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“…Cough.”

I hugged Kania tightly while listening to the voices of the Princess and the Saintess from afar, and soon spurted blood from my mouth.

“…U-Um!”

Soon afterwards, Kania flinched with an astonished expression on her face, and I used Inspect skill as I held her even tighter.

[Stats] Name: Kania

Strength: 3

Mana: ???

Intelligence: 7

Mental Strength: 4

Passive Status: Afflicted/Weakened/Mana Instability/Curse of Self-Destruction

Disposition: Aide

‘…I think I have infused enough life force.’

Seeing that the ‘Critically Ill’ displayed on the passive section has changed to ‘Afflicted’, I tried to pull out the sword stuck in my back, but…

“Di…e…”

“…Arghh!”

At that moment, Isolet twisted the sword stabbed in my back, which forced me to let out a piercing shriek of pain.

‘At this rate…I’m going to die…’

The caffeinated beverage and the ⟦Blessing of the Stars⟧ created a synergy effect, so even if I’m filled with life force right now, it won’t stay the same forever with a blade in my back.

Therefore, I really need to get out of this situation before the duration of the synergy effect ends.

With that in mind, I turned around and used my ⟦Inspect⟧ skill as I stared deep into Isolet’s unfocused eyes.

[Stats] Name: Isolet Arham Bywalker

Strength: 8.5

Mana: 5

Intelligence: 7

Mental Strength: 7

Passive Status: Injured Right Arm/Hypnotized (Weakening)

Disposition: Knight

‘…It seems like the hypnosis won’t be undone immediately, rather she will be released after the hypnosis is weakened over time.’

After all, it seems to be a skill bestowed upon Eucarious by the Demon King, who favored him.

The ⟦Seal of Slavery⟧ skill, which was given to him by the Demon King, who has the highest proficiency in mind control capabilities, is a fraudulent skill that allows him to unconditionally control the mind of people, who has lower mental strength than him, regardless of their abilities.

Of course, since the skill was transferred to Eucarious, who died, the Demon King won’t be able to use this skill again in the future. However, that’s not really a major blow to the Demon King.

“…Ugh!!”

“……………”

While I was thinking like that, Isolet twisted the sword once more. Thanks to that, I spat out another handful of blood and gripped the sword’s hilt with trembling hands.

“…Cough.”

However, I just couldn’t exert any strength with my hand. Probably because I transferred way too much life force to Kania all at once, and as a result of that, I overstrained my body.

And so, at that moment, when I gradually closed my eyes while holding Kania in my arms…

“…L-Let me help you.”

Kania took my hand that was holding the sword’s hilt, as she slowly unsheathed her own sword..

“…Haa!”

“…..!”

Soon, Kania mustered all her strength and slashed at Isolet. Immediately afterwards, she backed away to avoid her attack and pulled the sword out of my back.

“…Cough!”

As soon as Isolet’s sword was pulled out of my back, my robe and clothes were drenched in blood, and a puddle of blood formed on the floor.

“It-It’s all right…”

“…Give me the sword.”

Hearing my words, Kania abruptly stopped and handed me the sword.

“…Why did you do that?”

“………”

Kania’s expression hardened when I kept my mouth shut despite her question as she handed me the sword and changed her earlier question.

“…Who are you?”

“Me? I’m a her—”

I was about to answer her question that I was a hero, but I changed my words halfway to rule out that possibility.

“—oic citizen.”

Having said those words, I got up with my teeth clenched and pointed my sword at Isolet, who was still staring at us with a dazed expression.

‘…I only need to hold on for a few more minutes.’

I tightened my grip around the sword’s hilt, as I resolved myself to hold Isolet off until she regained consciousness, and the moment she returned to her senses, I’ll get the hell out of this auction house.

“Heup!”

– Clank!!

And the next moment, our swords clashed.

“…a gap.”

“…Ha.”

As we kept clashing against each other with our swords, I momentarily lost my strength when I felt an agonizing pain in my back, and so Isolet took advantage of that gap and stabbed me with her sword.

I twisted my body to barely dodge her sword, but it caused me to lose my balance as I wobbled and struggled to stand upright. I muttered inwardly when I saw Isolet imbuing aura into her sword, not wanting to miss such an opportunity.

