—A few hours ago, early in the morning.
"The lazy life is the best! The best, the best, the best!! Phew!!!"
I sprawled lazily across the hard inn bed where I'd taken refuge.
I glanced at the wall clock—it was already past noon, the sun high overhead.
"There's still so much time… Right, today I'm going to be lazy all day long!"
I was so excited I could've started dancing. A huge grin spread across my face as I pictured the blissful hours ahead. This was pure joy.
"Seriously… I can finally relax. Those guys were so damn persistent…"
I sighed, remembering the source of all my recent stress.
It had been just under thirty days since I became a lecturer at the Magic Academy in Magikosmaia, won the Magic Tournament, fought an insanely powerful mysterious girl, died, and got resurrected.
It was a truly awful experience… so awful I started wondering if I'd done something terrible in a past life.
The pink-haired hero and the light-blue-haired white mage kept relentlessly trying to recruit me into their party.
The beautiful silver-haired princess of Uniwelcia and the useless princess of Magikosmaia both kept pressuring me to marry them.
On top of that, some blond kid was going on about making me an SSS-rank adventurer for some reason, and a clingy, mean-spirited cat kept chasing me around demanding to study my magic.
"Hehe… the bliss of lying in bed thinking about absolutely nothing… how sweet…"
But now I didn't have to worry anymore. I'd escaped perfectly.
After that, I used every spell I knew and ran with everything I had—and it paid off. I completely lost them.
I knew it for sure because when I used **Detection Magic** to scan this city—no, the entire country—there wasn't a single reaction.
In other words, they were gone. No one was bothering me while I lazed around like this. I'd finally escaped them completely.
"Wow… I'm getting sleepy. Think I'll go back to sleep."
I savored the happiness of being undisturbed and pulled the blanket over myself. Bliss…!
"Hm…?"
For some reason, I sensed something moving under the blanket and tilted my head. That's weird. There was nothing there a second ago… Did a mouse get in?
With a question mark floating above my head, I lifted the blanket to check.
"—Hello, good morning."
There stood a young girl in a sensual, negligee-like outfit, cheerfully raising her hand in greeting.
"!?!?!?!?!?!?"
I instantly leaped out of the bed and stuck myself to the ceiling in pure shock. I moved so fast—about 0.1 seconds flat.
"H-how terrible… You don't have to be *that* surprised."
The girl looked a little hurt, then climbed off the bed and stood up. Her long, beautiful silver hair sparkled in the sunlight streaming through the window.
"…What the hell? You were supposed to be dead."
I understood instantly, regained my composure, and asked coldly.
The girl in front of me—the one I thought I'd made disappear—was none other than **Enri**.
◇
"Well, that's fine. More importantly, let's talk about something meaningful. We don't have much time…"
Without a word, I pointed my right hand at Enri and unleashed a magic bullet packed with an immense amount of mana.
"W-wait a second!? What are you doing out of nowhere!? Listen to me—"
But for some reason, I heard Enri's voice from *behind* me.
This time I deployed ten times as many magic bullets and fired them all at once.
"You're so merciless… Well, considering what I did, it's only natural… But to be precise, though… this isn't me."
Yet Enri appeared again, completely unscathed, muttering casually and slumping her shoulders in dejection.
"Hmm… Oh well. Anyway, I don't have much time, so I'll just say a few things. I have no animosity toward you, so it'd be great if you could just listen quietly."
"Don't be ridiculous. There's no way I could believe you."
While preparing various spells, I kept a sharp eye on Enri's movements.
…What's going on? I definitely felt the magic bullets hit her. But Enri stood there as if nothing had happened. I didn't understand.
"First of all, yes, I did it—but it wasn't *me* who did it… Also, I really did die that time. Your sword stroke easily pulverized me."
"…Huh?"
I tilted my head, completely lost.
It's me, but not me? And even though she's dead… then who is this girl in front of me, with the exact same magical signature and appearance? I don't get it.
"It's me, but it's not me… But I failed. I never imagined this generation's Gluttony would be *that* powerful… I never thought I'd be consumed by it."
"…What are you even saying?"
