Chapter 110
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Hidden World (3)
“Atchoo!”
This time, crossing through the Hidden World wasn't all that tough.
My consciousness got a bit fuzzy, and my senses went haywire for a moment.
But when I snapped back to my senses, my vision cleared right up, and I could stand properly again.
And the moment I got to my feet, I sneezed.
“Ugh.”
I wiped my nose and looked around.
Where the hell is this?
A chill ran through my entire body. Definitely not the Empire. Not Aonia, either.
'This place...'
A region I'd only heard about by name, never actually visited.
Priod.
Looks like I'd ended up in the frozen northlands.
“Atchoo!”
I sneezed again and started thinking.
'No, why?'
Why was I here?
Adel had clearly told me to go meet my little sister.
And the Hidden World had obligingly opened a portal, like it was waiting for me.
So shouldn't Ariel have been right there when I stepped inside?
'Or maybe there's some reason.'
Thinking back, the first person I met wasn't Ariel, but Adel.
So was there some predetermined order to who I encountered?
Did the Hidden World have that level of intelligence?
“Whew.”
I clenched my jaw to stop my teeth from chattering.
For now, I'd just head forward. I had to go somewhere.
Staying put like this would get me frozen solid.
I wasn't sure if Priod's cold was this brutal even in the world I came from.
But this chill was downright unnatural.
An ordinary human would've been a goner already, and even someone of my caliber had to circulate mana through my body to keep from shivering uncontrollably.
“Forward it is.”
I'll walk until I meet someone.
Here's what I gathered while walking.
First off, this was a core area of Priod.
Its walls were like a mix of ice and marble, carved with beasts in relief and intaglio.
Probably the Great Chieftain's residence, the kind of place I'd only heard about.
The problem was how ruined it all was.
The beautiful sculptures were scarred by sword slashes, ruining their beauty.
The sturdy ice walls were shattered everywhere, letting frigid winds whistle through.
And I hadn't run into a single soul so far.
To be precise, there weren't any living people.
Just corpses of the dead.
The harmony of pristine ice and bright red blood was grotesquely vivid.
“Did the Crimson Blood Cult sweep through here too?”
No need to grab someone and ask.
By the time I met Adel, the Crimson Blood Cult had already revealed itself to the world.
So this was probably Priod's fate after their defeat.
“Ugh.”
Anyway, now what? No clue.
Just dumping me here raw like this.
I needed to meet someone first before I could figure out what to do...
“Huh?”
Whoosh!
Light poured down right in front of me.
Not the reflection off the blue ice.
More like the holy white light of a church.
And far off, some figure was beaming that radiance straight at me.
“Who goes there?”
The voice that reached me was a woman's.
A familiar one. One I'd heard before.
If you rewound the clock about ten years, it'd sound just like this.
“Ah. I'm—”
I started to speak, then froze.
'How do I introduce myself?'
Saying “I'm Kline Leonhart”... might get me attacked or something.
Because in this world, Kline Leonhart had joined the Crimson Blood Cult.
If I introduced myself like that and it came to a fight, that'd be trouble.
At least, if the woman in front of me was who I thought she was.
Crack... crack...
She stepped over ice shards without making them crumble, with perfect poise.
The woman finally approached me and extinguished the light.
A face I knew all too well.
'Eli.'
Purple hair, purple eyes.
A chest that asserted its presence despite her timid nature.
Up to there, she looked like the Eli from my world.
But definitely different.
'Her eyes are dead.'
Eli's face was etched with exhaustion.
Not just timid or cowed.
Fatigue. Weariness. Resignation. Giving up. Detachment. Self-mockery. Pessimism.
Her beautiful face, plastered with negative emotions, narrowed her eyes at me.
“...Kline?”
“Urk.”
My body froze for a second.
She recognized me. This world's Eli.
Was she about to attack? I didn't want to fight Eli.
“...”
Eli just stared at me, saying nothing.
She maintained a thoughtful silence for a bit, then whispered shortly.
“Follow me.”
“Pardon?”
“I said follow me. Stick with me, and the next path will open.”
With that, Eli brushed past me.
“...?!”
Why did both Adel and Eli in this world love spouting such vague nonsense?
Couldn't they just tell me straight up?
Griping under my breath, I followed Eli.
This world's Eli was worlds apart from the one I knew.
I tossed several questions her way as I trailed her, but her demeanor never wavered.
Businesslike. Quiet. Stiff. Rigid.
Almost like what my little sister might've turned into if she'd grown up unchanged.
“May I ask where we're going?”
“To find the Empire's arch-traitor.”
