54. Thoughts

"Shiro, I need to talk."

That night, Shestia came to Shiro’s room. Mitoka was with her. It was the night after they’d finally emerged from the Sea of the Great Tree and reached the realm of people.

"Hey, what’s up?" Shiro answered.

Something was off about Shestia.

Shiro felt it.

She looked like she might cry—worn thin, anxious, driven by frustration, on the verge of collapse. Yet still, in her eyes, a faint, unyielding light of hope remained.

Shestia told Shiro about a dream.

She’d seen it over and over. In the dream, she was being held in your arms as she died.

The feeling of that moment was seared into her mind—she didn’t want to be parted from you again.

There was also a woman in the dream who looked like Mitoka.

Shestia and Mitoka had discussed the dream together.

From the dream, only fragmented memories remained. But she knew. It was you two.

From her pure, wide eyes, tears spilled one after another. Yet she looked straight at Shiro, unflinching, and revealed everything.

Shiro didn’t remember it. But something stirred deep in his chest—something he understood.

His intuition said it clearly.

What Shestia was saying was true.

"Shiro, I believe Shestia’s story is true. Both she and you have Level 4 Hypermemory. That means—perhaps in the past, perhaps in the future—we shared a span of time, and some kind of rollback, or similar function, was triggered."

Mitoka spoke calmly. Her expression remained steady, her smile never fading.

Ah, this is exactly when Mitoka’s reliable. Shiro thought.

"Yeah, that's right. If you're already at Hypermemory Level 4 without noticing, something had to have happened. I thought something was off back when the rewind occurred—this must be what it was."

Shiro answered. Then he continued.

"Firumia didn’t say a thing about this. So I don’t know if she can’t tell us or is hiding it… but there’s probably a reason. Either way, we’re in this together. We’re safe, we’re back together. No matter what comes next, I’ll protect you all."

Shiro spoke as firmly as he could.

Shestia—whether from having told everything, or from hearing his words—showed a slight easing of tension on her face.

"Shiro… I’m sorry. I’m not actually that weak. But meeting you all… it’s eased my nerves a little. From now on, I’ll be stronger. Watch me."

Her voice was steady, resolute. Her eyes reflected that will, shining brighter with every word.

She was strong. Her heart was strong. Shiro thought.

He held her gaze, nodded once, stepped forward, gently ran a hand over her head, then wrapped his arms around her—softly, tenderly, and with quiet certainty.

"Ahem," Mitoka cleared her throat.

"Cut the emotional hug right there. Let’s talk about what comes next," Mitoka said.

Shiro and Shestia both flushed slightly and stepped apart.

"Yeah. Let’s calm down and think. As your designer, my best guess is that this was a system-level restore—world state rollback, probably."

In a world like this, being able to implement a restore that eats up resources like rewind? Honestly, I’d say it’s beyond imagination—no, better yet, it’s divine. But given the request from the goddess, something must’ve happened, forcing her hand. …Ah, so that’s why she called me. Which means that dream, in a way, was Shestia’s 【Precognition】 skill activating. If that’s the case, then depending on how we investigate and act from now on, the outcome can definitely be changed. After all, my design makes restore a “redo.” And if that’s true, Shestia should be able to use foresight or intuition skills too.

Shiro explained it to the two of them.

Precognition and intuition skills access data from the previous timeline, pulling it through into the current one—resulting in images of what has already happened. So you can set up preventative measures after an event has already occurred.

"Indeed, that's true," Mitoka agrees as well.

"So I won't have to die anymore?"

And, Shestia. Smiling—something between joy and worry, barely held in.

"Yeah, I’m not dying. And I’m not letting Shestia die again. Given the abilities of both me and Mitoka, I’d say I’ve got quite a bit of power now. If I push myself to master divine magic fully from here on out, we’ll manage somehow," Shiro says clearly.

Looking back on it, all the careful preparations we made in the Sanctuary might have been a form of foresight…

Shiro recalled his time in this world, muttering to himself—remembering the part of him that had acted as if driven by urgency, compulsively checking and reinforcing his magic and skills.

"Shiro's perverted magic manipulation had a reason all along," Mitoka said, her usual mischievous smile playing on her lips as she teased.

“…Perverted magic manipulation?” Shestia tilted her head, mirroring the same playful smile as she asked.

Shiro stared at Mitoka and Shestia’s grins… brushed off their words with a casual wave, deflecting them with a shrug,

“…Anyway, I’m getting stronger! Mitoka, back me up! Of course, Shestia too. And if we pool the strength of Aria, Albert, and every ally we’ll meet from now on—there’s gotta be a way! Should probably talk to Aria and Albert about this, too!”

“Yeah. Aria-sama and Brother-sama are pretty strong. They’ll definitely be reliable,” Shestia replied, nodding with confidence.

“I’ll give you maximum support,” Mitoka said, giving a firm nod.

“Alright—this time, I’ll pull through!”

Shiro felt an odd surge of power rising from within, and declared it with firm resolve.

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