Chapter 58

...How foolish I was.

The thought of myself being so stupid made me sick.

"—I bought it because you’ve seemed troubled lately."
"I don’t know what’s bothering you. But I want to help."

That was Shin’s answer when I asked about the cake he suddenly brought home this evening.

At first, I was confused.
No—shocked would be more accurate.

After all, I had no right to receive such kindness.
I’m the perpetrator who brainwashed him. Shin is the victim.

…Well, Shin doesn’t know I brainwashed him, so terms like "perpetrator" and "victim" probably don’t matter to him.
In my slightly calmer state now, I understand that.

But back then, in that moment, I had no room in my heart for rationality—only guilt, crushing and unbearable.

So I asked him:
Why? Why would you say you want to help me?

And Shin replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world:

"Because you’re important to me. That’s why I want to help."

Then he added:
"If there’s anything I can do, just tell me."

…Hearing that, I almost hated myself.

How could I not?
Here was Shin, treating me like someone precious… while for the past ten days, I hadn’t even tried to properly examine the brainwashing spell.

Even though I knew leaving it unchecked might hurt him, I kept running away—just because I didn’t want him to hate me.

And then it hit me:
I’ve only been thinking about myself this whole time.

…What a selfish, wretched person I am.
The realization made me sick to my core.

…But because of it, I finally made up my mind.
Tonight, I’d sneak into Shin’s room and investigate. I was ready.

---

I opened the door and slipped inside.
2 AM. Shin was long asleep, his quiet breaths filling the room.

Moving silently, I stood beside his bed.
Looking down, I saw his peaceful face.

“…Heh.”
A laugh escaped me—the first in what felt like forever.
Seeing him so unguarded made my chest ache with affection.

…This might be the last time I ever see him like this.
If I undo the brainwashing and he can’t forgive me… I won’t be allowed to stay here anymore.

“…”
The thought made me want to run. It hurt too much.

…But I couldn’t.
I’d already resolved myself.

“…Let’s do this.”

I reached out, hovering my hand over Shin’s head.
Crimson light spilled from my palm, connecting to his forehead.

I linked to the brainwashing spell inside him, beginning my inspection.
Slowly, methodically, I checked for abnormalities from the outermost layer.

The spell’s structure was divided into three parts:

—The outermost second layer

—The middle first layer

—And the core at its heart

Only the core was irreparable if damaged. The rest could be maintained.

—Second layer: No irregularities—

The outermost check was complete. No issues.

That left the first layer and the core.

Please let it be the first layer. That, I can fix.
Praying silently, I continued.

…An eternity later, the results came.
Steadying my ragged breaths, I looked.

—First layer—

My gaze inched across the data. I couldn’t bear to see it all at once.
Then, finally, I reached the critical line.

—No irregularities—

“Ah—”

My legs gave out.
I collapsed to the floor with a thud.

“N-No…”

My vision swam.
If not the first layer, then the issue had to be the core—

And right then, as if to mock me further, the core’s analysis finished.
The results flashed before me.

Too numb to look away, I could only stare.

—Core: No irregularities—

“……Huh?”

No irregularities?
I rubbed my eyes. The words didn’t change.

“…What?”

One moment I was in despair—the next, utterly lost.
No issues? None? How?

…Did I mess up the inspection?

I cast the diagnostic spell again.
Same result.

—Second layer: No irregularities—
—First layer: No irregularities—
—Core: No irregularities—

“What is this…?”

Nothing made sense.
Then what was causing Shin’s strange behavior?

Searching for clues, I scoured the spell’s archived data.
That’s when I found it—one glaring anomaly.

“Activation count…?”

The number of brainwashing activations was abnormally high.

According to the logs, the spell had triggered over fifty times today alone.

Normally, brainwashing magic isn’t something that activates this frequently.
By its very nature, it’s designed to correct thoughts the target "shouldn’t have."

For example—
Imagine someone brainwashed into believing strawberries are oranges.
Every time they see a strawberry and think, "This is a strawberry," the spell forcibly rewrites it to "This is an orange."

So unless the person actively thinks the forbidden thought, the spell doesn’t activate.
And under normal circumstances, that doesn’t happen often.

After all, unless you’re a strawberry farmer, how often would you think about strawberries ten or twenty times a day?

"...But if this is the only issue, then it’s not really a problem... right?"

Most likely, the "strange behavior" I’d noticed was just the discomfort of repeated activations.
I’d mistakenly assumed the spell itself was malfunctioning when it was just working overtime.

"Brainwashing isn’t taxing on the mind unless it’s the initial casting..."

Think of it like a tattoo etched into the brain.
The first engraving is painful, and doing it repeatedly would mangle the mind—but once it’s there, it doesn’t cause harm.

...Which means there was never any real danger.
No need to undo the spell.

"I can stay by Shin’s side after all."

Saying it aloud made it feel real.
A wave of relief flooded my chest.

"Shin... Shin..."

I reached out, brushing my fingers against his cheek.
I knew I might wake him, but I didn’t care.

I was just... happy.
The kind of happiness that only comes after true despair.

"...Sniff."

I clutched Shin’s hand—still warm under the covers—and pressed it to my heart.
For a long while, I clung to it like a lifeline.

---

Time passed. My racing thoughts settled.

As I watched Shin’s peaceful face—still undisturbed despite my fussing—a quiet question surfaced:

"...Why was the brainwashing activating so much?"

It nagged at me.

"...I should check."

Even if it wasn’t harmful, fewer activations would be better.
I needed to know the trigger.

I pulled up the spell’s memory logs.

A scene materialized before me.

---

"Why? Why would you... want to help me? I’m... I’m not..."

Yuu’s voice trembled, face lowered.

...But why?
The answer was simple. It didn’t even require thought.

---

This was from earlier—
The moment over cake, when I’d fallen apart.
Just seeing it again made my cheeks burn with shame.

But something about watching this felt... wrong.
Like I was violating Shin’s privacy.
I’ll never look again after this, I swore silently.

---

"Because you’re important to me."
"...Important?"
"Yeah. You’re precious to me, so I want to help."
"..."

Yuu is my precious ["Someone I love" → "Best friend"]
That’s why I want to see Yuu smile.

---

"............Huh?"

The log ended.
A sledgehammer of shock slammed into my skull.

I couldn’t—wouldn’t—process it.
My brain rejected the words.

"............What?"

This meant... Shin had thought of me as—
"Someone I love."

And the spell had forced it into "Best friend."

"...That’s—"

Just moments ago, I’d been saved by the realization that the spell was harmless.
Now, I was hurled back into hell.