235 – If you’re going to die anyway-2
In the city, the streets are crowded with people celebrating the sunny weather.
I feel the peace I miss in the peaceful scenery, which is completely different from the battlefields I have entered so far.
Perhaps this scenery was not only nostalgic for Leonardo, but also felt unfamiliar.
Of course, even the floating blue sky was a view that could not be seen in the first episode.
“This place hasn’t changed.”
Leonardo looked around with a light exclamation. He giggles as if he doesn’t like tears of emotion and feels the nostalgic memories.
“…Are you very excited?”
Aria, who was somber, asked that question with her smile covering her face.
She didn’t mean to be sarcastic.
After his memories returned to the first episode, most of Leo’s smiles were hysterical. Leo insisted on laughing, like a mocking windbreaker or a clown’s play.
But for now, he showed his emotions with a soft smile that is often seen in the second episode.
Her smile was lovely, but at the same time repulsive, it was like a mirror reflecting herself.
Even though Leo went through such hell, he does not show any resentment toward humans.
“You might get a little excited. “I go there to enjoy the sunshine and eat good food.”
If an ordinary person came back alive from a place like that, everything would be disgusting and unbearable.
Leonardo looked around as if going on an outing was purely fun.
He is enjoying the city purely like a child.
Even though there may be a demon who betrayed the world in this place.
“Why, you don’t like it that much?”
“Oh, no! Great! “It’s been a while since I took a break!”
Aria answered awkwardly, as if her acting up until now was in vain. She was lost in thought and answered the rest of Leo’s questions in confusion.
“What reaction do you think is in response to what your boss noticed?”
“…Ah…I’m sorry.”
In some ways, it wasn’t a wrong point.
Now that Leo is above him, it would be enough to call him his superior.
“I’m embarrassed to apologize like that again.”
“…Ah…Sin…”
As she tried to put another apology into her mouth, Aria Spiel humbly closed her mouth. Perhaps because he was embarrassed, his face turned red.
Leo also smiled sheepishly as if Aria’s reaction wasn’t bad.
“We used to often go downtown together like this.”
“…I did.”
This is not a memory shared with Aria herself in the second episode. The first round that Leo experienced no longer exists.
Because she ruined herself.
Leo alone must remember the past.
“…In the first session, you often got ripped off and I had to say something really harsh to you.”
“It was the same for me too. “When I was buying flowers for her mother, I pointed out to the store owner that it was a scam.”
“It’s cool, it’s an instinct from a poor family.”
It was clearly the same person sharing memories of each other. But on the other hand, there were no shared memories of each other.
It’s as if they cut out a single piece of film and forced the story back together.
The characters are the same, but the narrative and story progression are different.
“It’s been a while since I came to this store.”
“I guess you came here often in the past.”
“Similarly, why are you doing that? “Hardly.”
“Oh…! It’s you guys! Welcome!”
The old man who runs the ice cream greeted Aria and Leo as if he was familiar with them. Both of them seemed a little surprised by that reaction.
Aria and Leo used sacred arts to disrupt people’s perception. It probably won’t be easy for even professional knights and warlocks to guess unless they have a very good sense of vision.
“It’s been such a long time… It’s been over 4 years, so a lot has changed.”
But the old man had a clear intuition rather than such reasoning ability. The sense of vision he had developed while serving many guests allowed him to clearly distinguish between people even when he had presbyopia.
“Is that so? “Because time passes quickly.”
“4 Years… I see. Should I give you what I ate back then?”
Even though it was 4 years ago, the grandfather at the ice cream shop remembered the taste of what the two of them ate.
At that time, the boy was respectful and the girl spoke comfortably, but the mood between the two did not change much.
Obviously a lot had changed, but it felt like the essence was the same.
“I don’t care… What about you, Aria?”
“I don’t mind either.”
Grandpa poured a lot of ice cream into a cone and gave Leo and Aria something to eat.
Aria had dark chocolate, Leo had white chocolate, and the sight of these two flavors always being the same color as each other’s hair still left an impression on me.
