Chapter 106
Chapter 106
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Not That Guy
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Urgent footsteps echoed through the air.
Amid heavy breaths, ignoring the stares of those around her, a woman came running.
Bluish silver hair.
The Third Princess of the Epania royal family, said to carry the blood of the White Dragon.
It was Sigrin Epania.
Right now, she was desperately holding back the tears welling up in her eyes.
The reason was simple.
She had finally reunited with the love she had been waiting for all this time.
'Arthur... Arthur.'
Crying out the name she had kept buried inside, Sigrin ran.
On the day she inherited the memories and opened her eyes.
Not only Mary had waited pathetically at the meeting spot—it was the same for her.
Sigrin loved Arthur more than anyone.
But Arthur never showed.
On top of that, no matter how much she scoured the empire, she couldn't find him anywhere.
That was when she sensed something was wrong—something she didn't know about.
In her memories, Arthur was always a man charging ahead.
And her role as his wife was to support him.
So Sigrin endured, urging Mary to get up and keep going.
Arthur surely had some plan in mind.
With that faith, she continued her own duties while longing only for the day she would meet him.
And today.
Arthur had finally appeared.
As expected of him.
She had done her best with her tasks, and so he showed up.
It was then, as she passed through the empty arena corridor with her heart pounding.
She spotted a figure standing there.
A robe pulled low over the head.
Golden hair spilling out from beneath it.
Arthur.
It had to be Arthur.
"Arthur!"
The moment she cried out his name and rushed forward.
She stopped dead in her tracks.
The hair was definitely blonde.
But the face under the robe wasn't Arthur's.
Unlike Arthur, this person had features so delicate they could be mistaken for a woman's, and aside from the shared blonde hair, they looked nothing like him.
Only the build was similar—it was someone else entirely.
Sigrin's face hardened.
At the same time, anger began to frost over her features.
She wanted to sever this impostor's neck right then and there for daring to impersonate Arthur.
"Who the hell are—"
"Sigrin Epania."
In that instant, the figure called out to her.
It was a strangely androgynous voice, impossible to pin as male or female.
"This is a message from Arthur for you."
"A message from Arthur?"
Sigrin snapped back to her senses a beat late.
Something had happened, as she feared.
Regaining her composure, she bit her lip.
"Besides you three who inherited memories, there's someone else on the move."
The moment she heard those words, Sigrin's eyes slowly widened.
This wasn't a probe.
Only the three of them and Arthur knew that fact.
"Wait, what do you mean? Someone besides us?"
"Arthur isn't certain either. This regression round has too many variables, he said—he can't gauge it recklessly."
Sigrin fell deep into thought.
Because it was exactly what she'd been pondering lately.
'Evelask, and Charlotte too.'
It was beyond a mere butterfly effect.
"So Arthur is searching for that person now. Watch closely for anyone who reacts to me, standing in for him. That's his message."
Only then did Sigrin grasp Arthur's intent.
"...Just one thing. There's something Arthur always said when it was just the two of us. Do you know what it was?"
Sigrin asked for final confirmation.
The fake Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly and replied.
"He said to tell you there's no such thing."
"Ha, haha."
Sigrin suddenly burst into laughter.
"You're right. Arthur wouldn't share something meant only for us with anyone else."
Sigrin was now certain of Arthur's presence.
"I get the message."
If it was the person Arthur was seeking, she just had to find them too.
"Still, is there someone Arthur's paying especially close attention to?"
The first name that came to Sigrin's mind as she asked was none other than Krash.
She had just witnessed Krash shattering the Aurora Stone.
Watching it, Sigrin felt puzzled.
The energy she sensed from him was clearly at the entry level of Master.
But entry-level Master couldn't shatter the Aurora Stone, no matter how brightly the light shone.
And right then, she had sensed the power of a curse.
After feeling it, she made a guess.
Krash had used a skill to swallow some curse and pulled off a trick with it.
Realizing that, Sigrin grew confused.
'Even as a butterfly effect, the timing's too early.'
Krash was the best with curse-related things, but that was only for self-defense.
Not on this level.
At first, she even wondered if Krash had somehow inherited memories like them.
