EP.35 Good Fortune Comes to Those Who Smile
The concrete ground soaked up the blood of the fallen, and the endless darkness swallowed those burdened with stories. In the Abyss where even the benevolent Earth Mother Goddess laid down a curse, foolish children, unable to bear it, commit yet another sin. The knight who sought to leave a single line of his name in history ultimately passed away alongside the four youths who followed him.
However, the flow of time sends everything away like a massive river, flattening a rugged lifetime onto the level floor of everyday life. Yesterday's death sinks away, without being known to anyone or conveying any emotion.
The everyday life of old came to find me.
"Woof!"
Hmm. An alarm sound I feel like I haven't heard in a while. I tossed and turned, reaching out my hand. Then, Aji rubbed his nose against my hand and arm, barking repeatedly. Even then, when I showed no signs of waking up, he even gave me a light nip.
"Woof! Woof!"
"Aah, alright. I'm getting up."
I stretched languidly, gave the alarm a stroke as a reward, washed my face with today's ration of water, and washed my hair with the water from the next room. I feel refreshed. If only there were a warm morning sun and a cool breeze here, I would have nothing more to wish for.
I inserted the instructor uniform packet into my bio-terminal. The tight yet unhindering instructor uniform covered me. Having changed clothes in an instant, I stuffed various things into my pockets and stepped out. Aji stuck close by my side.
"Let's eat breakfast and go for a walk."
"Woof!"
"Today's breakfast is freshly and cleanly rationed yesterday."
"Woof woof!"
"It's canned bean stew. Sound good?"
"Woof, woof!"
What a relief. Is it because of a dog's poor memory that he doesn't mind even if it's the same menu as yesterday? I'll have to feed Aji only beans from now on.
Since I've had a hearty breakfast, I must do the next task.
I came out to the yard. Aji followed behind me, eyes sparkling, thinking it might be time to play ball.
Not today, you mutt. You should be satisfied after playing so much yesterday. Are you unsatisfied, or did you already forget? Does your memory only improve at times like this?
I pushed away Aji, who kept rushing ahead of me and sending me expectant looks.
"Don't get in the way. An incredibly difficult task awaits me today."
"Woof?"
"I have to wake up an old lady who loves her morning sleep and has terrible sleeping habits."
I headed with a resolute attitude toward the underground armory where the vampire resided. Even in the darkness, a sinister aura churned as if visible to the eye. After swallowing hard, I approached the armory's iron door and pounded on it, shouting.
"Trainee Tirkanjaka! Wake up! The sun is high in the sky!"
"Woof?"
Aji looked up at the sky in doubt. Inside the Abyss, not even a speck of the sun is visible. Aji tilted his head.
So what. It's definitely high noon outside. If you want to argue, bring the sun here.
I used my hands and feet to continuously pound on the armory door.
"Wake up! How long are you going to keep sleeping! Snoring even if the Resistance invades from above, snoring even if this land is on the verge of collapse. Geez, you died once, is that the answer? Does death end your labor, does it end your taxes? If you can move your body, you should think about contributing to society even a little...!"
"What's all this commotion from the morning?"
As I was pounding away, the door to the underground armory opened leisurely.
"What an insolent fellow. If you come as a guest, shouldn't you wait while the master dresses?"
"You're in a coffin anyway, what dressing..."
I, who was about to say a word, shut my mouth at the sight of the vampire appearing through the gap in the door. I naturally expected a voice echoing from inside the coffin, but the vampire right now had a different appearance than usual.
"Oh, you were awake."
The floating citronwood coffin was as exasperatingly the same as ever. However, the vampire was sitting on top of it. The vampire, with her legs demurely gathered, had her hair pinned up with an antique hairpin and lightly draped a parasol over her shoulder, displaying an elegance as if a princess of an ancient dynasty had appeared. The pitch-black parasol, as if made from gathered darkness, seemed weightless as it hung on the vampire's slender fingers and swayed like a willow leaf.
A flowing, antique garb. The sleeves were so large that her pure white skin peeked through the gaps. It was a garment that indirectly displayed affluence by using a lot of fabric. The Military Nation would faint if they saw it, but in the past, people actually used to dress like that.
