Chapter 811 – Third Wish

000

In a situation where not only Cleon but also Noctis, who was not on the boat, were aware that time was turning back, the two nodded after confirming that one condition had disappeared.

And when she took out her notepad from her arms to check what she had written down, she frowned.

“… Come to think of it, since time went back, there’s no way the memo I wrote will remain. It might be pointless to continue writing here.”

Saying that, she waved the blank notepad and put it back in her arms.

Suddenly, Cleon also became concerned about the condition of the items he had put in his bag.

If time were turned back, Titania and the mechanical doll she received from Kanan would have disappeared.

When you unfasten the strap that secures the cover of the bag and open it, what you see inside is-

A dominant cylinder containing colorful magic sources.

And right next to it were a dagger-shaped toy and a wolf-shaped mechanical doll.

＂… Look at this. ＂

When Cleon spoke like that and took out the dagger, a voice came out from within due to the shock, but Noctis couldn’t help but look surprised when he saw that.

＂Mr. Cleon… This.＂

＂Ah…＂

Noctis thought he understood what he wanted to say, and when Cleon nodded, Noctis raised his voice.

＂You originally had one!?＂

“That’s not it!”

I didn’t understand it at all.

“This is the one you bought for me back in the prewar period. He’s a grown man carrying a toy dagger in his bag. It’s strange just thinking about it.”

When Cleon said that, Noctis smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.

＂And… This. This is something I received from a friend before I went backwards this time.”

“A mechanical doll made of metal… It’s an unusual item. But none of the things I had come back in time with me.”

As Noctis said, if things followed her when she went back in time, the notes written inside her notepad would have also followed her.

“Do you think the items in that bag come across together?”

Hearing Noctis’ words, Cleon taps his dominant cylinder, thinking it might be so.

“Maybe it’s because of this guy.”

“… What is that? I was worried, though.”

In response to Noctis’ questions, Cleon explains how he obtained this and that what is inside is a source of magical power that exorcises and absorbs demons.

Thanks to this, it contains much greater magic power than most magic stones, so it may be subject to various magical effects within the closed space of a bag.

“Hmm… So, if I put the notes I wrote in Cleon’s bag, they won’t disappear.”

“I may need to experiment one more time.”

At Cleon’s words, Noctis took out the notepad again, wrote the same note he had written earlier, and put it in Cleon’s bag.

＂Are notes that important?＂

“It’s much easier to organize your thoughts if you have notes. It’s important to me. Well then…”

After saying that, Noctis stretched out his legs and headed toward the inside of the market street.

“Do you remember when I told Zuzu to look for someone whose behavior seemed suspicious?”

When Cleon nods his head in response to her question, Noctis raises the corner of her mouth.

“Luckily, Zuzu found it. It took some time and the fireworks exploded as I was getting closer, but I still remember the direction I was in and my general impression.”

She says she will lead the way, but Noctis takes her lead and begins to advance, leaving Cleon behind her, and the two make their way through the crowds and down the inside of the market street.

“Wouldn’t it be quicker to have Zuzu guide you?”

“Because Zuzu would have lost her memories. It’ll take a long time to get her back… And that’s okay. The last time I saw her, she had a drum in her hand that she shook to make it sound.”

＂Are you talking about toys?＂

When Cleon asks a question, she nods her head.

＂There is one street vendor nearby that sells her toys.＂

And as she stopped moving her legs, the stall where she stopped was selling the toy that Noctis had mentioned.

In front of her is a woman looking around blankly at something.

There was Aisha standing there with a hat on to cover the horns that had grown on her forehead.

And she was definitely holding that toy in her hand.

＂Ah, Aisha!?＂

When Cleon said her name without realizing it, Noctis said, ‘Mmm’, and her eyes looked as if they were acquaintances.

And when Aisha also looked back at Cleon, who had called her name, she seemed to have come to her senses and quickly walked towards him.

