Pitter-patter— pitter-patter—
The VVIP car of the train returning to the capital. Outside the window, rain was falling, and from time to time, soundless lightning flashed.
A strangely desolate atmosphere.
Ifrin, who had been sitting on the sofa, asked.
“Then, Professor, that was when you realized the regression?”
I nodded.
That time when I was returning by car from the Imperial Palace. That moment when the pursuers ambushed us.
I overcame the regression, and together with Allen, who arrived late to help, I crushed them.
“That was the turning point.”
“Aha…… fascinating.”
Having survived like that, I waited until March, when the ‘regressed Ifrin’ would return.
“But why did I only regress to March?”
“‘God’ probably interfered with your regression. That bastard has the power to intervene in the world.”
“……Somehow. I had a feeling he’d do something like that. Pretending to be all nice~ but I didn’t fall for it, obviously.”
God.
The final boss of this world.
He is a remnant of the past Divine Era, and the most dangerous impurity.
“In any case, the top priority is saving Her Majesty.”
“Hmm…… so this regression was Her Majesty’s after all?”
Ifrin muttered as if to herself.
“Yes. It is Her Majesty’s Authority.”
Proof of divinity called ‘Authority.’
Ifrin asked back as if she had been waiting for this.
“But why did it come to me?”
“Because Authorities always exist in this world at a constant level, like entropy, and you are the magician most suited to the concept of ‘time.’”
“Entr…… what?”
The setting of Authorities within the game. If a person who harbors an Authority dies for any reason, or loses the Authority, that Authority inevitably transfers to another person.
The criteria for selecting the next in line is ‘the talent most suited to that Authority.’
“You don’t need to know. But your regression is distinctly different from Her Majesty’s.”
Originally, in the game system, Sopien’s death is game over. It is probably so in reality as well. Sopien’s regression must approach the creation of heaven and earth that destroys and remakes the world.
On the other hand, Ifrin’s regression is fake.
“Why?”
“It’s simple. What is the difference in level between a magician who just entered the Tower and your magic?”
“That! Of course I’d have them in the palm of my…… Ah~ okay.”
Ifrin let out a hollow laugh and nodded.
“Okay, okay. I totally get it. Ah, I understood it in one go.”
Sopien’s regression and Ifrin’s regression.
Not only the qualitative difference between the two, but when considering the experience of having carried out regression for hundreds of years, Sopien’s regression is inevitably more powerful.
“Then should I just wait now?”
“The rest is my job.”
“Hmm…… then. This would be better if you kept it, Professor…….”
Ifrin took something out from her waist. It was a wooden pocket watch.
I shook my head.
“It’s yours.”
“Huh? How do you know?”
“All the time you have walked is embedded in that.”
Through my 「Sixth Sight」, I can see it. Time, time, and more time embedded in the pocket watch. All of Ifrin’s regressions flicker within it, together with mana.
“Ah! Then do you also know what this is used for? Old man Rohakan gave it to me.”
Ifrin asked back with bright, sparkling eyes.
I said.
“……If Rohakan gave it to you, there will come a time when it is needed. You will know then.”
At that, Ifrin made a subtle expression. She blinked her eyes and spat out a single line.
“You sure know how to say ‘I don’t know’ the long way.”
“…….”
“Anyway.”
Ifrin said as she hung the pocket watch on her waist again.
“……Thank you. For keeping your promise.”
* * *
……In the previous twenty regressions where Dekyullein and the Emperor died, the Cult had manipulated the Empire as it pleased. As the regressions repeated, the continent headed straight for annihilation and ruin, and it certainly seemed there was no hope.
But.
“Suppress the bureaucrats of the Empire’s cities, villages, and towns from spreading baseless rumors as much as possible, and break the pens of the clamoring media.”
With just one person surviving.
“Mobilize the standing army to strengthen the borders and security within the city, but send proclamations to the Eight Kingdoms in advance to inform them that this is a military action to rectify internal strife.”
The continental situation stabilized terrifyingly.
“Until the mastermind is eliminated, prohibit entry and exit from the Empire, and with that, detain the merchant guilds, diplomats, envoys, and royalty of the Eight Kingdoms, holding them as hostages in all but name.”
Watching that development, Ifrin came to understand why the Cult targeted Professor Dekyullein next after Her Majesty the Emperor.
“Ultimately, I believe it is right to coerce this entire continent into cooperating with the Empire.”
Dekyullein is the pillar and the focal point of the Empire. Even without Her Majesty the Emperor, the Empire unites around him.
His innate political acumen and bold decisiveness are enough to even stand in place of the Emperor herself.
“……I believe it is a valid opinion.”
This place is the Grand Hall of the Imperial Palace.
But the one sitting on the throne is not Sopien, but her younger sibling, Keureto.
“Is there anything else?”
