Chapter 2
Chapter 2
[Regression]
It was complete and utter nonsense.
Wasn't that something only delicious salmon did?
I'd never seen anyone who'd experienced regression, nor anyone claiming to have done it. Hell, I hadn't even seen con artists trying to scam people with that premise. Probably because even fraudsters thought it was too ridiculous to use as material.
'And yet here I am, having done it.'
Even the great Delam couldn't accept it at first. It was simply that absurd.
I'd been through every hardship imaginable, but this was on another level entirely. Still, I couldn't keep denying it forever. Everything I saw, heard, and smelled was too vivid to dismiss as a dream.
'...How did this happen?'
That was my first thought after accepting reality.
People don't just regress automatically when they die. If that were true, the world would be overflowing with regressors by now.
The most likely culprit was that cardinal I'd seen at the end. He was the only one still alive on that battlefield when I died. I think I saw an incredibly bright light right before death too. Since he was a cardinal of the [Church of Light], the pieces fit.
'If this is real, then Cardinal... you're the real demon here.'
That would make this incredibly cruel.
I'd lived my entire life as the Empire's Supreme Commander on battlefields. And just when I was about to finally rest, that old bastard sent me back to the past?
No one could be more vicious than that old man.
The second emotion I felt was guilt.
Guilt toward humanity.
Hadn't the cardinal said it?
That humanity fell because Delam killed all the heroes.
To some extent, he was right.
Emperor Leo Saks II wanted to conquer the continent. He desired a world where only the [Fiore Empire] remained. And Delam was the sharpest sword in that emperor's arsenal.
I led imperial forces to invade numerous kingdoms. They only had two choices when facing me - surrender or resist.
Surprisingly, few chose surrender.
The heroes all rose up valiantly to fight for their homelands. And I killed every last one of them. As the Empire's Supreme Commander, I was just doing my job.
'The demon invasion came much later.'
By the time the Empire finally unified the continent... when humanity's strength was at its weakest after countless wars... that's when the demons struck. They manipulated monsters to advance against the Empire.
We scraped together every last soldier to resist, but it wasn't enough. The quality of our troops was the biggest problem. All the strongest warriors had died in previous wars. Or more accurately, I had killed them all.
The final battle came regardless. But as you saw, humanity lost. The forces I led were trampled by demons.
'What happened next... is obvious.'
Did the remnants of humanity unite to fight the demons? Don't make me laugh. If that were possible, the war wouldn't have happened in the first place. With the Empire weakened, rebellions would have broken out everywhere. The demons were distant, but the hated Empire was right there. Even I would have done the same.
'And then they'd get picked off one by one by demons.'
That would be the end of humanity. A clean, complete extinction. The survivors would probably be kept as livestock at best.
So yes, I bore significant responsibility. The cardinal was absolutely right.
Then why did I do it?
'Because I didn't know. I didn't know the demons would invade!'
But now I know. And knowing that, if I repeated the same mistakes, I wouldn't just be a fool - I'd be a worthless imbecile not fit to live.
So Delam had to do something. Prevent the heroes' deaths, warn about the future, or kill the heroes even faster than before. The problem was all three options were monumental tasks. As a mere individual, none were possible.
'Which means I need to climb back up.'
I might not become Supreme Commander again, but at least a high-ranking noble. Someone with enough influence in the kingdom to be heard. That way people would listen. Or building my own independent faction was another option.
There was just one small obstacle.
Delam was currently a country bumpkin in the Fiore Kingdom's backwaters. My entire wealth consisted of potatoes and two sheep. And I was supposed to become a high-ranking noble with influence?
There was really only one way.
"Re-enlist, you say...?"
I couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
Hadn't that brat from upstairs said it earlier? War was the commoners' golden opportunity. Moreover, I'd spent my entire life in the military. Even in this young body, my strategies and tactics remained intact. And just imagine how well I'd do in a second military career.
"If you were going to make me enlist again, you could've sent me back a bit further," I grumbled pointlessly.
My mother came to mind. The mother I'd missed my entire life. Today marked three years since her passing. If only I'd regressed just a little earlier—
'Ha, but saving her would've been difficult anyway.'
If it had been an accident, maybe. Just preventing that would've sufficed. But mother had been chronically ill from birth. Her constitution was extremely weak. She'd collapse at the slightest thing, coughing up blood from minor exertion. Everyone had worried when she became pregnant with me. Yet she endured near-death to give birth to me... and that final push is what took her life.
In the end, there was only one way to save her.
