Chapter 71
Chapter 72
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Shall We Start Negotiations?
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The woman said nothing.
She simply stepped forward, stood in front of Marian, and stared at me.
A murderous gaze.
Eyes shrouded in deep shadows.
A smile devoid of any warmth.
But there was no agitation at all.
As if... she had experienced this sort of thing countless times before.
'Number 7. She said she repeated the same time, right?'
Why was that?
Logically, it made no sense.
But looking into that woman's eyes, it somehow felt entirely possible.
The woman scanned me up and down.
Then, glancing back at Marian behind her, she finally spoke.
"Marian."
"Y-Yes, sis."
"Didn't I tell you not to flap your mouth unnecessarily?"
"...Ughhh, sorry."
Her gesture of patting Marian's shoulder was affectionate,
but her tone and expression were as fierce as if she were about to strike her right then and there.
'What exactly is their relationship?'
I tilted my head, observing the bizarre temperature difference between the two.
It was truly strange.
The sister figure was acting in a way that made it unclear whether she was protecting Marian
or manipulating her.
Meanwhile, Marian, in front of this sister,
looked cowed yet strangely reassured.
And yet, there was this peculiar sense of bond between them.
'Impossible to pin down.'
At that moment—
The sister turned her head, her gaze locking onto me.
A feral intensity, as if she could harm someone with her eyes alone.
And yet,
she was scrutinizing me from head to toe.
Not wariness, not anger,
but a clear... intent to judge.
'She's seriously intimidating.'
A bit rattled by her aura... I was still a Noir.
A thief must never let their composure slip, no matter the situation.
Meeting her gaze calmly,
I likewise examined her thoroughly, appraising her worth.
One thing was certain: she was no easy opponent. Not in the slightest.
Silence stretched between us.
A silence that seemed it could go on forever, broken by the sister.
Pfft.
She let out a deflating laugh, lifting one corner of her mouth as she spoke.
"Ah, so you're the one."
"...Me?"
"The fourth son of House Noir. Celen Noir."
She smiled and took a step closer.
The moment she drew near, a sharp whoosh of intense mana residue surged forth.
Mana that hadn't been detectable before.
But now—
it hit me strong and vivid enough to make the hairs on my body stand on end.
Every breath I took stabbed that mana sharply into my lungs.
'This is... a threat.'
The sister continued gazing at me leisurely, still with that one corner of her mouth raised.
To wield mana of this magnitude so freely,
and to hide and reveal it at will so perfectly—that was proof of considerable skill.
That smile was born of confidence in her abilities.
Or—
perhaps she had some other ace up her sleeve.
'No way... she's planning a stealthy assassination or something.'
The ominous thought made me heighten my guard to the max.
Before I knew it, Marian's sister was right in front of me, tapping her cheek with her index finger.
Her subtly playful demeanor made one of my eyebrows twitch.
I quickly readjusted my poker face and responded with a relaxed smile.
"Ruena's childhood friend, now her aide. Right?"
"Yeah. That's me. Though calling her 'that bitch' doesn't seem fitting for an heir of a grand ducal house. Especially not in front of her aide."
"Haha, what does it matter? Gonna arrest me or something? Too bad. This is the academy."
This pattern of poking and prodding.
It felt oddly familiar.
The irritating vibe was just like my sister, Rapina Noir.
Sneering at the end of every sentence,
while watching the opponent's face and savoring their reactions.
Maybe because I'd dealt with it my whole life.
Others might waver, but it actually calmed me down.
'Never thought something like this would come in handy someday...'
Maybe I should thank her for the beatings.
Seeing I wasn't reacting to her provocations, the sister's mouth corner drooped ever so slightly.
Disappointed that I wasn't shaking as much as she'd hoped.
Her expression cooled a bit.
She shrugged and continued indifferently.
"Fine. That reaction tells me everything."
"...What?"
"You're not a possessor, are you?"
Spot on.
Her words made my breath catch for a moment.
I forcibly held onto my poker face,
but I couldn't hide the sudden violent thump of my heart.
Did she read my reaction?
The corner of her mouth rose again.
'...She's no pushover.'
No matter how much training I'd had as a thief from my family...
Facing someone who had lived seven lives.
That immense depth of experience was too much to handle.
