Chapter 95
Cynthia was impressed. If, instead of ‘the noble daughter of a ruined family’, she had chosen ‘expelled mage’ as her protagonist’s backstory, she too could have used magic to make items stay bound to her even after a save load, no matter how many times she retried.
She felt herself about to feel regret, but now was not the time for that. Segleninde was probably outside by now, so before he could start making a fuss about why she wasn’t coming, Cynthia hurriedly locked the door and began preparing as quickly as she could.
The teddy bear knew how to operate the magic device. Cynthia watched as the teddy bear, inside her inventory, grabbed the pendant with its cottony little paws and busily moved around.
“Please, do it as quickly as you can…!”
Bang!
A deafening crash erupted as the inner wall of the room collapsed.
Cynthia held her breath and looked in that direction. Debris from the wall tumbled down, landing on the head and shoulders of Segleninde, who was walking toward her from the secret passage.
“H-How did you…?”
No, she had to stay calm.
Cynthia swallowed her bewilderment. The fact that Segleninde, who should be outside, was bursting out of the passage was one thing, but for now, this was still the period before he had learned the truth. So she had to act as she did before, as if nothing was wrong…
“Why did you run away?”
Cynthia’s mind went blank.
“You almost made me destroy the entire Sky Garden. Damn it, hand over that magic device.”
She had clearly done a Save/Load and turned back time. Yet Segleninde was acting as if he had watched everything unfold, even before she loaded the save point.
And in fact, he had.
“How… How did you…”
“I came after you right away. If you touch the music box, you can save the time and move to that exact moment whenever you want, right? Ah, right, now I remember. I’ve experienced it over and over again by now.”
He already knew about the Save/Load system. That’s how he’d been able to follow Cynthia straight through the timeline she had reverted.
Just like the very first time, when she died after moving the statue to the wrong position.
“…For a moment, I thought you’d died again, but I guess not.”
Segleninde’s anxious gaze landed near Cynthia’s neck, as if recalling the time she had died.
As if that look alone pierced right through her, Cynthia’s complexion turned pale.
There had never been any mention of the final boss knowing about the Save/Load mechanic.
Could it be that he remembered all the ‘protagonists’ who had come searching for him all this time? The true core of this game’s world, someone who had seen countless humans revive and return. All the players from outside this world who had come to his mansion and then left.
If that wasn’t the case, he wouldn’t be saying these things, joking as if on purpose.
“There have been situations like just now, again and again. So I looked for a way to follow after time as it rewinds at will. Magic made it simple. Like now.”
There was no escaping him.
Realizing this, Cynthia collapsed weakly where she stood. He was getting closer. The sword in his grip shimmered a chilling blue. Was he finally going to kill her?
At last, now that she was seasoned to perfection with the best recipe, despair as the final seasoning. He was going to carve up his prey and devour her.
But Segleninde suddenly tossed the sword behind him.
Then he walked right up to Cynthia, crouched down, and showed her his empty hands.
“There. Happy now, coward? See? No weapon. Nothing dangerous in my hands at all.”
“……”
“If you still don’t trust me, then let’s do this.”
Crunch!
Segleninde placed his hands on the floor, and suddenly, under some invisible force, both hands were crushed. When Cynthia screamed in shock, he frantically asked,
“Is this still not enough? Are you still afraid of me? Then I’ll break my legs too. If you want, I can split my body in half.”
“S-Stop, don’t, don’t do it!”
“Even if just my head’s left, that’s fine. As long as I can talk to you, I don’t care…”
He pleaded, gasping for breath.
“Just stay here. Don’t disappear. Please. I’ll tell you everything.”
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