"Well, I wasn't exactly a good person to begin with, so maybe it was inevitable that I'd end up like that after losing my memories… but it's really troubling."
"???"
What do I even do with this? I seriously don't understand a word she's saying.
I didn't get it from the start, and now I'm even more confused.
"And the second thing. That power has merged with the power inside you and become one. You still can't draw out its full strength yet… but you'll remember it eventually. It will be useful to you in the future."
*Power… inherited… from… me… to… you…*
"Inheritance…?"
"Actually, I should be the one telling you this, but… I can't come out yet. Sorry."
I was starting to get annoyed because none of it made sense.
Maybe I should just blow her away.
This time, I began gathering enough mana to turn the surrounding area into ashes.
"And finally, the third thing… You were wondering earlier why your attacks weren't hitting me, right?"
"…Ah."
I paused the spell I was charging and replied.
"Yes, they definitely hit. So—"
"Yeah, they did. But I'm not dead. Do you know why?"
Yes, there was no doubt—I felt them connect.
I'd created a barrier around Enri to protect the inn, then unleashed a barrage of magic bullets inside it to crush her to death. There was no way she could've come out unscathed.
And yet, why—
Enri smiled brightly and spoke in a cheerful, carefree tone.
"Of course they didn't kill me. Because this is—"
"—a dream."
".........Huh?"
◇
*Snap.*
I woke up from the dream. No—more like I was forcibly dragged back to reality.
"…Worst."
The moment I awoke, the awful truth I didn't want to face slammed into me all at once, and I let out a curse.
Worst. Seriously the absolute worst.
What I just experienced was a dream.
This is reality.
In other words—the perfect escape and lazy lifestyle I was enjoying… was all a dream.
The fact that I'm *still* on the run right now is reality.
Still running is reality.
This is reality.
Are you kidding me…?
Suppressing the urge to die on the spot, I dragged my heavy, lazy body upright.
"For now, wash my face, and then…"
I froze mid-motion. Or rather—I was physically stopped.
"…Haha."
A dry, hollow laugh escaped me.
…Right. Of course. This is reality, after all. So yeah, she'd be here. Makes sense.
Why did I even have that kind of dream in the first place?
Because—
"Jirei-sama… if you squeeze me that hard… I might break… fufu…"
"......"
I looked beside the bed.
There, clinging tightly to my waist with a blissful sleeping face, murmuring happy nonsense, was a silver-haired girl—**Rafine**.
A few minutes later.
Back in reality, I carefully loosened **Rafine**'s restraints without waking her, piled about ten blankets over her body (she looked cold), and headed to the washbasin. Yeah, definitely cold.
**Rafine**, now buried under the blankets, mumbled happily:
"Jirei-sama… so heavy… I know you love me so much… fufu…"
Good for her, being so happy.
While washing my sleepy face at the basin, I thought.
What do I do? Seriously.
Fleeing to another country is impossible. I've tried it multiple times. Total failure.
For the past several dozen days, I've run with everything I had.
I circled all the neighboring countries around Magikosmaia, ended up right back here, kept running, hid in inns, even tried hiding in trash cans—nothing worked. Pointless. Meaningless.
I *did* manage to shake off the Magikosmaia princess—Elena—and the blond kid who for some reason calls me master—Cain.
Cain even declared something like "I'm going to train my swordsmanship! I'll become a man worthy of fighting by Master's side!" and left for another country. Elena disappeared at some point too.
But—**Rafine**, the light-blue-haired girl Eve, and the Offensive Hero **Reti**—those three were impossible.
No matter where I went, they showed up. Demanding I join the party, marry them, whatever.
For the past seven days straight, I've changed inns every single night.
And yet—every morning I wake up, either **Rafine** is sleeping in the same bed, or Eve is waiting with a delicious breakfast and a morning greeting.
The ratio is: **Rafine** × **Rafine** × **Rafine**, Eve, **Rafine** × **Rafine** × **Rafine**.
Are you kidding me?
No matter how much I change locations, it's useless.
It's at the point where I can only assume they're using some kind of magic.
How is this even possible…?!
