Tsuyokute New Saga (LN) - Book 1: Chapter 7

After Kyle and the others finished their shopping trip, they ate lunch, and took a rest at an inn. Though, rather than your average inn, it was more like a hotel, fairly popular with nobles and diplomats from other countries.

“Still, that was some extravagant shopping you did there. Aren’t we going to stand out like that?”

The group gathered in one of the two rooms they rented, and Seran commented with these words, as he inspected the loot of today’s shopping. With their total expenses reaching up to ten million Gadol, it wouldn’t be odd for them to stand out in a negative way.

“Since even nobles use that store, they wouldn’t do anything like leaking a customer’s information.”

For a business like them, customer trust and support is most crucial, so they wouldn’t let any information slip, hurting their image in the process.

“Well, these sorts of stories will always emerge out from somewhere, but they won’t spread that fast. We’ll be departing tomorrow morning, so we’ll be gone by the time anybody would bother with us.” Kyle argued. “Not to mention that the security of this hotel is no joke.”

“I see…Wait hold on!? We’re at the royal capital, and yet we’re only staying for one night!?”

“Yeah, I finished all my business here after all. We’re still pretty much on schedule, so our next target location is…”

“Then I can’t stay here! I’m going out!” Seran said, dashing out of the room.

“I’ll be taking a stroll as well. It’s the first time I came here to the capital, so I want to look around some more.” Lieze stood up and was about to leave as well, when Urza spoke up.

“I’ll go with you. I’ve been here before, so I know my way around.”

“Thanks a lot, Urza.”

Kyle watched the two girls leave the room, showing a rather complicated expression.

“These two sure have gotten close…”

“Then, I’ll go buy something myself, so let us leave.” Shildonia wanted to step outside herself, but Kyle stopped her.

“Hold on a second. There’s a few things I’d like to ask, and hear your opinion on.”

During their travels so far, Kyle couldn’t find the right timing for them to talk secretly. Since she knew the situation that Kyle is in, and possessed knowledge about the Ancient Magic Kingdom more than probably anybody else alive right now, she was the perfect person to ask.

“Ah…Now don’t get me wrong, I totally didn’t forget about it, nor was I putting all my attention on eating, yeah.” Shildonia sat back down on the bed, but Kyle wasn’t as naive as to believe any of that.

“The first thing I’d like to make sure of…What do you think, can the future be changed?”

That was probably Kyle’s biggest question right now. In the current moment, he is working towards changing the future, but if everything that had happened would occur again even with any outer influence, it was all too meaningless.

“Change—is a bit of an odd expression. Looking at it this way, the future is not written in stone. Thus, everyone can become free.”

“Not written in stone…That future did in fact happen, you know?”

“No mistakes there. As you leaped through time, you have come to a new world. In this world, this future has yet to happen, so it is not decided yet.” Shildonia argued. “This is the hypothesis my main body created, see.” She continued. “The flow of time is not a single line, but rather composed like branches of a tree splitting off into multiple lines, and your soul jumped from one branch to the other. Speaking in strict terms, you have not returned to the past. Your soul came to this world, with the memories and experiences from the other world. As proof of this…” Shildonia pointed at the ‘Heart of the Divine Dragon’ in Kyle’s hands. “Since this ‘Heart of the Divine Dragon’ was used as the catalyst, it came to this world together with your soul. Even though there should only be one, we have two in this current timeline. Since this object, which should most likely be in the demons’ territory around this time, exists in your very hands right now, in this world, we’ve reached a contradiction. In short, this world may be similar to the one you know, but entirely different.”

“I feel like I get it, but I also don’t…So, there’s a chance that something else might happen from the events that I know of?”

“No, the branch might be different, but the trunk of the tree is the same. Since you came here from a different branch, future events will most likely have changed plenty already, but if you or any of us don’t act too differently from how you saw it, the same general future will happen again. The events overlapping create the same outcome, even if it may be a different order of things. And since you only came to this world right now, and started acting merely a few days ago…the ‘Great Invasion’ will surely happen again.”

