Side Story 93: The Future of the Past (6)

When my story paused for a moment, Lapilia, who had been sitting on the sofa across from me, stood up to replace her cold tea.

With fresh tea in hand, she sat down beside me again.

"So, what happened?"

Leaning slightly closer, Lapilia prompted me to continue.

"Yeah. After that, we talked things over all night. But the gap between us never closed."

The reason was clear. It was a problem within me. I wanted to remain with the troupe, but at the same time, I couldn't bring myself to let go of my feelings for Rudek.

"To borrow Rev's words, in the end, I couldn't 'give up' on Rudek. That incident led me to say goodbye to the troupe half a month later."

"...I see."

"Things were pretty rough back then. I even resented Rev. But looking only at the outcome now, Rev's words had been right. If I hadn't said goodbye to the troupe then, I don't think I would have been able to do anything even after returning to the past."

I learned to make the bottled goods and other items that helped me earn Rays-sama's trust only after leaving the troupe and trying all sorts of jobs. I also met Skit-san because I had left the troupe...