What Exactly Is That Clue? (4)
What Exactly Is That Clue? (4)
Kuuuuuuung!
With a single strike of One Sword, the sky shattered into pieces like glass.
"H-hiik!"
The moment the bandits locked eyes with Kiel, they began to flee in terror.
Watching them silently, Kiel sheathed his greatsword.
Kiel didn't bother to chase the fleeing bandits. That was because the mage standing beside him was more skilled at subduing opponents than anyone.
Ice Magic was specialized in incapacitating and restraining people rather than killing them. Of course, she could have ended their lives if she had wanted to, but Olivia had never, under any circumstances, killed a person.
To be more accurate, it was better to say that she couldn't.
Her master, Archmage Melina, had once said the same thing.
- Olivia is a girl with a fundamentally gentle nature. She doesn't know how to harm people. And yet, it's strange—when it comes to taking the lives of monsters, she shows no hesitation.
It was the first time he had ever seen the Gold Tower Lord laugh like that. Melina, who had spent her entire life driven solely by the goal of pursuing Truth, seemed to have rediscovered a sense of meaning in life by raising such a kind-hearted disciple.
- One day, she will surpass me.
- She'll become the next Archmage.
- Archmage? No, my disciple is the one who will reach Truth in my place! Ha-ha-ha-ha!
Melina had raised her glass and toasted to her beloved disciple's future.
That had already been a year ago. Back then, he had only known the mage called Olivia through word of mouth.
When he traveled to the Wood Demon Realm of Euran and heard the name of the mage who had rescued him from danger, Kiel finally understood why Melina had boasted so tirelessly about her apprentice.
She always found the best possible answer. She was a devoted person who never stopped yielding and showing consideration. She was always full of confidence but never arrogant, and she never seemed to lose her positive smile.
Olivia was the person who fit the word perfection more than anyone else.
Maybe that was why.
He had overreacted to the incident a while ago.
- Let's meet again in six days.
It might have been a joke she tossed out without any particular thought. She might have genuinely forgotten. Or if not that, maybe she was preparing some out-of-character surprise party.
It could have simply been a mistake.
No matter how perfect a person was, couldn't they make a mistake once in their life?
But.
Not Olivia.
Even as a mage, she understood the physiology of warriors. She could instantly interpret ancient characters that weren't even recorded in the imperial annals.
With a few words, she swayed the hearts of dogmatic elven elders. Even when surrounded by thousands of specters in darkness so deep she couldn't see her own feet, she never lost her composure or calm.
She was too perfect.
And so those words had lodged in his mind like a blade, refusing to leave.
Today was exactly the sixth day.
Kiel had not taken his eyes off Olivia all day. It was so that this time, for certain, he would figure out the meaning behind her words about meeting again.
He had shared the dawn with her, started lunch together, and walked through the evening side by side. He hadn't left Olivia's side for a single moment.
Darkness had already fallen over the streets. The promised six days were drawing to an end.
But Olivia was still Olivia.
'...Was I mistaken?'
Kiel watched the bandits vanish into dots in the distance. For some whim, Olivia had chosen to let them go rather than imprison them in ice.
"Is there a reason you released them?"
It was a question without much meaning. Letting small fry like that go without even any weapons wasn't going to cause any trouble.
"...Uh, um."
At the sudden shrill sound, Kiel whipped his head around.
"Was I supposed to catch them?"
"..."
"Huh?"
Kiel didn't answer. No, it was more accurate to say he couldn't.
'...It came.'
There stood Olivia.
Olivia wore a dumbfounded expression he had never seen before. He might even call it multifaceted. To think that a face he'd thought held nothing but smiles could produce an expression like that.
It was strange.
It was definitely strange...
But looking at that dumbfounded face, he couldn't hold back his laughter.
"Why are you laughing?"
"No, nothing. I was mistaken."
"So, I'm asking if letting them go was okay."
"Yes. Letting them go is fine."
Huuu.
Only after drawing several breaths could Kiel calm himself. Olivia stared at Kiel with eyes that said he was the strange one.
"Anyway. What day is it today?"
"Counting from when you were last acting strange?"
"That's the one, man."
Now he understood why she had asked to meet again.
"Exactly six days have passed."
The Olivia who had returned was profoundly human.
*****
Olivia looked at Kiel with an expression that said he was being weird.
'Why is this bastard grinning like an idiot?'
