108 – The Goddess’ Question
“Yes. I have a confession to make.”
I flinched reflexively at Yulia’s calm declaration of confession.
“Actually, I met Raven in person a few days ago.”
“…Ah, is that so?”
He let out a sigh of relief and barely agreed.
Yes. Of course, there can be no such confession.
In the first place, I was nervous again after being treated the same way at the Grace Mansion the other day.
But what I couldn’t help it was that the atmosphere and the nuances of the words were honestly easy to misunderstand.
[Did you expect it?]
‘I was just worried.’
[Whoops. Don’t hit me like that.]
“Isn’t that a good thing? You wanted to meet the Phantom Thief before.”
“Yes. But what about it? It’s a little different from what I thought.”
“How was it different?”
She hesitated for a second before answering, staring straight into my eyes.
“It felt familiar.”
“…Really?”
“Even though it’s definitely the first time we’ve met and talked to each other. It wasn’t awkward or nervous at all, like talking to a close friend.”
Couldn’t you have noticed that I’m Raven?
She probably won’t be there. Maybe she felt similar at best.
That much wasn’t even a serious problem, considering that originally Yulia was a character with very sharp senses.
“Is that a problem you’ve been thinking about lately?”
“It’s a little different. It’s pretty much the same though.”
“Then can you tell me what your worries are?”
If I had asked the same question at the park earlier, Yulia would not have been honest with me.
However, now that she has shared enough emotional sympathy in this space where only the two of them have memories, she has begun to speak her mind openly and hesitantly.
“Do you know what the phantom thief followers are?”
“That’s right… Aren’t they people who like phantom thieves?”
I had already attended their meeting yesterday and figured out the truth, but I put that fact aside and answered in line with general perception as if I didn’t know anything.
“I thought so too. So I went to the meeting because I wanted to meet like-minded people.”
“But it was different from what I thought.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
Yulia seemed to remember the meeting she went to that day.
“People openly cursed the royal family and nobles on the spot. He hated rich people and held Raven up as a hero.”
What did she think when she first saw it?
It must have been quite a shocking scene for an aristocratic lady from a rich family to accept.
I couldn’t exactly know what Yulia was thinking right now, but judging from her expression, she didn’t seem to be influenced by Drake’s thoughts.
“These were words I had never thought of before. It’s not just an individual grudge, it’s also that you can hate everyone in that class just because you’re opposite to her.”
If she feels repulsed by the phantom thief followers, her solution becomes easy.
If she just kept away from the meeting from now on, there would be no possibility that she would harm Yulia.
“If she thinks it’s wrong, then she thinks she shouldn’t be forced to hang out with them.”
“Wrong… Is it right to think so?”
But Yulia didn’t come to such a simple conclusion, perhaps because she was deep inside.
“If there is a reason why they think that way? It could be us who are wrong.”
“Okay. That was a concern.”
“···Are you stupid? It’s not like I can change anything anyway.”
I think it’s a natural phenomenon to be engulfed in such worries. Because this is a time of rapid change, the existing values are bound to gradually crumble.
The problem is that such thoughts could endanger Yulia. In particular, the deeper you get involved with the phantom thief followers, the greater the danger.
I don’t think it’s an easy problem to solve.
The first thing I need to check now is Yulia’s clear idea. You need to know that first, so you can clearly decide how to solve it in the future.
“So what do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. I would like to know more about why they hate us, but if that happens and it becomes known to the family…”
The reason for her hesitation is probably because of the Grace Mansion incident last weekend.
Since the family owner has already noticed, it must be because he is afraid to be active.
I don’t know where it got entangled, but it’s entangled properly.
Hmm. What should I do?
After thinking about it for a while, I proposed to Yulia.
“Then why don’t you come with me?”
“Together?”
“In the end, the problem now is that I’m afraid to go alone. Then come with me. If they get caught in your house, you can pretend that I dragged them by force.”
