Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Lost Connection (6)
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-Bang.
The door slammed shut, revealing an unfamiliar scene before her eyes.
"……."
It was clearly a room she'd never seen before.
Yet for some reason, it felt familiar.
Rafne had been imprisoned in this tower as punishment for losing her duel with Ken.
No one told her how long it would last.
She was simply left here alone, waiting for a day that might never come.
"……You said you liked me."
Tears dripped from Rafne's downcast eyes.
"…You said you liked me."
Her words were laced with resentment.
But the tears weren't from injustice.
After losing the duel to Ken, she remembered the words he'd spoken while looking at her.
'As payment for tormenting me, Rafne—you're confined to this tower.'
She recalled the cold gaze in his eyes.
Why had she forgotten?
She was the one who'd tormented him.
At some point, blinded by the tender feelings she'd developed for him, she'd forgotten that fact.
Facing his icy stare had brought it all rushing back.
Rafne didn't resent being locked in the tower.
"…Hic, sob."
It was just that cold look in his eyes.
The realization that the happy future she'd dreamed of with him was no longer possible.
That was what pierced her heart.
"Why… why did I do those things?"
Now, she regretted her past actions.
"…Hic, I'm such an idiot."
She collapsed to the floor, tears flowing endlessly.
More than the man who'd professed his love only to lock her away,
she hated herself for causing him pain.
"I'm such a real idiot…."
Just a short while ago, she hadn't felt these emotions at all.
Overnight, her mind filled with thoughts of him.
Overnight, she dreamed of becoming his lover.
Forgetting completely what she'd done.
And suddenly, Rafne stared at the empty space before her.
The room was furnished with everything needed for daily life.
Yet it felt utterly hollow.
"…Why… does it feel like this."
Her shoulders trembled as she gazed at the void.
For some reason, this place repulsed her.
A nauseating sensation crept up from her chest.
But she couldn't grasp what it was.
It was a feeling she'd never experienced before.
Yet it was so familiar it terrified her.
"…Ah, aaah…."
Suddenly, the sensation swelled enormously.
"N-No, I hate it, hatehatehate━…!"
She clutched her head, curled into a ball, and collapsed onto the cold stone floor.
Then she understood the source of this overwhelming disgust.
A torrent of crushing loneliness.
And the pain of everyone rejecting her.
Her parents, her family, her friends, the academy, even her country.
No one came looking for her.
Everyone had turned away.
The forgotten despair surged back.
"Hic, ugh…."
For some reason, amid this familiar terror, as her body shook in panic, Ken's face kept appearing in her mind.
"…Ke, Keeeenn…. Hic, Keeeenn!"
Tears soaked the floor as she endlessly called the name of the one she yearned for.
When everyone shunned her.
Only one person.
The one who'd always come looking for her.
And the more desperately she sought him,
'I told you I'd never abandon you….'
fragments of memories she'd never lived flashed in her mind.
"What… is this."
Through tear-filled, despairing eyes, Rafne stared at the center of the room.
There she was—herself.
Sobbing hysterically, clinging to someone, begging them not to leave.
And before her stood the familiar figure she longed for.
A round, clumsy-looking body.
Yet kinder to her than anyone.
'Stop crying now. I'll come again tomorrow.'
A gentle smile gazed tenderly at her in the memory.
As long as they were together.
Just being together.
It made her immune to anyone who rejected her.
That precious person.
Those precious memories.
"……What… is this."
Rafne watched the unfamiliar scene with hollow eyes.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'I wonder if she's okay.'
In my dorm room, I gazed at the rising moon, lost in thought.
My mind was filled with Rafne.
Just as I'd planned, she'd been locked back in that tower.
During my consultation with Alicia, when we discussed shocking her enough to restore her memories,
the tower had immediately come to mind.
The root of everything that led me to meet Rafne.
The space that dominated her lost memories.
I recalled the first time I met her.
Her broken state, clinging to me, begging me not to go.
"…Is she alright?"
That's why I was worried.
She'd truly hated being alone there.
That's why I'd made the pendant to break her curse and free her from the tower.
"…Sigh."
I gently stroked the pendant on my hand.
Having made it once, I could recreate it by converting mana to fill in the missing materials.
Of course, she didn't need such an item anymore.
Still, it was the fruit of our shared efforts and memories.
'…She's probably suffering.'
Even without her memories, past emotions could resurface easily.
