episode_0302

To some, it showed their past; to others, a future of another world that couldn’t possibly exist; and to still others, the past of someone else.

Click! Clack! Clickety-clack!

Inside a dark room, a man sat before a brightly glowing monitor, tapping away at a keyboard.

Sara frowned at the sight.

“What on earth is this?”

With Ifrit’s self-destruction, her vision had turned white, and she had found herself in this strange place.

She didn’t even seem to have a physical body, as she passed right through objects when she tried to touch them.

She didn’t even know how to get out.

“Ah, f***. I died again, didn’t I?”

Sara, startled by the sudden curse, moved closer to the man.

And she saw it.

A person very much like herself stood inside that small screen.

Before her, a person identical to Verdan lay dead, torn to shreds as if caught in an explosion.

Thump!

The man slammed his desk in frustration.

The way he quickly changed the trajectory from hitting the keyboard to the desk showed he wasn’t a truly tough man.

“Argh, what the hell am I supposed to do? Is there really no way to save her?”

He scratched his head and switched the screen to another site.

It was a community called Marble Out Middle.

Click! Clack!

[Save Verdan]

[Verdan]

[Sara]

He kept changing his search terms, sifting through the community, but didn’t seem to find anything useful.

At best, a few lewd images appeared.

“That’s….”

[One-handed today with Sara]

Sara’s eyes twitched as she looked at the image on the screen.

In the picture, she was doing a dog-leg dance with her blackened vulva wide open.

Although she couldn’t claim to be pure, she had never imagined such a sight, not even when she offered her body to Ruan.

She felt like throwing up.

The man seemed to feel similarly, letting out a short curse and quickly moving to another post.

It was then.

Sara, idly browsing the sea of information, suddenly noticed the man’s nickname.

“Hyun?”

It was a name she had heard somewhere before.

It was the name the Golden Ghost and Alisa used when addressing Ruan.

That meant the man in front of her was Ruan before he possessed this body.

“Why….”

Sara’s face twisted.

The man who had ruined her life was now frantically trying to save Verdan.

It didn’t matter now, but the hidden meaning behind it was important.

A hint of challenge, and affection for her.

Ruan was tirelessly working day and night to make the person named Sara happy.

She had actually known.

Ruan had raped her to save Verdan, and their continuous relations had been of her own free will.

She had already understood that he had deliberately acted out these evil deeds.

But she didn’t want to admit it; she just needed someone to resent, so she had looked away.

Sara bit her lip tightly.

‘What am I to you that you’re doing this?’

She didn’t know why she existed within the screen, or why Ruan’s simple gesture could cause a regression to the past, but one thing was clear.

She had certainly realized that he was challenging the impossible.

No matter what Ruan did, Verdan died.

Even when returning to a much earlier past, before the isolation, and making all sorts of preparations, Verdan still lost her life by a hair’s breadth.

Then Ruan would grieve with the grieving Sara on the screen.

Yet, he never stopped.

The community had said it was a route that wasn’t created in the first place, calling it meaningless and telling him to wait for a “patch,” but he didn’t listen.

He just kept challenging endlessly.

Sara was moved by his unwavering will, and she also felt guilty.

“…I’m sorry, Ruan.”

Sorry for misunderstanding.

Sorry for turning away all this time.

Sorry for resenting you.

And… thank you for not giving up.

Sara watched Ruan’s actions, crying and laughing, endlessly.

*

Crackle!

After dealing with the attempted rapist, her uncle, her surroundings turned white and melted away again.

When the light subsided, she was back at the World Tree.

Where Ifrit had been, scarlet magma was bubbling up, and the World Tree’s roots were regenerating in real-time, filling the gaps.

As she watched that scene, Elquiness, who had been fighting Calisto, approached her.

[You returned sooner than I expected. That’s a relief.]

“It’s a relief Elquiness is safe too. What just happened?”

