Chapter 248: The Rainbow Bridge
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 248: The Rainbow Bridge
The battle was over, but despite successfully repelling the enemy, our gains were minimal.
We had wounded the Warforger but failed to subdue him. We had annihilated The Envoy, but it wasn't the main body to begin with. And Tyr, enraged at the sight of The Envoy, had consumed far too much of her darkness.
The darkness I had painstakingly conserved was wasted, but Tyr was unconcerned.
[It was unavoidable. Had I not hunted that angel, I would have collapsed from a fit of rage.]
“A fit of rage? Can’t you just stop the blood from flowing to your head to calm down?”
My grumbling aside, the Sanctum was Tyr’s trigger. Like a cat chasing a mouse, the sight of anything related to the Sanctum sent her into a rage that eclipsed all reason.
I understood that much, which is why I didn’t press the matter. I stepped on the pedal, its original purpose now faded, and turned the steering wheel.
“In any case, our losses are significant. The enemy has the Six Generals, each a national-level power. A surprise attack from any one of them would be devastating.”
In a world where one strong individual possesses the strength to fight a thousand, what is the most troublesome enemy a nation can face?
Naturally, it’s the guerrilla.
A single, powerful individual with high mobility roams the country, leaving a trail of destruction. No one of lesser strength can even hope to stand against them. Like a parasite, they steadily eat away at the nation from within, inflicting enormous damage.
Of course, sending such a powerful asset to their death in another country is a loss, but history is filled with tales of heroes who infiltrated enemy nations in times of crisis to buy their homeland time.
It was what we were doing now, but the same applied to our enemies. If we let our guard down for even a moment, the weaker among us would be hunted down first.
I glanced at the one who had suffered the most in this attack.
“Selphy…”
In a corner of the cargo bed, the Princess sat with her knees drawn to her chest, mourning the death of her beloved horse.
We couldn't carry the horse's corpse in the cramped space, so the Regressor had used Jizan's power to create a grave for Selphy. The Princess held a brief memorial before climbing into the automaton carriage, her eyes red as she glanced back at the small mound of earth.
Before Selphy’s death, she was her own being. But now, it was as if the greater part of her had taken up residence within the Princess.
The Princess felt the vibrations of the automaton carriage and was reminded of being on Selphy’s back. She saw the passing scenery and thought of Selphy. When it was time to eat, she would instinctively reach for Selphy’s feed, only to be overcome with sadness.
“Woof. Woof woof.”
Azzy silently stayed by the Princess’s side, sensing her emotions and trying to offer comfort.
The Regressor also glanced in their direction.
She felt a pang of sympathy for her former comrade, but that was a story from the past. With her experiences now severed from that timeline, the Regressor kept her distance, regardless of what her heart felt.
Was it because she was bad with words? That was part of it. Was it her personality? That was true, too.
But the most important reason was a sense of incongruity.
‘…Her way of speaking and her appearance are similar to back then, but she’s definitely different from the princess I knew. Back then, she wasn’t weak enough to show her tears, even when a comrade died.’
The Regressor doesn't grieve death. She feels regret or disappointment, but she has neither the time nor the need for sorrow.
One could say her heart had grown numb, but the bigger reason was that no matter the tragedy, she could simply regress and undo it all.
‘Well, this is still an early point in the timeline. The Princess can still be fragile.’
It was as the Regressor concluded that such wounds must have piled up to forge the princess she once knew, nodding to herself, that I lowered my voice and made a suggestion.
“Shei, now’s your chance. Go say a word of comfort.”
“How? Comforting her won’t change anything.”
‘Only regression would change things. But I can’t regress for a single horse. In fact, having come this far, I wouldn’t regress even if the Princess died.’
“It’ll make her feel better. Her heart.”
“What good is that? Selphy still won’t come back.”
‘I have the power to erase the Princess’s sorrow, the power to bring Selphy back… but I’m not using it. To offer empty words of comfort while holding the power to reverse everything is nothing but hypocrisy. So, of all people, I have no right to comfort her.’
My, how negative.
I could understand her way of thinking. No, with my mind-reading ability, there was no one I couldn't understand.
Unless they were communicating through a golem like a signaller, or had gears embedded in their head that they only connected when needed like Maximilien, I could understand them… The Regressor kept her memories and experiences in a place I couldn't see, but her thoughts themselves were readable.
Which only made it more frustrating. I let out a sigh.
“That’s why you’re so unpopular.”
“What? You wanna die?”
She’s got sharp ears for things like that. I subtly raised my voice and changed the subject.
“Shei, it’s obvious the Princess isn’t suited for combat. Was it really necessary to bring her into this fight?”
“We’ve come this far. We can’t just send her back, can we?”
“That’s true, but shouldn’t you have refused when she asked to come along in the first place? Shiati alone would have been enough to make contact with the spy inside the Military State.”
“…You have a point.”
‘Why is he asking this now, right after the horse died? Wait, could it be? Because the horse is dead?’
A flicker of suspicion crossed the Regressor’s mind as she glared at me.
“You… you don’t think the Princess’s usefulness is gone just because her horse died, do you?”
“Huh? Shei, did you learn mind-reading?”
“Do you have no heart?!”
“Of course not. I’m just an ordinary person who bleeds and cries. I just don’t have any to spare for an animal.”
“You’re unbelievable! And this is the guy who was just talking about making someone feel better?!”
‘The way he treats Azzy, and Nabi… This guy is truly harsh on animals! Even the Human Regime doesn’t treat them this badly!’
Treat them badly? I treat animals like animals. What more could they want?
The Regressor scolded me before sighing.
