Regression Record (1)
I opened the underground door and stepped forward.
No, I couldn't take even a single step.
There was no foothold.
In an instant, my entire body plummeted, and there was no end to the fall. Like bungee jumping without a cord. Or skydiving without a parachute.
────!
Clothes flapping wildly. Air resistance crushing my whole body.
I keep my eyes closed, feeling the rush of wind.
Quietly enduring the weight of gravity.
──────.
The fall drags on forever.
Only when I finally adjust to it—
Thud—!
I arrive.
My body, stretched out straight, hits the ground.
“......”
I lie still, soothing the pain in my back.
Tailbone? Ribs? Or both.
A definite fracture, but the body of Iron Man recovers in moments.
In the meantime, I gaze at the sky.
Clear blue weather, and above it, the status window flickers.
Shadows of the Imperial Palace · Demon's Mirror: 1st Round
◆ Quest Overview: Explore the Demon's Mirror amid Sophien's regression
1st round.
The original year of Sophien's reign—the round where she has never regressed even once.
“......Hm.”
This area seems to be the imperial palace garden, yet not a single person is in sight.
An utterly empty world.
But if I examine the pavement closely...
Rustle— rustle—
Along with the sound of sweeping, scattered fallen leaves are neatly gathered.
Clack— clack—
The garden shrubs are being pruned as well. Severed branches float lightly into the air and into a sack.
Work that should be done by people happens on its own.
“......”
Suddenly, I spot a shard of glass on the ground. I lift it with Telekinesis and shine it at the empty air.
......Certainly.
My world holds no one.
—Retel. Done with the pruning?
But in this glass—in the 'world beyond the mirror'—many people exist.
All sounds flow from this glass as well.
—Done. Her Majesty likes things neat and tidy, so making it a perfect square like this should do, right?
—You think? Isn't it too boxy?
The palace gardeners discuss as they tend the garden.
In a flash, one spots my glass shard.
—Huh? What's that. Glass floating around over there?
Pointing at the glass I move with Telekinesis, I release the spell.
“......I see.”
I realize it easily.
The medium of this quest, the Demon's Mirror, is 'all of this'.
In other words, I have entered the 'world inside the mirror'.
Thus, from their perspective, I am invisible, and if I move something, they'll chalk it up to ghosts or the like.
I am merely a being of the other side—a 'presence in the mirror'.
“Then. The demon is inside here.”
That assumption alone feels like a lump of fire sinking into my heart.
Haa......
After exhaling deeply to vent the heat, I walk through the garden toward the palace.
Step— step—
No one blocks my path. No one in this 1st round can see me without a mirror, nor can I see them.
The palace I enter on foot looks no different from the future.
Marble tiles on the floor. Mana stone lamps lining the walls. The imperial symbol, the golden lion, adorning the ceiling.
I slowly set out to find Sophien.
The most important figure in this quest is Sophien, a fact that holds true not just for me, but for the demon as well.
“This must be the place.”
Sophien now is not yet emperor, but 'Her Highness', and the heir's quarters are not far from the emperor's private chambers.
A lavish door embedded with all manner of jewels like decorations.
Creeeak—
I open it honestly and step inside.
No one is in the room.
Or rather, no one is visible.
I gaze at the full-length mirror on the right side of the spacious room.
Sophien appears in the mirror.
—Who opened the door?
She asks coolly. Not at me, but at the guards. Of course—the ones guarding Sophien's door.
—We thought it was you, Your Highness.
—Me?
—Yes. Forgive us. But neither of us opened it. We wouldn't dare.
Eight-year-old Sophien furrows her brow. She glares at the two guards, then shuts the door. Turning back, she looks at the mirror on the right.
I am inside it.
—......!
Her frail, sickly body stiffens rigidly. She gulps silently.
Trembling, she finally asks.
—......Who are you. An assassin?
I shake my head. At that moment, Sophien shrieks—!
—Guards!
Calling the knights.
I retreat into the mirror's blind spot for a moment.
—Yes! We're here!
—There was an intruder here......?
—Where, Your Highness?!
I infer the situation from their voices.
—That mirror......
—The mirror?
The guards see no intruder, nor does Sophien. She panics.
—......It was definitely in the mirror.
—We'll smash the mirror.
—What? ......No. Never mind. Leave.
—Yes, understood.
The two knights exit. Even then, Sophien stares blankly at the mirror.
I step back into view.
—......You.
This time, Sophien doesn't call the guards. She asks calmly.
—Who are you?
“I am......”
—Where!
Twist—! Sophien whips her head around before I can answer. Precisely, toward where I stand.
But she can't see me, and looks back at the mirror.
—What is this. Why are you only in the mirror?
“......”
—Damn it. A hallucination from my headaches?
“I am no illusion.”
I shake my head slightly. Sophien's brow twitches.
