194. A regression, but not a regression.
194. A regression, but not a regression.
"Huaaa~~~am.... ugh...."
When I woke up in the morning, I didn't feel any change.
Just casually checked my schedule like usual, only keeping in mind that tomorrow was the day I'd meet Hestia.
"Crunch."
I briskly chewed up one chocolate sitting next to the table...
"....Huh?"
This was definitely something I threw away yesterday.
Did I not throw it away yesterday? They say if you get forgetful a lot, it's dementia—had that age already come for me?
As I roughly tore open the wrapper and was about to toss it in the trash, a strange texture grazed my fingertips.
"....A phone number?"
A memo with a phone number written on it.
A strange sense of déjà vu, or should I say, today felt eerily reminiscent of yesterday.
[Déjà vu, ever felt it?]
"....Ffffuck."
A situation that brought luxury watches to mind.
Still, I hadn't felt anything particularly strange up to that point.
It could've been Rhea pulling it out of the trash due to her unfulfilled longing, after all.
If that were the case, it'd mean the chocolate that went into my mouth had done a butterfly stroke through the trash can, but it was still within the tolerable range.
A guy who'd wiped a stranger's ass on the spot wasn't going to get queasy over just this much.
"Ugh...."
Though I might've been a little queasy.
Anyway, if my stomach turned, I could just freshen up with something refreshing.
I went outside, opened the fridge, and was about to take out the side dish container Mama Theia packed yesterday to eat——but why was the fridge completely empty?
"Strange...."
There should've been three clearly visible.
The containers were definitely a bit small, but there should've still been enough left for today's portion.
Just in case, I went into the room where Mai was and asked.
"Did you eat something alone last night by any chance?"
".....How would Big Brother know that?"
"Ah, I knew it?"
A simple deduction.
All the side dishes I received yesterday were vegetable-focused namul types.
And among our household members, if there was one person who'd go crazy over vegetables, Mai was the prime suspect.
She's a horse, after all.
She's a herbivore.
So wouldn't she go even crazier over namul?
She must've lost herself to the freshness of grass blades she hadn't tasted in a while and mixed them into her food all night long.
"No matter how delicious it is... we're family living together, and you ate it all by yourself? And what if you get sick from that?"
"....Affirmative. Delicious things are for shaering."
"Shaer...?"
She probably meant to say sharing, but the nuance was a bit off.
"It's sharing because it's Big Brother."
"Huh?"
With her eyes half-closed, Mai glanced around here and there.
As if cautious that no one must see, she carefully reached for the drawer next to the PC tower.
"5 bundles. 100 sheets. Total 5 million won."
".........?"
Then, from underneath, came five bundles of 50,000-won bills.
"Fifty-fifty. It's industry common sense."
".......Um..."
Something, this was definitely something something.
I returned to my room with the bundles of 50,000 won cradled in my arms.
"....What is this."
I came to ask about the whereabouts of the side dish containers,
and got my mouth shut with five bundles of 50,000 won... was that how I should see it?
Huuuh?
But no matter how delicious the side dishes were, five 50,000-won bundles? She forked over 5 million won?
"Just how much did the kid like them...."
Was she buying a side dish container for 1 million won?
And where did she even get those bundles of bills in the first place?
Despite feeling dumbfounded, since I'd received what I'd received, I hid it under my desk drawer.
For now, this was money I didn't know about.
Just like before, and onward forever.
".....Ugh."
I was wide awake now.
Suddenly being faced with 5 million won.
Anyway, since it was unearned income, I decided to blow it on gacha, turned on my phone, and prepared to become a fine teacher.
[Psycho Game~~s!]
"Today was 50 gems, right?"
Click. Click. Click. Attendance reward.
Today's attendance reward was──2 low-grade enhancement stones.
".....?"
That wasn't right.
That was what I got yesterday.
There might be days I mistake dates, but there wouldn't be a day I mistake gacha rewards?
Wondering what was going on, I checked the date and rechecked the attendance reward.
"23rd, Friday.... Friday's reward is 2 low-grade enhancement stones... right?"
It's correct? Friday. 2 low-grade enhancement stones.
The reward was right. And today was Friday.
"......Uh..."
Something, this was something.
Something was something something.
I got up from my seat again and went into Mai's room.
"Today I'll be conquering Souta...."
"Oh."
I shut the door just like that.
"My eyes."
BL, of all things.
Roses, of all things.
Garden of Roses, of all things.
Unconsciously, the power of my sphincter clenched tight and I went into a defensive stance, as the door slowly opened and Mai looked up at me asking.
"Business."
"Uh.... well...."
A look that seemed to say if it was trivial business, my youth membrane would be in danger.
Pretending to be as nonchalant as possible, I asked Mai.
"Yesterday... those side dishes from Ms. Theia. If you ate all of it, you washed all the containers too, right?"
"Huh? Ms. Theia?"
"....The person who gave us the side dishes."
"What are you talking about. Yesterday was vongole paStar."
"............"
We ate meal kit, and you forgot that too?
If it was dementia, Mai said she'd hold my hand and take me to the hospital.
