This is not the date I wanted.

In the original work, the use of these two types of bullets must consume the spiritual power of the elves. No matter the length of time spanned, or how long to stay in the past or future, it is all determined by the amount of spiritual power injected into the bullet. When the spiritual power is exhausted, it will be forced to return to the original time.

In this book, the settings of these two types of bullets are more fancy.

What Meng Yue said is that time travel to the past and time travel to the future are two different situations, because time moves forward to the future. If you change the past, you change the present, but if you change the future, it will not affect the present.

For example, if Shidou traveled back to the past five years ago, it would mean that there were two Gokawa Shidou five years ago; but if Shidou traveled back to the future five years later, if Shidou did not go back, then there would also be a Gokawa Shidou in the future.

The former may cause problems similar to the "grandmother paradox", but the latter will not. From the perspective of others, it is just that a person suddenly disappears and then reappears after a period of time.

Well, in short, the original setting of the "Twelve Bullets" in this book is that the injection of spiritual power affects the length of time spanned, and also the correction force used to resist the world from preventing history from happening. Therefore, the longer you stay in the past, the more spiritual power is consumed. When the spiritual power in the bullet is exhausted, it will be forced to bounce back to the original time and space.

In comparison, the "Eleven Bullets" have much fewer restrictions, consume relatively less spiritual energy, and will not be forced to be sent back to the present after arriving in the future, so Kurumi can spend six years in the future.

Of course, according to my theory, there are actually quite a few loopholes. I am not an expert in this area, and the only work I have seen is "Stone Gate", so everyone should just watch it for your own entertainment.

There is also the "Six Bullets". Although I did not modify the setting of this ability, many readers seem to have many doubts about it. I will try to answer it with my personal opinion.

1. Can the Six Bullets only travel to a few days in the past?

A: Yes, the ability of this bullet is similar to the time jump machine invented by the assistant in the Stone Gate, which only transmits the user's consciousness to the past. However, although the span of a transmission is only a few days, in theory, Kurumi can use the "Six Bullets" again after returning to the past and then jump to a longer past.

Second, why didn't Kurumi use the Six Bounces to jump to an earlier time in the Refrain volume? Wouldn't she have more time to prepare?

Answer: She can't do it. In June, Kurumi accidentally lost the "Six Bullet" because she kissed Shido. It was not until February of the following year that she got it back from Shido after his death. There was an interval of eight months. During this period, Kurumi did not have the ability of the "Six Bullet", and the ability range of the "Six Bullet" could not span the length of eight months. Moreover, Kurumi at this point in time had already opened her heart to Shido. If she kissed the living Shido, she would not only fail to get the "Six Bullet" back, but her spiritual power would be sealed by Shido.

3. Why didn’t Kurumi think of traveling through time to change the past when her best friend Sawa died?

A: I had doubts about this at first. At first, I simply thought that Kuang San didn't think of it at that time. But after thinking about it carefully,

Maybe she felt that even if she didn't become an elf, Mio would find someone else to replace her, which might eventually endanger her and her friends, so she decided to master this power herself and then kill Mio to solve the problem at the root.

4. Why didn’t Kurumi use the “Sixth Bullet” or “Twelfth Bullet” to go back thirty years to find Mio?

Answer: "Six Bullets" is not needed because thirty years ago, Kurumi was just an ordinary person (maybe even a loli), and the conditions of "Six Bullets" do not support Kurumi jumping to thirty years ago. "Twelve Bullets" is not needed because it consumes too much spiritual power, and even if she goes back thirty years ago, it would be meaningless if she does not have enough power to defeat Mio, so before that, she must take away Shido's spiritual power.

Speaking of Kurumi, some readers also mentioned that my portrayal of Tokisaki Kurumi in this volume was somewhat unsuccessful. For example, it was impossible for Kurumi to give up her mission in reincarnation, and even if she gave up, she would commit suicide directly because of guilt.

Although what you said is not without reason, I personally do not think that this kind of shaping is wrong.

In this reincarnation where Shidou was killed, unlike the original work where Kurumi resisted alone, in this book Mengyue became her partner, which had a considerable impact on Kurumi, both for good and bad.

First of all, because of Mengyue's intervention, Kurumi successfully prevented Shidao's death many times, which made Kurumi invisibly develop a sense of trust and dependence on Mengyue.

Normally, Mengyue is the kind of person who respects other people's privacy, knows how to maintain a proper distance when communicating, and is very easy to get along with. But at critical moments, she is the type who may put hidden problems in front of the parties directly.

