Rehabilitation Therapist for the Broken Warrior – Chapter 105

The Day Before Departure

It was basically our last day.

Well, it wasn’t for me, though.

“Checkmate.”

“Huh? Already?”

And right now, I was playing chess with Zion.

The game was already over, but Zion was peering intently at the chessboard.

“Seriously. There’s such a move?”

It seemed he was quite fascinated to have been checkmated so soon after starting.

What he fell for was a type of checkmate called the Scholar Mate.

It’s a pattern that beginners who have never learned chess can easily fall for.

“Hop is pretty good at chess.”

“I learned a bit from another world.”

“Must be a really important game in that world, huh?”

“Not really, it’s just a bit from the future. In the future, chess has been studied a lot, and there are various strategies.”

In the worlds I traveled through, some didn’t even have magic and were modern.

Knowing various openings and variations in chess must make me quite the chess player in this world.

“I see. That’s fascinating. I’d love to hear more about stories from different worlds.”

Zion was putting the chess pieces away with a bittersweet smile.

Today was our last day to pass time like this.

Once Zion had put all the pieces back in their places, she gazed down at them for a moment before looking up and softly calling my name.

“Hey, Hop.”

“What’s up? Want to play another game?”

“No, it’s not that… If tomorrow’s operation fails…”

Zion looked at me seriously, piercing my eyes.

It seemed she wanted to ask me something after steeling herself, but she couldn’t bring herself to finish her thought and looked away.

“No, it’s nothing.”

“It’s okay to say it.”

“Is it because… it doesn’t matter?”

“Yeah.”

“Ha~, right. You’re like that, Hop.”

Zion sighed as if exasperated by my indifferent attitude towards everything and shook her head.

“Then let me change the question a bit. Something suited to your attitude.”

“Sure. Ask away.”

“Do you think we look ridiculous, struggling to survive?”

“What?”

What did Zion just say?

It was such an aggressive question, I could hardly believe she said it.

“I’ve always been curious. How do we look to you, who put everything on the line for a moment that will surely change and vanish? How do you see each world from your perspective, transcending spacetime? If everything is something that doesn’t matter to you, can’t you just give me an honest answer? That answer will vanish anyway.”

“…….”

That was a question that left me speechless.

As Zion said, answering would be easy since it was just a matter that would disappear in due course.

“Zion, although I’ve transcended spacetime, I still wouldn’t say this moment is meaningless just because I’m a person. No, it’s more accurate to say I can’t think that way. Reaching that perception is hard enough, and if I were to feel nothing just because I thought it didn’t matter, I wouldn’t be able to use time magic anymore. The cost of time magic is measured by the value placed on treasured memories.”

I wondered what Zion was thinking as she listened to this.

Did she think that my feeling emotions for others was just for the sake of building memories for the cost of time magic?

Even if she thought that way, it was inevitable, but feeling a bit sad about it was also inevitable.

“And the reason I maintain an attitude of indifference about the events of this world that will disappear is…”

Because from my standpoint, it absolutely wasn’t so. Emotions are,

“It’s because if I valued them, I wouldn’t be able to bear the pain.”

I couldn’t just hold onto what I wanted, feeling only what I wanted to feel.

“Do you think you’re ridiculous? No. Honestly, I envy you. I envy the life you have, where you can risk your life for intense emotions. Since I’m just a moment that will disappear without belonging to any world, it’s unbearable.”

I felt my heart tightening as I continued, but it wasn’t that I couldn’t finish my words.

Zion had moved behind me, leaning against me as if to support me, wrapping me in her arms.

“Hop. The day I asked you to live for me, I decided to live for you too. Do you remember?”

I certainly remembered that.

But I couldn’t respond immediately, and Zion continued speaking.

“So I’ll give you this world. As someone who exists for this world, I’ll live for you. Of course, you might not accept it, but I…”

I could feel Zion’s grip tightening around me.

I was sensing her warmth growing closer.

Even though her body was slender and fragile, as if it could break at any moment, it was definitely weighing heavily on me.

“I will survive and save the world, and give you a gift of meaning. So look forward to it?”

“…….”

Hero Zion Laurel.

Is this also her way of saving the world?

In terms of Zion, am I, who can reset this world at any time, a greater threat than the Demon King?

Is this sweet confession and vow merely an extension of the work to protect this world?

But whether her words were sincere or not, it was a matter that would only have meaning if I needed to save this world tomorrow.

So, I suppressed the overwhelming emotions and quietly closed my eyes.

Because this was also something that had nothing to do with me.

***

It was finally the day of action.

