I watched my own death.
Mary was sobbing while hugging my corpse.
Emily was wailing as she held Raphne.
Seeing them, Raphne, shaken in her belief that I would return, started to cry.
And I was watching everything.
‘…It hurts more than I thought.’
I knew everyone would be sad about my death.
But I never expected such a tragic atmosphere.
I had only told Raphne the truth, who might go on a rampage after I disappeared.
‘…No, this is actually better.’
From the killer’s perspective, seeing Mary and Emily unaffected by a friend’s death would have raised suspicion.
Then, without any clues from this trick, I would have to resurrect without gain.
Next, there will be another victim.
Only the killer knows whether that victim will be Mary, Emily, or someone else.
It’s a painful but bearable torment.
So, after I died, I watched the people mourning my death as a soul.
This is how you quickly clear events using a scroll.
“I have something to say….”
━Found you.
When this event occurs in the game and Emily dies.
The killer approaches the character who is saddest about Emily’s death and says this.
The Child of Prophecy killed her.
You must find her.
‘In the game, Emily died, but I didn’t know why I needed to find the Child of Prophecy….’
But now that I think about it, it was all just a scheme to find Raphne.
Someone burning with revenge from a person’s death is used to find the Child of Prophecy.
Then, they claim the discovered Child of Prophecy for themselves.
Both the previous loop event and this one show that the demon king’s army are disgusting beings.
Those who enjoy inflicting pain on Emily.
Those who use the sorrow of losing a precious person.
Receiving the hints while feeling anger, I silently waited for the time to resurrect.
But then.
A variable occurred.
“…The Child of Prophecy is, ……me.”
That was Emily’s words conveyed to Mary, who came to join forces.
Unlike the game, my death created an anomaly where another Child of Prophecy, Emily, was alive.
The demon king’s army probably didn’t know.
That Emily is another Child of Prophecy.
“…Elise. …I have something to ask you.”
That’s when Mary figured out the killer’s identity.
。
。
。
As the ice fragments and dust billowed up.
His figure, once doubted, began to emerge.
‘Phew, I barely blocked it with a sword made from the bones of the suspect….’
Ken shook his numb hands from Siegfried’s attack.
And upon seeing that.
Mary doubted her very eyes.
“……Ken, …is that you?”
An unbelievable voice.
It couldn’t be.
Maybe he was just someone who looked like him.
But that familiar voice resonated in her ears.
Mary grabbed the rope in front of her.
Even if it was rotten, she wanted to grasp that thread of hope.
And the man, who responded to her hope, turned around and smiled.
“Sorry, Mary. I was just away for a moment.”
Then Mary threw herself into his arms.
━Hug.
“Ma, Mary?”
His solid form, catching her securely. If this were a dream, she never wanted to wake up.
But the gentle touch assured her that this wasn’t a dream.
“Ken…! Huh, Keeeenn…! Is, is it really you, Ken? …Uuhuh, you’re alive, right…?”
Tears streaming down, Mary looked up at his face.
The harsh reality she had long denied; as her prayers to the heavens were granted, the anguish that had corroded her heart turned into tears of relief that soaked the floor.
And Ken, smiling at her question, replied.
“Yes, I’m really alive. So stop crying now.”
“Huh, Keeeenn…! Ken…!”
At those words, Mary’s tension melted away as she sank to the ground.
In his arms, she cried out loud.
And another person watched this scene through the clearing smoke.
“…Ken. …Is it really, is it really you?”
A man shaking with doubt at the changed figure.
Siegfried looked at Ken with a puzzled expression.
Surely the atmosphere and the voice matched the boy in his memory.
But this figure was not the round shape he remembered; it was elongated and sturdy.
However, despite those suspicions, the boy in front of him smiled and replied with a familiar voice.
“Surprised, huh? Don’t worry, I’m not a ghost. …More importantly.”
And his gaze shifted.
At the end of that gaze was Elise, who had been hiding behind a tree and watching.
Understanding the significance of Ken’s eyes, Siegfried hurriedly blocked that path.
“No, Ken! Elise wouldn’t do that…! There must be some misunderstanding!”
Siegfried’s full-power strike was blocked by Ken.
It was strength beyond the level of training.
If Ken threatened Elise, Siegfried wouldn’t know if he could protect her.
To reassure Siegfried, Ken extended his hand, as if to calm him.
“It’s alright. Senior. …The killer is not her.”
Ken temporarily let go of Mary still in his arms and stood up.
“But, the killer is attached to Elise-senpai.”
Ken’s eyes sharpened.
Siegfried’s senses heightened, he turned to look at Elise.
“Zi, Sieg….”
As their eyes met, Elise teared up and started to call his name.
“Ah, no…! I really didn’t do anything! They’re lying! You believe me, right, Sieg…?”
She pleaded while crying.
Trembling with fear, expressing her terror.
Hoping at least her childhood friend would believe in her.
Siegfried’s hand, gripping the black sword, shook.
The tightly clenched fist was filled with strange feelings.
And watching that from behind, Ken called out to him with concern.
“Senior….”
Knowing what kind of being Elise was.
To prepare for a situation where he might need to become hostile.
But Siegfried’s blade was not aimed at Ken.
“Zi, Sieg…?”
“I believe in Ken.”
His eyes glaring at Elise resembled those of a sharp wolf.
Eyes blazing with anger.
“I don’t know who you are, but… how dare you use Elise for this.”
The massive outpouring of fury and suffocating malice made Ken’s shoulders tremble.
And facing that energy, Elise.
She erased her frightened expression.
“……Ah!”
━Shwaaaaaaak!
Black liquid gushed out around her.