“I see.”

Kyle had hoped that this world might have had a different future all-together, but that turned out to be his naivety speaking.

“…But, if I properly prepare, I can counteract it, right?”

“Merely because you know what would happen, this world is treading down a different path than your previous one. Depending on your actions, you may very well change it to your will.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

As long as Kyle knew that his actions weren’t for nothing, he could keep working hard.

“As a matter of fact, gathering fame and honor in order to bring the entire human folk together to prepare against the ‘Great Invasion’ is an ingenious idea, I dare say. Though actually achieving it is the real problem.”

“I got a lot of trump cards at my disposal, and with the legendary [Magic King], it’s not that impossible.”

Because of Kyle’s words, Shildonia flashed a confident grin.

“Now then, concerning your growth in mana, I have an idea of my own.”

“Ah, that’s what I wanted to ask as well.” Kyle leaned forwards.

Even though it was something related to his own body, he hadn’t come up with any possible conclusion.

“In order to explain this phenomenon, I need to explain what mana is in the first place. Mana makes up a part of your own soul, and the entire idea is that you can’t cut loose either from the other, following?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, do you know merging magic called [Fusion], which is probably the most cursed out of all of the forbidden magic spells?”

“Never heard of it.”

Kyle prided himself to have a fair knowledge about magic, but this one spell was completely out of his range of knowledge.

“It seems as if it was buried in the passage of time. Since it was far too dangerous, my true body sealed it away.”

“…What kind of magic is it?”

“Simply speaking, it is black magic to raise your amount of mana, by fusing souls, or more accurately, to have one soul suck up another.”

The strengthening of mana was researched in Zaales, and a wide variety of methods to strengthen it were thought of. However, at the end of it all, they came to the conclusion that the strength and amount of one’s mana was mainly determined at birth, deeply related to the soul of the individual. There, they instead put their focus on the strengthening of the soul, and arrived at the possibility of fusing two souls together.

However, a soul was the life force of a human, and it’s entire being. Just as there can not be the same person twice, every single soul is different.

“Trying to fuse the souls of two strangers is like trying to add the amount of beer you have by melted chocolate into it. If you were to do that, the memories and personalities would mix together. A normal human being’s psyche, unable to bear with that, would go mad.”

“Yeah, sounds nonsensical.”

If the person turned disabled, there’s no meaning even if you’ve gotten stronger.

“In order to lessen this influence as much as possible, innocent souls without a self were used.”

“Don’t tell me…”

“Indeed, small babies that were just born.”

“Atrocious.” Kyle covered his face with one hand.

Absorbing the souls of newly-born children, it indeed was forbidden magic.

“However, even if they have barely been born, these babies are still living beings belonging to human folk. Even if you fuse them together, the souls will be influenced, and there’s no way any proper human being could do something so grotesque either. That’s why I came up with the hypothesis that, if you had an absolutely identical soul, this problem would not occur.”

Two identical souls do not exist, but if that was the case, then you just have to create it—which was the human soul creation research happening in Zaales.

“Creating a soul…Thinking about it now, it was a research resembling a revolt against the gods themselves.” Shildonia showed a wry smile. “What arrogance…”

Back then, the greater half of Zaales’ inhabitants were individuals who believed they could overcome gods.

“Anyway, the research to create an identical soul ended in failure, and because this magic was too dangerous to be made public, it was sealed away. To get back on the main topic, as I stated before, the ‘Heart of the Divine Dragon’ and your soul came to this world. And, there exists another ‘Heart of the Divine Dragon’ in this world. Then, what do you think happened to the soul of the Kyle Lenard who was supposed to exist in this world?”

“What happened…Wait, are you saying…!?”

“That’s right.” Shildonia pointed at Kyle’s chest. “However, do not get the wrong idea. You, who is talking to me right now, is also the Kyle Lenard that has existed in this world since his birth.”

