I managed to wrap up my conversation with Alice, but the real problem was that there were plenty of other people around who could make me feel just as uneasy.

Even if they didn’t remember all the details of the time I rewound—or rather, even if they didn’t consciously recall everything—the current situation alone was enough to make things unbearably uncomfortable.

That’s right. I had been so focused on dealing with the immediate crisis that I hadn’t thought about what would come next.

But really, who in that situation would have had the time to think ahead? Even the Emperor had charged in without looking back, and I had been the one forced to face him head-on without any real preparation. How could I have afforded to think beyond the moment?

With the fake Alice before me, and Alice herself in a somber mood, I took a few steps back and surveyed my surroundings.

And that alone was enough for me to realize that I was nearly surrounded by people whose eyes met mine.

Of course, I wasn’t literally surrounded as if I were being cornered. It was more of a psychological sensation. Physically, everyone kept a bit of distance—it wasn’t a solid wall, at least not in the literal sense.