༺ Advent ༻
“………..”
A profound silence crept into the Judgment Room.
“Uh, what happened…?”
Amidst the silence, Ferloche approached the scale with a look of disbelief.
“W-Why is it balanced…? It can’t be…”
With trembling eyes, she eventually stopped muttering and looked at Frey, who was gently smiling behind her.
“It can’t be possible, right?”
“…….”
“I-It’s impossible. It’s impossible. There must be some kind of mistake…”
Ferloche’s tone shifted subtly, as if she suspected an error.
Judgement: The Main Heroines’ guilt was completely equalized by Frey’s love and compassion.
Result: Innocence
Simultaneously, the massive texts, emphasizing the judgment’s outcome in the air, aligned itself perfectly with the already balanced scales.
“Ah………”
Ferloche glanced back and forth between the suspended words and the balanced scales.
– Thud
She sank helplessly on her knees.
“Y-Young Master…”
“Frey…”
The same reaction overcame the other four girls standing behind her.
“So… what will happen next?”
However, Frey posed this question with such nonchalance, almost as if he had already anticipated the outcome.
“I, I… I mean… Ugh…”
Clearly, Ferloche had yet to regain her composure.
The guilt she had nurtured over countless hours now surged forth all at once. As thoughts of the resulting judgment overwhelmed her, she struggled to rationalize it all.
“Why in the world…?”
It was because, at the same time, some questions remained unanswered.
“Why did you forgive me, Frey?”
Ferloche turned her gaze behind towards Frey, her eyes still tremulous.
“E-even after you have seen everything? My original sins and those of the girls besides me? And all the mistakes I made while attempting Retries…”
However, just before Ferloche could finish speaking…
– Slide…
“……!”
Frey gently embraced Ferloche.
“Thank you.”
Finding herself enfolded in Frey’s arms, he soon began patting her on the back; Ferloche fell into a daze.
“…….Ugh.”
Her body shook as she buried her face into his chest.
“Let’s get rid of that useless guilt and start afresh, Ferloche.”
Frey spoke as he looked down at her.
“If you fear being swept away by the endless flow of time, just confide in me, and I’ll comfort you.”
“Uh, ugh…”
“Don’t worry. As you wish, I’ll bring a real happy ending to everyone, including myself. Of course, before your soul and spirit ever get shattered.”
He whispered while continuing to pat her back.
“Something like that won’t happen again, I promise.”
As he finished speaking, Frey gently stroked Ferloche’s back, who had buried her face in his chest while shedding tears.
“So, what comes next?”
After a moment, he subtly threw a question.
“So, um…”
Ferloche, who had only just managed to regain her senses, began to speak.
“S-Since the judgment ended with ‘Innocence’… now, all that remains is to return to reality….”
“…Is that so?”
Frey showed a complicated expression in her response.
“After being in the ordeal for so long, it might feel a bit strange. However, I suppose such a level of consequence isn’t too bad.”
After mumbling that, Frey continued.
“Well then… let’s go back…”
As he quietly moved to help her stand and walk away, Ferloche halted him with a grasp.
“J-Just a moment.”
“T-There’s something I need to tell you.”
In an urgent voice, she began to speak.
“You probably have seen that on the screen… We all need to gain enlightenment for us to face the 2nd-year DLC story. “
“The 2nd-year DLC story…”
As Frey heard those words and his expression turned serious. Ferloche swallowed hard before continuing.
“That’s when the true beginning starts. There will be new stories and crises, and the situation can become much harder than it is now.”
“Hmm…”
“But we will definitely manage to find that ‘hope.’ So, please… don’t worry too much.”
As Frey nodded, Ferloche wiped away her tears and continued.
“Also, I… I’m going to take a long break from now on.”
“Break?”
“Yes, I’m truly sorry but… my mind and soul have already reached their limits.”
Ferloche’s expression was much lighter than earlier when she said it.
“So, from now on, I’ll retreat deep into my subconscious and stay by your side as the foolish Saintess.”
“Ferloche.”
Frey furrowed his brow after hearing that, and Ferloche could only offer him an awkward smile in response.
“I’m not leaving you forever. I’m just taking a break to restore my soul and mind.”
“…Then, that’s a relief.”
Seeing Frey’s relieved expression, Ferloche’s expression wavered.
“Frey, what are you… actually?”
“…..?”
“How can a person be so…”
Ferloche tightly held Frey’s hand and was about to say something.
“…Nevermind.”
However, she merely shook her head, clearly full of complex thoughts.
“Ah…!”
Still holding his hand, she pulled Frey closer to her.
– Smooch.
“Huft…”
They broke apart after a while. Ferloche leaned back slightly, exhaling softly.
“It seems this method always works for me.”
She whispered in Frey’s ear in a soft voice.
“I love you, Frey.”
She murmured while hugging him tightly.
“…Forever.”
Then, she raised her head slightly, displaying tear-filled eyes but still smiling.
– Sniff…
And just like that, a moment that felt like an eternity passed.
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, Ferloche’s face morphed into a foolish expression; a single tear shedded, pooling from her eyes.
“W-What, what’s that!”
Eventually, Ferloche turned red and shoved Frey away.
“Bad Frey! Beastly Frey! You shouldn’t do such a scandalous thing!”
She puffed out her cheeks as she scolded him.
