The location was the sanctuary of the Saint. After returning to the kingdom, the bishops locked Erselica in a prison cell.
She was notified of two things: the first was that her father had passed away, as the fleet he was in spotted the Kingsfort crest and was destroyed to prevent that information from leaking and to allow for proper preparation.
This last part wasn't known to them; it was just what Klein thought upon seeing a small fleet that could ruin the feast they were about to enjoy.
The second was that for lying and causing the death of almost all the high command of the Holy Church—including the confirmed death of the Supreme Pontiff—she would be executed in public.
The sanctuary didn't know what face to put on after what happened.
An emergency meeting was held but was interrupted by a message from the King.
Upon hearing that war had arrived, everyone without exception fled.
Several followers and maidens were dismayed, seeing their leaders flee like rats.
Even the holy knights—men and women chosen to protect the land their religion founded.
They escaped faster than an Olympic athlete, taking valuable items with them.
Erselica, from her cell, could hear everything, but she didn't care about anything anymore.
She lost her father, and they weren't even going to tell her; they only told her to torment her.
She would be executed, but the war from the game—the one that was supposed to happen at the end of the 3rd year—was happening right now, plus seeing that Klein attacked them.
That was something impossible for her to believe, something that wasn't supposed to happen, but reality showed her that a game and real life are different things.
While her tears fell with her quiet sobbing. Footsteps approached her cell and opened it.
She thought her end had come until...
"She's here!"
"Hurry, we must leave while they're looting the whole place!"
A group of knights bearing the royal family crest came for her.
They all had their weapons ready to fight, but not against her—against the sanctuary guards.
"They've seen us, run straight for the exit!"
"The Prime Minister demanded she arrive safely; don't you dare let them touch her!"
A small skirmish broke out between the palace knights and the guards.
Some knights carried her while running straight for the exit, while Erselica...
"...I don't care about anything anymore."
She had lost her will to live.
◇◇◇
The girls finally arrived at the palace. Lecia was the one who received them, as she wanted to make sure Alisa was okay.
She told them in a private room about what had happened in the capital, about the approaching war, and about Erselica's situation, whom Rudel had, for some reason, requested to be present.
Meanwhile, Erselica had just arrived at the palace and was escorted to a room guarded by soldiers.
The reason was that she, being an impostor, put both the sanctuary and Marquis Balzac in a very bad position.
For that reason, it wasn't strange to think someone might come to silence her.
The only people allowed to enter were the Prime Minister and the Queen.
And the person who requested her had come, for some reason, from the kitchen.
He had something at his waist.
Upon reaching the door, he told the guards to leave, that he would handle it.
When he entered, he found a very unexpected group.
"Erselica-san, cheer up!"
"The prince is right, I'm sure it must be a mistake."
"The blame lies with those sanctuary guys anyway!"
When Rudel entered, he found Chlust, Frey, and Liam trying to cheer up a dejected Erselica, who was sitting against a wall with her legs and arms crossed.
At the other end were Allen and Cana also trying to cheer her up. They were at the house prepared for the Saint.
The followers and servants had also fled, with the exception of those two.
Liam kept trying to encourage her.
"Erselica-san, I'm sure it must be a misunderstanding about Klein and his family. I'll help you, so don't be afraid!"
A small voice sounded in the room.
"...Shut up."
"Huh?"
At that moment, Liam encountered a harsh blow of reality.
"I told you to shut up! What do you mean I don't have to fear anything?! Do you think you can do something? You didn't even see those damn bastards shooting mercilessly; do you really think you can do anything? A useless person like you, exactly! You're really stupid to still believe at this point that they're innocent. Oh, that's right, I remember you told me a butler sent you a letter writing what was going to happen on the cruise ship, the name of the traitorous minister, a payment identification, and you destroyed it thinking it was a lie. I was also an idiot, but for believing in you. How stupid are you really for destroying incriminating evidence!"
"...Erselica-san."
Erselica finally showed her true self to everyone.
"Get out of my sight, all of you! Disappear!"
"I... curse this disgusting world I ended up in!"
"I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! I hate it! I hate all of youuu!"
Erselica broke down psychologically.
Seeing her scream in pain, Cana went to her mistress to calm her.