Keureto asked for Dekyullein’s opinion while breaking into a cold sweat.
“As for other internal enemies, we have already mobilized all of Yukeurain’s intelligence capabilities to search for them, so you have nothing to worry about.”
“……Very well. Does anyone here oppose Dekyullein’s opinion?”
Keureto looked around the Grand Hall. It was packed with officials, but none of them said a word.
“Understood. Then, today’s assembly ends here. Everyone is dismissed.”
At those words, the officials bowed their heads and hurried away as if fleeing. Only Dekyullein and the group of nobles following him walked proudly.
Ifrin quickly attached herself to Dekyullein’s side.
“Professor. Do grand assemblies normally end this anticlimactically?”
“There is no one to object.”
At Dekyullein’s words, Ifrin tilted her head and asked back.
“Why is that?”
“Because they’re all dead.”
“……Huh?”
“I had them assassinated.”
Ifrin was briefly dumbfounded.
“Uh…….”
At times like this, Dekyullein’s cruelty suddenly becomes apparent.
“They’ll all revive anyway.”
“……Even so.”
“Instead, you will not be in danger.”
“…….”
Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.
Ifrin unnecessarily swallowed the saliva pooled in her mouth.
“Now, everyone return and fulfill your respective duties.”
Dekyullein looked back at the nobles following him.
“Now that Her Majesty’s condition is critical, our mission is weighty. You will have Yukeurain’s support, so do not spare any effort on defense and surveillance.”
“““Yes.”””
They left in perfect order, and Dekyullein spoke to Ifrin.
“Ifrin, prepare yourself now.”
“Yes? Prepare for what?”
“To make this meaningless time even slightly less meaningless, I intend to teach you.”
“……Ah.”
The meaning of those words was quickly understood.
Within the repeating regression, what remains without disappearing is memory and knowledge.
She had not yet fully understood the Dekyullein-Luna paper.
“Yes, Professor.”
Ifrin nodded resolutely.
* * *
……Meaningless time is passing.
Scraps of time to reach April 9th.
So that those meaningless times would not be meaningless, I taught Ifrin. I proofread her paper, lectured theories meant only for her, and clearly conveyed the definition of the property called ‘carbon.’
“Do not forget.”
And so, on the night of April 8th, after another month or so had passed.
I arrived at the lake of the Imperial Palace.
—Yes. You be careful too, Professor. Don’t forget about me.
Just in case, I had left Ifrin in a guest room of the Imperial Palace.
She was conversing with me over the wireless, under the escort of Dellik and Yulli.
—Oh right. What about the list I gave you? It’s almost midnight.
“I read it.”
The list of spies and informants Ifrin had identified over twenty regressions.
Information that would prove immensely useful later.
—Yes. If you forget, I’ll tell you again.
I nodded and gazed at the lake’s surface.
The lake where I had fished with Sopien.
—How is the lake?
“It is calm.”
Plip.
A raindrop fell the moment I answered. It caused small ripples on the lake’s surface, and mana within faintly rose up.
Plip. Plip.
Rain fell from the sky, and the rainwater touching the lake took on a certain shape. It reflected someone’s face.
“…….”
I silently gazed at him.
His form was hazy, yet somehow it looked clear to me.
“……Are you ‘God.’”
Plip. Plip. Plip.
But perhaps it was not yet time. With the disturbance of the rainfall, he hid his form again, and I looked up at the sky.
Plip-plop. Pitter-pat.
Blocking the intensifying raindrops with 「Psychokinesis」, I thought quietly.
I quietly repeated the memories I must not forget.
I engraved them into my mind as if branding them.
Pitter-patter…….
The most basic duty of a subject is to protect the Emperor.
—It’s almost midnight. I’ll start counting now. Five!
But right now, a world without Sopien is nothing but fake.
It is already no different from a game over state.
—Four!
Therefore, she, who is the proof of this world, must survive.
—Three!
Together with this world.
—Two!
And, together with me…….
—One!
Midnight arrived.
The starting point of regression, April 9th.
* * *
……I opened my eyes in the underground crystal cave of Yukeurain.
Instinctively, I looked at the clock.
“…….”
The time was exactly midnight.
The memories remaining in my head were almost all of them.
Not just the memories of the immediately previous regression. The memories of the remaining twenty-something regressions that I had carelessly spent were also clear in this head.
“Hmm.”
I let out a small breath.
Inside the crystal cave was a sack containing grains of sand.
I watched the assignment that now only made me smile, then came up to the surface. Standing in the middle of the garden, I looked back at the cave entrance.
Chirp-chirp— chirp-chirp-chirp—
Bird calls of two syllables and three syllables each. The dawn light shining blue into the underground cave. The angle of incidence of five streaks of light…… none of that exists anymore.
Because it is still night.
