I Figured It Out
I had it figured out. I spent some time contemplating exactly how to ask the question. Should I come across a little strict? Or should I use a gentle, coaxing tone? It was clear this girl was hiding something. The real question was which method would be best to draw it out of her. After turning it over in my mind several times, the conclusion I reached was simple: I would act like I normally did. There was no point in being harsh, and being soft wouldn't make her confess if she wasn't ready to. Secrets become much harder to reveal once the other person senses that something has changed. The easiest time to open up is when the other person truly knows nothing—when they can accept the truth objectively.
“Tell me, Iris.”
“...”
“Having secrets is perfectly normal for anyone. But if you have one, you really shouldn't let it show. It's only natural that it looks suspicious when you reveal it so blatantly. And that's why I have no choice but to ask like this. What happened? Can you tell me?”
“Master.”
“And if by any chance that secret isn't limited to just you—if it could affect someone else as well—then it's better for you and everyone else if you come clean right away.”
Unlike my other disciples, Iris was a hero with almost nothing known about her. The secrets she carried were things even I couldn't possibly know. The ones who knew the story from beginning to end were Garam through to Ester. In contrast, I knew nothing about Iris. If she was hiding something, I had every reason to uncover what it was.
“Do you really need to know?”
Iris looked at me cautiously as she spoke. As she said, there was no real reason for me to pry into her secrets. Everyone has at least one, after all. Trying to learn them would be extremely rude.
But Iris wasn't an ordinary person. She was a hero, just like the rest of my disciples. In fact, her title was none other than Last Hero. Because I had been dropped into this world the moment I selected her, my knowledge of Iris was practically a blank slate. If, at a moment like this, she was a character holding crucial information, and I simply dismissed it as a personal matter… it could cause all my plans to fall apart completely.
Last Hero — Iris Futurewalker
I decided to focus on that part. Why wasn't it something like “Hero of Whatever” like the other disciples? Why specifically Last Hero? Even the very first character that appeared hadn't been the “First Hero.” It had simply been like my other disciples—a “Hero of Something.” But unlike those characters, Iris had come with a completely different title. Last Hero. Last Hero. Last. Last. What could that possibly mean? Why would they attach such a title?
Thinking back, even the way she had identified the spy mixed among Garam's followers was suspicious. At first I thought it was pure coincidence, that the girl had simply made a mistake. But right afterward, instead of disappointment or a sense of betrayal toward that one-eyed woman, she had shown even deeper anger.
Iris had gained plenty of experience fighting monsters and demonic beasts. Although I had always spoken of the Demon God Worshippers with passionate hatred, calling them utter villains, the anger Iris displayed wasn't the kind that could arise from inexperience. It was an emotion only someone who had been badly burned by them before could produce.
Moreover, she had no combat experience against the Demon God Worshippers—not against fellow humans. Hurting another person isn't as easy as it sounds. Even I had spent several sleepless nights at first, tormented by guilt. If not for my own master's stern guidance, I might have become a complete wreck.
Until now I had simply thought she had matured, or considered it a mistake, and let all those small details pass without much thought. Now they were all clicking into place perfectly.
“Iris.”
“...Yes, Master.”
“Surely you don't distrust me—your own master? I'm not someone who would harm you.”
“No, of course not. It's just that…”
“At first, I thought it was impossible.”
Of course I had. This wasn't the world of some novel, and Iris was simply a game character. I had even wondered whether they were going to introduce a regressor like something straight out of a book. The game's overall story had only just finished Season 1. For a game barely entering the opening of Season 2 to already have a character who had experienced the ending…
But when I thought about it again, there was no rule saying such a hero character couldn't exist in the game. On the contrary, the “Last Hero” part made the possibility feel extremely high. Iris was the only character whose setting I knew almost nothing about. The developers might have released her with a special concept in mind.
“Iris. Are you truly Iris?”
“Of course. I am Iris. I am your disciple, Master.”
“At first I wondered if you might be a spy sent by the Enemy's Will.”
“What? Me? I… what?”
Half a lie, half the truth. With the other disciples, I had shaped their stories from the very beginning all the way to their final growth. There had never been any possibility they were enemy spies or would betray me. But Iris was a character with many parts—nearly all of them—shrouded in mystery. Given how insane the developers were, they might have inserted a truly ridiculous setting. For example, it turns out she was secretly an infiltrator for the enemy, something like that.