‘…If I was in normal condition, I would have subdued her right away.’

In my last training, I was intentionally hiding my true skills by using that black magic brooch which would respond to holy power as camouflage.

In other words, I could have easily subdued Isolet whose right arm is injured if I could use my ⟦Hero’s Power⟧ for a short period of time.

However, now I’m in a situation where my body is overstrained to the extent that even if I use ⟦Blessing of the Stars⟧ to the maximum coupled with the caffeinated beverage, my life force recovery would still be slow, on top of that I even have a serious wound on my back.

In other words, it’s dangerous to go on like this. So, I have to end this duel with a single slash…

– Swoosh!!

The moment Isolet straightened her sword and prepared to strike, suddenly dark mana surrounded her.

“…Heup!!”

However, when Isolet emitted sword aura, the dark mana momentarily retreated and began to hover around her, seeking for a chance to attack. At the same time, I heard a moan from my side.

“…Ugh.”

I urgently called out to Kania when I saw her stretch out her hands and control dark mana from afar.

“You don’t need to use magic! I’ll take care of this!”

“……..”

“Haa… this is driving me insane.”

However, as if my words fell on deaf ears, she kept pushing herself so hard that she eventually fainted and collapsed on the floor.

Fortunately, when I used my ⟦Inspect⟧ skill in panic, it turned out that it wasn’t mana outburst, but rather she just simply lost consciousness.

‘…That’s a relief. Now I can go all out.’

– Swoosh

While I was momentarily immersed in my thoughts, I looked at Kania’s unconscious self, and eventually the dark mana hovering around Isolet disappeared. Soon, Isolet stopped swinging her sword around and glared at me, then began to approach.

“…Isn’t it about time you come to your senses, Sister?”

“Uhh…”

I tried to convey my voice by infusing stellar mana so that only Isolet could hear me. However, it seems she is still hypnotized.

I realized that the time has come to settle this matter, as I firmed my grip around the sword’s hilt and repeatedly tried to convey my voice to her.

“Sister, do you remember the first time we practiced swordsmanship together all those years ago?”

“Att… ack…”

“The words sister told me in a vexed tone back then, when she easily subdued me.”

“…?”

Hearing my words, Isolet, who concentrated her sword aura to the limit, tilted her head as if confused.

As I silently stared into her eyes, I returned her advice that I remembered to this day.

“A sword’s purpose isn’t to slay people, it’s meant to protect them.“

And as soon as those words were finished, we clashed against each other at the same time…

– Schwiiiiiing…!

It was only a single slash.

At that moment, the legendary fierce battle between the former Hero and the first Sword Saint was recreated, albeit briefly.

The shine of the stellar mana is not as scintillating as the radiant sun,

Nor does it last as long as the mellow moonlight.

However, its shine is more celestial than any of them

And the sword art of the Bywalkers, the family which the first Sword Saint belonged to,

The personage who wounded the Demon King’s left eye in the decisive battle a thousand years ago,

Has retained its prestige longer than the sword art of any other family.

They both clashed against each other,

As the trajectories drawn by their swords blended together,

The surrounding was illuminated by a flash of light.

“………”

And, as the light faded, Isolet and I stood in silence with our backs facing each other.

– Thud.

And in the absolute silence that lasted for a while, Isolet soon collapsed.

Hearing the sound, I turned around and muttered while looking at her collapsed and unconscious self.

“…Honestly, I thought you were making fun of me back then, but after being in a similar situation, I finally understand.”

Even after she fainted, she maintained a firm grip on her sword..

As the gleam of my reverse side of the sword illuminated her face, I remembered how she would always end our spar with a reverse slash so I wouldn’t get hurt, and eventually I began following her example.

“…Indeed, after all, the right thing to do under any circumstance was to knock her out.”

After assessing her with my ⟦Inspect⟧ skill, I turned around with a smile when I saw that her hypnotized status has disappeared.

“…You.”

“…..!”

And when I turned around, Kania suddenly approached me with a glare.

“…Just who are you?”

“………….”