[A blow was dealt to the World Tree, temporarily twisting space-time. I, or the Demonic Sword, were not affected because we are not typical organic life forms.]

In other words, Elquiness had been fighting Calisto while everyone else was floundering in hallucinations.

Elquiness had even stopped Ifrit’s self-destruction; it seemed she owed her a lot.

“I see. You’ve worked hard so far. We’ll help now too.”

[Yes. If it’s alright, may I absorb more semen?]

“…Do as you please.”

[Thank you. I’ll repay you someday.]

Elquiness again extorted semen.

This time, she seemed even more desperate than before, not just touching his pants, but actually grabbing his testicles and rolling them around.

Is this perhaps flirting?

‘I don’t dislike it.’

Although she was made of water, her appearance and figure were excellent, so it was fine.

As I was seriously contemplating, Alisha, who had approached without me noticing, scowled.

“I know you two are getting along, but I don’t think this is the situation for it.”

[I’m just recovering my strength.]

“Really? Elquiness seems to get energized just by grabbing a man’s penis.”

[It’s only possible with this person. Well, now that I’ve recovered, let’s go. Trowel seems to be at his limit.]

Elquiness easily shrugged off Alisha’s provocation and headed to the battlefield.

Crash!

Calisto and Elquiness clashed, leading to an even more intense battle.

I followed behind them.

Subsequently, with the continuous arrival of allies, Calisto was gradually pushed onto the defensive.

Originally, we had won by a very narrow margin, but thanks to Cain, Hersculer was out, creating more leeway.

“I’ll protect Uni!”

Thanks to that, I was able to deliberately adjust the tempo from the middle and even let Abel awaken.

Boom!

With another clash, the battle entered a lull.

[Hahahah! To be pushed back this much. As expected, the High Elves’ reputation is not for naught.]

“If you know that, why don’t you start running away? It must be overwhelming.”

[Hahahahat! You’re very arrogant. I look forward to when we meet again.]

“Next time, I’ll make sure to kill you. You can look forward to it.”

[Very well. Then, see you again!]

Boom!

Calisto, leaving a promise for a future encounter, pierced through the World Tree’s trunk and disappeared, just as he had arrived.

If we had kept pursuing him until the very end, we might have been able to defeat him, but then someone would have surely died.

I didn’t want to lose anyone.

“Hah… it’s over.”

Aris finally seemed to relax, letting out a sigh of relief and sitting down.

Elquiness also greeted me and disappeared.

‘This episode also passed safely.’

An unexpected variable occurred, but it was blocked by another variable.

Soon, when we return to the academy, it will be vacation, so I guess I can relax and rest.

But first, I need to resolve this.

“Ruan! You worked hard!”

“I’m sorryyyyy!”

“My poor brother!”

It was like this when they first woke up from the hallucination, and now that the battle was over, my lovers all clung to me with tear-streaked faces.

I heard they somehow learned my circumstances?

There was no good reason to tell them, so I hadn’t, but now all my secrets had been revealed.

I patted their backs and comforted them.

*

A brightly shining full moon filled my vision.

Alisha, who had been staring blankly up at the sky, drained the glass in her hand in one gulp.

Gulp!

The sweet and sour taste and aroma unique to elf fruit wine stimulated her taste buds and sense of smell.

Its endlessly delicious taste was addictive. Once tasted, she didn’t even want to put other drinks to her lips.

Glug glug!

Alisha refilled her glass.

“This is the last one.”

She shook the empty wine bottle, then lifted the glass again.

Her face was reflected on the shimmering surface.

Her eyes in the reflection shimmered with a complex light.

Her mind chased the memories of the afternoon.

On a moonlit night like this, a man walking through a deserted alley. A sudden scream, a woman being violated, her vision turning black.

Afterward, he was falsely accused and transported to prison, then fell into a sinkhole and died.

What Alisha saw in the World Tree was the circumstance of Ruan’s arrival in this world.