“Why do you eat snacks, but why do you like such bitter foods?”
Leo wasn’t a picky eater, but he still wondered if there was a reason to pursue a bitter taste in a dessert that was meant to be sugary.
Isn’t it perfect for a dessert like this to be sweet? I bit into the white ice cream with that thought in mind.
“It’s surprisingly delicious. “The bitter taste keeps me from getting sick of the sweet taste.”
Recently, perhaps due to my physical condition, the food tasted bitter, but compared to that, this dark chocolate was so sweet that it made my tongue tingle.
Aria Spiel tucked her wild bob hair behind her ear and licked her ice cream. Her soft, red tongue stole Leo’s attention for a moment.
‘…Hey, why do you always eat ice cream like that! It gives me strange thoughts…’
Leo, who has been watching the beauty world, knows this.
That’s not the usual temptation or perversion.
It was just an ordinary habit, but that habit, multiplied by Aria’s beauty, became an extreme fascination.
“Reynold, you always eat white chocolate. “Isn’t it more greasy than just chocolate?”
White chocolate is an ambiguous food that can even be called chocolate. Only cacao butter is used, and no mass or powder is added at all.
In terms of sweetness, it is probably several times sweeter and more greasy than regular chocolate.
“That’s the charm. “It’s a specialty menu item sold only at this store, and although it tastes like it clogs your blood vessels, you’ll become addicted to it when you eat it.”
“Push…”
Aria Spiel burst into laughter without realizing it when she heard the analogy of clogged blood vessels. She always found that being with Leo made her feel at ease and made her laugh often.
When she was alone in the mansion or temple, she had to force herself to smile, paying attention to her gaze when there was an event or celebration.
When she is with Leo, she naturally bursts into laughter even when she doesn’t feel like smiling. She always was like that.
‘So… I became dependent and foolish…’
In the end, she was just dependent on Leo.
I was unable to achieve any growth on my own. She was just a child who had grown up, a girl who was drunk on playing the hero.
“In the past, I would sometimes buy it and eat it after training. “It’s delicious even if you eat it now.”
“When my body gets hot, I always feel good when I eat something sweet and cold.”
Aria soon hid those emotions and listened to Leo with a smile.
Her own pain is insignificant compared to Leo’s.
The thought of it being difficult is itself a complaint.
“Then can I have a bite of that?”
“…Yes? That…”
At Leo’s suggestion, Aria Spiel glanced at her ice cream. She said the part of the ice cream she licked was left covered in saliva and slightly frozen.
Although she was embarrassed by indirect kissing, she never disliked it.
Rather, it was a reward that would not have been enough even if she had bowed to her naked body and asked him to do it.
‘…Again…! Obscene thoughts…!’
It’s disgusting. Leonardo was completely devoted to her, but she herself had an obscene lust for Leo.
Usually, men have a strong desire for s*x, but she was lustful even though she was a woman who needed to be treated and a warrior.
You have to reflect.
“…Ah… Is there something wrong with what I eat? “You eating what’s mine… Oh, this too…”
It was too great a reward to say the least.
I really want to die. Leo made this offer out of pure goodwill, but now he is loosening his tongue in the hopes of somehow licking the area where Leo bit him.
It is the worst and lowest quality.
“…Then where…”
We exchange ice cream with each other and take a bite each.
Leo proposed first and took a bite of dark chocolate ice cream. The sight of it melting in your mouth after eating a fairly large piece is incredibly sweet.
As a side dish to this spectacle, Ariasfield licks Leo’s ice cream and takes a bite. The sweetness of emotions and the sweetness of ice cream form a harmony.
I’m happy to think that as much as we bite, each other’s saliva becomes a part of our bodies…
I became happy…
‘…In the end… I am the only one who is happy.’
Once again, he only satisfied his own greed.
This villain fills Leo’s innocence like a beast.
She was now a perverted woman who did not deserve the title of warrior.
Because of himself, Leo was unable to meet a woman properly because she was subordinate to him.
From Noble mtl dot com
She only did more to displace her Leo.