No amount of tricks or savvy could bridge that gap.
How—
did she pinpoint my identity so accurately in this short exchange?
And if she was in the same class as my sister,
it wasn't just sharp intuition—she'd be used to finding and exploiting weaknesses.
I knew from experience.
This type—
they'd tear into you over the tiniest thing until you were worn out.
'I really hate this.'
But—
I had two trump cards.
One was the status window cheat.
The other was Marian, whose inner thoughts were transparently readable.
If I wove those two together properly, I was confident I wouldn't lose control.
「As expected of Melissa sis! Celen can't beat her! How many times has sis teamed up with the possessors and looped through regressions!」
Teamed up, huh.
Meaning most possessors had sided with Melissa and moved accordingly.
Their sole target: Ruena alone.
I flashed a friendly smile at Marian's sister.
"Is that so? What makes you think that?"
"Possessors never defend Ruena Eliad."
"......What?"
"Possessors from outside, and people like me who've regressed repeatedly in this world. They see Ruena as a disaster that must be eliminated."
The smile vanished from Melissa's lips.
Her eyes chilled over.
Where the provocation and playfulness had been swept away,
layers of hatred and contempt built up over long years clung thickly.
"Because only if that bitch dies does this damn regression end."
"...Ruena? Why?"
"That's the clear condition. According to what those from outside say."
Melissa cast her gaze downward.
Why was that?
The bloodthirsty air from moments ago suddenly faded.
And—
in its place lingered a sense of loneliness.
Solitude.
Desolation.
An anxious demeanor.
And faintly, sorrow drifted through.
Something was off.
That expression wasn't resignation bemoaning her own life.
Nor weariness from repeating these acts.
Pity.
Sympathy.
Longing.
It was closer to... a warm sorrow.
'What is this?'
As I reeled a bit from the sudden shift,
Marian's expression behind her twisted subtly too.
As if hurting alongside her sister's sadness,
the face of someone who knew something but kept silent.
I quickly checked Marian's inner thoughts.
「...Sis is thinking of Xenon oppa again. Only if Ruena dies can the world be reset, and oppa be saved.」
Xenon.
Someone who... resets the world?
It felt like I'd stumbled onto a crucial secret unexpectedly.
'So...'
Pretending to be flustered by Melissa's words, I sorted the information in my head.
This world had looped seven times—maybe more.
Melissa had lived through seven of those lives.
The loop ends only when Ruena dies.
In other words, even with possessors teaming up over seven-plus loops, they couldn't kill Ruena.
And—
failing that means no 'clear.'
To prevent a failed clear,
'Xenon' resets the world to the same point.
From her expression—
Melissa definitely knows Xenon and shares a deep connection with him.
I roughly pieced it together.
Why the clear condition is killing Ruena.
Why Xenon has the power to reset the world.
And why they've failed seven times despite trying.
Plenty of questions remained—
but those were things to uncover one by one from now on.
The truths of this world I didn't know.
Gazing at Melissa, I carefully opened my mouth.
"What happens if you don't clear it?"
"Haha! That reaction proves it—you're a native of this world, huh? And... a very special one at that."
"...Special? Me?"
"Yeah. First time hearing it in seven regressions. Celen, and the Noir family."
...What?
I widened my eyes in shock at Melissa's words.
Our family,
one of the founding meritorious houses of this nation... unknown?
This time, my poker face shattered completely.
I couldn't hide the agitation...
at all.
Melissa lifted one corner of her mouth again.
But this smile lacked the earlier leisure.
Instead—
it carried cautious probing and tension from trying to confirm something.
"Yeah. First time hearing it. The Noir family, and you."
"...What do you mean? Our family is a founding house... one of the seven great houses..."
"No, that whole setup didn't exist in the first loop."
Didn't exist?
My entire body froze cold in an instant.
The foundation of common sense I'd known about the world
felt yanked up from under my feet and flipped over in a flash.
The family history,
our status as founding meritorious,
the immutable order of the seven great houses.
All of it... hadn't been there from the start?
I stared at Melissa in stunned disbelief.
Melissa stared back, stepping closer to me.
"That's right, Celen Noir. I know of you, but I don't know about you."
"......"
"You must be the variable in this loop."
Melissa smiled as she said that.