Ch.BONUSSide Story – Time Stands Still, Clock Hands Move

The vast world steps from the present into the future.

While the flow of human life and time drives the era forward, there exists just one sick person who lives solely in the past.

She, who can now only be encountered in the forest of time, gave this sick person a name.

‘Nepy’—a very simple, seemingly carelessly given, foolish name.

Yes, that is the designation given to me, the sick person, in this world. The concept of a limp invalid afflicted with a disease that makes him flounder in a different time from others.

Separated from the principles of life and fate, I was a tumor of the world.

The common trait among people who live properly under the world’s order is that they generally avoid the sick. Especially when their distinctive characteristics are more pronounced, their disgust grows increasingly larger.

People of the modern era, so distant from the age I lived in, do not remember our time.

Nepy, who rejoiced as Irefi’s companion.

Nepy, who bid farewell to his connections one by one.

Nepy, who received the title of Guardian Knight for protecting the Empire.

All of that has faded into obscurity, and I’ve forgotten why I even exist here anymore.

But there was a woman who made this sick person’s eyes snap open—a descendant of Miren.

A child from an even later generation than the one who had asked me to save the Empire came to find me once again.

This child carrying the Justitia name says:

[Someone like you is the Guardian Knight? That’s absurd.]

[Why should we sacrifice for you, who has nothing and does nothing?]

[Say something, at least!]

According to the child, the taxes and budget mobilized each year for the Guardian Knight’s protocol are substantial.

I had no idea.

While I was leaning over Irefi’s grave, I remained ignorant of outside affairs.

It seemed to bother her that the Justitia family bore most of the funds allocated for me.

Only then did I realize that in the process of being buried in the past and escaping the present, I had become a huge burden.

[I’m sorry. I… I’m sorry. For everything.]

That was all I could say.

It was ugly for the remnant of the past, despised by a future child with no trace of Miren left, to have a long tongue.

Our memories, which we thought would shine forever, were just common waves pushed back by the tide.

No one has any obligation to remember memories that were special only to us.

After Miren’s descendant poured out her anger and left, and as the sun was setting…

For the first time since the day I saved the Empire, I got up from my place.

“It hasn’t changed… the place where we stayed.”

Leaving Irefi’s grave, I enter the mansion. The relic transferred to me from Netionphis had been treated like a national treasure since long ago.

Thanks to that, servants always resided in the mansion, and their unwritten rule was to pretend not to know me.

Likewise, my unwritten rule was to stay by Irefi’s side, so…

“Gasp…!”

It was a natural reaction for a servant to be shocked at seeing me break what seemed to be an unbreakable rule.

“G-Guardian Knight, I see you…!”

“You are…”

I recalled a familiar face from the maid dressed in a black and white uniform. From when I stayed at the mansion by imperial order, to when I was with Irefi and spent boisterous days together. One woman had continuously served us.

“You’re Emma’s descendant.”

The woman who cried when she was scolded during dance lessons. The baroness’s descendant who was overjoyed to avoid the tragic cooking process when Irefi’s personality changed.

Tracing Emma’s lineage reveals Netionphis’s past sin. Because Emma was the descendant of someone who resided in the mansion as the family of a person who offered themselves to Netionphis.

It seemed that past connections bind people for a long time. Emma’s descendant bowed her head to me, seemingly honored.

“I-it’s an honor that you remember my ancestor…!”

“She was a lively person.”

Far from this intimidated human figure. I feel that indeed, many things have changed.

“Thank you.”

“W-what?!”

“For staying here… just, thank you.”

“It’s my job…! My mother, father, and great-grandmother were all proud to work here.”

“Are you proud as well?”

“Of course!”

Emma’s descendant, without the slightest hesitation, was speaking only the truth. For some reason, it made me happy… and sad, bringing tears to my eyes for the first time in a very long time.

It felt like receiving an irreplaceable comfort as I stepped from the past into the present.

So I placed a ring engraved with the Guardian Knight’s seal in her hand.

“Then you should have it. You, who take pride in this place where our past is buried… I hope you will manage this mansion from now on.”

“W-what are you saying?!”

Conveniently, there was a large marble wall gleaming white near us. I placed my hand on the wall and used the Ever-Changing Forms sorcery to turn the pure white marble black.

“What is your name?”

“Actually… my name is also Emma.”

“You inherited a good name. Like Bartlant…”

“How could I possibly compare to the founding Duke who established the Empire…!”

“Don’t belittle yourself. To me, this is more valuable.”

Saying that, I documented on the marble that the mansion was Emma’s property. This, along with the Guardian Knight’s ring, should be sufficient proof.

“I leave it in your care.”

Tap.

I gently patted Emma’s head, then turned away from her as she stared blankly at the blackened marble wall.

After wandering around the mansion, I arrived at Irefi’s and my bedchamber. Except for minor decorations like flower vases, it was identical to when she was alive.

Therefore, I could easily invade her secret place. As I unlocked the secret space she had hidden, a conversation from the past rippled before my eyes.

[Irefi? What are you writing?]

[Hmm, I thought it might help Nepy someday.]

[Help?]

[It’s a… secret. I’m sorry.]

She gives a bitter smile.

[Someday… sometime in the future… when you feel it’s time, please take it out. I’ll put it in this drawer, okay?]

She emphasized that I must not forget, which only increased my curiosity. But I, who could never win against Irefi then or now, turned my eyes away from the bedchamber where the object slept, according to her wish.

Now must be the time Irefi spoke of.

I took out the book Irefi had prepared.

“This is…”

I could tell as soon as I opened the first page. The object she had prepared was a manual detailing the greatest swordsmanship of all time.

“Ha… haha…”

The intention, Irefi’s intention in leaving the swordsmanship manual, was so clear that I couldn’t help but laugh hollowly.

When I eventually wanted to end my long immortal life, I should pass the manual to a “talented person” and ask them to kill me—that was undoubtedly it.

“How much… Irefi, you… how much…”

How much pain must she have been in.

That the woman who confidently claimed she would find an answer was urging me to merely leave her swordsmanship behind so someone else could execute me.

For me, left alone in this world, for me who couldn’t bear the world without you because it was too hot and too cold… all you could do was… just…

The cruel urging to meet death by the blade of a complete stranger.

She must have been very anxious.

And equally guilty.

Her heart must have ached beneath that smiling face.

The expression on your face as you met your end in a room where only we remained is still vivid.

Trying hard to reassure me with a smile, you who couldn’t hide your sense of debt shed a single tear, which pierced me deeply.

I, desperately ignoring the reason for your sense of debt, held your hand.

I despaired at the fading warmth from your hand, like a bare branch stripped of all its leaves in winter.

Please don’t leave me behind, I said. There are still mountains of things I want to tell you, things I want to do with you. I cried out your name in a voice filled with grief.

“Ugh… ah…”

When you, who had been a given, disappeared, I felt an empty void.

You, with those blue lake-like eyes, reflected me until the end—me, who would weep at the aching void after you, who had been a given, disappeared.

For me, who would live in a world always flooded with light, you couldn’t leave anything behind.

Your poignant wish to create a world where I, who would become lonely, wouldn’t feel desolate reached me and made me sad.

I will love only you forever.

May this confession at the end,

Remain with you at the end of eternity.

May it become a wish that covers loneliness and comforts you.

“…”

“…”

And so, after leaving your last words, you closed your eyes.

Your labored breathing gradually became peaceful, and your chest sank deeply.

You, who had left behind a future of wearing black armor and standing alone in the world, departed from me, who believed only in you, on that soft bed.

From that moment, our time stopped.

Forever.