Mai sent me an unexpectedly worried look.
For now, I said it was fine and returned to my room.
"So... that means...."
The chocolate I threw away yesterday was sitting on my desk.
The mobile game's attendance reward was what I received yesterday.
Mai didn't know about Mama Theia's existence.
The date was clearly yesterday's date.
"....Ah, no way."
One thing could be deduced from this.
"Suddenly a regression story?"
No wonder Rhea snapped her fingers.
****************
"Rhea! Where is Rhea!"
First, I searched the house.
"Have you seen Rhea?"
"Huh? She was at Chrono's place..."
I even went to the Ares Guild.
"....For now, I'll have to search thoroughly, right?"
I took a quick peek at Red Glass Lamp Street or whatever it was.
It was a bit dizzying with all the police cars packed in tight.
"Life..."
I searched all the places worth searching like that, but Ultimately, Rhea was nowhere to be seen.
Ultimately, time flowed as time does, the sun set, and all I did was sit blankly on a bench in front of the fountain, sighing.
"What on earth do you want from me."
As I sat on the bench, I put my hand in my pocket.
The texture of paper felt at my fingertips.
When I pulled it out, Mama Theia's phone number was written on it.
"....Right."
First, I had to confirm it.
I made a call through the number.
─Ring♬... Click!
[Hello!]
"....This is Chrono."
The call connected before it even rang properly.
On the other end of the phone, Ms. Theia asked me in a trembling voice.
[Do you... remember 'yesterday'...?]
"I remember."
[Ah......!]
A thud, the sound of collapsing.
I got up from my seat and said.
"I'll head over there now."
Whether it went well or poorly, things would only start once we met.
As I stood from the bench and tried to walk according to memory, Mama Theia said from the other end of the phone.
[No. Let's meet at the place we promised before.]
".......Yes."
The place we promised before.
The reason she deliberately didn't specify 'the cafe' was probably to test whether I truly 'remembered' or not.
I wasn't particularly offended by being tested.
The other person was in a situation just as flustered, the voice over the phone felt like it was like that, and besides, this could be another piece of proof.
'That we share the same time.'
Honestly, I probably didn't think that deeply about it.
Simply, since it was evening, rather than bringing a strange man home to have dinner together, meeting separately would be better for the family to see.
So I went to the cafe beforehand and ordered exactly what we had yesterday...
"Hello, our fun Hero?"
"Hestia...?"
Why would someone who should be guarding her hearth follow along behind Mama Theia?
Wondering what was going on, I looked at Mama Theia, and she shook her head as she spoke.
"Tia too... Hestia also said she 'remembers'."
".....Really?"
I asked Hestia.
Whether she truly remembered the events of 'yesterday' and 'today'.
To this, Hestia smiled brightly and answered.
"Nope? Obviously a lie!"
""............""
The answer was so honest that I was at a loss for words.
"H-h...how..."
How could you do that to me...?
Eyes that even felt sorrowful. At the look in Mama Theia's eyes, Hestia said.
"But it was too obvious?"
Suddenly showing up and asking 'yesterday... no, today? So, yesterday? Do you remember yesterday?' went beyond that,
leading into 'We all had dinner together yesterday...!'
and then '!,... Could it be Tia, you too...?'
"Well, wouldn't it be stranger not to know?"
"Th-then at that time! How did you guess Mom's question!"
"Huh? The question?"
What did we eat at home yesterday?
"Well, since you would've eaten what was in the house, wouldn't you have had it with the namul?"
My mom's secretly kind of a lazy bum, you know.
"Ah...."
Not because she remembered.
An answer that came from knowing.
[My mom's behavior is predictable as can be.]
A technique possible because she was her child.
"............."
"There there, Mom, you stay here and drink your latte."
Setting aside the dumbfounded Mama Theia, Hestia made eye contact with me again.
"Our fun-filled Hero, right now you probably think you're 'regressing.' Am I right?"
"Uh.... yes."
A tone as if she knew everything.
Hestia said as if it were nothing difficult.
"In the first place, this entire world is fake? Even if you wanted not to know, you couldn't help but know!"
".....Huhhh?"
Wait.
I couldn't follow the story.
"First, let me correct one of our Hero's misconceptions."
Hestia spoke.
"What our Hero is doing right now isn't 'regression'."
".....Huhhhh?"
As an aside.
"Then... if it's not regression, what is it?"
"Wanna know?"
".........."
A look as if she knew something.
But also a look as if I had to give something in return to know.
"What do you want from me."
"As expected of our Hero. As loved by the gods as you are, your situational awareness is quick too?"
Still smiling, Hestia stroked my head as she spoke.
"First, I'd like to lose my virginity."
".....Huh?"
A sudden statement.
"It's a world that'll start over anyway, right? Then naturally my virginity would come back too."
Rational reasoning.
"And besides...."
What followed after that.
"'Today' is the day you hang out with me, isn't it?"
".......Ah."
The promise.
Hanging out with Hestia once every three days.
Hestia smiled brightly.
"Take good care of me, our lucky charm Hero!"
Hestia wore a smile so radiant it seemed even the onlooker would brighten.