Chapter 115
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Major Crisis
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“…Hah, hah.”
The moment he entered the bathroom and locked the door, Kairen collapsed to the floor, drenched in cold sweat.
“W-What the hell is all this…?”
His face had gone deathly pale as he muttered in a low voice.
‘My tutor… strangled my neck…?’
The system message floating before Kairen’s eyes was fading away faintly.
Memory synchronization complete...
And then, silence fell.
‘…Why is there no one around? No signs of life at all?’
In the midst of that silence, Kairen, trembling with anxiety, suddenly noticed something strange.
‘At the end of those memories, everyone had noticed the attack…’
Feeling a disconnect from the recovered memories, Kairen broke out in cold sweat as he pondered deeply for a moment before quietly calling out to Schwarz in a low voice.
“Schwarz.”
“……”
“Hey, Schwarz?”
But Schwarz, who always came running no matter where or when he called her name, showed no sign of appearing.
“Fluffy?”
Even Fluffy, who should have poked its head out from Kairen’s shadow the moment he called, was nowhere to be found.
‘This has to be some kind of attack.’
Realizing his situation clearly from these events, Kairen began to swallow dryly.
‘…But how could enemies infiltrate the Belverk estate without anyone noticing?’
But that thought didn’t last long. Suddenly questioning it, Kairen’s expression turned blank.
“Are you alright?”
“Hic!”
“Something must be wrong…”
It was right then that a soft voice came from behind him.
“Ah, ah, no.”
“……”
“I’ll head out now!”
Kairen shuddered for a moment before forcing a bright smile and stepping out of the bathroom.
‘My tutor must have run the strictest checks possible…’
Still deep in thought, his footsteps headed not toward his room, but down the stairs.
‘If it was someone from the Holy Church or the Saintess’s side, they would have been caught long ago…’
Right at that moment, Liselotte’s hand grabbed Kairen’s arm and yanked him forcefully into the room.
“…Ugh!”
Caught off guard, Kairen was helplessly dragged inside.
- Click…
His tutor Liselotte, still wearing that faint but chilling smile, naturally locked the door and spoke.
“Hehe, you should watch where you’re going.”
“S-Sorry.”
Liselotte’s eyes had already turned pure white.
“I wonder why you’ve been making that face since earlier.”
“…Yes?”
“Oh, just talking to myself.”
Seeing that, Kairen’s face grew even more terrified, and he forced an awkward smile while backing away.
“You’re not going to ask how I could tell your expression?”
“Ah.”
“Oh my, this reaction is new…”
But it was already too late.
“…This is fun.”
The tutor had dropped her mask entirely, openly changing her speech as she stepped forward.
“When did you notice?”
“……!”
“This is a bit of a setback. I don’t know how far back I need to rewind…”
Reading Kairen’s reaction perfectly, she muttered with an irritated expression.
“I went to all the trouble of plotting a route that wouldn’t trip Belverk’s security. Sigh…”
“W-What does that…”
“Should I rewind to the maximum, then…”
Suddenly, she paused, staring intently at Kairen.
“…Oh, before that.”
Her lips curled up in a sinister grin.
“I still need to satisfy my desires first.”
With that, she reached out both hands toward Kairen once more.
“G-Guhk…”
“Ahh, this is the best…”
Liselotte, straddling my body, choked my neck with a spine-chilling smile.
“The sight of my favorite struggling as I strangle him…”
“Ughk, guhk…”
“…That expression, will you show it only to me forever?”
I couldn’t make out what she was muttering anymore.
- Shiver…
This situation matched the synchronized memory perfectly. I desperately tried to activate the power of the Crimson Eyes to escape it.
“Wondering why the power of the Crimson Eyes won’t activate, right?”
“……!”
“Because it’s a power derived from the Demon King.”
Just as I grew frustrated with the silent Crimson Eyes and skill system, my tutor whispered to me with a creepy smile.
“Holy power and the Demon King’s power are polar opposites, so of course I can suppress it with mine.”