“A pity, though. Like this, we can never truly face each other.”
—A pity? How dare you think of facing me, cough. Cough. Cough!
Sophien coughs dryly. While she composes herself, I survey the vast room.
Her Highness's private chambers are all opulent. Nothing is shabby.
Then, my eyes catch the window.
There, all the spring of the world resides.
The 'Imperial Palace Garden', the continent's most famous magical space.
Four seasons coexist in all directions, but the southeastern garden is eternally spring.
Scattering pollen, brilliantly blooming peaks, wandering butterflies and bees, settling sunlight, vivid colors enriching the entire garden.
—......
Sophien, closest to that beautiful garden, stops coughing and stares at her hand.
It's covered in blood.
She spat it up.
—......Hic.
Seeing her impending death, Sophien's eyes well with tears.
This Sophien of the 1st round, who has never regressed, doesn't even know she will regress.
Thus, she believes this death is truly the end.
“......Pleased to meet you, Your Highness. I am the professor.”
—Professor?
“Yes.”
Sophien looks at me, wiping tears from her eyes and blood from her mouth.
—A professor from the university or tower?
To her, I reply without a change in expression.
“Yes. A professor of the tower. We shall have many conversations henceforth.”
* * *
Meanwhile, in Yukline territory's Rohalak.
The Red Garnet adventure team visits the detention camp on a side errand. A request for 50ml of 'Halak scorpion' venom.
“The camp is huge......”
Lia mutters, eyeing the vast expanse.
Was it this big in the original story? She can't quite remember.
“Yeah. The professor must've gone all out because of 'that terrorist incident', right~?”
Lia falls silent at Ganesha's words.
Professor Deculein.
His unchecked growth is something Lia knows well from numerous media reports.
Still, it's fortunate the camp was built in Rohalak. It's not as hellish as it could be.
Reclaimable enough, even...
“Red Garnet adventure team.”
A cool voice drifts in then.
“Finally here?”
“Eek.”
Lia startles, turning that way.
Yeriel. Deculein's current sister, though not by blood.
A named character who later gets blackmailed by Deculein over that fact, ending in either killing him or being killed.
She's glaring at them with a sullen face.
“Yeriel?”
Ganesha's eyes widen. Yeriel crosses her arms and snaps back.
“Why ignore my messages? Did you put me on some blacklist or what?”
“Ah~ Well, you see~ Um~”
Ganesha hesitates on how to respond.
She can't exactly say, Because you're not Deculein's real sister, screw you.
“......Huh?”
Then, Karos lets out a puzzled sound.
Now's the chance! Ganesha jumps on it.
“What? What's wrong, Karos?”
“Just now, over there......”
Karos points at the sky. Red Garnet, Yeriel, and her retainers all look up.
“Nothing there?”
“No!”
Karos retorts quickly to Ganesha. The eleven-year-old hates being contradicted.
“Some...... weird thing was flying around.”
“Mis-saw a bird?”
“Too big for a bird......”
Karos still gazes skyward, and Yeriel turns back to Ganesha with a glare.
“Whatever. I have business. Come to the lord's castle.”
“Ah, haha. We'd love to, but we have a mission......”
Ganesha gives a wry smile.
──Right after.
“......Huh? What?”
Ganesha's eyes widen as she mutters.
As if she'd swapped personalities.
“Leo? Lia? Ross? What are you guys doing here? And why am I here?”
Everyone tilts their heads at her baffling words. No—Yeriel narrows her eyes again.
“Cut the weird talk. Follow me.”
“Eh? Ah, that......”
“Now! I'll pay whatever!”
Yeriel and her retainers practically drag the Red Garnet team away.
* * *
Shadows of the Imperial Palace · Demon's Mirror: 1st Round
......The laws of this 'mirror world' are fairly ordinary.
Time flows the same, fundamentally.
Sophien beyond the mirror, and I inside it.
We share the same time.
Neither faster nor slower.
Thus, on the second day since entering this underground.
—I am dying.
Sophien said. A poignant confession from an eight-year-old child.
—Incurable disease. The ministers all know. They give me those pitiful looks...... Used to make me sick.
I don't avert my eyes from Sophien staring into mine in the mirror. She smiles faintly.
—No such pity in your eyes. Not bad. ......But lately, even more annoying things.
“What?”
—Every night, mosquito-like things appear in my dreams......
“Can you describe their appearance?”
Sophien sighs.
—Like bats. Flying around. But sometimes like flies, sometimes monsters. Always flying, though.
I nod and reply.
“They are demons.”
—Demons?
“Yes.”
Flying demons without fixed form.
I know this one's lore all too well. From Kim Woojin's memories, and Yukline's blood instincts.
Demon—Nescius
Ghost-like fliers. They take 'the form the target fears most', so no fixed appearance, making them tricky.
—Demons......
