The Regressor's Revelation
The commander had finally revealed himself as a regressor. Yet the conversation did not continue right away. I had suggested we move locations. He’s in a hurry. That only proves how desperate he is. If we kept talking like this, hours would slip away. The fact of his regression was not something to be carelessly tossed into the open. On that basis, I invited the commander into my room.
“I’ll change my clothes quickly. Would you like to change as well, Commander?”
“Yes. I’ll come find you shortly.”
Once I returned to my room, I headed straight for the bathroom. After splashing water on my face, I looked into the mirror above the sink. Reflected there was a girl with a shyly flushed face. Delicately reddened ears, moist eyes, a languidly loosened expression. Between slightly parted lips, a heated breath escaped. No matter how you looked at it, she appeared to be a girl in love.
But the moment I exhaled a long, slow breath, the tender emotion vanished without a trace. My eyes turned cold, the gaze one might give an insect. An icy face that clashed completely with the ever-smiling Layla.
“Not bad for my first real test.”
Of course, my emotions hadn’t actually swung to such extremes. This was another possibility I had discovered while researching Trans—the technique to freely manipulate physical reactions: Sentiment.
While smoothing my slightly tired face, I slid out of my clothes. I removed my jacket, unbuttoned my shirt, and bared my shoulders. Then I slowly swept a hand across my pale skin. A faint, distinct sensation pricked my fingertips.
“They’re seated properly. It hurt so much when I first inserted them… I nearly cried.”
Inside my shoulder, piercing skin and muscle, were needles. More precisely, they were bullet nails processed into thin slivers. Why had I embedded such things in my body? The reason was simple. I had reached the limit of what I could express through emotion alone.
When I died in the commander’s arms, I felt a little regret. It would have been better if I’d shed tears.
So for the past several days I had continued my research. Just like sticking electrodes all over a frog’s body. I inserted needles throughout my flesh and ran electricity through them, spending entire nights studying what reactions occurred at each point. What I had nearly perfected was this Sentiment. By sending a specific wavelength of current through the embedded needles, I could stimulate the nervous system and trigger any desired physical response.
If Trans could replicate the effects of external drugs, then Sentiment was the ability to manipulate the body’s own functions. I could now force my face to flush, produce tears, or move specific muscles at will.
“I want to finish it as quickly as possible… I can’t exactly stab needles into myself every time I regress.”
It was still in the experimental stage, of course. More than fifty needles were lodged throughout my body, and drawing out the proper reactions required intense concentration. In short, Sentiment was useless in combat. Still, with Trans available, it didn’t matter.
After confirming nothing looked strange on the surface, I left the bathroom and changed into light loungewear. Just as I wondered if he would arrive soon, a knock sounded at the door.
“Commander. Please come in.”
“Yes. Excuse me.”
When I opened the door, the commander stood there as expected. He looked extremely awkward about entering a woman’s room, but given the circumstances, he didn’t show it openly. I guided him to a chair and sat on the nearby bed. The room was adequate for one person but hardly spacious; with two bodies inside it suddenly felt cramped.
I should loosen the atmosphere a little. I cleared my throat lightly and spoke to him in a playful tone.
“This is the first time I’ve invited a man into my room, you know. Commander, you mustn’t get any strange ideas?”
“…I won’t.”
“Hehe, of course not. You’re not that kind of person. It was only a joke.”
“….”
He answered with silence instead of words. His stiff expression made it impossible to read his thoughts. Seizing the moment, I deliberately let a timid, disheartened attitude show.
“…If I made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry. I must have been more nervous than I realized. It really was just a joke!”
“It’s fine. I don’t get upset over something like that. My mind was simply cluttered.”
“Then… that’s a relief.”
Good. That should have been the reaction of an innocent maiden. After wringing out the sort of response a romantically inexperienced Layla might give, I blushed faintly and gave a small cough.
“Ahem. Then shall we continue the story from earlier? You said that three days from now I will die at the hands of an erosion species, correct?”
“…Yes. That’s right.”
“Could you explain the exact circumstances in detail?”