"Erselica-sama, please don't say that. We want you to regain your usual smile."
Hearing that, she lifted her head, and her cruel words also attacked those who had stayed with her out of loyalty.
"Hah? What the hell are you still doing here?! Go back to your island! I only helped you because I felt sorry for you, nothing more! Disappear!!!"
Cana's legs couldn't handle what she heard, and she collapsed crying.
Erselica's gaze then turned to Allen.
He was frightened by the withering look from his mistress.
"You, little brat. Always speaking to me arrogantly. If I hadn't forgiven every one of your misbehaviors, you'd be back with that bastard Klein right now, or worse—you should thank me for saving your little ass from that time forever!"
Allen averted his gaze to the floor.
And now, her gaze turned to the trio of main characters she once wanted but now hated.
"You, green-haired bastard, your narcissism disgusts me! Are you a girl to talk so much about hair care, or are you gay? You, the red ape pretending to be a human, also disgust me; I don't even know what you're thinking. It's incredible there's someone stupider than you! And what the hell is this about protecting me? Do you think the brute force of your disgusting muscles can repel bullets? Who the hell do you think you are? The fact you can speak human language is a miracle in itself! And lastly, you, yes, you are the most troublesome of all, the stupid crown prince!"
"...Erselica-san?"
Liam received a blow he had never experienced in life, nor in the game.
"The prince, oh, the great prince who's good for nothing but using his title. Seriously, you're an idiot. Do you think a woman would be happy if you bother her with your stalker-like insistence, your childish way of thinking... and, above all, your denial of reality? Seriously, what an imbecile you are. Klein tried to kill me. Both he and his family want to kill us all, and you, only you could have prevented it and warned me not to defend him!!"
"You are the prince of stupidity!!"
"Treat me with dedication, damn it! I wanted to help you, but you're all either selfish, stupid, or traitors! All you had to do was listen to what I said! That's why I hate all of you, those who mock me, those who look down on me, I hate... I hate all of youuu!"
Rudel had been watching for a while. He said nothing, only yawned because the drama he was seeing seemed boring to him.
Erselica lifted her head again and saw him. Her expression was one of disgust, and her words were worse.
"What the hell do you want? Disappear! All of this is your fault; if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have to fix everything back to normal! Give it back, give it back! Give me back my happiness and my peaceful life!"
Erselica began to cry again, and at that moment, Alisa and Airi entered the room.
"Rudel! Are you okay?! ...W-What's going on? What's happening here?"
"Rudel-san, I'm glad you're okay! ...Why is Erselica-san crying?"
The girls, upon entering and seeing Rudel alive, were glad, but now they didn't understand the bizarre image of Erselica crying and everyone except Rudel looking melancholy.
At that very moment...
"...Enough. I'm fed up with this stupidity."
Rudel drew his katana from his back. Since the blade could be sheathed, there was no problem hiding it.
He walked to where Erselica was and roughly grabbed her hair.
"Noo, what are you doing! Let go of me!"
Erselica tried to remove Rudel's hand while being dragged, kicking all the way.
Her screams made everyone react.
"Rudel, what are you doing!" Alisa shouted, seeing him head to an adjoining room.
He stopped for a brief moment and told them while turning his head toward them.
"Nothing. Just bring a trash bag and some cleaners."
Everyone reacted to those cold and dark words.
They ran to stop him, but...
"What is this?"
Both the girls and the others bumped into a force wall created by Ixion.
He told them as his master opened the door with the hand holding his katana.
"This will be over soon, so be patient."
Rudel entered the room while Erselica kicked, cried, and screamed for help.
"Bradford, leave her alone!"
"Rudel, let her go, please!"
"Rudel-san, what are you planning to do to her!"
The screams of the others could be heard even outside the room, and the door that would mark the end of Erselica closed.
♡♡♡
I heard a noise downstairs.
I had the game case in my hand.
I thought it was the cat that comes in to steal food, so I left the case on the bed and went down to scare it away.
I didn't even say anything, as I wanted to grab it and tell it a few words.
Upon going downstairs, I went to where I heard the noise. It wasn't the dining room or the kitchen; it was in the living room.
