216Th Episode. A Hazy Relationship (1)
“As expected.”
I feel it more and more as I get closer to them.
The crystallization of the guys from the last round that has been built up inside me.
I can feel the flowers I picked from my inner world reacting and glowing, and being drawn somewhere.
The flowers that had slowly begun to wilt since I returned to the present world.
But the closer I got to them, the more they came back to life.
As someone who can’t forget the memories and experiences of previous rounds, I can’t let these die.
The last 12 regressions were definitely painful and full of regrets.
But that doesn’t mean they’re not precious memories.
All the girls who were with me were beautiful and lovely.
All the mistakes I made were regrettable.
The wounds they inflicted still remain in my heart.
Not even for a moment have I wished that those memories had never happened.
All of that has made me grow.
And it has made me who I am today.
So these flowers might be…
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they are more precious than my life.
The nutrients that these flowers feed on must be what they get from the heroines they originated from.
The fact that they come to life when they get close to them is proof of that.
It seems like it will take time for my inner world to develop and for these flowers to take root again, so I think I’ll replenish them once before they wither away.
“Really… Are you serious…?”
“Yes.”
“Are you really going to tear space and go inside?”
“That’s what I said.”
Myeong-i looked up at me with an incredulous expression, as if to ask, ‘Are you out of your mind?’
That’s understandable.
Even when I only heard about it, I had no idea what the Allied Forces Headquarters was like…
“You’re going to do that after seeing that…?”
I couldn’t help but laugh as I looked at the insane fortress that unfolded at the tip of Myeong-i’s finger.
It might look like an ordinary city at first glance.
It doesn’t even have a shallow wall, so it might be mistaken for a city with much worse defenses than others.
But I can see it.
That’s the epitome of mana technology, created by combining both wizards and sorcerers.
Countless formations and barriers surround and complement the city.
If one breaks, another blocks it, and if that breaks, another blocks it.
It’s a structure that can never be penetrated by physical force.
I think I could destroy all the outer barriers if I shot the Crescent Moon for a year without rest.
The problem is that these barriers automatically release themselves just before they are destroyed and replenish their own durability.
In other words, if you can’t break all the barriers at once, you’ll be faced with a maddening situation where the barriers will regenerate infinitely no matter how many times you break them.
That’s just what it looks like from the outside.
How strict must it be inside?
It seems impossible to break through.
Yes, ‘break through’ is the word.
“No problem. I can tear space, so I can teleport directly to where I want to go. Then I won’t get caught in the security system.”
“Yes?! You’re making it sound so easy, but how can you…?”
“There’s someone here who knows the structure of the headquarters well.”
“······?”
Myeong-i, who is poking my chest, is bewildered.
You’re right.
Myeong-i would know the structure of the headquarters.
All I have to do is use the blueprint that Myeong-i drew as a guide, teleport to the places I need to go, and then get out again. It’s simple.
“I, I’m going to draw the blueprint of the headquarters?!”
“Yes. Don’t you know the structure?”
“I know it, but… There could be errors. If I make even a small mistake, I’ll teleport into the wall. I could die…!”
“I don’t make mistakes.”
“Not you, sir! I mean me, me! What if I make a mistake?”
“You won’t make a mistake either. I believe in you.”
“No, no. Ahhh… I can’t understand what you’re saying… How can you trust your life to someone you met for the first time yesterday…?”
Myeong-i, whose face has turned pale, takes a step back.
I feel a little sorry for making her feel burdened, but I can’t help it.
You have to get used to it.
That’s what it means to be together.
Trusting each other and entrusting our lives to each other.
If you’re too scared to take that step, you’re a coward.
I know this well because I have lived a long time as a coward.
If you’re afraid to take risks, you’ll regret it with a high probability, if not unconditionally.
This is a situation where you have to gamble with your life.
There’s no need for assumptions about what will happen if you fail.If I fail, I will have to live a life worse than death.
“I’m sorry. I’m desperate enough to risk my life right now. If it’s too much of a burden, you can give up. I’ll try to figure it out on my own. But if you do, the contract will be terminated.”
“······!”
Myeong-i will help me regain my existence, and I will introduce Myeong-i to the master.
That was definitely the deal.
If Myeong-i gives up here, it is natural for the contract to be automatically terminated.
“If that’s the case······.”
As I mentioned the contract, Myeong-i’s eyes, which had been filled with fear, began to fill with enthusiasm.
The purpose of wanting to meet the master and vent his anger was revived.