“Saying it like that makes it sound super scary.”
“Can't exactly say it to his face, can I?”
“...”
So I'm the traitor here?
Makes sense. The heir to a ducal house turning vampire? Deserves all the hate.
“How did you know I'm Kline Leonhart?”
“You look just like Kline would if you made him ten years younger. How could I not know?”
“Our eye colors are different. The Kline you know has red eyes.”
“Take another look at your face right now.”
“?”
What did she mean?
I leaned in close to the ice wall to check my reflection.
And sure enough, my pupils had changed color.
'What the hell. This.'
Why were my eyes red?
I patted myself down.
Nothing off. Didn't feel particularly vampiric.
But my eyes were unmistakably red, not blue.
“Better keep it out of sight. They'll assume you're Crimson Blood Cult for sure.”
“Hah.”
She was right.
If I ran into people from this world, the eye color alone would get me attacked.
Same with the cult—they'd demand proof of affiliation.
“Damn it.”
Sighing, I kept following Eli.
Then a sudden question popped up.
“But why aren't you bothered by it?”
“...”
“You're walking around with me even after seeing my red eyes?”
“What does it matter?”
Eli's tone was parched.
Like she'd discarded every last shred of emotion.
“I just said it. The one I'm looking for is the Empire's arch-traitor.”
“Then why are you looking for him?”
I scratched the back of my head as I asked.
The Eli in front of me clearly wasn't Crimson Blood Cult.
Anyone could see she was on humanity's side.
Yet she was hunting me down.
“Revenge, maybe?”
Whoa. Had this world's Kline hurt Eli badly?
I'd already been puzzled how such a sweet girl ended up so worn down.
Did I even have the right to stop it? Nope.
“Revenge?”
She gave a faint smile at my words.
It even resembled Ariel's.
“Not for that reason.”
“Then what?”
“Who knows. What even is this feeling?”
Eli murmured dreamily.
“Why am I back in this ended past, doing this?”
“...”
“Probably some lingering attachment. I thought I wanted to save him even if it cost my life. But really, I just wanted a little more time together.”
Eli's words were cryptic.
Just like Ariel. Hard to grasp the context.
But I could roughly guess what she meant.
'Eli knows this world is a replay of the Hidden World's past records.'
And even so, she was repeating what she'd done right before dying in her previous life.
Something no one else could understand.
“Some call me a saint, but I don't see myself that way. Because...”
The one she wanted to save even at the cost of her life.
“I died saving Kline Leonhart.”
The Empire's arch-traitor.
**
The Empire's Third Imperial Princess, Adelheit von Valdrion.
After returning to the palace, she couldn't even feel time passing.
She'd gone to Aonia, passed through Leonhart territory, and come back to the Lotus Palace.
Even Sara, who rushed over joyfully to greet her, got no warm response from Adel.
“Your Highness. Is something wrong? Your expression looks dreadful.”
“...Sara.”
“Yes?”
“Mobilize the knights. No, not knights—anyone will do. Gather everyone skilled at finding people.”
“Um, Your Highness. What on earth happened...?”
Adel's lips trembled.
She dreaded saying it aloud.
The Leonhart Ducal Family had deemed it a disappearance.
No way it'd be easy to find.
'Kline's gone.'
While Adel was introducing herself to her in-laws and catching her breath.
Something happened—he went out and never came back.
Ash Leonhart told her not to worry and to return to the palace.
But Adel couldn't relax if she tried.
“Magic, whatever—anything goes. If you can find Kline Leonhart, my fiancé... I'll grant any reward. Please.”
“Y-Your Highness? Finding Sir Kline? What do you mean...”
“Please... Sara. I'll explain later. For now, just listen and do as I say.”
Adel didn't want to talk at length.
About what Kline's disappearance meant.
She didn't know the reason or the solution.
Didn't even want to speak it.
Having stubbornly sent Sara away, Adel buried her face in the bed.
And quietly clutched the blanket, sobbing.
“Where did you go, Kline...”
Why vanish without a word?
Why make my heart ache like this?
I wanted to grab him and demand answers, but I couldn't.
I'd settle for him just being alive.
For him to come back safe and meet me again.
“Hic...”
I had to calm down.
She'd resolved to be like Kline.
To distinguish properly between what she must do and what she wanted to do.
She'd only taken a brief trip to Aonia, but she was still imperial royalty.
Time to resume her duties as such.
But.
“I can't. Kline...”
I can't do it.
I have no confidence living normally in a world without you.
How could I go back to daily life like this?
Nothing sticks until I hear you're safe.
Adel buried her face in the pillow and sobbed.
All through the night.