The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

---

The Villainous Noble Who Kept Rewinding After Death: The Story Somehow Changed When I Committed Suicide

Chapter 36: The Most Troublesome Thing

The next morning, I woke up feeling like someone was hugging me.

“Haa… Why is this happening…”

When I glanced down at my chest, I found Fiera sleeping while clinging to me.

(We definitely slept in separate beds last night. So why did she come over here to sleep?)

We had indeed gone to bed in different beds, yet here she was, using me as a pillow when I woke up. What’s up with this…?

(Seriously, what’s her aim?)

Well, I had a vague idea about her reasons for this behavior.

However, not knowing how we got to this point left me unsure about how to handle it.

(And honestly, what does she expect me to do considering I have no interest in romance?)

If her feelings for me are indeed romantic, I’m sorry, but I can’t reciprocate those feelings.

I figured it might be best to have a proper talk about this, so I pondered what to do in this situation.

Before I knew it, it seemed I dozed off again, and when I finally woke up, Fiera was gone from the room.

“Oh, good morning!”

Thinking she had gone to breakfast, I sat up in bed just as Fiera was returning to the room.

“Ah, you had breakfast?”

“No, I just did some light exercise.”

“I see. Uh, Fiera, I want to talk a bit.”

“Hmm?”

When I said that, Fiera sat on the bed next to me and looked at me.

I was considering how to broach the morning incident, but since both Fiera and I were the type to avoid complications, I decided to ask straightforwardly.

“I have one question—what do you think of me?”

“I like you.”

Fiera answered my question without hesitation, causing me to stutter slightly in response.

However, I thought that if I acted ambiguously here, it wouldn’t bode well for the future, so I also clearly conveyed my feelings.

“I appreciate your feelings, but I don’t have those kinds of feelings for you.

So I’m sorry, but if you came along on this journey because of those feelings, could you please return now?”

Upon hearing my words, Fiera showed a brief expression of sadness, but it quickly transformed into one of determination as she seriously spoke her mind.

“I understand you don’t feel the same way, but I want to see the world, and that’s why I’m following you. It has been my dream since I was little.

So I will continue to follow you. And even if you don’t feel that way now, I’ll make you notice me someday. You can act as usual.”

In Fiera’s eyes, I could feel the unwavering resolve to follow me, and realizing it would be futile to further persuade her, I ended the topic with, “Do as you like.”

At first, I considered leaving her behind, but since my time with her would likely end when I start attending the academy after our journey, I figured it wouldn’t be a problem to leave her alone until then.

Besides, even if I did leave her behind, I sensed a vibe from her that was determined to follow me no matter what, which honestly spooked me a little.

Sigh. This quirky one. Why did it have to be me…?

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think of myself as a bothersome person.

I have little interest in anything other than fighting and lazing around, and the only ones I hold dear are my parents at most.

Everything else is inconsequential, and I’ve long lost the ability to feel love for others.

Yet, I find myself being somewhat soft on Fiera; perhaps it’s because she didn’t play a role in my past life that led to my death.

That means, somewhere deep down, I’m still scared of the people linked to my demise, like Iris and Miria, and I’m subconsciously seeking comfort from someone unrelated like Fiera.

(I’m my own biggest hassle…)

Reaffirming my view of myself as a troublesome person, I got out of bed, changed clothes, and headed off to have breakfast with Fiera.

After eating breakfast, we promptly made our way to the Adventurers’ Guild to take on some quests.

Once inside, the people around us, perhaps having seen us yesterday, avoided making eye contact.

While I ignored the stares and perused the bulletin board, I found a request that seemed just right and decided to ask Fiera about it.

“Fiera. How about this one?”

“King Trent. A Rank. No problem.”

“Okay, then let’s take this request!”

Having decided on the request, we went to the reception desk where we showed the reception lady the request form to handle the paperwork.

After taking on the request, we exited the Adventurers’ Guild and quickly made our way into the forest to hunt King Trent.

“Wow, the trees are denser than I thought. It’s going to be impossible to use fire magic here.”

“Yeah. I also need to watch my footing; it could be dangerous.”

After confirming what we could and couldn’t do, as well as some points of caution, I cast a detection spell and we proceeded.

King Trent was located shallower in the forest than I anticipated, and on the way there, we encountered Forest Wolves, Killer Bees, and Green Bears, taking them out swiftly as we moved forward.

“Wahhh!!!”

Just as we were advancing and about to sight our target, four men and women came running towards us, screaming.

“El!”

“I know!”

It seemed Fiera also sensed the approaching monster and immediately took a combat stance.

As I readied my magic to launch, the fleeing quartet shouted at us.

“Y-you guys! Hurry up and run!”

The apparent leader among them called out as they hurried towards us, worried about our safety, but we had no intention of running. Why?

“Why would we run away? The prey is coming right at us!”

That’s right! The one they were escaping from was King Trent, our target for elimination.

“Fiera. Go all out!”

“Got it!”

“Hey! Wait!”

Fiera zipped in between the fleeing four and unleashed a powerful punch at King Trent.

As King Trent took Fiera’s hit, its massive body leaned backward and then fell with a good thud.

“Seriously…?”

“No way!”

The quartet paused, astonished at the force of Fiera’s strike, when suddenly, the trees around us started to move, attempting to attack with their vines and roots.

“Kyahhh!”

It seemed King Trent’s racial magic, multiplication, had turned the surrounding trees into Trents.

King Trent had the ability to instantaneously sow seeds from branches growing on itself, converting nearby trees into Trents as its subordinates.

“Ice Flower Garden!”

I quickly cast the ice magic, Ice Flower Garden, causing beautiful ice flowers to bloom rapidly from the surrounding Trents, draining their life force until they withered away.

Ice Flower Garden is a magic that forcibly extracts life energy from the target to bloom flowers, leaving enemies dried up and dead.

“Uh, what’s going on?”

“They’re withering…”

“Fiera. Finish it off!”

“Alright!”

The four who had braced themselves for attacks from the Trents stood shocked at the sight of the suddenly wilting Trents, but I ignored them and directed Fiera to deliver the finishing blow to the weakened King Trent, wrapping her arms in fighting spirit and slicing King Trent cleanly in two with her hand sword.

“It’s over.”

“Good job.”

After Fiera returned with King Trent’s magic stone, I took the stone from her and placed it in my magic bag alongside the other materials we collected.

“Uh, um…”

(Huh? Oh, they’re still here?)

As I was stripping the bark off King Trent and collecting its valuable branches, a young swordsman around 18 years old called out from behind me.

“Thank you for saving us!”

“Don’t mention it. Our target was this guy anyway; rescuing you was just a bonus.”

“I-I see…”

Not knowing how to respond when I said helping them was secondary, the young man gave me a wry smile.

“We need to gather materials from this guy, so you can head back first.”

“Understood. Please let us thank you later.”

After saying that, the four of them gave a slight bow and headed toward the forest exit.

“All right, Fiera. Let’s finish this up quickly.”

“Got it!”

After finishing up the disassembly of the much larger King Trent with some help from Fiera, we slowly made our way back to town.