‘… time magic changes depending on the medium. This is the connection between the medium and time magic.’

Kaichen’s words came to mind. Creating time magic ultimately depended on the medium’s earnestness. Unlike Acrab, which repeated ‘today’ in hopes that ‘tomorrow’ wouldn’t come, time in Hoiore stood still from three months ago.

‘Time stopped… was there a moment he wanted to last forever?’

When I confessed to Kaichen and he told me he returned my feelings, I wished that moment would last forever. It was a memorable moment filled with happy feelings. In contrast, Walter was confused and tearing out his hair in agony. He didn’t seem to have stopped time with such feelings.

“Hnghh… I’m—I’m sorry… I-I badly… wished for something I couldn’t want…”

Tears fell from his eyes as if he still had more to shed. We should’ve had a proper conversation, but I didn’t think we could talk like this, so I handed him a tissue from the table as I spoke.

“Sheliak came to see me and was worried because she couldn’t reach you. You’ve been out of touch for three months,” I said, trying to turn the subject.

“…She-sheliak…?” Walter bit his lip, winced as raised his head.

Even if he was tear-stained, he was still handsome. With bloodshot eyes, he rubbed his face to wipe off the tears. “Was she… very worried?” he asked.

“What?”

“She… was Shelly very worried?”

“Yes… she was worried enough to come and ask me, even when we’re not that close. She was crying and saying winter in Hoiore would be too harsh for you. I came here because of Sheliak.”

“…..”

When I spoke about Sheliak, I noticed that Walter’s reaction immediately changed. I thought it was a good way to spur him on, so I told him everything that she divulged to me. To be honest, I didn’t have a lot to say since I didn’t speak much with Sheliak, but that alone comforted Walter greatly.

His eyes to the tip of his nose were red. I could also see his chin quivering as he held himself back from crying.

‘He’s a crybaby, this man.’

He was the complete opposite of Sheliak, who seemed like someone who wouldn’t bleed tears even if she got stabbed. To think these two were childhood friends… it wasn’t hard to imagine what their childhood would have been like.

“I’m not feeling well. Like Shelly said, winter here is unbearable. Recently… my health has deteriorated to the extent that without the medicine prescribed by the doctor, it’s difficult to even go for a walk,” he suddenly said.

“…..”

“The doctor told me that I had less than a month left.”

“Ah…”

“Now, it’s difficult to endure each day, even when it’s not winter. It was… very, very… painful,” he said, speaking with difficulty. “The fact that I only have a month left… and I couldn’t even tell anyone. I couldn’t go to my beloved Shelly and tell her that I’d see her soon. If I went to see her like this… I’d die right in front of her eyes.”

I continued listening solemnly. I couldn’t even lift up my cold cup of tea.

“I didn’t want to feel that pain. But… I missed her. I felt like dying a little more with every passing day. And as the days go by like this… I feel like I’m going insane.”

My nose prickled as I vividly imagined the man, sentenced to death by terminal illness, longing for the woman he loved.

“Just a little… If I had gotten a little better, I’d take responsibility for her. Just a little… I asked her to wait…”

“Is that why you accepted Momalhaut’s offer?”

“Yes. Because I thought I’d be able to live!” he lamented, despair in his face. “They showed up a few days before I was going to die… They said I could go back in time to when I was healthy… I must’ve been an idiot to be fooled by their sweet talk. But… I had no choice but to believe them.”

I wouldn’t think that he was an idiot. If I were in such a situation, I’d grab anything if I were given the chance to live by Kaichen’s side. I wouldn’t hesitate, even if it was a piece of rotten rope.

“I was destined to die anyway. I was born with a weak body and was told that I wouldn’t live long since I was young. But… I got greedy. Wishing for happiness… isn’t a sin…” he continued to mumble.

How much had he blamed himself for three months?

Like myself, Walter must’ve suffered with nightmares seeing the unmoving citizens of Hoiore. He wouldn’t have been able to breathe properly with the overwhelming guilt. Even if he tried to rationalize the situation by saying there was nothing he could do, he couldn’t have turned his eyes away from the harsh reality.

He only wished for happiness that anyone would want, peace that anyone would enjoy.

‘What a pitiful man…’

Now I understood why he hadn’t been glad to hear that I had come to save him. If time magic were to be broken and time could flow, Walter’s time, which had stopped flowing, would end. He was someone who should’ve died three months ago.

Walter was alive, purely because of time magic. Thanks to time becoming still since that day, the disease that ate his body hadn’t progressed. The disease didn’t worsen, but he didn’t get better either.

“If time stopped like this, I wouldn’t have to die,” he said. “I thought about it this way. If I had known the truth of this magic, I would’ve thought a little differently,” he laughed at himself, feeling foolish.

I looked at him in sympathy. How could I call him an evil person when I was no different?

I repeated the same thing every day like a parrot, and even if I became closer to the citizens of Acrab, everything would completely reset the next day. I could still talk to the citizens of Acrab, but in Hoiore, he couldn’t communicate with anyone, not even for a day. He spent those three months mute and alone.