episode_0224

… Did I fall asleep?

I woke up to the sound of rustling and woke up feeling groggy.

“Hermel… ?”

I swallowed hard and called Hermel, but there was no answer, either because I woke up quickly and couldn’t hear because my voice was quiet, or because I had already left the house.

no way. Ah, probably not.

… for a moment. If you think about it this way, it usually works.

Feeling the coolness of all the blood draining from my body, I threw the blanket that covered my chest aside and jumped out of bed.

“Hermel… ! Heh, sigh… . Hermel… !!”

My voice was cracked because my throat was locked, but I didn’t have time to worry about that.

Because of my memories, Hermel developed misanthropy, and if he even stabbed the people out there… . Because it has become something that cannot be undone.

It would have been perfect if it ended as a simple incident, but I couldn’t relax because of the jinx of always assuming the worst and it turned out to be exactly the case.

I opened the door and ran out without even putting on my shoes, shouting.

“Hermel!!”

“Did you call me?”

“Hiyak!?”

I realized once again what it felt like to have my heart sink at the voice I heard right next to me. I was so startled that I patted my pounding chest and looked to the side.

No matter what he was doing, Hermel’s body was literally covered in sweat, so much so that I could smell a faint smell of sweat even from my position a little distance away.

It was something that would make Hermel sweat. What on earth were you doing? . My anxiety began to increase exponentially.

“Hey, Hermel… . Why are you so sweaty… ?”

“Huh? Oh, this?”

Hermel calmly raised his arms in response to my words and smiled bitterly.

no way. Is he killing all the villagers like me a few episodes ago and then smiling calmly? I didn’t fully share my memories, I just showed the records, but has it been ruined to that extent?

Because of my wrong judgment――

“It’s no big deal. just… . I was just swinging the sword by myself because my head was a bit confused.”

–ah.

“… Was it a mistake? ha… .”

I felt like all strength in my body was leaving me and I collapsed on the spot.

“Be careful! The stairs are right in front of you!”

As I blinked at those words, I noticed that there was a staircase where I was sitting down and trying to place my hand.

Hermel, who was startled, came to me and helped me up at a speed that I couldn’t even notice, so I almost fell over.

“Ahaha… . Thanks Hermel… .”

“Why does Charles look more distracted than me?”

“Just a little… . I was just a little surprised… .”

When I answered with a weak smile, Hermel sighed and picked me up.

It was the commonly known princess hugging position.

“ugh… .”

I had never been hugged like this in over 100 years of my life, so I had to shiver from that eerie yet thrilling sensation.

“What’s wrong!? Where are you hurt!?”

“Uh, ah… . no. I’m just a little surprised… .”

It never felt unpleasant or unpleasant. rather… . It felt like I had received an unexpected gift. I was just surprised by how unfamiliar it felt.

Hermel sighed at my answer, picked me up, came into the house, and laid me down on the bed.

“Wait a moment. I’ll wash up and come back.”

“Yes. Okay.”

I knew well enough to know that that wasn’t exactly what I meant when I said, “I’m going to wash up.” So I nodded slowly.

While I was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for Hermel for a while, Hermel came in with his top down and his hair all messed up.

“… Hermel.”

“Huh?”

“Even if we are the only ones around here, we still wear clothes… . What if someone sees it?”

Hermel smiled brightly at my words and scratched his head.

“Ahaha, sorry. I forgot to bring a change of clothes, so I just left. I’ll be careful next time.”

“I’m not really criticizing you. just… . It’s because you don’t want other people to see your body.”

“Okay. Then I should be more careful.”

I smiled slightly as I looked at Hermel, who was smiling.

Hermel, who had dried his hair properly, came next to me, laid me down on the bed, and lay down next to me, using my arm as a pillow.

“Hermel.”

“It may be okay outside, but it’s okay inside the house.”

Seeing him smiling and talking shamelessly, I chuckled and shook my head.

okay. Hermel is this kind of person.

Just lie down and smile for a while. I slowly blinked and hugged Hermel tightly and said.

“… How far have you seen?”

“… … .”

Hermel didn’t say anything and just quietly gave strength to the arms holding me.

I vaguely understood the meaning of that action, smiled bitterly and patted Hermel’s head.

“Ahaha… . I guess I saw more than I thought.”

