The Protagonist’s Party is Too Diligent – 110
EP.110 Conclusion
In the end, nothing restores energy like a good meal.
With my stomach full and a slight drowsiness settling in, my mind finally felt at ease. After mulling over various thoughts, the conclusion I arrived at was simple: “So what?”
Yeah. So what?
It wasn’t the first time a stranger had suddenly popped up in my life. I’d already gone through it with Lena.
The Emperor thinking I was some kind of extraordinary being wasn’t news either. He’d already tasked me with several things, including outright ordering me to assassinate a count and nearly sending me to the battlefield instead of the academy.
And the reason I avoided that wasn’t due to my abilities but because of Alice. She had stormed straight to the Emperor after seeing morphine in my room, furious beyond belief, and negotiated on my behalf.
Limits to my powers? Those were bound to surface eventually. Honestly, my ability was absurdly overpowered. Other regression ability users in novels, comics, or animations had it far worse—some could only rewind time by dying, or they had to pay steep prices. Looking back, I’d had it way too easy.
Besides… considering how things had played out so far, I hadn’t made any catastrophic mistakes that warranted resetting everything.
So, I decided to stop worrying about it.
If that figure showed up again later, I’d deal with it then.
A psychologist I once visited out of curiosity had said something similar: “Don’t dwell on things you can’t solve right now. At the very least, try not to worry about them.”
True enough. Racking my brain over an uncontrollable future was pointless.
“……”
I felt Alice’s gaze fixated on me.
We were seated across from each other. Outside the window, an endless forest stretched to the horizon, trees marching in line. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t the trees moving—it was us.
“Honestly, your resilience never ceases to amaze me.”
“Is there something on my face?”
“Yep.”
At my question, Alice nodded decisively.
“Last time you came back from the battlefield, you were the same. You’d sit there brooding by yourself, and then a few hours later, you’d return like nothing had happened. Same this time. Right after meeting Father, you looked completely shaken, but now you’re fine again.”
“Yeah, you looked dazed when I went up to your room this morning too.”
Claire chimed in from her seat beside me.
By the way, Leo sat next to Alice, looking incredibly uncomfortable. Though we were all student council members and had gradually been breaking down walls through shared tea sessions, yesterday’s meeting with the Emperor seemed to have driven home the reality that Alice and I were truly “royalty.”
Noticing my glance at Leo, Claire shot him a subtle glare, as if to say, “Why are you making things awkward?”
…Well, I felt a little bad about it.
“There was a lot to think about.”
I explained.
“Is that so?”
“……”
When I didn’t elaborate further, Alice didn’t press me.
“…Don’t you want to ask me anything?”
“Hmm.”
At my question, Alice thought for a moment before responding decisively.
“Nope.”
Her straightforward answer caught me off guard, and I found myself staring at her in silence.
Noticing my reaction, Alice chuckled softly.
“Wondering why?”
“I am.”
Of course, I was curious.
If it had been me in her position, I would’ve rewound time in various ways to dig for answers. Granted, if I couldn’t uncover anything even after all that, I would’ve given up.
I’d already scoured the Empire’s forbidden archives and confirmed there was no prophecy explicitly mentioning my existence.
Though, to be fair, that had been more about finding clues to navigate the story than uncovering personal secrets.
“There’s no particular reason.”
Alice spoke, leaning back in her chair. Then she shifted her gaze from me to the window.
The forest never seemed to grow boring, always showing off its endless expanse. Along the way, I had seen several villages and towns, but they all seemed buried in the depths of the forest. If this world had other races, I’d think this would be the perfect place for elves to live.
“You need a logical reason to ask questions, or to not ask them, right? Well, I just don’t feel like asking right now. No, in fact, I probably won’t be the one to ask any questions in the future.”
Alice’s head remained turned toward the window, but she shifted her gaze toward me and smiled faintly.
“Not until you decide to tell me.”
“……”
I couldn’t find an answer to that.
Alice had already shared her thoughts with me—before we infiltrated the casino in bunny girl outfits. At the time, it had just seemed like she was dealing with some inferiority complex toward Claire, and I thought it was just an event scene meant to serve the game’s plot. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned between this world and the game, it’s that characters in games move according to the story, whereas the people here move on their own and create the story.
“Got it.”
“You look like you’ve figured something out.”
“……”
Alice’s comment made me feel like she had read my thoughts again. I turned my face toward Claire.
“Claire.”
“Huh, what!?”
Claire, who had been staring absentmindedly at Alice and me talking, snapped out of her trance, clearly startled that I was addressing her suddenly.
“Does my face show my emotions that easily?”
“Uh… uh?”
Claire, seemingly not catching on to the intent of my question right away, hesitated for a moment and stammered.
“Uh, no? Well, maybe sometimes? But not usually, I’d say…”
As I listened to Claire’s stuttered words, it was clear she was flustered.
“Hm.”
Alice snorted through her nose.
At that, Claire furrowed her brow.
“What was that reaction for?”
Her voice wasn’t particularly menacing or cold, but it definitely carried a hint of irritation.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No, it’s not wrong. It’s just… when you see someone unable to do something you can do, it makes you feel a bit superior, doesn’t it?”
“What!?”
Oh…
Claire, please, even if this train is a 20th-century model with poor soundproofing, yelling like that will make everyone around us stare.
And if you stand up like that, they’ll stare even more.
Most people probably have horrified expressions on their faces after hearing Claire shout like that, especially since they know who she hangs around with. Yelling at someone in the presence of someone like Alice—whether it’s justified or not—is an extremely disrespectful act.
If the daughter of a baron yelled at a princess, then—
The nobility’s reaction was already visible in Leo’s shocked expression next to Alice.
“C-Claire…!”
Leo’s face turned pale as he tried desperately to calm Claire down, but it wasn’t that easy since he wasn’t sitting right next to her. There was a small table between them.
And on top of that, Alice had her hand on Leo, preventing him from getting up.
Leo froze, looking at me with a silent plea for help, but—
…Sorry, I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on myself.
“You’ve been with your sister for so long! If I had the time, I’m sure I’d be able to read her emotions better than you could!”
Hmm…
If they’re planning on fighting over something like this, shouldn’t they just do it at the academy? If they’re going to argue, at least lower their voices a bit.
No, wait. I’d rather they just wait until we get to the academy. Having them fight next to me is incredibly embarrassing.
I’m barely managing to keep my expression together as it is.
Of course, Alice was smiling as she watched me.
She definitely saw through my expression.
“Well, I don’t know. You’ve never done it before, so how can you be so sure?”
“Ugh…!”
Claire’s face flashed with anger in response to Alice’s words, but then—
“……”
She exhaled a long breath.
Then, with a calm and dignified posture, she sat back down in her chair, as if the earlier outburst had never happened.
But that demeanor was just an act. Claire’s fighting spirit hadn’t disappeared at all.
“Sis.”
As proof of that, Claire looked at me as soon as she sat down and said,
“…Yes?”
“Look me in the eye.”
She slightly shifted her body toward me and said those words.
I silently did as she asked.
Claire’s deep blue eyes locked onto mine. While both Alice and Claire had blue eyes, Alice’s were like a clear lake, whereas Claire’s seemed like a vast blue hole, and when staring directly into them, it felt a little intimidating.
“From now until we get to school, we’re going to practice matching your expression.”
“…..”
I looked at Alice for support, but she just wore a look of amusement.
…Well, this is a disaster.