Book and Blade (2)
Ow!
"Ugh…!"
A sharp sting came from my thumb as I roughly flipped through the pages of the book. A drop of blood welled up like ink on the paper of unknown material.
And at that exact moment, memories of a future I shouldn't know flooded into my mind.
"Grrrrraaahhh!!"
Lee Na-hyun.
Shakallu-Enshar ritual.
Cart, school underground, goat mask, principal, gun, Kang Jia's death…!
Thud!
I dropped the book from my hand onto the floor, but Gra'hthul's voice didn't come.
What reached my ears instead of the grumpy old mage's or the stale priest's voice was the fresh, young girl's voice.
"Oppa! Oppa! What's wrong? Huh? Awoooo… Why do you always hurt like this… Ung? Eung…"
Kang Jia stomped her feet in front of me, flustered and not knowing what to do.
Kang Jia, who had taken a bullet for me to save my life even a little, dying soaked in my blood—she was alive again.
It was something I'd gone through several times in previous loops, but now, remembering her final moments where she sacrificed herself for me without hesitation… I had no idea how to react.
One corner of my chest ached, felt stuffy, and I got chills from the bizarre phenomenon of a dead person coming back to life unscathed.
But more than that, I felt something like trust toward Kang Jia.
She wasn't just a monster trying to kill me anymore.
She was a psycho, sure, but not someone I could just push away blindly.
There was a tainted purity hidden in that twisted soul.
People say you can't fix them… but seeing her fade away with a joyful smile instead of resentment, even after giving her life for me—I guess I'm too soft to just see her as a murder tool.
"Oppa, you okay…?"
"I'm fine. Want a hug?"
"Ack? Suddenly? Ung! Yeah! Hehe ♡"
She snuggled right into my chest, rubbing her face against it. She'd done the exact same thing right before she died.
Haa…
I'm getting so tired.
People need proper rest and sleep, but it feels like rest doesn't exist in this life.
Sleep, and I have grotesque dreams; die, and I hear the talking sword and book's noise. Then I come back to life.
I just want to escape this world already.
I can sort things out with Kang Jia later.
Anyway, the most important thing right now is that the regression point has changed.
I don't know what trick Gra'hthul pulled, but that guy definitely gave me two choices: 'first' or 'last.'
If I compare it to a game, going back to the first means August 1st, loading the very first save file. Going back to the last means right now.
And I chose to return to this point.
I called for Su-hee first.
"Yeah, Yuhan? Why'd you call me?"
"Jia, and Mom. Hard to believe, but I have some info to share."
I told them what I'd been through.
"Whoa! R-Really? I-I died protecting oppa!? Awesome! So romantic!"
Kang Jia, hearing she'd died from her heart exploding, still spouted childish nonsense.
"It's really hard to believe… but since you know about Na-hyun…"
Su-hee made a half-doubting face.
Come to think of it, the first-day regression password—her first period date—won't work now. Looks like I need new info.
I petted Kang Jia's head for a bit and took Su-hee aside between the bookshelves.
"Um… Su-hee. Sorry, but besides that password you told me, got any other secrets?"
"E-Eh? Again?"
"Sigh… I didn't expect this either. Seems like the regression split into two points. If I regressed here, I can't convince you with that password anymore. You already told me."
"Ugh… how many more embarrassing secrets do I have to spill…"
It stung my conscience forcing intimate secrets from a woman whose face and name I didn't even know a week ago, but no choice.
"…Just a sec…"
She pondered, then sat on a chair by the bookshelf and took off her shoes.
What was she gonna show?
"L-Look at this."
Su-hee lifted her sole toward me.
What am I supposed to look at? Smell it?
A faintly sweet yet slightly musky scent hit me. She probably hadn't showered yet.
This woman was suddenly pushing some weird play on me.
As I furrowed my brow, Su-hee panicked and yelled.
"You just thought something weird, didn't you! Geez… no, look at the scar in the middle of my sole?"
"Huh? Can't really see it…"
"Ugh… H-How about like this?"
She turned around, sticking out the middle of her sole more clearly.
