Sophien. (2)
I moved the moment I stepped out of Sophien's chambers.
My destination was the palace underbelly. I raced there in a heartbeat, only to find a statue blocking the way ahead.
"Kairon."
Kairon raised his eyes to me. The blade of the sword gripped in both hands touched the floor.
"······."
Kairon said nothing. But yesterday, Julie had told me my wound was a sword injury.
I had suspected as much from that moment. There weren't many who could pierce the vital points of Iron Man in an instant.
"I gave it deep thought."
Kairon's voice rumbled low. The sword blade scraped harshly against the ground as it rose.
I asked,
"What is your conclusion?"
"······That I am Her Majesty's knight. Whether the world turns upside down or bends to the demons' will—it means nothing to me."
Kairon was a knight for the emperor alone. Thus, he wished only for Sophien's happiness and protection.
Perhaps as rigid as Julie. No, more stubbornly so.
"The mirror swore to me. It promised a new world."
"······There is nothing more foolish than trusting a demon, Kairon."
The new world promised by the Demon's Mirror to Kairon. I could imagine what it might be.
Probably a world where Sophien never fell ill. A world where she grew up peacefully to rule the empire. A mirrored world where right- and left-handedness were reversed.
And at the same time, a world that ended in Game Over.
"That would be no different from the apocalypse. A demon is a demon because it is evil, Kairon."
"No. It is not an end, but a restart. In this world, no one is more important than Her Majesty. If the world has a master, it is her. Wherever she is—that is the true world."
There was truth in his words, to a degree.
This world's protagonist couldn't be pinned to one person, but if we called the most vital figure the lead, it was undoubtedly Sophien.
The moment she died, the player's game would end too.
"She is the sun of this world, the witness to miracles—"
Boom—!
At that instant, an iron mace surged from thin air and smashed into Kairon's side.
Kaboom—!
Caught off guard by the sudden ambush, Kairon flew back. Instinctively, I turned toward it.
A knight in full plate mail stood there.
"Hurry and go!"
Her face was concealed along with her body by the heavy armor, but I knew her voice at once.
Julie.
"······."
Kairon wiped the blood surging from his mouth and rose. Ice formed on his soles as he tried to move.
"Professor, go now!"
Julie shouted without revealing her face. Kairon unleashed mana to melt her ice.
"Go!"
Staying out of false worry would only burden her more.
"······Very well."
I nodded and dashed for the underground door.
Clang—! Swords clashed, sparks flying. Julie had intercepted Kairon charging at me.
The wooden door leading to the palace underbelly. I sprinted up the slope and seized the handle.
Shaaaa...
Dazzling light flooded my retinas.
······Entering the Demon's Mirror, I looked around. A space lined with mirrors on all sides, my reflection endlessly repeating within.
"Hello."
A voice drifted from behind. I saw her in the mirror.
Sophien. Or rather, the Demon's Mirror wearing Sophien's guise.
"Borrowed this form for easy talk."
"I know without you saying."
I asked it,
"Did you convince Kairon in that shape?"
"Yeah. He's a knight, after all. One for the emperor alone. Showed him my sincerity, and he thought up a way for Sophien to be happy."
The mirror smiled brightly. The smile on Sophien's face felt alien.
"You drew in the Altar too."
"Yeah."
"You never meant to revive their god from the start."
"Yeah. Just used and ditched them. I'm a demon, after all."
Of course. The God's Revival led by the Altar was a late main quest event. Even demonic power couldn't hasten or halt it.
"What now?"
"What else? Deculein. Your world is already badly tainted. Sophien regressed exactly 143 times, cracking it that much."
"Cracks."
"Yeah. Others regressed too, right? Because of those cracks. You think a few drops of regression elixir from a lesser demon make humans loop time?"
"······."
"If this goes on, the world might unravel the next time she dies."
I stared at the mirror in Sophien's form. It looked up at me and continued.
"But if I become the world, everyone can live happily. Safely. Without any risks."
"······."
The innate demon-loathing in Yukline blood surged to my throat. I wanted to throttle it right then, but I just shook my head.
It snapped back curtly.
"Don't like it?"
"I came only to keep my promise."
"······Promise? Fine, try something. But how? I'm not opening the door for you. You'll be trapped here forever."
It crossed its arms. I ignored it and touched a 'mirror' in this space. Placed my hand on the glass surface.
