༺ The Truth And Delusion ༻
“Cough, cough!”
Frey, who was looking at Kania with a cheerful expression on his face, suddenly covered his mouth and began coughing.
“A-Are you all right?”
Before long, he threw up quite a lot of blood as Kania approached him cautiously with a bewildered look on her face.
“Why are you so surprised? It’s always been this way.”
Upon seeing her exaggerated reaction, Frey smiled and raised his hand to stop her from approaching. He then pulled something out of his pocket.
“That…”
“It seems that the duration of the self-cleaning magic spell has expired.”
After wiping the blood from his lips, Frey frowned as the stain on his handkerchief couldn’t be removed, and then held out the handkerchief to Kania and said.
“Kania, can you cast the self-cleaning magic spell on the handkerchief again?”
“Oh, that’s… I apologize, Young Master.”
Then Kania momentarily flinched, then crouched down and said.
“I used up all my mana to secretly hide the Young Master. I’m truly sorry.”
“No wonder… I couldn’t sense any dark mana from you at all. But where is this place?”
Upon hearing her words, Frey put the handkerchief back in his pocket with a flustered expression and immediately scanned his surroundings. He then asked a question with a perplexed expression.
“Ah… This is the hiding place I prepared for you in advance.”
“After all, you’re the best aide.”
Upon Hearing this, Frey smiled brightly and complimented Kania as she bowed her head in return, and said.
“Young Master, you must hide here for now.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Look at this.”
Frey, who took the newspaper handed to him by Kania, began to read it attentively. He then smirked and muttered under his breath.
“Yes, Pope… He is trying to protect me by any means possible.”
“The Pope?”
“Yes, the Pope is actually in cahoots with the Demon King. Isn’t that funny?”
Upon Hearing that, Kania’s expression hardened.
“Oh, haven’t I told you about this yet? Well… It’s a fact that only I’m aware of among those who have gone through the previous timeline…”
“Previous timeline… you mean?”
“Yes, only the highest-ranking officials and the Demon King knew that the Pope was on their side in the previous timeline. Of course, I knew it from the Prophecy.”
Eventually, when the story of the ‘Previous Timeline’ and the ‘Prophecy’ came out, Kania glanced at Frey in confusion, and then she hurriedly fixed her expression back to normal.
“Are you all right, Kania? Are you sick?”
Then Frey inquired about Kania’s wellbeing with a concerned look on his face.
“… Are you worrying about me?”
Upon hearing his words, Kania replied with an absurd expression as she heaved a deep sigh and took something out of her bag.
“What is this?”
“…A medicinal herb.”
While saying that, Kania, who had inadvertently almost put the herbs in her mouth, stopped midway and blushed.
“Chew it thoroughly. It will help your body.”
“Uh… Thank you?”
Then she turned her gaze away and handed Frey the herb. He accepted it without a word, albeit a little surprised by her actions.
“Looking at the fact that you bought herbs instead of potions, I guess it must be a pretty effective herb?”
“Uh… yes.”
“Ummm… It’s a bit bitter, but it’s edible.”
Frey, who had been chewing on herbs for a while, staggered and tried to get up.
“No, Young Master. You must rest.”
Then Kania hurriedly ran and settled him down back on the bed. Meanwhile, Frey, who sat on the bed, let out a rough gasp and began scanning his surroundings. He then mumbled.
“It’s strange… I’m sure I’ve seen this place before…”
“Pardon?”
“Is there any furniture here? I feel like some furniture is missing…”
“There was no furniture here from the beginning. It was completely empty.”
Then, as Frey frowned and began to inquire, Kania started staring at the exit with a nervous expression on her face. She then hurriedly cut off his words, and before Frey could even ask any further questions, she quickly changed the subject.
“By any chance, aren’t you hungry? Young Master?”
“Huh?”
“You have to eat to recover your health. So, I’ll get you something to eat.”
Having said that, Kania said so seriously. Seeing her serious expression, Frey smirked and opened his mouth.
“I guess you really are Kania, since you’re nagging me to eat.”
“Ye-Yes.”
“Well, even if I refuse, I’m sure you’ll just force feed me anyway… so I’ll eat it with gratitude. Thank you.”
“Then please wait here for a while. And, since Young Master’s current physical condition is the worst, don’t move from your bed.”
Upon hearing that, Frey nodded hard and smiled as Kania looked at him sullenly, then headed for the exit of the secret base.
“..Damn, I almost got caught. Since when the hell does he remember all that?”
After she came out, she wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and grumbled. Meanwhile, the furnitures that had the memories of their secret place were stacked around her.