As soon as dawn broke, the armed forces of various nations charged into the northern unexplored territories, and reports began pouring in that they had engaged in combat with the Demon forces.

It was a concerted assault that was unexpected even from the Demon perspective.

It seemed almost too obvious, but this operation was an all-in plan that excluded all minor variables.

“Everyone, are you prepared?”

Now was checking the status of the party members.

Gathered in a circle on the magic circle of the Magic Tower for long-distance space movement, each member of the hero party confirmed each other’s faces.

“It’s an honor to serve you until the last moment, Your Highness.”

Sarin Roundhall, the royal special agent assigned to the position of the former thief Iris.

“Don’t say such unlucky things, Sarin. It’s not the last.”

Now Troiat, the Empire’s second-ranking Archmage and the Third Princess.

“If this is the last, it’s definitely Hanamana’s fault…”

Hanamana Cherrybell, the Elf Cleric who uses all kinds of magic.

“It’s impossible for it to be the last. I won’t let it happen.”

The Hero Zion Laurel, the fastest swordmaster wielding the Holy Sword.

“Connecting coordinates. If everyone’s ready, I’ll start.”

And then there was me, Hop Harvey, who could manipulate space.

After confirming that everyone nodded and gave the okay sign,

“Launch.”

We used the Space Movement Array and flew in an instant to the Demon realm.

As soon as we arrived, we checked the location of the gate and positioned ourselves.

They must’ve noticed us as soon as we arrived.

The most challenging opponent we had faced when targeting the Demon King was the Demon Army’s Chief of Staff, Aurora.

If she—or the Demon King—had somehow left the gate to respond to the offensive on the frontline, that would truly be a miracle.

But when we reached the gate, there were exactly two beings blocking our way.

“……”

“Wow, you really came this way? To actually use such a crazy operation.”

The Demon King, who silently rose from his throne and approached us, followed by Chief of Staff Aurora.

The Demon King of this world was completely armored in black, with his face hidden, and summoned his sword without a word.

It seemed the Demon King’s castle hadn’t been fully constructed since the gate had opened not long ago.

“Crazy operation, but it looks like we caught you off guard, huh? There are only you two here.”

“Really think that?”

“……!”

Aurora flashed a confident smile.

Could it be that there were still troops nearby?

If we were forced to face the army before striking the gate, our only option would be to defeat them all.

We had steeled ourselves with that in mind, so we readied our stances.

– Clap!

Suddenly, Aurora clapped her hands.

Was that a signal? Every party member hardened our readiness even further, preparing for the approaching forces, but,

– Clap, clap, clap clap clap clap…

Aurora kept clapping and suddenly burst into loud laughter.

“Hahaha! Surprised? Yeah, it’s just us two. In fact, I opened the gate forcibly with the Holy Sword, so it’s not fully operational yet. Right now, it’s tough to even stop an army.”

The gate isn’t complete? Was that how it works?

If it were that easy to open the gate, it wouldn’t have opened just three times so far.

“Honestly, what I was really worried about was how you’d notice the gate was incomplete. So when we faced that sudden full-scale assault, I was dizzy with worry. I thought, ‘Could it be that you knew this was our weakest moment and planned accordingly?’ But seeing you here, it looks like it was just a simple diversion. If your hero party had come with an army, we might have been in real danger.”

Involving the entire human race in a full-scale offensive had been correct.

In that case, our infiltration here was a mistake.

From the Demon King’s perspective, as long as they take care of Zion, even if the army gets pushed back, the gate won’t close.

But that mistake could be corrected immediately.

If I just use the Space Movement Array to escape from here…

“Naou, should we run?”

“No, don’t. Hop, do you believe her words?”

I asked Naou for instructions, but it was Naou who provided the wise judgment right away.

We couldn’t trust the words coming from Aurora, a Demon, who revealed her weakness so easily.

Perhaps that statement was a bluff designed to trouble us here.

And there were several more reasons why we shouldn’t run from here.

“Actually, escaping would be tough. Aurora can manipulate space.”

Aurora, being able to manipulate space, could disrupt our space movement if she decided to.

That was the second reason. And the last reason was…

“It’s okay, Hop. I’ll keep the promise we made yesterday.”

Zion raised the glowing Holy Sword quietly, turning toward the Demon King and Mirae.

While I couldn’t trust Aurora’s words, it seemed certain that there were no forces here right now.

That appeared to be the best-case scenario we had assumed when we set out.

So it wasn’t guaranteed we’d win.

The odds were definitely low, but,

“Before closing the gate, I’ll turn you both to ashes.”

Because we had the hero, Zion Laurel, who could perform miracles.