"Your will is unnecessary."
"Why? This is my world."
"Because you are a demon."
Demon's Mirror. It was a demon, and demons were inseparable from Demonic Energy.
Thus, the Demon's Mirror held Demonic Energy. No—this entire space brimmed with it.
Meaning—in its world, I could use Understanding infinitely.
Of course, the strain on me would be immense. Setting aside the risk of Deculein's personality shifting, my life itself might be at stake.
"······."
Even so, I placed my hand on the mirror. Activated Understanding without hesitation.
────!
In an instant, a thousand mana vanished in a lump. Then nine hundred, eight hundred, seven hundred... Mana leaked from every vein.
The amount depleted per second was monstrous, but I converted that much Demonic Energy back into mana.
"······What are you doing?"
It asked puzzled. But with eyes closed, I couldn't see its face.
"Wait, hold on."
Its voice alone sufficed.
A demon without this 'experience' panicked at my actions.
"How is this... Ah, no!"
Its reaction grew strange. Voice trembling, hands clutching my waist desperately.
But its physical force was nil. A mere mirror couldn't harm a human.
"Stop it!"
The deeper I peered, the deeper I understood.
Its reaction turned more desperate.
"I said stop—!"
As Understanding progressed, Demonic Energy eroded my body, veins on the verge of bursting, but I ignored it.
"Don't, don't do it! I said don't——!"
Thump—!
Suddenly, my heart lurched. Veins exploded like bundles. Blood refluxed into my mouth.
"You'll die too! You know that—!"
I might die as it said, but I wasn't afraid. My ego wasn't so frail.
"Don't, don't look into me——!"
A scream like tearing. I opened my eyes. My pupils in the mirror were already violet. Veins in my throat blackened like roots.
"······."
I turned to it. Clutching its head, it barely rasped heavy breaths.
"Stop. Stop······."
"······This is what a promise means to me."
Once spoken, words were never retracted. Kept even unto death.
Obsessive compulsion bordering on paranoia, that psychotic will.
Nothing exceeded it in Deculein.
I would wield Understanding to its limit, plumbing the depths of this mirror...
"Stoooop————!"
When I opened my eyes, it was the 3rd round. Sophien's room. I gazed at the calendar hanging in the vast, empty living room.
January 1st.
Sophien's regression anchor.
I had succeeded in Understanding the Demon's Mirror.
"······Hah."
But my exhaled breath was violet. Moreover, veins across my body pulsed blue and purple.
Acute Demonic Energy Poisoning (Severe)
Mana Rampage
Qi Deviation
Injuries even Iron Man's body might not recover from, but it didn't matter.
I looked at the mirror in Sophien's room. Its surface reflected her. She lay in bed.
"Your Majesty."
—······!
Sophien bolted upright. Her mouth hung slack. I told her,
"I have returned."
—Wha······.
Sophien suppressed a smile tugging at her lips. I sat in the chair beside her. She called me sternly, feigning severity.
—Ahem. Professor.
"Yes."
Her next words satisfied me fully.
—Yes. Welcome back. You kept your promise.
Promise.
For some reason, the word soothed my heart.
······I arrived boldly, but as a man in the mirror, there wasn't much I could do. The mirror magic and glass magic I'd learned proved useless.
Just reading books Sophien brought, conversing with her, breathing in and out.
But pain stabbed with every breath. Aftereffect of expending nearly 60,000 mana in a flash.
Probably necrosis in part of my heart or lungs.
Chirp chirp— chirp chirp—
Anyway, this was the palace garden where birds sang.
Sophien, lying on the grass, spoke.
—Professor.
"Yes."
—Lately, my body aches again.
"Is that so."
—······So frustrating. How long must I live in this pain?
I recalled the Demon's Mirror's words. It said Sophien regressed exactly 143 times.
"Your Majesty."
Would knowing the end bring more torment, or calm acceptance?
—Hm. Why call me?
Sophien's early salvation was impossible. Her cure was 'fated' by the setting.
After over a hundred deaths, the toxin ravaging her body first vanished by the 'world's compulsion'.
A 'miraculous coincidence' from repeated regressions.
"Shall we play chess?"
—······Chess?
"Yes."
—Chess······ Why suddenly?
