Chapter 4: What Was He Thinking?
Translated by Vine
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'What was he thinking? Neutrals aren't exactly common like pebbles on the ground.'

In the kingdom of Endor, there were only three Neutrals in the same era, including Rose.
Unfortunately, one was a grandmother with over 50 grandchildren, and the other was a young man with a beautiful wife, so both were far from being virgins.

Whether it was in the autumn of 968 or in April of 967, the only person who met both conditions of being a Neutral and a virgin was Rose.
Of course, it had already been 5 years since Rose had left the Mythos society, so a new Neutral might have been born in the meantime...

'If they're too young, they can't be used as sacrifices.'

Putting it all together, it meant that Rose Taylor had been marked as a sacrifice by those fanatics for about 10 years.
Honestly, what if in those 10 years, she had become a free-love advocate who didn't discriminate between men and women, and had become an adult who spent passionate nights more vigorously than anyone else?
Wait a minute.
Could someone be watching me?
And manipulating my actions...

Just imagining it, Rose's body trembled with a shiver that ran from her toes to the top of her head.
'No. Calm down, Rose Taylor. Constant surveillance is impossible.'
Rose took a deep breath and calmed her heart.

Anyway, thanks to her concentration, she had a result.
'Being Neutral is not something that can be changed. It's how you're born.'
But the state of being a virgin can be changed with will and action!

Then, the demon summoning itself would become impossible from the start, so she wouldn't have to go see those Investigation Bureau guys she didn't want to see.
Above all, she also had a loving partner. What could be a more perfect plan than this?

Rose got up from the floor where she was sitting and looked in the mirror.
Her purple eyes, reflected in the old mirror, wavered with confusion and then calmed down.
Now that she had decided what to do, all that was left was to act.
She bit her lower lip tightly and made a vow.

Whatever the reason and cause, she would make the end of the world something that didn't happen.

"Okay. First, I'll save Catherine."

Looking at the wall clock, there were less than 5 minutes left until Catherine left for work at the public school.
Rose quickly changed her clothes and ran down the stairs.
Mrs. Brown started nagging again, saying what a rash thing it was for a marriageable young lady to do, but it just passed through Rose's ears.
It was so urgent that she didn't even have time to respond.

"Catherine! No matter what happens today, you have to take the main road, not the shortcut!"

"Huh?"

"Promise me. Even if a child or an elderly person asks for help and leads you into an alley, you must never follow them."

Rose grabbed Catherine's shoulder, who was about to leave, and suddenly told her not to take the shortcut.

"Rose. What's wrong all of a sudden?"

"Today's prophecy."

"What?"

"It's today's prophecy. Catherine Jones must never walk in an alley today. Got it? Promise me!"

Catherine flinched at the words 'today's prophecy'.
The 'prophecies' that Rose, an employee of the famous 'Hukerd & Blavatsky Psychic Research Institute', occasionally made were surprisingly accurate.

Mrs. Brown had bought a lottery ticket as Rose said and even won a small prize, so she was secretly looking forward to when she would tell her fortune again.
Catherine and Caroline had also benefited from Rose's prophecies before, so they were looking forward to when she would tell them again.

"Rose. It's unfair that you only look at my sister!"

"Caroline, Mrs. Brown, you must also never enter an alley today. No matter who asks. Got it?"

Looking around at the three of them with a serious face, Rose held out her pinky finger.
"If you don't promise, neither Catherine nor Caroline can go to work!"

The three people were taken aback by her sudden stubbornness, but they linked their pinky fingers with Rose and promised 'not to go through the alley'.
There was no detailed explanation of why, but since Rose emphasized it as today's fortune, there must be a reason.

"Then I'll be going!"

"See you in the evening, Mrs. Brown, Rose."

Only after seeing Catherine and Caroline leave the front door of the boarding house did Rose turn to go back up to the top floor, to her room.

"Miss Taylor. Since it's Wednesday, it's your day off today, right?"

"Yes. It's the office's regular holiday."

"Oh, then I'll have to prepare lunch for Miss Taylor too."

"It's okay, ma'am. I have to go out today because I have something to do."