“Y-You…”
“…Your family might be tough with just holy power, but you’re still an incomplete being.”
Only then did I realize the identity of the woman straddling me and choking my neck.
‘Anastasia…!’
I didn’t know what trick she used, but the tutor Liselotte before me was none other than the Saintess Anastasia.
“How… did you sneak in holy power without getting caught…?”
Now that I knew, even if my body was wrecked, I had to extract information first.
Of course, I might die in the process, but it was necessary to understand this unknown ‘memory synchronization’ mechanism.
“…Because this body isn’t originally mine.”
And sure enough, the Saintess carelessly boasted her truth.
Excited from finally achieving her goal, perhaps?
Or did she have some reason not to care if the truth was exposed?
“Even so, early on I got caught countless times and got killed by your mother or third sister plenty.”
“Ah……”
“But after repeating today endlessly, I figured out how to perfectly suppress holy power. Lucky me.”
Those questions resolved naturally with her following words.
“Kairen. That frail little bird doesn’t deserve to be the protagonist.”
“……?”
“Regression, possession, status window. Don’t I have all that? I’m the real protagonist, right?”
And even the mystery of the Saintess’s identity that had puzzled me for two years.
“So, you have to marry me.”
“……”
“What do you think, Kairen? By the way, you’ve been my favorite from the start…”
Now, there was only one thing left for me to do.
- Whoosh…!
Grinding my teeth and shoving my hand into my pocket with all my strength, I pulled out the knife I’d been playing with Lilien sis and swung it forward desperately.
“…Ow.”
The Saintess, lightly wounded on the cheek and tilting her head back, whispered to me in a venomous voice.
“Making a scratch now, what good does it do?”
“……”
“…I’ll just loop until I have you perfectly anyway.”
Of course, I never thought that weak attack would defeat her.
“Hm?”
Instead, I could only do what was within my power.
- Shaaa…
The wound on the Saintess’s cheek was enveloped in a warm red glow.
“Pfft.”
“……”
“Healing the wound now changes nothing.”
The Saintess, momentarily stunned, looked down at Kairen with mocking eyes and muttered.
“Did you think I’d be moved?”
“……”
“Or did you unconsciously use your only usable ability?”
But despite her taunts, Kairen stared coldly at the Saintess.
“…No.”
“……?”
“This ability is enough.”
As his eyes turned red and he spoke, the Saintess, realizing something, began stroking his cheek.
“Aha, you absorbed my ability?”
However, the Saintess looked down at Kairen coldly, her expression unchanged.
“But too bad.”
“……”
“This is a half-baked ability even I, the Saintess, can’t use properly yet.”
A chilling voice escaped her lips.
“Let alone you, with the Demon King’s blood—how could you use a power that requires holy energy…”
But before she could finish, something anomalous began.
- Rumble…
The Saintess’s vision blurred as she caressed Kairen’s cheek, and then the world flipped upside down.
“……Ah?”
The last thing the Saintess saw was Kairen, with one eye reverted to its original white color.
“Young Master, you’re dressed up so flowery today!”
“Waaah, so cute…”
“Let me give you a kiss…”
When I opened my eyes again, the maids who had been following me earlier were right in front of me.
“Ughhh…”
“Eek!?”
“Y-You startled us.”
“What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
A sharp pain stabbed my chest, making me groan and stagger, and worried voices rose around me.
A new skill has been added!
Anastasia Korhart: Retry (EX)
Gritting my teeth through the pain, I glared at the message floating before me.
“Whether it’s me or the Saintess, the maximum rewind time is about this much…”
“Young Master?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Your face is so pale…”
Whether from the ability’s backlash or the shock, my heart pounded irregularly and fiercely.
“…Maid sisters.”
“Y-Yes!”
“Send the tutor away and call Mother.”
But I had no time to sit here now.
“I need to declare a family meeting.”
We had to hold an emergency meeting to eliminate the final boss who had walked right into our territory.