Myeong-i’s desire will not stop here.
It seems like Myeong-i’s determination to meet his master is burning fiercely inside him, as if he will not hesitate to use any means or methods.
“I don’t know what you see in me, but······. I’ll trust you for once. Your confidence is never unfounded. If I die like this, I’ll really lose my mind. You know that, right?”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
Nothing can be done if you are just scared.
That’s why I gave him courage······.
‘Oh, he’s just like me.’
No matter how much I look at him, I can’t shake the feeling that Myeong-i resembles me.
He gets attached to people he hasn’t seen much.
He also quickly clenches his fists when he is pushed back a little.
Before I knew it, Myeong-i’s meticulously drawn blueprints were completed.
I began to estimate the coordinates by comparing them with the actual headquarters.
I have roughly figured out the location.
Myeong-i has done his part.
Now it’s my turn.
It’s a simple but difficult task to just split the space accurately and slip inside.
Even Belphegor can’t do this······?
As Myeong-i said, it is certainly a dangerous thing to do.
But there is no other way.
No. There may be another way, but there is no time to go back.
“Let’s go.”
This is the best I can do right now.
As I made up my mind, my hesitation subsided and my body stopped trembling.
Then I reached out to Mi-jeong and stepped forward.
As if it were natural, Mi-jeong hooked her arm around mine and walked alongside me.
“······Yeah.”
Carddduk!
The surrounding magic gathers at one point and condenses.
We have to cross the space about 3 times from now on, but it is difficult to gather magic inside, so we have to fill it up here in advance.
Mi-jeong, who seemed to have noticed this without me saying anything, also joined me in gathering magic and aligning it.
I do the fine control.
Mi-jeong is in charge of the supply and demand of magic.
The moment enough magic gathered, I grabbed the magic like a sword.
I swung it with all my might and made a crack in the space.
The moment we stepped inside, we were sucked somewhere.
“Ugh! Ugh······!”
I almost died.
I came face to face with the iron skewer that was about to pierce my eye and froze.
If it weren’t for Mi-jeong, who grabbed the back of my neck, I would have lost an eye as soon as I teleported.
“Whew······.”
Mi-jeong, who pulled me back, hugged me with both arms and moved me to a safe place.
Only then did I look around and see that this place was a large, two-story room.
It is an impressive room with a gorgeous chandelier that almost poked my eye out.
And for some reason, it’s a room that feels eerie······.
I went down to the first floor, step by step, and came face to face with an interior full of religious colors, and I felt my breath catch in my throat.
Here. I came to a really good place.
Judging by the bright yellow jasmine in my pocket, that much is certain.
Thump, thump, thump.
I tried to stop Mi-jeong, who was running downstairs with a loud noise.
Come to think of it, we are in a state where we can’t be recognized by quality anyway.
It didn’t really matter whether we made noise or not.
“But where is she?”
But I can’t see Jill anywhere.
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She’s not in the living room or the bedroom.
It’s as quiet as a mouse.
By the way, Jill’s house is pretty clean.
I was wondering if she was out.
At that moment.
Mi-jeong pointed to a door and said.
“······Here. Not yet, no. I’ve looked.”
It’s the bathroom.
I swallowed hard and put my hand on the doorknob.
For a moment, an ominous feeling crossed my mind.
Jill can’t cook and she’s terrible at cleaning.
When I was there, I took care of everything, but if I wasn’t there, I would need a housekeeper or a maid to be normal?
No. In fact, I felt a sense of違和感 from the clean bedroom.Even if he cleaned up the places that others could see, he had a habit of leaving his bedroom messy.
Did he become this tidy all of a sudden?
The moment I anxiously opened the bathroom door.
“Jil.”
Splash.
In the middle of the spacious bathroom.
There was a small bathtub that could only fit one person, placed there.
Inside, the saintess that I had missed so much was looking blankly at the water, her white skin exposed.
Then, Jil suddenly burst out laughing.
She took her arm out of the water.
What came out of it was a small dagger.
It was the fancy dagger that Jil had given me as a gift.
“Ehehehe······.”
“No!”
My body moved reflexively.
When I came to my senses, I was already in the bathtub, holding both of Jil’s wrists.
Fortunately, I managed to drop the dagger.
I looked around, but I couldn’t see any wounds or red blood on Jil’s white skin.
At that moment, I sighed in relief.
“Eugene? Eugene?”
“······!”
For a moment.
My heart felt like it stopped.