12-"I Know."
12-"I Know."
The stone floor was cold.
I was just slumped over, knees on the ground.
I couldn't feel that I had survived.
My body was the last to realize.
First my head, then my emotions, then my body last.
"!...Huk... huk..."
"You're back..."
Harlan said from beside me. He placed his trembling hand on his knee.
After a moment, once more.
"You're back."
The second time was quieter than the first.
Like he was saying it to himself.
"...Yeah, I'm back."
Creak.
The sound of footsteps on the stairs. There were several.
Fast footsteps were mixed in, and one of them was practically running.
The door opened.
Cael came in first.
Riche followed right behind. Ori, with eyes half-open, came in, and Ser with a screw in hand followed.
Leard stood in the middle, glaring at me fiercely.
Maybe a second passed.
Cael knelt first. Putting his hand on my shoulder.
"You hurt?"
"Not much."
"Liar."
"...A little."
Cael's eyes narrowed.
'Those are disbelieving eyes...'
Today I couldn't see that playfulness in this person's eyes.
"Ugh...!
When I tried to stand up by putting weight on my left knee, that side sent a warning signal first.
"..."
I tried to control my expression, but I'm not sure if it worked.
"Ha... let me see."
Cael sighed and grabbed my arm to help me up.
"Chair."
Riche had already dragged a chair over and placed it behind me.
The moment I leaned my back against the backrest, pain came from my shoulder area. I barely held back a groan.
Leard stood in front of me.
He had his arms crossed.
"...Looks like he's pretty pissed."
"Hooh..."
"You said you'd come back without a scratch, didn't you? You."
"...I did."
"Is this what you call no scratch right now?"
"I did come back, didn't I?"
"...Victor."
His voice was full of emotions that weren't like Leard.
...No, maybe this is the real Leard.
Leard seemed about to say more but stopped as if exhausted and turned his gaze aside.
Just then, Riche came running with quick steps holding a strange chip in her hand.
"What are you trying to do."
"Check-up."
"That's enou—"
"It's not enough." Riche brought the chip to my left shoulder.
"If you're hurt, checking is the first step. It's basic common sense."
The chip glowed faintly and then went out. Riche pressed that spot with her finger.
"Euk—"
"Clavicle has a crack."
"Yah—"
She pressed near the ribs.
"Eueueueue—"
"Third and fourth. Two hairline fractures."
"Yah seriously, hands off a bit—"
She pressed my knee.
"Kkeueueueue—!!"
I almost tumbled out of the chair. Cael caught my back.
"Meniscus impact." Riche said as she set the chip down.
She was expressionless.
Riche was always expressionless, but...
From observing for a month, I knew this kind of expressionless was a sign that she was angry.
"If you don't treat it right away, it'll cause more problems later."
"...I got it."
"Good if you got it."
Ori rubbed his eyes.
"But if it hurts that much, shouldn't you be screaming? How did you endure it in that alley earlier?"
"I gritted my teeth."
"Ew." Ori genuinely grimaced. "That hurts more. Gritting your teeth puts strain on your dental—"
"Ori?" Harlan said softly.
"Huh?"
"I don't think now is the time for that talk."
"...Ah, right."
====
"Um... hey..."
"What."
Riche answered with her usual expressionless face, again.
"No, it's not 'what'..."
I looked down at my body...
No, my neck was also bound so I couldn't look down, and I shook my whole body to express my opinion.
"No, no matter how much it's treatment... isn't this too much?"
Wrapped up tightly with bandages
Really looking like a mummy...
Pressure bandage on the clavicle area, magic healing agent applied and fixed on the ribs, and on the knee, the medicine Harlan personally brought was placed.
...It hurts.
"It hurts like hell..."
"It's a medicine I've handled for a long time."
Harlan said as he pressed the knee area with his hand.
"If you put this on, it'll be a bit better by tomorrow."
"Thank you."
"Thank you, my ass." Harlan snorted as he wrapped the bandage with trembling hands.
"Instead of thank you, you should say sorry."
"You're the one who opened the portal for me to go there. Thanks to that, I almost threw out my back pulling you back."
"...I'm sorry."
"Saying sorry makes me feel worse." Harlan muttered.
"Just don't do it alone next time. That's nicer to hear."
Ser stopped rolling a screw in the corner and said.
"Next time, can I go with you."
Everyone looked at Ser.
"...Ser?" Cael asked.
"Twelve screws are enough."
"No, that's not the problem..."
"I said it's enough."
Cael looked at Ser for a moment and then let it go.
He had learned that questioning Ser about something wasn't productive.
Ori rested his elbow on the table and propped his chin.
"So."
"Yeah."
"What happened? Your expression's been a bit weird since earlier."
'My expression is weird.'
