宅男天堂

“……I\'m sorry.”

Finally, Elodie\'s words, uttered with her head bowed, were those.

So different from reality, in the dream, Elodie\'s words were always ‘I\'m sorry.’

“I didn\'t know the cabin door would break. I thought it would be more sturdy.”

I broke it.

Elodie seemed to think the monster had opened the cabin door to attack me.

But.

“Fron, the inside of the cabin is absolutely safe. Even if the door is open, you shouldn\'t come out.”

“Elodie.”

“That monster will retreat on its own after it defeats me, so if you just wait a little longer—.”

“Elodie.”

I took Elodie\'s hands and held them up in front of me. Only then did Elodie\'s small head rise and look at me.

“You saw it too.”

“…….”

“Whoever opened the cabin door, whether you saw it or not, the countless weapons floating in the sky.”

“……I, I.”

“You\'re not going to say you didn\'t see them.”

The reason my weaving and abilities disappeared was because Elodie thought ‘that can’t be.’

In other words, they disappeared because she witnessed them.

“That\'s my ability.”

“…….”

Elodie\'s eyes darted around uncomfortably at my words.

Telling the current Elodie this wouldn\'t make her understand. Anyway, I can\'t use my abilities unless she believes in them.

Therefore, I decided to tell Elodie a lie that would be easier for her to accept.

“It\'s an ability I\'ll gain in the future.”

“The future?”

Elodie\'s eyes widened at my words.

“Yes. It was my first time using it, but it seems like it\'s a future ability. It felt like I was borrowing the power I\'ll use later in advance.”

This is Elodie\'s dream.

No matter how absurd the words are, as long as Elodie accepts them, it\'s possible.

There happens to be a suitable excuse here.

“That\'s why it disappeared after a few seconds. You saw it too, right?”

“……Ah, that\'s why……. I see.”

Of course, Elodie erased them herself, but she doesn\'t know she\'s in a dream and adds to her imagination.

The weapons I created suddenly disappearing and the monster vanishing as if canceled must be one of the contradictions of the dream.

Since I\'m directly resolving the contradictions for her, Elodie will easily accept it.

“See, Elodie. I have abilities too.”

“……Yes.”

Elodie nodded, seemingly relieved by my words.

However.

“So let\'s kill that monster together.”

To these words of mine.

Her face instantly turned pale, and she shook her head and waved her hands.

“Th, that\'s not okay!”

“Why?”

“It\'s, it\'s too dangerous. Frondier. That monster is strong. No matter how hard I try, I couldn\'t even touch it!”

“That\'s why we have to fight together.”

“N, no. It\'s not okay. If you get hurt, I…….”

I felt a strange sensation at that sight.

Elodie is overprotective of Frondier. I understand that feeling.

I realized she instinctively sensed Frondier\'s inferiority and jealousy and was filled with guilt about it.

…But, all of that.

‘Elodie back then didn\'t know about it.’

Even though the Elodie in front of me now is in the form of a young girl.

The real Elodie hasn\'t gone back to the past.

At first, seeing the young Elodie in reality, I momentarily mistook it for that. But I realized it while watching Elodie apologize.

This Elodie, shuddering with guilt, is not the girl from back then. It\'s the current Elodie herself.

It\'s obvious. The young Elodie back then didn\'t know. About Frondier\'s envy, jealousy, inferiority, and hatred towards Elodie.

That\'s why Elodie proudly showed off to Frondier and diligently told him the stories she knew.

…This dream is Elodie\'s apology to Frondier. It\'s the manifestation of her guilt.

—I didn\'t mean it like that. I\'m sorry. I\'m not good with words. I wanted to convey it well. I didn\'t want to make you feel bad.

Elodie is practicing how to better convey her feelings to Frondier. Towards the role of Frondier that she created.

Words that she can\'t say to the current Frondier. Words that would be meaningless even if she said them.

That\'s why the young Elodie is apologizing to the young Frondier.

Even though it\'s in a dream.

Even though it\'s a fake created by Elodie.

‘…Fake.’

A bitter smile spread across my lips at that thought.

These actions that Elodie is taking in the dream might seem truly worthless to someone.

But in the end, I finally witnessed it.

Elodie\'s apology.

I saw and heard her endlessly repeating apologies that didn\'t need to be made.

Not Frondier, but me.

The fake me.

“……Elodie.”

Perhaps I am committing a sin.

Pretending to hear the apology that the real Frondier never heard.

“I\'m sorry.”

I convey the apology that Frondier never made, in his place.

“For a very long time, I\'ve been jealous of you.”