I walked slowly, and when I jumped to catch it...
"Huh?"
I found a scene that shouldn't be happening.
"...Dad. What are you doing with that knife?"
My father was in the living room. The lights were off, but I could clearly see in his hand a shiny, sharp object with something glowing on it.
He saw me; his face was pale, and I think he was sweating a lot.
He spoke to me, but his tone scared me very much.
"...You, you knew, didn't you?"
"Huh?"
"You saw your mother, you knew that whore had a lover and that she was going to run away with him today!"
At that moment, I turned on the light since I was standing near the wall where the switch was.
When I turned it on, I saw an unknown man lying on the floor, and next to him was my mother. Both had holes in their bodies, and red liquid was pouring out in heaps.
I was terrified. "What is this?" I thought, seeing my father with a knife. Both he and what he held in his hand were covered in red liquid.
Slowly, I backed away in panic. He noticed and spoke to me while standing up from the sofa where he was sitting.
"...You too? You're going to abandon your father too, like this slut wanted to do?"
"Answer me!!"
He ran straight at me. I headed for the stairs to go up to my room and hide.
But...
"-Ahh!"
Something sharp and cold entered my back.
It hurts, it hurts a lot, I've never felt pain like this in my life.
I fell to the floor, and my father spoke to me as he crouched down.
"You're going to abandon me too, aren't you! Always locking yourself in your room, not wanting to go out at all! It's not my fault; it's yours!"
Dad... it hurts... stop.
"I'm always working hard for you! Damn ungrateful ones!"
He pulled something out of my back, and then I felt it being buried again and again.
"If only that useless guy were still here, your mother would make him breakfast since she spoiled him like a son! But guess what, that useless brother of yours died! He killed himself because he was a societal defect, like you!"
He left the stabbing object buried in my back.
It doesn't hurt anymore; it burns a lot.
I can't breathe either.
I tried with all my might to climb the stairs to reach my smartphone and call an ambulance.
Each step made me spit out red liquid in heaps.
My vision was getting blurry. But that didn't hurt me; his words did.
My brother died weeks ago. I was at home when my parents came to inform me he had committed suicide.
I couldn't believe it. I refuse to accept it. That idiot would never do something as cowardly as hurting himself.
He's so cowardly that he dislikes hurting others.
I managed to finish climbing the stairs and approached my room, which, luckily, was near the stairs.
I heard my father again.
"I curse that damn company too! Firing people just because machines protect the workers! It's nonsense! Those bastards don't see people as humans but as parts! I curse them! Those—"
Suddenly, my father's voice was cut off, and I heard the sound of something falling.
I entered my room and brought my trembling arm to the bed to grab my smartphone, but...
"...Idiot."
...I grabbed the game case instead of my mobile device.
I'm an idiot. My life is in danger, and I grabbed a game.
I brought it to my chest and hugged the game.
I hate this cruel world. Why can't it be a more fun and happy place like games?
People in the world would be happier if life were like a video game.
My vision darkened little by little.
Yes... if I had a second chance to live, I wish I could be in the same place as my brother.
"I really... wish... for it."
After saying that, my consciousness faded, and for some reason, I woke up in a world exactly like that certain game.
I'm happy; my wish came true. But my brother wasn't here.
What's the use of having a second life if the most important person from my previous life isn't here?
To top it off, a bastard from the game named Rudel was altering the game's storyline at will. Everything was going wrong, to the point that Klein betrayed the country, the prince is a stupid idiot, my parents from my new life are dead, and my life is now ending.
Why is life so unfair to me?
Help me, brother.
◇
"...Brother."
After entering the room, this girl fainted.
I laid her down roughly on a sofa since I didn't want her falling to the floor due to her diminutive size.
My katana was ready to cut her neck after she woke up and I asked her things.
But out of nowhere, she started screaming that it hurt and now calls for a certain brother.
Ixion kept staring at her fixedly until her eyes began to open little by little.
Slowly, she got up and sat down. Her gaze seemed downcast, but I didn't really care.
I called her, "Hey, we need to talk." But she ignored me.
I called again more forcefully, and she looked at me with eyes dead in life.
I showed her my katana so she would understand the situation.
