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Frozen Time

In the stillness of halted time.

The final time magic to reverse this completely messed-up situation is about to be prepared.

Though it’s not as grand as the Great Regression,

it’s the only time magic I can use right now.

“This is time magic… You’re not thinking of regressing again, are you?”

Zion, checking that time around us had stopped, raised her broken body with pleading eyes and a trembling voice,

struggling to lift her waist and reach out to me with her other hand.

“No, that’s not it.”

I grabbed the outstretched hand and gently laid her back down again.

I would soon take away Zion’s pain, but I didn’t want to see her in such a hurt state.

“I used up all my memories learning rehabilitation medicine in another world, so I don’t have much left for time magic. So, I can’t regress.”

“Then what is this…”

“I’m trying to heal you. Don’t be too tense since it’s something I’ve always done.”

Holding tight to Zion’s hand, I activated the final time magic.

It was something I had always done for her.

A time magic that heals the injured.

Rewinding time to revert someone to their past state…

“Recover.”

It was the rehabilitation spell, Recover.

“Recover? What is this?”

A transparent, clear blue light unique to Recover blossomed from my hand and enveloped Zion’s entire body.

Gradually, the bluish and purplish bruises on Zion’s body faded away, restoring her skin to a healthy glow.

“This isn’t the weakened version of the rehabilitation spell I made for memory rehabilitation, but the original healing magic ‘Recover.’ It’s a spell that rewinds someone’s time back to before they were badly injured. I’ll roll back your time three hours. With the amount of memories I have left, this is the best I can do. It won’t be much more than rewinding someone’s time a little… but this should be enough for you, right?”

Not healing the injured but rewriting time to revert one back to before they were hurt.

The original Recover rewinds one person’s time, apart from the world’s time, consuming an absurd amount of memories, but it only costs three hours.

When this magic ends, Zion will return to her original state, and if the United Alliance can withstand the two hours without her, Zion will be able to rejoin the battlefield through the Magic Tower’s teleportation.

In that case, this world will be safeguarded.

And the price for that is all of my memories.

Once this magic is over, I will…

“What about you, teacher? If you use up all your memories…!”

Zion must have caught on to the truth as tears finally leaked from her eyes.

“Zion.”

“Mr. Hop…”

“Don’t cry. I brought these memories to use them like this.”

Upon hearing my answer, Zion froze there, tears pouring down her cheeks.

By then, Zion’s body had fully healed, and after a moment of crying, she extended her arms, enveloped in a rosy, vibrant glow, toward me.

And in that frozen time, I hugged her with all my might as she got up from the bed.

“The memories I’m paying for now are my knowledge of rehabilitation medicine. It’s the last memory I can use for time magic. This was brought to heal you, so it’s a good thing I can use this memory to heal you.”

“What about the other memories? What about all our countless memories together?”

“Those are memories from the time I regressed. Memories from the same world and the same time as the ones I’ve already used have no value when using time magic. When utilizing time magic, the memories holding no value are paid off first, so all those will disappear as well.”

“How is that fair? How can worthless memories disappear first!”

Crying out in frustration held no power over the situation.

That’s the rule of time magic.

Though it’s a reasonable rule that makes worthless memories pay off first, repeating regressions creates memories that are precious yet valueless.

Even those who transcend time cannot live forever, and eventually, they meet their end, forgetting even the fact that they once transcended time.

For me, that time will come too.

And the last world I will live in… is right here.

“I’m not dying or disappearing anywhere. I’m just losing memories.”

“But, but…!”

“It’s fine, Zion. I’m really happy right now.”

Zion couldn’t contain her sorrow, tightly hugging me while her warm body trembled as tears continued to fall,

yet I wasn’t shedding any tears.

Could it be because I had steeled my heart? I even felt a smile blooming on my face.

“Zion. Earlier, I said the memories we shared together were worthless, but that’s merely from the perspective of time magic’s cost; it doesn’t mean they’re not precious to me.”

“I know. I understand. That’s why I’m crying. Because of me, you…”

“It’s not your fault, Zion. I have nothing but gratitude towards you.”

