ISEKAI? More like I See Crap!-Chapter 204: Fading Memories, Growing Bonds ( )

Hazuki suddenly smirked, arms crossed, the fury replaced with something far more dangerous:

Payback mode.

He turned his gaze upward toward the now-floating-again Ridan.

"Oho~?"

He grinned.

"You said that awfully confidently just now, Ridan."

Ridan paused mid-air.

"Um—"

Hazuki leaned in, smugness radiating like a second aura.

"You were very specific, you know? Smooth skin... soft round butt... glistening eyes looking back..."

His voice rose, mocking.

"’Be gentle with me, onii-chan~’—I mean, wow, Ridan~ sounds real personal."

Ridan floated back defensively. "W-Wait a second—"

Hazuki grinned wider.

"OHHHH~!!! YOU TASTED IT!! DIDN’T YOU!? A THOUSAND YEARS AGO!?"

"NOOOO I DID NOT!!" Ridan’s voice cracked.

"Then how do you know how they feel~? Huh~? Heeeeeeee~"

Hazuki poked the air with his finger, like taunting a ghost puppy.

Ridan swirled frantically.

"IT’S CALLED RESEARCH!! I READ A LOT!!"

"Sure, sure~ Ridan the Buttologist~"

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!!"

"You’re not denying it though~"

"Admit it, Ridan~"

Hazuki leaned back, smugness pouring off him like heat from grilled meat.

"I’m sure it’s based on your experience~"

Ridan floated slightly higher, mist flickering nervously.

"A... aaaa... aaaa—"

Hazuki pointed.

"OHHHHH!! SEEEE!! YOU KNEW IT!!"

Ridan finally exploded.

"IT WAS WHEN I WAS TOO DRUNK, OKAY!!"

Hazuki’s jaw dropped.

Ridan covered his own foggy face.

"At that time... I was still a newbie mage! I joined a party with a beautiful girl—WELL, I thought she was a girl!"

Hazuki leaned in, eyes wide with mock horror and delight.

"OH!? OH!!? YOU WENT ALL THE WAY!??"

Ridan froze in midair. Silent. Still. No spin. No snark.

Just haunted mist.

"...I don’t want to talk about it."

Hazuki burst out laughing, nearly falling off the log.

"Pffft—YOU GOT TRAPPED FOR REAL!!"

Ridan floated there, silent now.

No teasing. No smugness.

His mist didn’t swirl with excitement or laughter.

Just... stillness.

"She really looked like a girl back then..." he finally muttered, voice quieter than usual.

"We’d been drinking too much. It was late. The inn only had one room left."

Hazuki blinked. Stayed quiet.

"I didn’t know what happened after that. Just... that morning."

Ridan’s misty form wavered slightly.

"She hugged me. Neither of us had any clothes on."

Hazuki stopped laughing.

He just stared at Ridan.

Then scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"...You can remember something like that... but you forgot how you looked back then? Or even your real name?"

A beat of silence.

Ridan floated a little lower.

His voice came out slower, rougher—no jokes this time.

"...Yeah. Funny, isn’t it?"

Hazuki didn’t say anything more.

He just leaned back and looked up at the sky, letting the silence sit between them.

Hazuki leaned forward a bit, glancing at the quiet mist floating beside him.

"So... after that night... how do you even know you went all the way in?"

Ridan’s form flickered slightly, like his mist rippled from embarrassment.

"I... can’t confirm it. Not exactly."

His voice was low, quiet again.

"But... the way she walked the next morning..."

He hesitated.

"Subtle, but... uncomfortable."

Hazuki stayed quiet, nodding once.

Ridan’s mist drooped slightly.

"And she looked at me with this strange expression. Said I was a... beast that night."

He gave a small, sad laugh.

Hazuki glanced up.

"So... you and her, after that? Did you... stay together?"

Ridan shook slowly.

"No. She left."

A pause.

"Said she was joining another party. Didn’t even say where."

For a while, neither of them spoke.

The forest breeze rustled gently through the trees. The workers were far in the distance now, busy with the last of the monster piles. No one else could hear them.

Just a man and a spirit, sharing a quiet scar that had never quite healed.

Hazuki glanced sideways at the misty figure beside him.

"You missed... her?"

There was a pause.

Ridan jolted slightly, floating up with a huff.

"Huh!? No way!!"

Then he added sharply.

"And it was a HE, not a she, okay!? Big difference!"

Hazuki blinked.

"Oh..."

Ridan spun once, his tone sour.

"I heard later that he started changing partners constantly. Party after party. Sleeping with whoever got him better loot."

"Oh." Hazuki nodded again. "So just a pretty-faced scumbag."

"Exactly."

Ridan drifted down a little.

"After that... it’s kinda blurry. I don’t remember much."

He paused, quieter.

"Maybe when I remember more, I’ll tell you."

Hazuki grinned, standing up and stretching.

"Oh! That’s a good idea. We can write a book! ’Wisdom from an Ancient Spirit.’"

"Oi!! I am an Ancient Spirit!" Ridan snapped.

Hazuki shrugged.

"Whatever."

"But then... I remember someone else."

Hazuki looked at him.

"Another beautiful boy?" he said with a half-smirk.

Ridan twitched.

"No!" he snapped, but not as loud as before.

He drifted lower, his mist curling slightly inward.

"This time... she was a girl. A real one. Human, if I’m not mistaken."

Hazuki raised an eyebrow.

"Oho? A love story, huh?"

Ridan ignored the jab.

"We were in the same party. Not for long. I can’t remember her face... or her voice."

He paused.

"But I remember fighting beside her. That’s all I’ve got."

Hazuki crossed his arms.

"That’s still more than nothing. At least it’s a real girl this time. You sure?"

"Yes." Ridan said firmly.

Then after a moment—

"...I think."

Inside Ridan’s mind...

Fragments flickered—blurry memories, distant echoes.

He had partied with that girl.

A beautiful one.

Bright voice. Quick laugh. Her face still lost in the fog of time.

But one memory remained crystal clear.

The face of that man.

That bastard.

The so-called hero from a thousand years ago.

He didn’t care about the people. Only power.

Only grinding levels, collecting legendary gear, hoarding fame.

He was no savior.

He was a monster in human skin.

Ridan could still feel it—the cold steel of betrayal.

The pain of the sealing spell.

The rage as his spirit was torn from his dying body and stuffed into a special magic jar, locked away deep inside that hidden cave.

He was forgotten.

Buried.

For centuries.

Until...

Those two mysterious figures.

They led that idiot Hazuki into the cave.

Set the path.

Triggered the seal’s release.

Hazuki hadn’t even realized what he did.

Now here he was.

Bound to Hazuki’s sword.

Drifting like a lazy spirit.

Floating beside the world’s most unpredictable moron.

...And yet.

He didn’t mind it.

Not anymore.

( End Of Chapter )

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