Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Interlude
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I kept sleeping until I opened my eyes again.
I thought the sleep you get while recovering from injuries wouldn't involve dreams.
But unexpectedly, that wasn't the case. It felt like I'd had a long dream.
It was a strange dream.
A landscape I'd never seen before floated into my mind.
A woman with long pink hair cascading down her back.
She resembled a girl I knew, but she looked far more mature.
At the very least, it had to be much further in the future.
But she was wearing a mask over her face, which was different.
The girl never covered her face. There was no reason to hide her beauty.
So, did this woman have a reason to hide hers?
She looked my way and said something.
I couldn't quite make out the words.
That's how dreams are. You can't control your body as you wish.
But the me listening to her seemed much more mature than I was now.
My eye level was higher, as if I'd grown taller, and the glimpses of my physique suggested it was incomparable to my current self.
The future, huh. Or maybe a parallel world.
As I watched with those thoughts, the scenes flashed by rapidly.
A battlefield scarred by fierce combat.
Craters dotted the ground, and a woman lay there.
The same woman with pink hair I'd seen before.
Her mask was shattered as she lay dying.
The face beneath it was a gruesome sight.
It looked like it had been torn off by someone, drained of all light.
Far off in the distance, a woman with red eyes lay dead.
I remembered her. The villain I'd defeated right before losing consciousness.
I see.
In this world, Adelheit had taken down Bloodyd.
I had no idea how it had come to that.
But it didn't matter. It was a future that wouldn't happen anyway.
Once I'd defeated Bloodyd, there was no reason for Adelheit to hide her face behind a mask anymore.
"……."
I seemed to be by Adelheit's side.
My gaze shifted downward.
There lay the Third Imperial Princess, dying.
She'd been saying something up until now, but I couldn't hear it clearly.
Yet, for some reason, her final words rang crystal clear in my ears.
"Do I... look beautiful to you?"
A voice far more mature than the current Adelheit's.
But stained with regret compared to the Adelheit I knew now.
Suddenly hearing something like that in a dream—what was I supposed to do?
Yet, for some reason, I found myself affirming it naturally.
"Yes. You are beautiful."
There was no need to say otherwise.
Objective facts didn't matter here.
The least I could do was offer a word of comfort to someone on the verge of death.
My tone felt different.
I see. So this is how my voice would sound after growing up.
But it was far more tainted with negative emotions than the Adelheit before me.
The original Kline Leonhart.
The darkness he harbored in his heart ran deep.
"……."
The future Adelheit said nothing.
She blinked as if seeing something unfamiliar,
then a smile curved her lips.
"I see. Heh... You're not him."
"Pardon?"
For a moment, I forgot it was a dream and snapped to attention.
What?
I thought it was just replaying some past record.
Why could we converse?
"No need to be surprised. I'm just a lingering spirit. Already dead and gone."
"But why... can we talk?"
"Do you know about the Backside World?"
I nodded.
It was a term I'd heard often, and I'd seen it during my fight with Bloodyd.
"The Backside World transcends timelines and worldlines. You've probably come into deep contact with it. And now, you're experiencing a future from another world in dream form."
"How do you know so much about it?"
"I'm a mage. Heh... The me in your world would be shocked at how incredible I am."
Time had frozen.
The sound of the wind stopped.
The world halted in this moment, leaving only Adelheit and me to converse.
"You... must be loved by the Backside World."
"I've heard that before. Can you sense it?"
"Well, I've died and connected to the Backside World myself. I can feel it. If it didn't adore you, something this absurd wouldn't happen."
She had a point.
Entering a future parallel world in dream form and chatting with the dead.
"Anyway... Shall we think about why you've been called here? That might end this dream."
"You mean there's a specific reason I met you?"
"Of course. In a way, the Backside World is a hedonist. It loves anything amusing."
Was the Backside World some kind of living being?
The thought crossed my mind, but I didn't ask.
We couldn't talk for long.
I'd trust the choice of this more adult-like Adelheit here.
"...You'll probably head somewhere else soon."
"Somewhere else?"
"Not the Empire. Foreign lands. I can see that flow."
Foreign lands—Aonia or Priod, maybe?
Alfred had told me various things on the carriage to the Cluster of Stars.
Even considering that, did I have a reason to go there?
'No.'
Actually, I'd thought Aonia was worth visiting.
Mother was still recuperating, and ominous signs had been appearing.
"When you go there... Take the person most precious to you."
"Pardon?"
"You're defying fixed history. You've overcome it well so far. So... Make sure to bring that person. You'll manage then too."
With that, Adelheit fell silent.
She'd said what she needed to.
'The person most precious to me.'
I wasn't one to rank relationships.
But as a human, when asked who was most precious, a certain face instinctively came to mind.
A girl in pure white.
"Is it the child I'm thinking of?"
"I don't need to tell you that."
Adelheit chuckled softly.
My vision blurred.
I was waking from the dream.
"You'll see her the moment you open your eyes."
With those gentle words from the future Adelheit,
the connection severed.
