The Lady Virgin Saint’s warm comfort continued for a long time.
I could hear the whispers of passing servants. It wasn’t that the Lady Virgin Saint was unaware of this, but she showed no sign of letting me go.
I was completely at a loss.
Wasn’t she the one who always teased me?
Yet suddenly, she was tightly hugging me and offering heartfelt comfort, making me wonder what had happened overnight.
From her careful inspection of me at first glance, it seemed like she had seen the future ‘me.’
If that were the case, it was reasonable to assume that the change in the Lady Virgin Saint’s attitude also had to do with ‘me.’
Even as my thought process ran in circles, her soothing continued.
Now, there was even a hint of tears in her voice.
The Lady Virgin Saint stroked my hair and continued to speak.
“I will never let you become that way… I will always be by your side when it’s hard and painful, so please consult with me without hesitation.”
“Y-Yes.”
The voice I let out was muffled by the Lady Virgin Saint’s soft embrace.
I wanted to ask her what was going on, but she wouldn’t let me go.
In fact, I could have escaped her grasp with a little effort.
Though her strength was formidable due to her training, it was nothing compared to my lifelong training with a sword.
But in the end, I couldn’t push her away.
Because it felt good.
The Lady Virgin Saint’s embrace was cozy and soft.
It almost brought back memories of my childhood.
They say a man remains a child at heart no matter how much he grows up.
Just like that saying, I found it hard to shake off the Lady Virgin Saint’s maternal warmth.
To be precise, it was a certain body part that symbolized that maternal instinct.
Still, as I silently listened to her, I began to understand why she was behaving this way.
Her words were filled with recurring keywords.
“Alone,” “pain,” “I will be with you.”
It seemed the Lady Virgin Saint had been shocked after seeing the future ‘me.’
It must have been sad and frightening to see such a fate for my original future.
I had never spoken with him directly, but even from the fragmentary memories I had stolen glimpses of, I could roughly guess his state.
He had lost all his precious people.
All that remained for him was a hollow command: “Save the world.”
Was he able to save the world in the end?
Since it was an unknown future, I took a deep breath and raised my head.
Then I firmly grasped the Lady Virgin Saint’s hands, which were in distress.
“Lady Virgin Saint, don’t worry. I’m Ian Percus, after all.”
“…That person also claimed to be ‘Ian Percus.'”
Oh no, that’s right.
As I noticed the compassion in the Lady Virgin Saint’s eyes, I quickly corrected myself.
“That’s different; he wouldn’t have had you by his side.”
Though she might have been there, I wasn’t so clueless as to mention that.
The Lady Virgin Saint still looked sad, but her expression seemed a bit more at ease.
“So the path I walk will undoubtedly be different. Not only you, but I have many good friends by my side… Is there really a need to make a painful decision?”
“Ian, that… it might be a hard story to tell.”
The Lady Virgin Saint averted her gaze and trailed off.
Her expression was clearly one of anguish.
I found myself staring dumbly at her, perplexed as to why she was acting this way.
After hesitating for some time, the Lady Virgin Saint finally closed her eyes tightly and said to me.
“…I’ve decided to abandon the Perkus Manor.”
My body, which had been persuading the Lady Virgin Saint, suddenly froze.
For a moment, I could not comprehend her words.
Abandon? The Perkus Manor?
Why on earth?
Countless questions swirled in my mind, but the only word I managed to muster was one.
“Absolutely not.”
Immediately afterward, I began to search for the people around me.
The first person I sought was the Empire’s administrator, Arthur.
He displayed a dramatically different demeanor than the Lady Virgin Saint, springing to his feet the moment he saw me.
Then, as if he was about to kneel, he stopped abruptly in shock.
When I looked at him in disbelief, Arthur was sweating profusely as he greeted me.
“W-Welcome back? The instructions you provided are being carried out sequentially. Thanks to Viscount Percus cooperating with me…”
“Instructions?”
At my question, it was now Arthur’s turn to be at a loss.
He hesitated, glancing at me apprehensively as if he thought it was some sort of test, and began listing the instructions that my future self had given.
“It’s a large-scale retreat operation. When the Monster Lord’s retinue is summoned, we won’t be able to cope with our current forces, so we’ve decided to evacuate the Perkus Manor within three days…”
“…Three days? How are the inhabitants expected to leave within three days?”
Arthur couldn’t readily answer my question and deeply lowered his head.
He lamented about the grim reality before me.
“Consequently, we expect at least hundreds of refugees. However, you previously stated, Ian, that it was an unavoidable sacrifice…”
What the hell.