My mana pool is bigger, so they can't be using **Clairvoyance** on me…
Finding me should be impossible.
And yet—they're here every morning. Every single day.
It's like cursed equipment at this point. I'm about to lose my mind.
…And unfortunately, that's not even my only problem. The really troubling part is—
"Haa…"
I sighed and looked at my reflection in the washbasin mirror.
There I was—same handsome face as always. Yep, still good-looking today. Even if my expression is dead.
After admiring my own ikemen-ness, I lifted my bangs to expose my forehead.
And there it was.
"…Seriously, what the hell is this thing?"
A black mark—like a tattoo or a brand—on the right side of my forehead.
I muttered to myself.
"It's not a wound, not a curse. It's black, so it's probably not a holy mark either… Seriously, what is this?"
This mark appeared about thirty days ago—right around the time I erased Enri and started running around Magikosmaia to escape everyone.
It doesn't hurt when I touch it. I checked if it was a curse—nothing.
For a brief second I wondered if it was a holy mark proving I'd been chosen as a hero.
But all historical holy marks are red, blue, gold, white… never black. No precedent at all.
So it's probably not a holy mark.
Honestly, I don't want it to be. I don't want to be a hero anymore. Seriously. No way.
Well, if it was just the mark, I could ignore it. Let it be.
But—
"…Devour."
I pulled a portable ration from my **Item Box** and tossed it into the air, silently willing it.
"—! —!!"
In that instant, empty space warped.
A sinister, ominous object emerged from the void and chomped down on the ration with a loud *crunch*.
The thing wriggled like it was alive, baring sharp teeth and fangs from its gaping maw.
It looked *exactly* like the **Predation** Enri used.
"…"
Silently, I thrust my right hand into empty space and pictured a certain object.
A mass of sinister black mana particles began forming in my palm.
It soon condensed into a single shape—a "black sword."
The exact same black sword I'd used to cut through Enri's Predation.
Yes—my other huge problem was this incomprehensible power that, for some reason, I could now use after that incident.
By willing it, I could summon a horrifying entity that devoured anything I targeted and dragged it into the void.
I have no idea where the devoured things go.
But I can taste what it eats, and I feel full afterward—so maybe it's going straight into my stomach.
On top of that, the annoying black sword that I could never properly store before—I can now summon and dismiss instantly just by thinking about it.
Honestly? Super convenient. Best ability ever.
If I use Predation well, I can bite nearby objects with its jaws and pull them to me without moving. Meals are instant—no need to chew.
And I don't have to deal with that cursed black sword anymore.
If that was all, it'd be perfect. Absolutely perfect—but—
"…It's just way too creepy and unknown."
It's so incomprehensible it makes my skin crawl.
I only ever *saw* Enri's Predation.
I never analyzed the spell formula, never decoded it.
There's no way I should be able to use it. Even if I'm the type who learns by watching and feeling it in my body, this is too much.
"It looks disgusting, and if anyone saw me using it they'd think I was a demon…"
Because of that, even though it's incredibly useful—I can't really use it.
It's seriously frustrating.
"Ahh… I'm so tired… I just want to sleep without thinking about anything…"
But I can't.
The forehead mark is one thing, but unless I figure out how **Rafine** and the others keep finding me, I'll never get peaceful sleep again.
I'm stressed to the max. I feel like I'm gonna die.
"…Damn it. No choice. I'll have to ask that guy and go there—"
After racking my brain, I reached a conclusion.
Probably… that place will have some kind of clue.
It's off-limits to the public, but if I get that damn cat to pull some strings, I should be able to enter.
He's still a high-ranking figure in the Magical Research Institute, after all.
"Jirei-sama… heavy… I know you love me so much… fufu…"
"..."
I piled ten more blankets on top of **Rafine**, who was still happily lost in dreamland, mumbling blissfully.
She's moaning, but I'm sure she's having a wonderful dream.
Then, with a dead face and heavy, reluctant steps, I opened the inn door and began walking toward a certain person.
To beg that damn cat—**Aldi**—for permission to enter the restricted area:
**The Grand Magical Library**.
This is the start of my next desperate plan.