“Ren.”
I called for Ren.
“…….”
There is no answer.
Because it is still night.
Even Ren is asleep.
I moved alone. Walking to the parking lot, I opened the car door. I didn’t have the car key, but 「Psychokinesis」 was enough.
Vroom—
The moment I started the engine, I stepped on the accelerator.
Whether it is what month and what day now, whether it is a time when Sopien is alive, or a time when she is already dead, none of that matters if I find out later.
I just have to go and see for myself.
* * *
Ploomp—
The fishing line sank into the lake. Sopien rested her chin on her hand and quietly watched it.
“……It is wondrous.”
Simply watching it, she was not bored. Rather, it was overflowing with fun, and even filled her with anticipation.
Was it because this fish cannot be moved even by the Emperor’s station?
Or was it due to the simple curiosity of whether it would be caught or not?
“…….”
Sopien looked at the lakeside and thought various thoughts. It was late at night, but thanks to the moonlight illuminating the lake, it was not dark.
Suddenly, she muttered.
“Will I catch one mijoeo?”
Just then, the bite bubbled fiercely. Sopien snatched the fishing rod with a swoosh and checked the species.
Mijoeo.
Sopien chuckled as she changed the bait and cast the rod again.
Ploomp—
The fishing line sank into the lake. Sopien rested her chin on her hand and quietly watched it.
The next fish is probably—
“Are you alone?”
Then, a voice suddenly rang out.
Sopien slowly turned toward it. Immersed in fishing as she was now, she was completely defenseless…….
“Hmm?”
The bastard whose face was illuminated by the moonlight was Dekyullein.
Sopien narrowed her brows.
“Why are you here?”
“I have come to see Your Majesty.”
Dekyullein answered so and sat in the chair beside her. Sopien glared at him as if incredulous.
“You said you came to see Us.”
“Yes.”
“Did the Imperial Guards permit entry to the inner palace?”
“Yes.”
“……Have they all gone mad?”
Sopien let out a hollow laugh, perhaps at a loss. Then Dekyullein took out his Imperial Guard identification from within his clothes.
“It is a privilege bestowed directly by Your Majesty. Freedom to enter and exit the Imperial Palace.”
Sopien grumbled discontentedly.
“At that time, We must have had dementia…….”
“Be that as it may.”
Ploomp—
Dekyullein cast his fishing rod too.
Two fishing lines floating side by side in the middle of the lake.
“No, why did you—”
About to scold him for casting near her despite the vastness of the lake—however, Sophen.
“I am glad you are here.”
Dekyullein’s surprise attack briefly left her speechless.
“…….”
Sopien glanced at him silently. To her, the situation felt somehow alien.
Until he arrived, it had been such a familiar scene.
“……Did you come here to fish?”
“I came to see Your Majesty.”
“…….”
“Furthermore, from today for at least a week, please permit me to stay with Your Majesty.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
Sopien’s haughty face contorted. She twisted her lips and asked.
“Have you taken some medicine all of a sudden?”
“I have not.”
Dekyullein denied it firmly. Then he turned his head to look at Sopien.
In the blue eyes that had been looking at the lake, Sopien was reflected.
“Your Majesty.”
“……You have taken medicine. We know not what kind.”
This straightforward behavior was burdensome to Sopien. She cleared her throat and stood up.
Rat-rat-rat—
Of all times, a bite took hold then. Sopien quickly sat back down and jerked the rod up.
Shhhhhh—!
The fish that surged up splitting the water was a species she had not seen today. Sopien showed the fish to Dekyullein and asked.
Since this bastard knows everything.
“What is this?”
Dekyullein did not betray expectations.
“It is an arangdungi.”
“Arangdungi?”
“Yes. Seeing how plump its belly is, it appears to be carrying eggs.”
“…….”
Sopien threw the arangdungi back into the lake.
Catching one carrying eggs felt somehow against the natural order.
Tap-tap—
She dusted off her hands and walked. Dekyullein followed her.
Dekyullein matched the Emperor’s noble gait and stride without the slightest gap. The sound of their two footsteps was like a waltz—
“You professor bastard.”
Sopien turned to him. She spat out words as if shooting them with narrowly narrowed eyes.
“Why do you keep following me?”
“I shall remain by Your Majesty’s side for only a short while.”
“We have never felt lacking.”
“I shall defy you if I must.”
“……What? Ha.”
Dekyullein spoke to Sopien, who let out a hollow laugh as if exasperated.
“It is to ensure that Your Majesty does not die again.”
“……Die?”
“Yes. Your Majesty.”
The dark and silent corridor of the Imperial Palace. Cold wind wandering in the empty space.
Facing the Emperor’s crimson eyes flashing within it, Dekyullein added one more thing.
“I have seen a future where Your Majesty meets your demise.”