Red dripped from my elbow, sinking into cracks in the smoldering ash.

  Nobody moved.

  {Party Member {Ardenidi} has died}

  ~

  {Grind}

  [(+100k) 1m Hp]

  [(+80k) 1m Str]

  [(+100k) 1m Dur]

  [Additional Rewards have been calculated]

  [This unit is not eligible for [Reaper Harvest V]]

  Toya took a step back. “Grind?”

  I took a step forward.

  “Don’t come any closer!” Catania shouted. She ran to Ardenidi’s body. She shook her, checked her pulse, and shook her again in desperation, screaming for Ardenidi to wake up. Toya shushed her, and the two broke into a scorching debate.

  I brushed Catania out of the way, pressing a hand on Ardenidi.

  Her eyes snapped open, wounds sealing themselves.

  Jujud sat in silence.

  My whole body felt off balance. I turned, finding myself a quarter mile from everyone else. Then a mile. I didn’t realize I was running until I heard footsteps behind me, and I ran faster.

  Idiot.

  Reviving Ardenidi had taken every speck of mental energy I had, and then some. I couldn’t even process the hand in front of me until it picked me up by the back of my shirt, like a startled kitten.

  Xoiae sighed. “This has gone too far.”

  Jujud burst through the overgrowth, dropping into a bow before she even saw the Headmaster.

  Xoiae raised an eyebrow, walking calmly forward. “Jujud, what happened?”

  Jujud quickly and efficiently explained the situation, gesturing to the others in my party, running behind her.

  My party.

  They couldn’t seriously still be my party, could they?

  I pulled myself out of Xoiae’s grasp, thinking nothing of the sound of clapping mental energy, flattening the forest as my will pushed against hers.

  Blood trickled down my ears.

  Xoiae faltered. “Jujud?”

  “Yes, Headmaster.”

  “You did well, all things considered.”

  Jujud jolted. “I—”

  “Hush. You’re still in trouble.” Xoiae focused, blowing through my mental defenses, pulling me back into her grip. “Grind, your obstinance is nothing if not impressive, but it’s time to stop. Do you understand?”

  Toya stumbled. “Headmaster?! What are you doing here?—”

  “I like to keep an eye on certain persons of interest,” Xoiae stated, continuing to address me without a hint of hesitation. “Grind? Your actions during this mission have led to mutiny and the death of one of your teammates. Because of this, there must be certain inevitable consequences—”

  “Don’t hurt him!” Ardenidi shouted, shoving Toya out of the way. Blood ran down from her neck and shoulders, where some of her wounds had already opened back up. “He doesn't know what he’s doing! Please!”

  Xoiae’s expression softened. “Is that what you think this is?”

  She opened a screen, flicking through menus to one everyone recognized.

  {Grind : Shock - system_integrity 100%}

  [Disruption effect : 0%]

  [Edge case : 95%]

  [Regulator : 0%]

  The party stared.

  Xoiae appeared in front of Ardenidi, cupping her chin in one hand. There was a sparkle of energy and Ardenidi’s injuries vanished, followed by a ruffling of fabric as her clothes repaired and enchanted themselves. “Dear child, Grind is the most sane he’s ever been. This is, evidently, the life he expects himself to live.”

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  Me and Ardenidi met each other’s gaze. I looked down.

  Xoiae stood. “He sincerely believes monsters could be sentient, and for that reason, he will do anything to try and save them, as much as he would try and save any of you. I’m afraid this is not the kind of problem that is solved with a ‘timeout.’”

  “So—”

  “He has to be stopped,” Xoiae said, gritting her teeth. “As I’m sure he himself is aware. No matter how much I am fascinated by Grind’s ability to draw unimaginable mental energy out of nowhere, that ability is a weapon if used against the Union, and a weapon with that potential cannot be ignored.”

  She locked eyes with me. “And yet, I cannot kill you, time traveler.”

  She knew.

  And she knew I knew.

  Xoiae sighed. “Thus, if you are not cooperative to a change of mindset, we will be forced to keep you alive until the Union’s dying breath.”

  Ardenidi looked up. “Grind? What’s she talking about?”

  I planted a fist into the ground, pushing to my feet, shaking under the weight of Xoiae’s mental force.

  “What are you trying to do?” Xoiae asked. “Getting up? To go where? Why?”

  Dexten.

  He would still be alive. I had to warn him about the second area and see how many children I could save. I had—

  “Oh, is he a friend of yours?” Xoiae asked, eyes glimmering without the slightest hint of joy or kindness. “Dexten. Dexten. I think he registered with the union about a day ago.”

  She held up a hand, summoning a list of names and registries. “Ukioto. He went there to hunt some of the monsters, and I believe he had a reputation for bringing an excessive number of high-level slaves into dungeons.”

