System Error - 2

After I arrived back at the mansion, every servant inside came rushing toward me with terrified faces. All of them clutched various items in their hands, and every last one of them was busy watching my expression for the slightest cue.

"Y-young master! Did you have a pleasant walk?!"

"Y-young master! A towel for you!"

"H-here is some water as well!!"

They all shouted over one another. That alone told me how tense they were. The noise was enough to make my ears ache. I ignored them the way I always did and walked past them into the corridor.

"Y-young master?"

"I don't need anything. Go rest."

Confused voices spilled out from every side. I supposed they hadn't expected me to brush them off so openly. They had been trying to look after me in their own way, so I felt a little bad. Not that it was any of my concern.

I headed straight for my room. There was something I needed to do inside. Just then, a sharp voice cut in from behind me.

"Hey. So you finally decided to come back?"

I turned as if the voice were familiar. A girl with an ice-cold presence was glaring at me. My younger sister, Nile. Irritation was written all over her face as usual. She strode ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠toward me, and I tensed, wary of a possible attack.

"……Is there something you want to say?"

"Something to say? Just curious. Why my brother is walking around looking so damn proud of himself."

Nile's tone was pure mockery. I was used to it. This happened every time.

"Don't you remember? Your trial's tomorrow. Lucky you. Looks like you're finally getting excommunicated."

A small, pleased smile touched her lips. She seemed genuinely happy about it. She kept sneering right in my face, determined to get as much entertainment out of me as she could.

So she stopped me just to say that.

Come to think of it, tomorrow I would be cast out of the family. The mountain of wrongs I had piled up over the years played a part… but the actual charges were fabricated. It was a commoner's revenge against me. The family already hated me, so even knowing the charges were false, they had decided to go through with the excommunication anyway.

Then starting tomorrow, I'll be free.

Whatever the case, it wasn't my problem. My only concern was getting into my room as quickly as possible. I had assumed this wouldn't take long, but I hadn't expected this much wasted time. I swallowed the sigh that rose in my throat and spoke again.

"So I can go in now?"

"……What is wrong with you? Are you seriously fine with this?"

The smile vanished. Nile looked thrown off, staring at me with open disgust. Beyond the disgust I could see anger and hatred as well. Enough to make it clear just how much she loathed me.

"You're really that shameless, huh? Do you have any idea how much I've suffered because of you…!"

There was nothing I could say to that. One of the memories I had forgotten was the harm I had done to Nile. That probably meant it hadn't been important enough to keep. There was nothing to be done about it.

Even if I didn't know the specifics of my crimes, I knew exactly how deeply she hated me. There had been loops where she alone had forced me to regress dozens of times. In one of them she hadn't even been satisfied with killing me—she had tortured me first. That particular loop had left enough of an impression that I still remembered it.

I closed my mouth for a moment. There was exactly one thing I could say in a situation like this, so I decided to say it.

"Then I'll make sure I suffer even more than you did."

Yes. If I suffered more than she had, that ought to settle the debt. That was enough for me.

Nile froze at my answer. Before she could get another word out, I stepped into my room. From the hallway came a shriek that was more howl than shout.

"Hey! Hey! What the hell is that supposed to mean!!"

I ignored the noise completely and walked over to the bookshelf. The room was large enough that it took a while. Out of the countless volumes I pulled a single book with practiced ease. It was ancient, and the cover felt like scaled hide. Anyone unused to it would have shuddered just from the touch.

This should be the one.

I checked one last time to make sure I hadn't made a mistake.

Good. It's correct.

Habit carved into the body, I supposed. I found the book I wanted almost immediately.

"Now I just need to bring this to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sera."

The book contained a complete record of the Arcadia family's crimes. Not ordinary wrongdoing—generations of atrocities handed down through the bloodline. If its contents were made public and proven true, the family would not survive the fallout no matter how hard they tried. Their destruction would be certain. Handing Sera this information would make her understand my value at once. She would become my ally for certain.

And I should give her a useful item while I'm at it.

