The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

Well, it was strange from the very beginning.

Whether it's a game, a novel, a comic, or a movie, stories in those mediums are usually complete in themselves. External interference is impossible. It’s simply a finished work that ends with that story. If something from the outside interrupts, then, at that point, the original work loses its meaning. What exists now is just a different piece altogether, no longer the original.

But still, I felt that this world was ‘inside a story.’

To be more precise, I felt both ‘inside a story’ and ‘in reality’ at the same time. In terms of common sense, this world was undoubtedly ‘reality.’

In the game, there are no time limits. Although divided into morning and afternoon, within the ‘event’ itself, no matter how many times I go to certain areas or how far I travel, as long as I don’t intentionally trigger specific events to let time pass, I can do everything I want within the morning.

I could stop by shops to adjust my character’s equipment, sell unnecessary items, talk to other characters, search for hidden events, or complete side quests.

But reality is different from a game. To do all of those things within ‘the morning’ obviously requires more time. Leona Claire solved it by getting up early and handling everything from dawn... but if something else had happened to those two, those events probably wouldn’t have occurred at all.

This was the reason I couldn’t think of this world as a ‘simple game world.’

In a game, you can sell items at a shop. It’s a game mechanic that prevents players from being too strapped for money, as too little currency would make the game unnecessarily difficult. Of course, in this world, I can’t just walk into any shop and sell the things I carry. Unless the shopkeeper happens to be an eccentric person who would accept them.

Things like embedding Maramaros into equipment or ordering out-of-stock items and waiting for them were all far too troublesome for a game.

Yet, even in such situations, there were plenty of aspects that made me feel this world was ‘within a game.’

The terrain and landmarks resembled the game world too closely. Places that could be called ‘dungeons’ looked exactly like the ones I remembered. The types of magic were the same. Even the names of basic purchasable items were identical.

There were even parts that felt oddly out of place for a ‘real world.’ Healing devices placed boldly right in front of rooms where enemies were surely waiting. Precious items left untouched for an extraordinarily long time, their origin a mystery.

In the game, those things were simply there for the players’ convenience and enjoyment, but in this world, they existed with full confidence.

...Who created all of these ‘illogical’ things? With what purpose? Was there a reason for them to be so similar to what I remember from the game?

No, why did a character like ‘Sylvia Black’ have to be here in the first place?

I heard a click in my mind.

Alice’s blue eyes were still staring at me.

Her expression was chillingly emotionless. It wasn’t the kind of expression Alice would show me.

As if it was natural that I was there, waiting for me.

‘As if it was natural for me to come here.’

...If the character ‘Sylvia Black’ was inserted into this world to change it by someone’s will...

Then this ‘Alice’ is—

The future Emperor, sending a messenger for his victory.

—So why did I think that?

Why did it have to be the Emperor who created such a being? Was it because the Emperor thought so?

Or maybe because I saw my abilities being sealed because of this ‘Alice’? The Emperor might have created the relics to suppress or take control of the goddess’s power...

—And if that’s the case, then maybe the goddess destroyed the relic to prevent that.

The future of chaos is uncertain. Although I’ve heard about it in passing before, knowing the future by understanding every movement of every particle is impossible. There was something about quantum mechanics mixed in, but I didn’t really understand it and just passed it off.

Fangryphon succeeded in breaking the goddess’s order. But it was a half-success. If Fangryphon had entered that position directly and completed the device, what would have happened? We don’t know, but before that, the goddess destroyed the relic.

The complete collapse of the order and the world plunging back into perfect chaos did not happen.

And if the goddess was the one who governed that order...

...When did that prophecy in the deepest part of the palace ever exist?

Who, for what reason, wrote so many prophecies and kept them carefully stored?

Fangryphon surely longed for chaos. But I never thought that he would write prophecies and store them. ...That was something I hadn’t considered.

I suspected there were two relics. One was created by Fangryphon to seize the goddess’s power, and the other—how it was made, I couldn’t tell, but it contained the goddess’s power.

In the end, it was true that there were two relics.

I realized that now.

But those relics were not ‘original.’

This ‘Alice’ must have brought them here in some way.

The Emperor believed it was the piece of the relic he had been searching for, so he combined it with the other pieces he had already found.

If the goddess could push the existence of ‘Sylvia Black’ into this already completed world—

And if that could ‘deceive someone’—

...Isn’t it strange to assume that they couldn’t do such a thing ‘once more’?

I reached out towards ‘Alice.’

Into the mechanical device. The device that was emitting light.

