Chapter 124
Two Regressors – Part 4
『 Translator – Divinity 』
The dagger was deeply embedded. Blood trickled out.
The past Ruth was already covered in blood from her battle with Chloe, but…
Her usually emotionless eyes were filled with shock.
[A-Adam!]
[…Ah.]
[Don’t die! Don’t, don’t die, you bastard! You have to live, not die! Live and see what you’ve done! Do you think you’re allowed to escape through death!?]
The past Ruth, throwing aside even Dark Sword, desperately tried to stop Adam’s bleeding. It was the best she could do, as pulling out the embedded dagger would worsen the bleeding.
She used her aura to physically block the wound and tried to maintain Adam’s fading consciousness. She shook him, slapped his cheeks, and tried everything she could.
If Adam were Rank 3, or even Rank 2, there might have been a slight chance of saving him.
But for a Rank 1, a dagger in the heart meant death.
[No! Those countries that were chasing you are all falling apart now. The Holy Kingdom is destroyed, the Delphia Kingdom is in ruins, and the Empire is in chaos because of the Rank 8 monsters! If I, if I want to save you, you can live!]
[R-Ruth.]
[You have to face the sins you’ve committed! Even if you’ve fallen, even if you’ve become like that…!!]
[Chloe…]
[What?]
[Tell Chloe… I’m sorry… that I… relied on her…]
[Don’t spout nonsense! Live! Live!!]
[I’m sorry… for not being able to love you…]
Chloe quietly turned her head. She saw her future self. The one who died by Ruth’s hand, the one who would never have heard those words.
What was adult Chloe’s expression like? Chloe couldn’t see because she was slightly behind her.
Words she could only hear because she died and regressed incompletely as a lingering thought.
And…
[If I keep you alive, if I take you with me. And like that…]
[………]
[And like that… you…]
What about the past Ruth? And the current Ruth, who was witnessing this past memory?
Chloe realized the weight of the karma of regression, the burden that Ruth carried.
[You… forgive me… and you also… repent… and like that… together.]
[………]
[You called me the protagonist. You said I was the protagonist of the world. Can’t I dream such a dream, like a protagonist in a fairy tale?]
The past Ruth was both crying and laughing. She was furious at Adam’s senseless suicide, and yet, she spoke of making him live and pay for his sins.
There was a contradiction in her wanting to return to the happy past.
For Ruth to forgive Adam, and for Adam to repent for his sins.
For the two of them to recreate their past happiness in a place where no one knew.
Even though she knew it was a twisted, absurd, and unrealistic wish…
…she still clung to it.
[Adam, Adam.]
[………]
[Adam…]
Adam was already dead. He died muttering apologies to Chloe, without even hearing everything Ruth had to say.
The past Ruth, who had been holding onto his lifeless body for a long time,
Finally put down Adam’s corpse and picked up the Dark Sword she had thrown away.
And then…
[You’re supposed to… grant wishes. Damn sword. I wished so hard. Was it that difficult of a wish?]
Stab.
She stabbed…
…Dark Sword into her own arm. Blood gushed out, and Dark Sword devoured it.
[What kind of artifact created by a god are you? What kind of conceptual object are you? Why won’t you grant my wish?]
She continued to inflict wounds on herself. She continued to feed it her blood.
[Is my blood still not enough? Is that it!?]
Clang!
She continued to feed it her blood, then, in a fit of rage, threw it away.
Dark Sword weakly hit the cave wall and fell, and Ruth, covered in self-inflicted wounds, slowly collapsed.
[Adam… wake up… It’s time for breakfast… I even bought… eggs this time…]
There was no answer.
[If I, if I hadn’t left the academy… if the Headmistress hadn’t died… if you and the Headmistress hadn’t been in that kind of relationship…]
There was no answer.
[I… just…]
There was no answer.
[I wanted to… go back to those happy days…]
There was still no answer, and…
When even Ruth’s breath, lying next to Adam, slowly faded and finally ceased,
Woong.
Dark Sword, drenched in the blood of the two, glowed and floated into the air.
It approached Adam’s heart and drank his blood. It embedded itself deep within his heart, replacing the dagger.
And so, [Death Rattle] ended.
“………”
“………”
“………”
The magic was over. The events of the past were no longer replaying.
They were still in the cave, but they would soon return to where they were.
But Chloe couldn’t say anything.
What could she possibly say?
“…Come to think of it, this must have been the wish Dark Sword granted.”
“You did have a wish. But you kept using Dark Sword as a weapon after obtaining it, so Adam and I thought you didn’t have any wishes.”
“After I obtained Dark Sword… it was impossible to return to those happy days. The Headmistress was dead, Adam had fallen, and the Holy Kingdom was devastated. It was after everything had already happened.”
“So…”
That’s why Dark Sword turned back time after everything was over. That was the only way to grant the wish Ruth had made.
And that regression was the beginning of everything.
Ruth, finally witnessing the reason for her regression, the wish Dark Sword granted after her death, nodded.
“But Dark Sword is still in my possession.”
“…That means…”
“That my wish hasn’t been granted yet. I haven’t returned yet. To those days when I felt happy…”
Ruth closed her eyes. She had returned to the past, but she wasn’t happy yet.
If her wish wasn’t granted ‘this time’ either, would Dark Sword make her regress again?
Then she felt like she could do better. She could fix the mistakes she made after regressing and pick up the things she didn’t know.
Adult Chloe also seemed to realize that.
“Are you going to regress again? Then an incomplete regressor like me wouldn’t exist?”
