The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

Why did I go through all this trouble of turning back time to get here?

The answer is simple: to change the premise of the story itself. To obtain the future I want, not the one the goddess or the emperor wants, I had to completely destroy the plans they had made from the very beginning.

The problem, though, is that I couldn’t just pick a side—either the goddess’s or the emperor’s. If I went along with the emperor’s desires, he would eventually rise to the position of a new god. On the other hand, if I sided with the goddess, the world would turn into a monotonous place devoid of any fun or excitement.

Moreover, the worst part about the goddess's world is that I wouldn’t even be in it. The goddess plans to take all the power I possess and use it for herself. In other words, my very existence would be erased from this world.

I wouldn’t disappear completely—at least, my soul or memories wouldn’t vanish, as it seems my past remains intact—but what I really want right now is a happy ending in this world, with everyone around me.

Time is of the essence in this world. I can already feel it rushing by. Of course, if time truly rewound as much as I made it, that would break my mental state.

Even so, I don’t like the idea of time moving on without my control. Especially when I lose focus—when I “wake up,” and there’s this weird sensation where my memories are forcibly pieced together, like they don’t quite fit. That feeling is the worst.

The issue is that I’m the only one who feels this way.

Claire, who has inherited some of my abilities, and Alice, who retains her memories because of the fake Alice, feel time moving naturally.

Even when I reverse time, I can only go back to the parts of it that I’m sure are “my memories.” I can’t access the parts where memories are fuzzy or feel artificially inserted.

On the other hand, Claire, who remembers things “properly,” can reverse time in areas that I can't.

“I think that’s what happened.”

The issue is, even in those moments, my memory didn’t stay intact.

“So, where were you?”

After that, Claire asked me a chillingly simple question.

“Does that mean you couldn’t find me?”

“Yes. After reversing time, no matter how much I searched, it seemed like you were nowhere to be found. I checked your room, searched the whole academy.”

Alice responded to my question.

With a serious look on her face, Alice asked me.

“Where were you, then?”

“....”

I thought hard and, after a long moment, was finally able to answer.

“I don’t know.”

Of course, I didn’t have the real answer to give.

“I don’t remember that part of time.”

Yes, unlike the fake memories that were inserted while skipping over chunks of time, when Claire reversed time, there was simply no memory of that period at all. It wasn’t like the screen went black or there was noise; it was as if that event never happened in the first place—just like when a movie cuts between scenes abruptly, without showing what happened in the middle.

“But... even when we left the orphanage, I reversed time several times.” 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

“...Maybe it’s because I was ‘remembering’ it then.”

I spoke slowly.

“I told you before, time felt fragmented for me. The memories of the orphanage weren’t like those fragmented memories. They weren’t made-up ones; they were real, personal experiences.”

“And if we’re being honest, those memories were ‘memories you shouldn’t have experienced,’ weren’t they? They were memories that should have been erased, and even if time had been ‘reset,’ you should have gone back to before that point.”

Alice’s words made me nod in agreement.

That could only mean one thing.

“It’s not that you all were wrong, but I must be under the goddess’s influence.”

If that weren’t the case, then Claire, who took the goddess’s power, would be the one with control. But I didn’t add that last part.

“From the goddess’s perspective, I’m supposed to be erased. It would be better for her if she abandoned her previous plans and started over. After all, I’m a being who possesses some of her power but defies her will.”

“But then, what about the time we experienced...”

“If this world is one that the goddess forcibly created, time must be flowing in accordance with me as the reference point. My existence or non-existence is the most important thing for the world. But that doesn’t mean the world is an ‘illusion.’ You all exist too, and you feel time passing with me.”

So, when Claire “reverses time,” parts of it that never existed are artificially created. Naturally, in those areas, I cease to exist.

Logically, it doesn’t make sense, but if the “order” of how this world was created was disrupted, then everything changes. In a way, this world might be very similar to the world that Fangryphon wanted.

The goddess can’t fully use her power.

That doesn’t mean that the being created by the goddess—me—has her power in full.

But Fangryphon hasn’t fully usurped the goddess’s power either.

“...So, you’re saying Claire ‘created’ parts of the world by reversing time? Parts that didn’t exist?”

“I think so.”

I’m not certain. This part wasn’t in the original setting.

If the goddess was truly such a being, she would never have been portrayed as a good one in the original work. This game company has always been against trying to forcefully define human thoughts in such a manner.

Maybe she would have appeared as the final boss in a sequel. Perhaps the emperor would be revived as an ally, or it could have been a three-way battle. Or maybe the Holy Nation would try to use the power the emperor had accumulated.

Then, we could understand why the goddess “had to” bring me into this world.

If the goddess were truly a benevolent being, thinking justly in a way that all humans could understand, she could have easily brought someone like me into her world. There would be parallel worlds where I would exist, after all.

But to get the world to move exactly as the goddess desired, I couldn’t be allowed to know her true intentions.

And, of course, in the end, I messed it all up by blabbing.

That was such a JRPG villain mistake, it makes me want to laugh.

“So... what should I do? Should I avoid using my powers?”

“You should use them if needed.”

For example, Lucas, who had been thinking about killing me since I was young.

“Hm? But Lucas never tried to do anything like that to me.”

“......”

But after hearing my words, Claire tilted her head and spoke.

“We’ve clashed swords a few times, and Lucas definitely had the upper hand. I wasn’t being completely overpowered, though.”

“...What did Lucas say?”

“He said, ‘Come back when you’re bigger, rookie.’ It was playful, but it still irritated me.”

So, Claire has been training hard. Apparently, she’s also become pretty close to Bella.

And Lucas didn’t try to kill her at that time, so there was no reason to reverse time in the palace. Her grades were fine, and just reviewing what she had already learned was enough.

...

What’s going on here?

This feels kind of unfair.

“So, you came to find me?”

“Yes.”

I spoke to the Sword Saint.

Even in the previous world, I had once confided in the Sword Saint about my abilities. Of course, I reversed time after that.

But this time, I didn’t plan to do that. The help I needed from the Sword Saint was much more significant than that.

“You need a way to stay awake for as long as possible to prevent the goddess from imposing her memories on you?”

“Yes.”

I could meditate.

But that wouldn’t be a fundamental solution. I could extend my wakefulness by focusing and calming my mind, but I couldn’t avoid sleeping altogether.

So, it would be better to learn something far more fundamental and stay awake throughout the goddess’s confrontations—

“You little brat.”

Wham!

“Ugh!?”

But before I could say anything else to the Sword Saint, his hand struck my head sharply.

Why!?