episode_0032
by fnovelpia“Exactly one person.”
“There was someone I couldn’t save, no matter what I did.”
The hero, Ria.
Eight candidates for the hero’s party.
The allies who helped the hero’s party.
Even the extra characters I met while playing —saving all of them is the happy ending I wanted.
Not just the main characters,
but every side character I grew attached to—an ending where all of them are saved.
Up to this point, I succeeded.
But.
I failed to save my favorite character.
“‘Someone you couldn’t save no matter what?…’”
“Yeah.”
“There’s one person whose fate is to die, no matter how I change the future.”
“……”
“That’s why I became desperate.”
“Everyone else had a happy future, so… why was this person doomed to misery? That thought made me want to save them even more.”
“……”
“I kept researching the future just for that one girl… and at some point, I fell in love.”
At first, it wasn’t love.
Just curiosity—
I wondered what she’d be like if she were happy.
But.
The more I researched, the more affection I felt, until I fell for her.
“I did come to love her, but…”
“No matter how much effort I poured into my research, I couldn’t find an answer.”
I loved her,
but that didn’t lead to results.
“Still, I kept going.”
“With the hope that she, at least, would find happiness, I kept researching… until I died.”
“You died?!”
“Yeah.”
“I died from overwork in another world and ended up possessing Cain’s body in this one.”
And that’s how I got here.
…That’s the story of my life.
Well…
If you heard it back there, it’d just be the tale of a true gaming addict who played nonstop until he got transported into a game world.
But here, it was different.
“Wow…”
“To dedicate your entire life—even your death—to researching for one girl… then crossing worlds just to save her… That’s so romantic…”
Here, I was a romanticist who sacrificed everything for one woman.
That’s why I could persuade them.
“Because I’m that kind of person.”
“I can’t accept your love—someone who’s more focused on saving one woman than the hero’s party.”
“I see…”
“Well…”
“It’s not like I won’t help you at all, but…”
“I hope you understand that someday, I’ll leave your side to find the woman I love.”
“……”
“……”
Both Ria and Elice took a moment to think.
Then they answered.
“Fine.”
“I’ll accept it if you go to her.”
“Thanks.”
“For understanding.”
“But.”
“I won’t give up just because you’re going to her.”
“?”
“A capable man can have multiple wives.”
“???”
“Why that face?”
“Well…”
“Even after I said I love someone else, you still want to marry me?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“?”
“Then what?”
“You expect me to quietly give up the man who saved my entire life?”
Elice stood firm.
“I wanna live in the same house as my mentor.”
“Once everything’s over, I want to see the happy ending where we all live together in a big house.”
Ria clung to the idea of a shared happy ending with everyone.
Huh…
Weird.
In my original world, when I told a girl I liked someone else, she’d back off on her own.
But here, they won’t let go?
“Wait…”
“What if the woman I love says she doesn’t want to live with other women?…”
My favorite character is the kind of woman who’d even support a harem—open-minded like that.
But.
For her to live with the hero’s party would be incredibly dangerous.
I said it intending to refuse, but—
“Would that really happen?”
“Huh?”
“The Goddess of Light, Serena, approved our harem.”
“Joining such a harem is every girl’s dream, right?”
“Eh???”
Oh.
Is that how it is?
People in this world are basically all followers of the Goddess of Light, Serena.
‘You could call the Goddess of Light “Mother”?’
‘That’s too tempting to ignore.’
But.
Serena only approved a harem between you two, not one that includes everyone else—
…The moment I tried to say that, another pink love flower bloomed.
“Huh…”
“Serena?…”
Another pink love flower bloomed.
“Hey!”
“You should reject this!”
“You don’t even know what kind of woman I’d bring! If you just approve everything now, how are you gonna deal with the fallout later?!”
A small yellow flower bloomed.
Its meaning: “I trust you.”
A flower symbolizing faith.
“Ah…”
“So…”
“You’re saying you trust me not to bring in a bad woman?”
The pink love flower bloomed again.
“……”
I was speechless.
What exactly did I do to earn this much trust from the goddess?
‘I saved her daughter from death!’
‘And restored her body so she could eventually reunite with her! That’s all!’
Huh…
Is that really enough?