I momentarily hesitated at her question, but soon exerted strength on my legs…

“…Ah, there.”

“……?”

After pointing to Kania’s backside, I immediately dashed for the exit the moment she turned her back.

“…Wa-Wait!”

Kania tried to chase after me, but since she also pushed herself quite hard, she couldn’t speed up properly.

“…What was that all about?”

“Could that possibly be black magic?”

“…No way. Even if it’s a back alley, there is no way anyone would use a large-scale black magic in broad daylight?”

‘…Great, fortunately there are a lot of people out here.’

Eventually, in no time at all, I was outside and found a horde of people buzzing around the auction house. Soon, I faded into the crowd.

“Right, maybe one of the cursed items in the auction house was the trigger for this accident. You dimwits, I knew something like that would happen one day… Bah! What the…!?”

“…Excuse me.”

“Oi! How dare you intentionally hit someone and try to dismiss it with an apology!?”

Having succeeded in entering the crowd, I soon tried to conceal myself, but a burly man who bumped into me grabbed my collar and started shouting.

“…I’m in a hurry.”

“Ah, yes.”

I had no choice but to slightly pull out my sword from my sheath. The moment the man laid eyes on the sword, he faltered and let go of my collar and bowed his head.

Now that I became free, I contemplated while leisurely heading towards the exit of the black alley, leaving Kania behind, who was staring in silence at the place where I disappeared into the darkness.

‘…I don’t think anyone would have noticed.’

My voice was modulated with stellar mana, and the mask and black robe I was wearing completely concealed my appearance.

Exposing the sword could have been fatal. However, if I hadn’t used the sword in that situation, one of the few weapons that can withstand stellar mana, I would have been dead for sure. So I had no choice.

And I have never shown my sword to the Main Heroines to begin with, so they probably wouldn’t be able to infer my identity from that.

However, there seems to be a need to change weapons.

As I organized my thoughts and came out to the middle of the marketplace through the dark alley, I began to wait for the system notification regarding the clearance of the main quest.

However, for some reason, the clearance notification didn’t appear for a long time, and just as I tilted my head in confusion, I soon smacked my forehead and muttered.

“…That’s right, I didn’t even start the real main quest yet, did I?”

Why the hell did my ancestor play such a crazy game?

.

.

.

.

.

Just as Frey was walking down the market streets while holding his aching back with a despondent expression on his face,

“……..”

Kania stared in silence at the place where he disappeared earlier, then quickly turned around when she sensed a presence behind her.

“…As expected, it was you.”

“…Yo-You!?”

Even though Princess Clana and Saintess Ferloche reacted differently, they were equally surprised when they saw Kania.

“…The fact that you’re here means you’re also a regressor.”

“No-Noooo Way… Ms. Kania also returned!?”

Kania briefly stared at them in silence and answered.

“…Yes.”

Then, Clana asked her a question with a sharp gaze.

“Just one question, are you… an enemy of Frey or an ally?”

“Enemy.”

“A prompt answer. I like it.”

Kania, who responded promptly, frowned and asked the Princess in a tensed tone why she believed her so easily.

“…Why don’t you doubt my word?”

Then the Princess chuckled and replied to her in a confident tone.

“Since I went through hell… I have become proficient in screening out lies.”

“…..Aha.”

Meanwhile, Saintess Ferloche, who had been idly watching the two converse, soon began to ask questions urgently.

“Di-Did Your Highness, the Princess and Ms. Kania really return like me!?”

“…Yes, it seems so.”

“Ho-Hold on a second… Then maybe Frey as well…!”

When Ferloche hypothesized with her eyes wide open, the Princess shook her and said.

“No, I’ve been observing Frey for the past few days… There were no signs of that at all. At the academy, he behaves just like the same trash he was before.”

“…That’s right. Frey hasn’t really changed much.”

As soon as Kania agreed, Ferloche sighed and opened her mouth.

“Phew… that’s fortunate then… If that evil person returned as well… It would have been awful…”

“…Now is not the time to talk about this.”

“…Huh?”

Clana, who cut off Ferloche’s words, spoke with a serious expression on her face.

“…It seems that because of our regression and the things we did after we returned, caused some variables to occur.”