When Kuang San and Meng Yue are together, it is as if they are facing a mirror without any falsehood, which presents her unconscious, cowardly and confused self in front of her. If she cannot come up with an answer to this, Kuang San will naturally fall into confusion.

Secondly, it is Mengyue’s personality. Although no one knows when it started, Mengyue has an additional "motherly" attribute that she did not have at first. Although it is a bit funny, there is indeed some maternal nature in Mengyue's character that can tolerate the mistakes and sins of others. This further induces the confused Kuang San to give up reincarnation and choose to rely on Mengyue.

If people have no way to retreat, they can only keep moving forward even if they don't want to.

But what if there is still a way out?

Especially after experiencing more than a hundred unforgettable failures, can we continue to move forward unswervingly?

This is probably my understanding of Kurumi's situation in this line.

What else do I want to mention... It's Niya. When I wrote this volume, I also wrote it based on the premise that Niya, who had experienced a reversal and had her spirit crystal taken away, would not reverse in either the mental or physical level. But in the story, Niya's position is more like a person who clearly wants to make a difference, but always finds that he is unable to do so, and clearly does not want to regret it, but always unconsciously makes choices that make him regret it.

Rather than creating Erya, I actually incorporated some experiences from real life into the story, the kind where you clearly realize that such a choice is wrong, but by the time you realize this, you have often already made the wrong choice.

If only I had done it that way back then. ——I thought this in my heart, but I knew there was no if in the world, and in the end I could only regret it in my heart.

Phew - I am almost done with this. When I first came up with this idea, I hesitated for a long time whether to write it. After all, I had never written a tragedy at that time, so I didn't know if I was suitable for writing this kind of thing. During this period, I deliberately used another tragedy inspiration of mine, "The Girl and the Dragon", to practice.

As you can see, I am not suitable for writing tragedies. Damn it! I cried a lot when the girl or Meng Yue died. I can't cry easily.

By the way, the plot of this special volume is actually a continuation of the reset of Kurumi in another volume. If you have finished reading this volume, you can reread the reset of Kurumi in this book, and you may have a different experience.

Of course, there are still some ideas that have not been written in this volume, such as the normal ending story where Kurumi accepts reality and turns it upside down. Maybe I will write it later when you and I have calmed down.

Finally, thank you all for your continued support for this book.

Well, everyone, see you later!

34 If Searching for the Scent of Happiness (Part )

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

The fingertips were trembling slightly.

The moment she picked up the Kekeketei, the tragic scenes of Shidao's countless deaths and Mengyue's smile before his death began to appear in front of Kuang San's eyes.

"I……"

-

①I cannot accept such a future.

② Be willing to accept the current reality.

-

The flintlock fell from the weak fingertips, fell into the dead leaves, and turned into light dust and dissipated.

"No... No... It's no use anymore..."

Lying limply on the ground, Kuang San let out a slight whine from her throat.

One step, just one step, is so out of reach.

The fear and despair that reincarnation brought to Kuang San was like a nightmare that lingered in her heart and broke down her inner defenses.

She had had enough. She had had enough a long time ago. No matter how hard she struggled and resisted, the end result was the death of her loved ones. Once, twice, three times, ten times, a hundred times - the result was the same. In the end, all she did was toy with the life and dignity of the dead for her own will.

And now, isn't it just Shidao who is going to disturb Mengyue's sleep again?

"So...are you planning to give up?"

The clone said so.

That cold tone was so painful in Kuang San's ears.

“Ah… the angel who can turn back time… the only existence that can make ‘if’ come true… it’s just a nice lie… this world is always like this… it gives me a tiny bit of hope when I’m about to give up, and then lets me fall into an even deeper abyss of despair…”

As if to defend herself, Kuang San smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Besides, didn't you say that even if we go back to the past, we will only be greeted by an even more desperate future, so..."

Speaking of this, Kuang San couldn't help but choke up, and after a long time, she finally spoke with difficulty.

"Then... isn't it good to accept this 'reality'..."

In an instant, as if she had taken an irreversible step, Kuang San saw the shadow of the "clone" gradually become fainter and as illusory as a bubble.

——Really? This is your decision.

——Although it’s a bit regrettable. “We” have only appeared here so far, and now you have no reason to need “us” anymore.

——We are you, the you of the past.

——You are our accumulation and the destination we will reach in the future.