“But then you…”
“How are you? It’s okay to cause such a nuisance between friends in the first place.”
It’s dangerous to send Yulia alone. Then, even if she is, the moment she finds out her true identity, she really gets out of control. In that case, it would be much safer for me to stick by your side.
“Of course, it’s too much for now, let’s go once all the exams are over.”
“・・・Yes. Thank you.”
Fortunately, she also accepted my offer.
Since we were talking so much, it was already quite late.
We decided to break up here to prepare for the exam the next day.
“Thank you very much for today.”
“I am. Thanks to you, I changed my mood.”
He waved her hand and said hello.
“Go in carefully. If you have any problems in the future, let me know anytime.”
“Yes. I will. Hi!”
***
Okay.
Now, when the exam is over, go to the underground meeting with Yulia…
While I was deep in my thoughts, the goddess spoke to me first after a long time.
[So devoted.]
“Yes?”
[To think he helped out like this for a friend. Isn’t it a very noble friendship?]
“Are you saying something weird again? We are just friends.”
[I know. Because you were willing to move for another child.]
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
[This means that there is no need to overdo it. Don’t you think that all the bad things happening around you are your responsibility?]
“That kind of thing…”
Yes. To be honest, there was nothing like that at all.
Many things have changed since I was possessed by this world and acted as a phantom. Among them, of course, there must have been good results, but on the contrary, there were definitely cases that flowed in a bad direction.
In particular, both Rachel and Yulia were closer to the latter.
Because of me, Rachel’s older sister, who was working at the Lappano Mansion, was cut off, and the incident led to the Butterfly Effect, which made Rachel a test subject for Drakan.
The same goes for Yulia. She caused her values to change by stealing her painting, which had a special meaning to her. In the end, if I hadn’t intervened, it wouldn’t have been enough to offend the family head, and I would have been branded as a troublemaker within the family.
I won’t say it’s all my fault.
Anyway, I managed to get things right before the worst happened.
But it was right that it was my responsibility. It happened because of me, so I had to take responsibility.
[Why are humans so stupid? Of course, that would make it even cuter.]
“Yes?”
[Chrome Morris. Do you think only the ‘world’ in your head is real?]
“That’s right…”
This world I remember.
The original world view that was drawn as a creation called manga.
[Then let me ask you one more question. Do I appear in the original work?]
“No.”
She does not appear.
In the first place, the world described in the original work is thoroughly tailored to the main character, Layered.
In other words, no matter how strong and important an existence is, if it is not related to the main character, it is degraded to an extra in the original work, or it is not even mentioned at all.
[No matter how you came to know about this world, it is just one of countless possibilities. Rather, it means that the action of trying to match everything according to the flow of the ‘original work’ is a shortcut to destroying order.]
I understood the meaning of the goddess.
But that doesn’t mean…
“Does that mean you stop helping your friends from now on?”
[No. It means remembering what is more important. Always remember the most important goal.]
The most important goal.
What was that?
Did something like that happen to me in the first place?
Suddenly, I went back to the beginning and thought about why I accepted the goddess’ proposal and became a phantom thief.
There was no particular reason. They said that they could return to the original world if they gathered the power of the jewels, but that didn’t mean they were eager to return.
I just thought it would be fun. That was all.
It’s been a long time since I’ve fallen into the world of comics that I love, but I don’t want to be without a presence as an extra.
I just decided to become a phantom thief full of romance.
In other words, I wanted to live as a main character, not as an extra.
“·······.”
It was only after reaching that conclusion that I was able to fully understand the meaning of the goddess.
[Whoops. It’s been a while.]
“I see.”
[As expected, that look suits you the best. Raven.]
A student at the Quiet Magic Academy.
A suspiciously rich foundation director.
Of course, it’s good to have a variety of other appearances.
Still, my true self was a romantic phantom thief.
Coming to think of it, I’ve been taking a break from activities for too long these days.
Shall we go out again after a long time?
The phantom thief is come back baby