episode_0116

“… I want to be alone so I ask you to leave.”

Perhaps Kailon didn’t hear properly, so he said that again to Kailon, who remained silent without any response. Kailon’s expression becomes blank as the celebratory spirit breaks the silence.

At that sight, I let out a sigh and then groaned.

“Why is our Veronica so grumpy?”

What came after that was a sly voice.

When Kylon approaches others, he always does so in a sly manner.

So, I didn’t really like the way it looked, or rather, I was just in a state of disarray right now, and even the slightest touch to the things I wanted to hide would only cause a sensitive reaction, so I chewed my lip.

“It’s not like that, so just leave.”

“It looks like something is really going on. say it. I will listen to you.”

“… No.”

“… Still, since we were co-workers and from the same neighborhood, I thought he would ease his mind a little. I didn’t ask you to go back together… ?”

Kailon’s faint voice approaches.

I guess the feeling of being rejected by me wasn’t very good.

But right now, I wasn’t relaxed enough to care about other people’s feelings.

Let’s go back together? No, I wanted to go back, and Kylon didn’t seem to care where I went.

Moreover, now I have realized that even going back is uncertain, so it all feels pointless, so what should I do?

Can I say that?

Is it right to kill the Demon King and go back even if you face clear in the in-game story? No one can bring certainty. It was like that from the beginning. It is a path that no one can be sure about because no one has been there before.

What benefit do I have by saying something like that?

Maybe Kailon looks at it strangely. I came this far, I worked hard because of you, so why are you now cursing me and asking me to turn away?

At that moment when worry seeped into me, I pursed my lips.

Let’s just say, let’s not go. If I just told him not to go, wouldn’t Kylon be a little more understanding? However, I muttered softly, wondering what would happen if I suddenly said that I did not understand it.

“Kylon. It’s unexpected, but… ”

“Yes.”

Kailon seemed to have been waiting for me to open my mouth again and answered calmly.

“I like it… ?”

The same question I asked before was asked again.

Favor and love that I could not receive anywhere else.

I didn’t know if she liked my personality, this face, or that exquisite combination, but it didn’t matter.

Even if you don’t care anyway and say you have a good personality, it is an undeniable fact that there is some appearance correction. Even for people who don’t care about looks, there is no such thing as a person who doesn’t have a set minimum.

I opened my mouth because I thought that if I could receive love while wearing Veronica’s face, it would be better to hope for that.

Same question as before.

“Yes, I like it.”

Same answer as before.

“… If you like me, can you not look at me strangely no matter what I say?”

Kylon narrowed his eyes at those words.

“What are you trying to say that makes you so scary?”

“… Just, no matter what I say, can you not look at me strangely? Are you confident that you won’t look at me like trash? Are you confident that they won’t look at me like a disgusting creature, like I’m not even a person, like I wish I had never been born? !”

The more I talk, the more intense my emotions become. Unable to control the emotions that erupted without my knowledge, I gritted my teeth and spat out the words as if I was shaking out my insides or squeezing out my breath.

“Calm down. Tell me what’s going on. It’s at least a trauma… ”

Kylon’s words worked.

I could clearly see that it was because he had kept his mouth shut.

I don’t know why I kept my mouth shut, but if those words were true, if I could rely on them, I felt a desire to feel at ease.

Should I lean into that desire?

“… Veronica.”

A voice was heard.

It was Kylon’s voice calling me.

I could see Kailon standing a step away from the bed and looking at me.

As I stared at the scene blankly, he took a deep breath and continued speaking.

“It’s okay. Because I won’t look at it with those eyes.”

“… Thank goodness.”

The words that came out of my mouth were not words of gratitude, nor did they ask for confirmation that it was really so. The voice was half resigned.

Kylon’s eyebrows narrowed slightly as he said this with a light snort.

How can I stop Kailon from hurting his feelings like this? How can I make him nod and understand that there is no need to go any further, that this is an uncertain end anyway?

I don’t know. I felt like a fool too.

Because I couldn’t even figure out what to do with simple words, I just hesitated again and again.

*

There was silence. In the bag on the table, the empty potion bottles I had given him were all stained with red blood. If you look at its appearance, you could say it is an HP potion.

But this wasn’t a problem now.

It wasn’t an issue because I allowed half of it to prevent Veronica from feeling helpless.

What was more problematic now was that Veronica’s emotions were rotting and crumbling.

The trauma he experienced because of the king here probably came from the fear that he might return there again and repeat death.

But that wasn’t it. I couldn’t help but notice that her voice was signaling that she was mentally occupied.

And I didn’t know that it didn’t originate from this world.

I used hypnosis once. At that time, I knew very well what Veronica had experienced in her original life in the original world.

In fact, Veronica normally just thought she was a hikikomori. Without knowing the details, he was busy thinking that he had done something wrong and that he was inferior.

However, the memories in her subconscious, brought out through hypnosis, were completely different from what she knew and spoke about.

So, I was told to forget the memories brought out through hypnosis, but I couldn’t figure out why I was tracing these memories again now. I tried to find out where on earth there was an opportunity to bring up her past memories.

“… You didn’t do anything wrong, just tell me what happened.”

“… … You’re really not going to curse, right?”

Veronica seemed to be asking me for permission again and again, pleading as if she was a sinner.

It was a truly sad sight. It may not have been her fault, but I thought it was time to take out the hypnosis stone because I was wondering what was causing her to be reminded of her past and tormented.

Actually, it was nice to see Veronica’s true feelings. Manipulating her reactions through hypnosis was not fun at all. But if I was suffering this much, I don’t know what kind of memory it was, but I just thought that if I was going to be suffering this much, it would be better to bury it with this.

Letting out a sigh, I carefully approached her and sat down on the edge of the bed, giving her a bitter smile.

“Of course.”

“Then just… Will you give me a hug?”

After being dazed by Veronica’s sudden request, I smiled bitterly and walked towards her. And after that, I carefully hugged her, and she fell into my arms and soon let out a worn-out voice.

“Not that one.”

I felt like my heart was sinking.

What else is there to embrace other than this? And without realizing it, I was wandering around looking for its meaning.

Because I never thought she would say something like that.

No, Veronica was asking me to hug her, but that didn’t make her feel bad. But even so, embracing Veronica like this was problematic.

I bit my trembling lip and hesitated, wondering if she was in such a corner that she would say something like this.

All I could think about was whether I really needed to use the power of hypnosis.

But Veronica’s voice continued as if there was no need for that.

“Just, if you lose your virginity, you lose your strength and can receive Kylon’s protection?”

“… I guess so.”

The words I had said to Veronica came back to me.

Those were the words I said because I wanted to hug Veronica so much.

I knew that losing the virginity itself, not just the hymen, could be a condition of losing strength.

In fact, I didn’t think it was particularly believable given that the source of the statement was King, but that didn’t mean it was completely unbelievable.

So, I thought that if she lost her power, she would become a useless bitch, and that I would not be able to purely protect her due to the increasingly difficult monsters, so I was considerate, worried, and gave up, but now she has given up on her own. I was about to give it.

“Then… Hug me.”

Is that why?

I just stared blankly at her as she woke up rustling.

The look on his face, as if he was asking me to protect him by giving him up, seemed pitiful, sad, and meager, was so sad that it felt like my heart was breaking.

“… Veronica.”

“Kylon, I think it’s better just to be by your side.”

The pounding didn’t stop.

Because I knew that although there were good things, there were also bad things.