“Hold on a second…this is too much input for me right now.” Kyle held his head.

“You needn’t think about it too deeply. This fusion of souls has occurred without you even realizing it.” Shildonia added. “Not to mention in a perfect shape. The consciousness of the Kyle who came to this world was stronger than the one existing here, but since your experiences and memories you’ve gathered up to that day are exactly the same, your personality and mentality are identical. It’s like you have the same transparent and colorless water two times, and mix them together to fill the glass even further. This is how your soul has doubled. Without you getting any wind of this.”

“Something like that happened to my soul…”

However, Kyle could agree with that logic. Ever since that day his hometown was destroyed, he continued to fight, continued to kill. This gradually made his psyche wither away. Yet, when he returned to this time, he felt his mind more refreshed, and calm even. He was reunited with Lieze, after losing her once. He assumed that his refreshed mindset was because he could meet all the people he missed again, but apparently the merging of his two souls had a big influence on that.

“Well, let’s just be happy that it had a positive effect on my psyche.” Kyle spoke nonchalantly about it, which might be related to his cheerful personality.

“Anyway, through this process, your soul has been strengthened, and the amount of mana you possess has gone up. As of right now, it appears as if you are unable to fully use it, but eventually, you might be able to rely on some supreme-grade magic.”

“Supreme-grade magic?” Subconsciously, Kyle pushed his body forward.

Supreme-grade magic is known to cause natural disasters. All the handful of users are written down in history.

“So then…could I be able to use that attack magic the [Magic King] was known for?”

“Indeed, eventually, you could very well learn how to use that supreme-grade magic that my main body was so skilled at, and nobody could copy.”

Shildonia Zaales had a lot of legendary tales with her as the main actor, but one of them was an anecdote of her defeating an army of a thousand demons all on her own. This was all doable because of the legendary magic that had been lost in time after she passed away.

“I could use that…”

“Well, we are talking about the future here. From what I can guess, it will still take some time until your souls have fully merged, and you being able to use that magic or not is an entirely different problem. We are probably speaking in years, here.”

“I see, but that was some valuable information. Means I can still get stronger after all. Oh by the way, will there be any negative effects on me because of that?”

“Who knows, you are the first example I’ve seen after all. I could guess for hours, but would you even like to hear anything about that?”

“…No, I think I’ll pass.”

“Wise. After all, despite the possibility being very slim, your soul might change, to a level where you turn into an entire different being…”

“I told you I didn’t need to hear that!”

“Well, don’t hesitate to tell me of any change. I will hear you out, though I don’t know if I can actually offer a solution.” Shildonia said with a teasing smile.

They continued to talk for a while, and around the time the sun started to set, Shildonia brought up another topic.

“Now then, let’s end this conversation for today. We’re leaving as well.” She said, adding. “The food of the stalls must be delicious right about now.”

Seeing no other choice, Kyle reluctantly prepared to leave as well, when Seran rammed the door open in anger.

“What happened? You sure seem pissed.”

“Damn it! That guy who told me that all girls in the big city are easy to get is a lying bastard! Even if I call out to them, they just ignored me! Yet their eyes looked dead all the time! Are the people here all rotten like that!?”

It appears as if his attempts to hit on a girl failed miserably.

“I do think that your heart is what’s most rotten here. Also, aren’t you back early? Normally you don’t give up at all.”

“The city guards had their eyes on me. Damn peace and tranquility advocates. The girls of the big city can’t be as sullied as that. I need a pure and youthful woman instead.”

“Maybe you should fix your own attitude first?”

Thanks to Kyle’s words, Seran started thinking about something.

“No, wait a second. I have money, maybe I should just flaunt that around?”

“Don’t say that with a straight face.”

“Alright, give me some allowance!” Seran opened his hand towards Kyle.

“…Don’t waste it, okay?” Kyle knew it was wasted breath, but he still threw in a reminder as he handed Seran several Zaales gold coins.

