“At that moment I definitely realized it – you are stuck in an endless loop.”
A miserable, horrific, and utterly destructive cycle.
"I couldn't tell. Were the memories all there was? Or were there repetitions that I couldn't even remember?"
It was as if Preseppe and just him were doomed to return to the same place and the same past.
He had no idea what was happening, but he had vague suspicions.
It must have been because of the dazzling light that surrounded her body and his when Precipe threw herself into the lake.
However, Fenric could not trust himself. He had no idea how many times this episode had happened. He wasn't even sure where the real past ended and the future he actually lived in began.
“So I got tattooed.”
[Each sheet separately?]
[Yes, in the beginning there were only tree trunks.]
“Because I was afraid I would forget.”
[“I used to carve it whenever something important happened. That's why I chose a tree. So I could remember and reaffirm my decision – leaf by leaf.”]
“And every time I engraved a new leaf, I thought...”
[“Given their number, it seems that there were many moments to strengthen your resolve.”]
“…that I will find a way to save you from this cycle.”
[I don't know how you'll take this, but it's beautiful. Really amazing.]
Do you have any idea how I felt when you said that while looking at my chest?
Fenric's expression was a little conflicted, and he placed his hand on Prisippi's cheek.
“More than hundreds of times... I kept going.”
Every time Presibe dies and the cycle begins again, Fenric is thrown back to the battlefield, as if caught in a relentless current.
He had witnessed her death with his own eyes countless times, but there were many instances where he had not witnessed it.
Every time her unnoticed death occurred again, the cycle began again, Fenric thought.
You must have died again somewhere, cruelly and unjustly.
“Little by little I started to understand.”
Throughout the endless repetition, Fenric did not remain idle.
"It wasn't difficult. I already had all my memories. Unlike others... like you."
As Presibe was able to advance in the “game” little by little – or in other words, as Fenric’s knowledge of the future expanded – the amount of information he could gather also grew.
The first thing he discovered was this: when certain individuals appeared, he was powerless to act.
Especially…
Dietrich, Ivan, Siegfried, Noah Duverne, and Prince Atari.
And they were the only ones who led Presibe to her death.
Each of them has different causes, and each of them has different methods.
However, when Prisippi was not in a relationship with these men, Fenric was able to move and speak freely, as he pleased. Whatever that entails.
“I prepared it myself.”
Fenric continued to look at the vase on the bedside table.
“Yes, the day we first met. With the same flowers I gave you then.”
This must have been when Prisippi was locked in her ice prison, far away from her tower.
Fenric snuck into the empty tower, and she left them there like a gift, before she was expected to return, dragging her frail body along.
Remember her young face, radiant when she smiled, hugging the flowers to her chest.
She said she loved them.
So he hoped they would bring her some comfort.
For someone trapped in a cage-like tower, he experiences constant pain.
This was Fenric's prayer.
“One day, I thought…”
And that was after hundreds of endless episodes.
“What if I just robbed you?”
He couldn't understand why, but on the day Preseppe threw herself into the lake, that day alone, he was able to get close to her.
But it was also the only time she had acted unexpectedly instead of going straight to the banquet, so he couldn't be sure that it would work.
However, he decided to try.
“Somehow, I had to get close to her before these insufferable men showed up.”
“I expected that, but it wasn't easy.”
No matter how many times he tried, Precipe never acted as unexpectedly as she did that day. Instead, she headed to the banquet hall as if she had given up on everything, her face as pale as a corpse, like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse.
It was one of those countless festive banquets, endlessly repeated.
“That day too, all I could do was watch you.”
Fenric clenched his teeth as he stared at the male figures that approached him one by one.
It was disgusting. These same men who had tortured, harassed and manipulated Precipe remembered nothing and were on the verge of repeating their actions.
He wanted to kill them all.
But unfortunately, Fenric couldn't even get close to them – especially while the "game" was progressing.
“But then someone showed up and talked to me.”
[“…You’re doing something interesting, aren’t you?”]
He was a man with blond hair and blue eyes. Fenric still remembered him clearly – those terrifying eyes that sparkled in the moonlight, sending shivers down his spine.
[It's a pity that no matter what you do, you'll never get close to her.]
“Then he told me...”
[“This world... is man-made”]
“…that it was all fake.”
At first, Fenric thought he was crazy. He was planning to ignore him and leave.
But then…
[You've been repeating this endlessly, haven't you? With that woman.]
The man's next words made Fenric freeze in place.
[“Do you want to see? The past and the future you have not yet witnessed.”]
The man, Vidar, smiled weakly and extended his hand.
Suddenly, small screens appeared, images to be specific.
These were pictures of Precipe in pain.
Her body is shackled, writhing in pain.
Her skeleton hangs lifeless in a room full of strange specimens.
She collapsed due to vomiting blood after ingesting the poison.
[“She has died many times and suffered more than you can imagine.”]
[“…”]
[“And this will continue. It will not change, because she is the hero of this world.”]
Protagonist?
Vidar scoffed at Fenric's confusion.
[“This world exists only for her.”]
But how can a world exist only for the sake of inflicting suffering on one person?
As if reading his thoughts, Vidar continued.
[“Her fate is to be manipulated and brutally disposed of by these men.”]
[“…what?”]
[“Haven't you ever wondered why you couldn't even get close to her?”]
“In this fake world, I...”
[“That's because you're not the male hero.”]
“…It was nothing.”
[“You're just an extra with no name or face. An unimportant NPC with no specific role, who can't even appear.”]
“No matter what I did, I could never reach her.”
[“If she had not spoken to you out of kindness, apart from the predetermined story, you would not even have the memories you have now. You would have been nothing – just a non-existent entity.”]
Fenric, who was speaking quietly, let out a bitter laugh.
In fact, his very existence had been a glitch ever since that day.
When Prisippi gave him her sword, he began to remember her.
When, despite being just an NPC, he dared to have a goal: to meet her again.
Until the moment he was able to get through to her when she tried to throw herself into the lake – that was only possible because he wasn't part of the original story.
The tattoos engraved on his body that did not disappear were evidence of the same thing.
Fenric's body, now in motion itself, was the perfect canvas to record what should not exist.
Thus, as a whole entity, Fenric became entangled in the rings of Prisippi and eventually met Vidar.
Although Fenric himself did not understand all the details, this was the truth.
“…”
Fenric bit his lips in silence.
Then he remembered the conversation he had with Vidar from that unforgettable day, which was still clear in his memory.
[That woman will continue to die painfully, over and over again.]
[“Who are you?”]
Who could know such secrets? Who can clearly depict to us the events of a future that has already been determined and a past that no one else can remember?
But Vidar did not answer Fenric's question.
Instead, he said something else.
[Do you want to know how to stop it?]
[“…”]
[Kill them]
[“…what?”]
[Kill these men one by one, and take their place – the role of the hero.]