Mage Marygold (15)

All the puzzles had fallen into place. Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu-gung! Marygold, enveloped in terrifying mana, looked for all the world like she was about to bring about the end of this realm.

But Lancel wasn't afraid anymore. Not now that he knew he was the master of this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dream. Not now that he understood this was the dream demon phenomenon.

What were the unimplemented data skills among the knight's techniques again?

Lancel thought for a moment, then gripped his sword. A quiet smile crept across his lips.

'Thanks for the first time, sis.'

He could see the way out.

"Lancel."

Lancel sheathed his sword. Assuming the drawing stance, he fixed Marygold with a clear gaze.

The orb of darkness lingering in Marygold's palm slowly rose into the sky. It drifted toward Lancel at a leisurely pace.

"This ends it."

The dark orb hurtled toward him, uprooting the earth itself. Lancel slowly drew his blade. Neither fast nor slow, it sliced through the empty air.

"Sorry, Mary. This skill's total bullshit."

Everything along the sword's path split in half. Soil, gravel, light, air, sky, magic—Marygold herself—all cleaved apart and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slid away smoothly.

It was essentially a developer cheat skill, unimplemented data that had nearly been introduced exclusively for players who'd unlocked over 90% of the endings: Space Slash.

From the moment this became possible, no being—even one approaching godhood—could stand against Lancel. Not even a god itself. Anything that existed, whatever it was, he would cut it down. That was how the technique had been designed.

Marygold's eyes flew wide.

"......La......ncel......?"

"Time to wake up, Mary."

The world shattered into pieces.

He awoke from the long dream.

30.

"......"

A full moon shone through the window. Lancel lay still for a long while, staring at it.

The realization that he'd woken from the dream wouldn't quite sink in.

His body was wrapped head to toe in bandages. Pain throbbed from various spots with every breath. He'd clearly been badly injured somehow.

He had no idea how he'd ended up like this. A huge blank spot gaped in his memory; nothing came to mind.

'War, rebellion, something like that, probably.'

A heavy weight at his waist drew his gaze downward. There, Lancel came face-to-face with a familiar visage.

"Mary."

Pressed against his side, forehead nestled right into his ribs, was Marygold—breathing softly in sleep. A tiny sprout poked up from her hair.

It was impossible to imagine this as the being who'd just transcended grand mage status into something beyond.

"You're so weak."

The mana emanating from her body topped out somewhere between 4th Rank and 5th Rank.

"Hey, you gonna become a grand mage like that?"

The transcendent 12th Rank existence from the dream had vanished like a midsummer mirage, leaving behind just an ordinary mage Marygold.

Feeling petty, he pinched her nose shut. Her face turned beet red before she went, "Puha!" and switched to breathing through her mouth.

"You dream demon."

'Haven't seen this in a while.'

For some reason, Lancel felt oddly glad for the system alert. Maybe because it confirmed he was back in reality.

"Hey, Mary."

He carefully plucked the sprout from atop her head.

"Mm......"

Marygold blinked her eyes open slowly, waking from sleep. She let out a long yawn.

"Hwaaaaaahm."

Definitely Marygold. The sloppy, loose, foolish Marygold, exactly as always.

"Mm...... Lancel?"

"Drool."

Sluuuurp.

She hurriedly wiped her mouth.

"What're you doing sleeping in bed?"

"I dozed off without realizing......"

"How long?"

"Mm, about one or two hours, I guess."

Still groggy, Marygold reflexively grabbed a nearby cloth. She began wiping every corner of Lancel's body. It was a motion so practiced, like she'd been doing it for ages.

From that alone, Lancel could tell this bedridden life had dragged on for quite some time.

After meticulously dabbing away his sweat with the damp cloth, she stretched languidly, groaning.

"Kuuuuh. Haaaaah."

Her gaze was somewhat vacant. Like she hadn't fully woken yet.

"......I think I had a dream."

"Nightmare?"

"No, not a nightmare, but......"

"What kind then?"

"What kind......"

Marygold pondered deeply for a moment, then furrowed her brow.

"Uuuum, what kind......"

Lancel gently brushed aside her messy hair. Realizing too late, he pulled his hand back. A habit from their dream-life marriage had slipped out unconsciously.

"Hee hee hee."

Twenty-four-year-old Marygold giggled vacantly.

'Is this the last sight of this loop?'

Her wish for this time to last ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠forever would shatter soon enough. With playtime nearly hitting ten years, only a few hours remained.

"Ah."

Marygold's mouth opened.

"Lancel was in it somehow, and I was there too...... We were arm in arm or something...... Got married?"

"Who decided to get married."

"Slept in the same bed."

"......"

A faint smile spread across her face.

"It was...... a really good dream. Probably."

"Glad to hear it."

Lancel just ruffled her hair wildly in response.

Looking back, it had been a utterly unremarkable loop. Just a slightly long dream, nothing more.

Yeah. Unremarkable.

"Dinner soon—what do you feel like eating?"

"......"

Lancel didn't need to think. The last food he wanted in this world was already decided.

"Sandwich."

Marygold smiled at his answer.

"You really love those."

And so, ten years passed.

......

"Not even human anymore, Marygold......"

An Easter egg side ending in the game, no different. To think it went that far.

Lancel couldn't help but gape in shock. He'd somehow unlocked something rarer than regular endings—how could he not be stunned?

Honestly, he'd never even seen a side ending in the actual game. He hadn't anticipated this at all.

From the start, this loop felt off. But to end up like this...

Staring blankly at the ending screen, Lancel soon widened his eyes again.

The cause was the screen that popped up right after.

"Holy shit."

Lancel shot up from his seat. Around him, family members celebrating his eighteenth birthday stared at him with very strange looks.

'Game guide here?'

Something extraordinary had appeared before him.

'This is...... a mod program, right?'

His sister's Fallen Lady Simulation was notoriously brutal in difficulty, so this was one of the programs circulating among users.

Yeah, in a word, a mod. A guide program to make endings and achievements easier to snag.

Not full-on cheats, but undeniably a handy tool just to have.

Of course, certainty would come only after seeing it in action.

"No. Nope. This loop was for cooling my head. Quiet vacation in the archipelago......"

Lancel tried to shove it from his mind.

'Vacation this loop. Vacation.'

He'd decided that while wrapping up the previous one. His heart was already set on the archipelago.

Yeah. Right now, even.

"No one stops my vacation."

Shaking off complicated thoughts, Lancel finished his travel preparations.

Toward the isle of fantasy, the archipelago.

......

Ku-uuuung!

And the ship carrying Lancel sank into the storm.

"Hey. You with us?"

Smack. Smack.

He opened his eyes to a familiar face rhythmically slapping his cheek.

"......"

"You're alive, right?"

Smack.

"Ow."

"Oh, alive after all."

At this point, it had to be fate.

Lancel stared at the insignia on her uniform.

-Imperial Maritime Guard.

'Navy......?'