“No worries, I’ll use it carefully! But for now, the night city is waiting for me!” Seran showed groundless confidence, and ran out of the room.

“He lives according to his desires, I see…Well, that kind of folk generally lives a long and happy life.” Shildonia watched off Seran’s back, saying this fairly bluntly.

“Well, as long as he gains more experience.”

The following morning, Urza and Lieze finished preparations for the departure, and came to Kyle and Seran’s room.

“The royal capital sure is amazing. Yesterday was a lot of fun.” Lieze must have seen all sorts of rare sights, which left her in a good mood.

“It was refreshing to go around as the two of us…By the way.” Urza looked towards the bed. “What in the world is that?” She pointed at Seran, who had his back curled up like a cat.

“Well, he was deceived by some girl about her having a sick mother, so when he went to her house, it ended up being blackmail, and since this happened four to five times in one night, he lost all faith in humanity, it seems.” Shildonia delivered an explanation as she took a sip from her tea.

“Should have been a great experience for him. But, that doesn’t matter right now. Our next destination will be the town of Archen.”

The town Kyle named was located along the East border of the country, the greatest town the Kingdom of Zilgus had to offer, which bloomed through its trade.

“To be honest, although I have a goal there, it’s not a guiding compass for my plans. That being the case…you might be surprised, but Shildonia actually has an ability similar to precognition.”

“Eh? …Ahh! Indeed, yes. I have this ability, of course.” Shildonia remembered their discussion from the previous evening, and hurriedly affirmed Kyle’s words.

“That reaction seems off if you ask me…”

“Just your imagination. Anyway, when I speak of precognition, it’s more like a stronger version of astrology, but the legendary [Magic King] is saying that, so there’s room to believe her, right?” Kyle continued. “I told her of my goal, and when she used her precognition, she said that it’d be beneficial for us to head to that city. And, I decided to believe her.” Kyle turned towards the two girls. “What do you think?”

“Hmm…I was planning on tagging along with Kyle anyway, so I don’t mind.”

“I was merely on a journey, so I never had any location I planned on heading to.”

Seran was waving his hand as well, as he had his back to them, so he seemed to be listening at least.

“Then, we’ll depart to Archen.”

The night two days after Kyle’s group left the royal capital Malad, they arrived at a post town. If everything worked out, they should make it to Archen by tomorrow. Since a lot of traders pass through this town, it was quite luxurious despite it not even being a larger city. There were several lodgings and inns available, but thinking about safety and security, they chose the most luxurious inn around.

“Phew, that was a great bath.” Lieze returned to the girls’ room after using the bath. “I’ve gotten used to sleeping in the wild, but a bed is still the best, right.”

“Yeah…” Urza sat on a long chair next to the window, gazing at the night sky, the full moon to be precise.

As a spirit user, and especially as an elf, she had a deep connection to the moon, as she would receive the greatest blessing of strength from the Protective Goddess of the Elves, Spirit Deity Moona. Basking in the moonlight was a great joy to the elves. Lieze knew about this, and just laid down on the bed without saying anything.

“I’ll go to bed then. Don’t stay up too long, Urza.”

Soon enough, faint and rhythmic breathing reached Urza’s ears, signalizing that Lieze had fallen asleep. Urza gave a faint smile at the speed it happened, and continued to look at the full moon.

“…At times like these, it makes me want to drink some sake once in a while…” She took a sip from the cup next to her, filled with grape wine, as her head turned into a faint red color.

Eventually, the sleepiness started to set in, and since Urza felt comfortable in her chair, she slowly closed her eyes.

Phew…Spirit Deity Moona…please grant us your blessing for our journey…

“Wait hold on! I forgot!” Urza jolted up, screaming.

“Urza, shut up.” Lieze complained, half asleep.

“Ah, sorry…But, I can’t stay here!” Urza jumped out of the room, heading on to the one next to theirs. “Kyle!”