“………”
“Is that why you mocked me? Why you showed me all this?”
If she regressed again, Chloe and adult Chloe wouldn’t meet. She would definitely be able to approach Adam better, get along with him better, and be happier.
But Ruth quietly shook her head.
“You wouldn’t know, but I’m living with Adam.”
“…What?”
“W-wait!? What do you mean?”
“It’s literally what it means. You wouldn’t know, current Chloe, but Adam and I used to live together. I made him breakfast, and I even bought eggs and cooked them for him, not just apples.”
“What kind of bragging… Wait a minute.”
“That must have been my happiness, but even then, my wish hasn’t been granted yet.”
“Don’t tell me.”
“I’m forgetting. What exactly that happiness was like. If I keep regressing like this… I’ll be broken, forgetting even my initial wish.”
So, this was it.
Only this first regression, where she hadn’t completely forgotten about happiness, where Ruth Spero still remained herself,
Was her last chance to have her wish granted.
“The fact that there are two Chloes coexisting, that the witch… the Chloe I know used necromancy to touch Adam’s thoughts, and that we came to this space, were all unexpected. But I thought of it as an opportunity.”
“…An opportunity?”
“I was originally trying to prevent this world from burning, more than my wish. Even if it meant killing Adam.”
“What?”
“But it’s different now. Many things changed the moment the scabbard settled in Adam. I’m trying not to be bound by the past.”
Why?
Chloe felt, just slightly, that Ruth seemed mature. Although she was technically older considering the regression.
The regressor, who had been swept away by the regression, finally regained her composure. And the reason was probably…
“What happened at the rock salt mine?”
“…Nothing much. I just realized that Adam and I are more deeply connected than I thought. I can even guess why Dark Sword stabbed itself into Adam’s heart at the end.”
“What is it?”
“If things continue like this, the academy will burn down and collapse in three years. Not long after you and I graduate from the academy.”
“………”
“I said I wouldn’t be bound by the past, but this is different. Those bastards who attacked the academy—”
[That’s the problem.]
“…?”
Ruth stopped at the sudden voice. Because it was an all too familiar voice.
A voice echoing through the cave, the voice of someone walking towards them from the other side.
[It’s not for nothing that being a bystander is a sin. Senior, I told you so. You shouldn’t trust her so much, even if she is the protagonist.]
“You…?”
[Dark Sword… is trying to reverse time? To rewind the entire world for the sake of a single loser’s wish, what an amazing sword.]
“…Cassandra.”
She thought the magic was over. But it wasn’t truly over, so this space wasn’t returning to its original form.
Cassandra, who arrived at this cave after Adam and Ruth died.
The self-proclaimed Great Prophet, who also appeared before Ruth at the rock salt mine…
[Regression, huh. It’s uncertain if a loser can succeed with that.]
…smiled leisurely.
[I should intervene when necessary. Should I give senior some advice beforehand?]
Woong!!
The moment Cassandra finished speaking, the scenery of the cave disappeared. Ruth was standing in the pure white space once again.
But she couldn’t forget Cassandra’s last words.
“Senior… she must be talking about Adam.”
“…She probably is. My future self would say the same. Can you hear the voice?”
“Not at all.”
“She’s cursing you.”
“Tell her to go to hell.”
Chloe and Ruth.
The two looked at each other awkwardly. It felt like they had learned too much about each other in that short time.
They understood each other’s positions, but that didn’t mean they had reconciled. Their gazes met for a moment.
“First of all, it’s dangerous for my future self to say more. If I know too much about the future, our coexistence might collapse.”
“…Really? But haven’t you already figured out a lot?”
“That’s true. It must be thanks to the training. It would be different if I also reached Rank 6, but for now…”
The Headmistress’s death, Adam’s fall, the continent in flames.
It was enough to deduce a lot. But it was still just Chloe’s guess; she hadn’t heard the details of the future. Her head was pounding a bit, but she was fine.
“We need to catch Cassandra first. She’s definitely hiding her rank.”
“That was my original plan. But if Cassandra is truly hiding her rank, that means she deceived even the Headmistress. Do you understand what that means?”
“………”
“Whether we capture her or try to talk to her, we have to meet her first. But even that’s impossible now…”
Ruth had already tried to meet her several times, but Cassandra had been avoiding her. And since she was hiding her rank, even if they did meet, they wouldn’t be able to get anything from her by force.
But that didn’t mean they were giving up.
It was important to somehow get back at Cassandra.
“Then how about this?”
“…Hmm?”
***
BOOOM!!!
“…What was that?”
“F-Finance Director! There was a sudden explosion!”
“Damn it.”
Why was there never a peaceful day in this academy?
I hated the world.
“So, where is it this time? The Magic Department laboratory? The training ground? The graduate dormitory? The arena would be fine, but…”
“Th-that…”
“Headmistress?”
“The student council room…”
“Oh.”
“Finance Director?”
“Whoever it is, I’m actually grateful.”
Hopefully, it was Cassandra who caused the explosion. I could use this as an opportunity to give that junior disciplinary action, like suspension.
Anyway, whoever it was, they did a good job. More importantly, if it was that building, it was under contract with the Carpentry Guild, so the repair costs would be cheap. As the saying goes, a fat hen lays a fat egg; now that the finances were somewhat stable, this level of repair cost seemed manageable.
I could probably settle things by making some salt. Just that, and Cassandra would be screwed? It’s a win-win!
‘That bitch who ruined my entire school life with regression and all that.’
Please suffer.
Just as much as me, please!