“Please spare me.”
Ex lay flat on the floor before Circe, every inch of his body pressed against the ground in total submission.
The torn remains of a letter were scattered in front of him.
It was Ex’s original sin, the mistake that had brought this entire situation down upon him.
Circe glared at him, her face twisted with rage.
“Did you honestly think I’d read that letter and let it go? Do I look like some brain-dead moron to you? What was it again? ‘I know your true identity. You’re the reincarnation of Aerial.’ So you thought you could toy with me~ Is that it?”
“No, that’s not it… I never meant to…”
“Never~ meant~ to~? I thought it was a trap those demon bastards had set for me. But guess what? There was no way a bunch of demons could’ve known about my past life! So I took my time and thought very carefully about which bastard seemed the most suspicious! And there was only one!!”
Bzzzzzzzt-!
“Gyaaaaaah-!”
“And by the most incredible coincidence, when I asked the companions who gathered there after being reincarnated for the first time in a hundred years, they told me they’d received letters too! They thought one of the others must’ve sent them! But common sense says that if one of us had written those letters, at least one person wouldn’t have received one!!”
Bzzzzzzzzzzzt-!!
“Gyaaaaaah-! Gyaaaaaaaaaah-!!”
“Which means there’s only one likely culprit, doesn’t it? I don’t know how you found out, but you’re either a bastard who was pulling some kind of scheme in a place crawling with demons! Or you’re a bastard who did something to my memories without me knowing!!”
Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt-!!
“P-Please, spare…”
“So answer me properly!! If you don’t explain exactly what happened, I’m going to roast you alive!”
Bzzzt, bzzzzz-
“Gyaaaaah…”
Only then did the electrical torture stop.
It had been intense enough to knock any human unconscious, yet Ex had somehow remained awake.
Perhaps it was thanks to becoming a demon.
He couldn’t tell whether that was a blessing or a curse.
If he kept his mouth shut, the electrocution would only begin again, so Ex barely managed to speak.
“The truth is…”
“Just so you know, you saw what happened last time. I can see through lies almost instantly, so you’d better think very carefully before you answer.”
“I-I know…”
Ex had underestimated Circe’s obsession with knowledge. Only now did he understand that the reason she had become so fixated on him was because of her sealed memories.
‘Explaining everything will probably earn me another penalty… Hm? Wait.’
A strange realization suddenly occurred to him.
‘Back at the mansion, and even now… I haven’t received any penalties.’
Considering the conditions that triggered the penalty, that should have been impossible.
And yet, the impossible had happened.
There had to be some other reason.
Ex found a clue in something Circe had said.
‘Something done to her memories… Her memories?’
At that moment, a hypothesis flashed through Ex’s mind.
He immediately put it to the test.
He abandoned his full-body prostration, rose proudly to his feet, looked down at Circe, and shouted.
“Fine! I wrote them! I knew who all of you were, and I wrote those letters! I did it to defeat the demons! I haven’t done anything wrong!”
“You’ve got some nerve raising your voice at me!”
Bzzzzzzzt-!!
“Gyaaaaaah!! I’m sorry!! Yes, I wrote them!”
Even as he screamed in pain, Ex became certain that his hypothesis was correct.
‘There’s no penalty for something she already knows!’
If his hypothesis was right, he could explain the whole situation to Circe. If things went well, she might even become a new ally. The same should apply to Roxwell, whose memories had also been sealed.
But he immediately found a flaw in that idea.
‘…No. It’s still dangerous. Think about the viewpoint. I can’t forget that Elysia is watching this.’
Ex calmed himself and assessed the situation rationally.
For now, he needed to survive this interrogation.
Ex hurriedly sat back down and began explaining.
“First of all, you’re right. I was the one who wrote those letters. But I wasn’t trying to lure any of you into a trap. That was the best method available.”
“The best method? Luring us into the middle of a horde of demon bastards was the best method?”
“It had to happen that way for Leon to awaken as the Hero and for the Reincarnated Hero Party to reunite. It also kept the casualties to a minimum.”
“…Tch. That’s true.”
Circe clicked her tongue, looking as if she had just bitten into something rotten.
Ex continued.
“The whole reason I went to that demonic mansion in the first place was to find out where the demons planned to attack. Preventing the nobles from taking the Demonization Accelerator was an added benefit.”
“That’s true too.”
The more truths Ex told her, the darker Circe’s expression became. Her hostility slowly began to ease as well.
“But.”
Then, without warning, that hostility surged again.
“How did you know any of that?”
‘Damn it… Couldn’t she have just let that part go?’
That was the one question Ex had wanted to avoid.
Any lie he told would be exposed, but if he told her the truth, she would treat it as complete nonsense.
‘It’ll be even worse if she actually believes me.’
If Circe learned what would happen in the future, she would start behaving differently from the original story.
Now that she had reunited with Leon, Ex couldn’t allow her to stray any further from the intended path.
‘What a hellish choice…!’
