrassment.

-Growl.

“R-Right. Brother hasn’t eaten anything!”

After cooling her head in the shower for dozens of minutes, Renias was finally able to come to her senses when her own stomach growled.

***

After Renias hurriedly left, I moved to the veranda in the empty hospital room.

Since I had woken up to the sound of crows flapping their wings, I was worried that there might be corpses everywhere.

But gulp, when I opened the door.

A cool summer breeze, laden with moisture, brushed past my cheek.

There was no smell. No scent of blood, no stench of rotting corpses—just clean, fresh air.

The sky too, instead of dark, ominous clouds, had only a red sunset hanging like a curtain in the sky. All traces of what I had seen in the past had disappeared without a sound.

“Everything has changed.”

Below the building, Jon and Noel were bickering. After each getting a smack from Hena, they started working properly, suggesting they were in the midst of restoration work. Other Academy students were also working with Lakan.

On the other side, the children from Sirah Road School who had moved with Seiren surrounded Aris. He was saying he couldn’t treat them to a meal right away because the principality was in this state, but in one hand, he secretly held a bag of barbecue meat.

Charlotte was the one most focused on the important task of personnel allocation for the restoration work. With Professor Muniher and Professor Jake, they had created departments for various tasks, ensuring most work would proceed without issues.

Dealing with the remnants of the monsters was the job of those like Senia or Cain, who directly separated them with weapons, but when separation proved difficult, it fell to the mages, including Michelle. Some of these would likely be reused as magical tools or artifacts.

Those who were seriously injured were being treated at the medical center with the help of the Imperial Army. The Imperial Army that had arrived in time, along with Seiren, Professor Denis, and Professor Dalia, could be seen.

Just by observing their movements, I could see at a glance how much and how the composition had changed. Having once checked the ledgers myself to organize them, I could vaguely notice how drastically things had changed.

These major changes… indicated that this country would no longer be devoured by monsters. As if to confirm that this war had ended with the simultaneous fall of Ashpern and Feltiburugos in their final throes.

Yes. This is a completely different future. A future entirely different from the one I had created myself.

I stared at this scenery for a long time, lost in thought. Clearly, the principality had regained peace, and there was nothing more to worry about. But… it might sound strange, but I felt like something was still missing.

“Brother, it’s time to eat…”

“…”

“Junon?”

Hmm. I think I got a hint from Renias’s voice as she opened the door and came in.

“Yes. I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”

Perhaps I, too, need to enjoy peace like them for this future to be complete.