The Moment Misunderstandings Are Cleared

Charlotte cried her eyes out.

To the point where it was hard to believe this was the same person who operated with cool logic and moved solely for her own benefit.

Her tear ducts showed no signs of drying up.

I didn’t bother trying to comfort her.

She needed time, and I needed time to rest as well.

Honestly, I feel like I could faint at any moment.

Should I add physical training to my daily routine from now on? Yeah, I think I should.

If I get this exhausted from just fighting for about 5 minutes, I’ll die unable to do anything in the future.

‘I’m dying here, seriously dying.’

Clutching my left shoulder blade that had been penetrated by a bullet, I lay down flat.

The fact that this is on railroad tracks hasn’t changed, but whatever. If another train comes, Charlotte will take care of it. Not my problem.

My right hand is damp. Is the bleeding severe because I moved my body too much?

Come to think of it, isn’t fatigue one of the symptoms of excessive blood loss? I don’t know if I’m feeling like this because I’ve lost a lot of blood or if I’m just really tired.

My eyes are gradually closing.

And so my consciousness flies far away… not really. Wait, what?

My closing eyes opened again. My shoulder blade felt damp.

It’s not blood. It feels like something is being poured on my shoulder.

Opening my eyes slightly, I saw Charlotte looking down at me.

Charlotte was at my shoulder with a potion she got from somewhere, having stopped crying at some point.

I suspect that potion was purchased from the Achievement Shop. The appearance is quite familiar.

“Oh, are you done crying? I think you should drink some water soon. After crying so much, you’ll definitely experience dehydration.”

“…..”

Charlotte responded to my joke with silence.

Is she still considering how to treat me? Well, only Charlotte would know for sure.

“Haha, I understand. My words must sound like fiction to you. This world being a novel. It’s natural that you wouldn’t believe…”

“No. I believe you.”

“What?”

I see. First of all, it seems she’s decided to put killing me on hold.

Phew, I’m glad the immediate danger has been averted.

So how will things proceed from here?

Will she just say she believes me and end it there? Or will she reveal that she’s also from Earth?

I need to prepare my response in advance, whichever way it goes.

“I too… I’m also from Earth. Like you, I was possessed while reading a novel called ‘Grand Chronicle.’ In other words… I’m in the same situation as you.”

I see, so you’ve decided to reveal your secret as well.

“…Is that true?”

“Yes, look at this.”

She showed me her pistol as I lay there.

“Indeed, with the evidence right before my eyes, it can’t be a lie. Having been shot, I can’t even doubt it. That really hurts, you know.”

“That… I’m sorry about that. Sorry.”

Charlotte turned her eyes away and mumbled awkwardly. It seems she’s not used to apologizing.

Well, she’s a character who doesn’t typically do things that require apologies in the first place, so the very act of apologizing to someone might be unfamiliar to her.

“It’s fine. In the end, everything worked out well, so it’s a happy ending, isn’t it? The wound doesn’t seem to have fully healed yet… but emergency treatment has been done, so I won’t die immediately.”

“Oh, by the way, is your arm okay? You were hit there too.”

She bent her knees and examined my clothes.

Then she boldly tore the blood-soaked sleeve and checked the wound on my arm.

When her delicate hand stimulated the wound, I felt a slight pain, but not enough to make me groan.

“You’re quite aggressive.”

“Be quiet. Huh… the bleeding has stopped? Do you have some kind of regeneration ability?”

“No. There’s this thing called the Achievement Shop… Oh, do you know about it, Lady Cervantes? Anyway, I used that for simple treatment.”

“I know about it. Seeing the words ‘Achievement Shop’ come from your mouth, you must have possessed someone with the same powers as me. Things like status, traits, classes, and so on.”

“That’s right. Charlotte… no, Lady Cervantes.”

Charlotte shook her head and said,

“You can call me Charlotte. We’ve revealed all our secrets that we couldn’t tell anyone else, so it feels strange to keep using last names.”

“I see. So, Lady Charlotte? May I dare ask why you’re holding my hand?”

She had laid down next to me, holding my hand.

“Hmm… I’m not sure myself. I just want to be like this. Oh, don’t misunderstand. This absolutely doesn’t mean I’ve come to like you because of this incident.”

“Haha, that’s a shame.”