"We need to talk about something very important to me. Then, you can rest forever."
"...No."
She murmured something, and I told her to speak louder, and then...
"I won't tell you anything until my brother comes!"
"Bring my brother now!"
What's wrong with this girl? I investigated her family and don't understand why she's talking about a brother when she doesn't have one?
As I was getting fed up, I yelled at her.
"I don't know who that so-called brother is, but if he's related to you, he must be a loser, hahaha."
"Don't you dare talk about him like that!"
She grabbed a glass ornament from the table and threw it at me.
I used Ixion as a shield to protect myself.
She yelled that I was the worst; I kept using him as a shield while this little pest yelled things about her brother and threw things at me.
"For your information, my older brother was superrrrr kind, gentle with me, gave me things willingly, and always helped me!"
Since she was talking trash, I decided to boast about my cousin, whom I loved like a sister.
"Hah? You call that love? My cousin from my previous life was a cute girl who always smiled at me; I bought her things out of satisfaction when I got good grades, and we went out every time my paycheck was high!"
"Hah? What kind of pervert are you! No normal girl would enjoy that, especially from a guy like you!"
"Shut up! She's better than trash like you!"
"I don't care if you talk badly about me, but I won't tolerate you speaking badly about my older brother!"
"As if I cared!"
After shouting for some mysterious reason, I felt a déjà vu. I once argued with my cousin over a stupid thing.
It felt very similar to the way this little pest talked about perverted men and shameless women.
It must be my head.
I grabbed my katana and placed it on the table.
"Let's stop with the nonsense and tell me what you know!"
"...What are you talking about?" she said, but I told her again.
"There's something you know about this world, and I want to know what it's about!"
"Depending on what you say, I might eliminate you or not."
It's time to find out who she is and what she knows about me and this ridiculous fantasy world.
No matter what she says, I'll accept it.
◇
"Lies!"
"That's impossible!"
The one saying that was Ixion, who was angrily crashing against the walls.
This girl, Erselica, told me the truth I didn't know.
Ixion heard things that destroyed his calm and serious personality in a matter of seconds.
While I...
"It can't be... it's a lie... tell me it's a lie..."
I was in a corner in a fetal position after hearing many things I never thought possible.
"...I can't believe it. It must be a lie. Yes. A vile and absurd lie."
My sweat was cold because I couldn't believe what I heard.
This world isn't just a generic fantasy world; it's also the world of an RPG game.
I hoped it was a futuristic world and that she was a time traveler and that's why she knew me. I hoped it was that and not a ridiculous and cliché representation of popular animes where some guy reincarnates into his favorite game and viewers self-insert themselves as that guy to satisfy their miserable and empty lives.
That wasn't what left me like this; it was what she said next.
Liam is the protagonist of this world, and Airi... would become his wife!
Alisa, that Alisa who always scolds me for misbehaving or hits me in the ribs for looking at her breasts. She was a promiscuous girl and Airi's enemy!
Klein wasn't a dirty rat, and I...
I am a pathetic and miserable villain of the day!
Don't screw with me, seriously! Don't screw with me!
It's impossible for Airi to want to be with Liam; she herself said she hated him.
As for Alisa, it's impossible for those two, who generate a strange pink aura around them, to be enemies! And even more, her doing obscene things! I would kill to see her in a swimsuit, but this is another level!
What about Klein surprises me to the point that I know it's a lie; I don't know a certain Fritz, so I don't care who he is.
But in my case with Ixion.
"I refuse to accept it! Super technology like mine losing to the new humanity? And on top of that, to that strange human?"
"Impossible! Unacceptable! I won't believe thaaat!"
He had broken. This floating sphere from a destroyed ancient civilization had shattered.
I can't blame him. I also feel like I'm going to break from all the craziness she said.
"...Hey."
Erselica called me with a very timid and small voice.
I turned to her trembling, hoping she wouldn't tell me more terrifying things like selling my family.
I would never do that... maybe scare Lyle, but that would never happen.
"...What is it?" I said, still terrified.
She looked at me with wet eyes for some reason.
"...You said you lost your life in a train accident, right?"
I told her how I died before she told me everything that happened to her and how she woke up.
