Chapter 110
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: About Life (2)
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I submitted my completed answer sheet after just twenty minutes.
As I turned around, my eyes met Elise's.
She was staring at me instead of her test paper. Piercing me with those signature round eyes of hers.
I had no idea why, but I mouthed back at her first.
"What're you staring at?"
Elise simply bowed her head without a word, and I gathered my things before heading out.
Today was the day I had plans with Soliet.
Was her elective Physical Training?
She was probably in the middle of some physical evaluation exam right about now.
I took the bus straight to the back of Endex's old building, by the lake.
"...Are you done already?"
"What?"
But Soliet was already there by the lakeside. Sitting alone inside a tent, fiddling with her smartphone.
"Here you go."
She handed me something. It was some kind of coated paper folder.
[Fraternity List.]
"This is the list of fraternities I know of. There was a bunch of info in the family archive, so I compiled it and brought it over. Take a look."
"..."
I took the folder.
There were a lot of fraternities listed, but I skimmed it and tucked it into my pocket.
"Thanks for the hard work."
It's probably not one of these.
Truth be told, there was already one shadowy heavyweight group vaguely coming to mind.
If I traced back everyone who benefited from Nightmare's murders, from his first kill to his last...
Naturally, the group called "Beginning and End" would surface.
Right now, it was shrouded in such secrecy that no public info existed at all. But twelve years from now, the veil would lift just a bit on this fraternity.
Just say the name, and anyone would know it—the secret society that highborn heirs from major families joined through the gateway of "university," growing into something almost like a cult.
"I'll look into it. Me too."
"..."
Soliet shot me a suspicious glance.
"You... You seem to know something."
Her instincts were sharp as ever. I shrugged.
"I told you. They're the kind of opponents we couldn't chase even if we wanted to right now. We need to build up our strength."
"...Well, if you told me, would I go charging in alone?"
"You might."
The future Soliet—the Sword of the Ages, the only one who'd ever beaten the world's greatest fighter, Jade, single-handedly.
That version of her, maybe. But the Soliet right now? Honestly, she was still too weak.
"Besides, they'll come to us first anyway."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Just act normal for now, pretend you've forgotten all about it, and enroll in Edsil University. Then they'll definitely try to recruit you first—the heir to the Arkne family."
"..."
Soliet stared at me. With a puzzled look, those big eyes not blinking even once as she spoke.
"You talk like you already know everything."
Whiiiish──
Suddenly, the wind picked up, rustling her hair. A streak of starlight fell from the sky—a daytime shooting star.
Just like that, the atmosphere shifted.
For some reason, I felt like...
I could tell Soliet. That it was okay if at least one person knew my secret.
"I do know everything. I'm a regressor."
Drip-
The wind died down.
Soliet blinked those big eyes again.
Blink- blink- She blinked a few times before asking,
"Oh, right. Swordsmanship Studies is tomorrow—got an opponent yet?"
"...Not yet. But I've got all the forms planned out."
Five forms, three strikes. I'd mapped out a sword sequence in my Notebook that made full, ruthless use of them all. If it played out like this, even Soliet would be thrown off once.
"Another one of those insane variable sword styles?"
"You know it."
Soliet called my sword style the "insane variable sword." Even more grueling on the body than a pure variable sword—three or four times the strain.
"Then I'll swing by to watch you fall apart."
Soliet turned back to the lakeside with a mocking tone. The ripples reflected the gentle sunlight. Gazing at it, she murmured softly.
"But... you're kind of mysterious."
"How so?"
"You showed up right when I needed you most."
"Hm."
My heart skipped a beat, but she was probably just genuinely curious about the timing. No deeper meaning—just amazed that I'd come to her when she needed it.
I let out a small chuckle.
There was only one thing to say.
"Guess you did something good in your past life."
Elise finished her Latynel evaluation exam. She'd filled every one of the ninety minutes, double-checked her answers dozens of times, and was confident she'd aced it.
"Elie~ Elie, let's check answers~"
The second the exam ended, Rae came running over. Elise handed him her answer sheet.
"Ooh, thanks!"
"Think you did well?"
"Yup~ Check this out. Heh heh."
Rae pulled out the notes [Headrips] had written. Elise had secretly coveted them a bit, but Rae wouldn't share. They cost a whopping 10,000 ren, after all.
"Like, almost ten questions came straight from these notes? And they were the super hard ones!!"
"...Good work. I've got somewhere to be."
"Whoa! Already?! There are tons of hot guys here—stick around a bit!"
Elise headed outside. Ignoring the nobles clinging to her, she climbed straight into the waiting sedan.
"Let's go."
Today's destination was Cellon Mental Hospital this time. Not Petra University Hospital, but one of the hospitals under Petra.
She needed to meet Yael again and finally settle things properly.
Ding-
A text came in right on cue.
[Dad: No surveillance. No cameras, no eyes, no ears, not even mana—nothing will be watching you.]
It was from her father. The first direct message from him in nearly a year.
Elise pocketed her smartphone.
"We've arrived."
The surface building was only three stories, but the underground stretched deep—the Cellon mental ward.
Elise went down to the basement alone.
She hugged a cookie tightly against her side as she rode the elevator.
Ding-!
The place didn't even exist on the ward's blueprints—basement level 17.
The entire floor was stark white, and in the center sat Yael, bound head to toe in restraints.
"Back again? So soon?"
He said it with a beaming smile.
"No surveillance this time, even. First time for everything. Looks like Dad's hoping you'll kill me."
"..."
Her father might actually be. Unable to kill his own blood himself, maybe he wanted her to do it.
Elise walked over with clicking heels and sat down in front of him.