As the vampire took a step forward, the massive steel doors swung wide open on both sides as if to welcome her. The bright red brand engraved on the iron door shone with light. Extremely slowly, or rather in a dignified manner that consumed a lot of time, the vampire stepped out of the underground armory.
Behind her, the iron doors closed with a thud. The vampire, mounted on top of the coffin, muttered.
"Lately, it's just so noisy. I simply cannot fall asleep. How is it that there are only three of you, yet it's more rowdy than when there were over a hundred? You wail louder than a pig being slaughtered, so of course I can't sleep, honestly."
"Wow. If I hadn't woken you, you would have slept more? Is it still not enough after sleeping that much? If you slept for hundreds of years, you'd be sick of sleeping and run away."
"...Enough. It was my mistake to bicker with you."
The vampire glared at me and drove the coffin forward.
"Why did you come out of the coffin?"
"If I decided to wake up, I must dress. Isn't that the basics?"
The vampire, who answered with a somewhat sharp attitude, whipped her head around and glared at me sharply.
"Or. Do you have any complaints about my attire?"
'Go ahead, blabber about me being indiscreet like yesterday.'
What's this. This sudden hostility.
Ah. Don't tell me.
Is she sulking because I called her indiscreet yesterday?
Hmm. Should I read her mind. It's morning so I'm lazy to use telepathy, but I guess I have to. I clenched and unclenched my fists a few times, then focused on reading the vampire's thoughts.
'Grooming and presenting one's appearance is something those who know etiquette must do. You yourself wet your hair every day and dress up in your uniform, yet you give me a hard time...! Last time, I got dragged along by your unjust remarks and couldn't rebut, but today is different. I'll teach this insolent brat a lesson!'
Wow. You kept the exact words I said yesterday for a whole day. You've lived a long time, but why is your heart so petty. With this level of memory, you won't be getting dementia.
I don't know why her pent-up frustration grew so large, but the emotions she had stored up for a day had ripened thoroughly and turned into something completely different. If I clash with her head-on at a time like this, it'll be a real disaster. I need to soothe her a bit.
I answered as gently as possible, with sincerity.
"No? Why would I have complaints about you dressing up? Only my eyes are feasting."
"You wretch. Dressing neatly is basic etiquette regardless of East or West, past or present... What?"
"I'm human too, so a pretty person dressing up is much better than a wooden coffin floating around. The colorful hairpin and clothes suit your fair complexion well. It's like painting colors and adding artistry on white paper. The legend that vampires have charm magic seems like it wasn't a story born out of nothing."
"Huh?"
"The people of the world will be jealous. As a vampire living with immortality and eternal youth, even time cannot wither your looks. Maybe staying in the coffin is for the sake of the world. That way, jealousy will disappear from women, and men won't commit the sin of pride."
"U-um..."
She's a vampire who spent all of yesterday fuming and dressing up. Coming out of the coffin means she will now start moving in earnest. Dressing up and pinning up her hair is a declaration of that will.
Something prepared with a lot of emotion over a long time requires a commensurate reward. Otherwise, all of that will turn into resentment and crash down on me.
To my praise, honed from running scams in back alleys, the vampire tilted her parasol slightly and replied.
"H-hmph. You're good at lip service."
"I am flattering you, but it's not a lie. As you know if you've seen my usual words and actions, I am a person who puts sincerity into every single word, so I rather can't say things I don't mean."
"Yesterday you called me indiscreet..."
"I called you indiscreet because it was an urgent situation, I never said a word about you not being beautiful. You may not know, but a false report is considered the greatest sin in the Military Nation, and saying Trainee Tirkanjaka is not beautiful would be a clear false report."
Good. The vampire finally closed her mouth. She went far away without turning her head, hiding her face with the parasol, but reading her mind, she was quite delighted. Along with that, her impression of me also improved a little.
Phew. I passed the critical hurdle. Now. Let's go get the regressor.
The regressor lives on the first floor of the prison.
If you ask why the great regressor still lives in that narrow and stifling prison when there are no instructors or other prisoners, I'd tell you to lower your head and look down for a moment.
