GalaxyTL
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“…Loop?”
I inadvertently repeated Extra-sama’s muttering.
Loop.
I know the meaning of that word.
I’ve heard it in my previous life too.
<…Yes. A loop, Emi. The time in this manor is… time is repeating.>
“Ufufu~! This ring is really cute! The lizard carved into it is so stylish~!”
“I’m glad, Keranko!”
“…Fufufu, Miss Keranko… You must take good care of that ring.”
What nonsense are you saying, Extra-sama?
…Yes, I couldn’t just laugh it off.
Because the scummy family’s conversation I could eavesdrop from inside the manor did not deviate from what I heard before by a single word.
To the point where I was forced to understand, leaving no room for doubt, that time was indeed repeating.
…Time is repeating?
I don’t understand the meaning.
What is that?
It’s a phenomenon beyond human comprehension.
I can’t think of any countermeasures at all.
It doesn’t seem like a problem that can be resolved by hitting.
An unreasonable injustice with no way to resist.
Sensing something immense and incomprehensible behind this phenomenon, I instinctively broke out in goosebumps.
<Let’s escape, Emi. From this manor. Right now.>
Extra-sama proposed that to me in a serious tone, not dropping her usual air.
Can you at least tell me the reason?
<Probably, if you get caught in this loop, you won’t be able to escape. Ever.>
Can’t escape?
<Yes, you can’t escape. It’s strange for me to say “ever” since time won’t progress forward and the future will never arrive.>
I’m having trouble visualizing it properly…
<…In any case, you’ll be forced to endlessly repeat the same period of time. The future you were supposed to welcome will vanish entirely, and watching that shitty tragedy from before will become your entire life’s purpose.>
………..
I turned my back to the manor and dashed at full speed through the hazy fog.
Because I didn’t want that.
I couldn’t endure such a life.
<Fortunately, it seems you repeated time while retaining your memories of the previous events. This means you have not been fully ensnared by the loop yet.>
Listening to Extra-sama’s words, I ran and ran.
Parting the hazy fog in the air, kicking up the snow beneath my feet as I fled, fled, fled.
<If you have not been fully ensnared yet, then perhaps…!!>
Extra-sama’s voice remained firm.
That alone made me understand that the phenomenon we’ve been caught up in this time is quite serious.
Ultimately, while it’s cruel, Extra-sama and I are the most important.
To survive, I’ll kill and devour anything, abandon everything to escape.
Which is why this time too, I will escape.
I feel not an ounce of guilt.
The people of that manor will likely be abandoned as a result, but so what.
I simply want to survive.
To keep moving toward the future.
With that sole desire, I continued running through the endless fog and snow.
However.
“…No way…”
Faced with the unwanted reality stretching before me, those words inadvertently slipped out.
I had turned my back on the manor and continued running at full speed through the fog.
And yet.
Before I knew it, I was standing dumbfounded in front of that manor with its outwardly “strange” appearance.
Its roof was bright red. Bright crimson red. Additionally, the window frames and other key areas were also painted red.
The walls were coated yellow, with red polka dot patterns drawn here and there.
With only pure white snow piled up around it, its outward appearance stood out bizarrely.
“Stop it, Keranko!!”
“H-How cruel, Karashia Onee-sama… Don’t be so rough? Look, the palm of my hand has turned red…”
“Oh my! This is terrible, Keranko-chan! We should treat your injury right away!”
“Oh dear, Miss Keranko…”
The conversation I didn’t want to hear came from inside the manor.
In other words, I failed to escape.
Time had looped again…
<…I see, simply putting distance between us is not enough to escape, is it…>
Extra-sama muttered with a tinge of frustration.
The fact that I couldn’t escape weighed heavily on my back, causing me to inadvertently drop to my knees in the snow.
…Could it be I’m doomed to remain like this forever?
Will I eventually lose even the sense that time is looping, doomed to repeat the same events over and over?
What kind of life is that?
<…Emi.>
A sense of emptiness and despair filled my chest.
The usually cheerful, rational part of me that tried to keep my mind positive had vanished somewhere.
…And rising from the depths of my heart was anger toward this unreasonable reality beyond anyone’s control.
<…Emi!!>
What the hell.
What is this loop?
Don’t screw with me.
Don’t screw with me!!
Why do I have to be caught up in some incomprehensible phenomenon like this!?
Why must I offer up my future to some inexplicable phenomenon!?
I don’t want that! I don’t want it!! I don’t want something like that!!!
The murderous aura I usually suppress leaked out from my body alongside a pitch-black magic power, swirling around me.
<Emi! …Emi!!>
Seeing my state, Extra-sama…
<Magnificent… That spirit, Emi!!>
…Praised me like that.
…Eh?
<Emi, while we indeed failed to escape the loop earlier, that does not mean we have been fully ensnared by this loop space.>
Extra-sama spoke to me gently, like lecturing.
Eh? Eh? Really?
<Yes, that’s right.>
………..
I reined in the swirling murderous aura and magic power around me.
Ah, right.
That’s right…
I guess I got carried away and lost my temper out of a misunderstanding… Kinda embarrassing…
<If running away doesn’t work, we simply need to try a different method. There is always a “trigger” behind phenomena. Even for this supernatural loop phenomenon, the same applies.>
…Ah…
Yeah, that’s right.
I see, I see.
Alright… Alright, let me switch gears.
I’ve switched gears!
So? What does that mean, Extra-sama?
<In other words, if we can discover the “trigger” behind this loop and do something about it…>
The loop will be dispelled?
<Precisely. And you, whose mind has not been fully ensnared by the loop yet, are the only one who can do that!>
…I see.
I stood up and brushed off the snow clinging to my knees.
Then I glared at the strangely decorated manor!
Got it, Extra-sama.
Let’s do it, shall we!
Find the cause behind this loop and put an end to this endless, shitty tragedy!
Me, that is!!
Loop phenomenon! Be prepared!
Because I’m about to…!
Smash you to pieces!!!
<Yes, Emi! I will also provide my full support using the deductive prowess I’ve cultivated from watching so many isekai reincarnation broadcasts! Let’s work hard together!!>
…………………
…Struggling is inevitable, huh…
<What did you say!?>