＂Oh, Cleon…!＂

Her actions were those of a person full of relief, as if she had discovered an oasis in the desert.

＂Look, you might think this is strange, but please listen… Even if I escape from here, I will come back here after some time… ＂

“Okay. Calm down. Because we are in a similar situation.”

Cleon seemed to be trying to reassure Aisha by saying that.

＂Similar situation?＂

“To put it bluntly, we are looping a certain amount of time. It is not the distance traveled that comes back, but the time that goes back.”

When Noctis answered Aisha’s question by briefly explaining the situation, she raised her voice as if she were screaming, ‘Huh!?’

＂Well, like that… Why? Everyone else looks ordinary…!”

“Only a few people have memories when they go back in time. From what we have seen now, it is Aisha. It’s just you.”

“We want to get out of this loop, too.”

When Noctis shrugs her shoulders, Aisha puts her hand to her forehead as if her head hurts.

＂Well, I see. Cleon is also in trouble…”

“That’s it. … By the way, there is one thing I would like to ask.”

＂Well, what is it? Anything I can answer.”

Seeing her swallowing her saliva and talking with a nervous expression, Cleon silences her for a moment and then asks a question.

“By any chance, the biggest thing that explodes at the end of the fireworks… Did you make a wish when that thing exploded?”

In response to Cleon’s perhaps a bit strange question, Aisha blinked her eyes for a moment and then asked, ‘Yes?’

“Therefore. Do you want to turn back time? It means, “Did you make that wish?”

When Noctis asked such a direct question, Aisha shook her head.

“Do you think I’m the culprit who turned back time!?”

“I don’t know if he is the culprit or not. I think that anyone other than us who has memories could be part of the cause. What do you think about that part?”

When Noctis spoke, pointing her fan at her as if he were her reporter, Aisha would respond with a confused look in her eyes.

＂Uh, uhh. Sure, I wished on fireworks, but it wasn’t like I wanted to turn back time or anything. I am satisfied with where I am now… My only wish was for the health of the family I live with.”

Although she was confused, Aisha somehow managed to form her answer and clenched her fists while nodding her head as if she had gathered her thoughts as she spoke.

After hearing those words, Noctis closed his mouth for a moment, then lowered his pen and looked back at Cleon.

“I guess it’s not her?”

“Ah. But if that’s the case, the clues disappear and the questions only increase.”

“Yes. Why were she and we are able to preserve our memories without being affected by time regression? I also thought about the hypothesis that as the Dominant Cylinder protects things, it also preserves our memories…”

If you think about it, if preserving memories is the effect of the cylinder, then in the last timeline loop, the distance between Cleon and Noctis was so far away from the dominant cylinder that Noctis’s memories would not have been preserved.

“So… Does that mean the three of us have something in common? In terms of constitution…”

“The gender and age are different. “I can’t think of anything we have in common that other people don’t share.”

To Cleon’s words, Noctis nodded and frowned as if his head hurt.

“… Anyway, Aisha. Did you know that we are looking for a cause to get out of this loop? … If it’s okay, I’d like for you to cooperate as well.”

＂Oh, of course! If time keeps going back like this, and I come back to the street vendor, I won’t be able to go home…”

When Aisha responded to Cleon’s words, she nodded her head as if she was asking Cleon as well.

“We were together right before time went back, so we were able to join right away. Since Aisha is a bit far away, it would be a good idea to think of a place to join.”

“If that’s the case, what is it like there?”

In response to Cleon’s words, Noctis raised his hand and pointed to a large tree in the center of the market street.

Although it could not be compared to the sacred tree, it was visible from far away, and because the flowers growing there without exception were shining, it was also a notable landmark.

Cleon agrees with Noctis as if it is a good idea, and tells Aisha about it as well.

“If you notice that time has gone back. Let’s gather under that tree right away.”

＂Yes!＂

Aisha’s energetic answer showed that she wanted to escape this loop somehow.