She opened the door without even bothering to knock, but both beds were empty.

“Damn it…Seran must be out playing around again…but where is Kyle?”

Since Urza couldn’t find the sword anywhere, she figured he must be training again, so she headed outside in search.

Around that time, Kyle laid on the ground in a 大 shape, on a grass plain a bit further away from the post town. He was out of breath, sweating practically buckets, clearly having been practicing and moving a lot until now. Shildonia, who had watched him, gave a few words of praise.

“What was it called, Phantasmal Enemy? Quite intriguing. That is a technique that didn’t exist back in my days. So we lost a lot, but gained a few instead…Humans really are formidable.”

“In the end, it’s not even the real deal, and just a copy…But, there’s worth in continuing.” Kyle said, trying to get his breathing under control.

Although it was just an illusion, he fought close to a hundred phantoms just now, so it made sense for him to be exhausted.

“My endurance went up a lot, but it’s nowhere nearly enough.”

Kyle felt a response from all his harsh training, and started to move more like his brain wanted to, but his basic abilities and stamina were still lacking. Then again, he barely trained for a month at best, so that could be expected. Kyle had planned to create a new fighting style where he mixed up close-combat with magic, but that was most likely a thing for another time.

“I’m exhausted…I just wanna get back and sleep.” He pushed up his tired body.

If he stayed laying down like this, he would most likely fall asleep.

“Indeed, any more training would be too much of a burden. Your body needs rest as well.”

“I gotta say, you are a great sword.” Kyle spoke in admiration, as he looked at the sword.

To him, it felt like the sword fit perfectly in his hand, sharply tracing all of this movement.

“Of course, the sword version of me is the fruits of labor of Zaales’ magic talents. There probably is no greater sword created by human hand. Not to mention that it inhabits my spirit, so nothing else could beat me.” Shildonia puffed out her chest in pride.

“The sharpness is crazy. I’ve known of several other mithril swords, but I’ve never seen something like you before.”

“That’s probably because I’m not actually made of mithril.”

“Hm? Then…”

What is it?—Kyle was about to ask, when someone else appeared.

“Found you! Why are you all the way out here!” Urza ran towards them, out of breath, blood-shot eyes.

“W-What happened?”

“Did you forget!? We can only do the [Applied Contract] during a full moon like this!”

“…Ah, now that you say it.” Kyle looked up at the sky and said, “I totally forgot.”

“Weren’t you the one who brought it up in the first place!?”

“…Can we do it next month? I’m tired, and sleepy.” Kyle rubbed his eyes.

“My True Name is depending on this! Don’t act like some spoiled brat!”

“Didn’t you forget about it as well…?”

“S-Shut up! I’m preparing everything now, so you wait a second!”

“Sounds like a pain,” Shildonia commented, and left the two behind, returning to the inn.

I would have never imagined that I would hold this ritual with a human.

While writing a magic circle on the ground with Spirit Language, Urza once again wondered how things had ended up this way. This [Applied Contract] brings down an absolute restriction on the other person, but it requires the user, Urza, to reveal her True Name at the same time, so it is used in rare quantities. However, in the event that the other person is fine to know one’s True Name, or you are in a relationship where you want to share it with them, this [Applied Contract] is seen more like a ritual than anything.

You offer your True Name, and bet the rest of your life, vowing to not hurt each other. Basically, this [Applied Contract] is something similar to a marriage ceremony. As a result of that, the young elf girls and women saw an [Applied Contract] as something romantic. Of course, Urza was no exception, as she had dreamed about doing this with her destined love.

Yet…here I am, doing it with a man I barely met half a month ago…

This is something she would have never expected to happen. Yet, despite her initial resistance towards this, she didn’t feel too dissatisfied travelling with Kyle and the others. She had set out on this journey to see more of the world after all, and she was never against travelling with others.