I answered, still scared, "...Yes, why?"
She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it repeatedly.
"By... by any chance, you... did you receive a message that day?"
I was still in panic and answered like a scared child.
"Yes. It was from my cousin."
Her mouth seemed to make a strange grimace.
"...That message, did it by any chance say she wanted you to help her complete a game?"
Huh, how does she know that?
"...Yes."
What am I imagining? It's impossible. The possibility of what I'm thinking being possible is between 1 and the Big Bang explosion.
"...And, you replied that she should better use her free... time... for something constructive?"
She seemed about to cry. My mouth stammered at the response that couldn't possibly be true.
"...Yes."
Her snot and tears fell like waterfalls.
"O..."
O? What does she mean by that?
"O…"
What is an "O"?
"Onii-chan~~~!!!"
She screamed something very crazy and jumped straight at me, but I...
"Don't come near me!"
...I deny that!
I put my hand on her face to keep her from getting close to me; her hands tried to reach out to hug me.
"Onii-chan! Onii-chan! It's really you! I wanted to reunite with you all this time!"
My eyes tried to avert her joyful face with tears and snot.
"I don't accept and refuse to accept that you are actually my cousin from my previous life!"
I asked her things that only my real cousin would know about me, not this impostor.
"If you say you're her, tell me the age we last saw each other and yours too!"
She tried to get closer to me like a dog. For some reason, it was very adorable.
"You were 27 and I was 14!"
Damn it, she got it right!
It's a coincidence... just a very exaggerated coincidence.
Another question.
"What were my favorite dishes?"
"Anything you could add tomato sauce to, accompanied by a very cold beer!"
She smiled more and more, and my arm lost strength. She could already touch my face.
(Okay, the question that definitely only I know and no one else.)
"What was my laptop password!"
"Easy. 'Big breasts are life!' All together and in capital letters."
"How the hell do you know that?!"
She stopped and sat down to give me a smile that totally destroyed me.
"Because you're a disgusting closet pervert, and no woman would go out with a guy who prefers looking at breasts than at their face."
(Damn it! She got everything right! ...Is she... really... my cousin from my previous life?)
When the strength in my arms gave out, she jumped on me and screamed with happiness.
"Onii-chan, I missed you so much! I really missed you! I was so lonely and sad! But now you're here!"
At that moment, Erselica, the girl who wanted to destroy me and turned out to be my cousin from my previous life, stepped back to tell me something very scared.
"Th-that's right! Onii-chan, what should I do! Those sanctuary guys want to kill me, and Klein turned out to be a traitor!"
I said, "The first is your problem, and the second I'll take care of."
Upon saying that, she stepped back and said.
"How cruel you are! You've been reunited with your cute little cousin, and you plan to leave her to her fate? You're horrible!"
I looked at her, very annoyed by what she said.
"What do you mean cruel?! Part of this, if not all, is your fault, and you're not my little cousin. I already have a sweet angel waiting for me at home."
"...Master."
Ixion seems to have calmed down now.
"Let's leave your interesting past life behind. I never imagined your nonsense was true. Undoubtedly, you are something outside the calculations."
Wait, you didn't believe me before?
"We need to solve the traitor problem if you want that 'plan' to work."
I replied, "You're right," and stood up.
I looked at Erselica and asked.
"You said there was a special object hidden at the bottom of the castle, right?"
She, crying a little with tears still on her face, answered.
"...Yes. You need the protagonist and the Saint for it to work."
"Good. You'll help me. Don't expect me to save your butt just out of kindness, okay?"
She cried again and said.
"How cruel you are! Onii-chan, I hate you! If it were those two, you'd help them with a smile."
"Don't compare yourself to them; they are my irreplaceable friends!"
Definitely, this is the type of fights I had with my cousin.
It's very annoying that the girl I wanted to kill turned out to be my cousin from my previous life, whom I loved like a sister.
◇◇◇
Everyone had been expelled from the room by Ixion. The door opened, and a strange scene appeared.
Erselica was crying while holding onto an irritated Rudel's shirt from behind.
Upon exiting, everyone wanted to ask what happened.
"Remember what I told you. You'll help, whether you want to or not."
"You're really going to make me participate!"
