200. It's not like I completely hate it.
200. It's not like I completely hate it.
25th loop.
"Hero, shall I give you a massage?"
"Huh...?"
Hestia suggested a massage.
Naturally, I told her I didn't want it and to stop, but she insisted it was all part of the training and went ahead with it.
"How is it? Cool and refreshing?"
"Nyeheheee...!"
She really only gave a massage.
She absolutely did not provide any strange sexual services.
....Maybe because of that, I felt like something was building up more.
28th loop.
"Doesn't your neck hurt lying down like that?"
"......You don't mean."
She came over to me as I lay sprawled on the floor and gave me a lap pillow.
She really only gave me a lap pillow.
"I can see you're getting more and more accustomed to 'Time'. Hang in there just a little longer!"
"....Yep.."
I looked up, but I couldn't see the sky.
Like mother, like daughter—the size was one big size.
Naturally, I didn't do anything weird during training.
...
..
.
31st loop.
About one month since entering the regression.
"We need to form a deeper bond."
"A bond... you say..?"
I thought she would bestow her protection as usual, but Hestia shook her head.
"I told you before, didn't I? The stronger the connection, the greater the size of the protection I can pass on."
But conversely, this meant that the shallower the connection, the more limited the quantity and quality of the protection she could pass on.
And now, that limit had begun to appear noticeably.
"It's better than nothing. But the effect... will probably gradually decrease."
If I hadn't 'regressed', it wouldn't have been a problem.
If that were the case, the consistency of having received protection until now would have deepened the connection further.
However, since I regress every loop, the bond also gets reset every loop.
Ultimately, a situation where we needed a way to form a deep bond all at once.
".........."
And Chrono wasn't someone who couldn't understand what Hestia meant by those words.
He understood. He understood all too well.
To that extent, Chrono also knew perfectly well what kind of events would follow.
'....Sorry.'
Apologizing even within his heart,
Chrono got up from his spot and prepared.
The R-18 rated development that would soon follow.
In terms of tags, it would be─
─Seogeok!
"Guh...!"
Gore, wasn't what I expected...?
"This much... should be enough."
"Hestia?!"
Hestia had taken a small utility knife from her pocket and cut her index finger.
I hurriedly stood up to find something to stop the bleeding, but would there be anything like a bandage on the training ground in the first place?
Ultimately, all I could do was wash her hand at the nearby faucet to brush off the dirt and dust.
'No, why on earth.'
Why was she doing such strange self-harming behavior?
In a situation that was not just bewildering but flat-out absurd, Hestia spoke.
"Hero. Say ah~."
She told me to open my mouth and say ah.
She said this while showing her index finger, from which blood was dripping drop by drop.
".....You don't mean."
The means by which she had conveyed her protection before was water.
To be precise, it was like water mixed with alcohol, like alcohol mixed with water—frankly speaking, it was a 'bond' through 'saliva'.
But that was insufficient to make the connection stronger for him.
Therefore, to supplement this, something thicker than water and alcohol...
"This will probably be enough."
Blood.
Drops of blood.
They stain the floor of the training ground.
"Hurry. You want me collapsing from excessive blood loss?"
"........Ah─eup."
I put Hestia's finger in my mouth.
─Jjeup....Jjeueup...
"............"
While her finger was being sucked, Hestia didn't say a single word.
She didn't squirm, saying it tickled.
She didn't scold me, telling me not to think strange thoughts.
She was just silently, wordlessly.
She was simply looking down at me with a faint smile.
"Mm... that's enough now."
As I took her finger out of my mouth, a thick liquid mixing saliva and blood gathered at the tip of her nail and dripped down.
Drops of blood still beading and falling. Without showing a single hint of pain, Hestia spoke to me.
"That's all for today. See you tomorrow, Hero!"
She was about to leave, smiling brightly.
"Wait a moment."
"....Hm?"
I grabbed her.
I had no choice but to grab her.
Because
"Why... was it 'blood'?"
Because I couldn't understand.
"Well, because blood is a bit thicker?"
"No. It's not that."
Not some 'superficial' reason like that.
"If you had... you know, suggested we, you know, mate earlier, I wouldn't have been able to refuse."
Because I have to end the regression.
Because I want to go back quickly.
Because I had already hit a wall just sticking to loyalty alone.
I would probably have gone through all sorts of excuses and joined bodies with Hestia.
And
"I don’t think she doesn’t know that."
Because she is 'Hestia'.
Because I believe the 'Hestia' I've watched all this time would notice at least this much.
And indeed, she was smiling as if my words were correct.
"You... wanted to, with me, didn't you?"
"Of course I'd want to?"
A fundamental question.
"But then why...."
Why.
Why.
Did Hestia deliberately choose the method of 'blood'?
"Isn't it obvious?"
To this, Hestia answered.
"I don't want to do things my Hero hates."