Lieze was a nice girl. Even though their age, personality, and race are entirely different, they got along pretty well. As of late, she even felt that they had become good friends. Although it was hard to call Shildonia a person, talking to her was pretty fun in itself. With Urza being fairly curious about the world and its inhabitants, Shildonia would provide answers for almost every question she had.

As for Seran…Well, it was a treat watching him from a safe distance. Kyle, in a certain way, is the biggest problem. From time to time, he would act like they had known each other for years. However, Kyle wasn’t overbearing enough for Urza to hate it, and knew how to not trouble her. More than anything, his gaze was the most dubious of it all. She would catch him staring at her, only for him to avert his gaze once their eyes met.

Of course, because of her appearance, she was used to standing out, as well as gathering the lustful gazes of the men she encountered during her journey. Naturally, that wasn’t something she particularly enjoyed, but she could just ignore it most of the time. However, Kyle was fundamentally different from that. His gaze felt more protective than anything, and it was almost as if he was seeing right through her, which left her restless at times, but definitely not uncomfortable. This was the first time for Urza, so she wasn’t sure how to deal with it.

……No, I need to focus on the [Applied Contract] right now.

The more she thought about it, the more conflicted she felt, so she decided to forget about it for now. She finished writing the magic circle, and called out to Kyle.

“Alright, preparations are done. Kyle, just stand…Hey, no sleeping! Wake up.”

“Eh? Ah, sorry. Didn’t think it would take that long.”

“A [Contract] isn’t that simple! Just stand there, and we’ll start!”

Basking in the light of the full moon, the ritual of the two began. Urza closed her eyes, and started chanting Spirit Language. Urza’s appearance almost seemed divine, and as Kyle watched her, he thought to himself.

This is pretty much the same compared to before, huh.

Kyle actually had experienced this [Applied Contract] before. During the final night before the battle with the Demon Lord, aware that they might not experience another night together, Urza brought up this ritual, and Kyle agreed. Back then, Urza had been a Great Spirit User, able to have contracts with several high-level spirits, so they didn’t have to wait for a full moon like this, and neither did they need a magic circle.

During that time, they vowed to each other that, if they returned alive, they would spend the rest of their days together. In other words, it was akin to a marriage. However, they were unable to keep that promise. Protecting Kyle from the Demon Lord’s attack, the girl vanished in front of his eyes, leaving a final smile before she departed. Even now, Kyle was unable to forget that scene.

As he was reminiscing about the past, or the future if you wanted to look at it that way, a warm and comfortable light rose from the magic circle, enwrapping the two. Following that, Kyle was assaulted by a faint sense of dizziness. It resembled a sensation occurring during anemia, but there was no much discomfort, and it instead felt like he was floating, a sense of despondency covering his body. Urza seemed to be experiencing something similar, as she looked at Kyle with uncertain and drifting eyes. And then, she started chanting.

“…Under the name of our great Moon Spirit Deity Moona, I, Urza Ekses, command thee…Thou art forbidden from sharing mine True Name, neither using it for evil deeds…Does thee swear?”

“I swear.” Kyle gave an immediate response, just as he had done in the previous timeline.

Resulting from that, the magic from the magic circle grew even stronger, reaching up towards the moon like a pillar, only to disperse in small particles. These particles then danced through the air like snowflakes. It was a surreal scene.

“Phew…” Urza sighed, and raised her head, only to meet eyes with Kyle’s right in front of her. “Ah…”

She realized that he gazed at her with the same look in his eyes again, but wasn’t given a moment to say this, as Kyle covered Urza’s mouth with his own. For a moment, only a brief second at best, Urza merely gave in to this sensation, but pulled her body away right after.

“W-W-W-What are you doing!? You bastard~~~!?”

Because of Urza’s verbal abuse, Kyle regained his senses.

“Eh? …Ah! Well, you know…isn’t the last part of the contract a kiss…? What? Am I wrong?”

The previous time, that’s what Urza did and explained.

“T-That is only an extra during a marriage ceremony! The contract itself is done as soon as you state your vow!”