"Obviously."
She seemed annoyed.
"I hate you; you're the worst!"
She ran off in the opposite direction from where Rudel was supposed to go.
He scratched his head, and Ixion asked him.
"Shouldn't we look for her?"
"...She'll be fine. She'll get over it after a while."
Rudel turned around and said.
"I have something more important to take care of."
◇◇◇
"I-I'll go look for her!" Airi said that and ran after Erselica. Alisa watched from behind, deep in thought.
◇◇◇
While running after Erselica, she thought.
(Why did she get so attached to him?)
(What happened inside there?)
After chasing her for a while, she found her at the very place she was supposed to be in the game—the rooftop.
In that place, Airi confessed to Liam, and the same place where she was declared the Saint.
Except that the one who took that position was on her knees and crying. Airi was about to ask her to come back, more than anything to find out what happened inside the room, but instead...
"...I'll give it back to you."
"Huh?"
Erselica turned with tears in her eyes to tell her what she thought.
"I'll give everything back to you, so you give it back to me too!! Whatever you want, I'll give it all to you, your position as the Saint, Liam, everything you want!! ...I'll give it all back, I don't want any of it if I can't be happy with him!"
Airi couldn't understand what she was talking about, but Erselica continued.
"I'll give it back, so give it back to me!! Give me back my onii-cha–... Rudel! I'll give you everything back, so you give it back to me too!"
Airi approached Erselica...
"Isn't it a fair deal? You can be the Saint, have your destined person, and I can be happy next to Rudel."
And swung her right hand hard on the kneeling girl's cheek, then another with her left. Both cheeks red, she didn't understand why she did it.
Erselica touched her cheeks while smiling weakly.
"Is it about yesterday, right? Don't worry, you can take it out on me as much as you want. If that's enough for you to hand him over, you can hit me all you want."
Airi collapsed on the floor and screamed her feelings while crying.
"...Don't make fun of me!"
While crying, she poured out the contents of her heart to a surprised Erselica, who looked at Airi with a face full of pain and anger.
"Rudel-san isn't an object... he's a human being like any other!! I don't understand... I don't understand you... I don't understand any of you!! Why can't you leave him alone?! He just... wants to live in peace."
The tears and lament from Airi sprang from her heart because of everything that had happened.
"All this trouble happened because of horrible people like you who only want to use him or discard him! I know him better than anyone and know it hurts him to be treated like an object! Even in the capital, I know he's suffering from having killed those people! He doesn't know them, but he isn't someone who likes to hurt others... so why, why do you enjoy making him miserable! Now he has to deal with the problem those horrible people caused!"
More tears fell, and Airi repeatedly brought her face to the floor.
"...The only, the only thing I wanted was to be with him for all the time left at the academy. I didn't want or ask for anything more than that."
A noble and a commoner, the main heroine and a villain; between them was a great wall called social class difference, but Airi couldn't cross it to reach where her friends were…
Airi thought that, being nobles, the two looked good together. She wanted both to be happy, so she knew she had to distance herself and stay in the shadows. After all, her true happiness was with Liam, not with Rudel or Alisa, the villains, her enemies, and more than anything, her best friends.
"Don't ask me to give him back to you!! Rudel-san doesn't belong to anyone but himself. He doesn't belong to Alisa or me! I would like to always be by his side, but that would hurt Alisa!"
Erselica lowered her head and laughed. "In that case, what will happen to me? In the end, I'll lose him again. I don't have a family anymore, and only he was left for me. What a misfortune mine is. Even in my second life, I don't stop losing everything I want."
Just at that moment...
"Master!"
"Erselica-sama!"
Allen and Cana arrived. Erselica lifted her face to see them.
She averted her gaze to avoid contact. But both servants ran to grab her hands.
Still with her face down, they spoke to her. First, Cana.
"Erselica-sama, please come back inside! We'll think together of a way to prevent your execution, okay?"
Then came Allen.
"Cana is right. Surely the prince will do something... besides, that viscount said he was going to help you, so it's sure to turn out well."
Erselica spoke to them in a low voice.
"...What are you doing here? I yelled horrible things at both of you. I don't see the point in you coming."