Being locked in that tower would surely bring back those feelings from back then.
I looked again at the moon shining in the dark sky.
I imagined Rafne, alone in the tower, trembling in fear.
"……."
I can't leave it like this.
I immediately leaped out the window.
-Thud.
My light body landed softly.
I ran along the familiar path to that longed-for place.
Originally, I'd planned to leave her alone in the tower for a few days.
In case a shorter time wasn't enough to restore her memories.
But wanting her memories back was just my selfishness.
Was it okay for her to suffer in the tower because of my desires?
I'd just locked her away myself today.
Yet here I was, rushing back out of worry. It was ridiculous.
'…I'll just check on her condition briefly.'
It didn't take long to reach the base of the familiar tower.
The tall, dilapidated structure—worn, shabby, simple.
"Hmm, peeking through the door would be tough without being seen…?"
I looked up at the towering height.
The only opening: the window of Rafne's room.
Something I couldn't have imagined doing before.
But I planned to climb the outer wall and approach the window.
With strength to take down field boss-level monsters solo,
this was nothing.
-Hop.
I jumped straight up carefully to avoid making noise above.
Reaching halfway up, I gripped a suitable spot.
As expected from the old tower, cracks made handholds easy.
Soon, I reached the top floor—my target.
The window.
-Grip.
I carefully grasped the frame and pulled myself up.
It was late at night.
Normal Rafne would be asleep by now.
No sounds from inside, so probably not crying.
I peeked my head over the sill to check the room.
'……Not on the bed….'
Then I spotted her collapsed on the floor.
"Ra, Rafne━!"
I shouted involuntarily and slipped through the window into the room.
Locking her in the tower was too harsh after all.
Especially a place that already tormented her.
I rushed over and scooped her up.
"Rafne━! Come on, snap out of it━!"
Her body was warm, breathing steady.
But her face was twisted in agony.
"…Mm."
As I held her with one arm and shook her shoulder with the other, she slowly opened her eyes.
"Ken…."
Seeing me holding her, her pupils trembled.
"……Ken."
She raised one hand to my chest, gripping my collar.
As if telling me not to go anywhere.
Then her hand slid up, and soon she wrapped both arms around my neck.
The familiar warmth of Rafne's body pressed against me as she buried her face in my neck.
"Ra, Rafne…. You okay?"
Seemed like no injuries.
But something was off.
She clung to me silently for a moment.
No words.
Then suddenly, she spoke.
"Ken… do you hate me a lot?"
Her voice trembled.
Unlike her recent bold tone, it was anxious and fearful.
'Because I locked her in the tower….'
I couldn't respond.
Denying it wouldn't change that I'd confined her under the pretext of payback.
I just gently stroked her hair with regret.
"Listen… I know I did things that deserve hatred."
Rafne continued.
Her voice choked with sobs, on the verge of tears.
She lifted her face from my neck and looked at me.
As expected, tiny teardrops welled in her eyes, gazing sadly at me.
"But I keep thinking of you."
"Rafne…."
The tears grew, spilling down her cheeks to her chin, then the floor.
"I know I was bad… but I keep thinking of you, keep wanting to see you."
Unable to meet my eyes, she bowed her head.
"…So I got to meet you like this. The you I've wanted to see so much."
She shook her head.
"No…."
"……No?"
What did she mean by no?
I'd expected her to seek me out—it was familiar, inevitable.
She'd always done so, even before losing her memories.
But she said it wasn't me.
"The Ken I've been longing for, the one I keep missing… isn't like this… hic."
"…Rafne, you."
"I miss you. I have no memories with the you before you lost weight… but I miss that you so much…."
Finally, she pressed her face into my chest and sobbed.
'This….'
It's working.
Even before the tower, she'd sought me, but now she clearly longed for the past me.
Not my current, slimmed-down self.
The me who'd kept visiting her in this tower.
But she hadn't fully recalled the memories.
Something was missing.
Locked in this traumatic space, fragments had resurfaced.
But not the complete past.
"Rafne."
I stroked the hair of the girl sobbing into my chest and called her name.
Gently grasping her shoulders, I lifted her face, wet with tears.
"…My appearance has changed a lot. …But the Ken Fine Stein you're looking for is definitely me."
"……."
"I'll prove it now."
Her eyes stared at me silently.
Actually, when Alicia mentioned shock therapy, this was the first method that came to mind.
But I'd held off, unsure if such an intense memory from my perspective would work for her.