“If you do this again, I swear, I’ll really hit you to death… you know?”
Then, she started looking around.
“Where is this?”
She tilted her head with a fierce look on her face.
“Where did you take me to? I was definitely in my dormitory…”
After maintaining a stern expression for quite a while, Ferloche suddenly burst into exclamation.
“…Huh?”
Without a word, Frey began to pat her head while smiling gently.
“D-don’t… Stop… Hmm…”
Just like that, Ferloche grew drowsy under Frey’s soothing touch, falling asleep in an instant.
“Phew.”
With Ferloche in his arms, Frey carefully made his way toward where the other main heroines were.
“……..”
The girls stood frozen in place without being able to utter a word.
“Ha.”
Frey let out a brief chuckle seeing the girls in that state and then slowly turned his gaze to each of the four girls one by one.
“Y-Young Master…”
She was the one with whom he had shared the most profound emotional connection, to the point of feeling incomplete and uneasy without her presence.
Now, she was no longer Kania the Warlock, who had tormented Frey with curses, but a loyal servant and partner he could trust more than anyone else.
“Uh, um…”
Irina, the girl who had devised soul-swapping magic just to help Frey and even wrote a new magic circle to make this transformed ordeal possible.
Now, she was no longer a potential threat aiming for Frey’s life, wielding overwhelming magical prowess, but rather a childhood friend and a reliable comrade in battles.
“Mr. Frey…”
Clana, who had pledged a lifetime of service to Frey and even sacrificed her own identity to protect him, had also become a solitary canary for his sake.
Now, she was a precious presence who, instead of using her power to subdue Frey, promised him that they would help each other.
“…..”
Then there was Serena, who had never once betrayed him throughout the countless cycles, except for the sole regression where Frey had manipulated his emotions.
She remained Frey’s first love and, regardless of the many obstacles in their way, would always be his fiancée.
– Screech…
Frey smiled when he caught sight of the four nervous girls…
“…Hmm?”
The previously unmoving scale of judgment began to sway slightly.
“Everyone, let’s go.”
Frey scratched his head in bewilderment as he watched it.
“A new path has opened, so let’s move forward.”
With a bright smile, he headed toward the massive exit that had appeared in the Judgement Room.
“Isn’t it?”
Despite the girls still wearing dazed expressions, Frey just turned around and smirked at them, as if to ask them why they were taking so long to come.
“Always remember that the future is more important than the past. So, what’s done is… huh?”
Frey spoke to the girls while slowly advancing towards the exit…
“…..”
When a system window appeared in front of him, his expression turned icy.
– Whoosh!
– Grumble…
The floating system window shuddered and slightly retreated as he clenched his fist.
“…Judging by your actions, it seems you’ve also witnessed this ordeal.”
Frey muttered in a cold tone as he stared at the system window.
“But what’s the point of it? You can’t directly interfere with us now, can you?”
– Groan…
“You can only use this system as a mere puppet to play pranks.”
As Frey spoke, he lightly tapped the system window with his finger, causing the half-translucent screen to shudder once more.
“I know you’re currently constrained, but… keep this in mind.”
Approaching right in front of the system window, Frey exhaled a chill air that sent shivers through the surroundings, whispering softly.
“…I’ll come to find you in no time.”
Then, he closed the system window and turned to exit the room, holding Ferloche in his arms.
[Only one person can leave at a time!]
[The Third Ordeal was initially designed for only single-player uses, so the System asks for your understanding.]
“…Tch.”
As the system window appeared before him once again, he muttered annoyedly.
“You’re still bothersome until the end.”
Frey gently put Ferloche on the ground.
“…Then, see you in a bit.”
He smiled reassuringly at the girls behind him and headed for the exit.
.
.
.
.
.
“………”
After Frey left through the exit, silence once again settled over the Judgement Room.
“… Uh, all of you.”
It was none other than Irina who eventually broke the long silence.
“Um… that…”
She gazed at the girls beside her with a gloomy expression.
“Do you think… We have the right to love him?”
Upon hearing her question, the expressions of the girls changed.
Frey’s desperate last plea to them before he chose extinction was to ‘love him.’
After Frey had looked at them with his affectionate gaze, the scales had finally tipped.
Yet, the guilt still lingered.
Amidst the blend where such complex information and emotions mixed, silence once again descended upon the scene.
“……..”
In the silence that followed, the girls found themselves examining each other intently.
“Yawn…”
Ferloche, who had been unconscious in Frey’s arms just moments ago, now stretched and yawned as she rose from her seat.
“Ah, hello everyone!”
With all eyes on her, Ferloche greeted them with a bright smile.
“But, where is this?”
And in that very moment…
– Rumbling...!
“…….!”
The Judgement Room darkened and began to shake violently.
“Arrrghh!”
“W-What…?”
The bewildered girls scanned their surroundings anxiously.
“…..!”
Ferloche’s once cheerful expression involuntarily hardened.
“Hello, everyone…?”
“Y-You…!”
A familiar figure stepped out from the black smoke that seeped through the cracks of the crumbling Judgement Room.
“Tch, as expected, I can’t directly interfere after all…”
The dark figure raised her hand as if trying to manipulate something. But shortly after, she just frowned and muttered.
“Well…”
Soon, she began to glare at the main heroines with a cold expression.
“…Well, I’m here for a mere chat, so it doesn’t really matter anyway.”
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