Chapter 7

"Then, live like a camellia, Shun."

Kail said this and began to chant what seemed to be a spell. As he chanted, I struggled with the urge to stop him, clenching my fists tightly.

Seeing my attitude, Kail smiled slightly and reached out his hand toward me. The moment his hand touched my forehead, a myriad of things flowed into me.

Memories, knowledge, skills, abilities—all of these things came rushing at me like a tidal wave. I struggled desperately to accept everything without letting anything slip away, as if fighting against a massive wave. I didn't want to waste a single thing that Kail and Hanai had cultivated, so I fought to inherit it all.

As the wave slowly subsided and I opened my eyes, I found myself standing next to the bed, looking down at myself lying in it.

The familiar sight of myself after 27 years—black eyes, black hair, now slightly younger than when I arrived, but unmistakably me.

Then, I saw the bracelet on my right wrist crumble and fall away. At that moment, I realized that Shun Sugimoto had died, and Kail had also disappeared from this world.

I was leaving everything behind here...

I sensed a slightly hurried presence from a distance. They might have detected my death.

I needed to move before being found, so I searched for how Kail had come to this room.

Kail's story seemed strangely realistic. It felt as if a computer was in my head. Kail had apparently come here by searching for my presence as a Japanese person. I couldn't clearly understand how he had known, but I would probably figure it out eventually.

There was no uncertainty about whether I could use magic; it felt natural, as if it was already a part of my body. It was a strange feeling, like I wasn't myself, but I would get used to it eventually.

With a bit of concentration, I could sense the presence of people in this building. Detailed information about where people were. Sharpening my consciousness further, I directed it from inside the building to the outside.

A place where many people had gathered—this must be the town below the castle. From that place, a bit further away, I sensed a position where no one was present. I used my first magic to move there.

"Teleportation." Just by thinking it, I escaped the room where I had spent a year.

Leaving behind everything, I stored the memories of Kail in my heart and engraved his words in my mind.

"Live like a camellia."

With a mix of anxiety and profound loneliness, I began my third life.

Thank you for reading.