**Episode 167**
"Ugh..."
Hot tears stream down Kania's eyes as she reads the diary.
"K-Kania...?"
The faces of the three people watching her fill with bewilderment.
"Just what kind of memory is contained in there..."
"W-Well, if Kania is reacting like that..."
Before long, Irina and Klana speak with trembling voices.
"...I need to check for myself."
Serena says with a soulless expression and reaches for the diary.
"W-Wait...!"
Klana stops Serena's action.
"I-Irina. So if I touch that diary... I can see the truth?"
She begins questioning Irina, who wears a pale expression.
"Is there no probability it was manipulated? What about the probability it's a trap? The probability some kind of magic is placed on it..."
"The magic placed on that diary extracts the memories imbued by the writer exactly as they are. There's no probability of manipulation."
"...Ah."
But at Irina's definitive answer, Klana begins looking at the diary with a fearful expression.
"If I touch that... I can see Frey's memories... all the truth..."
Serena, who shook off Klana's hand, mutters.
"And... I can see him again..."
With a desperate expression.
"W-Wait...!"
- Shaaa...
And immediately after, Serena places her hand on the diary before anyone can stop her.
"Ah..."
She begins looking down at the diary Kania is flipping through with a dazed expression.
"Ugh... ughhh..."
Klana watches them with a terrified expression.
"I... I want to know the truth too..."
She squeezes her eyes shut and mutters, then places her hand on the diary.
"............"
And Irina, who had been blankly watching them.
"...I can't be the only one running away."
She takes a deep breath and places her hand on the diary.
""..........""
And silence fell.
[Single-person experience mode ended]
"...Ugh?"
"K-Kania?"
"Where... is this?"
Moments later, the four girls including Kania, who for some reason was holding her stomach, arrived at.
[Multi-person experience mode applied.]
A dark space with a giant screen.
.
- Bzzzt...!
"".....!""
When the giant screen lit up, the four girls who had been wearing tense expressions flinch.
- Frey, you... are the Hero.
- What?
Before long, what began playing on the screen was a conversation between young Frey and his father Abraham.
"The Star Hero who will defeat the Demon King appearing for the first time in a thousand years... is you."
"What... does that mean...?"
Young Frey asks back with a trembling voice at Abraham's words, and then silence flows.
[On the day I killed my mother with my own hands, the Book of Prophecy awakened, and I became the Hero.]
Before long, text written in calm handwriting floats before the four girls.
[After that, there were countless playthroughs and countless timelines.]
""........""
Deep silence flows among the girls looking at that text.
[It seems the end of those countless timelines and regressions is approaching.]
Text floats before them again.
[I intend to evaluate my actions whenever important events that lead directly to clearing occur.
To judge whether this playthrough really doesn't need a retry.
To judge whether what I did was right.]
"Cough, hack..."
"Mmm..."
As the text fades, Kania and Frey appear before the girls.
"...Ugh."
Frey is infusing life force into Kania as usual.
"J-Just a little more..."
But Frey's condition was at its worst.
- Crack... creak...
"No... if this continues, Kania will... in the next scenario..."
Because his heart was freezing from Aishi's curse.
"...What are you doing right now?"
In that situation, Frey's anxious expression freezes in an instant.
"K-Kania..."
"I asked what you're doing to my body."
Because Kania was glaring at Frey with a disgusted expression as he had his hand inside her upper garment, caressing her bare skin.
[Event: Kania's Liberation]
With text appearing in that situation, Kania, who was lying on the bed, shouts.
"I asked what you're doing to me!!"
A brief silence.
"Ugh..."
The action Frey chose while groaning with his hand clutching his heart was.
"Why, why? It's not like it's the first time, right?"
"W-What...!"
"...You clung to me every night. Weren't you enjoying it without even knowing?"
To speak lies.
"F-Fuck... fucking bastard..."
"Stay still. You can't resist me anyway..."
Thanks to that, Kania, completely deceived by Frey, wears an indignant and resentful expression as tears well in her eyes.
Frey struggles to maintain a lewd expression and begins moving the hand on her back to her chest.
But.
"...Hack!"
He soon coughs blood and collapses onto the bed.
"Did you think I wouldn't know?"
Kania, who was looking at him with a cold expression, opens her mouth.
"It's the poison and curse I've been slowly planting in you. I activated it slightly."
"W-What do you mean... Aaagh!!"
"What do you mean. It means I'm no longer your puppet."
Kania, adjusting her clothes while glaring at Frey who is trembling in pain.
"As much as you defiled me... I'll give you hell."
She whispers while intensifying the pain.
"Be ready."
At that point, the video playing before the girls ended.
And before the girls could even react, new text appears.
[Score: C]
[Evaluation: Left an indelible wound on Kania.]