“Ugh…”
“Since even the Goddess of Light, Serena, has blessed this marriage…”
“You’re okay with it too, right?”
“Mentor…”
“Mom already approved…”
“Sigh…”
“Fine.”
“If I’m sure you won’t fight and will get along with the woman I love, I’ll accept both of you.”
“Really?”
“Promise?”
“We won’t fight! We’ll get along!”
“You said friends should live in harmony!”
“Can you swear you won’t fight, no matter what kind of person she is?”
“Absolutely?”
“Well…”
“We might bicker a little… But if it ever comes to life-or-death conflict, I’d obviously side with the woman I love.”
“Tch…”
“We wouldn’t fight to that extent anyway.”
“Right.”
“Family doesn’t try to kill each other.”
“Wait…”
“Did you seriously imagine us killing each other out of jealousy?”
“Jealousy?”
“Yeah.”
“Women fighting to monopolize a man… Sometimes, jealousy leads to murder.”
“They kill each other?”
“Over someone they love?”
“Love is between a man and a woman, not between women.”
“Then what’s their relationship?”
“Rivals fighting over the same man.”
“Rivals?”
“But we’re not like that.”
“Right.”
“We’re friends—people who made it this far thanks to your efforts to save us.”
“We aren’t enemies, we’re comrades.”
“Then we won’t fight, right?”
“We shouldn’t.”
“If any woman tries to ruin the life of the man who saved us, we’d have to punish her.”
“A woman who’d ruin your life?”
“If women fight out of jealousy, it’ll drag the man down to ruin.”
“You’d hate that too, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I want a future where we all smile and are happy together.”
“To achieve that, if a jealous woman appears, we should suppress her thoroughly.”
“Suppress?”
“Tie her up so she can’t kill anyone else.”
“Hear out her mistakes in front of everyone—if she repents, we forgive her. If she doesn’t…”
“If she doesn’t repent?”
“We banish her.”
“We can’t accept someone who tries to kill another as family.”
“That’s true…”
“We can’t keep someone who threatens our family.”
Ria and Elice carried the conversation on their own.
“For your sake, for our family’s peace, we won’t fight.”
“If someone tries to start a fight, we’ll restrain them and hold a public trial to determine fault.”
“Does that put you at ease?”
“Huh?…”
“It’s written in the guidebook.”
“Once the magical overload issue is resolved, you’re the strongest human aside from the hero.”
Elice pulled Ria close as she spoke.
“Pair that with the world’s strongest hero, and no woman could escape suppression.”
“Just trust us!”
“Mentor!”
“Trust us!”
Honestly, I only brought it up because I thought they might kill my darling…
‘But…’
‘At this rate, I might be able to persuade them not to, even if they find out who she is…’
If I can just convince them, a harem route is possible.
‘Let’s try it.’
A pure love route is good,
but a harem route isn’t bad either.
Before falling for my favorite, I liked all the heroines in the hero’s party.
Now, she’s my top pick,
but the others are still close seconds.
So.
Marrying everyone is the best happy ending by my standards.
…That said,
if persuasion fails, I’ll switch to the pure route immediately.
If greed gets my darling killed, nothing could be worse.
…With that thought, I wrapped things up.
“Summing it up—you two have zero intention of giving up on me.”
“And you want to negotiate with the woman I love so we can all get married together. Right?”
“Yeah.”
“Right.”
“I don’t dislike you either… You’re the women I love most after my favorite… If things work out, I’d be happy too but…”
“You loved us too?”
“Hehe…”
“He said he loves ussss…!”
“But my first time should go to my favorite person, got it?”
“?”
“Meaning—”
“I won’t need your help when using the Chalice of Sacrifice.”
“Huh?”
“You’re just assisting—not actually doing it.”
“I’ll save the naughty stuff for the woman I love most.”
“So let’s sleep in separate rooms.”
“You won’t run, right?”
“I won’t.”
“Can you swear it?”
“……”
“Cain?”
“Why the sudden silence?”
“Mentor?…”
“I swear I won’t run until we gather four allies and form a five-member party.”
“And after that?”
“……”
“Hey!”
“Cain!”
“Anyway!”
“I’m getting my own room, so sleep well!”
“Mentor!!!”
Slam!
I escaped, shutting the door behind me.
0 Comments