I listened quietly as the commander recounted his first loop. I already knew the story, so it was somewhat tedious, but my expression remained deadly serious, as though I could not afford to miss a single syllable. After he finished describing my death in that first round, I furrowed my brow as if lost in deep thought.
“My life… was taken by something that powerful.”
“No. Without question, you were stronger than that erosion species, Layla.”
“Then why did I choose mutual destruction…?”
“That was entirely my fault. You were trying to protect me…”
Did merely remembering cause him pain? The commander bit his lip, fists trembling. Layla’s death had cost him an arm. The regret on his face was almost palpable.
“Hek…”
But I was only half listening. The face he had shown a moment ago made my heart pound. This son of a bitch—suddenly making me horny!
Feeling danger, I sent an electric pulse through the needles embedded inside me. The excitement plummeted and reason returned at once.
No, it hurts! It hurts, it hurts! It feels like thorns stabbing every inch of my body! My bones… my bones are screaming…!
Wait, there’s no need for it to hurt this much! Just enough to kill the arousal should be sufficient…!
I somehow kept my expression from twisting. I could not let the commander see anything strange. That urgent need somehow allowed me to maintain the mask of calm.
Let’s avoid using Sentiment to hide excitement unless absolutely necessary. With that resolution, I looked at him again.
Given the flow of conversation, there was one thing I needed to ask. The conditions of his regression.
“…Commander, may I ask one question?”
“Yes.”
“I understand that I died together with the erosion species. What happened after that? Was the situation resolved safely?”
The erosion species had been trapped by the wildfire, its ankles caught. I had blown Midir’s head apart. After that, support would arrive in due time. The problem could be considered effectively solved. So why had the commander regressed? Had he returned solely out of the desire to save me? That would be delightful, but… it didn’t seem to be the case.
The commander hesitated at my question, then answered with a complicated expression.
“That is… I also died, just like you, Layla.”
“What? You died too, Commander?”
“Yes. Not long after, heavy rain fell and weakened the flames. The erosion species legion kept advancing without stopping… That is my final memory.”
“Heavy rain…”
So after I killed Midir, heavy rain had fallen and extinguished the fire. That meant the approaching horde had overrun him.
Which means… the trigger for regression is the commander’s death…!
This was valuable information. I had wondered about the exact mechanism. So killing him could force a return? Was that it?
Wicked thoughts bubbled up in my mind, but I quietly stored them all inside the “torment the commander” box.
Yes. I’ll take them out someday. Ah, I can’t wait.
Suppressing my laughter, I folded my arms and looked at him with a serious expression.
“Commander. There are several parts that feel suspicious.”
“I’m sorry. As expected, it’s not a story that’s easy to believe…”
“No. I believe you. If I were in your position, I would have done the same. The event three days from now will definitely occur. However… we cannot simply accept everything at face value, can we?”
He looked at me with open confusion, as though wondering what I was getting at. I met his gaze, silently urging him to think carefully.
“You said you saw that black erosion species crossing through space, correct?”
“Yes. It kept disappearing and reappearing from thin air.”
“And with that ability it pierced the outer wall and entered the city. Victims appeared without anyone noticing. But that’s strange.”
“In what way?”
“Erosion species cannot think like humans. Therefore, the idea that one could secretly sneak into a city and avoid detection in the first place seems difficult to accept, doesn’t it?”
“That…”
The commander nodded as if he agreed. In the decades of war against the erosion species, an intelligent one had never been observed. My question was perfectly reasonable. Of course, Midir truly was the first intelligent erosion species, but even knowing that, I calmly twisted the truth.
“Was that event really caused by the erosion species acting alone?”
“What… do you mean by that?”
“I suspect there may have been external intervention.”
My claim must have sounded plausible. The commander’s face grew grave. He had thought everything would end once Midir was dealt with, but now new worries had appeared.
Hehe. Does your head hurt?
“External intervention…”
“Of course, it’s only speculation.”
I made sure to leave myself an escape route. Eventually the truth would come out as nothing but misunderstanding. Making him consider the possibility was enough. This was not a problem the two of us could solve alone. Having subtly planted that realization, I continued.
“It seems we will need help from others besides ourselves.”
This was the true objective. The hand that would drag everything toward a bad ending.