"I play chess well. So well that even a lifetime of Your Majesty's effort couldn't beat me. So when you defeat me, it won't be so bad, will it?"
I'd learned chess in spare moments. Even without Understanding, grandmaster level was feasible.
—Hmph. Arrogant. You sure? I learn anything quickly.
"Yes."
—Good. Bring the chessboard!
Sophien shouted vigorously, rising from the grass.
—Hey! Servants! Fetch the chessboard!
······The imperial first heir Sophien always had a mirror with her.
The hand mirror at her waist was a symbol to palace officials, and her occasional tales of 'the professor' brought worry and relief.
Worry she might be going mad, relief that the imaginary 'professor' helped her forget pain, even a little.
"Sofi."
"Yes, Father."
Even on audience day with Emperor Krevaim, her blood father, Sophien carried her hand mirror.
Krevaim smiled faintly and asked,
"Is your friend in the mirror well?"
"······."
She mumbled wordlessly for a moment.
No one in the palace believed her. Partly because the professor refused to show himself.
"Yes. He is well."
"Good. As long as you and he are healthy, I'm pleased."
"······Yes."
Krevaim chatted idly and offered a new hand mirror as gift. Sophien accepted politely and ended the audience.
She wasn't particularly glad. It would vanish after one more death and regression anyway.
"······."
Heading straight back to her room upon leaving, Sophien's eye caught her brother Kreto's quarters. She glanced around and slipped inside.
Snore— snore—
A three-year-old child slept in the bed. Sophien smirked at him.
"······How is he? Can't even talk right, but cute, huh."
She spoke to the hand mirror; a reply came.
—Indeed.
Brother Kreto was a three-year-old lump. Only half-blood, but adorable every time. One of the few things making her smile in this life.
"······Glad he won't suffer like me."
Sophien poked his chubby cheek. Kreto frowned and rolled over with a groan.
"Time to go. Get caught and it's embarrassing."
Poke poke— Sophien prodded his face a few more times before leaving. Clack clack, back to her room.
*
······That was daily life.
The night after touching Kreto's face, Sophien suffered sepsis. Couldn't even withstand germs from a mere three-year-old.
Your Majesty—!
Despairing cries from servants like background noise.
She died that day. Thus came the 4th round, then 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th... Regressions flowed in order, as fated.
In that time, Sophien didn't endure easier or stronger because of me.
—Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
Her mind shattered many times. Many suicides. Near madness.
—Anyway. It'll restart. Anyway, anyway! It'll start over from the beginning! What meaning does this cursed life have······.
Exactly up to the 65th round.
After that, resignation.
After sixty-five deaths, Sophien lay abed, wasting days away.
"Your Majesty."
—······.
Her wasted face, like a wreck, turned to me. Too wretched for an eight-year-old.
"No matter how rounds repeat, some things don't reset. Some skills don't vanish."
—······What?
"Chess. Chess skill doesn't disappear with regression."
Why I'd suggested 'chess'. Sophien practiced steadily but couldn't beat me yet.
—······Fine. Must be nice, playing well.
Sophien snorted and rolled away.
Seemed it didn't take.
"······."
Watching her, I pondered deeply.
How many rounds could I endure ahead? How much time could I survive?
"Your Majesty."
—What now.
I was dying.
Lung and heart functions over half ceased; Demonic Energy-eroded veins crushed nerves, unleashing unbearable agony every instant.
"Shall we make a signal?"
Thus, I needed to conserve stamina.
Distribute time efficiently.
—Signal?
"Yes. A signal to summon me."
Knock knock— I tapped her full-length mirror twice.
"Knock the full-length mirror twice like this, and I shall awaken."
—Why bother?
"I need sleep time too."
—Hmph. I can't sleep from pain, and you sleep.
Current Sophien was still a child. Childish whining.
"In exchange, all my waking time will be with you."
Unavoidable. Movement itself was hard now. Lower body nearly paralyzed from the start.
—······Fine. Do as you like.
She couldn't deny it.
My body was already overtaken by Demonic Energy.
—But I'll suicide tomorrow.
Sophien grumbled dissatisfied.
True to word, she suicided next day; the world reset, of course.
Thereafter, through countless regressions, I watched in my own torment.
Life repeating, death repeating, despair echoing, all restarting, vanishing, restarting, vanishing...
Disease and pain, humans and all things, world and causality, mind and body, time and space, evil and good, light and dark...