“I’ve been suffering a lot mentally, thinking I was isolated alone in another world. But knowing there’s another poor soul like me is somewhat comforting.”

“Wow- isn’t it a bit of a bad habit to find comfort in someone else’s misfortune?”

“Don’t you secretly think the same? It’s much less painful to struggle together in an isolated world than to struggle alone.”

“I can’t argue with that. As expected, Lady Charlotte, you’re sharp. I can’t help but admire you.”

I nodded my head slightly as I answered. Then I heard a rustling sound from beside me and turned my head toward it.

Charlotte was looking at me with a furrowed brow.

“By the way, you say you’re from Earth, but why do you speak like that? Did you talk like that in real life too? The more I think about it, the less I understand.”

“How could that be? In reality, I spoke normally like everyone else. It’s just that after possessing this body, somehow this way of speaking stuck to my tongue…”

“Really? I’m fine.”

“Perhaps it’s because Lady Charlotte’s original way of speaking was impu—I mean, dignified, so there’s not much difference?”

Thwack! Charlotte flicked my forehead. It hurt normally.

But I don’t feel bad about it.

“Then try speaking like you originally did. The way you spoke on Earth.”

Hmm, speaking the way I originally did is something my body resists, so I’m not particularly inclined to… but it’s not like I can’t do it.

“Come on, just once? I won’t make fun of you.”

“Well, I’m not inclined to because your ef~fort is lacking.”

“This guy.”

Thwack! Charlotte flicked my forehead. This time it hurts quite a bit. She definitely reinforced her finger with magic.

“Sigh, you’ve always been skilled at making others angry.”

“Haha, thank you for the compliment.”

“I’m telling you it’s not a compliment.”

Charlotte sighed.

“So you were possessed during summer vacation. And that’s why you made up the excuse about having amnesia.”

“That’s right. If I had possessed another character, I might have tried to act somehow, but this Sion wasn’t even mentioned much in the novel as a villain. I had no idea how to behave, so I just went around lying about having amnesia.”

“Hmm, that was wise.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“But wait a minute. Come to think of it, a demon named Letios or something must have approached you during the vacation. You said you’re not a Ma’in. If you rejected his offer… how did you survive?”

Ah, certainly, that part might be difficult for Charlotte to understand. I should explain.

“This body of Sion had a common trait called Counter Attack. It’s a trait that counters an opponent’s attack. So I provoked him as much as possible to induce a strong attack, and I was lucky enough to successfully counter and take him down with one blow. But as for why I felt pain in Charlotte’s room… I don’t really know the reason myself.”

It was a truly chilling experience even to recall.

If I hadn’t been able to counter Letios’s attack back then, I couldn’t have imagined having this heart-to-heart talk with Charlotte now.

“…That’s amazing.”

She murmured quietly.

Right now, we’re both lying flat on the ground so I can’t see her face, but she must be making a surprised expression.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Ah, I have another question.”

Charlotte asked again.

She must have had a lot of questions, so I decided to answer them willingly.

“Feel free to ask.”

“When school started, that is, when Sheena Astorius was introducing herself, why did you smile and wave at me? If you were maintaining the concept of amnesia, it would have been much better to just pretend not to know me.”

“Ah.”

I obviously can’t answer that it was to make sure you didn’t become wary of me…

Because answering like that would be admitting that I knew from the beginning that she was a possessor like me.

“Um… well…”

My brain is working hard.

But I can’t think of a suitable answer.

“Why can’t you answer? Are you hiding something?”

She asked, narrowing her eyes.

Darn it, let me just say something off the top of my head.

This is much better than arousing suspicion.

“It’s a bit embarrassing to say, but… Charlotte Cervantes was actually my favorite character…”

“What? Pfft-“

Charlotte burst into laughter and covered her mouth.

“Kuhup. Oh sorry, I shouldn’t laugh, pfft!”

She seemed to be trying to hold back her laughter.

No, in fact, she was practically laughing openly.

I felt my head getting hot and my face turning bright red.

“D-don’t laugh!”

“How old were you on Earth? If you were a student, I can understand wanting to acknowledge your favorite character standing right in front of you. Yes, yes.”

I was flustered, and she laughed.

Her genuine laughter, which I was hearing for the first time, was incredibly refreshing.