But even if so, reaching entry-level Master in just a few years made no sense.
The memories he might have were at best about curses or wars.
Far from combat.
'I know that man's limits better than anyone.'
With his half-baked natural talent.
No matter how hard he tried, his talent was too lacking to overcome it.
"Charlotte Valheim," the fake said.
Sigrin's eyes whipped around.
"Arthur really said that?"
"Yes."
The unprecedented genius of the Valheim family, Charlotte Valheim.
The moment Sigrin heard it, the pieces of her confused puzzle clicked into place.
Charlotte was someone who hadn't received a single skill from the gods until the very end.
A human myth in her own right.
She had reached the pinnacle with nothing but her sword.
But what if, right before dying after defeating the Sword Sovereign, she had been granted a skill?
The gods reach out deepest to humans when their lifespan nears its end.
Arthur had gone through that to gain his Regression skill.
'Then Charlotte's possible too.'
With her overflowing talent, the gods must have been desperate to contract with her.
They'd have thrown in extraordinary offers.
That would explain Krash's growth too.
Even Charlotte couldn't stop the end, dying after her battle with the Sword Sovereign.
In that death, she must have realized something.
Even she, who proclaimed supremacy over heaven and earth, couldn't do it alone.
'So that's the man she chose.'
That woman had always subtly favored Krash, her blood kin, whether openly or not.
And Charlotte knew well the utility of Krash's skills.
A curse-bearer was essential against the apocalypse.
Just as Arthur had chosen the three of them.
Charlotte might have chosen her own brother.
That willful woman wouldn't accept anyone else as a comrade beyond her sibling.
'Yeah, from her sudden arrival at the academy to the suspicious happenings in Valheim lately.'
If those were steps to raise Krash, it all fit.
'And there was that thing she said before dying.'
Sigrin's eyes narrowed.
Right before Charlotte fought the Sword Sovereign, Sigrin had spoken with her by chance.
It wasn't a particularly meaningful talk.
Sigrin and Charlotte weren't on good terms.
But she had let slip one thing.
"I've finally found it. Tell my brother I'll come pick him up. I won't let him live like that anymore."
Sigrin didn't know what "it" was.
Charlotte killed the Sword Sovereign and died from her wounds.
But she had meant to pass something on to Krash.
'Maybe some elixir that could force extreme growth.'
Something to upend Krash's half-baked life in one go.
Charlotte might have known of such a thing back then.
With that elixir, plus Charlotte's guidance and expertise added on.
Krash's current growth was entirely plausible.
'And giving him Thunderclap—that sword she used herself—is proof.'
The sword at Krash's waist was unmistakably Thunderclap.
The very blade Charlotte had wielded until her dying breath in her past life.
She'd heard a direct Valheim had gone to the Demon Palace and assumed it was Charlotte.
But hearing it was Krash instead had puzzled her.
Clearly, Charlotte had told him and sent him herself.
Only she knew how to obtain Thunderclap.
'Come to think of it, Charlotte doesn't know about Arthur's or our regressions.'
So she could act so boldly without hesitation.
To those like Sigrin who had regressed, it stood out as blatantly odd.
Sigrin crossed her arms, accentuating her ample chest, and scowled in displeasure.
'And she acts all casual like it's our first meeting?'
She hadn't realized the woman had such a sly side.
Looks like dying alone after rampaging taught her something at last.
Sigrin flashed a venomous glare.
Then a thought flashed through her mind.
"...Then we just lure that guy, Krash, into our camp."
The fake Arthur turned to her.
Meeting his eyes, Sigrin curved hers into crescents.
"Arthur's wary of him too, right? A curse-bearer like that man will be essential later. Charlotte must think the same."
She imagined the moment she stole Krash from Charlotte.
Charlotte Valheim—the one who had trampled Sigrin's lofty pride as the empire's Third Princess.
Even Sigrin, with her inherited memories, felt deep envy before that woman's talent.
Seeing Charlotte, who had raised her brother with care, left empty-handed and forlorn.
Just imagining it sent a thrill through her unlike any before.
With sadistic pleasure bubbling up, excitement surging, Sigrin licked her lips.