“Ah…I see, so it was an unfortunate accident, huh.” To Kyle, doing that was only natural, but for the current Urza, there’s no way some lukewarm excuse like that would satisfy her.

“…Since I have the magic circle, and the spirit stone, I might as well get a [Contract] with another spirit.”

“Oho?”

“Maybe I should make it Salamander. That Fire Spirit will surely listen to my orders right now…and as the first order, I’ll tell it to burn this criminal in front of me to ashes.”

“Heyyyyy?!”

“T-That was my first kiss! Be thankful that I won’t strangle you right here, right now!”

“Getting burned to death is much worse than getting strangled, you know!”

That night, the suburbs of the town were filled with roaring flames and the screams of a single man, which went around as an urban legend in that port town for a short while after that.

“Why are you all so sleepy?”

The following morning, as the group walked through the city, Lieze, who was the only one with a good amount of sleep last night, spoke up.

“Well, an unfortunate accident happened…”

“Silence! Don’t you dare say it!” Urza raised her voice, seemingly still boiling from what happened on the previous night.

“Also, why do you smell like burnt skin, Kyle?”

“That is also because a very unfortunate incide—No, it’s nothing.” Seeing Urza’s harsh glare, Kyle grew silent.

“Well, the reason I couldn’t sleep was—”

“Nobody asked you, Seran.” Lieze interrupted Seran before he could say anything.

“Really now…”

“By the way, the [Applied Contract] is over now, but can I take it that you’re still going to travel with us?” Because of Kyle’s question, Urza was at a loss for words for a moment, but eventually responded.

“I-It can’t be helped. I still don’t get how you found out about my True Name, so I can’t leave you alone just yet!”

“I see…then it really can’t be helped.” Kyle seemed fairly happy, which left Urza conflicted again, but…

“Hmpf!” Lieze averted her face, and started trotting ahead.

With this, Kyle could stay with Urza again. To him, this was something worth celebrating. The reason Kyle had Urza become their ally was because her Spirit Magic would be of help, and because she would be a great strength in battle, but most importantly, it’s simply because he wanted to be with her.

Kyle was battling the demons on a daily basis, looking death in the eye at any given time, and yet the reason he didn’t despair is slowly thanks to Urza being with him. Although they only officially started dating the night before the final battle, Urza always gave Kyle a bit of peace of mind. If Urza had survived that final battle, he would have surely held up his vow, and spend the rest of his life with her. He truly did love Urza from the bottom of his heart.

If he had met Urza a year or two later, he would have been content with her being alive, and yet he managed to meet her not a few days after he came back to this time. And, spending time with her, he realized that he was still deeply in love with Urza.

But…

Thinking that far, Kyle instead glanced over at Lieze. If that Great Invasion hadn’t occurred, he surely would have gotten married to Lieze. As a matter of fact, in the previous world, they talked about the idea. Getting married, getting children…Live a peaceful and fulfilling life at Rimarze.

After Kyle had lost Lieze, he dreamt of such a life. And now, it was in his grasp.

I know that I’m unfaithful, but…

Honestly speaking, his feelings for the two of them were about the same. However, if he was allowed to make an excuse, then it would be this entire situation. He had tried to live a normal life with both of them, but had lost each right in front of his eyes. And now, he was reunited with them both at about the same time. If there was someone who had experienced something like this, Kyle would have greatly appreciated any advice.

“…Alright!”

After thinking about it for a moment, Kyle formed a fist, filled with determination.

“For now, I have to prepare for the [Great Invasion]! The fate of the world is on the line, so I can’t allow myself to get distracted by this! I’ll take care of this later!”

Using the fate of the world as an excuse, Kyle practically gave the worst possible conclusion, and decided to leave this topic as is.

“…What’s wrong with that guy?”

“Youth, I presume.”

Shildonia actually had seen everything that happened last night through her main body, the sword, and just nodded along towards Seran’s confused reaction.