So… what in the world is going on here?

I tried my best to squeeze my brain to understand what was happening right in front of my eyes.

I had just been appointed as a Swordmaster, ready to dive headfirst into searching for Yuli and the ex-corpse…

And now, here comes a girl running straight at me.

Her hair color might be different, but no doubt about it, that’s Yuli. She’s grown up a bit in the last ten years, but her childhood self is still right there.

Just as I thought I had to find Yuli, lo and behold, she appears out of nowhere!

This is some serious luck. I couldn’t just let my guard down and was watching Yuli approach from a distance.

And then she gets right up close to me and…

“……?”

Suddenly, she hugs me tightly and bursts into tears. I wondered if she realizes she’s Yuli, but then again…

We definitely haven’t met before.

There was really no reason for her to be sobbing so pitifully, saying sorry and that it’s all her fault while everyone’s staring at us.

But I couldn’t just push away someone who was crying like that and coldly scold, “What on earth are you doing?!”

So I let her cry it out for a bit. After about 30 minutes, when her sobs started to fade, I cautiously opened my mouth.

“Um, do you think we might have met somewhere before?”

As soon as I said that, despair washed over Yuli’s face. But it didn’t last long.

Next thing I know, she’s smacking her cheeks with both her hands.

With her cheeks flushed, she mumbles something to herself.

In a very tiny voice.

Normally, I wouldn’t have heard it, and she probably didn’t think anyone else would either.

Yet, even without enhancing my hearing with magic, my abnormal body caught every word of Yuli’s inner thoughts.

“Yeah… It can’t be helped. But as long as we’re alive, we can create memories again anytime. That’s enough.”

Those words. In line with the current situation.

I instantly understood the situation. Honestly, if I hadn’t understood, that would have been more bizarre. How many times has this cycle happened?

Yuli being a saintess.

The plot the Pope was cooking up.

Her weird reaction to me, who she must be meeting for the first time.

Something must have gone wrong, causing Yuli to rewind time.

I grasped the situation to a reasonable extent. From there, it’s a mad dash to gather information and deal with everything beforehand.

Isn’t that the basics of being a time traveler?

“You might not believe me, but I actually came from the future. I have proof to show…”

She whispered that into my ear.

But since I had no clue how the time travel mechanism worked or if there were any limitations on it, there was no need to waste time going through such complex procedures.

“…No, I don’t need proof. I trust you.”

So I told Yuli outright.

“I don’t know how to explain it, but I just feel like you wouldn’t lie to me.”

Tears glimmered in Yuli’s eyes once more.

Well, I said that because I know her personality. But it seems like it struck her differently, making her think emotions don’t disappear even if time rewinds.

“Can you explain to me what in the world happened?”

But pointing that out seemed a bit off. So I artfully shifted the subject back to the main point.

Yuli was flailing about.

Talking about black suns and red skies, and how I couldn’t trust her or whatever. She was in such a panic that her story was all over the place and hard to follow.

Maybe it’d be faster for me to just ask.

So I pondered what I should ask and finally blurted out the first thing that popped into my head.

“What were we to each other?”

However, as soon as those words left my mouth, Yuli became noticeably flustered.

Now I’m the one confused about why she’s acting like that!

[■■’s rank resists the flow of time.]

[Elements lost due to time travel detected. Restoring absorbed twisted divine power and missing memories…]

Suddenly, a message popped up.

Along with it, my head started throbbing.

Memories began flooding back in.

From the time spent with Yuli, to the fake Heinrich, to the red sky and everything that came with it.

Just as I was about to declare to Yuli that I recalled the last loop…

“W-We were lovers…”

Yuli blurted out that random bombshell.

Her eyes couldn’t meet mine, staring down in guilt and shame, her face bright red.

In such a bizarre state, she began sharing a wildly twisted story.

Drinking turned into a tea party, gambling morphed into paperwork, and historical manipulation turned a delinquent into some rich girl.

And the most crucial part was…

“W-Well, we did do those kinds of things.”

The bombshell she let slip made her face turn as red as a ripe persimmon. It was clear that what she meant wasn’t just a simple kiss.

She wasn’t some naive girl who didn’t know worldly affairs.

And not to mention, she was the one detailing the current story right in front of me. Looks like she figured it was better not to arouse suspicion by being vague.

A pretty clear reflection of her fantasy.

Here I am, listening to her fantasies while knowing the details of the last loop. If I brought that up…

The possibilities of chaos were too clear to ignore.

So, I decided to keep my mouth shut.

But sadly, just as she got to a crucial part, our eyes met for a brief moment. And unfortunately, she was sharper than I thought.

“S-Sion. You don’t mean….”

Poor her! But since there were matters to attend to. The only thing I could do was one thing.

I simply nodded quietly,

And it took an exhausting two hours to calm Yuli down as she tried to escape into the past.

*

Some stories are better left buried. The bizarre historical manipulation we just experienced, and the reasons behind it.

It was all forgotten and off the record.

“Can I see your back?”

“Y-My back? W-Why so suddenly!”

That flinching reaction.

The one who begged me to forget all about it appears to be struggling the most with the whole ordeal.

But setting that aside for a moment.

“If you have stigmata strong enough to rewind time, it’s likely on your back. The size of the stigmata is proportional to the divine power you possess.”

I returned to my original point and inspected the current situation. Yuli, unable to utter a word of embarrassment about her own actions, revealed her back.

Indeed, there was unmistakably a stigmata emitting brilliant light. It was only half lit, but nonetheless…

“Can we count at least one more time to rewind?”

Considering that a cheat-like stigmata has never appeared in all of Blood and Bone, accurate calculations were impossible, but I was sure we could manage another reset at least.

“With a safety net, I think it’s okay to be a bit bold… the target we need to deal with is still Heinrich, right?”

“Heinrich? He was behind all of this?!”

Yuli exclaimed, flustered.

Well, when you think about it, I’m the only one who played the original game and could recognize that Heinrich was a fake. So of course, that would be her reaction.

“More specifically, someone disguised as Heinrich. The way he speaks is suspicious, and the very fact that he’s disguised screams ‘plot.’…”

“Then that’s why he said those weird things before…”

Yuli mused, grinding her teeth.

She probably thinks she fell victim to a divide and conquer plan.

The fact that I’m in contact with the second prince and am a spy is also true. So the fake Heinrich wasn’t lying by any means.

But let’s gloss over that little detail for now.

“Anyway, our task is quite simple. Once we take out Heinrich, we’ll find out how to prevent that apocalypse.”

Black suns, red skies.

When bizarre things start happening, it’s usually overwhelming. But I’m just glad there’s a clear solution now.

I said that, but…

“Sure, that’s true, but… it’s definitely not going to be easy.”

Yuli’s expression was serious.

“After all, that fake’s taken Heinrich’s place, right? That means he’s strong enough to easily overpower a Swordmaster.”

That’s pretty spot on.

Heinrich from the previous work was one of the strongest characters in the story. Just handling him while keeping it under wraps is no easy task.

“Don’t underestimate your abilities, but let’s approach with caution. Assassination might have a chance of success…”

That was indeed the right call.

It’s a sensible approach, but…

“Don’t worry about it. That’s the least of my concerns.”

I beamed a bright smile as I announced.

I mean, it’s only natural.

With at least one reset guaranteed, regardless of how complicated things get, I can rewind time.

In other words… there’s no reason to hold back.

There’s certainly no reason to keep my identity hidden or operate in secrecy. I immediately constructed the spell and sent my communication out.

“Rubia, gather all the troops to the palace.”

…It was high time for a good uproar.