Ch.52Denied Destiny

A person from another dimension, sent by the Goddess to defeat the Demon King. That seems to be who I am.

From what I’ve heard, I work at an office that handles various requests in this world. The only other notable thing is that I’m in charge of all the housework at the dormitory.

I’m not entirely sure, but all of that seems to be true. I don’t have a specific reason, but that’s just how it feels.

“So is this everything?”

“We’ve only known each other for a little over a week, what more could you expect to know? Besides, your memories will return in a day or two anyway, so it’s not a big problem, right?”

“But we can’t be certain my memories will actually return.”

“It’s easier to live if you know how to think optimistically.”

Fair enough. It’s sufficient to worry when things actually go wrong. So there’s no need to think too deeply about it.

Still, I’d like to know more about myself…

“So Bastia is dead?”

Leo asked with difficulty. Rebecca answered just as painfully.

“Yes. He took his own life at the end.”

“…”

Leo’s expression briefly turned blank, but soon a faint smile appeared on his face.

“I never imagined anyone could defeat him. Well done. Now I have something to tease you about for the rest of your life.”

Then Leo smiled at me proudly and patted my head.

“I’m going back to designing magic. By the way, do you know where the alcohol is?”

“Why are you suddenly looking for alcohol?”

“I can pour one out for an old comrade, can’t I?”

“…It’s in the food storage. And I’m sorry.”

“What are you sorry for? Executing a traitor is the right thing to do.”

Leo continued smiling as he left the tent.

***

When Leo returned to the tent with an empty bottle, the dragon-person asked with confusion:

“Did something happen?”

“I’ll tell you later. Right now I just want to focus on magic.”

Then Leo began designing magic with empty eyes, as if in a trance.

“…Who died?”

“An old com— No, a traitor.”

His voice was frighteningly sharp. Thanks to that, the dragon-person didn’t ask any further.

In the continuing silence, Leo muttered so quietly that no one could hear:

“Once again, I’m the only one who survived.”

***

Only Rebecca and I remained in the tent. I have no idea what to say to her.

I understand that I was close with this person. But now that my memories are gone, it’s just awkward.

As the uncomfortable atmosphere continued, Rebecca suddenly came before me and knelt down.

“Ms. Lite… no, Lady Lite… thank you… thank you so much…”

Her voice was trembling, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

“I have so much to say… so very much… but I don’t know what words to use… No, I don’t think words could ever be enough…”

I silently patted Rebecca’s back. It just felt like the right thing to do.

“Hic… hic…”

As I continued patting her back, tears finally burst from Rebecca’s eyes.

Rebecca cried like a child for several minutes.

“You said you’re here to defeat the Demon King, right?”

Her voice became remarkably calm, as if she had composed herself. I wonder why she suddenly asked that question.

I definitely need to defeat the Demon King. I don’t remember the reason why. But I’m certain it must be done.

So I nodded in response, and Rebecca grabbed both my hands and said:

“It doesn’t have to be the Demon King. As long as I can help you save someone, I’ll assist you anytime. Even if you were to side with the Demon King, I would still follow you.”

Rebecca spoke as if she truly trusted me. What happened between us?

I don’t know because I’ve lost my memories. When my memories return, I’ll understand everything.

Growl.

Suddenly my stomach growled with hunger. Rebecca immediately started rambling:

“Are you hungry? Is there anything specific you’d like to eat? Just tell me and I’ll bring it right away.”

It would have been less embarrassing if she had just ignored it, but thanks to her excessive reaction, I’m mortified.

People get hungry sometimes, it’s not that big of a deal…

“Um… anything is fine…”

“Yes, please wait just a moment. I’ll bring something right away!”

Rebecca rushed out of the tent. Now I’m alone here. Time to kill this embarrassment…

“Is Lite in here?!”

A woman with pink hair and yellow eyes rushed into the tent urgently. She started bombarding me with questions.

“Are you okay? How much do you remember? Will your memories really come back? Do you remember a boy named Nam Ju-an?”

“Please calm down first!”

I could answer one by one, but when so many questions come at once, I can’t answer any of them.

“Okay, so are you alright? How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine except for being a bit tired.”

“Then how much do you remember?”

“Probably… nothing at all.”

Suddenly, the woman before me spoke with an expression like she’d lost everything:

“This isn’t a TS cute girl anymore, just a female…”

I heard words from this woman that I couldn’t understand at all. Is she that shocked?

“Um… I heard my memories should return by the day after tomorrow.”

“…So your memories will come back?”

“Yes, probably.”