"Ugh..."
When I came to, my stomach felt heavy.
Something was pressing down on it firmly.
It wasn't too heavy or too light.
In fact, the sensation was so pleasant I wanted to hug it.
'Is there a teddy bear on my stomach or something?'
I opened my eyes, which had been closed.
They didn't open easily after days of sleep.
Squish— Squish—
Even now, that mysterious object on my stomach was pressing against me.
No, "pressing" wasn't quite right.
It was more like rubbing or nuzzling.
"...?"
My vision cleared.
White wallpaper. White ceiling. Probably a hospital room.
And even whiter than that scenery was a girl sitting on my stomach.
"...Ariel?"
"Ah."
Ariel, who had been mindlessly rubbing my stomach, let out a gasp.
She immediately bent down, shoving her face close to mine.
Her exquisitely sculpted features, like a god's handiwork, stared right at me.
"Brother. Are you okay? You're awake? Does it hurt anywhere? Do you remember who I am?"
"Of course I do. Even if I forgot everything else, I'd never forget my little sister."
"Yeah. Good. It really is you, Brother."
Ariel muttered something incomprehensible and straightened her upper body.
Her lower body was still sprawled across my stomach.
If it shifted back just a bit more, it'd be a very awkward sight.
No, that's not what I should be focusing on.
Why was Ariel here?
"Ariel."
"Yeah."
"How did you end up here? I wake up and see you—nearly gave me a heart attack."
"I told you. I can sense when you're in danger."
Right.
She'd mentioned it in her letter, but it was real.
"You suddenly got into serious trouble, so I rushed right over."
"From that far away?"
"It's not that far. Just keep running, and you're there."
"...".
Whether it really was quick or she just didn't mind the time, either way, it wasn't normal.
My little sister's extraordinary nature shone through.
"So you came right away because you thought I was in danger?"
"Yeah. But when I got here, they said it was over. That you took her down."
"Well, yeah... Ow."
So it really was me who defeated her.
As I relaxed with that thought and tried to continue the conversation, pain flared up.
Ariel had poked my wound with her finger.
The spot wrapped in white bandages.
"...Brother."
Ariel's tone dropped.
Her voice sounded cold.
And the room's temperature seemed to plummet sharply.
What was this?
We'd been chatting fine just moments ago.
Why the sudden anger?
"Brother. Didn't I tell you? No danger. You'd be safe. So why did this happen? Huh? Why do I have to sense you in danger from so far away?"
"No, Ariel. That's—"
"It's weird. You're so precious to me. I'd love for you to stay by my side forever. But you went off alone and nearly left me—nearly died, right? Right?"
Ariel's intensity was off the charts.
Her pure white pupils. The boundary between iris and sclera blurred.
For some reason, she started pressing down on me with a terrifying aura.
Not rubbing—actually pressing.
"What should I do with you, Brother...? How can I keep you from getting hurt? How can I make sure you never leave my side? Huh? Huh? Huh?"
Huh.
This felt like I'd just triggered a death flag or something.
Ariel's upper body leaned in closer.
Her wide, sticky-with-emotion eyes.
My adorable little sister drew her face nearer and nearer.
Finally, our breaths mingled—
"Yeah. You must have been through a lot, little sis."
"...".
I gently stroked Ariel's head.
Right. How scared my little sister must have been.
Her brother, far away in some distant land, suddenly in peril.
And she'd felt it for real.
Considering the mental shock she must have endured, I'd done something awful.
"Sorry, Ariel. I should've been more careful."
"...Yeah? Ah. Yeah. Well, that's..."
As I responded calmly, Ariel's intensity softened.
She pulled her face back and straightened up belatedly.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed.
Seemed like she'd only now realized how embarrassing her actions were.
"So, I was thinking of giving you a special gift, Brother. Want it? Or no?"
"A gift?"
"Yeah. A ring."
I rummaged in my pocket and pulled out the ring I'd bought at the shop before.
Silver simply finished, with a lily flower engraved on top.
"...".
Ariel's eyes locked onto the ring.
She stared so intently, as if entranced, it felt like her gaze might pierce right through it.
"I just thought it'd suit you, so I bought it. But... if you don't want it, no big deal."
"...No."
Ariel's dainty hand reached for the ring.
She touched it gingerly, as if it were sugar sculpture,
then took it in her grasp and spoke haltingly.
"...Thank you. Yeah. I'll treasure it forever."
"That makes me happy. Ah, now that I've given it to you, do I have to marry you, Ariel? Haha."
"...".
A joke off the cuff.
Ariel didn't respond, just slipped off my body and
turned her head, fiddling with the ring.
Hm.
It was a joke; she must have understood.
She neither affirmed nor denied, but she had the common sense for that.
And right now, the most important thing was,
'I survived.'
I'd successfully defused Ariel's unnatural intensity.
For a moment there, even I had shivered at how scary she looked...
But this seemed fine.
I couldn't spend my life as a brother getting pushed around by my little sister. Yeah.