Chapter 245


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No matter how much she wants to hold onto it, time continues to flow.
As each day passes and their farewell draws closer, her heart aches more and more.

She finally has to admit it to herself.
She has fallen in love with Ichiro.

It was only one month’s worth of memories.
And those memories were confined to just the library and the training hall.

In fact, since he hadn’t even noticed that Puffy had been watching him at the training hall, the library was the only place where they could talk freely without anyone’s interference.

But that was enough.
Back then, that library where it was just the two of them was their own world, their own universe.

Puffy and Ichiro—as long as they were there together, nothing else mattered. During those days, in their shared world of imagination, they went on countless adventures, faced numerous dangers, and fell in love over and over again.

Back then, Puffy felt like she could face any hardship as long as she had those memories. She believed she could overcome any challenge.

And she wasn’t wrong.

With her strong will, she could have continued serving as Arcana’s brilliant princess, could have completed the teleportation device with her own hands. She might have even developed technology to traverse worlds someday.


But then came that moment—when she gathered her courage and ran out of the castle to see him, despite her fear of saying goodbye.

Puffy’s fate took a dramatic turn.

She threw herself into the Hero’s arms.

Everything after that was a nightmare.
No—how much better it would have been if it were just a nightmare.
It was all real.


Standing before Ichiro now, Puffy lets out a groan as the memories come flooding back unbidden.




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「Puffy, please listen to me.」

Back then, expressing my feelings was terrifying. I was afraid that if I revealed them, it would destroy our relationship. So I turned away from the important things.

「It’s okay. I know your true feelings.」

But through everything I’ve been through, I’ve learned that was foolishly negligent—the action of a coward who didn’t trust the other person.
Life is finite, and chances don’t come around often.
I learned this through facing numerous hardships.

「The memories with Ryūgūin are like a bad dream.
So please, please don’t blame yourself.」

Puffy shakes her tear-stained face over and over like a child throwing a tantrum.
I tighten my embrace around her even more, putting all my determination into never letting her go.
Right now, all I can do is convey my feelings to her.

「There are things that have been lost, things we can’t get back. But no matter what happens, I’ll help you—」

I can’t possibly make baseless claims about being able to fix everything as long as we’re alive. But as long as we’re alive, I can maintain my determination to help her recover what was lost.

「There are many difficult situations waiting for you ahead, Puffy. But I’m here. Together, we can definitely overcome anything.」

In response to my words, Puffy sobs and hugs me back with every ounce of her being.
We stay like that until she cries herself out and grows quiet.



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