Pick Me Up!

I sheathed my sword.

The vibrations of Bifrost had ceased, and the black flames that had once enveloped the blade had vanished.

I widened my eyes and looked ahead.

The palace, once in ruins, now looked as if nothing had happened.

The layout of the table remained unchanged. The blond young man at the head, the chieftains and leaders of the various races around, the cult’s officers, and even Pria in the corner.

‘Everything is aligned.’

But an unresolved question lingered.

A scene I just witnessed that couldn’t be explained.

Above all, my instincts, honed through countless brushes with death, were screaming alarms. It was too calm, too peaceful for someone who had been betrayed as often as I had.

Crack. Crackle.

The noise blocking my vision dispersed.

I sat down at the empty chair at the table once again.

“I will not accept such an ending!”

Let’s see how the situation will unfold…

Pria stood up abruptly, passionately protesting.

“To enjoy a banquet together and then just let end it all? That’s absurd! Our warriors are still shedding their blood outside!”

“So, what do you propose we do, Your Highness?”

Hmm. This part seems familiar.

It hasn’t changed much.

That’s as far as it goes.

I listened to the conversation that followed, my hand resting on the table.

The flow of the argument was no different from what I had just seen Pria was furious, and both the sorceress and the old knight tried to calm her down, suggesting that they must accept the situation since no other option remained. And then Pria spoke again.

“There is… one more way left.”

Pria’s gaze shifted to the Saintess.

“Saintess, hasn’t the goddess sent an oracle? I heard it contains a crucial clue to saving the continent. Then why keep it a secret?”

I scrutinized the Saintess sitting to the left of the table.

A young girl clad in a white robe with the church’s insignia, draped in a lavender cape.

Her expression carried a calmness that belied her youthful appearance.

The subsequent flow was similar.

The Saintess argued that she wouldn’t hide the oracle, countered by the knight, and Pria bit back,

“You’re mistaken. I clearly heard it. The goddess has given us one chance… a chance to start over.”

“Princess, what do you mean?”

“To turn back time. To go back several years in the past.”

“To turn back time.”

“If we could return to that time, maybe a different outcome is possible. Isn’t it too sad to sit down resignedly, not knowing anything, not even the identity of our enemy? I can’t accept it. Even if the chance is slim, shouldn’t we try?”

“Is that true?”

“The goddess did indeed send such a prophecy…”

“Why did you hide it?”

“That is…”

This is where it starts.

I took a deep breath.

“Pria.”

But the next person to speak wasn’t the Saintess; it was the young man at the head of the table.

Pria glared at the young man.

“Your Highness, did you know about this as well?”

“I knew. I knew.”

“Then why…!”

“Do you understand what we would have to give up?”

Of course.

A different turn of events unfolded.

“If it were truly possible to save our people and the continent, would I have hesitated? Answer me. Do I… seem that insignificant to you?”

“But!”

“The prophecy is true. We were indeed given the option to turn back time.”

The young man’s face was sculpted with distress.

“For one chance, would you push all life on the continent into the abyss of hell?”

“What… do you mean?”

“Princess, there’s a price to pay.”

The Saintess shook her head.

“Our goddess is not an omnipotent creator. To perform a miracle, sacrifices, and restrictions are necessary.”

“…”

“I saw it.”

The Saintess bit her lip.

“Becoming someone’s pawn, trapped in endless suffering, neither dead nor alive. The whole continent would be torn apart, and both past and future would lose their meaning. We’d become mere slaves.”

“That… that is…”

To be trapped as a pawn, neither dead nor alive.

To suffer endlessly, losing all meaning of past and future.

I remembered the monsters trapped in the tower. They revive no matter how many times they’re killed, serving as precious fodder for heroes’ experience. In a way, the heroes were no different.

Ultimately, whether monster or hero, we’re just toys for the master.

It’s just a game, after all.

“Pria.”

The young man looked at Pria with a gentle expression.

“I understand you. I do. How could I not be angry? After all the blood and sweat we’ve poured, to end it like this… how could we simply accept it?”

The young man closed his eyes.

“Nothing is eternal. Not humans, not other races, not empires, not even this continent or the universe itself. Everything that begins must end. It just so happens that the end has come to us.”

“…”

“For a moment of self-satisfaction, let’s not gamble everything.”

Pria said nothing.

Her expression twisted as she sat down again, bowing her head deeply.

“Is this how… it ends?”

A sobbing voice emerged.

“The people of the empire, the lives of other races, our children…”

“Who could possibly accept that, Princess?”

The old sage next to the young man spoke.

His name tag read ‘Head of Lantia’.

“If it were possible, I would wish to save them. But if we resort to such actions, what would become of the many heroes who have sacrificed their lives for the continent? We may have lost the war, but not our pride. This pride is all we can take with us. Moreover, Your Royal Highness.”

“Speak.”

“This isn’t the end, is it?”

The young man grinned.

“Of course. We still have our pride. We must strike one last blow.”

I'm currently Translating the following novels: Pick Me Up! | A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! | The 100th Regression of the Max-Level Player. If you want to support me and read more chapters please subscribe to my Patreon!