"Straight to the point."
No need for chit-chat. No reason to waste time. Elise glared into Yael's eyes.
"What's your deal with Sion Askal? How'd you even become friends?"
Yael chuckled.
"Why are you so curious about that guy?"
"Because he's your friend."
"So be his friend too."
"...Cut the games. Before I kill you."
Elise activated her Mana Body. Buuuuzz—Seeing her hair float up, Yael's eyes went wide.
"Whoa, whoa. Talking smack at Petra Hospital? We met there once too, remember? Sion said you were the prettiest girl he'd ever seen—first time he'd ever said that about anyone."
He closed his eyes with a smile, like he was reminiscing about the past.
"Ah~ Nostalgic."
"Just knowing you exist makes Sion Askal a threat to the family."
Elise's expression twisted fiercely.
"You know that."
"What?"
"If a commoner knows about you, the family has no choice but to eliminate him."
For the first time, Yael's face hardened.
"...Sion's a good guy."
A good guy.
Elise nodded.
"Yeah. He is. I know."
Sion Askal was a good person.
Someone who'd overcome unimaginable hardships she couldn't even fathom, battled illness and won, rising to this position—yet never forgetting his roots, supporting the orphanage and staying loyal to Libra. A thoughtful soul.
Elise knew it too.
Sion Askal was a good person.
"But it can't be helped, right? I'm not a good person."
She stood up.
"Stop."
As she turned to leave, Yael grabbed her.
His tone was completely different now.
"..."
Elise turned back to him. He jerked his only movable part—his jaw.
"Sit."
The atmosphere grew heavy.
Finally, the clownish facade was gone.
Elise sat back down willingly.
Yael met her eyes.
"How'd we become friends? I went to him myself. When I heard he was hospitalized."
"...Why?"
"Because I'd known about Sion Askal from the start. Even before he was hospitalized."
Known him before the hospitalization? Elise kept her poker face, but what nonsense was this? Sion was just an ordinary commoner.
"Elise. Do you know how you were born?"
Yael suddenly twisted the topic to something weird.
"How I was born matters now?"
"It does. I'll tell you. Elise, you were special from the moment you were born."
Yael looked her dead in the eyes with a serious face and began recounting his old tale.
"Luck was pretty bad that day. Some massive mana disaster storm rolled in."
Elise listened quietly to his reminiscence.
...It was a dark night one summer day.
A stormy night with raging wind and rain. A sedan pressed on down the road, carrying her mother, father, and Yael.
They were headed to Petra's maternal family home, but her mother went into sudden labor, and her father swerved toward the nearest hospital.
Visibility was zero, everything drowned in rainwater. To make matters worse, the car skidded wildly.
Kraaaash───!
It collided with an oncoming car.
Father and Yael were unharmed, but there were two critical injuries.
No, three.
The other driver, her mother Celine, and Elise in the womb.
Father frantically called the hospital. By some miracle, an ambulance arrived in time, rushing all three to that small facility.
But doctors were limited. Operating rooms scarce.
That's when Father threatened them. Name-dropped the Petra family.
─Do you doctors even know what kind of family Petra is?!
Yael saw his father's eyes as he bellowed that.
Ferocious.
Not just fear of losing his wife and daughter—but rage at the very idea of treating his family on equal footing with some lowly commoner.
In the end, the hospital chose her mother.
Father exhaled in satisfaction, while Yael paced the halls alone and peeked through a door crack.
A lone woman dying cold and alone. Beside her, a nurse quietly slumped over, sobbing.
And in that instant, a newborn's cry echoing like fate.
Waaaaaah───!
There, Yael had a strange experience.
Something inside him shattered.
He finally understood the "wrongness" he'd always felt growing up as a noble's son, heir to a great house.
"...One died, and two lived."
Yael stated the story's end.
Elise's eyes were blank.
"You and our mother survived."
A bitter smile crossed his lips.
"I still wonder. Could that hospital have saved all three?"
Yael murmured like a sigh.
"But time gone by never comes back."
Then he turned to Elise, casually naming someone as if it were nothing.
"Her name was Ern."
"..."
Elise sat still.
Probably because she'd guessed the ending from the start of the tale.
"Ern Askal. You lived in place of my friend's mother. And now you want to kill him? Doesn't that sound insane?"
Whoosh-!
Elise shot to her feet. Her movements wobbly like a marionette with cut strings. She tried to stay composed, but her hands trembled.
"More than the desires and ambitions Petra wants from you. Those worthless trivialities."
Yael said from behind her.
"You need to remember your beginning as a human."
Her legs gave out. Elise braced herself on the wall as she stumbled out.
"Remember, little sis. You're not Petra—you're 'Elise'. Elise, Elise!"
She fled, slamming the door to the white room shut.
She boarded the elevator right away.
When she came to, she was aboveground at the hospital.
There stood her father with his attendants.
Gen Petra.
The head of Petra, with eyes just like hers.
It had been ages since she'd seen her father's face, but Elise was still dazed. Her chest felt tight. Burning like a lump of fire inside. Nausea kept rising.
"How'd it go?"
Her father asked.
Probably about Yael's survival.
Elise barely managed to reply.
"He's alive. But he'll keep his mouth shut."
"..."
Father said nothing. He just turned and left, and Elise didn't stop him. Was it because he really wanted her to kill Yael?
Elise simply pulled out her smartphone.
She was about to call her mother when something caught her eye.
[Trash]
"Trash..."
Elise stared at it, murmuring, then slowly tapped. One letter. One letter. One letter.
She changed the name.
From the three letters [Trash] to the five letters [Sion Askal].