episode_0002

Is this a dream?

She must have died, but why is she still alive? I still remember the feeling of my neck being cut off. I felt a burning pain in my neck, and before I knew it, the world had turned upside down… Ah! Now that I think about it, I had met her eyes in that upside down world. I don’t even remember what kind of eyes she had.

Anyway, that was my last memory. I should have died like that since my neck was cut off. No one can live without a neck. But when I came to, my neck was fine, and even my previously cut off limbs had grown back fine.

Recovery magic can’t regenerate limbs that have already been lost. What on earth is going on? I couldn’t believe it, so I pinched my limb. It hurt. Now that I think about it, that’s what it felt like. It’s been so long since I lost my limb that I forgot. The pain is so vivid. I can’t believe it was a dream.

This was reality.

When I realized that it was real, another confusion came over me. If this was real now, what about the memory of her being tortured indiscriminately and murdered with her limbs cut off? That was a dream? That was impossible. That vivid memory could never have been a dream. The pain and fear I felt then were definitely real. Look, just thinking about it made my body tremble and lose control. Is this something that can only be imagined? That can’t be. But it’s also strange to say that this isn’t real now. It’s confusing.

At that moment, someone’s sobbing was heard.

“Ugh···!”

It was her.

…For some reason, she looked a little young and was sobbing at my feet.

She asks me, sobbing.

“Ho, did I do something wrong to make you do this···?”

Beg for my forgiveness.

“I don’t know what it was, but it was all my fault···. Please forgive me···”

He looks up at me with anxious and urgent eyes.

“Please give me just one more chance···. I won’t make the same mistake again···. Okay···? I’ll do better···. So···. So please don’t throw me away···.”

She has a young appearance and is pleading in a way that almost seems mean.

Something felt off. This situation. I’ve experienced it somewhere. When was it?

······Ah! I remembered. It was when I abandoned her in the zodiac. Even then, she said exactly the same thing and acted exactly the same way.

Only then did I notice my surroundings. The streets were well-maintained and paved, the shops were busy doing business, and the passersby were looking at us strangely. It wasn’t a dungeon.

This is the street of the zodiac, the place where I abandoned her. I was standing there.

‘ah···.’

My head suddenly spins. I feel dizzy. I feel nauseous.

“Woweeek!!”

“Master!!”

Unable to bear the dizziness any longer, she threw up everything inside her. I could hear her worried voice.

“Master···. Are you okay···?”

“Ugh, euaaa …

As soon as I heard that creepy voice, I ran away without looking back. I had to run away from that monster. It was a little awkward because I hadn’t used my legs in a long time, but once I started running, I ran without a problem. All I could think about was that I had to run away.

As if to tease me, I hear the sound of someone running right behind me.

“Master···, where are you going···? You don’t seem to be feeling well··· I, I will help you···. Please let me help you···.”

A tearful tone somewhere. It was her. She was following me closely behind me. She spoke almost as if she was out of breath, almost as if she were normal.

For a moment, goosebumps ran through my body. I felt a horrible monster clinging to my back. Unable to bear the overwhelming fear, I screamed.

“Oh, don’t come!! You crazy monster···!!!”

And I ran like crazy. I really kicked my feet with all my might. Then, at some point, I realized that the sound of people following me had disappeared.

I looked back reflexively, and there she was, standing blankly in the distance. In the same spot where I had shouted at her not to follow me, like an abandoned puppy.

Thank goodness. For some reason, that monster gave up chasing me. Now is my chance. I have to run away quickly.

I ran away from the zodiac like that. I couldn’t even afford to buy food. I had to go far. As far as I could. Where should I go? I don’t know. Let’s just go somewhere. Before that crazy monster chases me.

***

Even after leaving the zodiac, I continued to walk forward like a madman. I didn’t stop even when I stopped by a city. After buying only the bare minimum of food, I set off. Far away. As far away as I could go…

***

I keep having nightmares. Nightmares where she’s chasing me from behind. At the end of those dreams, I’m always caught by her and I wake up.

***

As I continued walking, I arrived at the end of the empire, the northern mountain range. I couldn’t go any further. It was because it was not a place where people lived. I decided to settle down here. It was far from the zodiac, and I liked the fact that there were few people.

I went to the nearest city and sold my travel gear. I sold them as scratched and dirty as possible, just in case she would trace them back. I got a little less for it, but that didn’t matter. I wouldn’t use them anymore anyway.

***

Living alone in a cabin where no one comes, you have a lot of random thoughts. Sometimes, you think: Am I living in a dream? Actually, this is a dream, and one day, you wake up from the dream. You are in a dungeon with your arms and legs cut off.

***

One day, an uninvited guest came to visit. They introduced themselves as agents of the Emperor’s direct security department and took me somewhere. When I asked in fear where they were going, they answered, “Imperial Palace”.

When I came to my senses, I found myself kneeling before the Emperor, bound.

She looked down at me with a face that had matured significantly since four years ago. It looked very much like the woman who had brutally tortured and murdered me.

Only then did I wake up from the feeling of not knowing whether it was a dream or reality.

“······.”

“Please save me.”

And I was murdered by her in a more painful and brutal way than before.

That was my second regression.

***

“Ugh!!”

My eyes open. Air enters my lungs. I feel dazed, like someone who has barely escaped drowning. My thoughts are not working properly. But one thing is clear in my mind. It is my death. I was just murdered by her. Very painfully and cruelly.

“Woweeek!!”

I felt nauseous and the undigested food poured out of my mouth. After emptying my stomach for a long time, I was finally able to come to my senses.

‘Hey, you’re alive… Did you regress again…?’

The last thing I remember is that my body was in a state that was not in a state that could possibly survive. It was so badly mangled that no amount of healing magic could heal it. If it weren’t for regression, I wouldn’t be alive like this. Yes, I’ve returned to the past again.

But something is a little strange. Unlike last time, this time I woke up in a strange forest. And it’s not even daytime, it’s nighttime.

Does the time zone change every time you return? Then what time is it now? I can’t tell where it is just by looking at the forest…

“Master···. Are you okay···?”

At that moment, I heard her voice from the side. My thoughts stopped. I couldn’t think of anything. I broke out in a cold sweat, and goosebumps appeared all over my body. My breathing became rapid again, and my body stopped responding. I screamed.

“Kkaaah!!!”

“Master!”

Her sharp, panicked cry. At that, my legs gave out and I fell backwards. I didn’t even think about running away. As if I had met my natural enemy, I just sat down and trembled.

She approached me with a serious expression. My heart sank. I had to stop her. I couldn’t allow her to get any closer. To that monster…!

“Oh, don’t come here··· Don’t come here···! Eek···!! I’m sorry···!! Lord, please don’t kill me···!”

I was waving my hands frantically and babbling nonsense, like a herbivore howling before being eaten by a lion.

My lower body feels hot. I’m leaking urine.

“······.”

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that sight. Was she shocked by the sight of her master urinating? Her expression was extremely shocked. An expression full of confusion and shock. Soon, that expression gradually turned into misery and sadness. She tried to say something but stopped, tried to say something but stopped, and repeated.

After standing there for a while, she said she was sorry and left. It was me who was sorry.

***

That night.

“Ugh···”

I could hear her sobbing from afar. But even that was terrifying to me. The thought that she might turn around and try to kill me at any moment kept me awake.