“Huh?”
Huh? When I came to, I was… sitting in a chair?
If I remember correctly, I was getting cozy with Shino, and then suddenly I was sitting in a chair and fell asleep? From that state of excitement? That’s impossible.
Or maybe I drank a ton of booze and blacked out… but that doesn’t seem to be the case either.
I looked around, but Shino wasn’t there. I was alone in my familiar room.
“Uhhh?”
It’s dark outside the window. I’m pretty sure there was a nice sunset glow when I was hugging Shino, so some time has passed.
The only other thing I can think of is… was I drugged? By Shino? What for?
And on the table in front of me is an open book. Is this… a book about magic? It’s written in Japanese, but I can’t understand a word of it. Was I reading this before I went to bed?
“Haa… I don’t get it at all.”
There’s no point in thinking about it if I don’t understand it at all. I sighed and looked out the window—the Royal Capital’s streets were gone.
“Huh? Eh?”
All that was there was the familiar garden. The Waslein Estate’s garden, where I’ve spent the last three years.
I can tell even in the dark. It’s a place I’ve lived in every day. There’s no mistaking it.
“The monster horde… that was supposed to have destroyed it…”
And when I look closely, this is my familiar room. Not the unfamiliar room in the Royal Capital, but my familiar room in the Waslein Territory.
“Calm down, calm down, calm down, me.”
I managed to get by for three years after being suddenly possessed by someone I barely knew, so I can’t possibly be upset by something like this.
I have a hunch about this mysterious phenomenon… or rather, I’m almost certain. It may sound absurd, but if I think of this as a game world, then any event is realistic.
“The problem is what year and month it is now…”
If I could just ask someone, that would be the end of it, but unfortunately, it’s late at night. I can’t exactly barge into someone’s room, wake them up, and ask, “What year and month is it?”
There are night watch guards, but if they find me, I’ll get yelled at…
“Do I look a little younger? No, not really? Hmm… huh?”
I finally noticed when I looked in the mirror to get even a little clue. My multiple pockets are bulging.
I reached in to see what was inside, and it turned out to be a stack of cards. The Card Battle cards I used to play with the Maids.
I don’t know why they’re all in my pockets, but the fact that I have so many cards probably means it’s pretty recent.
I looked around the room again for any other clues and noticed that two swords for Training were leaning against the wall in their usual place.
I cautiously picked up a wooden sword and swung it lightly, and the sword moved with the sharpness that matched my image perfectly. Furthermore, it seems I’ve learned four types of Sword Skills.
“This probably isn’t even a month ago…”
For a moment, I was hoping that time had rewound and I could redo everything and solve it all… but that was a fleeting dream.
…No, that monster attack wasn’t a surprise or anything. That’s why the country gathered all its strength to prepare its forces, and then suffered a crushing defeat. No matter what I say to anyone, it won’t affect the outcome.
“…I’m going to bed.”
In the morning, Shino will gently shake me awake. I can ask her about various things then. Or maybe this is actually a dream, and I’ll wake up in that mansion in the Royal Capital—but that wasn’t the case.
A refreshing morning sun is shining through the window. It seems it wasn’t a dream after all, and I’m definitely in my room in the Waslein Territory.
Shino doesn’t seem to have come yet… did I wake up too early?
I usually go back to sleep so Shino can wake me up, but I’ll just get up today. Someone should be cleaning near this room in the morning.
I opened the door and looked down the hallway, and found a Maid wiping a window a little ways away. I’ll just ask her everything… but who is that girl…?
She’s a petite girl with slightly dull blonde hair that reaches near her waist. I don’t recognize her at all. Hmm…?
“Um, you there… uh, can I talk to you for a second?”
“Yes? Ah!? D-Do you need something…?”
The girl who turned around had a familiar face. However, she almost never showed me such a wary expression.
“…………Do you know what year, month, and day it is?”
“Um, I believe it’s February 21st of New Calendar 885.”
“I see… Ah, that’s all. Never mind.”
I heard what I needed to hear, so I turned on my heel and quickly returned to my room. My head is in a mess, and any further conversation is impossible.
I closed the door, threw myself on the sofa, and looked up at the ceiling. All of my considerations from last night are discarded. I was wrong from the start.
“It’s Shell…!”
She’s one of the Maids who was especially fond of me. There’s no mistaking it. However, she always kept her hair trimmed to shoulder length, so for it to be reaching around her waist… that’s right, she originally had long hair, and then one day she suddenly cut it short.
That time was probably… no, let’s stop running from reality. The length of her hair doesn’t matter.
From my perspective, just yesterday, that Shell who cried and clung to me when I gave her money and said goodbye… that Shell who sometimes said with a straight face, “Please make me your mistress someday,” and confused me…
Eyes full of wariness, a response that clearly showed distance… or rather, even her tone is different.
“This is rough…”
This is about the time right after I got punched and lost my memory. All the relationships I’ve built are reset.
To think that everyone I’ve become friends with will look at me with the same gaze as Shell just now… Ah, I wish I could just die and have time rewind. I wanted to end things with beautiful memories.
What was the date? I think she said it was February of New Calendar 885.
When I fled to the Royal Capital, it was around March of New Calendar 888, wasn’t it? So that means it’s almost three years ago. This doesn’t contradict the time that can be inferred from Shell’s attitude and hairstyle.
However, if that’s the case, then the stack of cards, the sword, and the Sword Skills don’t add up… Ah, I see it now. It’s probably a “New Game Plus.” A so-called carryover. If this is a game, then that makes sense.
“Um, Geld-sama.”
“Eh?”
I turned my eyes to the voice calling me, and Emi the Maid was standing there, looking lost. I didn’t realize she had entered the room.
But why is Emi here… Oh, that’s right, at this time, the attendants were rotated daily.
“Shino is feeling unwell today, so I, Emi, will be attending to you.”
“I see, I understand.”
That’s rare. Since she returned to being my attendant, that’s never happened before… perhaps Shino was pushing herself without resting even when she was feeling unwell. She’s the type to do that.
I’d like to visit her, but if our relationship has been reset, then going would only scare her, and in the first place, she’s isolated, so I can’t even get close to her. I’ll just wait for her to recover… wait?
What did Emi say? Because she’s feeling unwell? So she came as a replacement?
That means Shino is currently my attendant. But by the time she returned to being my attendant, the Maids’ attitudes had softened. Especially this card-crazy Emi, who asked me for a Card Battle every time we met.
The facts these point to are one thing… I’ve gone back to before I lost my memory.