“… What. First, we might have to look for someone who seems to have other memories.”

When Noctis said that and played the flute, Zuzu flew in just like any other time.

And Zuzu tried to sit on Noctis’ head-

When she saw Aisha in front of her, she let out a cry like she was screaming, and then she flapped her wings and pounded Noctis’ head. Br〉

＂Ah, ouch! Zuzu, what’s wrong!? “

＂Beep beep! Beep!”

Zuzu seemed to be trying to tell Noctis something with cries that they couldn’t understand, and Aisha looked embarrassed, but Noctis’ expression changed as if he understood what Zuzu was saying.

＂Is that true…? No, it looks so fine…?”

＂Beep!＂

To Noctis’ doubtful voice, Zuzu responds as if he should trust him.

“… Excuse me. So what is Zuzu saying?”

Since their conversation was too high-level for them to understand, when Cleon asks her a question, Noctis also answers Cleon with a little hesitation.

“Well… Zuzu said she is a ‘noble woman’…”

＂Ah…＂

Cleon nodded his head at her words.

Aisha also looked around to take off her hat, but seeing that Zuzu’s crying had focused her attention on the area, she seemed to have a hard time taking it off.

But as if Cleon’s consent was enough, she asks him a question as Noctis looks surprised.

＂Cleon… Did you know?!＂

“I met this guy right after I came to the Eastern Kingdom. At that time, I was going wild in many ways.”

“Ugh… It’s a shameful past.”

At Cleon’s words, Aisha felt like her dark history had been revealed, and she slumped her shoulders.

“… But how does she have her own will?”

If Noctis muttered like that as if he still couldn’t believe it, Aisha and Cleon were thinking the same thing – should they make eye contact and tell each other the reason?

But right after that, the three people felt something like an eerie chill and turned their heads at the same time.

The origin was the corner of a wooden block erected on the ground to support the stall where three people were standing.

Something that I don’t know whether it’s black fog or mud begins to seep out, and it begins to take on a form.

First, the legs, then the torso, then the head – eyes, nose, mouth and teeth.

It was looking straight at the three people, but no one was paying attention to its appearance, as if it was invisible to others.

Cleon knew this guy.

Previous- This is the guy I saw in the desert.

A being that came and went within the ruins as if it were its own home, destroying the Sun King’s empire in the past.

It is a hunting dog that searches for entities that interfere with time and disrupt its flow.

＂Hey… Cleon? “I’m not looking at it wrong, am I?”

“Ah… You’re looking at it correctly.”

Since Cleon did not have a weapon at the moment, he tried to call Caliburn.

But even before Cleon could move his hand, the thing started moving.

The guy running straight towards Cleon tried to bite Cleon’s arm, but Cleon had no choice but to twist his body to avoid it.

＂Hiik!＂

When Noctis let out something like a scream, Aisha’s heart seemed to be racing too, but she seemed calmer than Noctis, as she had done a lot of rough things.
＂Aisha! Take Noctis and run away! Because I will be blocking this guy!”

＂But─!＂

Aisha also knew very well that Cleon was without a weapon.

Cleon immediately searched the inside of the bag to see if there was anything that could be used as a weapon-

[Butterfly’s Dagger, Titania!]

＂… Pfft! Is this the only thing that exists?”

And I had no choice but to take that guy out.

To those around him, he was a dangerous young man who suddenly took out a toy dagger on the street.

Even if I get reported to the government, I won’t have anything to say.

At that time. The sound of fireworks exploding was heard from afar.

When Cleon, Aisha, and Noctis looked up at the sky at the same time, they could see that the fireworks had started.

“… I just have to hold on until time goes back.”

Cleon does so, and with Titania in his hand as her counterpart, he confronts Tindalos, who rushes towards him –

Quang! And as soon as the biggest firework exploded, I felt dizzy once again and saw the guy disappear before my eyes.