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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Ugh… Hmm…”
Kurika woke up earlier than I expected. I thought he would be out cold for the entire day.
He blinked his eyes open, his gaze meeting mine.
“Where… am I?”
The wolf, his voice raspy, struggled to speak, but I understood what he meant and answered.
“Welcome to the McLean residence. It’s not very spacious, so I had to lay you down there.”
There wasn’t enough room inside, so I had laid him down by the doorway, his legs stretching out into the living room.
I considered covering him with a blanket, but my sister had protested, saying she didn’t want wolf fur all over it.
Kurika slowly sat up.
He had been in bad shape when I brought him here, but he seemed to be healing himself.
“To think the power of the Goddess of Death is what revived me…”
Despite his confusion, he seemed to understand what had happened. He ran a hand over his forehead, as if regretting that he had even survived.
Being a werewolf, his hand slipped down his snout and landed on his nose.
“I should have died by Sharcal’s hand. He was a worthy opponent.”
He sighed, his expression filled with a weary resignation, like an old man who had overstayed his welcome. But he couldn’t die yet.
“You can’t die yet. You still have a role to play.”
“……A role to play?”
Of course.
He still had responsibilities to fulfill.
But first, I needed to confirm something.
“Kurika, whether it was your will or not, you lost. You understand that, right?”
“……Hmm, I do.”
“Good. I trust you, but just in case, let me warn you…”
Kurika froze mid-breath, his body still as a statue, not even a single hair out of place. His heart seemed to stop beating for a brief moment.
“……!”
He looked down at his body in shock, checking himself for any abnormalities. He had been completely paralyzed, yet he felt no ill effects.
“I think that’s enough for you to understand.”
“The Goddess of Time is still with you.”
“Yes, but don’t worry. She’s trying to save the world.”
The Priestess of Time had tainted her image, and her tone was irritating, but she wasn’t a bad goddess.
At least, she wasn’t trying to destroy the world.
“I know. She’s the one who gave me the sealing dagger.”
“She gave you the dagger that seals the apocalypse?”
That was unexpected.
Kurika nodded and pulled out a small dagger from his pocket.
“As you know, I’m the guardian of the gods’ treasure vault, protecting the world from the dangerous artifacts they left behind. And this dagger… is a treasure the Goddess of Time entrusted to me.”
“Hmm.”
The Goddess of Time was more proactive than I thought.
I saw a new side of her.
“Anyway, I’ll decide what to do with Rin. I heard the Priestess of Time was the one who awakened her as the apocalypse in the previous world. With her gone, Rin won’t awaken in 10 years.”
Kurika considered my words for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
“Very well. I accept your judgment, as the victor. But that is not the only reason. I also trust you, the one who defeated both the Priestess and me.”
“Me?”
That was unexpected.
He wasn’t just accepting defeat, he was acknowledging my strength.
He handed me the small dagger.
“This dagger… it belongs with you.”
The only tool that could stop the apocalypse created by the Goddess of Time. He wasn’t just giving me the dagger, he was acknowledging me as its rightful guardian.
I felt a surge of gratitude.
“……Thank you.”
“Hmm, so what is this task you need my help with?”
This was my reward for defeating him and the Priestess. But he still had one more thing to do for me.
“Let’s go to the beast-kin territory.”
It was time to rescue Eris.
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Late at night.
Since Diana insisted that she couldn’t sleep in the same house as Kurika, she decided to stay at Rin’s house for the night.
So Rin, Diana, Sen, and Hayun, who had come with me from the witches’ village, were all sleeping at Rin’s house. It was an unexpected sleepover.
Thankfully, Rin’s parents were happy to have so many of Rin’s friends from the academy visiting.
“What are you doing up there?”
“Daniel?”
Rin was sitting on the roof of her house, gazing at the moon. I had come to bring Diana her blanket, and I was surprised to see someone on the roof.
It was a sloped roof, with books stacked on top, but Rin seemed perfectly comfortable sitting there. She must have done this many times before.
She smiled playfully and beckoned me.
“Come up here.”
“I have to go. Kurika said he’s hungry.”
I was half-joking, worried that he might actually eat me. He ate monsters, so he could probably eat humans too. I had heard that most beast-kin didn’t have a strong aversion to human flesh.
Wait, was that actually a possibility?
“Tsk, come up here.”
Rin clicked her tongue, like an older sister scolding her younger brother, and patted the space beside her.
I sighed and climbed onto the roof, holding Diana’s blanket under my arm.
“Wow! Amazing!”