[Kiel Rothschild]
- Level: 88
- Class: Sword Saint
- Favorability: 52
- Titles: Duke, Wandering Swordsman, Sword Seeker, Dragon Slayer, Ruin Explorer...
Surprisingly, Kiel's favorability hadn't changed at all since six days ago.
'...How did it end up like this?'
If she had gained 2 in three days, then over six days it should have gone up by at least 3 or 4.
'Even just feeding him a sandwich would've raised it by 1.'
Giving a liked food increased favorability by decimal points per instance.
Olivia discreetly checked her Subspace.
[Ham Sandwich without Tomatoes] * 164
[Ham Sandwich without Tomatoes, extra Pickles] * 121
[Ham Sandwich without Tomatoes, extra Pickles and Bacon] * 74
The numbers hadn't decreased.
They matched the quantities from the last time she had checked perfectly.
'He didn't eat a single one.'
To be more accurate, it was better to conclude that Kiel had refused them. There was no way she would have missed a favorability-grinding event available only three times a day.
And since pressing unwanted food on him would only lower his favorability, she wouldn't have tried a second time either.
It was obvious without watching the video.
Still, the fact that his favorability hadn't risen at all and remained stagnant was unexpected. She was certain she had no memory of this when she had played the Genocide Run.
[Remaining Time: 19:45]
'Entering this memory briefly must have had an effect.'
Otherwise, that favorability number was impossible to explain.
'Well, that's not what matters.'
Favorability didn't matter. No matter how much effort she put into grinding favorability, what awaited at the end of this memory was still a bitter betrayal.
Because this place was simultaneously Kiel's memory and the past.
In the end, Olivia would race toward the predetermined destination of the Genocide Run, and changing that conclusion was impossible.
Kiel would die at the hands of the Olivia of the Genocide Run.
That fact wouldn't change.
'In that case, I can at least give it justification.'
She had to assign reasons why Olivia had no choice but to do those things. The reason she had no choice but to kill the emperor. The reason she had been forced to destroy the empire.
Olivia pressed her lips shut and looked at Kiel.
'The reason I had no choice but to betray you.'
She had to fabricate it from now on.
[Main Quest]
- Clue #1 - Acquired
- Clue #2 - Not Acquired
.
.
.
- Clue #15 - Not Acquired
Only then did the clues appear in a different light.
'...'
Fifteen clues meant fifteen regressors.
When she had subdued Kiel, the first clue had opened. And Kiel had been the first regressor to fall at the hands of Olivia.
'...That's the order.'
The order in which they had died to the Olivia of the Genocide Run.
Kiel, who had charged in the moment he confirmed the emperor's death, was first. Melina, who had stood in her way to the end, denying her disciple's betrayal until the very last, was second.
Now she understood why Kiel had been placed as the first.
Kiel had witnessed the emperor's death, but he hadn't seen the empire's destruction. He had seen Melina fight desperately, but he hadn't witnessed Melina's death.
He hadn't seen the imperial citizens slaughtered. He hadn't seen the ocean freeze solid with death.
Because he had fallen first, he was the most ignorant.
Only now did she see it. Why those were called clues.
They were signposts.
They were telling her which regressor she needed to meet first.
'So I still have to meet them after all, huh.'
Among them were those who had met gruesome deaths. Some had endured to the very end and died clutching the memory of everyone's deaths.
It meant that in the future, she would have to enter the memories of people like that.
A sigh escaped her naturally.
"Follow me."
Kiel followed after her with understanding.
After walking for a while, Olivia came to a stop on a plain where thick darkness had descended.
"Alright. If there's anything you want to ask, ask as much as you want. I don't know if I can answer all of your questions, but I'll do my best to answer as long as time permits."
"...Time permits? Are you disappearing again?"
Olivia raised a hand as if to tell him to calm down.
"One question at a time. First, by 'time,' I mean literally the amount of time I can maintain this [consciousness] the way it is now. And by 'disappearing'... I meant it literally."
"You..."
Kiel's face was at a loss for words. He forced his mouth open as if coughing up blood.
"...How many minutes are left?"
"What?"
"The time you can maintain that [consciousness]."
Olivia checked the remaining time.
"A little over ten minutes."
"...Then you'll disappear again?"
"And I'll return again."
"In six days?"
"Probably around twelve days."
"..."
Olivia spoke in as composed a voice as she could manage.
"That interval will grow a little each time. Then, one day..."
The easiest way to justify wrongdoing was...
"I might not disappear."
"..."
...to have the victim provide that justification.