  She flicked her wrist and the sky flashed white, pierced through with a red beam thicker than most dungeons, vaporizing the trunks of trees for miles, stopped only by the shield she cast around the party.

  The beam twisted in the air, striking down somewhere in the desert.

  My face had gone pale. “B-but how could you—”

  “ArcSight II and a basic knowledge of magic and geography,” Xoiae stated. “Anyone else?”

  Jujud looked sick. “Headmaster, you didn’t…”

  “I just destroyed a city with four thousand innocent civilians, all of whom I can easily and effortlessly revive. The city itself is an even easier fix, and as long as the attack is blamed on some stray monster, the Union will suffer no reputational damage.” Xoiae frowned. “Your monster children, however, are not so fortunate. Now, is there anyone, anywhere else that I should know about?”

  My hands shook in a mix of fear and anger so intense I felt neither. I could only stare into Xoiae’s cold, lifeless eyes, daring me to hope.

  I swallowed. “No.”

  “Good.” She stood straight, brushing ash from the air, before it stained her dress. “Until further notice, we will spend every moment within a hundred feet of each other. I will always be watching your thoughts, ensuring you don’t pull such a reckless stunt anytime in the future. Do you understand?”

  My throat dried up.

  Ardenidi took an unsteady step forward. “Head—”

  “There can be no objections.” Xoiae glowered. “Grind. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” Xoiae turned the rest of the party, explaining the specifics of who she had in mind to join the academy’s prodigy team now that I was gone. She also mentioned paying a visit to Soise, though it wouldn’t have nearly the tone of her visit to me. “Acting out of compassion, however naive it may be, is not inherently wrong. She just needs some direction—”

  Xoiae cut off, snapping toward Sip. She was almost incredulous. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  He blinked. “What?”

  “Don’t.” Ardenidi muttered. “You’re going to try something stupid, aren’t you?”

  “Just a stray thought,” Sip sighed. “It wouldn’t have worked anyway.”

  Catania smacked him on the head. “What is wrong with you? Grind’s a fugitive now. I couldn’t imagine helping him for any reason, much less with the Headmaster around.”

  Xoiae glanced between her and Sip. “There is no need for ‘help.’ Grind will be perfectly safe in my care.” When she turned to Ardenidi, Xoiae smiled. “I’ll let you see him every now and then.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  I sat, sprawled out on the ash, sick of trying to move against the increasing pressure on my chest. Xoiae had enchanted the air to hold me down, making it hard to breathe and all but impossible to speak coherent sentences.

  It was for the best.

  I didn’t feel like talking anyway.

  This was for the best. Perhaps I could turn a new leaf. If I stopped fighting against the current I could live like any other player. I could keep the friends I had. If I found the right team, I might never need to reset. That would be worth something, wouldn’t it?

  There’s a special condition, unique to time travelers. Part hopelessness and part perfectionism, it is a latent urge to die in order to solve an unsolvable problem, rather than living and adapting to the consequences.

  In the end, the cycle of death accelerates, resulting in the total and inevitable destruction of the time traveler’s mind.

  I couldn’t just die here. There was no solution, and it was all hopeless, and that was okay. It’s all okay. I just had to adapt to the situation until I died, and then I could try all over again. Maybe I could find a way back into the Union without building a mountain of debt. Maybe I’d find a solution for this monster-player problem.

  Tears ran down the sides of my face, pressed into the ground by the force of wind.

  “I don’t want to live like this,” I said, hearing only my own words, ringing around my head.

  Maybe it would be for the best.

  Either way, it’d take a miracle to change anything now. That, or—

  The sound of the world came back, slowly, then all at once as the wind entirely stopped.

  Xoiae stood upright, tense.

  A dot of blood trickled down a tiny sliver of a cut on her cheek.

  A man in sharp white let out a whistle, nosing into the ring of players. “What, are you going to a wedding or something?” he picked his teeth with his nails, grinning to himself all the while. “Do you have any idea how long it took to find you? I mean, c’mon, first I had to check the academy, then the nearby cities, then the nearby territories, and then low and beyond—” he gestured around. “You go and send a signal flare, begging to meet me. I’d say I’d be honored if it were true.”

  Xoiae raised an eyebrow. “Who are you supposed to be?”

  The man’s eyes widened. “Don’t tell me we haven’t been introduced?” He adjusted his sharp suit and bowed. “Pleasure to meet you, miss.”

  {Four-Star: Gauntlet of Flesh}

  [1 Hp 1 Str]

  [This unit has been afflicted with {Unknown affliction}]

  “That’s Gauntlet of Flesh, G-A-U-N-T-L-E-T-O-F-F-L-E-S-H.” He winked. “But you can call me Reggie.”

  // {Notice} //

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