Four Heavenly Kings Jahar (4)
Sisilia jolted upright the moment she sensed the massive mana drain. "...Atchoo."
At first, she was so dumbfounded she couldn't even speak. Even for her, it was a staggering level of mana consumption—one that could make anyone hiccup in shock.
'If it took this much mana, there's only one possibility.'
Freya must have used her Authority of Time. Something enormous must have happened in the future, and Freya had rewound it. Or, being a demon, she might have done it purely for her own amusement.
"Atchoo."
Sisilia sniffled and rubbed her forehead. Her fever was raging, making her head feel foggy. Still, piecing it together roughly, the time-related Authority was most likely a loop. No matter how vast her mana reserves were, rewinding time unconditionally was impossible.
'...The most realistic possibility.'
For example, suppose someone wanted to avert the world's destruction. If the world had already ended, rewinding that far back was impossible—it was too massive an "event." But if it was just before the world ended, right at the moment the Retriever faced death? That's where you'd set the checkpoint. The Retriever's death wasn't a cataclysmic event.
Freya unleashes her Authority there, and the Retriever shifts to a worldline where they "might not have died." They can change the past. But the caster can't intervene—the only one who can alter the past is the looped Retriever. And the number of loops possible is limited: the caster's mana. It was just a guess, but each loop probably consumed more mana than the last.
"......October 2nd, 2 PM. My mana should have been at about 40% by now, but it's down to 2%."
Meaning, just setting the checkpoint had burned through 38% of her mana. A Sword God's 38%. For reference, the previous Demon King's one-shot took 20% of her mana. There weren't many loops left. Factoring in the mana for rewinding time itself, this might be the final round.
"Anyway."
Her pet's stats were insane, though? Sisnyangi decided to groom herself diligently while waiting for the Retriever. She still didn't know who the Retriever was, but after countless loops, they'd inevitably end up in this room.
'No matter what newbie it is, once this incident's over, calling them a newbie anymore would feel off.'
Sisilia felt a twinge of sadness and teared up. Already sending off a newbie who'd slipped from her grasp... This must be how a dad feels watching his carefully raised daughter head off to marry.
And then—as if summoned by Sisilia's wish—someone opened the bedroom door.
The protagonist was Beatrice.
'Not a bad guess with the Retriever.'
Sisilia seriously considered opening a fortune-telling shop after retirement.
**
"How... how did you know about me?"
"Freya rewound time. I can't remember, but I could tell from the mana drain."
Sisilia's vacant eyes looked utterly out of it from every angle. But to Beatrice right now, they were more reassuring than anyone's.
Light instantly returned to Beatrice's despair-filled eyes.
"Lady Sisilia. Listen. Jahar is going to appear."
"Yeah."
"......In the fight with Jahar, Master Chiron falls. Sir Erterion too."
"No way."
Sisilia shook her head, her breaths coming in ragged wheezes. She was absolutely certain Erterion couldn't die to Jahar.
Beatrice couldn't help but be shocked.
"Y-yes. Actually, it wasn't Jahar—the real problem was Nameless."
"For real...?"
Maui had definitely been dealt with. She'd stuffed it neatly into a rift in open space and confirmed it sealed shut.
'Made it irreparable and banished it beyond space. No way it could return on its own.'
The only remaining possibility?
'Did a Demon God intervene?'
If that was true—
...what the hell is our goddess doing? This is ridiculous.
"Yes, for real. No matter what I did, I couldn't even take down Nameless, let alone Jahar. ...Well, I could kill them, but only at massive cost."
Beatrice clutched Sisilia's hand desperately.
"Lady Sisilia, I don't want anyone to die. Please, lend me your wisdom."
As if she'd been waiting for those words, Sisilia smiled faintly.
"Betty. Good job coming to me and giving it your all. Leave the rest to me."
Sisilia beamed and patted her.
...She was patting the lamp.
Beatrice felt a flicker of doubt. Was it really okay to leave this to her?
**
"Protect Sisilia. Erect a barrier. One so tight she won't sense the outside world at all..."
Chiron halted mid-order to Lude and slowly turned his head.
Poke.
Through the gap in the open front gate, Sisilia was peeking this way. Their eyes met, and she hurriedly hid—but her silver fluffball self was impossible to conceal.
She stared blankly for a moment, then poked her head out again. And hid. Repeat.
"......"
Chiron approached the mansion.
"Sisilia."
He opened the door to find her crouched hesitantly in the entryway. In her pajamas, her expression still vacant. She was in no state to be wandering outside.
"Didn't I tell you to rest? Where the hell did the info leak from? ...Beatrice, I assume."
Chiron sighed, picking up a strand of golden hair atop Sisilia's silver locks.
