小嫂子的味道

"Yeah that doesn't make any sense," Zero replied.

He was right in his way of thinking, the girl was totally different from him. She had long blue hair while he had normal black hair, she had a light and soft voice while his pitch was deep. But most of all, she was a female!

There's no way they could be the same person.

"I know, I know. It's hard to grasp, but it's true," she replied as she raised her hand toward Zero.

"Don't worry, it's healing magic," she said, calming Zero down who had raised his arms up in a defensive posture.

Soon a golden-colored magic circle opened before her palm and a bright glow came out of it and went around Zero's body, engulfing him as the shining particles circled around him.

In no time all the pain left his body. The injuries he'd gained were healed, and the magic had such a power that even the chunks of meat that were torn off from his body by the beasts and his skin that was burned regenerated itself.

"That's a high-level magic spell," Zero commented. But there was more to it than that.

She didn't reply and closed the magic circle when Zero was completely healed. He was feeling much better now, and for once he was able to think straight again— since the headache from the overuse of [Foresight] had also gone away.

"Now, let's get back to talking. We don't have much here," she said. "What I said was true, no matter how weird it seems. I am you, Zero Blanks. I came here from the future."

It was not as if everything she said went completely over Zero's head, but he was having a hard time believing all that.

A normal person would have interrupted her and wouldn't have let her finish what she wanted to say, but he listened to her calmly— even though still disturbed by his parent's death, he was now back in his composed and rational state of mind.

"Okay, let's just say what you said is true. I believed you even when I don't know you at all, but one thing still remains. How in the world did I become a girl in the future?" he asked.

"That huh? Can't say I am completely used to it either. But well, let me clear one thing for you: this is not my body," she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"What do you mean?"

"Things are rather hard and rough in the future, and there came a time when my physical body was completely destroyed. So to save my life, Req merged my soul with hers and as a result, both of us now share the same spiritual body," she said in a dark tone as if she was still not happy with how things turned out.

"Wait what? You have Req with you?" Zero asked hurriedly.

"I said that I am you, didn't I? It's obvious that she'll be with me," she replied.

"I see. But if you both are really in the same body, then where is she? To me it seems like you are the one talking," Zero questioned.

Zero was having a hard time believing all this— or rather he didn't want to— but there were a few things that forced him to. For example, the girl knew about Req. Which in itself should be impossible, but she did not only know about her but she knew the name he called Req as well.

"There is one body, but the consciousness of two people. I can communicate with her in my mind but we'll have to switch places if we want to take control of the body. Right now I am the one controlling the body, so she can't talk with anyone outside."

"Hmm, if that's the case then switch once. I want to talk to her," Zero said.

"Sigh. You don't trust people easily, huh? Well, it is me so I can understand. I still have that problem. But fine, if that's what it takes to finish this quickly then I'll do it," she said and closed her eyes.

Nothing special happened and she opened her eyes again, but this time the voice that came out was different.

"Yup, here I am. Ask what you wanna ask," she said. This time her voice was the same as Req's; there was no doubt about it. And Zero was rather surprised to see this.

"Are you Req?" he asked.

"Okay, we are short in time here so I'll make this quick. You might not be able to recognize your future self but I can do that. So…"

She turned to where the frozen statue of Req stood. "Lend me a hand here," she said and closed her eyes. "Sure," the girl replied to herself, opening her eyes again.

She raised a hand toward Req and soon the ice covering her body was undone as if the elemental magic spell itself was undone. Req soon started moving and the first thing she did was look at the girl.

The girl again closed her eyes only to open them again while Req stood there staring at her for a while.

"I see, I understand now," Req said as she walked next to Zero.

"See? There's no way I'll fail to recognize myself," the girl said.

Now that Zero was listening to both of them at the same time, he realized that their voices were the exact same.

"Wait, for real? Req, is that really you from the future?" Zero asked, he still didn't want to accept the fact that he was a girl in the future.

"Yeah, I am a spiritual being so I can directly see the soul of things. And hers is the same as mine. Also, there is not just her; there are two souls merged into one, the other being… yours," Req said. "I knew spells for time travel existed, but now I've seen one."

"Damn… So it's true then," Zero mumbled, looking at Req and then back at the girl.

The girl repeated the process of closing her eyes and opening them again.

"Now have you cleared your doubts?" she asked.

"I have one last question," Zero proposed.

"Sigh. Fine, ask whatever you want," she replied.

"What is the thing that I regret the most in my life? If you are really me then you should know that."

"I see. I, of course, know that; I am you after all. And the thing you regret the most in your life has happened today, in fact. The moment when you weren't able to save your parents from the demon beasts, that is when you cursed yourself the most," she said in a serious tone.

A slight smile appeared on Zero's face, but it was only there for a few seconds. "Damn, you are right after all. You really are me."

"And the fact that I am a girl in the future," he added.

"Oh don't worry about that. I am here to change that future, after all," the girl said, or rather Zero of the future was the one to say those words.