Now, though, it should be fine.
For a Rafne seeking me this desperately.
This memory would surely be special and intense for her too.
So I approached the tearful girl gazing up at me.
And kissed her.
"…Mmph?!"
Her surprised muffled voice at the sudden kiss, but her trembling hands didn't push me away.
Instead, they gripped my shoulders tightly, as if pleading not to let go.
The soft touch of Rafne's lips after so long.
Her warm body heat and familiar, comforting scent enveloped me up close.
"……Ah, aaah…"
Moments later, as I slowly pulled away, Rafne's face flushed crimson, her eyes shaky as she looked at me.
"Y-Y-Y-You just… k-kissed my… l-lips…!"
Her stammering mouth and panicked, spinning eyes betrayed her fluster.
Then—
Pffft.
"…Hweee."
Steam rose from her head as she collapsed into my arms.
"Wha, whaa?! Rafne?!"
I hadn't expected her to faint.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Probably the intense stress from the tower, the disconnect between the me in her memories and the real me,
and the sudden kiss mixing shock and excitement overloaded her brain.
I stroked Rafne's cheek as she lay on the bed, guessing as much.
'No fever.'
Fortunately, after laying the limp, steaming Rafne on the bed, she calmed down over time.
Now her face was peacefully at rest.
'…Did it work properly?'
No other intense experiences came to mind that I could give her.
Diving into traps in Tarros Tower was intense too, but
I couldn't put her through that danger.
I hoped this would bring her memories back.
Holding her hand, waiting prayerfully,
"…Mm."
Rafne opened her eyes.
-Rustle.
"Rafne? …You okay to sit up?"
She immediately sat up.
Staring blankly ahead.
No response to my calls.
Worried, I waited for her next move.
Then
"……Huh, …huh?"
Light returned to her dazed eyes, and her face filled with bewilderment.
"Rafne…?"
"Ken…."
I called softly from beside her, and her panicked, trembling eyes turned to me.
For some reason, her face showed fear.
…What's going on?
If it was the kiss, she'd be embarrassed, not scared.
…No way.
"Rafne, did your memories come back?"
"……."
I asked the moment I'd longed for.
Gripping her hand with a trembling heart.
But Rafne, oblivious or not to my earnestness, awkwardly averted her eyes like bad acting.
"M-Me-Memories? Hehe, Ken, wh-what are you talking about? Memories? I've never forgotten you?"
Her memories are back.
The Rafne before me now—her look, her vibe—was exactly like before the past changed.
But….
"……Why can't you meet my eyes?"
"Wh-Why? M-Me? No? I can look just fine?"
Something was off with Rafne.
She seemed like she was hiding something.
Having spent the longest time with her since possessing Ken, I could read her reactions pretty well.
"…Wooow~ Back from the trip, huh? Weird~ Opened my eyes and I'm on the bed, hehe."
Especially this reaction—it was classic lying Rafne.
If her memories returned,
…why lie?
And what lie was she telling?
"…Wait, back from the trip?"
"……Eep."
She probably meant after conquering Tarros Tower and returning.
…Did her memories reconnect from that point?
'Then the memories from when she lost them…?'
Restoring memories shouldn't erase the new ones overlaid after the past changed.
But her words made it sound like those were gone.
"…He, hehe."
"……."
As I stared suspiciously, she tried to laugh it off awkwardly.
But as my gaze persisted, she started sniffling.
"S-Sorry, sorry, sorry, sooo sorry…!!"
Tears burst as she hugged my waist.
"Hic, I'm sooo sorry…! Keeen…!! But that wasn't me, I swear…!! It was the me with no memories…!!"
She looked up, pleading desperately.
Ah, I see. So that's it.
The memory-less Rafne had still tormented me.
Now, regaining memories mixed the tormenting ones with our shared past.
She was apologizing so profusely probably because of the bullying even into second year.
"Hic, I'm sooo sorry…! For doing those awful things, I'm sooo sorry…!!"
She burst into loud sobs.
I had no memories of it, so I didn't even know what she'd done.
For her to cry and beg like this,
……what the hell did she do?
I pressed her on it afterward, but Rafne just shook her head and wouldn't answer.
Well, from my perspective, it was something that never happened.
I didn't pry further.
Instead,
"Welcome back, Rafne."
I hugged her and stroked her hair.
"……Ken."
Rafne's memories had returned.