Cana placed her hands on her mistress's face and, lifting her head, Erselica looked into Cana's tear-reddened eyes.
"I... despite everything, consider Erselica-sama my first friend and my patron! I could never hate her after taking me out of that horrible place where everyone treated me badly and blamed me for everything!"
Tears fell more intensely, and her expression seemed like that of a little girl.
"Even if you don't want to, I want to be by your side! Please, come with us!"
Allen also backed up Cana. His face was red and very embarrassed as he said.
"I... am very sorry for my behavior. After spending so much time with that bastard Klein, his way of speaking rubbed off on me. I'm really sorry. And, I also want to be by your side."
Erselica cried upon seeing them both, and her mouth moved to express what she truly felt.
"You two, I'm truly sorry..."
Her servants—her friends—helped her up, and while still crying, they said goodbye to Airi.
But Airi...
"...You're a vile liar. What do you mean you have nothing? I'm the only one who has nothing."
She spoke with a bit of malicious desire she had never experienced before.
She realized a bit late that her eyes showed her anger, her hands painfully approached her legs, and what she said, moreover. Immediately, she covered her mouth due to words like those she would never say.
◇◇◇
"...Airi."
Alisa was at the door connecting to the rooftop. She arrived after Airi screamed.
She heard everything her friend said.
"Airi, you... I'm a fool. It's incredible I didn't notice; I'm so obvious after all, we're always together."
Alisa saw Airi cry and felt a sharp pain in her chest. She knew about her friend's feelings, but the time the three of them spent together was so fun that, without realizing it, she tried not to pay attention.
"I'm sorry. If only... I hadn't developed... these feelings, I'm sure you wouldn't have to suffer right now. I'm really sorry, Airi."
She also began to cry while covering her mouth to not make noise. Then, she wiped her tears and firmly walked towards Airi.
"...Airi."
She heard someone coming, and upon lifting her face, she looked at her, trying to hide the tears from her face.
"Alisa? E-Erselica-san returned safe and sound. A-and, well, if possible, I don't want you to look at me now. Some things happened and…"
At that moment, Alisa extended her hand to help her up. Airi saw how tears fell while she smiled, and the proud daughter of a duke, the villain who wasn't supposed to become her friend, expressed her sincere and true feelings.
"I... love Rudel."
Airi closed her mouth. She was enormously surprised while her tears fell to the floor. Alisa cried; it couldn't be said whether sincerely from happiness or sadness, but her words continued.
"That's why I don't want you to give up."
"Huh?"
Alisa wiped Airi's tears with her fingertips while her own tears and smile didn't stop. Then the two stood facing each other, and Alisa grabbed both hands.
"I don't want you to give up; please don't. I want you to keep smiling by his side and by mine, just be yourself. Confess your feelings to Rudel."
"I did. I confessed my feelings to him once, and then I asked him again, but after that, Rudel-san immediately became defensive, and since then, he evades the question or doesn't want to give me an answer. I'm sure it's because he loves you, Alisa."
Alisa shook her head from side to side, making her small ponytail sway...
"If it were true, he would smile at me like he does with you. I'm sure it's you! He's just a coward sometimes. This time I'll make sure he doesn't escape again and..."
Alisa's cheeks turned red after what she was about to say.
"I plan to tell him my feelings, so you do it too. It doesn't matter if I, you, or neither is chosen and there's someone else. I want to make my feelings clear and support whoever he loves."
Tears sprang from both; they smiled and gave each other a strong hug.
◇◇◇
"Really?"
"Yes."
After making it clear that both loved Rudel, they sat on a bench in the garden.
Airi yelled at Alisa, "I always wanted to talk about love with someone!" And Alisa responded in the same way, "Me too, I always wanted to know what it feels like to talk about the person you like. And that we both like Rudel makes it even more exciting."
They talked about what they liked and didn't like about Rudel.
A lot of truths about him came out.
The sweet way they spoke seemed like that of two innocent girls, even if they were things about that person who is "secretly a pervert" or "so brazen in looking at their breasts while talking."
Occasionally, they blushed when they talked about how gallant and manly he was when he was serious or when he saved them in the past.