.
.
.
.
.
“Uh… Kania? What’s all this?”
“It’s your meal, Young Master.”
Frey muttered as he looked at the food that Kania had brought in a daze.
“Um… well, how should I put it? It’s a rather humble meal, huh?”
“There’s nothing I can do, Young Master. There’s a very high chance that I’m also being watched, and because I can’t use black magic to hide myself right now, I had no choice but to grab these foods…”
Because she didn’t have money, she began to spout all sorts of excuses while looking at Frey.
Frey, who is notorious for his picky eating habits only feasts on high-end cuisine. That’s why Irina was worried that he might be furious.
“Haha… It’s fine! It reminds me of the past, so it’s nice.”
But as Frey continued to stare blankly at the food, she asked.
“…The past?”
“That’s right… When I was young, Irina and I used to roam the mountains near her house and build a secret base like this. Back then Irina would bring these sort of food.”
Frey, who was talking while looking at the food that Kania had brought with dim eyes, quickly smiled.
“The first time Irina brought these foods, I asked how on earth I was supposed to eat these things.”
“I….see.”
“Because of that, I got pissed off and didn’t talk to her for a while, then secretly took a bite off of what Irina was grilling on the fire… and it turned out to be really delicious.”
“Secretly?”
“Yes, she hit me soon after when I was discovered. Since then, I have tasted everything that she hunted and caught.”
Frey, who had been reminiscing about the with a pleasant expression on his face, finished his speech with a bitter smile.
“Anyway, I’ll take this opportunity to try a meal from the past.”
“I will do my best to prepare this.”
Upon Hearing his words, Kania replied seriously and began to reach out to the food she had caught.
“But how the hell did you get all this?”
“…Huh?”
However, Frey, who was looking at her quietly, asked curiously.
“No, If I remember correctly, you were pretty weak at this point… It’s amazing that you can catch a hare and a sparrow with your condition.”
“I’ve survived on the street for quite some time… I can do at least this much.”
“Ah… well, that’s true.”
Kania broke out in a cold sweat when she heard those words. She then changed the subject quickly, and gathered pieces of wood in preparation to light a fire.
“Oh… Irina used to do this often.”
Then Frey began to look at Kania with an anticipated gaze. Meanwhile, while hearing Irina’s name again, Kania struggled to maintain a calm expression and began to rub the chunks of wood together.
– Whoosh!
“How the hell do you do that?”
“You can use the heat generated from friction.”
“I know that, but… I’ve never succeeded at it even once. Irina made it look as easy as eating food.”
Of course, the fire was ignited not by frictional heat, but by a tiny spark generated from the tip of her finger. Not to mention, it was impossible for him to succeed since he was imitating the terrible technique she had previously shown Frey to brag. As such, she ignore these facts and continued to kindle the fire.
“Now we just have to wait.”
“It’s good … I feel like I’m playing with Irina in the mountain next to her house, just like when I was a child.”
Frey, who had described the current situation fairly accurately, began coughing again while watching the fish, hares and sparrows simmering in the fire for a while.
“Cough! Cough! Uh…”
“Are you really all right? Young Master?”
“Um… well, can I be honest?”
Upon Hearing this, Frey opened his mouth with a bitter smile.
“Actually, I’m not fine at all.”
“What?”
“If things proceed like this… maybe I’ll last two years?”
When she heard those words, Kania opened her mouth wide in shock.
“It’s not surprising… you knew this though, didn’t you?”
“Uh, that’s…”
“Yes, come to think of it, I didn’t have the life gauge I kept in my bag… Do you have it? Take it out.”
When Frey said that, Kania, who momentarily had a dumbfounded expression on her face, pulled something out of her pockets with trembling hands.
“Ah, there it is. Life gauge.”
“The date written here…”
“How many days is written there?”
When Frey asked with a grin, Kania answered in a subdued voice.
“…The date written here is two years and six months from now.”
“It seems my lifespan is cut in half each time.”
Even as he heard the day he would die, Frey muttered in a composed tone.
“Your lifespan is cut in half each time?”
“Um… I’ve been giving you life force since I was little, so when I entered the academy, I had barely 10 years of life left.”
“You gave Kania… no, you gave me life force…”
Frey shared his life force with Kania since they were kids. Kania’s eyes widened upon hearing this revelation, and she was about to ask Frey more about this subject. However, when she looked at Frey, she just bit her lips.
“When you first found out about me, the remaining lifespan shown on the life gauge was 5 years. I’ve been measuring it since then. Every time I get a penalty, my lifespan gets cut in half.”
