The World Is Mine For The Taking-Chapter 1174 - 179 - A Miraculous Reunion (4)

Leon’s POV

I think I managed to keep my composure.

At least, that’s what I told myself in that moment.

If someone had been watching me closely, maybe they wouldn’t have noticed anything strange. My face felt calm, controlled. It was like nothing had cracked on the surface. My eyes didn’t widen at all. And my jaw didn’t stiff. I didn’t have any sharp intake of breath that would give me away either.

Even though, inside, I was shaken.

Seeing her again hit me harder than I expected. It was sudden, jarring, like running face-first into a memory you thought you’d buried properly. But I didn’t react. I didn’t let it show. Or at least, I don’t think I did.

Honestly, I wasn’t even sure anymore.

I had no clear memory of what expression I was wearing at that exact moment. Everything blurred together. All I knew was that I didn’t panic. I didn’t freeze. I didn’t do anything that would draw attention.

So maybe that meant I succeeded.

When I reached her, I noticed the change almost immediately.

She relaxed.

Even though I was a complete stranger to her now—someone she didn’t recognize and someone she had never met in this world—the moment she saw me, something inside her seemed to settle. Her shoulders slackened. The tension she had been clinging to like a lifeline just... disappeared.

It was as if she decided, right then and there, that she was safe.

And once that decision was made, her consciousness gave out.

She collapsed, her body going limp in my arms.

Her condition was bad. Not fatal, but far from okay. Burns traced across her skin, some shallow, some deeper, spread unevenly like the aftermath of careless violence. None of it looked permanent, but it was painful—very painful.

Thankfully, it was nothing healing magic couldn’t fix.

I focused, channeling mana carefully, letting it flow where it was needed most. The burns faded little by little, the damage repairing itself under the spell’s soft glow. Almost instantly, the tightness in her expression eased. The pain left her face, replaced with something softer.

Relief.

She looked peaceful, even unconscious.

Just as I adjusted my grip to carry her properly, the sound of wings cut through the air behind me.

Shredica landed, her wyvern touching down with practiced ease.

"It looks like you’ve already dealt with them," she said calmly.

Her eyes flicked briefly toward the bodies scattered around us, but there was no reaction there. No shock. No concern. Death didn’t faze her at all. At this point, we were already used to it.

Her attention shifted back to Kaori in my arms.

She stared.

Not just a glance. Not a passing look. She studied me, her gaze lingering longer than it should have.

"You know her, don’t you?" she finally asked.

"I don’t," I answered immediately. "Princess Myrcella doesn’t want anything bad to happen to her. That’s all. I acted on that."

It was the truth—or at least, the version of it I could safely give.

"Is it really that simple?" she pressed.

Her voice was calm, but I could hear the doubt underneath it. She wasn’t convinced. And honestly, I couldn’t blame her.

But there wasn’t anything else I could say.

There really was nothing more I could offer her. No explanation that wouldn’t raise more questions. No justification beyond the favor I owed.

"I see..." she said after a pause.

She still looked unconvinced. Suspicious, even. But suspicion alone didn’t give her leverage. She didn’t know the truth, and more importantly, she didn’t know how to confront it.

So she let it go.

At least, for now.

***

We returned to the village not long after.

The moment we arrived, Hasegawa-sensei ran toward us.

The instant her eyes landed on Kaori in my arms, her legs gave out. She collapsed where she stood, as if the strength holding her upright had suddenly vanished.

It was relief. Pure, overwhelming relief.

After everything they’d been through, after the fear and the waiting and the uncertainty, it finally caught up to her all at once.

She covered her mouth with both hands, desperately trying to hold herself together, but it didn’t work. Her shoulders trembled. Tears spilled freely.

"Thank goodness..." she whispered, her voice breaking.

While she cried, I noticed someone else watching me.

Sakai.

I had to think for a moment to place her.

Back then, I hadn’t been particularly close with most of my classmates. I kept to myself. Still, Sakai and I had spoken more than most. We used to spend time in the library together, quietly occupying the same space.

Seeing her here felt wrong.

She shouldn’t have been here. None of them should have.

What happened? How did things end up like this?

I didn’t know.

It felt like fate was mocking us. Like everything was being carefully arranged, piece by piece. I wasn’t some chosen hero. I wasn’t pulling the strings.

I was just another piece on the board.

If people from my past world were appearing here—arriving around the same time I died, yet living through this world twenty years after I had already reincarnated—then there had to be something behind it all.

Some massive force.

Trying to figure it out right now would be pointless. I didn’t have enough information. I didn’t have enough reach.

But still...

I needed answers.

***

Yuuto’s POV

I placed a cloth gently over the body.

The family stood close, their quiet sobbing cutting deeper than any scream ever could.

This was the first dead body I had ever seen.

Knowing they had been alive just hours ago made it unbearable. The reality of death sat heavy in my chest, pressing down on me until breathing felt difficult.

"I’m sorry..." I said quietly. "If I were stronger, maybe I could have done something..."

"I heard the reason those people attacked our village was because of all of you," the woman said.

Her voice was steady, but her eyes were hollow.

"If not for you, my husband might still be alive. How am I supposed to feed my children now?"

I had no answer.

She wasn’t wrong.

The attack happened because of us. And in the end, we failed to protect them.

My fists clenched at my sides, nails digging into my palms. I couldn’t stand there any longer. I turned away and walked off, leaving them to grieve.

Outside, Sakai-san approached me.

"Kaori has been saved," she said. "Princess Myrcella’s lover was the one who rescued her."

"I see..."

The tension drained from my shoulders instantly.

Relief washed over me, heavy and overwhelming. At least one thing had gone right.

As that thought settled, I looked up.

I saw him—standing with Miss Shredica.

They were talking like they already knew each other.

For some reason, the sight made my chest tighten.

It felt familiar.

Not déjà vu.

A memory.

Because for just a moment, it looked exactly like Ichinose-kun and Chihara-san talking together.