It hurt.
When Charlotte asked, “Can I hit you?” I briefly considered rewinding time again, but Charlotte didn’t give me a chance to finish that thought.
In an instant, my vision flashed, and pain spread across my forehead.
With a sharp thud, it seemed Charlotte had given me a playful tap on the head.
Though it wasn’t exactly a sweet moment, that's for sure.
If I rewound time, I could have avoided it, but—
“Huff.”
The look on Charlotte’s face as she saw the pain in my eyes was so satisfying that I decided against rewinding.
Thankfully, there were no tears, but the pain wasn’t exactly negligible either. I did feel the urge to rub my forehead.
Suppressing the desire to touch it, I watched Charlotte sit down.
“Alright, then.”
Charlotte plopped down onto a chair and continued.
“You must have delivered the information to His Majesty the King because you had something planned for this, right? You didn’t just come here out of the blue and bring this up without thinking.”
Hmm...
It wasn’t exactly without thinking.
The biggest change was that my solo plan was suddenly turned into a group effort.
But well, what can I do?
It’s already decided. If I hadn’t gone along with this, I would have already used my power to rewind time and erased this whole event.
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I took a deep breath, mentally organizing my thoughts.
In the end, my argument hadn’t changed much from the last time.
But the number of people involved had definitely increased.
Before rewinding time, I’d kept a small circle in mind, but now, I’d brought everyone else in.
Well, Jake and Rottie were both from the Empire. I didn’t think Jake would spill the details of the operation to his father, and Rottie would probably keep quiet as well. As long as Jake didn’t say anything, Rottie wouldn’t either. I figured they wouldn’t cause too much trouble.
Next, Rena.
Rena... was a little concerning. Based on the circumstances, it was clear that the autonomous region had sent her to keep an eye on me.
But given her pure personality and the timing, when we weren’t even supposed to be heading north yet, there hadn’t been any real issues.
“Do you understand? Being part of this operation means you cannot tell anyone, especially your family or superiors.”
I made sure to remind her of this multiple times, but strangely, Rena kept nodding with sparkling eyes.
“As a member of the Academy, I’m also an Imperial cadet. It’s natural for soldiers to keep operations conducted under certain affiliations confidential.”
“...”
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even an Imperial operation.
But why was she looking at me so eagerly? Could it be that she trusted me that much?
Or perhaps her inner Chuunibyou was excited by the idea of a “secret operation.”
Not knowing what else to say, I just nodded.
Surprisingly, despite the ongoing war setting, the protagonist and his group didn’t actually kill anyone. No matter how many times they made people fall into pits, pierced with ice spears, shot with guns, or sliced with swords, when the battle ended, the enemies didn’t die but were simply incapacitated, kneeling on one knee.
Yes, the righteous protagonists were portrayed as worrying about even the nameless extra enemies' lives.
...Of course, I’m the one saying this after having shot people a few times, and in reality, that just wouldn’t happen.
No matter how much of a Chuunibyou someone is, they wouldn’t stay completely sane after killing someone.
Not just Rena, but everyone traveling with me.
If we really had to shoot someone, it would be ideal if I did it.
“Leo, how about you?”
I asked Claire, who had finished checking her weapon and was walking toward me. She looked a little uncertain.
“He’s still talking with Sophia.”
They still hadn’t figured out who was older. But I guess it would feel really strange if suddenly a girlfriend appeared, no matter if the guy was an older brother or younger brother.
Of course, it wasn’t really a girlfriend, just a girl who had unilaterally fallen for Leo.
From Claire’s perspective, I could imagine her thinking, “What does she see in him?”
I wonder how Claire would have reacted if Leo had actually created a harem like in the original story.
But of course, for that to happen, I’d have to not exist in this world, and if I didn’t exist, things would have gone just like in the original.
There’s no such thing as “if” in history, right?
Even though I can rewind time, there comes a moment when I don’t want to anymore, or I simply can’t. Once you pass a certain point, time “fixes” itself, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that.
“Then let’s wait a bit longer.”
After my answer, Claire nodded, and the room fell silent again.
It was a decision made abruptly, without a word until now. To be honest, it felt odd that everyone had gathered without protest.
“...”
As I glanced around the room, everyone’s eyes met mine—those who, in this moment, could truly be called “friends.”
For some reason, I felt a strange, ungrounded trust that I could leave my back to them.
I had to suppress the urge to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
I had always liked these characters, but honestly, it had only been a little over half a year since they started seeing me like this.
Why would they trust me so much?
...Well.
At least I have to become someone worthy of that trust.
“Sylvia.”
After talking with Sophia for a while, Leo came out and called me.
“Sophia wants to talk to you as well.”
Leo’s expression was serious, as always.
As the traditional “righteous protagonist” of a JRPG, Leo was the type of guy who would express sorrow over even the unnamed extra enemies’ deaths. He was a kind-hearted fool.
Of course, after hearing about the operation, he must have felt uneasy about Sophia.
I nodded to Leo, then walked toward the door he had just come through.
Charlotte’s room had a walk-in closet attached.
Unlike me, who mostly wore dark, plain clothes and Alice, who didn’t enjoy attending banquets, Charlotte frequently mingled with nobles and often went to balls.
So, the “walk-in closet” was surprisingly spacious. It might even be larger than some university dorm rooms that cost 500,000 KRW a month.
In the center of the closet, two chairs were placed facing each other, and Sophia was sitting in one.
Sophia glared at me.
It was understandable.
I slowly walked over and sat down in front of her.
“...Did you think I would betray my country just because of Leo?”
“Historically, there have been plenty of people who betrayed their countries for love. But I don’t think you would do that.”
Sophia gave me a look that seemed like she was about to retort, so I quickly added,
“The reason I brought you here...”
In fact, it was mostly because of Claire and Charlotte’s reactions. If they hadn’t been so opposed, I probably wouldn’t have brought Sophia here. Honestly, it would have been easier for Sophia to just think we betrayed her and be at peace with that.
But now that I had brought her here, there was only one reason.
“...It’s because you’re our friend.”
“...”
Sophia’s eyes widened at my words.
All the members of the protagonist’s party shared one thing in common.
Aside from Leo, the protagonist, they all had a severely lacking childhood.
Given that they grew up in the noble society, it was understandable. Raised among adults who valued behaving inhumanely and hiding their emotions, they never learned how to open their hearts to others.
In the game’s lore, the story unfolds around these characters who, through Leo’s genuine nature, eventually become true friends.
The goddess, the war, religion—those were just decorations. The real heart of the story was the friendship among the protagonists.
That’s why I was able to enjoy the game so much.
And the reason I resented Sophia’s position in the original game was because she was a character who suddenly inserted herself into the already-formed, tight-knit group of friends and caused disruption.
But that’s not the case now.
She appeared much earlier than in the original.
And, strictly speaking, the character who shouldn’t be here is me, not Sophia.