"Ah. Right."
I took a breath.
Because of that, my fixed ribs pulled.
"We're fucked."
The room fell silent for a beat.
"We're so so so fucked."
Cael uncrossed his arms.
"...Victor?"
"...It's my first time seeing you curse."
Riche added.
"Riche, you have the upcoming schedule laid out, right."
Riche lifted her eyes and looked at me.
"I do. About two months' worth..."
"Redo it all. So they don't overlap."
"No, do you know how much effort I put into—"
"There's someone who came back just like me."
Riche's pen stopped.
"The fact that the elite Holy Knights appeared right on time this time wasn't a coincidence either."
Leard looked at me.
Calculating eyes
But the result wasn't visible.
A pretty flustered expression, huh.
"If I said redo it, redo it."
Riche looked at me for a long time. And slowly took out a new sheet of paper.
"Fuck..."
"It's my first time seeing you curse too."
"Ha... explain."
"What happened."
====
At first, I thought about where to start,
but opening my mouth wasn't as difficult as I thought.
Things buried for a long time offered no resistance when taken out. Because they had already hardened like stone. It's not that it didn't hurt, but like the sensation of pain itself had dulled.
'I thought it had dulled.'
'Seems like maybe not.'
"First, I'll tell you that."
"What?"
Ori leaned his face in with an expression full of curiosity.
"...It might be hard to believe, but"
"I'm a regressor."
...
A moment of silence
And then
"I know."
"Yeah."
"Why are you saying it like something grand?"
"I know."
"What's with the sudden announcement..."
???
Why this reaction?
"...I'm pretty sure I never told you guys, did I?"
"I know that Leard only knew indirectly a bit..."
Then Riche answered with a dumbfounded face.
"Yeah... you didn't 'tell' us."
"But you went around making it obvious everywhere."
"I've returned, or whatever..."
...No.
"That... is true, but crazy people say stuff like that too."
"You believed that? All of you?"
Ori followed up with an answer.
"At first, we didn't believe you either."
"But well... because a person who looks that clueless didn't seem like a liar either..."
...Isn't that a bit harsh?
"And if we hadn't believed you until now, would you be here?"
"..."
That's true.
"...Well, anyway, you all know."
"Then the explanation will be quick."
Then Cael said with a smirk.
"Yeah~ so hurry up and spill your story. What happened..."
"In my last life, my family all died."
Instantly, everyone shut their mouths.
"It was the work of the Holy Knights. It was my birthday. I went in and they were all dead."
Riche's pen stopped.
I didn't say more.
I decided not to bring out anything beyond that.
It's enough if they know roughly.
"After that, I was sent to the auction house.
Labeled as the child of a heretic family.
Then someone bought me."
"Who." Cael asked.
"The person I saw today at the hill area."
The room fell quiet.
Cael slowly opened his mouth. "...Mae-hwa Hong."
"Yeah, I gave you that name."
"The Holy Knight Commander."
"That's right."
"...And like that, for 5 years."
"Yeah."
Leard didn't say more. He seemed to be holding something back.
In Cael's gentle eyes, something I'd never seen before passed by.
When Cael makes that expression, it means he has about ten things he wants to say, but...
I was grateful he held back for now.
"There was a mansion. It was a big, quiet place,
and since I was taken there, I lived there. For 5 years.
The people were nice. They didn't make me do anything."
"...So?" Ori said. With his cheek on the table.
"At first, I didn't intend to live."
Ori didn't ask further and just listened.
"But a day passed, and another day passed. 5 years passed..."
"And you found out." Leard said. Quietly.
"Who that person was."
"Yeah."
"How."
"I saw a document in the study."
Cael said lowly. "5 years. Not knowing that."
His voice was wet.
"...Yeah."
"When you found out... what did you do?"
"I left. Just left."
'But it wasn't just leaving.'
Harlan spoke quietly.
"After that? What happened."
"I died."
"I fell off a cliff. An accident, you know."
The words came out calmly.
"When I woke up, I was back at the auction house.
The first day of this life."
The room fell completely silent.
Ori slowly straightened his upper body. His eyes opened properly. It was the first time I'd seen this person open his eyes like this.
"...That person is a regressor?" Leard asked.
"Yeah. I heard today." I took a breath. "Since this world was born... hundreds... no, tens of thousands of regressions."
"How is that possible..."
"I don't know either." I said honestly. "I can't understand it. But what's certain is,
in the last life's records, that person never appeared in Beren City, but today she appeared."
Leard looked at me. And said quietly.
"Because of me."
"No."
"..."
"It's because of me."
Leard didn't say more. He turned his gaze toward the map.
"In my last life, I was by Mae-hwa's side... so Mae-hwa had no reason to leave me either. And the Holy Knights would have retired in that worldline."
