chapter_0160

“A way to escape this place.”

It seemed that Laura in her past life had come up with such a plan.

After all, it was only natural to want to escape after repeating reincarnation for four digits. Whether she failed to complete the plan or lacked the ability to carry it out, she had ultimately failed.

If she had succeeded, she wouldn’t have sealed her memories and lived as Laura. She would have escaped this world long ago.

In fact, I had also thought about ways to escape, but I couldn’t come up with a concrete method. My speculations were limited to the idea that I could return to my original world by either capturing the Demon God, receiving help from the Goddess, or defeating them both.

Or perhaps by fighting and winning against them. Either way, I had been prepared for this ever since Priscilla and I had talked about endings.

The method I used to return from the first world was irrelevant. I didn’t want to think about it, and it wasn’t a viable option anyway.

“What’s wrong, Mira? What’s written there that makes you look like that?”

When they saw my expression, Rosalia and Elysier stopped teasing Laura and read the diary, only to make similar faces. Even Priscilla, who was nestled in my arms, looked concerned.

Taking advantage of the moment, Laura, whose face was flushed red, tried to calm herself and returned to her seat. However, her cheeks still bore a hint of redness.

“It seems that you were indeed more capable than I thought, Laura. It’s impressive that you even thought of such a method.”

“I agree. It’s unfortunate that we don’t know the details of the method, though.”

“You don’t know the method? Isn’t it written here?”

“Keep reading, and you’ll understand what I mean.”

Puzzled, I turned to the next page. I skimmed past two sentences, each taking up a full page, and then came across a powerful surge of mana.

As if it were resisting being read, Priscilla, Rosalia, and Elysier flinched at the sudden surge. Laura, who had expected their reaction, looked at me and said, “I knew you three would react like that.”

“Can you read it, Mira?”

“Sort of……”

The distracting magic was persistently trying to divert my attention, but it wasn’t strong enough to prevent me from reading the content. With a little focus, I could make out the words on the notebook.

“It’s fortunate that you’re here. Unfortunately, I couldn’t confirm the details of the method either. I assume you three are in the same situation, right?”

Laura’s red eyes scanned the three of us sitting next to me. Priscilla and Rosalia looked a little dejected, while Elysier bit his lip in frustration.

“You can’t read it either? Why?”

“How could I possibly guess what my past self did? Anyway, since you’re the only one who can read it, please continue.”

I nodded and focused a little more on the diary. Despite the distracting magic trying to divert my gaze, I was able to slowly make out the words on the notebook.

[I’m sorry. I’m sure you were surprised to find the most important part hidden even though you met the requirements. I had no choice. Whether it was the Goddess or the Demon God that imprisoned me here, I had to minimize the possibility of them finding out. I had to conceal my existence as much as possible. I left a clone outside, and made sure that the magic I used here didn’t leak out. If they realized that I knew this much, who knows what they would do.]

Even before losing her memories, Laura didn’t know what kind of being had imprisoned her.

[Now that it’s confirmed that you can read this, let me continue. This is important, so I’ll write it down with emphasis. The way to escape this world is to kill the being that imprisoned me here. I believe it’s either the Goddess or the Demon God. That’s my guess, at least.]

The Demon God or the Goddess.

‘Our thoughts are the same.’

Since Laura also suspected them, my guess was correct. The Demon God was obviously the mastermind, and although the Goddess was currently avoiding me, she had communicated with me through the Holy Sword in the past.

[The problem is, I’ve never met either of them, not even once, during the hundreds of times I’ve repeated reincarnation. As for the Demon God, it was supposed to be a character that would appear in the second part of the story, but since the first part ended abruptly, the character itself disappeared. As for the Goddess, I don’t understand why she hasn’t met me. She can communicate with the hero through the Holy Sword, and she even bestowed her power during the Saint selection. Why is she keeping silent towards me? Do they really not exist?]

‘You’ve never met either of them?’

Something felt odd.

It was obvious that the Demon God was interested in me, and she had said that she would appear soon. As for the Goddess, although she was avoiding me at the moment, she had communicated with me through the Holy Sword in the past.