Rin clapped her hands and smiled. She looked so cute, sitting there with her legs tucked under her, that I couldn’t help but smile back.
“Sit down. Let’s watch the moon together.”
“Didn’t you have something to tell me?”
I thought she had called me up here for a reason, but this seemed a bit random.
Rin tilted her head, feigning innocence.
“No, I just wanted to watch the moon with you.”
“……”
“Come on, sit down. You’re already up here.”
Well, even if she didn’t have anything to say, I did.
I sat down beside her.
It was harder than I expected to maintain my balance on the roof, so I couldn’t sit like Rin, with my legs tucked under me. I stretched them out in front of me, using them as support.
“Isn’t it beautiful? I used to watch the moon like this sometimes. I haven’t seen it in a while since I’ve been at the academy, so it feels even more special.”
“You can see the moon from the academy too.”
Rin’s room had a window, so she could easily see the moon at night. But my answer seemed to disappoint her, and she shook her head.
“The moon looks different in our village.”
“Ah, right.”
If I told her the moon was the same everywhere, she would probably summon her army and throw me off the roof.
A comfortable silence settled between us. Like savoring a delicious meal, we enjoyed the quiet night, the moonlight bathing the world in its gentle glow, the stars twinkling in the dark sky.
Even I, a person who read a lot but wasn’t particularly sentimental, found myself captivated by the unexpected beauty of the scene.
A gentle touch brushed against my shoulder.
Rin leaned against me, her face flushed.
Snapping out of my reverie, I asked cautiously,
“Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“You absorbed the Priestess of Time. I was worried she might have done something to you.”
I knew Rin’s power was the only way to truly kill the Priestess, but I was still worried.
What if the Priestess had somehow managed to harm her?
But Rin smiled and shook her head.
“No, I’m fine. The Priestess of Time is completely dead. Her body might remain, but her spirit is gone.”
“……That’s good.”
Rin’s reassurance eased my worries. I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to deal with that crazy woman again.
Seeing my relief, Rin’s expression softened. She reached out and touched the bracelet on my wrist, the love bracelet Hayun had given me.
“Hayun made it really sturdy. It didn’t even break during all that chaos.”
I looked down at the bracelet.
I hadn’t even noticed it during the fight, but it had held up surprisingly well.
“It’s a bit frayed, but it’s still intact.”
“If it doesn’t break until next year, does that mean you’ll end up with Eris?”
“……It’s just a superstition.”
“Right, just a superstition.”
Rin withdrew her hand and hugged her knees. She was clearly trying to distract me.
“Is that one of Madame’s butterflies?”
I caught one of Madame’s butterflies as it fluttered towards my bracelet, attempting to cut it.
Rin pretended not to notice, her head down.
“I don’t know when you managed to get your hands on Madame and the Chokugen Faction corpses, but… I’ll let it slide.”
I didn’t say the words “because I trust you,” but…
She glanced at me, a playful smile on her lips.
She knew what I meant.
A gust of wind swept through the village.
Autumn was giving way to winter, and Rin shivered slightly.
I was about to suggest we go back inside, but she seemed reluctant to leave.
I couldn’t let her catch a cold, so…
I stopped time and unfolded Diana’s blanket, draping it over Rin’s shoulders.
“Huh? What’s this?”
“Magic. I’m thinking of becoming a magician after I graduate.”
Rin giggled at my lame joke and peeked under the blanket.
“You’re cold too. Come here.”
The blanket was large enough for both of us, but… I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
But then, the shadows on the roof shifted, gently pulling me towards her.
“What was that?”
She could do that too?
“You used your power too, Daniel. You didn’t touch anything strange, did you?”
“……Of course not.”
“You hesitated.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Honestly, when I first received this power, I had considered using it for… other purposes. I was a healthy young man, after all. The ability to stop time… it opened up all sorts of possibilities.
But the Goddess had immediately threatened me.
– If you use my power to make adult videos, I’ll stop time on your genitals.
She meant it literally. She had even suggested I learn to urinate through my backside.
I could sense the sincerity in her voice.
Rin rested her head on my shoulder.
She smiled, her expression innocent and childlike.
“If you want to do something, just tell me. You don’t have to stop time.”
“No… I don’t.”
“Hehe, really?”
“You’ve learned some bad things at the academy.”
“It’s because a certain someone is too popular.”
I had no comeback for that.
I remained silent, and Rin, sensing my surrender, didn’t press the issue.
“Good.”
She nuzzled against me, a contented smile on her face.
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[Your Text Here]
Aww, that was a very sweet moment.