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The ending of chapter 190 has been revised. It’s not a significant change; I merely postponed the scene where we were supposed to sort out the items in the backpack to chapter 191. I will delete this notification 24 hours later.

“El probably can’t even imagine how we’ve been doing for the past three years.”

“…Yeah, that’s right.”

As Selian said, I have no idea how they’ve been for three years. I only occasionally imagined how they might have been doing on my own.

– El is so selfish.

But my imagination was thoroughly biased, just like Yuli mentioned in the shack—completely selfish fantasies of mine.

I thought they would just be doing fine. I hoped they would find happiness while taking a step back from the danger of the Demon King. Yet, I still held onto one-sided expectations that they would occasionally miss me. Or perhaps, I just wanted to believe that.

What a convenient mindset this is. Life is not merely my own to navigate, and yet I thought so simplistically. Even what I considered trivial could be significant to someone else. A casual remark from me could weigh heavily on someone else.

Even while knowing that others are different from me, I arbitrarily judged, categorized, and imposed my thoughts and actions upon them.

I shattered their promises. I betrayed their trust. I trampled on their hopes. I denied their memories. I deceived their friendship.

In doing so, I robbed them of their smiles.

It’s not even funny. Who am I to say anything? The feeling I’m experiencing now isn’t even embarrassment. It’s self-loathing.

In truth, it was simple. If I were to switch places with Selian and imagine her leaving me behind to hunt down the Demon King alone, I would never have acted like this.

Seriously…. What’s the point of pretending to be intelligent at the Academy if I only realized something so simple now?

“Sigh… I really wanted to say something when we meet again, but with that expression you’re making, I can’t.”

“I know I’ve committed a sin that I can never repay. Even if I apologize, what could words do? If you want to curse me, feel free, and if you want to hit me, go ahead… Do as you please until you feel better.”

In truth, I’m saying this with a sense of generosity, but being tied to a chair, I have no choice but to obediently accept whatever they do. They won’t let me off easy anyway, so I’m proactively yielding a bit in hopes of gaining some mercy.

My friends seemed startled by my compliance, flinching as they reacted. They exchanged glances, unsure of what to do.

“Actually, I’ve thought a lot about what to say when I meet the Hero. What should I say to them, what punishment should I give them… As I keep saying, we’re really upset with the Hero.”

After a brief silence, it was Mariel who spoke up.

…I said I’d take any hit, but I wish they’d at least put down that mace for now. It’s so creepy that she’s talking gently while holding that imposing weapon. Or are they really planning to hit me? With that terrifying mace?

“But… how could we hate the Hero? We just missed you… We wanted to be by your side again, and that’s why we gathered like this. So, please don’t feel too guilty. Whether it was in the past life or now…”

Fortunately, Mariel put the mace back at her waist and began to untie my hands and feet from the chair. With my limbs free, I still just sat there quietly looking up at them.

“…Earlier, I got a bit emotional and said some harsh things. Sorry, El.”

“Why is Yuli apologizing? The one who should apologize is obviously me… And you didn’t say anything wrong.”

“Then, can you promise me again? That you won’t leave us again.”

Yuli raised her hand towards me. I also raised my hand and linked our pinky fingers.

“Of course. No matter how stupid I might be, I wouldn’t be dumb enough to make the same mistake twice, so don’t worry. Honestly, it’s a bit amusing that I’m saying this after causing so much worry.”

“So, is that it then?”

Anne, who had been quietly sitting, tilted her head and asked the others.

“Well… El seems to be feeling remorseful, so there’s no need to mention anything unpleasant further.”

Selian nodded lightly as she spoke, and Anne suddenly dropped the backpack she had been carrying and ran over to me, hugging me.

For a moment, I flinched at the memory of being hit in the shack, but fortunately, this time she was genuinely just hugging me tightly.

“Hehe… I really missed you, El! I won’t let you go again!”

“To be honest, I missed you too.”

I embraced Anne, who had come into my arms.

“But…”

“Yes?”

“I’ve been curious about that since earlier, what’s that backpack all about?”

While holding Anne, I pointed with my chin at the large backpack she had just set down. From the first moment I saw it in the shack, I had wanted to ask about this oversized bag that had drawn my attention. Its size commanded presence.

In fact, it wasn’t just one backpack; there were three more backpacks placed by the ghost that seemed to be contracted with Yuli on one side of the room.

“Ah! That….”

“Perfect timing to bring it up.”

Selian interrupted whatever Anne was about to say with a light clap of her hands and started speaking.

