22. Special Memories (1)
"Huaaaah…"
After agonizing and hesitating for a long while over the mountain of candies, fruits, and chocolates piled high, Sion finally made up her mind. She finished paying with Serin and returned to the table carrying a plate of her purchased desserts.
"Here you go, Sion."
While Sion happily picked out her treats, I'd already secured us a spot at one of the outdoor tables. It was a holiday morning, so the place was bustling with people, but we'd gotten lucky and snagged the last available seat.
"Finally showing some initiative in handling things on your own, Mr. Hope."
"Sion just took so long that a spot opened up."
"Isn't that the fun part?"
"So, did you enjoy yourself enough?"
"It was really fun. Just like you said, Mr. Hope—turns out agonizing over choices is actually enjoyable!"
Sion plopped down with a beaming smile, setting her plate on the table. Her selections were a few slices of kiwi coated in chocolate and a handful of jellies dusted heavily with white powder.
"That's not much for someone who spent so long deciding."
"I'm saving the rest."
"Saving what?"
"I'll get to try everything someday, so I'm just tasting a little at a time."
Sion popped a kiwi slice into her mouth, chewing contentedly with a blissful expression.
"The sweet, melting chocolate pairs amazingly with the juicy fruit that bursts when you bite down. I'm so glad we came here."
"Yeah? Maybe I should've tried one of those chocolate-dipped ones too."
"What did you pick out, Mr. Hope?"
"This."
It was a trapezoid-shaped cookie coated in chocolate and topped with sticky, sugar-soaked strawberries. It wasn't quite tanghulu without the crunchy shell, but the ingredients were similar, so I figured the taste might be too. That's what I'd bought, anyway.
"Strawberries…"
Sion's face stiffened at the sight of them.
"Sion?"
"Oh, no—it's nothing. I just don't like looking at red things."
Red? Oh no. Trauma-related?)
I quickly scanned my memory of the original story, but nothing came to mind. Post-ending, then? I glanced subtly at Serin, but…
"……."
She shook her head, indicating she had no idea. Impressively, she'd picked up on my unspoken question just from that quick look. Serin, as expected.
Since it seemed like a risky situation, I figured I'd better…
"Mr. Hope? What are you doing?"
"Mmgh?"
I shoved all six strawberries into my mouth at once. Good thing it wasn't real tanghulu—the sugar didn't stick dangerously to my teeth. The texture was strawberry-like but a bit stickier.
Super sweet…
Every chew sent juice bursting into my mouth, and the sticky sweetness mixed with my saliva in a refreshing, harmonious way. I could see why people loved this stuff.
Gulp.
It took a bit, but I managed to finish them off. With my mouth finally free, we could talk again.
"You said you didn't want to see them."
"Not enough to eat them all at once!"
"There was nothing to cover them with."
"I just said I didn't want to look at them, and you go that far? Now I can't even speak freely…"
She'd done it to keep Sion safe, but seeing her so downcast like that… It could've come off as ungrateful, but my mind was elsewhere entirely.
Relief, actually. If Sion thought I'd overreacted, it meant she hadn't even registered that she could've had a full-blown trauma episode right there. If my worry turned out unnecessary, that was a win for me.
"I've told you a dozen times—you don't need to apologize to me. Lean on me all you want."
"So from now on, if I say I don't like looking at something, you'll eat it all up for me?"
"If it's edible."
"Tch. No dice."
What was she so stingy about, anyway? A bit of light banter later, the mood returned to normal. Sion munched on her kiwi and jelly with a smile, and I savored the rare sweet treat and leisurely time.
Before long, it was lunchtime. The sun hung high overhead, and with summer approaching, the heat was starting to build.
"You know, Sion, you really like saving things for later."
"Yeah. Is that weird?"
"Just thought it might be a flag."
Whether it was village snacks or shop treats, she loved holding back and enjoying them next time. Considering she was the hero, it was a curious habit.
"A flag…?"
"Like promising or vowing to do something later before heading into battle—and then that person never comes back. You know that superstition?"
"Oh, that? It shows up a lot in novels."
Hearing a novel's protagonist reference stories from novels felt surreal.
Sion swallowed the last of her food, took a steadying breath, and continued seriously.
"Do you know that saying, Mr. Hope?"
"Which one?"
"In the moment of death, do unfulfilled dreams or uneaten meals come to mind?"
"Ah, yeah. I know it."
A famous line. It existed in this world too, huh.
"For me, it'd be meals."
Sion gave a wry smile at the remaining jellies on her plate.
"The person who said it probably didn't mean it that way."
"Yeah, probably not. But… I have to put things off. I like leaving regrets in this world."
Had I stirred up bad memories of battle? Worried she'd slip into a dangerous state, I watched her closely, but thankfully, she just looked a little melancholic—no other issues.
"My dream being crushed means the world's end. Unfulfilled dreams don't apply to me. Dying without achieving it? Not the time for complacency. If death comes for me, what I need to do is come back to life."
She'd been a bit deflated while talking, but then she speared a jelly on her fork, held it up, examined it closely, and lifted her head.
"Putting things off, saving them, leaving regrets—it helps in that situation. For the world, my mission, my comrades… for anything, really. That sense of 'for their sake' has to give me strength. Even if it's just this one uneaten jelly, I have to live."
Nom!
The moment she said it was for the jelly, she ate it.
"Now that's an eaten jelly."
"Plenty more where that came from~ There's seriously enough here to last a lifetime."
Sion craned her neck up, gazing happily at the untried desserts on the shelves.
"And lots of people too."
She looked around again. Everyone at the tables, basking in the park's sunlight, lost in the bliss of this kingdom capital must-visit dessert shop's sweetness.
"I have to protect it all. Finish my treatment, stand again, and this time… everyone…"
Sion, watching the kingdom's everyday folk, reaffirmed her resolve with a faint, proud smile.
"……."
Then her expression froze, eyes widening in shock.
"Sion?"
Sensing something off in her reaction, I called out cautiously, but she didn't seem to hear. She just stared fixedly in one direction, rigid.
"Witch…"
"Huh? What did you—"
"There's a witch… I have to kill her now…"
"Sion!"
I whipped around to where she was staring. There sat an adventurer—probably a mage—cloaked head to toe in robes, face obscured, at a table.
"Holy sword… The holy sword's gone…"
Trembling in her seat, Sion groped frantically over the table, wheelchair—everywhere her hands could reach.
This was a clear danger sign.
"What do I do? Where is it? Did someone steal it? How could I lose the holy sword? Aah… What am I even doing? How did this…?!"
Searching for the holy sword she'd left in her hospital room—judgment severely impaired. Victim delusion episode this time?
"S-Sion!"
"I'll handle it, Serin. Step back for now."
I calmed the equally panicked Serin and quietly moved to Sion's side to assess her. From Serin's reaction, she'd kept up a perfect facade until now, but clearly, the past three years hadn't included great management of these episodes.
Makes sense—expecting medieval caregiving to handle psychiatric care was a stretch. If Sion screamed and rampaged here amid the crowd, it could turn irreversible.
Damn. I had to do something…