Chapter 15: Sky

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Translator: Soafp

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As expected, this time really feels like the end.

I had a premonition like that.

But even so, I can't let my guard down—no, I won't.

Now I understand this clearly, but to be blunt, my master was not blessed with talent for the sword.

Even though we shared the same “Sword Master” skill, in terms of pure swordsmanship, I was probably several levels above him.

I can't really talk about others, but he was not someone who could realistically aim to defeat the Demon King.

But.

That was during what was called the final test, when I sparred with my master for the last time at the age of thirteen.

When I launched a strike I was certain would win, my master deflected it, countered, and sent me rolling across the ground.

The master I thought I had already surpassed struck me down.

And then, from that gentle man who had never once raised his voice in anger, I received the first—and last—lecture of my life.

“Erius, do you know why you lost?”

“…I don't know.”

“You grew complacent, thinking you had surpassed me.”

“That's not—”

“No excuses, Erius. You relaxed because you thought you could already win. For the past two years, I've been hiding my true hand. I did it so I could teach you this at the very end.”

“What… is it?”

With a stern expression I had never seen before, my master scolded me.

“Until you win, never let your guard down! Even against an opponent you can't beat, devise strategies and search for a path to victory! Until the very moment of total defeat, pursue victory without a single lapse! That is the resolve of one who takes up the sword and fights!”

As I hung my head in shame at those words, my master's fierce demeanor vanished, replaced by a smile.

“I won't fight you again. I'll take my win and run—this is one way of winning too.”

“Th-that's not fair!”

“Unfair is fine, as long as you win. Hahahahahaha.”

But even that master was defeated by the Demon King's army.

That's why I won't let my guard down until the very end.

Until the moment the Demon King dies, I'll give everything I have.

Only then can I truly hold my head high and say I surpassed my master.

That said.

After expelling Nonoa, there's nothing more I can do.

Up until now, after the expulsion event, I searched for anything else I might be able to do—but no additional red text or blue text ever appeared.

It's not like I didn't think about it.

For example, joining Nonoa's assault on the Demon King's castle on my own, as unauthorized backup.

But no matter what I tried, it was impossible.

Once Nonoa awakens, my fate of death—my manner of dying—is fixed, and everything inevitably converges on that outcome.

So I accepted it.

After Nonoa's skill awakens, the only thing that appears is the final result written in black text.

In other words, the moment I expel her, my role is finished.

I help Nonoa, who is tightly bound by a fate of death, letting her gain various experiences—then I drive her out.

In the defeat of the Demon King, that is the role assigned to me by whatever god or force is behind this.

That's why, if Nonoa wins this time, then being able to give her a parting gift at the moment of expulsion will be the last thing I was able to do for her.

I'd thought about this before as well, but anything of real value couldn't be given because Lena would interfere.

So all I could prepare was a small amount of money, and a bottle of healing potion.

The contents of the bottle were nothing special—just a low-grade healing potion you could find anywhere.

Figuring out how to hand it to her during the expulsion, taking Lena's personality into account, using a bit of quick thinking—that was all I could do.

Well, you could also see the year until my death as a kind of short vacation, I suppose.

After the expulsion, news of Nonoa's actions reaches me as rumors.

After being expelled, she cooperates with the Royal Knights, but basically fights alone.

She doesn't form a fixed party with anyone.

Perhaps the trauma of being expelled left her averse to teaming up with others.

She might even resent me deeply.

But after expelling her, I can never meet her again, so there's no way to know what she truly feels.

Actually,

From the 110th loop onward, when I began to feel that defeating the Demon King was becoming realistic, I've returned home every time and asked my mother for favors like I did this time.

It might be unnecessary.

But no blue text or black text ever appears.

It probably has no effect on the defeat of the Demon King.

This time as well, Nonoa's skill awakened without incident.

One year after Nonoa's expulsion, I am twenty years old.

Well then, it's about time.

Even though it happens every time, my mood grows heavy.

Ever since I learned that expelling Nonoa is mandatory, aside from cases where she failed to awaken her skill, I always die in the same way.

I tried many times to change it.

My location, my actions there…

But no matter what I did, the manner of my death never changed.

So I stopped resisting pointlessly.

That day too, I quietly went to sleep at a familiar inn.

When I woke up, I was in a place I recognized.

The outskirts of a certain town, a field located there.

I'm always brought here while I'm asleep.

The place of my end.

This place, where I die while staring up at a sky that never clears.

“You're awake, Erius…”

“Yeah.”

Still bound behind my back by a magical device, I look up at the mastermind behind my abduction.

It's Lena.

Saint Lena.

She is my reaper.

“Lately, I've been hearing rumors…” she says. “That I was the one who orchestrated Nonoa's expulsion.”

Who spreads those rumors?

I don't know that either.

But because of them, she's fallen into paranoia.

That I might leave her and form a party with Nonoa again.

“You swore it. That you wouldn't leave me alone.”

She asks me the same thing every time.

In the beginning, I tried to explain… but once I realized it was pointless, I stopped.

“Can you say it? That those words, that oath, weren't a lie… Erius. Just so you know—lies don't work on me anymore.”

That's right. Explaining is useless.

As a saint, she has begun to awaken to the nature of her skill.

‘Discernment of Lies.'

An ability that sees through lies, just as the name suggests.

Originally, it's meant to counter monsters that deceive through illusions and the like, but of course, it works on humans too.

Ironically, Lena awakening this ability always comes as a set with Nonoa's expulsion.

