Chapter 8: What Remains After Goodbye.

The day after Linesha left, Seo Jin couldn’t open the shop.

Because the aftermath of her magic yesterday had completely turned the inside into a mess.

Would it look like this if he had left the windows open and faced a typhoon?

Broken glass cups, scattered tableware. Everything was a mess. It seemed like it would take all day to clean it properly. There were many things that were completely unusable and had to be bought new.

Nevertheless, he didn’t have any intention of blaming Linesha at all.

Because in the first place, it was all his retribution. Even the words that he had to endure it were too much.

With the excuse that it was to reverse the twisted development,

For the reason that the originally destined fate was that,

The grief of loss, the strong will to overcome it, and even the talent that grows from it. It was no different from using them as he pleased.

So he wanted to leave it as just a past memory, so that she wouldn’t even know the fact that she had been deceived.

He wanted to cover it up so that even if she was sad about the parting, she wouldn’t even be disappointed in the truth.

But he couldn’t even do that one thing properly.

Linesha eventually came to find Seo Jin and asked the reason with a resentful gaze.

『”Please answer me.”』

The pitiful voice still seemed to pierce Seo Jin’s heart painfully.

In fact, he wanted to tell her that he was sorry

That he never thought lightly of you.

That it was only because he didn’t have much time left, that he didn’t want you to experience the same pain twice…. so…. he couldn’t bring himself to return.

If he had said that, Linesha would have certainly forgiven him.
She would have sympathized with him and understood him.

And she would have certainly ached deeply once again from the scheduled loss.

『”That kid was crying in front of your fake grave for a whole month.”』

Seo Jin still felt guilty about the story he had heard someday.

He didn’t know that it would be like that. He didn’t know that Linesha would be so sad about his lies, that she would feel that much pain.

It was all Seo Jin’s fault.

So now he wanted her to resent him.

He wanted her to live her life without looking back with a chilling sense of betrayal.

That’s why he didn’t even make an excuse to her when he met her again.

He couldn’t think of any other way.

Seo Jin was that kind of person.

Clumsy no matter what he tried, and he hurt those close to him.

Arcel, Yunia, and now even Linesha…..

So there was always only regret.

If he had known it would turn out like this,
He should have gotten rid of the pathetic lingering feelings a long time ago.

He should have rather not woken up again back then, in that place….

It was around the time when the cleaning of the shop that had taken several hours was roughly finished. Someone knocked on the door from outside.

“Ah, you’re here.”

A middle-aged man with a friendly impression. He gestured with his head inside and greeted him.

Seo Jin also recognized the other person.
He was the landlord of this shop, whom he had first met in the lease contract a few months ago.

He had been solving the necessary business through phone calls, so why had he come directly this time?

The curiosity was quickly resolved.

“It’s nothing much, but our building has been sold. I came to tell you that.”

“…..?”

The landlord laughed shamelessly.

“As of yesterday, all the shops around here have been completely sold. I don’t know the details, but they say that they’re going to demolish them all and use them as a business site? So…. you’ll probably have to move out of this shop soon. Haha, I’m sorry about that. It was decided suddenly, so please understand.”

A unilateral notice.
Regardless of the reaction, it was an attitude that the matter was already over in the first place.

“Was it the Stella Guild that bought it? I’ve heard of them because they’re so famous. Don’t worry too much. Since they’re a large guild, they’ll give you a generous compensation.”

Seo Jin didn’t get angry.

Even though his nest had been taken away in an instant, he didn’t bother to protest.

From the moment the familiar name was mentioned… he was just quietly complying.

Stella Guild.
The most prominent combat ability user guild since the end of the war,
They had influence that surpassed even the law, backed by the support of their parent company.
It didn’t matter that numerous war heroes were affiliated with them, and that public opinion was on their side as well.

The reason why Seo Jin agreed without a word was simply because he knew which company it belonged to.

Apelberry Company.

It was a company run by Linesha’s family.

Therefore, since it was clear whose intention this situation was,
Seo Jin did not make any complaints.

Because it was all a result that he deserved to endure.
Even if this was resentment and venting towards him, he was just going to quietly accept it.

Because of that, he started cleaning up the shop once again.

Because this will be the last time.

A little cleaner than usual.

『”Someday the war will be over, and when everything returns to a safe world like before… people like us won’t have to fight anymore, right?”』

『”Then then…. Why don’t we open a cafe together?”』

『”Seo Jin makes coffee, and I make desserts and sell them together. How is it? Not bad, right?”』

『”If the business doesn’t do well, it’s okay even if there’s a little left over. I’ll take care of it all. No matter how much sweet stuff there is, there’s no problem. I’m serious, I’m not kidding!”』

『”……….”』

『”Huh? Isn’t that…. obvious?”』

『”Because I like it.”』

『”Because I really like it, that’s why I can do that.”』

『”Someday, yeah. At that time, please…….”』

Now, the voice in his memory, which felt like it was so long ago that the pages of memory had faded. The timbre that could no longer be found anywhere… While he was cleaning up the shop, it lingered and disappeared from his ears.

The cafe that they jokingly talked about running together someday.
In the end, only half of that promise was kept.

Seo Jin still remembers that time.

When he first got this shop. The illusion of Arcel sitting at the empty table always seemed to be there…. He couldn’t do anything at all.

He could feel the gaze looking at him as if she was just like she was in his lost memories….

The Seo Jin remembers her as a person who smelled like the spring sun.

Warm, cozy, and somehow ticklish,
A precious relationship that he only misses the more he thinks about it,
It was a precious relationship.

But due to Seo Jin’s mistake, Arcel’s destiny was twisted.
She disappeared without even starting what she had to do.

Therefore, Seo Jin has been trying so far.

As the minimum atonement.
To replace Arcel’s absence,
He had been struggling to fix the twisted fate.

But it was still not enough. Although he had roughly returned what was needed, he couldn’t be perfect….

No matter what he did, he couldn’t do it like her…….

In the end, it turned out like this,
But there wasn’t much left anyway.

He wanted to tell her that he would be able to go to meet her soon
So please wait just a little longer.

Seo Jin silently pulled down his sleeve.

The dark blue stain on his shoulder was a little closer to his heart than it was yesterday.

Around that time, at the same time in a different location.

At the top floor of the [Encroachment Flood Damage Countermeasures Defense Bureau] building, in the director’s office, a woman who had been quietly lost in thought for a long time opened her eyes.

Yunia finally put an end to her worries and was convinced.

As expected, no matter how much she thought about it, it was strange.

That was the question about the phone call she had received a few days ago.

[“I suddenly thought of you and called. You’re doing well, right?”]

Linesha, the sudden contact from someone whom she hadn’t exchanged a single word with for almost several years. Perhaps thanks to the fact that the emotions towards each other had been somewhat washed away by time, she was only embarrassed by the voice she heard after a long time at the moment.

But even after that, Yunia couldn’t shake off the uneasy feeling.

Although they were now almost estranged, the Linesha she knew was certainly not someone who would make such empty contact.

So there was definitely something.

Something had happened that she was deeply involved in too-

Yunia began to suspect.