"Where's Beatrice?"
"......"
"Sisilia."
"......"
"......No, my mistake."
Sisilia just gazed up at Chiron blankly. He gave up asking her for answers. Instead, he scooped her into his arms to carry her back to bed.
Sisilia wrapped her arms around his neck. Her ragged breathing suggested the cold was far from beaten.
'Better that way, perhaps.'
Chiron knew Jahar's danger. He had to handle this fight alone. With Sisilia nearby, his sword's edge would surely dull.
"I'll kill Jahar. I swear it."
Chiron paused on the stairs at Sisilia's faint whisper.
"You remembered."
"Yeah."
"......My lifelong wish might come true tonight."
Chiron resumed walking.
"But if fulfilling it means losing you, I'll bury that wish deep without a second thought."
Jahar was after Sisilia—to avenge himself by killing Chiron first. But Jahar was after Chiron too.
At his wife's funeral. Amid the flames someone had left behind, these words were scrawled:
-The day you rebuild your family, I'll come for you. Live in pain forever.
A letter meant to torment him eternally. A declaration to slaughter any new family he made.
Chiron had lived in agony as promised. He hadn't even formed a family, lest it become a target.
Not until Sisilia appeared.
"You saved me. Without you, I'd still be lost in the ashes."
Chiron gently laid Sisilia on the bed. Tonight, one of the three would die: Jahar, Sisilia, or him.
He eliminated one option. Tonight's dead would be Jahar or himself. No matter what, he'd prevent Jahar and Sisilia from clashing.
"So rest tonight. You don't need to do a thing."
Chiron smiled faintly.
"......No."
"Sisilia. No matter what you say, I—"
"Chiron kills Jahar. That's the promise."
"!"
Chiron faltered.
"......Back then, I wasn't promising to kill Jahar for you."
That night, confessing everything to Sisilia, he'd vowed to kill Jahar as his own resolve.
But Sisilia had heard it differently.
"You promised to make it so I could kill Jahar."
"Yeah."
Chiron's pupils dilated.
'I'd forgotten for a moment.'
Sisilia always thought differently from everyone else.
"I'll keep the promise."
Tonight, Chiron would slay Jahar and fulfill his lifelong wish. Without a single ant dying in the process. Sisilia had already decided on that perfect ending.
But for that, one prerequisite was needed.
'Power's fine, but control's the issue. Fighting like this, Her Majesty's forces would crumble first.'
This damn cold had to go. And for that—
-Lady Sisilia. I think there's a way to cure the cold.
'Betty, I'm counting on you.'
She had to trust Beatrice.
**
-Try everything Betty's done so far at once.
Beatrice slipped out of the mansion safely while Sisilia held their attention.
'Hope the persuasion works.'
Worried, but she shook her head. First, complete Sisilia's mission.
Step one: Convince Lude to summon Edward.
"He'll be here in three hours at most. But it'll just be Edward. The other high knights have to hold Roendel."
"Thank you!"
Then, straight to an audience with the Empress.
Lydia responded instantly.
"I'll issue evacuation orders. Sir Erterion, leave Jahar to Windsor and Chiron—guard Terezia."
Once she deemed Jahar a threat, he'd summon all his kin and forces to Terezia. That was why Liannen suffered so much damage across loops.
But this should mitigate it somewhat.
'Now for the most important part.'
"Not sure if it'll cure you, but—here."
"I hope Lady Sisilia gets better!"
Info gathered across countless loops: Ian had developed penicillin.
"Lady Sisilia. This is the penicillin Ian made."
The trigger for making penicillin—even for a mere cold—was simple. Beatrice was surprisingly close with Ruby and chatted often. She'd explained to Ruby that Sisilia's "cold" was actually a curse. Ruby freaked out and told Ian.
Ian, the science kid, thought:
'Curse? Typical medieval thinking. It's bacterial infection—needs antibiotics. Might be wrong, but worth a shot.'
And so, penicillin reached Sisilia.
"......Penicillin?"
"Sounds like a person's name, but it's verified to work. Maybe...!"
Sisilia eyed the vial with narrowed eyes.
...Med student, my ass? No idiot takes penicillin for a cold.
But.
"Ah."
"H-how's your body, Lady Sisilia!!"
Beatrice was on the verge of tears with desperation. No way could she say "think it'll work?"
Besides, this was the adorable effort of newbies trying to heal her.
"Feels great."
Sisilia gripped her foggy mind and thumbs-upped.
"Fully cured."
'Gotta get better somehow...!'
Playtime: 3,650 days. About 87,600 hours in real time.
The 17-year-old Sisilia faced an unprecedented crisis.