The Third Life (1)
"So... I woke up in the past twenty years ago?"
"That's right?"
"And you found my house the moment you regressed?"
"Exactly. As expected of my Master!!"
"...That's not 'exactly'!! I didn't understand a single thing from the start... Why didn't you explain properly?!"
It seemed I had run into a Demon God who had completely lost her mind.
"So, you used a time-reversal magic right before you died."
"Yes!"
"Haa... let's assume that's true for now. Then, how did you know where I live?"
"I threatened the Hero! When I showed him my magic, he told me everything while shaking in fear!"
'Sorry, Karl... If I ever meet you again, I'll buy you a meal...'
"...Wait a second?"
At that moment, something felt off in her words. When exactly had Karl learned where I lived?
"If that's the case... then exactly when?"
"According to the human world's timeline... March 3rd."
...That doesn't make sense. The day I first met Karl and his party was two days after that—the freshman welcome party, March 5th.
"But... how did Karl even know where I live?"
"Ah, that?"
She tilted her head as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"You need a reference point to reverse time, right?"
"A reference point?"
"Yes. Reversing time for every human in this world is beyond my power. So I set a special criterion to send only those who match it back to the past."
"...Keep going."
She waited for my reaction as if seeking permission. I gave her a dry chuckle and ordered her to continue.
With a delighted smile, she spoke in a completely casual tone.
"So, people evaluated as quite strong get to live with their memories intact. By the way, my standard for strength was defeating the Hero party with minimal damage last time!"
"...Ah, shit."
"Why?"
"...Why? Why is 'why' coming out of your mouth? Who told you to reverse time so irresponsibly?!"
I couldn't process it. I grabbed my head, thinking that this Demon God had gone too far.
"I cursed those girls out in the second life... and now they're supposed to live with their memories? I even enrolled in the academy!"
Exactly. My relationships with her and Karl's party had ended in the worst possible way until the very end.
"...I already had it bad for four years because of those girls... and now I have to endure another four years? In an even worse environment than before?"
"Master, why are you in the position of having to endure it? You're insanely strong!"
She questioned my words, and I naturally countered.
"I could fight you with everything I had because I was ready to die... Didn't I explain? It's my [Species Ability]."
"Ah, the Honeybee Clan ability? But... what does that have to do with it?"
"You got hit and died, and now your brain's fried? I get in excruciating pain when physically struck. And I can't even use magic..."
"Hee... Master. But do you know about that?"
While I was venting about how useless my Honeybee Clan ability was, she approached me with a meaningful smile.
"...What?"
I grew tense at her suspicious smile and waited for her to continue. She noticed my reaction and...
"Pfft... Master, that was pretty cute just now."
"Hey, do you really want to die? Hurry up and tell me... If you don't want to die."
Seeing my tense stance, she burst into laughter and looked at me like I was adorable. Annoyed, I naturally gave her an order.
'No way... she deliberately provoked me to test me?'
I decided it wasn't likely that the Demon God thought I was cute and said it on purpose. Only then did I realize her actions might have been to deliberately elicit my command.
Of course, Pelican genuinely thought the Dullahan was cute, so her thoughts were completely different from mine... but the important thing was what she actually knew.
"I may be the youngest among the gods, but I've met quite a lot of people. Among them, many with [Species Abilities]."
"That makes sense. You're a crazy woman who goes berserk in battle. Of course you've fought countless people to the death."
"That's right... But, you know, I've fought someone who used the [Honeybee Clan Ability] too... How about it? Curious?"
Swallowing hard, I nodded quietly, my tension rising.
I forgot about fighting Pelican to the death and my anger toward her moments ago. I suddenly grabbed her arm and spoke.
"...So you know about my ability."
"Correct!! Since you guessed it, I'll tell you specially...?"
Her expression and attitude were full of mischief, but I couldn't get angry at Pelican.
At the very least, if she knew the hidden side of my ability, she held the initiative in this conversation.
"Hee, what should I do? Should I tell you right away... about the Honeybee Clan Ability?"
"...Tell me."
So I had no choice but to match her attitude. After all, that Honeybee ability was nothing but a burden to me.
'If there had been any way to solve these problems... I wouldn't have tried to commit suicide, and she wouldn't have been ignored like that.'
Throughout my second life, I had always been looked down on by others. In the previous life, it was because of 'skill'...
...It was unfair. I was actually stronger than the Hero. But why did I have to be looked down on because of my skill?!
I never told anyone, but I quietly carried that fact and slowly rotted from the inside.
At first, I thought it was enough to just live comfortably.
Since I had already ended my first life tragically, I thought the second life would at least be happy if I lived quietly without any trouble.
...But reality was nothing like my ideal.
Students who entered the academy solely based on skill were busy evaluating individuals based purely on their abilities.
Of course, not everyone was like that, but at least most students evaluated me as the lowest-ranked existence in the academy.
Especially those who entered with low status looked down on me as if they despised me.
From their perspective, they were struggling to pay tuition and live day by day, while I, the academy's weakest, didn't have to worry about money.
"But... they might look down on me from their perspective... My perspective is that I regressed into this body and my damn abilities make any effort meaningless."
Knowing full well that no effort could achieve anything, why did I have to try?
That thought stuck in my mind, and despite their gazes, I never gave my all until graduating from the academy.
So, conflicts with my peers never resolved... and their frequency of looking down on me only increased.
At first, there were classmates who approached me because of the Franz family name, but that quickly disappeared.
"I wonder when it was... After I beat Dia with swordsmanship? Or... when she heard from everyone that I was the academy's disgrace in front of the princess?"
Of course, that wasn't the only reason I was isolated in the academy, but I couldn't deny that her actions had quite a gloomy result for me.
"No matter how I think about it... it's a mess."
That's how I was isolated in the academy purely because of 'skill', and that affected my entire life until now.
And the 'loneliness because I was alone' that I hadn't acknowledged until then, I only realized right before my death in the previous life... right before the battle with the Demon God.
The Dullahan Franz's second life ended so miserably.