When I first felt that sense of alienation from her, I had suspected as much. The way she dealt with the Demon God Worshippers felt like acting. If they were using her as bait to build trust, it was entirely possible. But if Iris truly were that kind of person, there were more than one or two things that didn't add up. She knew who I was and had infiltrated anyway. What was she aiming for by staying at my side all this time? If she were truly an enemy, she should have done something by now, yet she had done nothing at all.
“No! How could I? How could I possibly do that to you, Master!”
“Yes. I thought so. So I'll ask you again, Iris. You really are Iris, correct?”
“Of course! I am your disciple. The hero you speak of, Master.”
“Then I'll change the question slightly. The current Iris. Is she truly the ‘current’ Iris?”
It seemed to have struck the mark. At my question, Iris flinched, biting her lip. Her tightly clenched fists trembled. She tried to part her lips, but in the end no words emerged. An uncomfortable silence settled between us. I could have pressed her, but I deliberately didn't. If Iris was hiding something from me, there had to be a reason. Whether she was going to explain that reason or avoid answering, she needed time to decide.
“...I am indeed your disciple Iris, Master.”
When the silence finally broke, Iris's eyes shone with a calm light. I could roughly guess what kind of answer that gaze would deliver.
“Next time, I will definitely—absolutely—give you an answer, Master.”
“I think this master of yours can already guess what answer you'll give.”
“...Yes. You can probably predict something like ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ But anything beyond that, you wouldn't know.”
“That's exactly why I'm asking for more than that. Can you answer me?”
Iris slowly shook her head. It wasn't out of stubbornness or some foolish notion. Her expression, her eyes—they made it clear there was something she simply could not say. She looked like she was frustrated enough to die, yet she still couldn't speak. If there was a reason she couldn't, then I had no choice but to understand.
“I promise. I swear. I'll show you everything. But not now. Right now…”
“...”
“Right now… I can't answer. I can't do it. I'm sorry. Truly…”
“All right. Then let's agree that you'll definitely give this master an answer later.”
I could have pushed harder. I could have dug deeper. But as a disciple of the Heavenly Demon, I hadn't wasted all that accumulated experience. Just by looking at Iris, I could clearly sense her desperate urgency, her heartbreaking regret. Pressing her any further in this situation wouldn't help at all. I already knew what kind of answer would come. That was enough. For now, I would be satisfied with that and take a step back. If my prediction was correct, there must be a reason she wasn't telling me right now. Something I didn't know—something only Iris knew. If she had truly regressed, there was no need for needless suspicion or provocation.
“Just don't take too long, you foolish disciple. Understood?”
Iris bit down hard on her lip. She had never wanted to hide anything from her master. On the contrary, she wanted to reveal everything and discuss solutions together with him. But the world—or the gods—were fair, weren't they? After granting Iris a path back to the past, they had given her no means whatsoever to tell anyone else about it.
She wanted to speak, but she couldn't. She wanted to show him, but she couldn't show him. Unless she could unfold the contents of her mind for him to see, there was simply no way.
It's horrible. I know everything. Master knows too. The fact that I can't say it…
Was this a blessing, or was it a curse? The moment she personally revealed that she had returned from the future—that she was a regressor—she would feel a portion of her perfectly preserved memories vanish along with terrible pain.
She had nothing but her future memories as a weapon. Losing them would mean throwing away the last chance she had barely grasped. So she had thought perhaps she could simply act without revealing that fact. That was why she had pretended to uncover the spy by coincidence and even tried acting a little more mature, like a proper hero.
But her master had seen through it far faster than she expected. The question of whether the disciple standing before him was truly the ‘current’ disciple. Even then, Iris had barely overcome another crisis where part of her memory had nearly vanished.
I need to find a loophole. A loophole.
What she had recalled was a ring once carried by a goblin merchant her master had encountered. It was said to be an artifact from an ancient kingdom. It wasn't engraved with any powerful attack or defense magic, but for the current Iris it was the most desperately needed accessory—an item that could transfer her memories and show them to whoever wore the ring.
Before her memories kept disappearing from revealing that she was a regressor, she had to show them somehow to the person she could trust most. How they had fought in the future. Who they had battled. What kind of future they had faced. And how they could keep from repeating that future and move forward instead.
“Just don't take too long, you foolish disciple. Understood?”
Of course I will, Master. I absolutely will. This might be the first and last chance. That's why I can't reveal my identity at this moment. Because among the memories that might disappear, there could be something incredibly important.
Unknowingly, Iris recalled that final moment and had to swallow her tears.
Master. This time, I'll definitely save you.