I could not bring myself to curse in front of Arthur and muttered silently.
Then I had to take a few staggering steps back and leave the conference room.
After that, when I met others, most of what they said was quite similar.
In fact, the women seemed even more worried about me than about the absurd operation.
“Ian-senpai, are you okay? What should we do… If there’s anything difficult, you must tell me. Really!”
It was Seria who said that.
I felt like I would die from the difficulty I was experiencing right then, but I suppressed the urge to say so.
How could a noble abandon their territory, let alone their subjects?
When Celin saw my pale face, she exhaled heavily.
“Ian oppa…”
She weakly patted my shoulder.
“…There’s no choice.”
No choice?
The Yuridina Clan’s soldiers numbered a thousand, and the Rainelle Clan’s magic troops had arrived too.
Yet, Seria already had a face of resignation, while I had no idea where Senior Elsi and Raymond had gone.
Finally, the last person I sought out was Reto.
As soon as I staggered into the reception room, Reto let out a deep sigh as if he had expected it.
“…You’ve come?”
“Hey, Reto. Is it you too?”
He didn’t bother to ask what I was referring to.
His expression seemed to imply he had read my thoughts the moment he looked at me.
With a sigh, he began to explain.
“It’s unavoidable. The more you hear about it, the more absurd it gets… We don’t have the forces to face that monster right now; the idea of confronting it is insane.”
“We have to at least buy the villagers some time to evacuate! Why have we been sitting here in the manor to collect taxes until now?! Now it’s time to make sacrifices….”
“Ian, the Dark Cult is still strong.”
I shut my mouth, unable to respond.
Reto must have felt the sadness and helplessness too.
After all, he had grown up here with me, creating numerous memories.
Yet with that pained expression on his face, he laid out one reason after another to persuade me.
“We can’t predict what kind of attack will happen during the retreat. And most of the forces we can currently use don’t belong to the Percus family, do you understand?”
“But….”
“We can’t just throw our forces at an opponent we can’t defeat.”
As he spoke, Reto tossed a stack of papers in my direction.
It was filled with dense notes.
I blankly stared down at the document.
At the top, it was written in large letters.
“Corpse Giant.”
“This information was obtained from you, who came from the future yesterday. They said the more detailed the discussion, the less time we have to stay in this timeline, so I summarized it… But still, it’s in this state.”
My eyes swept down the notes on the paper.
“Infinite regeneration.”
“Revives nearby corpses to turn them into allies.”
“Cannot be opposed with an army; needs to be countered with a small elite squad.”
“Means to prevent regeneration are needed.”
It was an absurd enemy.
Was the Dark Cult’s retinue such a terrifying entity?
I had no words, standing there dumbfounded.
“If we respond carelessly, the damage could increase even more. The number of corpses will keep rising.”
It was a death sentence.
A death sentence delivered by someone I trusted the most.
“I’m sorry, Ian….”
It was a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time.
The despair of being unable to do anything and the intense sense of powerlessness.
I was a pathetic human being.
At least in front of the hundreds of people whose lives could be lost, that was how I felt.
Unable to bear it any longer, I pulled out a bottle of whiskey.
I’d heard that the ‘me’ from the day before seemed to have drunk too much, but there was no one among my family or companions to stop me.
It seemed everyone understood my feelings.
If I got completely drunk, perhaps the personality from the future would possess me again.
I had that thought for a moment, but soon shook my head to deny that possibility.
Wasn’t that man the one who personally stated it was “impossible”?
Therefore, even if I fell asleep drunk, the likelihood of the future personality emerging again was low.
Moreover, even if he did emerge, nothing would change.
Wasn’t the one who decided to abandon the territory that very man?
Today felt like an excruciating headache was coming on.
So, I let out a faint groan and headed to my bedroom door.
I wanted nothing more than to collapse in drunkenness right there.
Had there not been an unexpected visitor in my room, I would have diligently gone through with that plan.
However, the moment I opened the door, I could only freeze in place.
Someone was there.
A girl with ebony hair cascading down, with golden dew glistening on the white drawing paper before her.
I instantly recognized who she was.
None other than Ria Percus, my younger sister.
The reason I stood frozen was something else entirely.
It wasn’t surprising that Ria had entered my room unannounced; she had done so before.
What surprised me was the position she was currently in.
She was kneeling, tears streaming down her face.
“Brother….”
She spoke, her voice trembling as she said.
“Please, please don’t hate Ria….”
That was the only plea my sister, who had thrown away her pride, wished to convey to me.
