Decision

After Arthur left both of us alone, Athena once again continued with her long sermon. This lasted a few hours, until...

"As I was saying," Athena crossed her arms. "It was because of you working together with your brother that she managed to graduate college. Also, it was thanks to your recommendations, her talents got recognized by government and was later placed to the same research team you are in before you retired. If it wasn't for your help, her life wouldn't be the same as the one she had in our previous life."

She took a long breather before she continued, "She felt indebted to you after seeing you do those things. Even though you weren't blood related, and even though you could have choose to escape those responsibilities, you didn't but instead chose to help them. Because of this, slowly, that girl fell in love with you." Finally finished from saying everything she wanted to say, Athena slowly lifted her head to look at me straight in the eyes to see what's my expression.

But...

I blinked a few times before shifting my gaze elsewhere. "Uh, I see..." Without staring back at her, I continued, "Still... Umm... You do know I have a girlfriend back then, right?"

"..."

As if a bombshell has been dropped, Athena dropped the tea cup she was holding as her mouth opened and closed a couple of times as if she wanted to say something.

"What do you mean?" Was the only sentence that left her mouth. Because of this, I confirmed something that I've never once questioned.

"Huh?" I tilted my head with a questioning look. "How can you not know such simple things? You're my secretary, aren't you?"

Flustered, she responded, "What do you mean by that!? Just because I'm your secretary doesn't mean that I know everything about your life. Also, real question is, who the hell is your girlfriend anyway?!" She raised her petite hands and pointed her fingers a couple of inches away from my face.

I shoved her fingers away from my face before sighing and staring at her with a dumbfounded expression. "You met her already. Not to mention, you've pretty much heard many things about us in the rumors." Saying this, I crossed my left arms against my right that was still covered in bandages.

"Rumors...? You mean!?" With a look of realization, Athena stared at me with mouth agape.

"Yes. 'That' girl is my girlfriend." I replied bluntly. Because of this, once again, her mouth opened and closed a couple of times as if she wanted to ask something else.

"Wai-"

"But, after I quitted the research team two years ago before I died, we broke up." I stuck out my tongue. "Some things didn't work out, you see... Right after I quitted, we pretty much had a small argument like a normal couple, and came to a conclusion to break up." I said those words like they were nothing serious.

But, in truth, I actually regretted this and wanted to get back with her. Though, this obviously didn't happened since I didn't have enough courage to do so... I was quite apathetic when it comes to love in my previous life actually.

This was probably one of the main reasons why I didn't talk back at her too much during her long sermon that lasted a couple of hours.

"I see..."

After calming herself down, Athena took a long deep breath before opening her mouth. "Anyways, if you are also asking about what happened to her, then--"

"Stoooooop!" I cut her off by covering her mouth using my hands. "I already heard so much. Please, please! Can we continue this next time? I mean, why don't you look at the time." I pointed my fingers towards the clock that was hanging in the wall above the door.

Earlier before she came in, it was around 9:37 in the morning if I remember correctly. Now, it was around 2:49 PM. Our talk about what happened in the dungeon only lasted two long hours and, while about my sister lasted four hours.

Realizing what I was talking about, Athena's face became red in embarrassment as she stood up from her seat.

"I better go now..." She said as she hurriedly walked towards door.

*Thud-*

After closing the door behind her, I took a long deep breath and shifted my attention to the sword, that just floated by itself just after Athena left.

The sword then flew towards me and stopped when it was only a couple of inches away from the bed.

"You done listening?" Resting my back against the pillow behind me, I stared at the floating sword while having an impassive expression.

[𝘏𝘮𝘮... 𝘐'𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵, 𝘈𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳.]

"..."

I couldn't deny this because sometimes, I felt that there were some unnecessary emotions growing inside my heart at great speed.

Still...

"You are right, these emotions that had been forming in my heart had become bothersome." Gripping onto my chest, I continued, "If this emotions grew into something more that even I won't be able to control, it'll pretty much cause big problems if I were given a choice between sacrificing someone important to me just to attain something I want."

The sword became silent for a moment. [𝘚𝘰, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮...? 𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭? 𝘐'𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.]

𝘚𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳...? I grinned when he mentioned this word. "I've already experienced that many times. Even till now, I still have many regrets forming almost everyday in my heart after learning how I chose the option to save their asses from 'that' guy."

[𝘠𝘰𝘶... 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶?] The sword went up to me after realizing what I was talking about.

"Yeah. I suddenly remembered it a few days ago just right after the first time you talked to me in my head." With a light chuckle, I responded this sentences to him.

"But although I did made a promise to save them, which pretty much makes my current problem right now worsen, if one of them can't fulfill the role I gave them in my plan..."

Be it protagonist or a side character... If they can't fulfill their own duty, then...

Grabbing the katana that had been floating around for awhile, I looked at the reflection of my eyes on the blade.

"I might end up forcing myself to make a decision to save the world by sacrificing the life of it's people or save the people by sacrificing the world..."

But...

Sighing, I threw the sword out of boredom as it rolled around in the air, only stopping until it hit the wall.

[𝘏𝘦𝘺!]

With his undisguised anger, the sword flew towards me and tried to use it's blunt part to smack my head. Thankfully, I caught it using my left hand, that was fully strengthened by mana, in time.

"Still, I'm not planning to take such burden! If I were given a choice between the two, obviously, I will neither choose one of those options."

That's because I'm sure that in the end, those two would still have similar outcome. I'll have to sacrifice millions of lives in order to attain one of those goal.

But... I didn't want that.

After the sword finally withdrew from my hands, I smiled as I clutched my heart.

"I want to achieve the best outcome as possible." I firmly announced with determination as I looked at the sword.

[𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘦...] The scabbard that was laying on the ground suddenly flew as suddenly caught using my... injured right?

I noticed that all my injuries was suddenly healed.

[𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘈𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯...]

Yes, I am naive... I know that I might end up regretting this in the future, but... Let just say that, I'm a person who likes to take the high risk just to achieve what I want.

Besides that, I'm just...

Shaking my head, I responded, "No. I'm just way too greedy."

Like some people say, 'Greed is what makes people more human.'

Laughing, the sword once again flew towards me as I caught it using my left. [𝘓𝘦𝘵'𝘴 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯... 𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘺?]

Slowly, I placed him back to his scabbard while uttering, "Okay, then... First thing first, I'll....." Thus, I began explaining him all about my plan.

[...]

As if caught off guard, the sword went silent for a couple of moment. It took him a couple of seconds to react and when he do...

[𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨! 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩!... 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱!] The sword began complaining after I told him all that.

Okay... I'll admit that my plan will really go overboard...

As if reading my mind, the sword suddenly came out of it's scabbard as it's handle hit me straight in the face.

[𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘴!]

"Hehe..." I unconsciously smiled at his words as I rubbed my nose to remove the blood that was slowly pouring out.

"I'm supposedly the villain in this story, am I not?"

As of now, destroying fate won't be a problem, but... being bound by this 'END' is going to be really troubling.

Villain...?

What a great way to call myself that.

If I can't change the things that will happen to me on the future, then, why don't we just add more into the storyline?

A new story.

A new ending!

But...

"This time, it'll be my turn." I firmly announced with determination.

The room went silent for a moment because of this.

[...𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨...] For a second, I felt as if the sword in my hand had smiled. [𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦?]

A role? I guess that's also necessary if you think a about it.

Smiling, I replied, "How about..."

Since I like to make things more exciting before I die, I guess the best choice here is to be...

A demon king?... No.

Reaper?... Good way to call myself, but no.

The only thing I best choice I could think about is...

"The last boss."