The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

The game mostly progressed through Leo’s perspective, but there were always parts that couldn’t be fully shown in pure first-person narration.

That’s why sometimes the game presented cutscenes showing villains scheming or dialogue between other characters.

Of course, calling them "cutscenes" was a bit generous—the style wasn't that different from regular conversations in the game.

And this time, the characters appearing in the cutscene were Sylvia and Charlotte.

[There’s no need to worry too much.]

Sylvia said that to Charlotte.

Her expression looked like she had made a decision, calm and composed.

...Though honestly, the characters’ facial expressions in this game weren’t that varied, and Sylvia was almost always expressionless anyway, so maybe it was just my imagination.

[I’ll find a way to handle it.]

[How are you going to do that?]

Charlotte responded sharply to Sylvia’s words.

She was on edge.

There was no realistic way for the kingdom to win an all-out war against the empire.

[What can you possibly do? You’ve been going around telling people Alice will be the next Empress, haven’t you?]

[...]

[...]

Sylvia didn’t answer.

Charlotte sighed quietly.

She pressed her hand to her forehead.

[I’m sorry. I’m just really stressed right now.]

[No need to apologize. Given the situation, that reaction is completely understandable.]

Sylvia said that, and turned away.

[Sylvia—] 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Charlotte called after her, but Sylvia walked away without replying.

Charlotte closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.

And then the scene shifted to the next day, during class.

[Where’s unni?]

[Huh? Wasn’t she already here?]

Claire asked Alice, and Alice looked a bit flustered as she answered.

[No, I haven’t seen her. Class is about to start...]

[...]

Charlotte listened to their conversation while absentmindedly staring out the window.

It seemed she wasn’t planning to talk about what happened yesterday.

And then—

[Huh...?]

A small sound escaped Charlotte’s mouth.

[Charlotte?]

Alice turned to look at her.

Thud.

It wasn’t a loud noise, but it sounded like a heavy impact coming from a distance.

[A battleship...]

Charlotte muttered as she rose from her seat.

The rest of the students turned their heads to follow her gaze out the window.

BOOM!

Another explosion erupted from a dreadnought-class battleship, belching black smoke.

The grand ship that had always floated proudly above the capital was now exploding mid-air.

Flames roared out.

Rattle.

The windows shook violently.

Even though the explosion was [N O V E L I G H T] far away, the shockwave had reached the classroom.

[What... the hell is happening...?]

The battleship, now vertically nose-diving, plummeted downward.

It crashed into the ground and detonated with an enormous explosion.

Screams echoed through the classroom.

Some students dropped to their knees, covering their mouths with trembling hands.

[What about the people there...?]

Someone muttered, but no one answered.

[...Sylvia...]

Charlotte whispered—

And with a deep thud, the screen faded to black, ending the episode.

"......"

"......"

Both Claire and Alice were staring directly at me.

"...The battleship I exploded didn’t actually blow up in real life."

"Really?

You mean, even after all that time-rewinding, you never once blew up a battleship?"

"If you don't remember it happening, that means it never did.

Especially now, when the goddess’s power barely reaches this place."

[Bro you’re way too immersed lololol]

[Was she actually the character lolol]

[Honestly, she kinda looks like her tho lol]

Well, obviously.

The three of us were the real deal.

"But thinking stuff like that really is so you, unni."

"...What kind of image of me do you even have in your head?"

Still, considering my track record, I couldn’t totally deny it.

We pushed the table against the wall and spread out blankets on the floor.

Thankfully, there was plenty of space for all three of us to lie down side-by-side.

Good thing we had picked a relatively large room.

Even if there was no elevator and the building was over 30 years old, if I had gone for one of those cramped new studio apartments, we wouldn’t have been able to live like this.

"Wow, unni, look at this!"

Just as I was about to lie down, Claire beamed and shoved her smartphone in my face.

The video of Claire singing was skyrocketing in views.

And now there were comments about “cosplay” and other speculation.

Claire clicked on another browser tab and showed me heated forum posts debating our true identities.

Yeah, that explained why viewer numbers kept climbing while we were playing earlier.

It looked like otaku communities were spreading the word about us.

...One post even had a screenshot of us sitting in front of my skirtless figure.

[lololol]

[Stripping in front of your own figure, is she an exhibitionist or what]

[Found my future wife]

Even here, there were people pulling marriage jokes.

Honestly, I had to admire their guts, saying stuff like that while staring at photos of real people.

...Well, not like we had the money for lawsuits anyway.

"Looks like we’re getting kinda famous, huh?"

Claire said with a smile, and I gave a small, wry smile back—

Wait, hold on.

Something suddenly clicked in my head, and I turned around quickly.

I remembered the relic tucked away in the drawer.

The more famous we became in this world,

the more unnatural our presence here seemed,

the stronger the relic’s power would grow.

Maybe by now, it had enough power for a return?

"Ah!"

And sure enough, when I opened the drawer, the relic was glowing brightly.

It shimmered with a blue light.

Alice and Claire looked at it with complicated expressions.

"Does this mean... we can go home?"

"Most likely."

I carefully held the relic.

"...What should we do?"

I looked between Claire and Alice.

If the relic had lit up within our first week here, there would have been no need to ask.

Neither of them would have known this world well enough to hesitate.

But now, things were different.

They had settled in, found happiness here.

Especially Alice, who had been freed from her royal duties.

Maybe, just maybe, someone would want to stay.

But—

"If there’s a chance, we have to take it.

I’d miss my family too much if I stayed here forever."

"Yeah, same.

We still have things to do back home.

We’ll keep our memories of this place as good memories."

"Alright."

I said it with a serious face.

"In that case, let’s pack up quickly.

We don’t know how long this power will last."

Alice and Claire nodded immediately and began gathering their things.

All three of us had changed into our neatest clothes and gathered in the center of the room with all our belongings.

We had a lot to carry.

There were definitely regrets.

I hadn't gotten to meet the family that remained in this world,

and I hadn’t printed all the photos on my phone either.

Once the battery died, the pictures would be lost forever.

Maybe I could display them on the screen and take pictures of the screen with Azerna’s camera?

...Well, I could figure that out after we got home.

"Everyone, place your hands here."

I held out the relic.

They both reached out.

"...Now what?"

Alice asked.

"I’ll try doing the same thing I did when we first came here."

Alice and I locked eyes and nodded.

"Please."

"We’re counting on you."

"Mm, leave it to me."

Claire closed her eyes solemnly.

We closed ours too.

And then,

"......"

After a few moments of silence—

More silence—

——

"Uh, um."

A familiar voice spoke.

"Sylvia...?"

It was Charlotte’s voice.

Were they still investigating the place we disappeared from?

What should I say first?

"I'm back"?

I slowly opened my eyes.

And saw that all three of us were still standing inside my old studio apartment.

Yeah.

The floor felt exactly the same.

Come to think of it, we hadn’t put shoes on.

We couldn't wear shoes inside, after all.

"..."

Wait, hold on.

Then, whose voice had I heard...?

"..."

Alice, mouth agape, was staring at a corner of the room.

The relic we were holding was visibly dimming.

Just like when Alice and Claire had first returned.

"Uh, Sylvia? Claire? Alice?"

The voice called out again, calmly.

And behind that voice, there was another sound— a shaky, frightened breath, like someone who hadn’t processed what was happening.

"Charlotte."

I opened my mouth calmly.

"And Mia."

"Y-Your Highness..."

Mia gripped her staff tightly, scanning the surroundings in panic.

"..."

I ran a hand over my face.