I want to see Zion’s face.

And I want her not to be sad looking at my smiling face.

I’m so happy like this, yet Zion is crying because she thinks I’m unhappy.

So I pull away a bit to face her.

Zion’s face, soaked in tears, was broken.

Why was she shedding so many tears? It’s something I like about her, but still.

“Before I met you, no memory had any value. After all, all of my memories would vanish as costs for time magic, and everyone I met lived in those memories that would be erased so they held no meaning. Even the world I lived in was merely worlds that would change and disappear.”

“And only after meeting you could I finally realize. Even erased memories hold value, that every moment of living is truly precious. Even if they’re to vanish, even if they’re to disappear, the precious feelings I’m experiencing right now… are incredibly meaningful to us.”

I gently lifted my finger to wipe away Zion’s tears.

Since tears flowed endlessly from her eyes, I had to keep moving my finger like a wiper to keep clearing her tears,

and I gladly endured such labor while continuing to speak.

“Look. Even now…”

“I want to feel Zion a little more…”

But I, like Zion,

couldn’t suppress the something that shot up through my chest and throat, and eventually burst into tears myself.

“After all, this moment that’s going to disappear from my memory… I’m extending it, aren’t I?”

Truth is, I also want to remember the times we shared together…!

Our not-so-good first meeting,

the first time I risked my life to deceive Zion,

those damaged looks from seeing her at my home for the first time,

the memory of her hard work exercising at the rehabilitation center… the sight of Zion which I’ll never see again,

her sighs as she said she loved seeing my embarrassed face,

and the moments she trembled and clung to me as she was ensnared by past traumas, I don’t want to forget any of them.

Feeling embarrassed seeing each other’s naked bodies,

shivering with anxiety while confessing our love,

we ended up understanding each other in the end…

To forget all that…!

No way. Even I can’t take such a thing… It’s too much…!

“Ugh…!”

“Mr. Hop…”

Finally, this time Zion raised her hand and gently wiped my tear-stained eyelids.

“I’ll recreate them for you. Your precious memories.”

Then Zion’s trembling hands pulled me closer to her.

I also tightened my grip on her face, pulling her toward me, and we bowed our heads, finding each other’s foreheads and shedding tears together.

“Though I’ve broken my vows and promises and haven’t given you anything properly, this time I truly promise you. I will definitely bring back the future and make new precious memories for you, ones far more special and beautiful than the ones you’ll forget.”

Though Zion speaks like that, she must know.

That there are no memories to replace the ones I’ll forget.

But even so, she makes a promise she cannot keep.

And knowing that, I also say,

“You must keep that promise. I’ll be waiting with anticipation…”

I entrust my future to a promise I won’t even remember.

The limits of freezing time are now upon me.

Lifting my head, I release Zion and concentrate.

“Zion. Before time starts moving again, I’ll send you back to the battlefield. If I’m right here with you, you probably won’t want to return.”

With wide eyes in shock, Zion shook her head vigorously.

“No! Don’t do that! How could I possibly fight leaving you here!”

While teleportation through space magic was impossible to do alone over long distances,

since I’m using time magic now, I can just rewind Zion to a spot from three hours ago and send her back to the battlefield immediately.

Once I send her off, I guess I’ll be nothing but an empty shell having lost all my memories.

It’s sad and unpleasant, but I was able to heal Zion and gift her a future with me, so that’s enough.

Even though I won’t be there in that future,

I’m completely satisfied with this.

Because I…

“Zion. Save the world. Even if you seem to dislike being born a hero…”

“I really like you, Zion, the hero who is broken.”

Because I truly like Zion.

So much so that I would be happy giving up everything.

“Mr. Hop!!!”

What I cast upon Zion was time magic.

No matter how strong Zion is, she couldn’t resist something like space magic or reverse summoning.

As time began moving again, Zion gradually distanced herself from me.

Goodbye, goodbye Zion.

You who became the only meaning in my life that had drifted and broken,

You who always answered fate’s question about why you were born with “It’s because of him”,

And like me, was also broken…

My beloved and precious world.

 

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