* * *
Of course, the stare I got in return was sharp and piercing.
Even without words, I could read everything Bati was thinking just from his eyes.
“You’ve run out of excuses, so now you’re spewing nonsense.”
That was exactly it.
And honestly?
Even I would’ve thought the same.
“W-Wait! Just don’t get mad and hear me out! I’ll explain everything!”
“…Go ahead.”
Thank god Bati’s so kind! He really is a hero, after all!
“First of all, Bati—you’re the Hero.”
“…”
Crap.
Maybe I shouldn’t have blurted that out?
I was so overwhelmed, I just said it!
The way he’s looking at me, like he’s debating whether to keep listening to this ridiculous story, hurts.
“You want to keep going?”
He even said it out loud.
“Please just listen!”
To show how serious I was, I dropped to my knees.
I’d always figured I’d have to tell Bati about my regression eventually, but I didn’t think I’d be doing it like this—on the grimy floor of an old inn, trying to prove my sincerity.
This is about the fate of the world! It’s a story that should be told with gravity in a far more serious setting.
But here I am, blurting it out like some flimsy excuse—no wonder it sounds absurd.
“Wah!”
Bati lifted me up like I weighed nothing and placed me back on the bed.
“That’s enough. Just talk.”
“W-Will you believe me, though?”
He probably won’t! Won’t he think I’ve lost it?
That I’m caught up in some wild delusion?
I’ve already shown him signs—muddling past and present, drifting in and out…
He knows I’m unstable from the nightmares too…
What if I tell him everything and he doesn’t believe me?
What if he thinks I’ve gone mad and suggests I recover in the countryside?
No, that’d actually be the ideal outcome.
What if he decides I’m dangerous and starts avoiding me instead?
What if he gets so put off he loses all feelings for me…?
“Raul.”
Ah.
A gentle voice.
A soft hand stroking my hair.
His hand is big and rough, yet his touch is incredibly tender.
It soothes me.
“I believe you.”
Bati said.
Zerbin Batista told me that.
Just like he always did—looking me straight in the eye, answering without hesitation.
Even when I couldn’t believe in myself, he believed in me.
All the tension left my body in an instant.
Bati would believe me.
He always had, more than I believed in myself.
He had always trusted me.
It was me who failed to trust him.
He always stood ready to listen, always asked me to talk, and I was the one who refused.
All it took was for me to open my heart.
The fear faded, and I could only feel my heart racing from his kindness.
“Soon… beings from another dimension will attack. They’re a different race—what we call the ‘Demon Tribe.’ They’re bipedal monsters.”
I tried to keep my emotions in check and speak as calmly as I could.
“They’re not like other monsters. They have intelligence, and they work together under the Demon King’s command. And worst of all, even just seeing them can paralyze ordinary people with terror. They’re not easy to fight.”
I glanced at him.
I trust Bati—he said he believes me—but even so, I was nervous.
My story sounded too far-fetched.
Beings from another dimension?
That’s the kind of thing you only hear about in holy texts, when praising the deeds of the gods.
And in all the long years of history, demons from those scriptures never actually appeared.
Until now.
My eyes met Bati’s.
They wavered slightly.
He looked shaken, probably because this was all new to him, but he didn’t interrupt me.
He waited, as if telling me to go on.
That calmed my nerves a little.
“But before the invasion, the god prophesied everything and bestowed the Holy Sword. The one who pulls it out becomes the Hero destined to defeat the Demon King… and the one who drew it—was you.”
It must’ve hit differently when I framed it as a divine prophecy rather than just blurting “you’re the Hero.”
Given his faith, it seemed to carry more weight.
As soon as I finished speaking, Bati’s eyes turned serious.
The atmosphere grew heavy with silence.
How would it feel to realize you’ve been chosen to bear the burden of protecting all mankind?
Sure, it’s a recognition of being the strongest human, but honestly, it wouldn’t be something to celebrate.
It’d be grueling, painful work.
After a pause, Bati finally spoke.
“So… you failed.”
A simple assessment of the present.
He immediately grasped what my regression meant—that I’d returned from a future where we didn’t succeed.
“…”
Yeah.
We failed.
We didn’t defeat the Demon King.
We lost our comrades, and ran away in disgrace, trampling over their bodies.
That’s the truth—but for some reason, I couldn’t say it out loud.
I didn’t want to admit it.
Pathetic, I know.
Even if it’s just a loser’s excuse, I didn’t want to finalize it like that.
The Hero, we—
We fought with everything we had.
We stood back up even when we were battered and broken.
Even when we were scared and in pain.
We never gave up.
I remember the Hero—wounded and bloody, yet still rising to swing the Holy Sword again.
Even when it stopped glowing no matter how many times he called upon the gods, even when the demons knocked him down, he forced his trembling body to stand again.
I remember Dieter, who squeezed out every drop of holy power he had to support the Hero when the Sword lost its light.
A pampered noble by birth, yet driven by duty to do what was right.
He never once complained—just cried quietly at night.
I remember Saskia, so timid and sensitive, yet always the first to distract the demons.
Always stepping forward, despite carrying grave wounds, never once asking for someone else to take her role.
I remember Katya, who fought more fiercely than anyone, sprinting across the demons’ backs.
Who refused to accept blessings, bearing the burden of fear and pain so Dieter wouldn’t have to exhaust himself.
I remember how she bit down on her tongue until it was shredded just to avoid succumbing to fear.
Was all of that effort for nothing?
Is it all erased now, just a failed attempt in a past that never happened?
Will their brilliance, their noble strength, just vanish?
But even so—
I still remember it all.
I don’t want to call that a failure.
Even if we didn’t succeed, even if we couldn’t defeat the Demon King—I want to believe it mattered.
Maybe I didn’t accomplish much, but we did something.
Something moved the heart of the gods.
That must be why I was given this second chance.
Even if I selfishly stole that chance for myself—still…
At the very least—
“We haven’t failed yet!”
I didn’t want to dismiss all that Bati and the Hero’s party gave—every ounce of their effort and devotion—with one word.
“It’s still happening. The fact that I’m here proves that!”
“…”
For once, Bati looked surprised. Seeing that expression, I paused too.
I realized I’d gotten too emotional over something that, to him, still made no sense.
After all, right now, Bati doesn’t know anything.
* * *
