The Seventh Life (2)
"Hah."
This was the preparation room — a place only a select few of the family were permitted to enter. Of course, as the heir set to succeed as head of the house, I could come and go as I pleased.
"Young Master? What brings you here…?"
"I'm running a drug experiment. Bring me everything on this list."
"Yes. Right away."
Herbs. Unicorn horn powder. Mercury. Monkey liver. A rusted spoon. Oil.
The ingredients for the antidote to the deadly poison that had killed me. I'd only ever heard of it — I never imagined I'd fall victim to a toxin of our own family's making — so I needed to test whether this antidote actually worked.
"Here you are."
"Thanks."
"But what are you planning to— Young Master?!"
"I told you. An experiment."
I drew a blade across my finger and drew blood. Drop by drop, I let it fall into a water-filled cylinder, then carefully dripped the deadly poison on top.
Fsssssssh—!
"…!"
Just as expected — a frothing, boiling reaction. No wonder even a splash in the eyes was enough to kill you from the pain alone.
"Hah."
Now for the antidote. I mixed the prepared ingredients into the oil in the proper ratios. The color came out the exact same green as the poison — at a glance, you'd never tell them apart.
"Hm…?"
I dripped the antidote in. The blood simply burned on with no reaction at all. Only when I poured it in almost like water did the boiling finally stop, and the cylinder returned to a clear, vivid red.
"Takes more than I thought… Mahr."
"Yes, Young Master."
"Bring me more of these antidote ingredients."
"Yes… of course… But what do you intend to use them for…?"
"I've got a use for them."
On myself, obviously. I was staring down a death sentence if I didn't.
"That'll do for now…"
The antidote was ready. All that remained was bracing for the moment Anne would come for me.
"Nabi. What's my sister doing right now?"
"Yes. The young lady is currently in her flower-arrangement lesson."
Just like before — Anne was in flower arranging. If I'd simply lost that sparring match cleanly earlier, the plan would have been perfect. Still, I had enough time to prepare.
Why did I have to go and block that attack…
If nothing had happened, Anne wouldn't have been in a foul mood, and I could have prepared for dinner tonight as well. Had some instinct for self-preservation kicked in without me realizing it?
Well. Who told me to die six times already.
"Haa…"
I finished adjusting the injector for the antidote. Same principle as pricking your hand for an upset stomach — press the stud, and a needle deploys to inject automatically.
One chance…
Everything after that, I'd have to leave to the me of that moment. This was only an antidote — not an attack on Anne. If I failed to stop her next strike, it was over. I had to find an opening somehow.
"Haa…"
Back in my room, I ran through the night's events one more time.
Sister comes in first…
Anne in her nightclothes knocks first. Locking the door and holding out would only invite worse trouble, so better to just open it. She was coming to kill me either way.
Then she serves tea…
Fortunately, the tea itself wasn't poisoned. If it were me, I'd have laced the tea too — so why hadn't she? One last cozy moment before the end, maybe? I didn't know the reason, but at least I didn't have to worry about that part.
Next…
"Noah. I hate that you exist."
"Sister…?"
"So die for me."
After that declaration, binding magic came flying from every direction. I'd thought there was no dodging it — but leaning back had been enough to slip free. I rolled onto the bed, then sprinted full tilt for the window.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
Anne closed the distance in an instant. I had no choice but to throw a punch; she slipped it easily and drove her own fist into me instead.
"You dare resist your own sister?"
"Ghk…!"
Right side. Left side. Then the solar plexus. I'd always fought with a sword, so I'd forgotten — Anne was more than capable with her bare hands. Absolute power might fall short of a seasoned warrior's, but she knew exactly where a person felt pain and hit those spots with precision.
"Ugh…!"
Then she lunged, locked both legs around me, and brought me down.
"Wait — wait, calm down, Sister!"
"If only… you… weren't here…!"
And that was it — her poison-coated dagger finished me. More precisely, the poison dripping from the tip left me unable to resist at all. Without the poison, I might have stood a chance. In raw strength, I had the edge.
"Huu…"
I finished the review and set about tending my sword. I couldn't wear it openly — that would be advertising that I was on guard. It might even look like I already knew the future.
For now, I'm the only one who knows…
The fact that I came back every time I died was mine alone. Who had cast this on me, how many lives I had left — I knew none of the details, so I couldn't afford to die carelessly.
Please let tonight be the last today—
Knock knock.
"…?!"
Only one person knocked on my door like that. Anne was supposed to have piano after flower arranging. Yesterday I hadn't seen her face until dinner.