——Therefore, even if you choose to escape, we can only accept it.

——However, there is only one thing you must keep in mind.

——Don't waste her and his kindness.

As soon as he finished speaking, the "clone" turned into light dust and dissipated into the air, just like the previous "Emperor Ke Ke".

What remained in the forest at this time was no longer the being called "the most evil elf", but just a girl with scars and holes in her heart.

“Gu—Ahaha… Ugh…Waaaaaaaaa—”

Tears flowed out again, Kuang San covered her red and swollen eyes, and fell to her knees on the ground crying.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Shidou... I'm sorry... Mengyue... I... uh... I... I've already..."

In this silent forest, only Kuang San's choked sobs echoed in the darkness.

————————————————————————

What does happiness taste like?

Yatogami Tohka occasionally thought about this question.

If it is simply "delicious" and "yummy", then it is not difficult to understand Shixiang. The best ingredients, the first-class chefs, and the dishes made by the culinary skills that have been honed can indeed satisfy the body's taste buds to a great extent. This answer should be recognized by most people.

But that is not the taste of happiness.

It is not just physical satisfaction, whether it is a big thing like a lively reunion dinner or a small thing like a cup of ordinary boiled water. As long as the so-called "love" is poured into it, people can feel extremely happy.

To be honest, Shixiang didn't really understand the deep meaning of this kind of chicken soup for the soul. But it was true that no matter how popular or high-end the restaurant was, Shixiang still preferred to go back to the apartment and eat the food made by her grandma with everyone.

However, until one day, on the way home from school, Tohka took a detour to hand in a wallet she found to the police station.

On her way home along a route seldom travelled, a faint fragrance inexplicably caught Tohka's attention.

Unable to suppress her curiosity, Tohka followed the direction of the fragrance and finally arrived at the door of a store.

"A bakery?"

Tohka couldn't help but mutter to herself. The meals cooked at home were generally Japanese and Chinese cuisine. Although breakfast was occasionally changed to Western style, it was just the simplest toast.

This is the first time I have come to a shop that specializes in selling bread since I lost my memory and was adopted.

"Hmm, there are so many kinds of bread."

Walking into the store, Tohka couldn't help but exclaim in amazement at the various types of bread in the cupboard.

Then, Tohka fixed her gaze on a certain place.

"Soybean flour bread——Gulu~"

Tohka couldn't help swallowing. Although the other breads looked delicious, for some reason, this kind of bread, whether it was the aroma, appearance, or the pronunciation of the name, was able to arouse her appetite.

Although there was dinner before returning home, after hesitating for a long time, Shixiang still bought ten soybean flour breads to satisfy her craving.

"I'm moving. Ha---!"

The moment she took the first bite, Tohka's eyes widened.

The crispy and sweet soybean powder and the soft bread form an excellent taste. The fried crust is crispy and sweet, oily but not greasy. The moment you bite it, the aroma of butter and black sesame fills your mouth, making you smile with satisfaction.

“Delicious… Happy…”

It was so delicious that Tohka couldn't help crying. She was sure that if there was such a thing as "happiness" in the world, it must be the taste of kinako bread.

So from that day on, Yatogami Tohka had a dream, to open a bakery so that more people could taste the taste of "happiness".

and so--

"Are you an idiot? Yatogami Tohka."

After reading what Tohka filled out on the career survey form, Tobiichi Origami laughed at her without hesitation.

"What do you mean? Tobiichi Origami."

Hearing Origami's words, Tohka frowned unhappily.

"I followed the teacher's instructions and filled in what I wanted to do in the future."

"Indeed, I don't deny it. With your grades, this goal is a little more realistic than the unrealistic goal of furthering your studies."

“Is that a sarcasm?”

Tohka felt her anger level rising.

"But you're not good at cooking."

Origami said without changing her expression.

"Well--"

The pain was so sharp that Tohka was speechless.

"It's not that I'm not good at it. I'm just not very experienced yet. I didn't know that I couldn't put eggs in the microwave, so they exploded... As long as I work hard, I will succeed one day!"

"I have no interest in spiritualism."

Origami shook her head, interrupting Tohka's words.

"Besides, even if your cooking skills really improve, there are still a lot of things to prepare, such as raising funds, choosing a store and a location. And letting others taste the taste of 'happiness' is too abstract, isn't it? Apart from soybean flour bread, I don't see that you have much interest in other breads or Western pastries."

"The other breads are delicious too."