What did this guy just say?
Did he ask if I knew about Regression?
The completely unexpected question left my mind blank.
It felt like I'd been clubbed over the head.
*What on earth is he thinking?*
Above all else, I couldn't read his intent.
A Regressor, asking out of nowhere whether I knew about Regression.
Could it be — was he actually planning to reveal his identity right here and now?
*Maybe… he's figured out that I'm a Regressor.*
My back went cold and damp with sweat.
To throw a person into this much confusion with a single sentence.
The Commander might well be a genuine genius at conversation.
So then — what on earth was the right answer here?
Keeping my true thoughts buried, I arranged my face into an expression of mild embarrassment.
"I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that — could you say it again?"
"Yes. Leila. Do you happen to know what Regression is?"
"…?"
I'd said it just to buy myself time to think.
But hearing it again, there was something subtly strange about the phrasing.
He hadn't announced that he was a Regressor.
He hadn't accused me of being one either.
It was, at face value, nothing more than a simple question — did I know what Regression was.
In that case… was this a trap to gauge my reaction?
I ran through every possible scenario and arrived at a conclusion.
For now, play dumb.
*Either way, I can't afford to let him find out I'm a Regressor. I'd lose my ability to toy with him.*
I hadn't even gotten to enjoy myself properly yet.
I couldn't let it end so anticlimactically here.
Steeling my resolve, I tilted my head to one side.
"Regression — you mean going back to how things were? Why do you ask?"
"Do you perhaps not know much about… time reversing? Something like that?"
"…Time reversing?"
"Yes. If something like that actually existed — what do you think it would be like?"
*Ah. I see. Now I understand.*
It was only then that I grasped the Commander's intent.
He was currently… gauging whether it was safe to reveal himself.
*I overlooked the fact that he's a rookie Regressor.*
The surest method for a Regressor to prevent someone's death.
That was to reveal their identity without concealment.
*I know you're going to die in the future, so cooperate with me.*
Say that, and it would work on most people.
But here was where the problem arose.
Whether the other person would actually accept the truth of it.
Not everyone takes another person's words at face value.
There was even the possibility it would breed distrust instead.
In other words — the Commander was clearly testing me to find out whether it was safe to reveal that he'd regressed.
*So in the end, he doesn't actually suspect that I'm a Regressor?*
I finally relaxed.
Honestly, my heart had gone cold thinking he'd figured everything out.
As expected — there's no way there are any gaps in my acting.
And on top of that, this was actually a good opportunity.
If I could just steer things in the right direction here.
I could manipulate the Commander exactly as I wanted.
Good. I have a rough sense of what to say.
Having sorted out my thoughts, I looked at the Commander.
And I smiled at him — at the faint anxiety he was trying to hide.
"That sort of thing only exists in movies and comics, doesn't it? Time reversing — I don't think it's very realistic."
"…I see."
"And besides, if something like that did exist… it would be a little frightening."
"Frightening?"
The Commander's body went almost imperceptibly rigid at my answer.
I laughed inwardly at the sight and continued.
"Because it makes me think of an Erosion Species with that kind of ability. That's quite unsettling. How would you even fight a monster like that… it would certainly be a formidable enemy."
"…What if it were on your side?"
"On my side? Hmm…. Even then, if it wasn't someone I could trust, I'd want to keep a little distance. It feels like they'd know things about me that I don't know myself…. Yes, I think I'd still find it a little frightening."
"…."
Discreetly.
I stole a glance at the Commander's expression.
He looked as though he'd bitten into something astringent.
Just as I thought. You're so easy to read, Commander.
"By the way — why were you curious about that?"
"Ah, well…. I was reading a novel with that kind of content last night, and I was curious how other people would react."
"Oh… is it interesting? Tell me the title too."
"That… I'll make sure to tell you later."
Whether my answer had the intended effect, I wasn't sure.
But the Commander seemed to have given up on revealing himself as a Regressor for the time being.
After all, it had only been a day since we'd met in this timeline.
He must have decided he hadn't built up enough trust yet.
Thank goodness he has a cautious personality. Truly.
After the conversation wound down to a natural close.
We sat at the desk and each worked through our respective paperwork.
Then, out of nowhere, the Commander spoke to me again.
"Leila. May I ask you one more thing?"
"Yes. Go ahead."
"If you knew the future — that someone precious to you was going to die…. What would you do?"
My hand, mid-signature on a document, came to a dead stop.
No matter how I thought about it, that precious person was… me.
Who asks something like that to the person themselves?
I suppressed the hollow laugh threatening to escape.
And answered without turning to look at him.
"Is that also something from the novel you mentioned reading?"
"Ah, yes. Something like that."
"Hmm, what an interesting premise. Knowing the future in which someone precious to you dies…."