".....!"
Something I hate.
Right. Hestia was correct.
This was something I 'hated'.
Even if recently there had been times when my heart nearly leaned toward it, and even if the excuses for it were all somewhat convincing.
"That's...."
Nevertheless, I...
"...Yeah."
I would have regretted getting involved with Hestia.
I would probably have felt sorry and guilty looking at Mars and the other girls.
And since Hestia already knew this feeling of mine, she had used such extreme measures.
"If it were up to me, I'd want to do whatever I like, too."
"But... even so, I don't want to do as I please by completely ignoring Hero's feelings."
"........Even so."
Drops of blood slowly soaking into the ground below.
The scent of Hestia's blood remaining full inside my mouth.
Toward Hestia, who wore a bitter smile, perhaps from feeling pain, I spoke.
"Don't do it. From now on."
"Hm?"
I said it.
"I'd rather... do it. I think it's better to do it."
"Uuuuhm? But just earlier, Hero said, didn't he?"
That he didn't want to join bodies like that.
That he would definitely feel guilty.
But you're suddenly changing your words?
"That's...."
Hestia was right.
There I was, wavering like an indecisive fool.
The frustrating guy for whom Hestia had even gone so far as to spill her own blood, now coming back and saying it's 'okay to do it'.
From the listener's perspective, it would probably be infuriating, but...
"...That's just better, rather than this."
"Better?"
I placed my hand over Hestia's finger.
"Me being a little troubled... is better than seeing her in pain."
"............"
No, in truth, it wasn't even that hard of a thing.
Because in the first place, since I regress, everything that happens today becomes a non-event.
So... it's that, you know. What happened just now was like a fleeting dream.
"And it wasn't that I hated it completely either."
"....Ah..."
Saying it's hard was just it being privately hard on me, but since it's a 'regression', no particular problem occurs in the future.
It's just
My heart was a bit like that.
"Stay still for a moment."
"Eut──?!"
I placed my hand over the wounded finger.
What was needed was 'Time'. What I adjusted was 'the period for recovering the damage'.
As I accelerated Time, the wound soon solidified as if regenerating, a scab formed, and before long it fell off, the wound cleanly disappeared.
"Done."
"..........."
With this, treating the wound was over.
I wondered if it would work, but surprisingly, it did work when I tried.
'I couldn't do it to this extent before.'
Perhaps because my perception of 'Time' had broadened and I had become sensitive to 'Time' itself, detailed control seemed to have become somewhat possible.
"See you tomorrow, Hestia."
I lifted my head and looked at Hestia.
"............"
"...Hestia?"
"Hit?! Th-this... um... euh...."
A face flushed bright red.
Eyes spinning round and round.
Irregular breathing.
And
"Okay! Okay okay! Go on now! Go safely! I’ll go first!"
"Wait──"
"I'm going first~~~~~!"
".....That way.."
Is the opposite direction.
Hestia ran off in the exact opposite direction from her house.
I stared blankly at her retreating figure when suddenly a thought occurred to me.
'Come to think of it'
Those stories where the childhood friend who normally seemed loose and easygoing
Actually became incredibly demure and shy about everything after you start dating.
"....Nah, no way."
I've just read too many comics.
After that, I silently walked through the empty streets and returned home.
"....Heung...♬....Heuheung....♬"
A strange humming sound coming out of me without realizing.
"Heuheum....heung....heuheuheung....."
Unusually light footsteps.
A mind not just refreshed, but cool and clear.
".......Heueum..."
I walked and
walked
and walked some more, and after arriving home.
I lay on my bed and recalled what happened earlier.
'So that means....'
Hestia fed me her blood.
I was moved by that and told her it was better to just do it once, and never to hurt herself again.
"....So what this means is."
Looking at it objectively.
All the actions I took towards Hestia.
"..............."
It was just like when I was with Mars or Ur.
Mars.
Ur.
The actions I took when I was with those girls.
"....No way."
Did I fall for her? Did love sprout again in the midst of all this?
Come to think of it, lately there were often times when my heart malfunctioned while looking at Hestia.
Sometimes my face would burn up when she came close
My heart would beat mercilessly making me dizzy
And also, I kept getting agitated at the skinship that occasionally occurred
"............."
This, this couldn't be.
This wasn't something I should give a definitive answer to.
On top of that, this was, to the very end, something that happened during a 'regression'.
What about after the regression ends?
Do I go find Hestia then and say, 'You won't remember, but actually, we had baby-making seggs through the SuXin's GeXte!'?
"....Ggeueuk...."
I don't know.
I have absolutely no idea what's what.
I couldn't even guess about my own feelings.
My chest was frustrated and my head was dizzy.
I needed something, a clear answer.
And that's why I....
"It's been a while, Ur."
"...Chrono!"
Ur, if you know the right answer, please tell me.