The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

In the space between time and reality, light appeared.

Among the erratically scattered rainbow colors, a vivid blue light stood out clearly.

Before I could properly observe that pale blue light seeping through the cracks of an invisible wall, I had already crashed into it.

With a sound like shattering glass, each broken shard reflected the situation I found myself in. The moment I saw it through my eyes.

Alice, bleeding, collapsed.

My body bounced back as if it had felt the recoil of that first impact, rising into the air. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

It felt like there was some sort of obstacle, as I kept bouncing back repeatedly, feeling that sensation.

My entire body ached, and my head throbbed, making it hard to think logically. Still, I struggled to see the situation before me clearly.

No, I can’t let this be.

It was all my fault. It had happened because I had been too complacent and relied too much on my abilities.

Ever since I became seriously involved in the story, I had no idea how much help I had been. Wouldn’t everything have gone well even if I hadn’t existed? Each of them facing their trials, overcoming them, growing, and understanding one another... Just like in the game, wouldn’t everything have turned out fine?

Had I shown up and instead tangled things up, making the situation worse—

...No.

Circumstances aside. The moment I appeared in this world, the story could no longer remain the same. I didn’t even know why I had ended up here. If the goddess truly existed and had placed me here, she was definitely heartless. At the very least, she could have explained why I was brought here or what my purpose was.

Since there was nothing, I was just living for my own sake.

Again!

I shouted to keep myself from losing consciousness. My body, which had been thrown back, surged forward once more.

In truth, I didn’t need to shout like that. I could rewind time just by thinking it.

Thud. My body crashed again.

But honestly speaking, I wasn’t someone with great mental strength or incredible tenacity. After putting in a lot of effort while rewinding time, I always needed to rewind it again and rest for a while to feel balanced; that’s just how I was.

If I hadn’t been so reckless, I would have probably given up long ago.

Crack. I heard something breaking, and pain jolted through my body.

But, well, that’s fine.

No matter how much it hurt, it had to be better than being sliced by a sword or shot by a gun.

I had already experienced those things.

So, focus.

I rubbed my bleary eyes and shouted again.

Again!

This time, I could clearly hear it.

Something shattered.

*

I was lucky.

I had barely returned to the moment before Alice was struck by the sword, but perhaps because I had pushed through with all my strength, I stumbled forward and collapsed. By naturally falling on Alice from behind, neither of us was hit by the blade.

I felt something graze the back of my hair. If I had been just a little late, or if I had hesitated in my charge, I would have had to rewind time again.

As I fell, I reached my hand out in front of me.

Bang!

One shot fired. I felt the recoil strongly in the hand that had hastily grabbed the gun, but again, Lucas evaded it. It seemed he had seen the tip of my gun and slid to the side to dodge my shot. I saw the bullet lodge into the wall beyond where Lucas had been standing.

So that’s how it is.

I clenched my teeth and pressed down on Alice’s back as I stood up.

“Sylvia!?”

Perhaps taken by surprise at being tackled from behind, Alice couldn’t get up right away. Well, that was something I had been aiming for.

“Big sis?”

Leo looked at me with a puzzled expression.

Ah, I felt one side of my vision turn red.

Something had grazed my forehead, and blood was flowing from that spot.

I fired my gun again. This time, because it took a bit longer to pull the trigger, Lucas was able to dodge my shot more easily than before.

The slide of my automatic pistol was stuck back.

I had exhausted all seven shots.

Lucas was looking at me with a slightly surprised expression, but that didn’t mean he paused his movements.

Once again, Lucas’s hand moved toward the hilt of his sword—

So that’s how it is.

Again.

*

“Aah!?”

Once more, I returned to the spot where I had tackled Alice.

My body bore more wounds. But at least it didn’t hurt as much as before. It was only natural. Getting hit with a blunt object and being grazed by something sharp are completely different kinds of impacts.

I’m fine. I didn’t have any serious wounds. At least, the fact that I was able to stand up again proved that.

I ran toward Lucas as I got up.

“Your Highness!”

I heard Leo’s voice calling from behind. As the masked woman approached me instead of Lucas, I fired a shot in her direction.

It was a warning shot, but at least that function of “threat” seemed to have worked, as the masked woman flinched and halted her advance.

Why? Are you scared because you can’t launch an attack like me?

If you want, just smash through it like I do.

If I’m lucky, I might just achieve my goal of making you scream.

Swish!

Ah.

But perhaps I had focused too much on the masked woman. I didn’t see Lucas swinging his sword.

“Sylvia!”

I heard Alice’s voice filled with despair.

I’m fine. I’m not dead yet. Although my vision was oddly low, my thoughts hadn’t stopped.

So, there’s still a chance.

Again.

*

Bang!

From the moment I fired at the masked woman.

I had already seen the reaction, so there was no need to pay attention. I immediately turned the muzzle toward Lucas.

The muzzle erupted in flame, and the .45 caliber bullet was fired toward Lucas. Of course, Lucas dodged again.

It was too close. He would undoubtedly swing his sword before I had time to reload.

It’s okay. I was only testing the waters.

I needed to see how you move to know where to aim next.

Again.

*

Seven times, nine times, fourteen times, twenty-eight times.