"I can't tell you if it was before or after he rescued me that I started seeing him in a very manly way." Alisa said while both held hands and, like a pair of little girls, moved their legs up and down in sync.
"I understand you. I'm very embarrassed to remember when I confessed to him, but at the same time, I'm glad I did it. I was really happy to tell him how I felt."
The two chatted with joy until...
"What was that?!"
"It came from below!"
A great roar happened; it was voices rising in an annoyed tone.
The girls thought the same thing: "Something happened with Rudel!" And they ran downstairs.
◇◇◇
At the same time, in the treasure vault, two men were talking.
"How did you manage to arrive safely?"
"My group was destined to free you since we weren't going to trust the kingdom's trash. Many lost their lives because some strange flying things liquidated everyone except me, since I understood they killed everyone who wore clothes identifying them as enemies, so I dressed in the armor of a dead kingdom knight. Once we get out, we must go to these coordinates to reach an allied ship."
The man speaking with much confidence was of medium height. While the one by his side was a tall and burly man in black armor—it was Bandel.
"Eliminating those guard trash was a piece of cake."
"Guhaha, you have my thanks. Where is it?"
After freeing him, the two came to the treasure vault. A large part had been looted by various people, including the guards themselves.
In this place, his armed unit and demon sword were kept as trophies.
Upon turning on the magical lights, they found it instantly. The head had been destroyed by Rudel, and someone had installed a new one; the model was totally different. The only thing that mattered was that the prana didn't leak from the magical circuits.
Bandel picked up his sword, which was lying on the floor like a dirty rag.
"What is this?"
While walking to his armed unit to board and escape, he found something that shouldn't be there.
It was Rudel's ring, a gold one with a red crystal.
Bandel grabbed it.
"This thing wasn't here before since it's not easy to forget."
At that moment, a black liquid emerged from the crystal and gradually took over Bandel's right arm.
"What the hell-!"
The black liquid seemed like an octopus that slowly covered his arm and approached his face.
The ally came to help, but...
"Gahh!"
The right arm moved on its own, grabbing his head, and with great force, crushed it, causing an explosion in one direction from how hard it was squeezed.
"Damn it!"
The black liquid reached his face, covering only his eyes and ears; it seemed to have red arteries as if it were a living being.
"What is this? Get away from me!"
Bandel struggled hard until...
"...Huh?"
He stopped for some reason.
He stopped struggling to free himself; instead...
"...You're kidding me, right?"
He seemed to be "talking" with someone.
Bandel moved his head from side to side as if denying something.
"...A video game?"
"...Liam?"
"...Me. A villain defeated by a brat?"
Somehow or another, Bandel was learning not only his truth but also that of this world.
Who or what was it that knew that?
"..."
Bandel stopped moving and murmured something.
"...My house was destroyed because of that... the real culprits are the Kingsfort. And I was destined to be the bloodthirsty knight since childhood..."
A normal person, upon learning such a shocking truth, would be traumatized.
"...Guhaha."
But that person wasn't normal; it was Bandel we're talking about.
"Guhahaha!"
He began to laugh with his usual and perverse laugh.
"It's funny! This shit is so funny!"
His arms were raised.
"So all this time my life was prescribed by someone else!"
"This world... everything I did... and the Bismarcks included are nothing more than a lie! Damn, this is definitely the best! My fight against that guy was even predestined; it's wonderful!"
Bandel laughed more strongly.
"Hey, by the way, who are you?"
He asked a simple question to a mysterious being.
Then...
"...Are you joking?"
He learned its identity.
"...That's your identity?!"
Bandel began to laugh again, even more strongly.
"Guhahaha. I can't believe you're that, guhaha! I definitely never expected you to actually be that! It's fucking hilarious and funny!"
His laughter stopped.
"...I understand. You want my help to kill Rudel and thus bring this world back to its original form. Sounds good to me, count on me! I'll kill Rudel for you, and then, like the Ouroboros, I'll have fun repeating this lifestyle!"
Bandel laughed very loudly, and even with his eyes and ears covered by the black liquid, he headed to his armed unit, boarded it, and then destroyed the wall to fly out.
"Rudel. Soon you and I will have our final debut!"
The final boss had escaped to destroy once and for all the villain and the kingdom.