Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Otome Game’s Footsteps can be Heard (Part IV)
The words “Annelier’s the first generation” went around and around in my head.
If there’s anything that made Annelier different from the rest of the Bustermans, then that’d be me… I’m the very anomaly myself.
It was something that Reinhardt-sama already knew.
It’s still unclear whether what happened was reincarnation or possession.
“I’m aware that you’re not the original Annelier. So it’s not your body, but maybe your soul, your memory, or your ego.”
“I see…”
I was worried about Vint, but at that point, there was no use in denying it, so I just nodded in response.
When I finally did look, Vint appeared unphased, so he probably knew already.
“I’ve never asked you anything related to the time prior to you taking control of Annelier’s body, but did you take over Annelier’s body, or were you a lone spirit? Which is it?”
“I— I don’t know.”
It’s something I’ve yet to understand… Asking me so directly like that had tears make their way into my eyes.
If it were a reincarnation, then that would mean that our soul was one and the same.
My consciousness may have just been asleep when Annelier was still Annelier.
But I can’t help but be worried about how I don’t have any fragments of Annelier’s memories intact.
“It’s alright not to know. There are only two instances in which something can enter a human body. Before a person is born or when they die. Because only those that can be occupied are vessels without a soul, so you shouldn’t feel guilty either way.”
Reinhardt-sama seemed to have understood the dilemma I had always been stuck in.
He’s saying that even if I had taken over Annelier’s body, it would not mean I had killed her.
Even if it had been before she was born, then we’d still be the same person from the very beginning.
Even if it had just been our personalities that’d been switched because of Annelier being poisoned…
“You don’t seem to know much about that either.”
“I had no idea…”
“Well, I wouldn’t usually ask nor discuss these things. As with the guardian spirits, not pursuing anything unless necessary is the basics of dealing with unnatural beings.”
Just now, it felt like I had just been told something crazy.
That… That means Reinhardt-sama had really thought that I was inhuman…!?
However, when I looked back, from the very beginning, Reinhardt-sama had called me “suspicious” in the beginning.
“You were unlikely to run away, so I was allowed to keep you by me, though he may still be apprehensive.”
Ah, it’d certainly been a while since Wernhardt had been unveiled.
Perhaps the reason why Vint hadn’t met me immediately must have been because of Reinhardt-sama’s opposition.
…So that’s why Reinhardt-sama looked a bit sullen since a while ago.
I was afraid about Reinhardt-sama’s mood turning sourer, but I don’t think I could do anything to make him feel better…?
Was it a mistake that I had told them I had no idea at all?
Although he’s a guardian spirit, he’s still considered another person, so Reinhardt-sama won’t punish me suddenly, would he?
“Ah, I don’t mind.”
“Eh?”
I glanced at Vint, who had stopped moving, waving his hand in front of his face.
“I don’t really mind if Reinhardt does something on impulse. The prosperity of the descendants is what’s important to me!”
“Ehhh…”
You should mind it! You should care about it!!
“Anna, do not try to look for an escape.”
“Yes!”
Attracted by Reinhardt-sama, who was now clearly in a bad mood, the distance between us had gone to zero…
I felt like I had dug a great big grave.
“Like the guardian spirit (Vint) here, it’s inexhaustible for inhumans or unnatural beings to take over or imitate a human body. However, although it’s scarce, such a thing would require us to determine whether that being is an enemy or ally. We should eliminate them if it’s the former and take them in if it’s the latter. All this time, you’ve been by my side, so I’ve yet to pursue your past. As if we did, then you might want to find a way to escape to it.”
I wondered, do otherworldly beings in this world… Must they really bear a dark past?
I didn’t think so. However, there was an old take in my original world called Tsuru no Ongaeshi. It was about the crane that ran away when she found out who she really was. I wonder if such stories were realistic to some extent.
“Anna.”
“Yes…”
“Don’t run away.”
“Yes.”
I nodded with all my might.
If I wanted to escape from Reinhardt-sama, then I should have done so at the beginning.
It’s impossible now. He has entirely trained me…
Even if I ran away, I can’t imagine how I’d be able to survive living outside without having any knowledge or skills of how things worked in this world.
It’s also only with Reinhardt-sama that I can live as Anna instead of pretending to be Annelier.
And that’s why I’m completely unwilling to run away.
Well, I’m just concerned that I won’t be able to do well enough if I stay.
“If you really insist on not answering, I’ll allow you to keep it a secret to yourself.”
“Yes…”
Since I’ve decided I’m no longer going to run away… Would he still pursue it…?
However, I was just an ordinary woman back in Japan.
Although I admit that I may have been a little nerdy, I should still have been in the range of an average adult woman.
There was nothing out of the ordinary about me.
The current situation indicates that I’m far off from being ordinary… As I thought so, my mind became a further mess.
In the stories of being reincarnated and transmigrated to another world that I remember from my past life, the protagonist would usually be accompanied by overpowering cheats.
Perhaps my sturdiness was the cheat that came with coming from another world…?
“Lucian will also be coming soon. He’ll also bring someone who supposedly has a soul from another world.”
“Eh…”
The line “soul from another world” made me nervous.
I wondered if they were in the exact predicament I was in.
“Vint wanted to confirm, so I showed you to him first, but Lucian said that you may be of the same origin as the person he’s with.”
The Tentacle Elf, Professor Lucian— Perhaps, did you actually have a friend?
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