“But it’s strange that Laura, who has repeated reincarnation hundreds of times, has never met either of them. I wonder how that’s possible.”

[So, I thought that maybe the settings I wrote were different from this world, so I analyzed this world in my own way. It’s not something to be proud of, but the power I’ve accumulated through hundreds of reincarnations isn’t just for show. I used an entire life cycle to shake up the world and analyze it, and I came to the conclusion that this world is sustained by a certain medium. In other words, if you destroy that medium, this world will collapse along with it. That’s how I’ll be able to return to my original world.]

‘A medium.’

The key was to find out what that medium was.

[But I don’t know what it is.]

“……”

[I’ve searched this world thoroughly while my body was still functioning properly, and I’ve read every book I could find, but I still couldn’t find anything. Even now, as I write this diary to seal my memories……]

It seemed that she had given up on that front.

[So, I think it’s either the Demon God or the Goddess. I mean, they’re the only ones I haven’t met. Well, of course, I won’t be swept away by the collapsing world. Theoretically, at least. But even if there’s a small chance, it’s worth a try, right? I’ve told you everything I wanted to say.]

I thought that was the end, but there were a few more lines hastily scribbled at the bottom of the page.

[Lastly, if the person reading this is not ‘me’ who has regained my memories, but someone else, I have a request. Could you seriously consider the option of not regaining my memories? To be honest, I don’t think there’s anything good about regaining these memories. I doubt I can handle it, and it would be unfair if I found a way to return but ended up as a wreck.

-Please, I’m counting on you. Consider this as payment.

Next to the sentence, which was written in a hastily scribbled font that was twice as messy as the others, was a lip print that seemed to have been made by applying lipstick heavily. It seemed that she had cast a magic spell so that the lip print would only appear after reading all the sentences.

The remaining pages were still sealed. There was no point in forcibly unsealing them since they probably contained memories of the past life. I closed the diary. Everyone’s gaze turned to me.

“What did it say?”

“It seems that we need to kill either the Demon God or the Goddess.”

I told them about the medium that sustained this world and the fact that the Demon God and the Goddess were the most likely candidates, as well as the reason why Laura in her past life had come to that conclusion.

Laura, the person in question, was no exception.

“Hmm, maybe it’s because they’re both female?”

“What does the fact that they’re female have to do with them only appearing to you? And why would that make this a yuri romance world?”

“……What if a man intrudes?”

“You know that doesn’t make sense.”

Rosalia, who seemed to realize that what she said didn’t make sense, awkwardly laughed. Elysier and Laura looked at her as if she were some kind of bug.

Rosalia, feeling wronged, protested that she was just making a joke, but the other two didn’t buy it.

“It’s certain that there’s something about those two beings. Otherwise, there’s no way that Laura, with her immense power, would not have met them. After all, she even used such powerful magic.”

“That’s true.”

It seemed that the only option left was to either ask Leona for help in meeting the Goddess, or wait for the Demon God to appear or come looking for us.

“Right. Laura, do you have any ideas on how to find the Demon God? We can’t just sit here and wait for him to come to us after taking his sweet time to plan and prepare.”

“……I don’t have any specific ideas. I didn’t need to set up the Demon God’s character since I was planning to end the story in the first part anyway.”

Laura hesitated, glancing at me, and then spoke.

“And if I were to write a second part, it would be about the Demon God descending upon this world, not us finding him.”

There was no other choice but to wait for the Demon God to come to us. It wouldn’t be wise to try to meet the Goddess first and risk upsetting her.

Even though it seemed unlikely that the Goddess would be upset, one could never be too careful.

“Right. Here’s the key. I don’t know why you needed it, but here.”

I took the key out of my pocket and handed it back to Laura. She took the key and gave me a meaningful smile.

“Did you use it?”

“You gave it to me, didn’t you? It fit perfectly on the front gate and the door. Why? Is there something wrong?”

“Nothing at all.”

Her meaningful smile deepened.