“…Huh?”
“And out of the normal stack and the special stack I received this time, the special stack doesn’t affect the lifespan… So this time around, one normal stack is applied, and as a result, my lifespan is cut in half.”
Hearing those words, Kania’s complexion turned pale.
“By the way, who do you think noticed this time? First of all, I don’t know what the special stack does, so put it aside for now… Who do you think is the most likely to have noticed?”
“Th-That’s…”
“Actually, you said you didn’t know either. Sigh… This is a real dilemma. There are a few people who are suspicious, but if I asked directly if they noticed, and it turns out that they didn’t, I’ll be out of luck.”
Having said that, Frey began to cough again as Kania, who was staring at him blankly, asked one more question.
“What.. Would you do if you found out who noticed?”
“Well… I’d like to explain everything to get them on my side, but then they’d be the ones who would feel guilty.”
After saying that, Frey heaved a sigh, and then started talking in an anguished tone.
“Even though I did terrible things in the previous timeline to gain a ‘System’ that would allow me to defeat the Demon King…”
“The sins I have committed can’t and shouldn’t be justified.”
“Ah…”
“From the standpoint of someone who doesn’t know anything, I’m just a sinner who has committed countless evil deeds. That’s why, the five ‘Main Heroines’ who have retained their memories deserve to hate me. However, the problem is.. they’re all extremely kind. Secondly…”
Frey, who had been confiding his worries, suddenly saw Kania’s expression and stopped midway. He then smiled bitterly.
“Look, it’s been a while since you’ve known everything, yet you’re still making that kind of expression… What will happen to the other heroines?”
“U-Uh…”
“Should we stop talking about this now? It looks like the meat is already grilled.”
With that said, Frey tried to change the subject, but Kania, who quickly put a fish skewer in his hand, spoke in a low voice.
“…No, please continue.”
“To be honest, you’re the only one I can confide in with… I apologize, but I hope you stick with me for a little bit longer.”
Upon hearing that, Kania nodded her head, and Frey frowned and continued speaking .
“Even if I committed those sins for the greater good… the mental and physical pain suffered by the heroines, including you, will never go away.”
“Yes…”
“However, even if I explain that all of this was something I had to do to gain transcendent power to save the world.”
“Even if I ask for their cooperation, so I can keep committing evil deeds in order to defeat the Demon King.”
“What will they do with the memories, the suffering, the pain, and the anguish they had to endure all this time?”
“That…”
“When I first regressed, I honestly thought that once everything is finished, I’ll reveal that I’m actually a false evil, a fake villain. But then I realized the truth will only hurt them even more…”
Frey, who had said that, pointed to Kania, who had failed to control her expression again, and continued speaking.
“You already know the truth, yet you’re still suffering.”
“……”
“The pain you had to go through because of me should never be justified, even if my purpose was to save the world.”
“So, I sincerely hope you stop suffering from guilt.”
“But… you, no… the Young Master’s lifespan…”
“It’s still enough. The Academy invasion Incident will transpire within the time frame of two years and six months anyway…”
“That’s not it…”
Kania, who continued to stutter with a despondent expression, finally came to her senses and asked.
“What are the exact conditions for… ‘getting discovered’?”
“Um… the moment someone becomes ‘certain’ that I have falsely committed an ‘evil’ deed, the penalty is incurred.”
“Then, two months ago…”
“Yes, like you said, around that time, someone must have become ‘certain’ about my fallacies. That’s why I coughed out a lot of blood.”
Having said that, Frey coughed again. He then heaved a deep sigh and continued speaking.
“Anyway, because of those reasons… I don’t know what to say, even if I find out who discovered my secret.”
“…I see.”
“Sigh… By the way, there’s a problem. The ordeal will soon start again.”
“Ordeal?”
“Yes, it’s an accursed trial that even I don’t know who the hell created. Fortunately, I don’t have to go through it all at once, and instead can clear slowly one step at a time… Cough! Cough! Sorry. Let’s continue this conversation later.”
As Kania once again failed to control her expression, Frey quickly ended the discussion there and began to talk about the fish skewer in her hand.
“By the way, this is really delicious… I feel sorry for Irina, but it’s several times better than the fish she used to cook back in the day.”
“…it’s because of the experience.”
“Well, is it? You were good at cooking since the beginning…”
‘I’ve been living here alone for several years… and I’ve been grilling these all by myself, so it’s only natural that my skills improved.’
She smiled brightly and muttered under her breath what she wanted to say to him.
“Do you know what this is?”
“Yes, isn’t it the ‘Ice Dragon Berry’?”
