Chapter 66
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Bookmark of Memories
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Roman and Eclair sat at the table.
The conversation had ignited, and the main topic became stories led by Rike and Chloe.
But it didn't stay limited to just the two of them.
Roman and Eclair Dreitna—despite belonging to different affiliations and bearing different badges—were ultimately in professions that valued personal "martial prowess" above all else.
The discussion naturally branched out in multiple directions.
From subjugating tricky monsters to the efficiency and maintenance of weapons.
From trivial information about Lofty Academy to short tales of the knight's youthful days, having graduated early.
Since their perspectives were completely different, there were parts they understood and parts that were hard to grasp.
"So that report wasn't false?"
"No choice. If you don't handle it that way, even if it's dirty, the adventurer ends up taking the fall from behind—"
Among adventurers, Platinum rank.
The opinion of one who had reached the pinnacle was truly fascinating.
Feeling how time flies without notice, Eclair resolved the curiosities that had piled up.
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As the topics spread to dozens and the stories grew longer, Roman couldn't hold back his hunger and began ordering food.
Eclair hadn't paid attention until now, but the shop properly offered not just desserts but full meal menus as well.
Once he finished ordering whatever caught his eye, the dishes arrived as if on cue, filling the table.
"Have some? It's almost lunchtime already."
She definitely hadn't thought of it when entering the shop, but with the aroma of food filling the room, her stomach suddenly growled.
Before she could say anything, Roman neatly plated food from the serving dish and placed it in front of her.
"I heard you got someone to look after you... but doesn't it seem like you're the one more used to looking after others?"
"Is that so? They say men get loved just by handling these little things well."
...Platinum adventurer and marquess's lady.
What form of romance were they sharing?
Roman casually uttering the word "love" without hesitation or shame was intriguing.
'Emotions without experience are hard to understand, which makes it all the more fascinating.'
His remarks, no different from a devoted husband rare on the continent, left her dumbfounded, drawing out a hollow laugh.
"Whew—now I feel alive. Pretty filling."
Having sated his hunger, he finally pulled out a black brooch from his pocket.
"The talk got pushed back somehow, but this is the reason I wanted to meet today."
Roman glanced at the brooch on the table, his face showing confusion.
"That thing? Did something go wrong with it?"
"No. There's no problem."
"Ah... I get it! You found some new function I don't know about!"
"That's not it either."
"?"
To an outsider watching, it might look like they were suddenly playing twenty questions.
But Eclair, unlike when resolving her curiosities, found the words sticking in her throat.
Since she had to say it anyway, she decided to just throw it out there and began forming the sentence.
"...It's shameless, but I'd like to transfer this item to Chloe."
"The owner can do whatever they want with it. Why tell me?"
His reaction was far blander than expected, and Eclair felt the tension drain from her shoulders.
Didn't this make her look like a fool for agonizing over it?
"It's not something you formally purchased; it was a gift...! I thought transferring an item received out of goodwill to someone else would be rude—"
As Eclair haltingly spilled out her inner turmoil, Roman simply listened without interrupting.
Once her little announcement ended, he nodded with a face that said he understood.
"I get it... but my conclusion remains the same: do whatever you want, Knight."
Instead, Eclair brushed back her silver hair, looking troubled.
"Getting the answer so easily... It's reassuring, yet hollow. There was no context or flow to play along with."
It took about ten minutes for the coffee in her cup to empty.
Thinking it was time to leave, Eclair gathered her things and began putting on her coat.
Once ready to exit the shop, she suddenly said to Roman.
"Do you know? Talking with you makes me feel like a fool for even worrying about it."
"...Good thing, right?"
"Heh heh— who knows?"
Eclair replied to the question with another, flashing a triumphant smile.
But only for a moment.
Returning to her usual impassive expression, she picked up the receipt on the table.
"...See you next time. Whenever that may be."
—That stylish exit, coat fluttering dramatically, had been just a few days ago.
Now, a letter from Eclair arrived, summoning him to the Adventurer's Guild reception room due to an imperial request.