The regressor 'demolished' all the walls of the ten rooms neighboring hers, including the wall of her own cell. The thick concrete walls, made with iron plates inserted to prevent prisoner escapes, were neatly cut into squares like flat-pack furniture and carefully stacked on one side of the prison. The regressor used the expanded cell as both a training ground and a residence.
Practically, it was safe to say the entire first floor was the regressor's house, and the regressor herself seemed to think so too. The moment we set foot on the first floor, sharp vigilance was directed at us.
"Huh? Tirkanjaka? Aji? And..."
The regressor confirmed the identities of the visitors and dropped her guard. Even in that moment, it feels unfair that she slightly frowned upon seeing me. What did I do?
"Why are you here?"
"I have something urgent to say today. Come with me."
"I'm busy. I have things to do."
"Ah, geez. She really can't read the room. She must have been a loner outside."
"...What did you just blabber about?"
The regressor, who was about to go into her room, poked her face out again, oozing hostility. Having brought the regressor back with a single word, I feigned innocence and spoke.
"There's an important announcement, so attend my seminar and listen, Trainee Shei."
"Because it's important, listen well. I don't, have, time, for that."
'I got the hang of Blood Manipulation yesterday, so I've been swinging my sword all night, what a nuisance.'
Your efforts are commendable, but it's none of my business. I raised my chin and subtly dropped a hint of information the regressor would be curious about.
"I was going to tell you about the structure of Tantalus, do you not need that either?"
"Tantalus's... structure?"
As expected, the regressor, intrigued by new 'knowledge' she didn't know, rested her chin on her hand and pondered.
'I know something happens in Tantalus, but I still don't know much about the structure or secrets of this place. If I can know the structure of Tantalus, can I also find out the reason 'she' comes visiting?'
The regressor repeated thirteen regressions and uncovered vast amounts of knowledge and secrets. What will happen in the future, what is scheming in the shadows in this world. At this very moment, there are likely few who know better than the regressor.
Even I, who reads minds with telepathy, cannot know perfectly due to the nature of her regression.
However, this is the first iteration the regressor has come to Tantalus before it collapses. In other words, I expected she wouldn't know about the structure of Tantalus, which she only learned after experiencing the Resistance's raid. And that expectation hit the mark.
Outwardly, the regressor was hesitating, but I could tell her mind had already leaned towards it. I turned my body around and spoke.
"Well. If the Margrave doesn't want to, then never mind. I'll be going."
"Wait."
She took the bait.
Gamma, no, Wekrol, thanks. You may be dead, but I'll put your knowledge to good use. People die but leave their knowledge behind, don't they?
"Wait, I'll get ready."
It was when the regressor went into the inner space divided by cloth. Aji, who was snooping around with curiosity, suddenly ran toward me and dropped what he had in his mouth. It was a round bead processed from magic-infused crystal, transparent with a strange light swirling inside.
"Woof! Woof!"
"What. You want to play fetch? But what are you doing bringing someone else's things without permission."
It obviously looks expensive. I carefully picked up the bead and examined it this way and that. What kind of bead is this. It seems to contain quite a lot of mana inside. Is it expensive? Or is it dangerous?
"Ah, that. It's a bomb."
It was both. I hurriedly threw the bead far away.
"Aaaargh!"
The bead sailed far along the prison corridor. In that gap, I ran to a nearby corner and hid my body behind the wall. Damn it, why would you leave a bomb in a position where a dog could pick it up! Explosives must be strictly managed...
Wait. Dog?
With a 'don't tell me' thought, I peeked my head slightly over the wall. Then, I saw Aji, who had run quite a distance, catching the falling bead with perfect posture.
Ah, if he bites that. Maybe.
While my mouth was hanging open, Aji and I made eye contact.
"Woof! Woof!"
"N-no! Don't come! Don't bite it! Don't come here!"
Terrified, I tried to kick off the ground and run away. However, by the time I awkwardly raised my body, Aji had already approached right in front of me.
Aji, with wide, bright eyes, dropped the bead at my feet. Before I could even react, the bomb Aji dropped touched the floor. I threw both hands out wildly and sat down. As if believing I could block the explosion with my hands and feet.
Like that, thump, the bomb fell onto the corridor and...
I heard the regressor's sneer.