I don't yet know their goal.
But this demon is definitely tied to the Altar. In the story, Nescius is summoned directly by the Altar.
—Hm, cough— cough—!
Sophien coughs. Blood stains her palm. She sighs and continues wistfully.
—How do you know such things? Well, professor...... Anyway. Last week, I picked my personal guard.
I look at Sophien. At just eight, she seems more adult than the current emperor Sophien.
—A guy named Kairon...... Probably won't need him long. I'll die soon. Maybe tomorrow.
Sophien points at me. More precisely, jabs the mirror.
—Probably goodbye for you too. This weird, cheeky professor stuck to my mirror. Strangely reasonable. Eyes I like.
She laughs as she says it. Blood trickles from her mouth.
I shake my head.
“No.”
—......What?
“Not goodbye.”
—What?
“I will always be in Your Highness's path. And at the end of this path, I will be there.”
—......
Sophien looks at me, then shakes her head.
—I hope so, but no. You're a hallucination from my damn disease. Hahaha.
Sophien laughs.
Laughing, she spits blood.
Keurgh—!
Painful groans fill the room, and the blood from the eight-year-old child covers the mirror.
Waaah......
The child's final, childish wail, after pretending to be an adult.
──That moment.
The entire world dyes black.
At least, nothing is visible to my eyes.
I see the status window rising in the air.
1st Round
Czzzt— the number '1' shakes violently.
And changes to a new number.
2nd Round
Sophien had just died.
“......Your Majesty.”
The world blacks out in an instant. It slowly crumbles along with Sophien's regression.
Like a shattering mirror, craaaack...
“We will meet again.”
Thud—!
The basement door closes.
* * *
“Deculein.”
Kairon's voice shakes my mind. I open my eyes wide and grasp the situation.
This is the imperial palace.
The 'real' imperial palace.
I was expelled right after Sophien's 1st round ended.
“Kairon. How many days have passed?”
I ask, fully comprehending.
“Not even a day. But hear me without misunderstanding.”
Yet Kairon looks unusually flustered. Even confusion lingers.
“I returned from tomorrow—the next day.”
“......”
I look at Kairon. He looks awkward himself.
“Regression, you mean.”
“......Ah! Yes. That's the word. I've been searching for how to explain this, but that's it. Yes. I regressed. By one day.”
I silently eye the palace basement door.
A plain wooden door.
Knock knock—
I knock and rattle the handle.
No change. It won't open.
Not yet time to start the 2nd round, then.
“Deculein. Hard to believe, but trust me. I regressed from tomorrow to today—”
“Yes. I believe you. It seems 'Nescius' escaped from this basement.”
“......Nescius?”
“A type of demon, with varied forms. Have you perhaps slain some unidentified entity?”
Kairon's eyes widen.
“Yes. Tomorrow night—odd to say tomorrow night, but something burst from this basement corridor, so I cut it down.”
I nod.
“Then it matches. It was transporting 'regression'.”
“Transporting regression?”
“Yes. Like honeybees gathering nectar from flowers and delivering to the hive.”
Now I vaguely understand.
The true nature of this quest.
Why the demon tampers with Sophien's memories. Why the Altar covets Sophien's Authority.
“Explain in detail.”
Kairon asks. I look at him.
At this moment, at least, Kairon is the most trustworthy person.
“Because it is the surest way to revive their god.”
“God?”
“Yes. They sought a 'body'. So what remains is the 'soul'.”
The Altar surely commissioned a body from Al Ross.
Whether Al Ross made it or obtained elsewhere, once they have the flesh, next is the spirit.
I say.
“Ordinary humans have body and soul as one, so if the soul regresses, the body returns to the past with it. Like you, Kairon.”
Tomorrow's Kairon regressed to today. As a 'living being', body and soul aligned.
Kairon asks back.
“And if not ordinary?”
“If not an ordinary human—already dead—then body and soul separate. Thus, fix the artificial flesh in the present, regress only the soul...”
If they amass Sophien's Authority (regression) over decades, centuries, millennia, and inject into some long-dead 'soul'?
Keep the body in the present, regress only the 'soul' to its living era?
“He will surely revive.”
The key part of the main quest.
God's Revival happens that way.
“......But why did I regress? Did Her Majesty's power leak out?”
From his words, Kairon knew of Sophien's regressions too.
“No. Because you slew tomorrow night's 'Nescius'. The 'regression' it carried flowed into you. As I said, it's merely a honeybee. You got splashed with honey from a dead one.”
“Ah.”
Kairon's eyes widen. Quite cute for a knight in his late thirties.
I gaze at the basement wooden door.
“Kairon. From now, urgency is paramount. When this door opens again, contact me at once. And if you encounter Nescius, keep cutting it down as before. For contact...”
I hand him the Transmission Paper.
“So be it.”
Kairon nods resolutely.