[Even if the Demon King is caught and a happy ending comes, she will live her whole life carrying the memory of being raped by me.
Of course, that can be solved to some extent with the 'Stone of Purity,' but the shock of being molested will still remain.]
Small letters following Frey's record filled with regret.
[Solution: Being tortured as much as she wants.
It's essential if Kania is to overcome even a little of the trauma caused by me.]
Even smaller text that appeared after those letters disappeared.
[To my soul partner who helped me move forward without breaking in the beginning, a happy ending.]
Frey's comment was contained there.
- Whooooosh...!
And the next moment, a new scene rises before the girls can react.
[Event: Duel with Irina]
"...This is the last fireball. Any last words?"
"Ugh..."
Frey is lying collapsed in the training ground, completely battered, and Irina is looking down at him with a cold expression.
"Are you really... going to shoot that?"
Frey asks Irina with a cowardly expression.
"If you shoot that... your friend Arianne's sister will..."
"...I already smuggled her out."
"What?!"
But that was brief, and Irina with a fierce expression.
"Shut up and take it."
"...Kkek!!"
She fires a fireball at the battered Frey, finishing him off.
[Score: A]
[Evaluation: Nothing to criticize.]
[Since I've fought Irina so many times, I was able to lead the battle to my defeat without difficulty.
How many times have I challenged the Demon King with just the two of us? If I can't even do this much, there's no point in regressing.
And thanks to the oath of death I made to her, I'm now in a position where I can't even make a peep to her.
Everything is going according to plan.]
And a message floats again.
[To her who was a reliable fighter, peace instead of war.]
Based on the small letters that soon appear, the scene changes again.
[Event: Oath with Klana]
"You know what day today is, Princess?"
"Mmh..."
"Today is the day the grace period for the oath ends, as His Majesty the Emperor mentioned."
Before the girls appear Frey with a vile expression and Klana with a pale expression.
"When it becomes 12 o'clock... you will be mine. Whatever I do, it will be legally permitted."
"Ugh..."
"How do you feel? You tried so hard to become Emperor, but in the end, how does it feel to live as a wife who serves me... no, as a doll?"
In that situation where the clock points to 11:59, Frey continues speaking with a satisfied expression.
"Let's see... shall we have a rehearsal then?"
"N-No...!"
"No. Only a few seconds left."
Frey says.
"Five... four... three..."
He counts down slowly.
"Two... one...!"
"Ah, ah..."
At that moment, when Klana watches Frey's hand reaching toward her with a despairing expression.
"Wait!!"
Someone interrupts before them.
"...What?"
"Stop!"
Frey, who was glaring at Ruby the Hero who intervened before them.
"With what authority?"
He asks with a sneer.
"I will use the oath!"
"W-What?!"
But when Ruby shouts loudly, Frey wears a bewildered expression.
"H-Hero...!"
Klana wears a bright expression.
"As a Hero recognized by the imperial family, I will use the oath I received right here and now!"
In that situation, Ruby shouts loudly again.
"...Heh."
She smiles a mocking smile visible only to Frey.
[Score: A+]
[Evaluation: Perfection]
[It was like a fairy tale.
When Ruby appeared, honestly, I almost drew my sword in anger.
But seeing Klana's bright smile, I held back.]
Before long, text floats again before the stopped scene.
[So that she no longer becomes a canary because of me, may she live a happy life with ordinary love.]
When those letters disappear, suddenly everything is enveloped in darkness.
[Event: Deceiving Serena]
"Frey... answer me..."
"Yawn..."
Not the clear scenes seen before, but in an unclear and dark scene.
"Frey!! Answer me!!"
"...What?"
A trembling Serena and a yawning Frey are shown.
"Was it you who carved the curse of subordination on me...?"
"Mmm..."
"Falling for my father's foolish plan? Really because of that?"
When Serena asks with an incredulous expression, Frey, who had been surrounded by women until now, answers with a yawn.
"Yawn... what if it's true?"
"N-No. That can't be... You must be deceiving me..."
When Serena speaks with an uncharacteristically stammering voice, Frey says with a smirk.
"A smart girl like you should have noticed? That all circumstantial and physical evidence points to me."
"B-But... it's strange. It's just strange... kyah!"
Serena, who was trying to somehow refute while looking at Frey.
"Ah, ugh...?"
When familiar pain engulfs her, her eyes go wide.
"This can't be... you're activating my curse right now..."
"You're just a goose."
"What?"
"A golden egg-laying goose that derives schemes to conquer the world."
Frey says, hugging the women around him.
"I don't love you even a speck."
"Ah..."
"You know, don't you? That feelings of love for you don't exist in me."
"........."
"So get lost. I need to have some fun with them."
