This is not the date I wanted.

Undaunted by the other party's aggressive attitude, Artemisia looked Eren straight in the eyes and retorted.

"Put a bomb in a shelter, and then use the space earthquake alarm to lure citizens to the shelter to detonate it. Do you know how many casualties this will cause?"

"Hello~Are you trying to disobey orders?"

Hearing Artemisia's question, Allen narrowed his eyes, with a hint of murderous intent in his words.

"I became a magus to put an end to the harm caused by space quakes to people. If it is a reasonable order, I will obey it, and I don't mind getting my hands dirty, and I don't mind even sacrificing my life. But this operation, in my opinion, is just meaningless killing of innocent citizens. Forgive me for not being able to obey your order."

Artemisia replied as a matter of course.

"Well, well, both of you calm down."

Looking at the two people who were on the verge of a fight, Westcott chuckled and interrupted in a leisurely manner.

"Ashcroft. It seems that you have some misunderstandings about this operation."

Sitting back at his desk, Westcott crossed his legs and spoke calmly.

"Misunderstand?"

Artemisia looked puzzled.

"First of all, the reason I placed those bombs was simply to contain the Ratatoskr, hoping to use the little conscience and humanity left in their hearts to make them give up such a foolish action of protecting the elves. If they persist, I will only order a frontal attack and have no intention of detonating those bombs. And——"

Seeing Artemisia's suspicious expression, Westcott shrugged and added.

"Before you came, we had already decided to stop fighting."

"Eh?"

Hearing this, Artemisia was stunned.

"Yeah~ It's just acting, but it's a bit too much. 'What will you do if it really explodes?' - Just before you came, Alan warned me so harshly."

"Eh? Is that so, Alan?"

"..."

Glancing at Westcott wordlessly, Alan snorted coldly and replied with an unhappy look on his face.

"Of course. How many times do you think Ike has made outrageous requests? If we had just let him go, DEM would have gone bankrupt long ago."

“Yes…Is that so…”

After realizing that it was all a misunderstanding, Artemisia, who had been so strong just now, now lowered her head in embarrassment, like a child who had made a mistake.

"I'm so sorry! Lord Westcott! I was impulsive and didn't ask for the reason, so I did something so rude!"

"It's okay, it's okay! I was also wrong. I didn't tell you the news of the operational change in time. You don't have to blame yourself."

Westcott waved his hand generously.

"Since Ike has said so, this is the only time. It won't happen again."

"Yes, thank you very much."

Artemisia couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Well, you're just in time. Ashcroft, Ai Wulian is still on standby outside. Go and tell her to stop the battle and retreat."

"Yes."

"No, I'm back."

At this moment, Wu Lian's voice came from outside the house. When she opened the automatic door, she saw that her uniform had become tattered and her body was covered with hideous wounds.

Seeing Ai Wulian's miserable appearance, the three of them were shocked.

"Miss. Ai. Report the situation."

"Yes, Sister Allen. I went to the designated location to ambush as planned, but I was attacked by nightmare on the way."

"Nightmare, as expected..."

After hearing Ai Wulian's report, Westcott raised a pleasant smile and spoke very kindly.

"Well, it's a shame that I couldn't fulfill your wish."

Hearing this, Wu Lian shrugged regretfully.

"Yeah...well, I won't give up."

"That's good. Thank you for your hard work. You can submit a detailed report later. Let's go to the medical department for treatment first. Ashcroft, take Wu Lian with you."

"Yes."

Artemisia nodded, walked to Wu Lian's side, took off her coat and put it on her.

"Wulian, are you okay? Do you want me to carry you over?"

"No, they are just superficial injuries. Thank you for the coat, I will wash it and return it to you later."

……

"Ike, could you explain this to me?"

After watching the two people leave the office, Allen asked.

"what's up?"

"Don't play dumb with me. The attacks in the past few days and this operation are the same. Nightmare is obstructing us as if it had anticipated our actions in advance. With the 'Divine Eclipse Order', you must know the reason."

"Hey~ You really don't know what's good for you, Alan. Of course, this kind of thing is only fun if you wait until the right time to bring it up... Well, after all, you and I are old acquaintances, so I'll make an exception and tell you."

Noticing the anger in Allen's eyes, Westcott raised his hands and chose to confess honestly.

"As you can imagine, Nightmare was obstructing our attack based on his knowledge of our plans."

"She snuck in among us without us noticing?"

"How is that possible? If she could really do that, she would have killed me long ago." Westcott shook his head and explained, "Rather than predicting it, it's more like an actual experience. Nightmare used his angels to go back in time and space, subverting known events, and constantly allowing Gokawa Shido to avoid the fate of death."

"Going back in time..."

Alan's expression showed a little solemnity.

Although it was unbelievable, in fact, as far as she knew, the world had indeed changed due to a historical change. And if the power of the elves could not even do this, there was no point in Westcott wanting to take it into his possession.