Not giving birth to me at all.
'So no matter how far back I go... sigh.'
I chuckled dryly while rubbing my neck. My fingers found a leather cord with a single locket attached - mother's sole keepsake. I'd lost this locket during the war before. More accurately, a conscription officer confiscated it and never returned it. When I went looking later, they'd already sold it off somewhere. I never found it again in my lifetime.
Only after traveling back in time could I hold it again.
Click.
I pressed my thumb to open it. Inside was a small portrait of mother in her youth. The first thing I'd done after regressing was rush to the village head's granddaughter - the best artist in town - to commission this portrait.
It wasn't that I lacked artistic skill myself. Pre-regression Delam was already past fifty - far older than when mother died. And the battlefields had been brutal enough to make this unfilial son forget. The details of mother's face and features...
'I'm sorry, mother.'
But one thing remained vividly clear - mother's gaze.
As I said, mother was extremely frail. Though she managed to birth me, she lived under constant threat of death. So her eyes differed from other parents'. Less warm maternal affection, more like crystallized yellow determination.
[I want to live one more day to watch over my child]
[Before I die, I want to teach one more thing]
[The essential knowledge needed to live!]
That determination...
It still pierced my heart.
Flutter—
"Oops."
Lost in thought, I reflexively reached out. Something had fallen from the locket. Opening my palm revealed an ordinary leaf. The kind you'd find everywhere in the woods - fresh and green. I hadn't put it there. It had been inside since mother gave it to me.
She said it had been passed down from her mother, and her mother's mother - an heirloom spanning generations. But it was no ordinary leaf. After all that time, it showed no signs of withering or tearing. It looked freshly plucked.
"Hoo..."
Another peculiarity was its scent. Inhaling deeply, a refreshing aroma filled my lungs. It came from the leaf. I swear I'd never smelled anything like it before - not from any herb or forest. It was like concentrated essence of nature itself.
-Hello?
"......!?"
Suddenly, a voice spoke.
Before I knew it, I'd bolted upright from bed. But of course, no one was around. That much was obvious - I was in a tiny hut. I'd have noticed if someone entered.
"...From outside?"
I leaned out the window to look around. Only strong winds greeted me - no signs of people. As I went to close it, a real voice called out.
"Delam! Delam!"
The urgent voice belonged to Grandma from downstairs. Her bad knees usually kept her from walking on rainy days... Yet here she was running uphill. Whatever it was must be serious.
I hurried outside. "Grandma, what's wrong?"
"Delam, it's terrible! Conscription officers are here rounding up every able-bodied man!"
"Huh? Already?"
"Already? You knew they were coming?"
"Well... with all the war talk lately. Our village is remote so we'd be last, but I figured they'd come eventually."
"Oh you! Knowing that, why are you still here? You should've packed and run by now!"
Grandma shouted angrily. But I asked in confusion:
"Why? I'm only thirteen. Conscription is for adults fifteen to thirty-five. They can't take me."
"You're bigger than boys your age! With no parents around, if they insist you look fifteen, who'll stop them?"
"Ah."
I nodded in admiration. They say village kids are raised by the grandmothers - their wisdom truly comes with experience.
Only then did I clearly remember. The conscription officers came to our village twice. Right now, during the first round, I was left behind. But two years later when they returned...
That's when my miserable life began.
'Right - the boy upstairs!'
He gets taken this time. And never returns to the village. Later, when I became a centurion, I inquired but only found documents stamped [MISSING IN ACTION]. Meaning he died somewhere, like most conscripts.
"Grandma, I'll go check first."
"You should be running away!"
"If I get caught fleeing, the village head will be punished. Your legs hurt - rest at my place. I'll be right back!"
I sprinted down the path. There was still time!
"Young men, gather at the village head's house!"
That's what Grandma Miel had said. Fortunately, there was only one path from my house to the village head's. Meaning the boy upstairs must have gone this way. If I ran hard, I could catch up.
Sure enough, familiar figures soon appeared ahead - the boy from upstairs and his father, who'd fled from potato digging earlier. Hearing my footsteps, the boy turned.
"Eh? Delam! You heard too— wha?"
His cheerful greeting froze mid-sentence. Naturally - because Delam had just leaped through the air.
Thud!
"Gah!"
The boy tumbled across the ground. I fell with him, rolling to stick close by his side. Then I wrapped both hands and legs around his limb—
And twisted.
Crack!
"AAAAAH!"
As his crisp scream rang out, I dusted my hands.
Military exemption secured!