And that liquid enveloped her, expanding her form into that of a gigantic creature.
“…━It’s unjust, …ah, how unjust. …How do you live, human.”
The creature spoke in a human voice with a strange resonance.
“…What on earth is that?”
Even Mary, who had been sitting anxiously, stood up in tension.
“Ken, help me. …What should I do?”
With a fierce glare directed at the figure, Siegfried gripped his black sword and asked Ken.
And similarly, Ken readied his basic sword.
“Senior Elise’s body should have an accessory we’ve never seen before. We need to break that. …But.”
Ken had little time.
So he needed to finish it in one strike.
But Ken saw two accessories.
A necklace and a ring.
“Between the two accessories, which one is the creature….”
In this event, the captivating accessory is randomly generated.
In the game, it clings to a character close to Emily.
So he could immediately identify the first accessory he’d seen.
But Ken couldn’t tell which of those two accessories was the main one.
“It’s okay.”
As Ken pondered, Siegfried, set and ready, spoke up.
“Just clear the path for me. …I’ll break the accessory.”
“Are you sure? You exerted a lot of strength just now….”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Ken fell silent at his growling reply and focused on the foe before him.
Siegfried was extremely angry right now.
If he had to, he’d bite with his gums to kill.
“Mary! Help me!”
“…━Yes!”
As if starting from Ken’s signal having sorted out the situation.
━Pah!
Mary released a chill and created ice pillars on either side of the black liquid.
━Kiiiiiing!
The black liquid’s body that touched the ice pillar froze.
“…━How unjust, …how unjust. …Despicable humans.”
━Shwaaaaaaak!
The attacked black liquid unleashed streams of water infused with its will.
That muddy liquid quickly engulfed Siegfried.
Ken stood in its way.
“Haah!!”
━Kwahaaaak!!
With a leap and a swing of his sword, dozens of streams were blown away like dust by the strong gust of wind.
“Thank you. Ken, Mary.”
Now Siegfried, who had prepared his position, concentrated his magic in his legs.
He propelled himself forward.
Kwaham━!!
With a booming sound, he shattered the ground as he charged fiercely at the foe.
A streak of black light, long and thin, darted toward the black liquid.
“…━How unjust….”
━━━Shwaaaaaaak!!
His sword sliced through the liquid form, cleaving it in half.
And maintaining his speed, Siegfried reached out to grab Elise, who was submerged within the liquid.
‘…This is it!’
And on her left hand’s ring finger was the previously unseen ring.
As soon as he extracted that ominous-looking ring.
Gurgle, gurgle.
Black liquid began to ooze from the ring, trying to engulf Elise once more.
“…━Ken!! Catch it!!”
But before the liquid could touch Elise’s body, Siegfried swiftly swung his hand.
The flying ring was accurately captured right in front of Ken.
“…Ugh!”
With Ken’s hit not letting the ring escape.
━Crumble.
The ring shattered into tiny pieces.
“…━Ah, …aaah, …ah━….”
With the ring’s destruction, the creature’s voice sounded like it was losing reception.
Its body disintegrated into black droplets and soon scattered into the air, vanishing.
‘…What a relief. Finished in time.’
I swiftly eliminated the creature.
If I hadn’t made a mistake and had run out of time, it would’ve been bad.
“…Alright then.”
━Hug.
As Ken turned and organized the situation, something small wrapped around his waist.
Mary buried her face in Ken’s chest and stayed still.
Her quivering shoulders.
She was probably crying.
“…I’m sorry. It must have been hard…?”
“…Huh, are you even asking that…?”
Mary’s thin arms tightened around him.
A constraint filled with her wish not to lose him again, unwilling to let go.
Her trembling shoulders and burning body heat.
“Now, huh, absolutely, …absolutely don’t disappear.”
Ken smiled and placed his hand on her head.
…━Grrr.
“Ah.”
“…….”
Suddenly a ship’s signaling bell rang.
Ken sheepishly scratched his head and said.
“…Can I at least eat first?”
Hearing that, Mary, who had been crying.
“……Puhuh.”
Was unable to wipe the tears, laughing instead.
Feeling the reality that Ken was back.
。
。
。
A while after Mary rushed out of the dormitory.
Emily, who had been pondering whether to chase after her, eventually sat on the windowsill, staring blankly at the darkening sky.
After hearing Mary’s story, she felt a surge of anger for revenge momentarily, but.
That all turned out to be mere rumors.
The absurd tale that the Child of Prophecy killed Ken.
Moreover, that story’s protagonist was none other than herself.
‘……Ken.’
Feeling how futile everything was, Emily simply gazed at the sky.
The last words she had spoken to him continued to echo in her mind.
As she was trapped in such regrets, wasting time in despair.
━Thud.
Thud.
A small something tapped on the window.
Her gaze instinctively reacted to the sound, and looking at what was tapping on the window.
Emily, unable to believe her eyes.
Ignoring the voice of reason that said it couldn’t be true.
She dashed out the door in search of a single hope.
He was dead.
But still, Emily’s expression as she hurried down the stairs was as if she was possessed by a ghost.
A mix of disbelief and hope painted her features.
And in haste, she reached the first floor.
Opened the main gate.
And turned to the back of the dormitory, right below her room.
“…Oh, …were you surprised?”
“…Ke, …n.”
There he stood, awkwardly smiling and waving his hand.
The figure she had wished and prayed for was right in front of her.
‘If I’m, …crazy, that’s fine.’
Tears flowed from Emily’s eyes as she stared blankly at him.
“……Ken, …Keen.”
Extending her trembling hand, she approached him.
“……Keenn!!”
She leaped into his arms.