Die now or die later.
As Ex struggled with that particularly grim question of survival, Serry appeared.
『The use of the new talent ‘Ten Thousand Lies (S)’ is recommended.』
‘Ten Thousand Lies…?’
In that fleeting instant, Ex reviewed the details of his new talent.
『Ten Thousand Lies (S) / Active / Demon Skill
Your lies become significantly more likely to deceive the target.
The required Activation Points increase according to the magnitude of the lie.
Using One Truth (S) resets the Activation Points.
This skill bypasses all truth-verification effects.
Activation Points: 10000/10000』
‘This is it!’
Once Ex understood the skill, he cheered inwardly.
This talent was the perfect move to break through his current predicament.
As the silence stretched on, Circe’s expression grew increasingly displeased.
“Fine. I’ll wait while you come up with your excuse. My lightning magic isn’t going to wait with me, though, so choose your next move carefully.”
“I-I’ll tell you!”
Ex calmly finished preparing himself and answered.
“The truth is, I saw the future!”
“Ha…”
Circe let out a brief, mocking laugh.
It was an absurd lie.
So utterly ridiculous that she couldn’t have believed it even if she had wanted to.
“You really think you can get away with… Huh?”
But the result of her truth verification was nothing like she had expected.
The lie-detection effect judged Ex’s answer to be ‘true.’
“What…? That can’t be right…”
“What’s wrong? Did it tell you that my answer was ‘true’?”
“Wait. This is an error. Something must’ve gone wrong.”
“The ‘Book of Eibon’ doesn’t lie.”
“…You know about that too?”
“I’ll say it again. I saw the future.”
“That’s true too… How…? Say it again!”
“I-I saw the future.”
“No, something’s wrong! Again!”
“Repeating it won’t turn the truth into a lie!”
“…Tch!”
Circe clicked her tongue and ended the interrogation.
She hated to admit it, but she had no choice except to believe Ex’s claim that he had seen the future.
She couldn’t afford to waste the Book of Eibon any further.
Of course, there had not been a shred of truth in what Ex said.
‘Ten Thousand Lies… This thing works even better than I thought!’
Each time he claimed to have seen the future, Ex had activated Ten Thousand Lies.
Thanks to that, he had managed to deceive Circe’s Book of Eibon.
Now he could straighten his back, puff out his chest, and speak with confidence.
“This proves my innocence.”
“How does that make you innocent?! You still got caught trying to manipulate other people’s lives!”
Bzzzzzzzt-!
“Gaaah! S-Stop…!”
“I understand that your intentions were good, but you hid everything and tried to pull strings behind everyone’s backs! Now that you’ve been caught, how are we supposed to trust you? None of this would’ve happened if you’d told everyone the truth from the beginning!”
Circe was right.
Even if his intentions had been good, that didn’t change the fact that he had deceived and used other people.
No matter how favorable the result might be, anyone who had been tricked or manipulated could hardly be expected to feel grateful.
Ex understood that, which was why he had always tried to avoid telling lies that truly crossed the line.
He had learned through bitter experience just how easy it was to destroy someone’s entire life with a few carefully chosen words.
But that only applied under ordinary circumstances.
“No, Miss Circe. You’ve misunderstood something very important.”
“…What?”
“You already discovered everything.”
Ex sat down again and continued in a serious voice.
“Everything that happened in the past and everything that will happen in the future. Who has been controlling this world and playing games with it. How this world was created. What waits at the end of all these intertwined fates. You discovered every last truth. You didn’t miss a single one.”
There was no need to activate his talent.
Everything he had just said was true.
“Do you want to know about the seal on your memories? Then I’ll tell you. The seal itself contains the whole truth. It was placed there by the ‘damned bitch’ who treats this world like her personal plaything.”
“Did you just call her a ‘damned bitch’…?”
“That’s why I can’t tell you anything more. I’ve already seen what happens once. I have no intention of going through it again. I’m the only one who needs to keep struggling through this godforsaken mess of a world.”
“…What is that supposed to mean?”
Circe’s brief question demanded an explanation, but Ex merely shrugged.
“You’ve already died once. There’s no reason for you to go through hell twice, is there?”
“…What about you?”
Ex answered with a bitter expression.
“I don’t get vacations anymore.”
“…”
Circe stared at him, her emotions too complicated to put into words.
The look on Ex’s face was almost identical to Leon’s expression when he had marched toward hell before his reincarnation.
But Ex was not Leon.
“…Are you telling me not to break the seal on my memories?”
“That’s for you to decide. Once you learn the entire truth, you’ll reach the same conclusion I did anyway.”
Ex was certain of that much.
If Circe understood the entire course of the story, she would also understand how important it was for Leon to awaken.
He was only trying to stop her because there was still a chance that she might choose to deviate from the intended path.
“Still, you’ll probably be devastated. There’s no reason to despair over a future that hasn’t happened yet, so… well, I wouldn’t recommend it. The future is going to be altered little by little anyway.”