"I know that man better than anyone. Like it or not, we stuck together until the end."
They might have been enemies in the past, but now she hadn't even seen his face once.
Approaching as a princess would be effortless.
"And I know the two women he was tangled with too."
The woman who served the Flame Emperor.
Austria Stigma Freeman, saintess of the Holy Kingdom Freeman.
Whether they'd tangle with Krash again was unknown, but if they did, all the better.
Pulling those women into her camp would naturally drag Krash along.
"What do you think? Not a bad idea."
"I'm only here to deliver Arthur's message."
His neutral response made Sigrin cool her expression.
"Then at least tell me where Arthur is. I want to see him and ask."
"He'll reveal himself soon enough."
"...Hah."
Sigrin twisted her brows.
She wanted to crush this fake Arthur right there, but she held back.
Arthur had his reasons.
She couldn't ruin his grand design.
"No word from him means he's leaving it to my judgment. Fine. I'll handle this side."
Tak!
At that moment, Sigrin heard footsteps.
Turning toward the sound, she saw a black-haired woman rushing over.
A single spear gripped in her hand, her eyes shadowed with deep despair unlike before.
But apart from her face, her voluptuous body remained the same.
It was Mary Diana.
"Lady Sigrin."
Calling out to Sigrin, whom she hadn't seen in ages, Mary shifted her trembling gaze.
"And..."
The moment Mary, eyes brimming with tears, tried to call to Arthur.
She finally noticed the face under the robe and froze.
Then her expression turned bewildered.
"A-Arthur isn't..."
"He's not here."
The fake Arthur's reply made Mary's face crumple as if the world had ended, and she collapsed to the floor.
"N-No way."
Tears gushed from her eyes.
The steadfast Mary Diana, once called the Divine Spear, was gone.
The past year.
Locked in solitary confinement with nothing but thoughts of Arthur, that was Mary's life.
She had always fixated solely on Arthur, and now her mental fortitude was frayed.
To her, that year in prison was hellish—a life lost due to one mistake.
Her mind was on the brink.
Only the will to see Arthur kept her from crumbling sooner.
Sigrin looked at her pitifully.
The Mary Diana who had guarded her side as the Divine Spear was no more.
All that remained was an imperial dog with nothing but her Heavenly Martial Physique.
Sigrin had no intention of bedding a dog.
Of course, she could feed it scraps and pat it occasionally.
It had to fulfill its role as a hunting hound, after all.
'Annoying that Sizzly's holding its leash, though.'
But Mary was still her breed, wasn't she?
"Don't worry. Mary, you've been through a lot. Arthur will come soon, he said."
As always, Sigrin gave Mary her kindest smile.
"La-Lady Sigrin."
"We've done well so far, right? So we have to give our all to the tasks Arthur gave us."
Those words finally pulled Mary back together.
"R-Right, yes. I, Mary Diana, am the spear of Lady Sigrin and Arthur! I'll do my utmost in my duties!"
"Yes, that's the Mary that suits you."
Seeing that smile, Mary beamed through her tear-streaked face.
"Mary Diana, as princess, I command you."
Mary immediately dropped to one knee before her.
"In the second exam, you'll face Krash Valheim."
Sigrin had an eye for people.
The Krash Charlotte had raised was stronger than expected.
He'd definitely face Mary in the second exam.
Too bad her plan to spotlight Mary, forgive the assassination attempt, and build a merciful princess image had failed.
Krash had stolen all the attention.
If Mary had trained without the imprisonment and regained her past strength, she could have shattered the Aurora Stone easily.
But that was in the past.
"Win. No—show him a clear gap in power. Enough to make him envious of your prowess."
But her opponent was the Divine Spear, Mary Diana.
Her output might lack, but her spearmanship hadn't vanished.
She couldn't lose to some gutter rat who'd lucked into a lucky break.
"Under orders from Third Princess Sigrin Epania."
Seeing Mary reclaim her knightly spirit, Sigrin curved her lips in a seductive smile.
Full of anticipation for Charlotte's face when she lost Krash to her.
Caw—
At the same time, outside the arena window.
They didn't notice a crow, its presence concealed, cry quietly and fly away.