Viewing all creation as void, drifting through meaningless eons—
——Finally.
I realized the moment had come.
Midwinter December.
Harsh, biting winds swept the continent, winter beasts trampling lives here and there—yet the palace garden still scattered beautiful pollen. Warm, gentle warmth embraced the palace.
"Cough, cough. Didn't you hear me say get out."
A tone clashing with the peace. A languid, rotting-fish voice.
"But Your Majesty, you haven't finished your medicine—"
"Useless, so I won't. I said leave. Hey, Kairon! Send them all out!"
Sophien, abed, dismissed all servants. Then rose and knocked the mirror twice.
"Knock knock— Professor. You there?"
—Yes. I am here.
"······Yeah. Lately, I'm lasting weirdly long?"
This life surprised Sophien. Body still hurt, but this regression lasted unexpectedly.
No, was being prolonged.
No will to live, yet forcibly 'living'.
"How many times have I died so far?"
—139 times.
"Hm······ Today December 31st, so tomorrow January 1st."
—Yes. Think enduring till tomorrow heals you fully.
"Hmph. Whatever."
Sophien pouted. No expectations whatsoever. Mentality shattered and rebuilt dozens of times; no more interest in life.
Still, solace in that one beside her—the professor sharing her regressions. Even if hallucination from her mind, didn't matter now.
—Your Majesty.
The professor spoke. Sophien innocently tilted her head.
"What?"
—I will watch over Your Majesty from everywhere.
"······Suddenly?"
She glared at the professor in the mirror. He had eyes gently closed.
—Not suddenly.
"······."
—Even if I seem absent for a while······.
Hearing that, unease stirred in her heart. Sophien licked her lips needlessly.
—I will always be in Your Majesty's process.
"Are you saying you're leaving but not?"
—······Your Majesty. One promise, if I may. As I once kept yours.
Sophien said nothing. Yet the professor continued softly.
—No matter what······ do not take your own life.
"······."
What nonsense. At the abrupt request, Sophien pursed her lips.
"What bullshit."
—Cherish······ Your Majesty's life.
"Got somewhere else to go?"
—No.
The professor in the mirror smiled. Gentle, feeble smile. But first Sophien had seen from him. She stared blankly a moment.
—Your Majesty. Night grows late. Rest well.
"······."
Sophien sniffed and checked the clock. 8:30 PM. Bedtime indeed.
Body that died like a globefish without 14+ hours sleep.
—I await first.
"······Won't sleep."
Sleep tugged, but she forced eyes wide. Planned to stay up guarding the mirror.
"Won't sleep······."
Lying abed, she glanced sideways. Thankfully, professor showed no sign of leaving; always in the mirror.
Well, even if he meant to, how catch one in the mirror?
Resigned and relieved, she fell asleep again.
······Thus.
The next day.
Chirp chirp— chirp chirp—
Awakened by birdsong.
"······?"
Sophien felt an odd sensation. Unexplained refreshment.
"Huh?"
Blinking blankly, she sat up. Tormented so long, the familiar ache absent—so long absent she wondered if afterlife, then groped her body.
But it was gone.
No pain at all.
"······H-hey! Kairon!"
—Your Majesty. Coughing?
"What year, month, day is it!"
—Year 23, January 1st.
Year 23 was Emperor Krevaim's reign.
If she'd died and regressed, it'd be year 22, January 1st.
"Year 23? Certain?"
—Yes.
If truly year 23, January 1st.
Then, then, then······
Sophien trembled in excitement, clutching her face.
"I'm... cured······?"
Suddenly, the professor's words recalled.
—Yes. Think enduring till tomorrow heals you fully.
His words to think tomorrow brought healing. Clutching her pounding heart, Sophien shouted.
"Professor!"
No reply, but she jumped up to the mirror.
"······Professor!"
Then sent the promised signal. Knocked the full-length mirror knock knock twice.
Knocking, she said,
"Professor! Seems cured! As you said!"
But no response.
"······."
Blinking, waiting silently; peering deep into the mirror.
"Professor?"
As always, through decades together, that cold yet gentle voice saying 'Is that so'—did not appear.
Chirp chirp—
Damn birdsong filling the silence.
"······Professor?"
Sophien called in a trembling voice.
But in this mirror, no—in any mirror in the world.
He never appeared again.