Ex decided it was time to bring this conversation to an end.
“So, Miss Circe… No, Lady ‘Aerial.’”
“…What?”
“Forget everything we discussed in this room. Forget the gaps in your memories. Forget everything about the future. Live a new life with Sir ‘Protego’ and your companions. Whenever something bad happens, deal with it together.”
“…”
“There is no ‘Ex’ in ‘Aerial’s’ memories. Even if there is, I’m only one of the thousands or tens of thousands of people scattered across the world outside. I’m not worth remembering. Even if we happen to cross paths, just think, ‘That face looks familiar,’ and keep walking.”
“…Why should I do that?”
“Because that is the only way I can fight the ‘damned bitch’ and win. So I’m going to ask something shameless of you.”
This was the most important part.
“Miss Circe. Please disappear from my life.”
「Go back to your proper role.」
“Please never acknowledge me again.”
「It’s the only way everyone can survive.」
Ex and Circe could never meet again.
Circe could not be allowed to stray from the original course of events.
There could be no more uncontrollable variables.
If they wanted to prevent the world’s destruction, this was the only way.
‘Was that too harsh? No. I should probably have said it even more forcefully.’
Elysia watched the world from a higher dimension and rewrote it whenever she pleased.
To stand against that power, Ex had to conceal all information about himself as thoroughly as possible.
He held no ill will toward Circe, but now that the viewpoint had been attached to her, she could never become his ally.
The same applied to Roxwell, every member of the Reincarnated Hero Party, the central villains, and every important supporting character.
The only person in this world capable of interfering with the author was an insignificant extra.
To summarize it in the cruelest possible terms,
The destruction of this world had to be stopped by a worthless extra.
That was reality.
‘That should be enough for her to understand.’
The conversation had become somewhat confrontational, but Ex didn’t particularly care.
The members of the Reincarnated Hero Party were all adults mentally, after all.
Lola was the only one he needed to treat like a child.
“…”
Circe’s contemplation was long and deep.
Judging by her expression, half of her wanted to cry, while the other half felt unbearably wronged.
This was the first time in her life that anyone had rejected her so completely.
She had never even heard of someone rejecting her because they considered themselves too insignificant to be part of her life.
Not even Leon had ever shown her anything like this.
She wanted to argue, but her own intelligence and wisdom had already forced her to understand and accept his reasoning.
For once, she found those gifts infuriating.
Circe clenched her teeth and forced the words out.
“Fine… I understand… If you want me… out of your life…”
That was enough.
Ex closed his eyes and nodded.
Circe suppressed the resentment threatening to burst out of her and rose to her feet.
She had given him her word, so now she had to follow through.
She barely managed to stand and walked toward the door.
The moment she opened it, she and Ex would become strangers.
They had always been strangers, but from now on, they would become something even more distant, two people who deliberately and completely ignored each other.
‘That’s all we ever were.’
After finally hardening her resolve, Circe reached for the door.
Just as she was about to open it,
“Hey, commoner! I don’t understand this! Explain it to… H-Huh?”
The door flew open, revealing a small blond girl.
She was the little girl who often followed Ex around, though Circe could barely remember her name.
‘Was it Lola?’
The moment Lola opened the door and saw Circe standing in front of her, she stiffened and shrank back, instantly on guard.
“Th-This is where the commoner lives, isn’t it…? Then why are you…?”
‘…She was definitely there too.’
Circe remembered that when she had attached eavesdropping magic to Ex, he and Lola had worked together to prepare their operation.
She also remembered that Lola had accompanied him to the demons’ mansion.
As Circe stared blankly at Lola, Ex answered the girl from behind her.
“My lady, there was an incident today. They told all the dormitory residents to wait in their own rooms. If they catch you here, that professor is going to beat me to death.”
“Hey! Then why is this person in your room?!”
“She came in because we needed to discuss something. She’s leaving now, so please move out of her way.”
“Why have you been treating me so horribly lately? I’m still a noble, you know! I’m the Young Lady of House Lemercier!”
“I’m saying this for your own good, my lady.”
Lola reluctantly stepped aside.
The sight of her huddling against the wall and watching Circe as warily as a frightened little animal was almost comical.
Her expression made it perfectly clear that she wanted Circe gone as quickly as possible, so Circe moved.
Circe stepped out of the room, and Lola went inside.
The instant Lola entered Ex’s room, she closed the door behind her.
For quite some time afterward, her endless complaints could be heard clearly from the hallway. The two of them seemed remarkably close.
Circe stood outside the door, listening to them for a long while.
Then she suddenly realized something.
Lola had been allowed into Ex’s life.
But Circe had been rejected completely.
And she couldn’t understand why.
“Why?”
Ex had made one mistake.
Perhaps because he had revealed his true feelings, he had underestimated her.
He had forgotten that the Sage’s obsession with knowledge was far greater than anyone could imagine.
And now, that obsession had taken on an entirely new form.
–TL Notes–
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