“Ice Dragon…”
“Yes, Irina told me… A long time ago, there is a legend that the fish that ate this delicious berry became an Ice Dragon and ascended to heaven. That’s why it’s called ‘Ice Dragon Berry’. Isn’t it funny?”
Before long, Irina realized that Frey still believed the tale she came up on her own when she was a child. Looking at Frey speaking with an innocent face, she quickly closed her eyes and said.
“…I need to go to the bathroom for a moment.”
“Oh, yes. Go, go.”
As Frey nodded his head, Kania momentarily glanced at him seriously and then headed for the exit.
“Ugh…”
Coming out of the secret base, Irina, who had been pretending to be Kania until then, plopped down as she leaned against the tree next to her and groaned.
“Ugh, it hurts…”
It was because her stomach and chest had started to ache like they were being squeezed tight.
“…This must be the side effect of the transformation potion.”
She concurred that the sudden anomaly must have something to do with the potion. She then began to sort out all the facts that Frey had told her.
“…Fuck.”
Irina, who summarized everything he said in her head, his actions in both the present and past timelines, spat out a curse.
“What am I even supposed to do now…?”
She began muttering in a daze.
“Yes… Frey’s right… I don’t have to feel guilty… It was painful for us too… Even if he claims it was all for the sake of the world… How can I just accept that….”
She, who was hailed as the ‘Second Coming of Hellfire’ that burned everything, was judging the situation calmly as her heart turned cold due to numerous prolonged battles with the Demon King’s army and the death of her comrades.
Frey, whose time is slowly running out, has willingly chosen that path for himself.
Because of his ‘Special Ability,’ he was forced to commit evil deeds. Nonetheless, it was still a grave sin that he could never justify.
Even if the world was destroyed and the Demon King burned everything down, if he didn’t commit those sins. What he did…
‘…Can he justify it?’
Irina, who was immersed in such thoughts, soon shook her head vigorously in order to shake off those thoughts.
“Ha… Ha… Ha…”
Even though Irina managed to shake off her idle thoughts, her heart was still in turmoil.
“Because I noticed… his lifespan was cut in half? Half?”
As Frey says, she isn’t entitled to feel guilty, but for some reason her heart keeps aching, as if it will shatter.
“Then, did he take the ‘Oath of Death’… to give me mana?”
When she collapsed in the dueling ground during the performance evaluation, the vivid scene of Frey’s bewildered expression flashed through her mind.
“Even at the Freshmen welcome party for new students…?”
Irina, who was slowly turning crazy because of her own thoughts, suddenly opened her eyes and mumbled in a serious tone.
“Wait, then… How did he survive the ❰12 o’clock Curse❱?”
At first, she thought that the Demon King had intervened and protected Frey.
However, according to the facts revealed today, he is fighting against the Demon King.
If that’s the case… how did he avoid the dreadful ❰12 o’clock Curse❱?
‘I hope… I hope…!’
While Irina was pondering over this, she eventually realized that there was one terrifying possibility.
The possibility that Frey must have used the most devastating purification methods of all, the only way to escape the most lethal curse, the ❰12 o’clock Curse❱.
“No… It can’t… It can’t…”
Of course, there were only a few people across the continent, including Irina, who knew how to do it, so she started to deny it. However, when she recalled the instance when knew trick about ‘Sacrificial Magic Circle’ that only she was aware of, Irina began deliberating his words again.
“Before… he clearly said it was an Ordeal…”
Before long, as she recalled Frey’s meaningful remarks, her face gradually turned pale.
“Don’t have to go through it all at once… Slowly… One step at a time…”
Irina, who was helplessly repeating those words, rushed to the secret base where Frey was.
“Y-Young Master! Is that ordeal…!”
The moment she saw Frey, Irina tried to ask him about the so called 『Ordeal』 in a hurry. However—
“M-Mother…!”
“…..!”
Frey, who couldn’t even get up from his bed earlier because of the agonizing pain, sprang up instantly while quivering. He then laughed out loud cheerfully and began spouting gibberish. Upon seeing this sight, Irina froze on the spot.
” Even though it’s just a dream shown by the ordeal… It’s nice to see you again like this… Haha…”
“N-No…”
Having said that, Frey, who smiled brightly, clasped her hand. Meanwhile, Irina, who was staring at him, turned pale as she muttered in a despondent tone.
“Did… you really use that method?”
“I’m doing fine. Of course, I’m getting along well with my younger sister as well. My father is a little sick, but I must…”
However, in front of her, Frey only smiled beamingly as he clasped her hand.
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