Because Lena gains a certain level of confidence as a “saint,” she begins to insist on expelling Nonoa.

As blue-text causality accumulates and Nonoa's path toward defeating the Demon King draws closer, the party stacks up good deeds.

As a result, Lena's skills also improve.

If donations are reduced and effort is withheld from strengthening Lena's abilities, she instead becomes opposed to the expulsion, saying, “We need Nonoa to donate even more.”

And in repeating all of this, I realized something.

At the moment Nonoa defeats the Demon King, unlike before, I will face a complete and final death.

That was part of the deal I made with Kuro—if the Demon King could be defeated, I would offer up my future beyond the age of twenty.

That was the price I paid to obtain the “Guide.”

I had already accepted that at the time of the deal, so it wasn't something that shocked me now.

What I realized was…

If Nonoa is expelled, and the only ones left in the party are Lena and me, then when everything is accomplished and I die—

—I will leave Lena all alone!

Even knowing that, I kept making that oath to her.

That I wouldn't leave her alone.

To lead the Demon King to his death, I continued lying to her.

Knowing full well that she would eventually realize the lie and be hurt by it.

That's why.

This manner of death is a guilty verdict passed on me.

A punishment for deceiving her, for using her.

“The right index finger governs destruction—”

As she chants, magical power gathers in Lena's right hand.

“It is the punishment bestowed by God.”

And once the magic finishes gathering, she asks me one more time.

“Please, Erius. Say it… say that oath wasn't a lie!”

In the early loops, I answered, “It wasn't a lie.”

In the last few loops, I remained silent.

But still.

“Maybe this really is the end.”

That thought—made me say it.

“I don't want to leave you alone! But… I can't! No matter how much I think about it… it was impossible!”

Yes. It was impossible.

Lena, who fought alongside me against the demon, who smiled at me even at the moment of her defeat and death.

I didn't want to make her go through something like this.

Thinking that, I tested it again and again, over and over.

But—I could not find any ending other than this one.

There is something that was strengthened through repetition.

Whether it's an additional ability of the “guide,” or simply my own instinct, I don't know.

But around the hundredth cycle, I began to sense something.

I became able to sense my own death—my defeat.

When facing the one who would bring me death or defeat, I could feel it.

The greater the danger, the stronger that sensation became.

And what I feel from Lena right now—is overwhelmingly strong.

Strong enough to convince me that this fate cannot be avoided.

At my words, she shook her head.

“I understand that those feelings aren't a lie… but… I can't forgive you.”

Magic surged forth from her finger as she wore a tearful expression.

The result… was just slightly different from usual.

Until now, it had always been instant death.

Her magic would strike my heart directly, and I would die without resistance.

But this time, her aim was just barely off, and instead of killing me outright, it blew off my left arm from the upper arm down.

Even so, the impact sent me flying, and I was slammed into a nearby well.

The well was about knee-high, and the impact shattered my right knee.

The momentum didn't stop, and I fell straight into the well.

After a brief sensation of floating, I was slammed into the surface of the water.

…I'm still barely alive.

Puzzled by this different turn of events even through the pain, I looked up at the sky from inside the well—

The familiar black clouds were thinning.

No, they were clearly turning white.

And through the gaps, blue sky and sunlight began to pour down.

What that result meant…

She did it.

She really did it.

Finally.

Finally, Nonoa did it.

I don't know why Lena's magic missed.

Was it because of my words?

Or did she notice the change in the sky before I did?

But the fact that I managed to cling to life longer than usual—even if only for a short time—held great meaning.

I had always had one fear.

That even if Nonoa succeeded, I would die without ever knowing it, vanishing from this world while on the brink of death.

Everything I had done.

The accumulated result of all of it.

The fear that I might disappear without ever knowing—that had always haunted me.

The narrow patch of blue sky I saw from the bottom of the well told me—

What I had done… was not in vain!

“Haha… hahaha… haha…”

Laughter naturally welled up from my chest.

The blue sky my father had wished to show me.

The thing I had worked so hard to reclaim.

“Haha… I did it, I did it, I did it! Haha, hahaha, hahahahahaha!”

Even as blood loss made my head swim, my laughter wouldn't stop.

I—I had finally seen it through.

It felt relieving.

And a little lonely.

If possible, I wanted to defeat the Demon King with my own hands, in my father's place.

When I realized that wasn't my role, it was frustrating.

But now, even that no longer matters.

I'd be lying if I said I had no regrets.

About Lena.

And likewise, about my mother, who would be left alone.

But my greatest regret is—

That I can't give my praise to you, Nonoa.

Ah, if only I could.

If only I could praise her directly.

And—if only she could know.

That I was fighting too.

That even though we were destined to part ways, I was still fighting alongside her.

You might think of me as nothing more than the former party leader who expelled you, an unpleasant person…

No—perhaps you might even think that having been in my party was a stain on your life.

But I always thought of you as a comrade.

At least, throughout these past dozens of loops, I did.

I'm sorry for expelling you again and again.

I'm sorry for making you challenge the Demon King over and over, only to die.

I'm sorry that I couldn't let you win.

I had always thought that.

But you did it.

You saw it through.

After lowering your shoulders and leaving before me, you must have continued training with your natural seriousness.

Then you fought alone, in solitude, and accomplished something no one else could.

And you fulfilled my long-cherished wish in my place.

You showed me this blue sky.

“Thank you, Nonoa.”

I sank down.

Soon, the sky disappeared from view—

And a black curtain fell over my vision.