Serena, watching Frey kiss the woman on his lap deeply.
"...Goodbye."
She leaves his side with dead eyes.
[Score: S+]
[Evaluation: Did I really succeed?]
[Finally success.
I finally succeeded in 'Deceiving Serena,' which I attempted most among countless regressions, and was the final key.
Honestly, I still can't believe it. That I would succeed in this.]
And a message floats.
[I fabricated all evidence meticulously, analyzed the curse of subordination engraved on her to find a way to forcefully activate it, and the secret organization's leader is already in my grasp.
Of course, these efforts are just basic conditions for deceiving her.
There is a more core element.]
Frey's record that ended calmly and shortly.
[To deceive Serena, I had to hate her.]
[But I couldn't find that method even in countless regressions.]
For the first time, it begins to continue.
[Because I love her.]
"...Ah?"
And Serena, reading that content, breaks the long silence with a final word.
[Thanks to that, no matter what method I used, whatever scheme I employed, even with superhuman intelligence in a battle of wits, Serena always realized my true identity.
Because I loved her.
She always read those feelings.]
"F-Frey...?"
Serena, reading the content floating before her, wears a dumbfounded expression for the first time in her life.
[To give everyone a happy ending, no one could discover my true identity.
So I thought of a last resort.]
Because.
[I learned Serena's 'Mind Control' through countless regressions, a plan to change love for her into hatred.]
"What does that even mean...!"
The content of the floating text.
[And after countless efforts, I finally succeeded.
Love for Serena, and.
The feelings I held for precious people including Kania, Irina, Klana, and Perlotche.
I completely changed them into 'hatred.']
Was becoming increasingly shocking.
[It was unavoidable.
Committing evil deeds while holding feelings of love was too painful.
For a perfect playthrough, emotional modification was essential.]
"Ah......"
[Still, since everything needs to be restored at the last moment, I will probably remember the fact that I changed feelings for them.
I, who already became exhausted long ago and wanted to rest forever.
Still, at the last moment... perhaps my heart won't change...]
The record continuing before the girls.
[...Ah.]
Letters written quite hastily continued to appear.
[This is bad, I just checked the affection level for them... the numbers are rising.
Why? How? If this continues, I'll be found out again.
No.
I can't let everything go to waste...]
It was heading toward the end.
- ...It can't be helped.
A very sad and desolate terminus.
- I have no choice but to erase even the memory that I manipulated my feelings for them.
""......!!!""
The four girls are startled when Frey's voice is heard, not the letters that had been floating before them.
- If I use a quite powerful memory deletion magic, I can end everything before the memories engraved in the soul emerge, right?
- Anyway, less than a year remains until the final battle.
The voice continues to ring out, paying no heed to their reactions.
- Then... unfortunately, I'll have to erase this record.
The words Frey muttered with a sad voice while writing the diary.
- If I leave this, there's no point in erasing memories.
And the moment those words ended.
- Slide...
The record of Serena's incident floating before them begins to disappear.
"N-No..."
Serena, who had been blankly watching that scene, reaches out to the letters without realizing it.
[Score: S+]
But at that moment, the same score as before floats before her.
[Evaluation: Succeeded.]
[It's obvious.
Now I don't just not love Serena...]
And the four girls reading the newly created records over the erased letters.
[...I no longer love anyone else.]
They simultaneously became dead-eyed.
[I just want to finish everything and rest quickly.]
Because they finally realized the whole truth.
[Event: Liberating Perlotche from the Pope]
After that, letters and scenes floated before them for a while.
"Perlotche, just give up..."
"I will never give up."
But no one paid attention to the letters anymore.
""............""
Everyone just sat collapsed in the dark space with dead eyes.
[Frey Raon Starlight's Achievements]
Until a red window floats before them after all letters and scenes have passed.
[Alignment: Hero]
[Goodness Value: 100]
[Retry Count:
[Death Count:
[Playthroughs where someone was forcibly violated: 0]
[Playthroughs where molestation was committed for selfishness or self-satisfaction: 0]
[Playthroughs where memories were erased: 8]
[Playthroughs where reason was lost: 8]
[Playthroughs where unnecessary crimes were committed: 8]
[Playthroughs where the villain route was deviated: 5]
[Playthroughs where main heroines were completely resented: 1]
[Playthroughs where corruption by the Demon King occurred: 0]
[.......]
.
Meanwhile at that time.
- Bzzt... crackle...
"...Huh?"
In Isollet's house, the transparent Frey watching everyone with a dark expression.
"This is..."
He picks up the pendant-type necklace he always kept in his pocket just in case and begins to wear a startled expression.
"That merchant left it behind back then..."
The 'Easter egg' the merchant left behind when crafting the Robe of Deception was, for some reason, glowing.