Even though she had made them promise with their pinky fingers not to go through the alley, Rose couldn't be completely relieved.
Since every Wednesday was a regular holiday, she would meet Arthur in the morning and pick up Catherine from the public school where she worked in the afternoon.
And then she would come straight back to the boarding house with her without going astray.
This was her plan.

At a time when there was unrest due to the mysterious serial murder case that started from the outskirts of the border and reached the capital, Rombutton.
Catherine Jones, who was more loving and kind to everyone than anyone else, lost her life to a robber despite the period of enhanced security.
Just because she used the shortcut she always used...

But is there a law that says it has to be the same this time?
There was no reason to let the same thing happen when she knew exactly what tragedy would occur.

After finishing her preparations to go out, Rose left Mrs. Brown, who was preaching the importance of breakfast, behind and ran out to Growl Street.
There was no time to waste.

The person she missed the most until the last moment.
Arthur Granfield.

Ah, my beloved.
In this timeline, they had met yesterday, but for Rose, who had seen the end, it wasn't the case.
That's why she wanted to see him again as soon as possible.

"Arthur..."

As she called his name, tears welled up in her eyes.
Rose tried not to cry, clenching her teeth with her bloodshot eyes wide open.
When she had to helplessly watch the gates of hell open and disaster spew out into the world. The scariest thing wasn't the end of the world or the terrifying power of the demon.

It was the fear that Arthur Granfield might be swept away by this wave of the end.
And the fear that he would eventually die because of her.
One day, two days, three days...

Would he be safe today, would he be safe tomorrow.
What's the point of surviving until the end when all living beings are dying in the first place.
Still, I hope you are safe.

It was a week like hell, no, hell itself, that she had prayed and prayed for.
But now, at this point, it hasn't happened yet.
I know that you are completely alive and that I can keep you alive.
Let's go to his house. And let's say I love you.

Let's hug him tightly and kiss him. I have to apologize for the fight too.
If I explain that I've returned to the past, Arthur will believe me. He's a capable Mythos, unlike me, so he might understand right away.
Then we can stop the end of the world together, right?

Thinking about the future with him, Rose's heart was filled with joy and guilt, love and longing.
It was a waste of time to wait for the stagecoach, so how long had she been running at full speed?
Finally, she arrived at the neatly lined row of apartment buildings.

Rose took a moment to catch her breath in front of his house, painted in cream, and then pressed the buzzer of the front door with trembling fingertips.
But unfortunately, it wasn't Arthur Granfield who opened the door, but his roommate, Howard Hudson.

"Mr. Granfield went to work today."

"Work? Every Wednesday is a regular holiday?"

"Well, maybe he had some work to catch up on. He might still be at the office, so if you hurry, you might be able to meet him."

"Thank you, Mr. Hudson."

"Don't mention it... Just don't fight anymore."

Hudson gave Rose a mischievous smile and pushed her back.
A 20-minute walk from Mrs. Brown's women-only boarding house. 'Hukerd & Blavatsky Psychic Research Institute' on the 3rd floor of the Vuron Building.
That was Rose and Arthur's business.

Spiritism, psychic shows, mind reading, fortune telling, and so on.
It was a kind of entertainment business that presented suspicious and fraudulent, but somewhat eerie and fun, mysterious things for money.

At the psychic research institute established by Arthur Granfield under the pseudonym 'Henry Hukerd', Rose was acting as a mysterious spirit medium from Morregenia under the pseudonym 'Olga Blavatsky'.
The way for a Mythos, who had only learned magic, to quickly earn money among the Logos was obvious.

Usually, at first, they pretend to be a street fortune teller, and later, they pretend to be a psychic or a person with supernatural powers.
Since the Logos don't know magic, they fall for even a little trick.

Unless it's a really big scam, the 'Golden Crows' tend to turn a blind eye...
Could that be why? Unlike Rose, who wanted to expand the business further, Arthur was cautious, citing the 'Mythos Omerta'.

In addition to Arthur's lukewarm attitude of constantly postponing marriage, Rose, who had been holding back, exploded and had the biggest fight they had ever had.
'Past life... It's a funny word. What happened last time?'