"Noah~"
"…Sister? Why are you here?"
"Is a big sister not allowed in her little brother's room? How cold~"
"No, that's not what I—"
She wasn't in nightclothes, so the night's bloodbath wasn't starting yet. Not that anyone would be wearing pajamas in broad daylight.
"But isn't it time for your piano lesson? Master Deval is rather strict, isn't he?"
"It's fine. Deval isn't coming today."
"Don't tell me…!"
Not coming? Had she already dealt with him? She hadn't already dealt with everyone but me, had she? Please say she hadn't, Anne.
"Hm? Don't tell you what? He's under the weather today. He has a chronic illness, you know."
"Ah… right, of course. I thought maybe you'd come to skip class."
"As if. It's a required lesson if you want to become head of the house."
"……"
Head of Irisstar. That was almost certainly what Anne was after. Fine — take it. Just don't kill me for it.
"Actually… I have a favor to ask."
"A favor?"
Ah. I got it. The reason Anne had come to my room was the sparring match earlier. I'd gone and blocked her attack when I shouldn't have, and nearly won. If I'd just lost cleanly, none of this would have happened — and now the future I'd rehearsed was already off the rails. So much for all that mental review.
"Mm. Something only Noah can do for me."
"…What is it?"
Anne gathered both my hands in hers, and I flinched. Only I could do it? That made me more uneasy, not less. What on earth could it be?
"Spar with me… one more time. Without Father watching."
"What?"
"I really… want to see with my own eyes whether you were lying or not."
"I told you I wasn't…"
"No. I need to see it myself."
"……"
Good thing I'd already tended the sword. The chance to use it had arrived sooner than expected.
"It's been ages since we used this place, hasn't it?"
"It has."
This was the underground sparring hall — not the one where Father and everyone else had watched earlier, but the place Anne and I used to train in secret. The space was far narrower, the floor bare packed earth left untended, and a damp, cold draft made it ideal for harsh conditions. I'd heard Father used it often in his younger days as well.
"But Sister… do you really have to confirm this?"
"Of course. You know how I am."
Did I ever. If something sat wrong with her, she obsessed and hunted it down until it was settled beyond doubt. That same drive had earned her enough merit to join the knight order — though Father's opposition had put a stop to it.
"I just… have something I need to check."
"……"
No referee. No one supervising. The condition was simple: fight until one of us couldn't. And no one around to break it up.
"Here I come."
"…Yes."
Anne settled into her stance and leveled her rapier at me. At once she released her mana, a red light rippling along the blade.
Don't tell me she's using this as cover…
Killing me under the pretext of a spar. Easiest, cleanest method — but no. Too many people already knew our relationship was strained. They wouldn't buy a clean accident that easily. She'd wiped everyone out before, true… but this time she'd want to handle it as quietly as possible. If the goal were the extinction of the family, she would have started that way from the beginning.
"Hah!"
The air stirred, and she was right in front of me again. I'd never faced this situation before — I couldn't read the next move.
"Kh…!"
The opening thrust was something I could still break. The problem was everything after.
"Hyaat! Hnh, hah!"
"…!"
A mid-level slash. Then a kick.
What is this…
It was identical to the earlier spar. She was attacking me with the exact same sequence. I'd memorized it, so next—
"Ghk…!"
The moment I anticipated the attack, a kick came first where the thrust should have been. Fortunately it was a pushing kick, so I had a second to catch my breath.
"What? Did you let that through on purpose? You blocked just fine earlier."
"Of course not… You've gotten faster, that's all."
"No."
Anne closed the gap with another thrust, then cut horizontally — and without stopping, brought the blade down from above.
"Kh…!"
I barely managed to block. Still no opening in sight.
"…!"
The instant I tried to push back with strength, a foot dropped toward my head. I rolled clear, then used the longsword as a brace to haul myself upright again.
"Hah!"
"……"
I deflected another thrust and swept the longsword up from below. Anne spun lightly out of the way.
"…I knew it."
"…?!"
An elbow in the same breath she dodged. Anne caught the strike with her hand.
"Guh?!"
I couldn't dodge the kick that followed and went flying. By the time I forced myself up, Anne's rapier was already leveled at me.
"Noah."
"…I lose."
"No. That's not it."
"…?"
Anne's eyes flared red. She looked down at me with a gaze gone ice-cold.
"You already knew. How I was going to attack."
"…!"
Don't tell me…
Had she figured it out?