Chapter 19 ….
In the Red Forest, a very special—no, a rather peculiar—flower blooms.
This flower, with its white, modest petals layered one atop another, looks delicate on the outside, but contrary to appearances, it has a tough disposition.
‘Well, “tough” is putting it nicely. It’s got a really nasty temperament.’
This flower had one particularly strange trait: it hated water.
And not just a little—
‘To the point where it spontaneously combusts if it gets wet.’
When water touched it, the white petals would begin to smoke and burn away. From a common-sense perspective, it was completely absurd.
‘Though, considering there are similar plants even in reality, it’s not entirely impossible.’
What mattered was that this trait was perfect—perfect for pulling a scam.
You could easily make it look like some kind of ignition phenomenon caused by a special power.
Yes. That was precisely why I had come all the way to the Red Forest.
But then—
‘…What on earth is all this?’
This clever giant cat had brought back something far more outrageous.
“…The Pendant of Illusion.”
This was no ordinary pendant.
It was an item that appeared in the game—a cursed artifact used to place a curse on someone.
‘Why is this showing up here…?’
The problem wasn’t that it had simply been brought by mistake. This thing was never supposed to be here in the first place.
‘By now, it should already be sealed by Yulia and buried deep within the temple.’
Why was the pendant used as a weapon by the main villain of Chapter 3 suddenly appearing now, out of nowhere?
—Grrr!
Meanwhile, upon hearing my muttering, Igers puffed out his nose with a proud look on his face.
It was written all over him—See? I did good, right?—leaving me even more speechless.
‘…It does have white petals, and it really is something incredibly rare.’
Strictly speaking, he had followed my conditions perfectly.
‘Did I keep emphasizing that it had to be something rare, so in his own way he brought the rarest thing he could find?’
The more I thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
Of course, regardless of the reason, I was already screwed.
‘At this rate, it’ll look like I came all the way here specifically to get this.’
Sure enough, Azel’s gaze fixed on me more sharply than before. He had definitely recognized the nature of this rare artifact.
On the other hand, Mary seemed not to know what it was, which was at least a small relief.
‘Why is life so completely unpredictable?’
Even so, I couldn’t just pretend I didn’t know and give it up. The performance was simply too absurdly good.
It was an item used by the main villain of Chapter 3, after all.
‘If I use it right, it could be an incredible self-defense weapon. How could I possibly give this up?’
Keeping it would obviously invite suspicion, but throwing it away felt painfully wasteful. It was the very definition of a burden you couldn’t abandon.
Still, my hesitation didn’t last long.
‘Yeah. Who knows what might happen from here on out—I should at least have one weapon to protect myself.’
I casually slipped the pendant into my pocket, and Azel’s gaze followed the movement.
“Let’s go.”
At my bold declaration, the group hesitantly followed behind me.
‘Azel… I’ll just ignore him for now.’
Of course, that decision wasn’t nearly as easy as I’d thought.
‘This is stressful.’
Azel’s blatant stare was unbearably oppressive.
And then, at that very moment—
“Is something uncomfortable?”
For the first time, Azel spoke to me directly.
“Y-Yes?!”
Even though it was a simple question, my shoulders jolted up instinctively.
“Why are you so startled?”
Instead of the conscience I’d long since sold off, the small-citizen mindset inside me screamed in protest.
“If something’s uncomfortable, say so.”
At the moment, Azel and I were riding together on Igers, and the distance between us was far too close.
His lips were practically whispering right next to my ear—yet strangely enough, my heart was pounding for an entirely different reason.
“N-No, it’s fine. I’m okay.”
“…I see.”
Perhaps my awkward response made him uncomfortable as well; Azel fell silent.
As an uneasy silence settled between us, I was the one who finally gathered the courage to speak.
I had to change the subject somehow.
“Azel.”
“Speak.”
“Why did you come here in person?”
“…Then why did you come to this forest?”
“I told you. I came to keep a promise.”
“The promise you mentioned—does it have something to do with that pendant?”
That was a landmine.
“……”
When I fell silent, at a loss for words, another question followed immediately.
“You said earlier it was a misunderstanding. Do you have any idea why these creatures reacted the way they did?”
That was another bomb.
Every question he asked flew at me like a dagger, piercing straight through.
‘I should’ve just kept my mouth shut and gone quietly!’
I regretted it instantly.
‘I’m really done for. How am I supposed to explain this?’
If I kept piling on lies just to get through the moment, there would come a time when I wouldn’t be able to clean it up. But I couldn’t just brush this off either.
Then, out of nowhere, Azel said something strange.
“…Is this also difficult for you to answer?”
His tone sounded hesitant.
As I tilted my head internally at the unexpected reaction, he said something even stranger.
“Could it be that you’re still seeing things?”
Seeing things? What was he talking about…?
For a moment, I flinched, wondering if he was insinuating I was crazy—then something suddenly came to mind.
‘Wait. By “seeing things,” does he mean… that incident back then?’
The day I screamed after mistaking Gaspata for a ghost.
That day, Azel had thought I was hallucinating.
‘Is that really it?’
My expression stiffened immediately.
‘This bastard—did he see me pick up a cursed item and decide this was the perfect chance to interrogate me all at once?!’
It was a highly convincing theory.
But what followed was once again completely unexpected.
Noticing my hardened expression, Azel changed the subject yet again.
“Let’s just pretend I didn’t hear anything. If your posture is uncomfortable, say so. I can get down and walk.”
“…What?”
And that was it.
As if he had nothing more to say, he stubbornly stared straight ahead. I, on the other hand, was utterly bewildered.
‘What was that just now? What even passed between us? What kind of development is this?’
He wasn’t some moody middle schooler—there was no beginning, middle, or end to his words.
Living by the flow of consciousness was more than enough with just me, yet Azel was suddenly encroaching on my territory.
‘Is this really the end? Is it really okay to just let it slide like this?’
If anything, it only left me more confused.
‘…Well, if he says he’s fine with it, what can I do?’
After agonizing over it, I reached a simple conclusion.
For now, let it go.
Still, rather than outright ignoring it, I chose to redirect the focus.
‘I’ll just slap on a temporary patch.’
With that decision made, I slowly opened my mouth.
Azel was regretting the words he had spoken just moments ago.
‘Why did I say that?’
It hadn’t been driven by any particular intention—if anything, it was closer to an impulse.
Having realized an unexpected truth, he found it difficult to control himself.
‘This is absolutely not a coincidence.’
Igers was originally supposed to be discovered not in the Red Forest, but within the ducal territory.
The Pendant of Illusion was the same.
That rare artifact should have been sealed by the Saintess and buried deep within the temple.
Yet everything had changed.
‘There’s no way this is coincidence.’
And all those non-coincidences pointed to a single conclusion.
‘There exists a loop I do not remember.’
The existence of a hidden cycle.
Without that, none of this made sense.
‘She must have shown it to me deliberately. She lured me here under the pretense of a promise, then presented Igers and the pendant as evidence.’
Since she couldn’t say it herself, she showed him instead.
“I didn’t lie.”
That she hadn’t lied.
Because of that, his uncontrolled thoughts and wildly swinging emotions continued to provoke him.
‘What on earth do you want from me?’
Yet there were still things that couldn’t be explained if he dismissed all this as nothing more than a silent protest.
Elpis’s uncomfortable expression kept bothering him.
She looked as though she hadn’t wanted to go this far, as though she was in pain—which felt strange.
‘Did you… simply want me to believe you?’
Because of that, it became increasingly difficult to stop his thoughts from reaching toward her.
And then, at that moment—
“Azel.”
He heard Elpis’s voice.