I am qualified to be a hero…
“…Are you okay?”
“Yes!? Yeah yeah! “Of course it’s okay!”
Leo was kindly worried, but she responded awkwardly and embarrassed, making him even more worried.
She is so disgusted with herself that she is begging for help and sympathy.
“…Of course, it looked like you were in bad shape from a while ago?”
Leo always senses her condition right away.
Even when she thought she was dull and didn’t know about her regression for years, she didn’t know her own heart, and even when she thought she was dull, she always did that.
“…It’s really okay. “It’s because the ice cream… is a bit not to my taste.”
It wasn’t perfect, but it was an appropriate excuse.
As for Leo, she is probably still worried and having a hard time at this very moment.
I don’t want to burden Leo with problems that he has to solve on his own.
No, it should not be given.
Because Leo has already endured beyond the malice he deserves as a human being.
“Really? “Even though it’s the exact same color as your hair?”
“Hey, what does that have to do with taste? And if you put it that way, dark chocolate…”
I can’t bear to say, ‘It’s the same color as Raynald’s hair.’
It may have been the case in the past, but now Leonardo’s hair color is no longer dark black. Like a pile of burnt ashes, the color of my hair was completely white.
I’ve heard of it. If a person experiences more stress than the allowable amount at once, his or her hair will turn completely white.
In the case of Leo, not only that, but his constitution itself was also evidence that he was closer to Reinhardt.
“…Hey, hey! Ice cream!!”
“Ah…! Sorry…!”
During the panic, not only the ice cream but Ariasviel himself lost his center of gravity.
“Are you okay? “Are you really okay?”
Leo held Aria’s hand just before she fell and slowly pulled her up. I can feel the determination and consideration that is different from when I was working as a dedicated engineer, and the gentle respect from the harsh words to the touch.
“…Let’s sit somewhere first. “There’s a bench over there.”
“Ah…Yes…”
Leo, who led him, allows him to sit comfortably on his bench. There is a fountain behind the bench and many people gather there.
“…Let’s take a breather. “It’s because I care too much.”
“…Yes. “I’ll fix it.”
This is correct in every detail.
Now, instead of being courageous, I am hesitating in fear.
He only cares about himself and doesn’t even notice that Leo is in trouble.
“…Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. “It’s okay to be nervous, but you don’t have to feel burdened by yourself.”
…Maybe…Maybe.
Because there is someone who can replace the hero.
“You can talk comfortably because your family is also worried. “I wonder if those gentlemen can’t even listen to your concerns.”
Probably not…
It’s a cruel and disgusting thing to say, but unlike Leo, he has blood ties to them.
If there is a problem that can only be solved if one dies, how can one explain and convince his family?
If it is a very harmonious family.
Leo couldn’t even enjoy that properly.
“Me too… I hope you feel less burdened. In fact, being a hero is unreasonable, and it’s natural to feel burdened. But there’s no need for one person to take on all the responsibility of being a hero, right?”
“…I see.”
That is correct.
It doesn’t have to be just you.
“Then… If…”
Open your mouth carefully.
“…Not me…”
Try not to put as much pressure on Leo as possible.
“What if someone else becomes the hero?”
Clearly convey only the parts that need to be concluded.
“…Well… It depends on the case, right?”
Unlike other times, Leonardo answered in the softest tone since his memory loss. There is more gentle consideration and respect than when I remember the second time.
“Then what if…”
Now to the main point. If Leo says yes here, he can choose.
You can cut yourself with determination.
That would be a proper reward for Leo and punishment for his incompetence.
“What do you think it would be like if Raynald became a hero?”
It’s cold.
Is it because the ice cream melted and spilled on my hands?
Is it because the water droplets from the fountain splashed on the back of my neck?
No, I know for sure.
Now this coldness is pouring out of a man.
Soon, Leonardo answered.
“Do you want to die?”
I couldn’t answer.
Was it because he was afraid of anger?
Is it because I hit the nail on the head?
I didn’t know.
If you’re going to die anyway
I wanted to be of some help to Leonardo.