Tears streamed down the woman’s face. Then she said something strange again:

“Thank goodness… I can still make you do amta…”

How relieved must she be to shed tears? Judging by that reaction, this woman and I must have been extremely close.

“Excuse me… what kind of relationship did we have?”

Suddenly the woman smiled mischievously and shouted:

“You’re my sex slave, and I’m your master!”

“…I don’t think that’s right.”

“You might not remember, but we definitely had that kind of relationship.”

“Stop lying.”

Even without my memories, I could tell that was definitely a lie. I was sent to this world to save it, so would someone really do such things to a person like me?

Absolutely not. So not only would they not do such things, they wouldn’t even do anything strange.

When her lie was exposed, the woman in front of me laughed awkwardly and said:

“You caught me. We were just lovers.”

“…Was I a lesbian?”

“Wait, do you actually think you’re a woman?”

“What else would I be, a man or something?”

I don’t have male genitalia, and I have all the characteristics of a woman. If I’m not a woman, what am I?

While I was thinking this, the woman suddenly smiled even more brightly than before and exclaimed:

“Yes! We’re both lesbians!”

“…Then why don’t I feel anything for you?”

“Well, maybe if we do things we used to do, you’ll remember? Like scissoring…”

“Lite, here’s your dinner! Did anything happen while I was—”

When Rebecca’s and the woman’s eyes met, Rebecca spoke sharply to the woman:

“Agath. What were you doing?”

“Nothing.”

“What were you doing?”

“…Just playing a little prank.”

So this woman’s name is Agath? Anyway, when Rebecca lowered her voice sternly, Agath trembled like a frightened puppy.

“Exactly what kind of prank were you playing?”

“Um… lying that Lite and I were lovers?”

“…Please wait a moment.”

Rebecca smiled kindly as she placed dinner in front of me and said:

“Here’s your dinner. Is there anything on the menu you don’t like?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Alright, I’ll wait outside then. If you need anything, please call me anytime.”

Then Rebecca approached Agath again and said:

“Agath. Let’s have a little chat.”

She spoke with a voice full of killing intent and dragged Agath outside the tent.

Not long after, Rebecca returned to the tent. With blood on her knuckles.

“I forgot to mention something. Lady Lite, you and Agath were just friends.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Rebecca left the tent again. She was scarier than I thought.

As I ate dinner in the now-quiet tent, I noticed something strange.

The portion wasn’t particularly large, but I’m already full after eating just half. Is it just my constitution?

Even so, this seems a bit extreme… Well, I’ll probably be back to normal later.

Now that my stomach is full, I’m getting sleepy. I thought I just woke up not long ago.

It doesn’t matter. I don’t have anything else to do anyway, so I might as well take a nap.

***

“Time to wake up.”

While I was sleeping comfortably, someone suddenly woke me up. When I opened my eyes, Leo was standing in front of me.

“Is it morning already?”

“That too, but I came to tell you that the magic is complete.”

“What is it?”

“The world’s greatest discipline.”

Isn’t magic usually something miraculous? Again, I don’t know because I’ve lost my memories.

As I continued giving Leo a puzzled look, he roughly summarized the situation:

“Anyway, I’m about to use the magic I created over three days and nights. So please come to the evacuation site for a moment.”

“We need to evacuate just to use magic?”

“It’s a rather threatening type of magic. Anyway, follow me for a bit.”

Is he going to make a meteor fall from the sky or something? If so, that would certainly be threatening.

So I obediently followed Leo and saw a middle-aged man with horns on his head and a tail.

“Finally here.”

“It didn’t even take three minutes to bring her, you lunatic.”

“Whatever, just come in quickly.”

As we approached the middle-aged man, some kind of protective barrier appeared around us. So this is magic? It’s not as amazing as I thought.

“Alright, firing!”

As soon as the barrier was deployed, Leo pressed a button. Then an enormous fireball rose into the sky behind us.

The fireball flew all the way to some ruins and then…

BOOM!

With an incredibly loud noise, a massive cloud like a nuclear explosion formed.

“…What is that?”

“There’s a saying that sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from sufficiently advanced science.”

“No, seriously, what is that?”

“The crystallization of knowledge containing human history. If I had to name it…”

Leo thought briefly, then snapped his fingers as if he’d had the perfect idea.

“I’ve thought of a good name. A name that shows respect for a truly fragile person who accomplished what no one else could.”

“What’s the name?”

Leo smiled contentedly and said:

“Little Boy.”

And I realized two things.

First, magic is an incredibly terrifying discipline, and second…

This magician has completely lost his mind.