“I suppose I haven’t properly explained it to you yet, have I? The power passed down through the Princess’s bloodline, the Grandiomor Royal Family.”
“Well, I know the gist of it.”
“That’ll make this easier. The power of the Grandiomor Royal Family… the power that’s simply described as ‘the ability to not incur hostility.’ Its true essence is peace.”
The Regressor began to calmly explain the knowledge she possessed.
“The belief that your opponent will not harm you. The promise that you will not see each other as prey. It’s the power that forms societies. We need that power.”
“Why? To end everything peacefully?”
“Exactly. My goal is… to stop the war, not to start a new one.”
The Regressor’s power is immense. With Chun-aeng and Jizan in her hands, she could single-handedly cause a catastrophe of epic proportions.
Jizan itself was a relic left by the Grand Master who created the Abyss alone. With that, Chun-aeng, and her own combat prowess, the Regressor was capable of causing a disaster that, while perhaps less arcane than the Abyss, would result in a far greater loss of life.
But she wouldn’t do it.
Because her goal could never be achieved through murder.
“If we destroy the Communications Headquarters and crush their ability to wage war, the Military State will be thrown into chaos. We’ll have to stop fighting at the right moment and withdraw anyway. In that situation, the Princess’s power of peace will shine.”
‘It’s a bit of a stretch, but now that we’ve secured the Beast King and have Tyrkanzyaka with us… and with the Gunmaster joining us, we have enough power. We can do it.’
Hoh. So the Regressor did have a plan. I felt a little bad for thinking she was just living life without a plan because she could always start over.
While I was at it, I asked everything I was curious about.
“But a coup still happened against the royal family, didn’t it?”
“That’s how incompetent they were. The royal family barely understood the power in their own bloodline and never even showed their faces to the citizens. How can you achieve peace if you never have a chance to use your power?”
“But the Six General, Maximilien, openly tried to kill the Princess, didn’t he?”
At the mention of Maximilien, a look of profound disgust crossed the Regressor’s face.
“He’s a special case. That bastard… he tampered with his own cognition as a measure against the Arcane. I don’t know how, and I don’t want to know… but don’t worry.”
The Regressor tapped Chun-aeng and Jizan with her fingers and gave a thoroughly confident smile.
“The next time we meet, he won’t be able to escape. He won’t even have a moment to spare a glance at the Princess.”
It was a purely strategic statement, but in her focus on the conversation, the Regressor had overlooked one crucial fact.
Just because the front seats were separated from the rear cargo bed didn’t mean her voice wouldn’t carry to the Princess.
The way to overcome the sorrow of loss is not to dwell in mourning, but to carry on and move forward. There’s a reason why the constant forward flow of time is considered the best medicine.
Biting her lip and clenching her fists, the Princess lifted her head. The Regressor, who had just been talking about her, flinched but dismissed it as nothing important.
‘Huh? Did she hear? Well, it’s not like I said anything I shouldn’t have.’
But Regressor, you still don’t understand. You don’t know how you appear to others.
The Princess moved across the narrow cargo bed, drawing closer to the front seats. She clasped her hands to her chest and opened her mouth.
“…Sir.”
“Huh? Me?”
When the Regressor pointed to herself, the Princess gave a small smile and nodded.
“Thank you. Though my power is meager, and even I don’t fully understand how to use it, I will do everything in my power to assist you. For my own sake, and… for yours.”
“Uh, oh? Thank you.”
‘…? What in the world is happening? He was the one who saved her back then, not me…?’
Exactly. I was the one helping the Princess recently, so why are you getting the thanks?
But I was still watching the road and couldn’t send a cold glare her way. In the meantime, the Regressor was collecting the rewards for my efforts.
“And, if… when all of this is over.”
The Princess seemed to be thinking of something, but then she shook her head, taking back her words.
“It’s too soon to speak of such things. For now, I will prepare to contact the collaborator.”
“Oh? Okay.”
The Princess bowed her head and retreated. Still unable to grasp what had just happened, the Regressor’s eyes were wide as she lowered her voice.
“She’s motivated. I thought she’d be down after her horse died.”
“It seemed that way. Until a moment ago.”
“Well, it’s better that she’s feeling up to it.”
You really are naive. No, I suppose this is a first for the Regressor, so I can’t call it naivety. Were you actually more popular when you were a man?
Then again, maybe you were fine as a woman, too. If you hadn’t insisted on that ridiculous male disguise.
From the shadows of the back seat, Tyr, who had been observing the situation, could no longer hold her tongue.
[…Hmph. Aren’t your skills a little too good?]
“Skills? I’m not sure what you mean.”
[Don’t play dumb. If you think I am as dense as Shei, you are sorely mistaken.]
‘To console the princess in such a short moment and subtly suggest what she should do next. You’re no amateur. The work of a man who’s made many a woman cry in his day.’
How unfair. I’m a magician. I’ve made people smile, but I’ve never made them cry.
With a few exceptions.
“Ugh…”
Just then, Shiati, who had been asleep from the effects of black magic and her injuries, began to stir. Clutching her bruised chest, she sat up, her eyes darting around in alarm.
Historia, who had been silent until now, rose to her feet. The precious Sky Silk rope still bound her, but as always, she showed no sign of discomfort.
What a contrast. Shiati, though unbound, seemed so much smaller than Historia.
“…Tch, what is it? Do you… need something?”
As is common for the injured, Shiati was instinctively wary of Historia. It wasn’t just because it was Historia; she would have reacted that way to anyone.
Fully aware of this wariness, Historia reaffirmed her decision and… as if allowing no room for argument, she declared with authority.
“Shiati. You’re out of this.”