Inside the device, ‘Alice’ reached out.

Our hands touched for the first time.

Her hand was cold, like a corpse.

“...So you weren’t Alice.”

I was deceived.

There was no need to worry about time paradoxes or anything like that. After all, if I was a being from ‘beyond,’ I wouldn’t have been from the future.

The gap between space and time, the pale blue light that leaked through that space.

The moment I touched ‘Alice,’ I finally understood the ‘intention’ of the being who had been waiting for me.

Long ago, at the moment when order was about to collapse once again,

The goddess thought.

In that case, it’s simply a matter of thinking it over for a little longer.

Starting from the very beginning, step by step, preparing one thing after another, and getting ready for some event that would happen in the distant future.

Though the gap where light had been entering closed, the faith of those who still believed in the goddess remained steadfast.

Through that faint connection, the goddess slowly and leisurely began to reestablish order.

She scattered faith across the world, grew her followers, and expanded her influence. She reestablished order under her own power and created opportunities to intervene in the world.

Based on that order, she planted the truth about the future, making people believe in the phenomena they witnessed, and completed each stage one by one.

It was as if she were playing chess alone.

Like a child enjoying piecing together a puzzle.

And finally, when the stage was ready, the goddess placed her chess piece on the board.

—Even a goddess cannot reverse time.

But that was not a problem.

If she couldn’t reverse time, she could simply beat the odds.

According to the natural flow of order under her will, she would change the positions of the stars that had already moved, reverse the axis of rotation, turn the crawling insects back, and return the cells of aging beasts to their original state.

The one thing she didn’t change:

She left the memories of the beloved chess pieces she had placed on the board intact, so they wouldn’t lose their way.

Over and over, and over again.

Until she reached the conclusion she desired.

So, my dear, come quickly.

The ending you wanted is here.

Everyone can be happy. No one has to suffer. I will make it so with my power.

The poor souls groaning under the colonial empire.

The people drowning in opium, unable to see reality, suffering.

The children who are forced into prostitution and abused, with no choice.

In the world I will create, they will not exist. Everyone will live happily.

Under perfect balance and order.

So, this story ends here.

This is the predetermined ending.

By whose decree?

I guess because I kept talking about “happy endings,” they must have interpreted it differently, but the “happy ending” I’m thinking of isn’t like that.

The people suffering under the colonial empire? They have nothing to do with me. I feel sorry for them. I wish they could be liberated and happy.

So what?

The children who are sold with no choices? I want to save those who are being abused by the adults who should be protecting them, those who are dying one after another. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

So what? What’s the point?

Drenched in opium, having their property stolen by landowners, exploited for labor, and mistreated—

Does that concern me?

That was just how things were in the world I originally lived in.

In the end, people can only see themselves and those around them. The “happy ending” people think of isn’t a perfect world where everyone is happy without any scars. It’s about the protagonist and the heroine coming together, or the demon king being defeated, or the war ending, or the hidden villain being found—

No one wants to hear about “how the economy collapsed after the demon king was defeated” or “what happened to taxes” after the story ends.

People—

—So.

What I want to hear is:

A story where everyone I care about survives this war and we win.

And, naturally, a story where I stand proudly alongside them.

That’s the happy ending I imagined.

Anything else? I don’t care. Don’t try to decide and end the story on your own.

Well, I guess it’s a bit hypocritical, saying democracy is just and all that, but what of it?

I’ll judge things based on my own standards.

And, by the way.

Why, if someone exists who can return the world to its original state countless times, did they not take the initiative and instead create a fake Alice to insert?

And they even deliberately disturbed my abilities, telling lies in the process.

...They still haven’t fully intervened in the world, have they?

Could it be that the ‘real relic’ actually works?

What they told the church to gather in advance, was that just so the Emperor would find an easier path? If the church gathers it eagerly and resists violently, the Emperor would have to be a bit more crafty. Plus, they could safely secure the scattered relic pieces the Emperor might have found.

Sending the ‘fake relic’ hidden inside fake Alice’s body, and getting the Emperor to fall for his own tricks.

Weren’t they afraid of the relic being completed?

“Why do villains always blab about their plans at the end? They always give you the chance to strike back.”

I pushed away Alice— no,

The fake Alice’s hand.

No matter how much she looked like Alice, or whatever thoughts she had, this was not Alice.

She was only made to act that way.

“Big sister!”

I heard Claire’s scream.

Someone roughly grabbed my shoulder,

And at the same time, I heard a dull thud.