I Reincarnated as a Mob in a Depressing Erotic Video Game World. When I Saved the Main Heroine That Fallen Into Despair, Her Overwhelming Obsessive Love for Me Wouldn’t Stop. - Chapter 6

After enjoying the cat café, we went to a nearby shop for a late lunch.

The place we stopped at was known for omelets, which happened to be Ena’s favorite. At first, she hesitated when I offered to pay… but after I promised, “I’ll definitely pay you back someday,” she finally agreed.

Ena happily dug into her omelet, a little bit of tomato sauce on her mouth. Her smile was extremely cute, no exaggeration.

On the way home, we walked through the busy streets in the cool early-autumn evening.

“That was fun, Ena.”

“Yeah.”

She still lightly pinched my uniform as we walked. But unlike earlier, she wasn’t holding the bottom of my uniform. She was holding my sleeve.

That meant Ena was walking right next to me. It might seem small, but to me, it felt like a big step forward.

“Ah…”

Ena suddenly let out a small sound and stopped for a moment. Her eyes were fixed on a stall filled with accessories.

“Since we’re here, do you want to take a look?”

“Um… y-yeah. Is that okay…?”

“Of course. Come on, let’s go.”

In the original story, our date didn’t include stopping at a street stall.

…But whatever. I decided not to overthink it and walked with Ena toward the stall.

Necklaces and bracelets decorated with small jewels were displayed at the front.

“…Whoa. They’re so pretty…”

Ena’s eyes sparkled with desire. She seemed especially interested in a ring with a small ruby in it.

Looking at her expression while hearing her words, and being in this situation, it was obvious there was no way I wouldn’t take out my wallet.

“Excuse me. Can I get this ring?”

The price was six silver coins, which was about two weeks’ worth of living expenses.

Well, money in this world didn’t have many uses. I’d thought about trying a casino someday, but buying the ring seemed much more meaningful than gambling.

“Here you go. Thank you.”

The shop owner handed me the ring.

As we left the stall, Ena still held my sleeve tightly.

“Hehe. Shiruto-kun, you liked this one too?”

Ena smiled brightly, her side ponytail bouncing happily.

But… I’m sorry, Ena. I don’t really have a hobby of collecting accessories.

“Ena, can you hold out your right hand?”

“? Y-yeah?”

Ena looked a little confused, but she held out her white hand toward me.

I gently placed the ring I had just bought onto her palm.

“…?”

She tilted her head while staring at the ring. One blink, two blinks, three… and then she finally seemed to understand what I meant.

“Eh… S-Shiruto-kun, this is…”

“It’s a present from me. Today’s little adventure was so much fun because of you.”

I wasn’t lying. To me, Ena was someone who had changed my life from my previous world. Being able to spend time like this with her made me genuinely happy, even just a date-like moment.

…Of course, I couldn’t ignore some thoughts. This is a depressing ending to this world, and I struggled with whether the girl in front of me was really the Ena I knew. I couldn’t just be fully happy about being reincarnated into the world of “Magiaka.”

But still, my heart was definitely racing.

I wanted to remember this feeling. I wanted it to stay deep in my mind as a memory, and I thought that was okay.

“Th-That… I should be the one thanking you…”

Ena sounded frustrated. She bit her thin lips tightly and continued,

“You helped me, Shiruto-kun. You healed my injuries, gave me tea, let me play with the cats… and you even spent so much money. So now it’s my turn to repay you, but…”

“Even so, it’s fine. Just take it as a way of returning my gratitude.”

“Ah… S-Shiruto-kun, that’s unfair. Really unfair…”

Ena kept glancing between the ruby ring and my face.

Finally, her pale cheeks turned slightly pink, and she said softly,

“…Hey, Shiruto-kun. Only if you don’t mind…”

“Yeah? You can tell me anything.”

“I… I want… to wear it. On my left hand… on my ring finger…”

I froze for a moment.

Of course, that request could mean something deeper, but this isn’t Japan, and the left ring finger doesn’t necessarily carry the same meaning here.

And even if it did… Ena wanted it. Then I wanted to give it to her in the best way I could.

“Understand. Then Ena. Take it.”

I knelt down and slid the ring onto her long, white ring finger.

…The eyes around us felt painfully aware of us. I knew a regular student like me didn’t belong in this prince-like moment, which made me even more embarrassed.

Then, I glanced at Ena.

A single tear fell onto her cheek.

“Ah… I’m s-sorry…”

She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her free hand.

But her tears kept coming, two, three, more.

“N-No… I don’t… I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…!”

“…I-I’m sorry too! Um… I-I probably tried too hard to be cool just now…!”

“N-No… that’s not it… it’s not that… I…”

Big tears kept spilling from Ena’s deep blue eyes.

Even her normally beautiful voice was now hoarse.

“―I… I feel really happy…”

She wiped her tears again and again with her thin fingers. Her hoarse voice echoed softly in my room.

“I… I always thought I was all alone… I thought everyone must hate me… So… it’s been a long time since anyone’s been kind to me…”

Ah. Why does it have to be like this?

Ena was such a kind girl, and it wasn’t just me from my past life who knew it.

The Ena in my memories had always acted for someone else. She ran around to make her classmates smile, and gave herself up for the happiness of her beloved childhood friend. She was shy and timid by nature, yet she could be braver than anyone for someone she cared about. She could give unconditional love to anyone. That was the real Ena Refine.

And yet, in this world.

A girl who devoted herself to others, who truly wanted to make people happy, who had used her life for that.

“Ah… a-ah… S-Shiruto-kun…”

Her smiles, her happiness, her future.

All of it was being stolen.

―Damn it. That thought hit me again.

“Ah… T-thank you. I… I feel really happy…?”

Even with tears running down her cheeks, Ena managed a playful smile.

“This gift from you, Shiruto-kun… I’ll treasure it… forever, okay…?”

—At that moment.

I felt two flames ignite in my soul.

The first was to protect Ena’s smile. She had saved my heart in my previous life. Now it was my turn to bring her happiness with my own hands. I would erase the regret in Shiruto’s heart and save Ena’s almost-broken heart from despair. That was the reason I had been reborn into this world. I could say that for sure now.

And the second flame.

The source of this bad ending world, the cause of all its distortions and pain.

The person who made Ena the most hated girl in the academy, who hurt her mind and body, who stole the light from her beautiful eyes.

The absolute worst of the worst.

That person was the protagonist of “Magiaka”, Irwin Selbus.

I would remove him from this world.

That was the other promise I made in my heart.