"Pfft, hehe. Idiot!"
'Did you just do that because you were scared? That's Lava Tear. It's a bomb that will never explode unless you inject high-purity mana in a specific pattern!'
The bead, without any change, rolled to my feet and bumped against them. I blankly picked up the bead and looked back and forth between the regressor and the bead. Seeing my dumbfounded expression, the regressor couldn't hold it in and burst into laughter.
"Puhahaha! No matter what, there's no way I'd leave dangerous items just anywhere!"
"...You said it was a bomb."
"It is a bomb. But it will never explode unless I try to detonate it."
"If it's a bomb it's dangerous, what are you talking about! Did you drop your common sense into the Abyss just because you live in the Abyss? Put it away right now!"
"Puhut. Okay. Okay."
The regressor giggled and picked up the bead. Aji looked at the regressor with expectant eyes, but she just slipped it into her spatial pocket. Aji glared at the regressor with an expression of having his toy stolen.
"Tch."
I clicked my tongue and stood up. It felt frustrating, like having tasted the limits of telepathy.
The knowledge of previous iterations possessed by the regressor cannot be read until the regressor directly recalls it. Because of that, when something related to the regressor happens, my response is late and it's hard to predict her reactions. It was the first trial to come to me, who felt great pride specifically in telepathy.
No, not even a trial. Honestly, isn't regression a bit beyond the norm? Telepathy working so hard against such an opponent is what's commendable. The world is just too much, it's not that telepathy is lacking.
Anyway. Everyone's gathered, so shall we go. At the point where my image has been chipped away, adding anything else is a foolish act. I only used telepathy to check the situation behind me, and walked silently toward the 4th floor management office.
On the way, the vampire cupped her hand to her mouth and smiled slightly.
"It was not a bad amusement. Because I got to see that brat making a fuss. However, as frivolous as he is, seeing him flee so unsightly is a bit disappointing. It's just a mere bomb, what of it."
"Who knows? That reaction, he probably roughly grasped the power of the bomb. If this bomb explodes, a 3km radius gets turned to scorched earth."
"I-it's to that extent? Wasn't it just used for firecrackers at most?"
"Because it's useless without that level of destructive power. Puhut. Anyway, thanks to that, I saw an amusing sight. Enough to want to store it in my heart."
The vampire quietly watched the regressor, who had become strangely lighthearted, and spat out.
"It's my first time seeing you smile."
"Huh? Well, people can smile too."
"It looks good. How about smiling once in a while?"
"Once in a while, she says. I..."
The regressor suddenly shut her mouth and touched her own lips. On her face rose the shock of a person who had just recalled something they had forgotten for a long time.
'...I smiled?'
She always wanted to become stronger. She struggled to gain even a single line of knowledge. In this world, countless powers and secrets still lay dormant, and every second of the regressor's life was a struggle to get her hands on them.
Even after coming to the inescapable Abyss, the regressor did not neglect swinging her sword and cultivating her power.
To someone like her, the emotional luxury called laughter was far too unfamiliar.
'How long has it been since I smiled, no, how many iterations has it been?'
At the sense of alienation, as if a wind that didn't suit her had brushed past, and at the longing for emotions felt in the distant past, the regressor wiped her mouth several times.
While marching in silence for a moment, the vampire, who was sitting comfortably on the self-moving coffin, shifted her body around as if uncomfortable. Every time she did, the silver hair fluttering beneath the hairpin sparkled in the light, and the loose clothes fluttered.
However, the regressor, deep in thought, showed absolutely no reaction. Ultimately, the vampire, growing impatient, decided to act indiscreetly. The vampire fiddled with her own hair and spoke to her.
"Ahem. Shei. Is there nothing different about me?"
"Ah, right. Tirkanjaka. I realized something about Blood Manipulation while experiencing actual combat yesterday, and I need your advice on it. Give me some time after this guy finishes talking."
"...Yes. I shall. It is good news that you've made progress."
Feeling disappointed, the vampire drooped her shoulders and looked back and forth between the regressor and me as if comparing us.
Haa. Seriously. It's such a display of indiscretion that I feel embarrassed for her. Maybe I shouldn't compliment her next time.