"...Come to think of it, there was a day when she left me alone and went away for a day."
"Two days later, news came. That the rebellion army had been annihilated."
At that, Cael gave a dry cough.
"Well, there's plenty of time for that kind of story. Let's save unfortunate imaginations for later... For now."
"That mansion."
"Yeah."
"How were the people there."
"...They were good people."
Truly, without knowing anything...
People arranged for me.
Cael nodded. Without asking further.
Riche started writing something on a new paper. With quick hands. She missed the inkwell when sticking her pen in, causing another stain on the table, but I pretended not to see.
Ori spoke while closing his eyes halfway.
"If you run into that person again."
"I probably will."
"At that time?"
"I don't know. Not yet."
Ori closed his eyes completely. "...Got it." He looked like he was falling asleep, but maybe not. "I'll think about it."
Riche said without stopping her writing.
"If you jump in alone next time, I'll double the schedule."
"...What?"
"Training schedule. Your stamina is in that state, so you got torn apart."
"...Riche, your expressions are harsh toda—"
"Back to basics. If jumping in alone would have worked, we would have done it."
"What does that have to do with—"
"It has to do." Riche put her pen down on the table with a thud.
"If you do something that doesn't add up, you have to revise it. That's obvious."
Her words were stiff, but her hands were moving quickly. The hands were redrawing the schedule.
Meanwhile, Ser whispered.
(Is Riche angry right now, or worried.)
(...Probably both.)
Because she's that kind of person.
Harlan muttered while organizing the medicine.
"I overused my back too much today. I don't think I can get up tomorrow."
"I lived thanks to you, Harlan-nim."
"It is true you lived thanks to me.
So, I think you need to massage my back a bit tomorrow."
Harlan smiled with narrowed eyes.
"That's how you repay a favor."
"..."
"It's a joke, a joke." Harlan waved his hand. "Your bones are in that state, what massage. Just stay lying down."
Ser said out of the blue.
"I can give a massage."
Everyone looked at Ser.
"My hands are skilled at picking screws, so I can do it delicately."
"...Ser." Cael said carefully.
"You're a bit clueless."
"Why."
"Just."
"Why."
Cael gave up. Harlan quietly laughed.
Leard looked at me.
His arms were uncrossed. I didn't know when they had.
"Next time."
"Yeah."
"Don't do it alone."
"Harlan came so it's fin—"
"Next time, from the beginning."
A short sentence. The end was slightly blurred.
I think it's the first time I've heard this person's voice get blurred like this...
Leard turned his gaze to the map. He didn't say more.
I felt the sensation of the bandages tightening. Towards the ribs.
...
"Hooh... For now, there's another regressor besides me, so there's a lot to do."
"First, the operation change is a given, and we'll move the hideout location soon..."
"And we should gradually expand our forces..."
Then, lightly smacking my head with a bundle of papers,
"Rest. In that state, there's nothing you can do anyway."
Riche said.
"That's not wrong..."
I answered as I looked at the ceiling. I saw the flickering magic sphere.
Still not fixed, hanging precariously.
The organization's finances are still bad... they had no time to fix it.
Well, but maybe it's okay to leave it as is.
Precarious, a mess,
but still, it's on.
=====
...And like that, 3 months passed.
There wasn't anything dramatically changed—is what I'd like to say, but...
...Almost everything had changed.
Across the entire Azaa region, the cell organizations exceeded 100,
and affiliated members surpassed 10,000.
Over 3 months, the revolutionary acts exceeded 100 cases, and the Church gradually started to change expressions when hearing our name.
Of course, the public's perception of us had also become tremendously better,
since we mostly acted with non-lethal principles and prioritized citizens' safety.
"...Still, I didn't expect it to be this successful."
I didn't expect all these operations planned around Mae-hwa to work so well...
It's unpleasant, but did I end up learning a lot from living together for 5 years?
And... more than anything.
"It's a new hideout!!!"
Ser shouted.
This was truly the first time Ser's voice was so booming.
It wasn't a warehouse.
The windows weren't broken.
The magic sphere wasn't flickering...
The shelves were full of food...
There were no ink stains on the table. Ah, that's for now.
...Because they'll appear soon.
And
It was one room per person.
"I have a room."
The first day, as I brought my luggage in, the words came out without realizing.
"Yeah." Cael said from beside me.
"Separate rooms."
"There's a door."
"There's a door."
"And a lock."
"And a lock."
We both looked at that door for a moment.
"It's not a luxury, right?"
"The previous hideout location was uncovered three times." Cael said. "It's not luxury, it's survival."
"Right." Riche said from behind, passing by with her luggage. "But you can't help that it's nice."
I barely managed to hold back the corners of my mouth from constantly rising on their own.