R4STWH - Chapter 132

Chapter 132

[That guy...?]

"If what you said earlier is true, then Elias's other lives should still be under your control. So as a condition for accepting the bet, hand him over to me."

Though I spoke casually as if I'd just thought of it, this had been my intention from the very beginning.

"If consent is needed, you can call Elias and ask him. He won't refuse."

[Do you truly understand what that means? No matter how tired you get of him, no matter how much you come to hate the sight of him, it means you'll have to take responsibility for him forever. Are you saying this knowing that?]

"Of course I will."

There was no need to tell him that I would never stop loving Elias, that I would love him forever no matter what happened. After all, only Elias and I could understand this feeling, this deep bond.

No wonder I was so certain he would be my Pair, even though it was essentially impossible given we were born in different worlds.

"What's wrong? Are you hiding something?"

I asked when Neo hesitated to accept my demand.

"If you've lied about anything, now would be a good time to come clean."

[No, that's not it.]

Neo continued with a sigh in his voice.

[Once you take over the contract and Elias's lives become bound to you, you'll learn everything he did in other worldlines. I'm worried you might regret it. Sometimes it's better not to know certain things.]

I couldn't help but be slightly taken aback.

'I'll learn everything about Elias's other lives...?'

That was certainly something worth considering. Elias might not want that. After all, I didn't particularly want him to know about my past lives either.

It wasn't that I wanted to hide my clumsy mistakes or wrong choices because I feared he would be disappointed in me. Rather, because my life hadn't been particularly peaceful, I wished he would never have to know about it.

Just as I had been heartbroken learning about his past, he would surely be sad too. I didn't want him to suffer over things that had already passed.

'I don't want to do anything Elias would dislike. But I can't give up either...'

After pondering for a moment, I nodded.

"I have a way."

Handling memories was one of my specialties. Though I'd never tried it before, controlling my own memories should be much easier than controlling someone else's.

"I can seal away the memories related to other worldlines separately."

[Hmm... well, alright. But don't try to change the conditions later.]

"Of course not."

I would ask him about this after everything was over. If Elias gave me permission, I wanted to check his lives in other worldlines at least once.

If he had seriously harmed others, I wanted to make amends in whatever way I could. And if anyone had shown him kindness, I wanted to repay that as well, even if they wouldn't remember it.

I would gladly accept him no matter what terrible things he might have done. And I would share his burdens.

After all, we were husband and wife who had promised each other forever.

The Gluttonous Monarch, having accepted my demand, began modifying parts of the contract.

[How's this?]

"Change this part like this. And these parts too."

[You're just as picky as your partner.]

Though grumbling, Neo accepted most of my requests.

To summarize the main conditions of the bet:

1. As a condition for participating in the bet, transfer to me Elias's lives that are currently bound to Neo.

2. I win if someone successfully clears the final qualification quest in this world; Neo wins in the opposite case. (Continuing the quest by adding names like "super final" etc. is not allowed)

3. If Neo wins, I must receive handover of his duties to continue his work.

4. If I win, Neo can no longer exert influence on either my world or Elias's world, and must restore what has been broken to the extent his authority allows.

[Finally, I can end this tiresome position.]

Though it was irritating to see Neo acting as if he'd already won, I asked something else instead of provoking him.

"Is this your name?"

Above where I needed to sign, there were characters written in what appeared to be text from some unknown world.

[Yes. Call me Neo.]

After carefully reviewing the contract's contents one more time, I signed below Neo's name.

With the contract now complete in my hands, I asked Neo one final question.

"Now you can tell me, right? Why me specifically?"

This had been bothering me the whole time. Why choose me as his successor while accepting such demanding conditions?

[Because you're the only one who survived after defying fate.]

Neo answered as if it were obvious.

[That's the only qualification needed to take over my work, and I hadn't been able to find anyone for a very long time.]

It seems that surviving alone in a destroyed world was what caught Neo's attention.

[A very long time ago, so long I can't even remember now, I also had something I wanted to protect, just like you, and accepted the same offer to take on this role... but now I'm not sure. Whether my choice had any meaning.]

I could somewhat understand what he meant.

Even if you sacrifice something to protect the world where your precious people live, they will all eventually reach the end of their lives, and no one will remain who remembers you.

If you had to continue your assigned task while drifting through dimensions for an immeasurable time in that state, it would be natural to feel empty.

'Assistant librarian in charge of cleanup...'

Now that I had obtained quite a bit of information thanks to Neo acting as if the outcome was already decided, I couldn't help but have many thoughts.

Just as among the countless stars in the seemingly unchanging night sky, old ones die and new ones are born, some worlds are forgotten while others remain to shine for a long time.

Another name for the merciless force that makes this possible was "time".

No one could escape it.

Even this world, even if it avoided destruction by overcoming catastrophe now, would inevitably become too barren for life to take root after thousands or tens of thousands of years.

Just like our world, which was already racing toward self-destruction through war and devastation even before the calamity appeared.

'Still... not yet.'

I could sense that it was far too early to speak of an end for this world, E-17ACEM.

Though it was difficult to explain exactly why, as someone from a world that had truly passed the point of no return, I could tell.

'That's why I must win no matter what.'

I could somewhat guess where Neo's confidence came from.

After all, Zero and Yumi were those who excelled more at destruction than protection.

But I had Elias, didn't I!

And now I also had the Saintess and Crow whom I'd grown so fond of, and the knights and soldiers who ran around like eager chicks.

They were the future of this world with limitless potential, and the reason I had to stop my comrades who had made the wrong choice.

[Well, are you ready?]

I nodded and picked up the contract, holding it out to Neo.

When Neo's hand touched the opposite end from where I was holding, it happened.

A large, clear window filled my vision, as if someone had grabbed and stretched out the semi-transparent quest windows that had been popping up.

On it, certain sentences appeared, changing form through dozens, hundreds of languages.

Among those rapidly passing by, there was text from our world as well.

Thanks to that, I could confirm that the content was from the contract Neo and I had written.

Do you really want to proceed with the above contract?

YES / NO

The moment I chose 'YES' without hesitation, as Neo had warned, memories and information about Elias from other worldlines came flooding in.

Since I had prepared for this, I immediately activated my ability to gather them all in one place.

As I deliberately averted my gaze to avoid accidentally glimpsing any of it, which was accumulating neatly like its owner's calm nature, it happened.

'Butterfly.'

A familiar voice that shouldn't be heard faintly echoed in my ear.

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