Sure enough, peering closely, I saw a long, torn scar under her black stockings.
"Oh, I see it. How'd you get that scar?"
Her leg trembled, probably from holding it up, so I grabbed her foot to steady it.
"U-Ugh… I-I haven't washed my feet yet…"
"Who cares about that… I smelled the janitor's sewer stink from the cleaning closet too."
"Pfft… true. Anyway, that scar's from stepping on glass as a kid. No one knows but my late mom, and with shoes on normally, no one can see it."
Got it.
Pretty concise info.
But it might be too weak to make her believe me on its own.
"Hehe. I know that look. If I still don't believe you after this, just tell me the first thing that comes to mind from when I stepped on the glass."
"First thing from stepping on glass? It hurt?"
"No, the sunset. The orange glow seeping through the window with a dinosaur sticker… For some reason, that scene got burned into my head despite the intense pain."
"Ah! Got it."
A memory only in her head. That should convince her.
"Anyway, shall we head back? If Jia sees us alone, she might flip out."
Su-hee, about to follow me out from between the shelves, froze and gave me a strange look.
"Hmm? First time I've heard you call that girl 'Jia,' Yuhan."
…Did I slip into being too familiar without thinking?
"Ahem. Unconscious slip. Don't mind it."
"…Dunno. Your call, of course… but don't get too attached. You know, right? That kid's not normal. Getting too close to someone you'll have to part with someday will just hurt you—"
"Stop. Enough."
A brief silence flowed.
"Sorry. I overstepped."
I understood her intentions completely. She wasn't bad. This was her genuinely worrying about me.
Such a kind woman. If I escape this world, she'd make someone a great wife for sure.
"No, Su-hee. Thanks. It's just… my relationship with Jia has sides that are hard to judge rashly yet."
As I spoke calmly, Su-hee softened her tense expression and gave a faint smile.
"Yuhan… you're kinder than you look. Way kinder."
Crimson sunset light poured through the after-school library window, shining behind Su-hee.
"C'mon, let's go. I don't wanna end up infertile. Once I'm out of this world, I'll find a good hubby and have kids right away."
She jokes well too.
"Pff… yeah. Let's head back."
We gathered again.
"Shall we plan the route ahead? First, delaying contact with Lee Na-hyun. She's basically an opportunist. Hand her info rashly, and she'll betray us to the principal's gang again."
"Yeah, Mom thinks so too. Of course, it's sad she's suffering on sex duty rotation, but we can fix that later."
"Oppa oppa, should Jia kill that bitch? Ung?"
"Jia, c'mere."
No need to even answer her pointless questions anymore. I just opened my arms silently, and she grinned wide and hugged me.
"Hehe ♡"
I stroked her head like petting a loyal dog and continued.
"So anyway, I'm thinking of feeding more blood to this book, the Equinox Book."
"Hmm… t-talk to that Gra-whatever ghost?"
Gra'hthul would foam at the mouth and curse if he heard that.
"Yeah. Even if he doesn't respond, getting other magical knowledge would make the blood worth it."
The Satyr Skull Mask that blocked Kang Jia's mind control, the black dagger Cain's Fang.
Since those are magical tools too, maybe the Equinox Book will react.
"But isn't it dangerous? Honestly, Mom feels uneasy. Books don't do that. First time seeing something so creepy."
I agree.
"That's why I called you two. You'll be my safety nets."
"Ung? Jia too?"
"Yeah, Jia too."
"Yeah! Yeah! Jia'll protect you!"
Kang Jia's beaming face.
"Plan's simple. If I feed blood to this book and start freaking out, Mom, separate me from it. Jia, use suggestion to snap me out of it."
"Ooh~ Ung! Leave it to me!"
She lifted her slender arm, flexing a nonexistent bicep.
"Sigh… alright. Mom'll watch closely. Don't push yourself."
"Got it. Then…"
I picked up the Equinox Book with some tension.
Oh right, need something sharp for blood.
As I thought about having Jia fetch a cutter knife, a stinging pain jabbed near my heart.
—Pul…l…i…t…ou…t…
What the hell… is this voice?