"...I see. This is tricky, isn't it? Does that mean that no matter what we do, the other side will find a countermeasure to break it?"

At this moment, the Nibelcols suddenly jumped out from the "Divine Eclipse Order" and surrounded Westcott and echoed.

“Huh—it’s true.”

"I said there was something wrong with that girl. It was as if she knew when and where we would attack."

"That's right. Otherwise, Eren might not have failed."

"…The bugs are really noisy today. Should we apply some insecticide?"

"Ah! Alan is angry!" Alan said in a low voice, veins on his forehead bulging slightly. Nibelcol screamed in panic and shrank behind Westcott.

"Well, the problem isn't as serious as you say."

Westcott answered without any tension.

"In the end, this is just a stalemate of who gives up first. For us, it's just a few insignificant retreats, but for Nightmare, it's completely different."

Having said that, Westcott couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth as if he couldn't control his inner joy.

"Ten times - twenty times - thirty times - forty times - fifty times - sixty times - seventy times - eighty times - ninety times - a hundred times. Alan, can you imagine? In the same time repeating over and over again, no matter how hard you try to change, in the end only the important people die - that suffocating feeling of powerlessness and despair."

"..."

Trying to imagine the situation described by Westcott, even Alan felt a chill down his spine.

"For us, it's just a few more days of waiting. So why not just treat it as an entertainment to kill time and watch the nightmare collapse and perish at the end of its own cycle."

28 Valentine's Day (Part )

==============================

What is reflected in the mirror is a completely different self from usual.

Standing in front of the dressing mirror in the room, the girl named Tokisaki Kurumi couldn't help but sigh.

It means exactly what it says. The girl has now changed into a gorgeous black and red dress, her hair tied into two ponytails of varying lengths, and she is holding a finely crafted old-fashioned pistol in each hand.

But the most eye-catching among them is undoubtedly the girl's left eye. The pupil, which was originally as transparent as a ruby, has turned into a golden clock.

It's not a contact lens or special makeup, just like a real clock. The hour hand, minute hand, and second hand in the left eye all move accurately with the time.

"It's like a character from an anime, which is a bit embarrassing."

Having said that, an excited smile appeared on the girl's lips, and she was obviously very satisfied with the outfit.

That's of course, because unlike those fictional "fantasies" in animations, she at this moment is a special existence living in reality.

——I hope you can defeat the elves and save the world.

Just a few days ago, the girl accepted the request of the man named "Mio", gained the power of "Keketei", became a partner of justice, and successfully eliminated the evil existence called "Elf" yesterday.

The fulfilling sense of accomplishment made her so excited that she almost couldn't sleep at night.

"Hehe~ Let me destroy you in the name of justice... It feels a bit wrong. I will protect the peace of this city - this is not good enough, is there a more impressive line?"

"Kyousan~~Are you still not done? You're going to be late for school."

Just as the girl was standing in front of the mirror, pondering her entrance posture and winning lines, her good friend Yamada Sawa was already waiting for her outside the house.

"Ah, ah. I'll be right there."

Hearing her best friend's call, the girl came to her senses and quickly answered.

In an instant, the dress and guns turned into light dust and dissipated, becoming an ordinary school uniform, and the twin ponytails on the head also spread out and turned into straight hair.

Finally, the girl put on the rose-patterned eye mask she bought at the decoration store yesterday and covered her left eye.

"Sorry for the long wait, Sawa."

"Huh? What's wrong, Kurumi? Why are you suddenly wearing an eyepatch?"

"Hey, I suddenly want to pursue fashion. How about something nice?"

"Well... it's a little weird, but it's really pretty."

"Right! Why don't Sawa buy one too? We can be a couple."

"Eh? I'll forget it.

In this way, during this period of time, the girl named Tokisaki Kurumi lived a very fulfilling life.

During the day, she leads a very ordinary life as a high school girl that can be found anywhere.

At night, she transforms into a ally of justice, slaying evil and fighting bravely to protect world peace and the safety of her friends and family.

Very happy, very blessed - as if she had found the meaning of her existence, the girl was filled with extraordinary energy every day.

However, the facts are often quite different from what people think.

The dream ended much earlier than expected.

——————————————————I am the dividing line that ends the memory killing————————————

Wednesday, May 2rd.

Valentine's Day, the bloody festival named after Saint Valentine, has finally arrived today.

"OK, that's good."

After preparing breakfast for everyone in the kitchen, Mengyue looked at the time, picked up her schoolbag and prepared to leave.

When she arrived at the entrance of the Gokawa family and was changing her shoes, Mengyue happened to meet Yoshino and others who were coming from the apartment.

"Um... Meng Yue-san... are you going out so early today?"

"Ah, it's my turn to be on duty today."

Meng Yue replied.

Of course, there are more reasons than just that.

At this moment, each of them held a carefully wrapped chocolate in their hands. Meng Yue knew without thinking that it was Valentine's Day chocolate for Shidao.

"For Shidou?"