I bent down and reached under the bed. After a little groping, my fingers caught on something. I grabbed it without hesitation and pulled it free.

"Found this too."

A beautiful necklace of emerald light. Even though it had been shoved into a corner of the floor, not a speck of dust clung to it—proof enough that it was no ordinary object. I fed a thread of mana into it to check that it still worked.

Still fine.

Originally the necklace was an item that enhanced mana control. One of the rarest high-grade items in the world. In older loops I had used it myself. Especially in the early ones, when my magical talent was still abysmal, it had been one of the first things I always obtained. Go back far enough and I couldn't even cast magic without it. It had been extremely useful then. But eventually my mana control rose so high that the necklace made no real difference. I no longer needed it. In recent loops I had been handing it off to other people instead.

Giving it to Sera was always the biggest gain.

As a commoner she had almost never had the chance to learn magic. This item could close that gap.

If I give her both of these, she'll become my ally for certain.

It was a certainty I had confirmed across countless loops.

"Time to head out again."

By now Sera would be alone in her room. Better to settle this quickly and get back to what I needed to do with the Status Window.

Let's go.

I stepped into the corridor without a second thought.

I stood in front of Sera's door. Compared to the room I had just left, it was old and shabby. Even the hallway leading to it was painfully narrow. I knocked as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Creeeak.

The worn door opened with a rusty groan. Through the gap, my eyes met Sera's.

"Do you have a moment?"

"……A moment, sir?"

"Yeah. You look like you've got a lot on your mind. I brought some gifts that should settle those worries for good."

"Gifts, sir?"

Sera stared at me for a beat. When she spoke, her voice was low and flat.

"Gifts… what exactly do you mean by that…"

"It's fine. Don't worry. They're not dangerous. They're real gifts."

I casually brought the items I had been hiding behind my back and held them out to her.

"This book is a record of every crime the Arcadia family has ever committed. You'll need it if you want to bring the family down completely. Keep it."

"……."

"And this necklace boosts mana control. It lets you do a lot more with far less mana. It'll be useful to you."

The moment I finished explaining, I handed everything over. Sera looked briefly stunned. Even just hearing the descriptions, she could tell these were extraordinary objects. The killing intent she had been radiating earlier vanished completely. I turned to leave without another word. That was the moment.

"……Why are you giving these to me?"

I hadn't expected the question. It would have been better if she had simply taken them. Out of courtesy I took a moment to choose my answer, then spoke slowly.

"Does there need to be a reason? I just want the Arcadia family destroyed too."

I meant it. The Arcadia family was a family that did not need to exist—in fact, its continued existence only got in the way of protecting the world. Removing them was a necessity.

"……And what does the young master gain from that?"

"An enormous amount. The Arcadia family is more useful gone than present."

Sera lowered her head at my answer. To her I was bound to seem suspicious. After I had suddenly handed over items like these, pure trust would be impossible. But separate from that, she would have to acknowledge that the help was real.

She has no choice but to become an ally.

She might turn on me someday. That was always possible. But Sera was ready to sacrifice herself for the sake of revenge. Sitting still for safety's sake was not in her nature. Acting even when it was dangerous—that was Sera.

So she would become my companion.

"I'll leave you to it. Sort out your thoughts."

I said that and started to go. The way I always did. The way I had in every other loop.

But something strange happened.

"W-wait!"

That was the moment. Without warning, Sera seized my wrist in a tight grip. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠An emotion I couldn't name filled her eyes.

……What?

This was different. At least up through the previous loop, she had never reacted like this. A few extra questions would have been normal. A difference this extreme should never have happened.

The thought had barely formed when—

Ding!

A clear, familiar chime rang in my ears.

A message window floated ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠before my eyes. The suddenness of it left no room to celebrate that the Status Window was finally usable. And perhaps because of that suddenness, something even more abrupt followed. Or maybe it didn't. I honestly couldn't tell.

Errors? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Between one wave of shock and the next, a cold sweat of pure, undeniable dread ran down my back. Looking at that message window, I couldn't do anything else.

What? Previous loops?

What kind of bullshit was that?