This is not the date I wanted.

As he said this, the "real man" looked up at Shidao, his expression showing a bit of envy and a bit of sadness.

——You seem to be worried that you will be replaced by me when you recall the past. In fact, this is just groundless worry.

——Takamiya Shinshi died a long time ago, thirty years ago. What is in front of you now is just an afterimage woven by your brain after collecting the memories of "Shinshi".

——To take a step back, even if I really am the soul of "Shinshi Takamiya", I will not replace you.

——You are stronger than me, stronger than me, and better than me. You have done everything I cannot do. Why should I do this and hurt others?

"That's not true. I'm a useless person. If it weren't for your help, I would have died countless times already."

Shidou smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"I admire you very much. Even though you have no power and no one's help, you still want to protect Mio."

——That was just my bravado. If Mio had met someone other than me, she would have definitely had a happier life.

Shidou shook his head and firmly denied it.

"No one can replace you. It's because you didn't want to let go of Mio's hand until the last moment that Mio fell in love with you and wanted you to stay by her side."

"I won't deny you. Even if the ending is painful, you can't say that your love for Mio is wrong based on the result. Even if there is a mistake, it's not your fault."

[Although you yourself have never realized it, your past as 'Takamiya Shinshi' is definitely an indispensable part of you as 'Gokawa Shido'. ]

In an instant, Shidou seemed to understand the meaning of Mengyue's words.

It is precisely because Soumiya Shinji regrets his own powerlessness that Gokawa Shido has the power to save others.

It is precisely because Soumiya Shinji once lost the ordinary daily life that he hated that Gokawa Shido can understand how hard-earned and precious this daily life is.

It was because the expression of his lover's despair and collapse became the last scene that Sonomiya Shinji saw before his death. That's why Gokawa Shidao couldn't ignore the spirit in despair no matter what.

Maybe Gokawa Shido is not Somiya Shinshi, but it is because of the Somiya Shinshi in the past that we have the Gokawa Shido of today.

No wonder he was excluded from the dream before. He was the root of himself, and it was ridiculous to deny the root to determine himself.

"Maybe it's just like you said, I have someone else in my heart. So I can't be you, but like you, I don't want that person to show a painful expression again. So--"

As he said that, Shidou extended his hand towards the figure in front of him.

"Go save her."

…………

"Mashi" did not answer, but silently but firmly held Shidao's hand.

In an instant, the entire underwater world, including the figure in front of him, seemed to fade and bleach into a blank sheet of paper, which seemed to mean the end of this dream.

——Thank you...Itsuka Shido.

——Really…thank you.

"——!?"

With the lingering sound echoing in his ears, Shidou opened his eyes and woke up from his dream.

28 The determination to wake up from the dream

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

When Shidou opened his eyes, he found himself lying on the bed in the bedroom.

Looking at the alarm clock on the bedside table, the hour and minute hands stopped at around five o'clock.

The setting sun cast an orange-red glow that seeped into every corner of the room, silently reminding him that it was not morning, but already dusk.

"Am I still dreaming?"

Shidou seemed a little confused.

Judging from the layout of the room, Shidou and Shinshi after 30 years are not much different, ordinary and simple. In addition, in the memory before entering the dream, Shidou was still in the lounge of the airship, and now he suddenly returned to the bedroom, which made him lose the confidence to return to reality for a while.

Should I pinch my face? Shidao thought about it and quickly gave up the idea of ​​self-torture.

It's not because he was afraid of pain, but because Zhenshi's dream was too realistic. Not to mention the pain of being pinched on the face - the touch of objects, the taste of food, the warmth of the sun, even the coldness of the blood flowing when dying and the excruciating pain of having his chest opened were all so real that they were as if they were there, and were still fresh in his memory.

In the dream, he has been living as Somiya Shinshi for almost two or three months, but it is different from returning to reality from the virtual world. The latter is more of a sense of strangeness due to time dislocation, but the former is a sense of ambiguity that is difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood.

Just like the protagonist in a science fiction movie needs a beacon that can distinguish dreams, now he may also need something to confirm whether this is reality.

I used my elbows to prop up my slightly sluggish body. Suddenly, I felt an opposing force at my wrist, as if something was pressing down on me - no, it was holding my hand.

“Hoo…hiss…hoo…hoo…”

The sound of subtle but regular breathing that did not belong to Shidou entered his ears.

"Ok?"

Shidou looked down and saw a bulge in the bed sheet that clearly did not belong to him. Outside the bed sheet, he could see the other person's lower body below the slender waist sitting on a small stool beside the bed.

When he lifted the sheets, the person in front of him was not the silver-haired girl in the dream, but a girl named Ryogi Mengyue who was lying on the head of the bed, her left hand supporting her forehead instead of a pillow, her right hand on Shidou's palm, a few drops of saliva dripped from the corner of her mouth, leaving a small dark stain on the sheets.

"puff--"

Looking at Mengyue's defenseless and relaxed sleeping face, Shidao couldn't help laughing.

"It seems that he is indeed back..."

After unable to help but sigh with relief, Shidou began to shake Mengyue's shoulders.