I drummed my fingers on the desk as if mulling it over.
I didn't need to think about it at all. I answered as though it were obvious.
"Of course you'd save them. Because they're precious to you."
"Even if the process were ever so difficult and painful?"
"Heh, how difficult are we talking?"
"Difficult enough that… you might have to risk your life."
"Yikes. You'd have to risk your life?"
"Yes. I intend to risk mine."
The Commander's voice had dropped somewhat.
I couldn't see his face, but I could feel the weight of his sincerity.
Something in that manner gave me an instinctive sense of it.
Just as I had worn my notebook ragged drawing up plans the night before.
He, too, must have turned over every possible method to save me.
Come to think of it, it really was quite a difficult trial.
The time remaining was a week at most.
The enemies to be fought: Midir and a vast legion of Erosion Species.
How could anyone navigate that crisis.
The Commander, with no combat ability of his own, must have agonized over it from every angle.
*My, how touching. To think so much of me.*
I suppose I've accumulated quite a debt of sin.
Reducing a person to this state.
Even so, the only thing I could offer him here was this.
"Then — shall I say the same?"
"Your life… you mean?"
"My life isn't anything so grand. But if someone is that precious to me, I think I could throw myself in with that kind of resolve."
"And if you tried and failed…."
"If I failed, then both I and the person precious to me would die together, wouldn't we? In that case, I'm sure there'd be no regrets."
At my answer, the Commander fell silent, seemingly lost in thought.
I wasn't sure how it had landed, but the feeling was fairly positive.
After that, the conversation didn't continue, and we both buried ourselves in work.
About two hours passed like that.
Leaning back heavily in my chair, I asked the Commander:
"I'm going to step out for a moment and grab some coffee. Do you need anything, Commander?"
"I'm… fine."
"Is that so? Then I'll be back quickly."
Saying I'd return soon, I slipped out of the Commander's office.
My destination was a vending machine tucked away in a quiet corner.
I pulled out a cold canned coffee and glanced around.
No one was looking my way.
I claimed a bench and let myself slide back against the wall.
"Haah, this is a problem…."
The Commander's face drifted through my mind.
The eyes of someone who had made a decision and was preparing to carry it out.
No matter how I looked at it, that was not a favorable development.
*At this rate, he'll reveal himself as a Regressor eventually. It's only a matter of time.*
Naturally, what I'd said earlier was nothing more than a stopgap.
If he made up his mind, the Commander could try to reveal his identity at any moment.
The reason I was so certain wasn't complicated.
It was simply because that was the most reliable way to solve the problem.
His goal was to prevent my death.
And the best thing the Commander could do toward that end was this:
*Reveal himself as a Regressor and make Midir's existence officially known.*
In other words, left as things were, he would eventually come out as a Regressor.
And that… was not a particularly favorable development for me.
If he only confided in me, that would be one thing.
But if he revealed the Regression to anyone other than me, the situation had a high chance of unraveling in all sorts of ways.
The ability to regress had never been exposed before.
He might even get scouted by Central Headquarters….
…The Commander slipping out of my reach?
*Crack.* Without thinking, I bit down on the rim of the can, and it crumpled pathetically out of shape.
*That won't do. The Commander has to stay close to me. There must be some way….*
But how could I make him keep the Regression hidden?
Should I just kill myself the moment he confesses to being a Regressor?
No — as a method it wasn't bad, but.
The Commander seemed to still be alive after my death.
And there was a chance an autopsy would reveal the suicide.
On top of that, if he revealed himself as a Regressor to someone else?
It would be a method that became pointless from the start.
"So what do I do…."
Frustrated, I drained the canned coffee in one go.
I tossed the empty can and was about to head back to the Commander's office when —
A Valkyrie came rushing down the corridor from the opposite direction.
A pretty girl with a bob cut — a vaguely familiar face.
She seemed to notice my presence, and her eyes went wide.
She had the impression of a squirrel. I greeted her.
"Hello. Morka, was it?"
"Oh, you know my name?!"
"Heh, I'm going to be working at this branch from now on. I made sure to memorize everyone's faces and names in advance."
The girl's name was Morka.
One week from now, she would be devoured by Midir.
Despite her gentle-looking face, she was taller than I'd expected —
Standing side by side, she was nearly at eye level with me.
Morka seemed moved by my greeting, and she fussed excitedly.
"To be remembered by someone so beautiful! May I call you Leila?"
"Ahaha… don't be like that. I want to get close to everyone here. Oh — would you like to exchange numbers?"
"Y-yes please!"
Morka, wagging an invisible tail like a large, enthusiastic dog.
As I watched her, a good idea suddenly came to me.
*If I gave him a reason he absolutely had to keep the Regression hidden….*
Yes. It seemed I was going to have to do something just a little bit wicked.