'She's been sending letters strangely often lately.'
Unlike Rike's round, cute handwriting, it was straight, sharply angled, and precisely cut off.
But at the end, where the date was written, the pen stroke was slightly shaky.
She must have been flustered while writing it.
'Any requests she could entrust to me right now?'
The notes from early in his reincarnation had reached their limit.
The memoed content was mostly the main story's backbone from playable character Robert Bolt's perspective.
Information related to dimensions was solidly noted, but he didn't even know for sure where the undead contributing to forms were located.
The information's direction was wrong.
Roman's life wasn't the main of "Akarite."
It was deeply tied to rumors from side quests or NPC dialogues, so compared to the info he needed right now, there were many gaps.
Thus... it was time to use the bookmark obtained from the library.
The first semester's practical classes had wrapped up, freeing up time, making it the perfect moment to unlock a new form.
▷ Views the target's memories from a specific time period.
▷ Requires the target's consent or a diary for memory viewing.
▷ Single-use consumable.
He'd wanted to use it immediately upon acquiring it from the library, but with only one chance, he'd listed the info he needed, organized it once.
He double-checked the memo of information to uncover.
'Hmm— anything missing...?'
In the game, using the bookmark didn't advance real time even while viewing memories.
Rike was heading to the academy with only a few days left.
Lying comfortably on the sunlit bed, limbs stretched out.
The target for memory viewing was his past-life self.
The time period: 20XX, October 20th.
Even after a long time.
He hadn't forgotten what day that was and remembered it precisely.
The last of his memories.
The day right before his death.
The bookmark's activation target wasn't Roman, but his past-life existence.
It was close to a gamble whether it would work, so after finishing noting the info, he swallowed dryly.
If impossible, he'd have to go to plan B.
—Suuuuuuh
Mana flowed from the bookmark, riding the current.
The sensation of asking himself for consent.
'...It works!'
The golden bookmark emitted light.
Tajrish in northern Tehran, Iran's capital.
Puff—
"Yeah, this is what cigarettes taste like."
A qualitatively different flavor from the cheap, mass-produced cigarettes of the fantasy world.
I opened my eyes in the basement of a sealed building.
A dusty basement with hazy particles floating.
Right beside me was a bald corpse tied to a chair.
'Amazing.'
Normally, using the bookmark on someone else lets you float like a ghost, observing the target—that's it.
Does using it on yourself make it like this?
You could really feel this was a constructed virtual world.
A timer ticking down in his head, but he didn't rush.
'What was this bald guy's name again...'
Opening his eyes via the bookmark timed perfectly with the mission's end.
He'd half-forgotten living it, but looking back now.
Even in his past life, he'd wandered battlefields as a mercenary, so the adventurer life staking life as collateral wasn't inevitable, was it?
Haa—
'Damn good.'
Taking one last deep drag, he tossed the butt onto the blood-soaked floor and crushed it under his shoe.
Compared to Roman's physique, the slimmer muscles here made moving in the shirt comfortable.
No need to take the Commando knife in hand—ditched it without regret.
No thought of drawing the pistol holstered either.
Grabbing the coat hung on the chair, he headed for the hotel he was staying at.
—Whoosh!
The moment he stepped out of the basement, he was in the lodging.
Tehran's tourist spot.
A room with Milad Tower visible at a glance.
'As expected... a virtual world.'
Rummaging through the suitcase brought for work yielded no cup ramen.
After cigarettes, it was something he craved desperately, but if not there, oh well.
Chewing his tongue in regret, he downed a swig of whiskey.
Then turned on the laptop on the bed.
An odd, strange feeling.
Before powering on.
His face reflected on the black screen looked terribly awkward.
'Hairstyle aside... scar on the face... it's different.'
Debating changing his hairstyle like this upon return, he launched Akarite from the library.
Seeing the lined-up save files and captured setting notes, he smiled.
Click— click!
'First up...'
On rest days with this face and job, holing up at home boozing and gaming.
Not bad.
But thinking about it, he already wanted to return to his body in the Empire.
This flesh would die once today passed anyway.