"Mengyue, wake up. Don't sleep on your stomach like this. It's not good for your health."

"——Ha! What's going on? An enemy attack?!"

In an instant, Mengyue was awakened and stood up like a frightened bird, looking around with her messy hair.

"Good afternoon, Mengyue."

"What? So it's you who woke up, Shidou."

After she realized what was happening, Meng Yue couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and sat back in her chair.

"Sorry, I was the one watching the class, but I couldn't help but doze off."

Pressing his forehead and shaking his head, Meng Yue felt a little ashamed and scared. If DEM attacked while he and Shidao were asleep, the consequences would be disastrous.

"It's okay. After all, you have accumulated a lot of fatigue in the past few days, right?"

Shidao shook his head to indicate that he didn't mind. He understood that since Kurumi appeared, Mengyue had been running around for various things. Preventing DEM's assassination, training the elves, and taking care of herself - all of these forced Mengyue to shorten her work and rest time.

Although the physical fitness of elves is far superior to that of ordinary people, Mengyue's spirit is still human, so it is understandable that she is a little lax.

"And Meng Yue."

"What's wrong Shidou? You're laughing so strangely."

"Saliva and hair."

Shidou pointed at his mouth and reminded Mengyue.

Hearing Shidao's words, Mengyue realized how slovenly she looked at the moment, and a faint blush appeared on her face under the sunset glow. She quickly wiped her saliva with her sleeve, then took out a hairband and put her messy long hair into a ponytail.

"You're wearing the scrunchie I gave you."

"After all, there's no reason to leave the things you got in your room to get moldy."

"Yeah, too."

Looking at the star-moon headband on Meng Yue's ponytail, Shidao couldn't help but smile knowingly.

"What time is it now?"

"February 2th, 18 p.m."

"Have I slept for so long?"

Shidao was a little surprised to hear that he had slept for nearly twenty hours.

"It's okay. When I heard you say you wanted to sleep longer this time, I was prepared for you to still be asleep when DEM launched the attack."

"No matter what, it's impossible for me to sleep that long." Hearing Meng Yue's words, Shidao smiled bitterly and said, "Thank you."

"Okay, forget the polite words. I hope that the extra sleep you've gotten these past few days wasn't wasted."

Meng Yue held her chin with her hand and asked curiously.

"Do you remember it?"

"Yeah, I remember everything now."

Shidao nodded gently, recalling everything that happened in his dream, he felt both unwilling and relieved.

"I seem to understand now...why you want me to go on a date with Lingyin."

"is it?"

Meng Yue replied calmly.

"Mengyue, did you know this from the beginning?"

Seeing Mengyue's unsurprising reaction, Shidao couldn't help but ask.

"No, just like I told you at the beginning, I only know who Lingyin is, but I don't know what happened to her in the past?"

Shaking her head slightly, Meng Yue denied it.

"However, since we have decided to save Kurumi, her interests will inevitably be involved, and if we want to find the correct way to change history, all the information she can provide is necessary. No matter from which angle, we must make Reine - Takamiya Mio our partner."

"Then, just like you did with me and other spirits, Shidou, if you approach her without knowing anything, you will definitely fail."

"……I see."

Shidou breathed a sigh of approval.

"Then Mengyue, are you willing to listen to me? It's a story about a girl and a boy, from meeting to separation, an ordinary yet sad past."

“…Yes, please.”

————————————I am the dividing line for shifting perspectives——————————————

--Ike! --Ike!

Westcott slowly opened his eyes when he heard the noise next to his ears, and in front of him was Alan's unhappy face.

"Hah...what's the matter? My dear Alan."

"These are the troops and combat resources Wu Lian received from the headquarters. The list and visas are ready, and all that's left is for you to review and sign."

"Huh? Why don't you just sign for me?"

Hearing Westcott's perfunctory answer, Alan's forehead veins bulged.

"Please stop joking. If the director doesn't sign for this kind of thing in person, there will be mistakes. Or do you want me to press the tablet on your face to sign for you?!"

"Oh, well, that's scary."

Westcott shrugged in fear. He found that after recruiting Wu Lian as his subordinate, he didn't know what Alan had instilled in him, but he became more and more rude to him.

Taking the document from Allen, Westcott flipped through it as if he was speed reading, and nodded with satisfaction half a minute later.

"Very good, there is no problem with the variety and quantity. It is really easy to have excellent subordinates."

"That doesn't mean the boss can be lazy."

Alan retorted unhappily.

"By the way, Ike, have you been a little too lax lately? Aren't you afraid of being assassinated by Nightmare if you sleep in a place like this?"

——That won’t happen.

——We have always been by our father’s side.

——You don’t need to worry about it, Minister of Bean Sprouts.

"——!?"

"Relax~Relax, Alan."

Looking at Allen bursting with murderous intent towards "Nibelcol", Westcott replied slowly.

"The decisive battle will begin soon. The more time comes, the more you need to relax. If you tense up before the battle begins, you will easily lose your composure when the battle really starts."

"but……"

"Don't worry, our wish will come true."