Hermel still said nothing. He was so quiet, as if the smile and talk he had just moments ago was a lie.

I also just quietly stroked Hermel’s hair, which had grown down to his waist, and although it was a little rough, I still enjoyed the pleasant feel.

After a moment of silence, Hermel, who had been quietly held, opened his mouth.

“How… . Can you smile like that?”

many… . It was a single sentence that contained so many emotions that it was difficult to fathom the end of them all under the name of reason.

If it were me before I met Hermel, I would have spewed out flashy words that were just nice to listen to, along with an understandable explanation.

But not now.

“Because you are by my side.”

“Fuhu… . What is that.”

I smiled and hugged Hermel tightly.

“I’m always sincere. Just like Hermel did.”

“Love is heavy.”

“So, you don’t like it?”

In response to that humorous question, Hermel slowly pulled away, licked his lips, and laughed mischievously.

“No, I actually like it.”

“Really?”

“Yes. My heart, which had not been shaken by anyone for over 100 years, was passed on to me. How can you hate it?”

Seeing him answer so confidently as if it were obvious, I smiled and kissed Hermel’s forehead.

You really only say amazing things. And the fact that it doesn’t go deeper than the memories I showed you is truly amazing, and I’m grateful and sorry.

I smiled faintly, looked at Hermel, and said.

“If you have any questions, ask anything. If it’s Hermel, I can tell you everything about me.”

Perhaps what I said was quite surprising? Hermel’s eyes widened and he blinked.

Hermel’s expression seemed to ask if he was serious, so I nodded and continued speaking.

“It’s true. They’ve already shown that they’ve regressed, so what else can they hide?”

Hermel, who was startled by the word “return,” let out a sigh.

“No… . I thought I shouldn’t say it… . that… . If you say regression, you’ll be cursed, or something like that… .”

“Definitely. From the perspective of someone who has no knowledge of regression, it is not strange to have such fears.”

I nodded seriously and answered Hermel’s words.

“Don’t worry. It’s just that I haven’t had a chance to talk about it so far. There’s nothing wrong with talking about regression. Even if I explain that it’s not like a curse placed by someone, but like a phenomenon that occurs under certain conditions, I still don’t understand.”

I chuckled as I saw Hermel staring at me blankly, as if he had lost his mind.

Unlike concepts such as emotions that are far beyond my brain’s understanding, I was confident that I could explain regression very clearly to the extent of what I knew, so I stood up and spoke.

“I will explain it a little more easily so that Hermel can understand.”

Hermel nodded and looked at me, and I looked around and held up a suitable branch.

“Now… . Look carefully.”

After saying that, I grabbed both ends of the branch and broke it.

“This is regression.”

“――… ?”

I chuckled as I looked at the face that said I really didn’t know. Then he picked up another tree branch and this time cut it with a dagger.

“This is regression.”

“Uh… .”

As he stared at the branch, trying his best to understand, I picked up another branch and used fire magic to burn the middle of the branch.

This time, the tree branch split in two and fell to the ground.

“This is regression.”

“That… . Charles. I know I’m not that smart, but… . I think this is a very vague explanation… . I don’t know anything.”

“You’re not looking at the tree branches, you’re looking at the phenomenon. What happened to all the tree branches I showed you so far?”

“Half… . Divided… ? Ah.”

Perhaps only then did he vaguely understand, as Hermel blinked and looked down at the tree branch that had fallen to the ground.

“I don’t know why this tree branch is a tree branch, how it looks like this, how it grows, etc. Because I am not an omnipotent god. But as a result, all of these branches split in half. Because of various conditions.”

“So, I don’t know exactly what regression is. Are you saying you know the conditions for regression?”

I nodded at those words.

“I think I have some understanding, so I will explain in more depth. Hermel, you know the safe, right?”

“Yes. You know.”

“The safe is locked with a padlock, and to open it, you need a key that matches the lock. Right?”

Hermel nodded.

“But I don’t have the key. So, use the lockpick to open the safe. And that lock pick is a return. If it breaks, I move to open the lock in the next round. While being careful not to make the same mistake as before and break it, I thought about how I could open this lock.”

“What’s in that safe?”

“End of regression.”

In other words… .

“True death.”

I said that and smiled faintly.