“We’ve forgiven El for what you’ve done, but these items need to be settled. They’re clearly items that were requested from us.”

Selian smiled sweetly as she looked at me.

Is it just me, or has the temperature in the room dropped? I felt a chill and shivered involuntarily. I turned my head to see if a window was open, but it was tightly shut.

However, was I the only one feeling cold? My friends and Mariel didn’t seem bothered at all as they each picked up a backpack and began dumping its contents onto the floor.

“Alright, shall we start with this?”

What does she mean starting? When I turned to look at Selian, she was holding a set of women’s underwear, one piece in each hand.

“You must have saved a lot of people over the past three years. We met people who were helped by you while following the traces of El, and they asked us to please pass this along when we see you.”

I might not remember the exact number, but I do recall saving quite a few people.

“This is something a girl from Wolfran village asked me to give to you. So, what do you think? Do you like it?”

Selian shook the underwear set in her hands while mentioning Wolfran village. I could recall the girl I saved there, one I rescued just before she was about to be bled dry by a vampire demon. I distinctly remember checking for bite marks on her neck carefully since becoming a demon’s slave happens when one gets bitten.

That said, even if this is a gift of gratitude, why is it a set of underwear? Every time I think I’ve gotten used to this, I still realize the differences between men and women in ways I never expected. Women, in comparison, seem to pay more attention to underwear than men do, so they may well exchange underwear gifts.

Of course, if I were still a man and received underwear from another man, I would have raised my fist immediately.

“Well… it doesn’t really matter if I like it or not. When it comes to gifts, it’s the thought that counts.”

“Hehe… I’m glad you like it. So, shall we try it on?”

“Uh?”

I tilted my head, wondering if I misheard. But instead of replying, Selian slowly approached me with the underwear in hand.

“Um… Sel…”

“The person who gifted you has care put into it; at least you should try it on. I know you’re tired, but just stay still. We’ll take care of everything.”

Before I realized it, I tried to step back, but I just bumped into Yuli, who was standing behind me.

“Alright, let’s get this off first.”

Then Yuli slipped her hands under my armpit and began to unbutton my shirt. Startled and unable to resist, I watched as she swiftly stripped me of my outer garment.

In my desperation, I glanced over at Anne and Mariel, who were silent, but they didn’t seem inclined to stop this.

“No, I’ll just try it on myself…”

“Come on, the person who gifted it asked very earnestly! We can’t just leave it as is. As you can see, there’s a lot of stuff to get through, so let’s hurry up! We don’t mind going slowly, but you can’t take forever!”

I casually turned my head to examine the mountain of items. Just like in Selian’s hands, there were multiple sets of underwear, clothes, jewelry, and plenty more.

No way… It can’t be, right?

*

They say assuming leads to disaster.

In the end, I became their doll for the entire night, changing outfits repeatedly. There were so many scarves I couldn’t even remember them all, and as for the underwear, I must have changed at least ten times. They didn’t discriminate between skirts, pants, or any type of clothing. Among the non-clothing items, there were amulets galore. If it’s one amulet per curse, I figure I’ll never be cursed ever again.

Even when I insisted I’d try them all on later, my friends wouldn’t believe me and forced me to keep changing. Besides, could I really change clothes without exposing myself? Every time their hands brushed against my body, I had to suppress any unwanted feelings.

Of course, it was still a humiliating experience to show my naked body, but thankfully, I no longer had to hide the Master-Servant Mark, so the ordeal wasn’t as burdensome now.

Who would have thought I’d reach a state of true equanimity in circumstances like these? Enlightenment really can be found anywhere.

“Alright. This is the last one.”

When I heard it was the last, I let go of my mind as I had been doing and gathered myself up again.

Despite me having done absolutely nothing, I felt exhausted, while they seemed to show no signs of fatigue, looking even more vibrant than when we started.

Selian slowly raised my limp hand.

I felt the cold metal touch on my finger. The items in the backpack contained an overwhelming number of rings; they likely deemed there were too many after trying them on all night since not a single ring had been touched. Yet, now they say it’s the last, and it’s a ring?

But when I lowered my gaze, I saw a familiar-shaped ring on my finger.

“Please… don’t take it off.”

It was a ring we matched to celebrate my birthday, honoring our friendship. But it was one I had taken off with my own hands on the day I parted from them.

Only after slipping the familiar ring back onto my finger did I finally feel that I had returned to the side of my friends I had longed to see.

I really did miss them.