Again, in the old-fashioned way. Just like I had practiced shooting hundreds of rounds with a single bullet. I shot at Lucas multiple times, who was moving.

In that process, I discovered a few things.

The wounds I sustained in “reality” disappeared when I rewound time. I was steadily running toward the past.

However, the injuries I incurred while “coming back” did not heal instantly. My condition returned to normal only the moment I entered that unknown space. Any scratches from exiting remained.

Well, it’s fortunate, at least. The injuries I received from rewinding time wouldn’t accumulate each time I did so.

And one more thing.

The more I rewound time, the slower the recovery of the space became. The space doesn’t heal the moment I pass through it. Though the wounds were not visible in reality, every time I entered that space, the expanded area would narrow just a little bit.

Then, I had only one thing to do.

As briefly as possible, in seconds.

Smash through it hundreds, thousands of times. If I could maintain that situation, I could continue using my previous abilities.

Well, the same goes for smashing through it with my body.

*

Lucas instinctively dodged to his left, which meant he moved to his right from my perspective.

Even so, due to the physical difference, it wasn’t easy for me to hit Lucas—

Bang!

“Ugh!?”

Well, that’s right.

Ultimately, all I needed was one success.

The bullet lodged into Lucas’s right shoulder. The bullet struck the strap of the small bag he was carrying. It didn’t completely sever it.

I rushed toward Lucas.

Lucas swung his sword toward me with slightly widened eyes—

Thud, the sword plunged into my abdomen.

For a moment, the room fell silent.

Blood surged from my throat, and I coughed it up.

But even so, I was able to cling tightly to Lucas.

Grabbing Lucas by the collar, I said,

“Not satisfied yet, are you?”

Seeing me smiling as blood spilled from my mouth, Lucas’s expression hardened.

“How—”

“Now that you mention it. I’m not going to tell you.”

And with that, I swung the gun I held at Lucas’s head. Wham, Lucas’s head jerked to the side.

Well, I knew that wouldn’t make him faint or die.

I just wanted to land one hit.

Again.

*

Returning to the moment Lucas had been hit by the bullet, I rolled forward from where I had tackled Alice. Immediately, a sword energy flew from behind me. It must have been prepared in advance. It could have been the Swordmaster, or Claire. It didn’t seem to be from the Emperor.

“Ugh.”

Lucas, not comprehending the situation, was struck by the sword energy.

In that moment, I quickly reloaded my gun. Fortunately, Lucas didn’t strike again while I lay on the floor reloading.

Lucas looked at me with his eyes slightly widened.

Why would he feel so unpleasant about me using a “trick”?

Um... well, yeah, I suppose it would feel bad. If I were him, I would think the same way. If I were in the same situation.

But this is not the same situation.

After exhausting all the bullets in my chamber, I loaded a new magazine, so I

had six rounds in the gun.

Of course, that was more than enough for me. At least it was enough to take down one enemy.

With the gun trained on Lucas, I slowly rose to my feet.

Even after being hit by the sword energy, Lucas was still standing. A normal person would have rolled on the ground even if they weren’t sliced in half.

From that, I could tell that the robe Lucas wore was protective armor.

“Right, that’s right...”

After taking a long breath, Lucas said,

“Alright, I’ll admit it. I can’t win here.”

He said that.

But before anyone in the room could respond, Lucas had already finished his stance.

Then, he charged straight ahead.

He barreled into all the knights in front of him, knocking them down, and made a beeline for the door.—

*

Damn it.

Now that I think about it, blood wasn’t flowing from the place where the bullet had struck. He had been hit, but it seemed the protective magic had pushed the bullet away.

As I took aim and fired several times at the fleeing Lucas, it wasn’t easy to catch him, who was only focused on escape.

However, even if it wasn’t easy for me, there was already someone in this room who could do it.

The Swordmaster and the Emperor.

And Claire, Leo, and Alice.

A multitude of knights.

Countless sword energies flew toward Lucas. While each one wasn’t that powerful, they had to carefully control their strength to avoid cutting through everyone at once.

But they were enough to beat Lucas down.

Thunk.

The bag that Lucas had been carrying fell to the ground. As he bent down to retrieve it—

“Tch.”

He seemed to give up upon seeing the sword energy coming toward him.

After glancing briefly at the several bullets flying his way, Lucas dashed straight for the door.

How many knights would be waiting in the hallway?

It was a tower without any windows, and it wasn’t an easily destructible place with ordinary bombardment. Unless Lucas smashed through all the knights with his body, he wouldn’t be able to escape.

“Hah...”

Hearing the cries and the sounds of swords clashing from outside the door, I knelt on one knee.

My body trembled.

I had pushed through something blocking my way with all my might several times.

The cycle of my body healing and hurting was mentally exhausting.

“Sylvia!”

A voice filled with tears reached me. It sounded like Alice.

But I couldn’t respond.

My eyelids felt too heavy.

Ah, even though the battle isn’t completely over yet. I still need to check for the masked woman.

Someone rushed toward me and caught me before I fell completely to the ground.

In my fading and darkening vision, I saw the Emperor approaching the bag that Lucas had dropped.

That was the last memory I had before everything went black.