“Damn it seriously… this hurts like hell… but I’m alive…”

I wake up because of the pain in my right arm. This is how my day begins.

DWS runs on the same 24-hour cycle as my original world.

At first I could only sleep for about thirty minutes, but humans really are highly adaptable.

Now I can sleep for about two hours.

Of course, that’s thanks to Saint Sophia.

She adjusts the demonic miasma every day, so little by little, truly little by little, the pain has started to ease.

This also seems to calm Sophia down a little. Compared to before she looks slightly better, just a tiny bit.

That said, the root of it hasn’t changed at all. Every time she sees me she repeats, “I’ll protect you,” and “I’m sorry.”

Honestly, it’s heavy. Way too heavy.

I mean, I get the reasoning.

But still, this was my own doing.

I rushed in on my own, tried to save everyone on my own, and this was the result.

So please don’t worry about it that much.

Though saying that didn’t have any effect at all.

Still, this is my fault.

Everything happened because I failed to calculate things this far ahead.

I’m reflecting on it, and I truly do feel sorry.

So honestly I’d like them to relax a little more…

These people already carry unbelievably heavy pasts. I can’t force them to shoulder even more sin on top of that.

My body is gradually becoming able to move again.

Once I recover more I want to think about what to do with my future—

…But well, there’s really only one option.

I’m going to undergo majinification again.

It’s my body, so I can tell. And I’ve already gone through it once.

Just imagining experiencing that agony again makes me want to gag.

It feels like my brain is being scooped out and chewed with a spoon. Like insects crawling inside my ears.

It’s unbearable.

And this time I doubt I’ll be able to control it.

Last time—though that might sound strange—at my core I had the goal of saving my mentors.

I had to kill the Majin. With that single thought I fought and defeated it.

But now there’s no enemy left to defeat. Which means I’ll probably lose my sense of self.

…I don’t even want to think about what would happen.

Right now though, my mentors look like they might collapse from exhaustion before I do.

Seriously, how do I make them feel better…

I guess the only way is for me to recover first. For now at least.

‘DWS… you really won’t stop tormenting me, will you?’

During the day Lesley is using every connection she has to search for a way to cure my condition.

Apparently she even called in a healer famous in the underworld without telling me.

I only saw the name in DWS. A hidden character who never actually appears in the story.

Honestly I wanted to meet them. Though it would’ve been impossible since I was unconscious.

Sophia was here until just a moment ago, but she said she had something to do at the Saint Church and left after switching with Eleanor.

I don’t know what she’s doing, but I have a bad feeling.

No one tells me much about anything.

But I can’t go outside to gather information either. It’s frustrating.

“…Ah.”

The one who appeared after opening the door was Angel Eleanor.

Long straight black hair, a tear mole as her trademark. An older woman with a gentle presence.

Calm, composed, never panicking no matter the situation—

“Ray-kun, you’re already awake!? I’m sorry. Your throat must be dry. I’ll get something right away.”

Yeah, that character profile has been updated.

Now she’s a lively and flustered big sister.

She picks up the water sitting on the table.

Her shoulders tremble. Her hands shake. Her breathing speeds up like she’s frightened.

Sophia probably told her I was sleeping, so seeing me awake made her think she’d neglected me.

“Ah, um… please don’t panic. I feel pretty good today. My arm doesn’t hurt that much either.”

“I’m sorry. Here. Water. Drink slowly.”

Ever since I woke up, “I’m sorry” has become part of every response.

The calm Eleanor from before is nowhere to be seen.

Ugh… I feel awful…

“Thank you. I’ve said this to Sophia too, but are you sleeping properly? The dark circles under your eyes… are really bad.”

“Don’t worry about me. More importantly, are you hungry? I’ll cook anything you want.”

No, please take it easy.

But if I say nothing she’ll just worry more.

“Then… if you don’t mind, could you cut some fruit?”

“Of course!!!! Wait right there. I’ll bring it immediately.”

Thud thud thud thud.

Eleanor rushed out of the room and returned carrying an overflowing pile of fruit.

Isn’t that way too much?

I thought about just biting into them whole, but she carefully peeled them for me.

My impression of her completely flipped after all this.

Calm, fluffy, quiet.

Because I knew DWS I thought I understood everything.

But people have many sides.

Ironically I only started seeing them after ending up in this state.

Still, I’m grateful that they’re working so hard for my future.

It’s not like I want to die.

I’m thankful to my mentors for doing this much for me.

So first I want to recover my strength.

Giving up on everything can come later.

She feeds me several pieces of fruit and I chew slowly.

My teeth hurt. I shouldn’t have cavities, but it hurts.

Maybe she noticed my slight expression because Eleanor looks worried.

“Wh-what’s wrong? …It was too big, right? I’ll chew it first and make it smaller, so wait a moment.”

“Am I a newborn bird?”

If you go that far my guilt will skyrocket!

If Lesley or Sophia saw that it would become a huge problem.

They’d probably say, ‘Then I’ll do the next one,’ and ‘Then me after that.’

There’s no way I can let that happen.

“…I’m sorry… it’s my fault…”

While talking with my mentors, I realized something.

For some reason, all of them think this situation is their fault.

Lesley doesn’t fully understand why yet.

Sophia blames herself for healing me.

And unfortunately, I understand better than anyone why Eleanor feels that way.

“Teacher… this isn’t your fault. It was just an accident. If anything, it’s because I rushed in like an idiot. Right now my body’s being treated and I’m getting fruit fed to me like this. Honestly I’m happy.”

“…I have no right to be called teacher. I felt proud answering all your questions. Because of that I exposed you to this fate. But don’t worry.”

My guilt-erasing attack was instantly destroyed by the Eleanor Barrier.

Then she slowly approached me.

“From now on I’ll protect you. Let’s live somewhere quiet, okay? I’m sure Lesley and Sophia will agree. Somewhere with no one else around, eating fruit every day. Doesn’t that sound good? Ray-kun, you don’t have to worry about anything.”

Eleanor spoke with a realistic proposal that even seemed to consider what would happen after I undergo majinification again.

But I can’t just say yes to that.

If I turn into a Majin, at this rate she’d probably stay there forever protecting that place like some guardian spirit.

Eleanor’s dream was to travel the world. Making her say something like this makes me feel terrible.

I did this to save you all.

Throwing your lives away in some new bad-ending route is unacceptable. I won’t allow it.

“I like quiet places, but I like lively places too. I’m only grateful to you, Eleanor-san, so please don’t blame yourself so much. In the first place, thanks to you… I was able to defeat the Majin. It was an incredible achievement.”

I didn’t defeat the Majin just because of my knowledge of the original story.

It was because Eleanor taught me many things.

She used to be a teacher.

I’m grateful. Otherwise my coming to this world would’ve meant nothing.

But I had stepped on the worst possible landmine.

Eleanor’s face gradually grew darker and darker.

“I see… So because I indulged in my own self-satisfaction, chattering endlessly, proudly explaining everything… I told you so many pointless things. That’s why Ray-kun ended up suffering. Yes… it’s all my fault. So I’ll take responsibility. Ray-kun, from now on I’ll support you for the rest of your life. You don’t need to think about anything or fight anymore. Just stay by my side and be happy.”

Even when I forced a smile, Eleanor kept asking, “Well? What’s your answer?” again and again.

The Eleanor Barrier is way too strong.