Her initial reaction was pure shock.

Honestly, she wasn’t particularly agitated by the fact that he was a possessor. Whether he was a possessor or not, it didn’t concern her.

She had even thought it was a good thing.

She had heard from the Order that possessors typically gained abilities suited to their nature.

So, she had arbitrarily concluded that Ruan, possessing abilities related to rape, must have been a ruthless rapist even before his possession.

But reality was different.

Ruan was merely a victim, falsely accused and even forced into actions he detested.

And yet, she had forced pain upon him for her own pleasure.

A sharp pain spread through her chest.

“It’s… too late to apologize.”

It would be fortunate if that eased her anger, but Ruan wouldn’t even desire her apology. The only way to atone, even slightly, was to stay out of his sight as much as possible.

Anyway, she would return to the Empire in a few days, so she probably wouldn’t see him again for the rest of her life.

But it was truly strange.

The thought of not being able to see Ruan made her heart ache incomparably more than before.

Thump! Thump!

She pounded her chest.

She didn’t know why this was happening, nor did she want to know or dig deeper.

Alisha waited for the pain in her chest to subside.

Gulp! Gulp!

It was the moment she lifted the glass to forget, even if just through intoxication.

Knock knock.

-Alisha. May I come in?

Her twin sister, Aris, had come to visit.

Wondering what was up, she tilted her head and simply granted permission.

Whoosh!

The door opened, and Aris entered.

“Alisha. You’re surprised, aren’t you? Sorry for coming so late.”

“…No. But what’s up? For you to visit at this hour.”

“Well… actually, I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor?”

“Yes. A very important favor.”

Aris’s face was red.

Her flushed cheeks somehow fueled an unknown unease.

“What is it? Tell me.”

“Hmm… Thank you. Then, would you perhaps be able to take over Elven Forest?”

“Elven Forest? Why?”

Her tone sounded as if she was going far away.

As Alisha tilted her head in confusion, Aris continued shyly.

“I-I was thinking of going to the Empire.”

“…You’re going to the Empire?”

“Yes. Now that the curse is gone, I want to travel the wider world. Th-that’s absolutely not just because of Ruan. Really!”

Anyone could tell it was because of Ruan.

Abandoning a country and following a man? Her head throbbed.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, Sis. What are you going to do in the Empire? Are you going to enroll in Solias Academy or something?”

“U-uh huh! Since they came here for exchange, it should be fine if I go there, right? It might be a bit early, but wouldn’t it be okay?”

“It’s not okay. No. I can’t allow it.”

Perhaps her mental age hadn’t matured beyond her physical age?

When Alisha refused outright, Aris rushed over and grabbed her sleeve.

“Ah, Alisha! Please, I’m begging you! Please?”

“No means no. Where is the representative of a country going? Are you crazy?”

“Aaaah! Alisha. You’re here! Pleaseee!”

Now she was even acting cute.

No matter what, did she want to do this much to her twin sister?

As Alisha stubbornly maintained her stance, Aris pouted and blurted out something absurd.

“Hmph! You’re just jealous, aren’t you!”

“…What?”

“You’re just jealous because I’m the only one with Ruan, right? Huh?”

“What are you talking about….”

Alisha’s mouth hung open in disbelief.

In her head, the answer was clearly “no,” but strangely, it wouldn’t come out of her mouth.

“I knew it! You should have said something sooner!”

Aris grinned, as if she had expected it, so annoying that Alisha wanted to give her a smack.

Alisha finally managed to speak.

“I am not! If you want to go, then go. I’ll just take over Elven Forest.”

“Really? Is that true?”

“Yes. While I expand my influence, you can go mess around with a man. Understand?”

“Yes! Thank you! I love you, Alisha!”

“Get off. You’re uncomfortable.”

Alisha pushed away the clinging Aris.

‘This feels bad.’

She couldn’t tell if this feeling was due to her irresponsible sister, or something else entirely.