MISS 12

“So….”

A gloomy voice cut through the cold air of dawn.

“So the Spirit is actually… a victim too?”

Goosebumps rose across the skin—but it wasn’t because of the chilly morning air.

After all, Gaspata, who did not belong to the material world, couldn’t even feel cold.

There was another reason.

Right now, the woman standing before him was staring down at him.

Under that sharp, piercing gaze, Gaspata trembled in fear.

“Aren’t you going to answer?”

Tap.

The woman merely tapped the table with a slender finger.

Yet Gaspata’s face instantly turned pale.

Nod, nod, nod!

Who would believe that the great Gaspata—Spirit of Time—could be frightened by a mere human woman?

This woman had trembled in terror before a simple ghost earlier, yet now she treated a far more powerful and terrifying being—a spirit—with casual ease.

But—

[I-I never disrespected you! And I really am a victim!]

He didn’t dare resist.

After all, he had already experienced with his whole body what the result of resistance would be.

“Thank you for answering.”

…You should have said that from the beginning.

When the woman muttered those words under her breath, fear once again swept through Gaspata.

That woman might not even be human!

After all, he had never once heard of a human who could see and touch a spirit.

S-scary!

For the first time in his long existence, the great Spirit Gaspata felt his breathing grow heavy with fear.

And just then—

“Spirit.”

[…!]

The woman lifted his chin gently with her fingers.

As her alluring lips parted, her glass-like eyes reflected Gaspata’s trembling figure.

“Focus.”

The nightmare wasn’t over yet.

*

After having a serious conversation with Gaspata, I was finally able to understand roughly what had happened.

“So… even you, Spirit, don’t know how the Regression Stone ended up in Azel’s hands?”

[Y-yes…! Ahem! That’s correct!]

“Haha! What kind of tone is that? Relax a little.”

You can relax your posture too.

The self-proclaimed great Spirit of Time was kneeling on the cold floor, and it was starting to make me uncomfortable.

I pointed beside the sofa, suggesting he sit more comfortably.

But Gaspata shook his head frantically.

[I-I’m comfortable like this!]

“You don’t look comfortable.”

[I’m really fine!!]

He answered like a newly enlisted soldier standing at attention.

When I smiled in satisfaction, Gaspata awkwardly smiled back.

His lips trembled, and his large eyes were filled with tears—but technically he was smiling.

Good enough.

That was enough for me.

Besides, my head was already full of other things.

I didn’t have the spare attention to worry about Gaspata anymore.

Even the creator of the Regression Stone doesn’t know…

The story Gaspata told me last night had been shocking.

The Stone of Gaspata that Azel used was never meant to be used by humans.

It was originally a treasure created for trials among spirits, and it had been heavily guarded in the spirit realm.

Yet one day—

it suddenly disappeared.

By the time Gaspata learned about the theft… Azel had already used it.

At first, Gaspata assumed Azel was an arrogant human who had defied the natural order and intended to punish him.

But Azel wasn’t the culprit.

He had simply been unlucky enough to get caught up in it.

This backstory wasn’t even in the game’s setting book.

I had always thought Azel’s regression was simply a gameplay mechanic to increase the difficulty.

So naturally, the truth left me confused.

Ugh… I don’t understand anything anymore.

Anyway, after learning the truth, Gaspata occasionally began watching Azel.

Apparently he felt a faint sense of guilt seeing a soul that had been unfairly dragged into the situation slowly break down through repeated regressions.

But Gaspata couldn’t do anything.

Humans couldn’t see or touch spirits.

“So why can I see and touch you?”

[I don’t know either.]

That answer was absolutely useless.

When I stared at him blankly, Gaspata simply gave the same harmless smile as before.

…Well, at least one of us was happy.

“Whatever. If you don’t know, you don’t know. But then why were you watching us yesterday?”

[Huh?! W-well—!]

His big eyes shook nervously.

[I came to see Azel since the final regression had ended… but there was a human I’d never seen before, so I stayed to watch for a bit…]

It was a surprisingly ordinary answer.

But for some reason, Gaspata’s face suddenly turned bright red.

“Why does your expression look like that?”

[M-my expression?! What’s wrong with my expression?!]

“…?”

His sudden panic was strange.

The longer I looked at him, the redder his face became.

What’s wrong with him?

As I blinked in confusion—

[U-um… c-can I ask one question?]

“Go ahead.”

Finally, Gaspata spoke.

He twisted his body awkwardly, making it impossible to guess what he wanted to ask.

[You two… I mean… a-are you lovers?]

The ridiculous question came out of nowhere.

“…What?”

For a moment I wondered if I had misheard.

But judging by the excited look in his eyes, I clearly hadn’t.

“We’re not.”

[WHAT?!]

Strangely, Gaspata looked devastated by my answer.

[Liar!]

“….”

Later he admitted it himself.

The great Spirit of Time—

was actually a romance fanatic.

Which meant the excited expression I saw earlier really was the face of someone watching a romantic drama.

[B-but! You two were about to k-k-k-kiss!]

“No we weren’t.”

[A kissss—!]

“I said no.”

So let me get this straight.

I cried in fear… because of this idiot?

The whole thing was absurd.

*

A quiet morning.

Azel opened his eyes to an unfamiliar silence.

…Where am I.

His mind, still foggy from sleep, moved slowly.

It had been so long since he had slept this deeply—perhaps because of his chronic insomnia.

His heavy vision still lingered on the edge of dreams.

What happened?

It took time even to recognize it.

Did I… actually sleep?

Last night slowly resurfaced in his memory.

The last thing he remembered was leaning against the bed, accompanied by the cold dawn air.

Everything had been the same as usual—

except for the unfamiliar presence beside him.

How could…

The unfamiliar woman.

The warmth in his hand.

Just that small difference—

yet he had slept so deeply.

…Wait.

Suddenly his hand felt empty.

“Gone.”

He quickly turned his gaze.

The space beside him, which should have been warm, now held only cold air.

“…!”

Only then did Azel realize the woman was gone.

But his confusion didn’t last long.

“You’re awake?”

She was right there.

“Did you sleep well?”

Her casual morning greeting ignored the storm of thoughts in Azel’s mind.

Before he could react, she walked toward him.

Fortunately, she looked the same as always.

The problem was Azel himself.

Is she alright now?

He almost asked the question without thinking.

Only after realizing it did the last traces of sleep finally leave his face.

I need to leave this room.

He didn’t know what exactly he wanted to run from.

But Azel quickly rose to his feet.

Strange emotions.

Unfamiliar curiosity.

They kept making him act unlike himself.

“Thank you for yesterday.”

But the woman’s voice stopped him.

“I must have looked strange. You were probably surprised… I’m sorry.”

You weren’t strange.

For some reason, Azel felt a subtle discomfort seeing her apologize to him.

The strange one here wasn’t her.

It was him.

Because thanks to her, he had experienced a day far beyond anything he had expected.

And yet—

instead of resenting her—

“Don’t go. Please stay beside me.”

A dull ache throbbed somewhere in his heart.

He still remembered nothing about her.

Yet it felt as if he had forgotten something important.

Strange.

Terrible.

Just then, the woman’s lips began to move.

“About yesterday—”

“Stop.”

In the end, Azel cut her off.