Having said that, Clana continued her words, pointing to the decapitated Eucarius, who suddenly reverted to his hideous demonic form.

“…Originally, the ⟬Stone of Domination⟭ traded today was supposed to be sold at a cheap price and had to be robbed by the Demon King’s forces just before it reached the hands of the buyer.”

“Ri-Right…?”

“However, suddenly, this demon and a mysterious man began competing with each other, and eventually the ⟬Stone of Domination⟭ was sold for over 50,000 gold.”

“I-If that’s the case… No way…?”

“Yeah, it seems that a variable has occurred.”

When Ferloche’s expression froze upon hearing those words, Clana crossed her arms and continued.

“…We need to find out why that demon came to the auction house and who that mysterious irregular is. It would have been better if we were able to interrogate him after apprehending him earlier.”

“…Isn’t that swordsman also a servant of the Demon King?”

“…How come?”

When Clana asked, Ferloche answered while sweating.

“Uhh… The only one who knows about the ⟬Stone of Domination⟭ is the Demon King, so… anyway, isn’t he on the Demon King’s side?”

“…if he was, he wouldn’t have confronted this demon.”

“…ah.”

Clana stared at Ferloche, who looked stupid with pity in her eyes, then soon turned her gaze to Kania and asked.

“By the way, did you kill this demon, or was it the eldest daughter of the Bywalker lying over there?”

“……”

As Kania remained silent at those words, the Princess, who momentarily tilted her head at her attitude, soon crouched down next to Eucarius, and carefully examined the decapitated region, then finally opened her mouth.

“Well, seeing how the cut is clean, it’s not your skill. It seems you were quite embarrassed to admit that you didn’t get to kill this demon, weren’t you?”

“………”

“By the way… as expected, Ms. Isolet is truly amazing. This time, I must help her become the next Sword Saint.”

Having finished assuming things on her own, the Princess stood up and offered a suggestion to Kania and Ferloche while pointing outside.

“Anyway, it must be fate that we met here, so would you like to go to a diner with me? There is a diner nearby that I used to frequent when I was having a hard time.”

“……?”

“Ye-Yes?”

As Kania and Ferloche tilted her head at her words, Clana continued with a cold smile.

“…There, would you like to have an in-depth conversation with me on how to control Frey?”

“…Ah! Yes!”

Hearing those words, the Saintess smiled brightly and nodded, and Clana, who also had a smile on her face, soon turned her gaze towards Kania and said.

“…You should come as well.”

“…What?”

“You hate him too, right? And I don’t discriminate against a warlock as long as their skills are good.”

“……..”

“…We will restrain our powers as much as we can, so you don’t need to worry.”

Hearing those words, Kania quietly nodded her head, but eventually stopped when she saw Isolet next to her.

“…Seeing that her breathing has stabilized, she’ll soon wake up just fine. So, don’t worry too much and follow me.”

“…Yes.”

Upon hearing Kania’s answer, Clana smiled contentedly and headed for the exit, along with Ferloche, whose eyes were twinkling next to her.

“…Um, what happened to the Empire after I died?”

“… It was ruined.”

“Wha-What about the imperial citizens!?”

“…They’re alive now. We’re alive as well. So, we just have to make sure that the future doesn’t repeat itself.”

“…Yes.”

Kania silently watched them chat like sisters, even though they had quite the awkward relationship in the previous timeline.

‘Based on the body shape and strength, he certainly wasn’t Lord…’

She contemplated with a serious expression on her face.

‘However, the sword that the man had earlier… it looked exactly like the sword Milord used to drive out the bullies who were harassing me and my sister on the street, the day I was hired by the Starlight family…’

Eventually, arriving at the entrance, Kania muttered inwardly as Clana used a cognitive impairment magic spell on her

‘…Was there an illegitimate child in the Starlight family? I’ll also need to dig into this.’

Kania, who went outside with such a reasonable guess, tried to follow the Princess and the Saintess, who had already begun navigating through the crowd…

“…….!”

However, when the Princess and the Saintess found a familiar object on the ground as they struggled through the crowd, she froze on the spot.

“…That?”

An all too familiar brooch was glistening in the sunlight.