Alone, Questioning Ten Thousand Times
It had only been a few days since I first arrived at the academy, but the day our first classes began felt even more special. For this particular occasion, the students had dressed with meticulous care, eager to draw every eye in the room. Standing out meant a chance to showcase yourself in the best possible light, and for some, it was an opportunity they desperately craved.
“Look at that. It’s Luke Colwen.”
“That’s the one who…”
But in this world, there are also people who attract attention without even trying. And those people often find the gaze of others bothersome, even uncomfortable.
“The one who said he’d enter the girls’ dormitory…?”
“What a crazy bastard…”
“How can the head of a noble house fall so far?”
Please. Stop looking at meeeee!!
Why the hell did that conversation spread all the way to the regular students?! You’re not supposed to go around telling people about private interviews!!
“Master… I want to die of shame…”
“It’s not shame, it’s a hangover. Go back and rest today.”
Melina’s face burned red, caught between the alcohol she hadn’t fully metabolized and the constant whispering around us. Normally, she was the type to slap on a thick skin and sneer even if one of those things was present. But with both hitting her at once, she couldn’t endure it. She hung her head and walked hidden behind me.
“If we go back now, my brother will be there…”
“Stay shut in your room. Clean while you’re at it.”
“Didn’t you see him standing guard at the door? We’d get caught immediately.”
We hadn’t been able to set foot in the dormitory for two days. Last night we’d considered returning late, but even at dawn Eres was standing in front of the door with her eyes wide open, so we fled. If we’d known the room number we could have slipped in through the window, but we’d left without checking.
“Her wrist was broken and she was coughing up blood. How is she standing there like nothing happened…?”
“Exactly. She needs to recover, but the patient shouldn’t push herself…”
In truth we could have just shoved our way inside. But piling another defeat on someone who had already lost once would be terrible for her mentally. It was important to leave her alone for a while so she could rebuild her self-esteem and recover from the psychological damage.
“Today is going to get busy.”
“If you’re going to drink again, leave me out of it. You never even got drunk in the end.”
“I’m not drinking. Instead, we’ll have to run around a bit.”
“Right now?”
“Later. I’m going to lure Eres out.”
Within today, our protagonist Eres had to advance through Episode 1 of Endless Fantasia.
**
“Has the opponent for the skill evaluation been announced?”
“I don’t recognize the name… Should I go watch now?”
“If they’re not famous, that’s good, right? Means they’re an easy opponent. Let’s just bet on the winner like me.”
“They don’t even know who we are. What are you on about?”
On the third day at the academy, they held the skill evaluation. To put it more bluntly, it was a one-on-one duel arranged by pairing up students. It seemed absurd for a school to play VS games with precious children from other families, but that was simply the kind of world this was.
In a normal fantasy game this would be the moment the protagonist Eres distinguished herself, but this was a bleak dark fantasy. Eres would simply duel some random extra and that would be the end of it. Even if she won there would be no praise, only orders to hurry up and clear the stage for the next match.
……But if Episode 1 really ended that way, it wouldn’t be any fun.
“Who are the Ripelreus twins facing?”
“They’re supposed to be the strongest among this year’s freshmen, right?”
“There’s that Count Colwen, but… honestly I’m hoping those two are stronger.”
The young duke and duchess of a ducal house. Alto Ripelreus and Fria Ripelreus. These fraternal twins, the strongest among their peers, were the main characters of Episode 1.
Eres had witnessed them arguing while wandering around after the first day of classes. The two had been fighting over the successor position. When they were matched against each other in the skill evaluation, they decided to settle things once and for all.
Eres would take one side and support them. The one she backed would win, and the two would become friends—that was the ending of Episode 1. Of course the loser would later fall to corruption and become an enemy, but that was a story for later.
Anyway, this Episode 1 was important content that would give Eres her first friends….
“Fria’s opponent is Luke Colwen…?”
“That filthy, violent man is Lady Fria’s opponent? What is the academy thinking!”
“It must be that wicked count who pulled some strings… Hiiik! He’s right behind us!”
And that was where I came in.
“Why…?”
“What do you mean ‘why’? To face Count Colwen you need at least that level of opponent. Though it’s ridiculous that my master is even participating in an event like this in the first place.”
“None of that matters!”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“That!”
“What the… Oh.”
Me facing Fria was nothing compared to that problem.
11:00
Luke Colwen VS Fria Ripelreus
Alto Ripelreus VS Eres
“Why… why is my sister’s name there…”
“I have no idea…”
An emergency meeting on the rooftop (which had been locked) where no one else was around. The topic was, naturally, Eres’s treatment.
“There’s no way the frail Eres of right now can beat that aaaah!! What were they thinking when they made a bracket like this ooooh!!”
“Well, it looks like she got her injuries treated while we were gone, at least?”
“That’s fortunate, but…!”
For Episode 1 she was supposed to fight the pyramid like in the original! How could they throw her against someone that strong from the very beginning!!
“It’s become a guaranteed defeat event…!”
“My sister really has become pitiful…”
“Are you one to talk! You’re the one who caused the most damage!”
“Is that something the mastermind behind everything should say? What are you going to do now? My sister is going to be miserably crushed in front of the entire school.”
“Do you think I’ll just watch?”
If it was simply losing, I could have let it slide. The original had plenty of forced defeat events. One could even learn and grow from those defeats.
But not this time. This was too much of a setup.
“If we wanted, we could just skip the skill evaluation.”
“She has to apply for that herself. Even if we cause a scene, we’d only get kicked out like two days ago.”
“How is Eres’s condition?”
“I’m not sure… When I saw my sister after so long, she’s become someone whose emotions don’t show at all…”
Eres had been spacing out all day long….
Since we were in different classes I couldn’t watch her constantly, but even during lessons, while moving between rooms, and while eating.
“Why don’t her facial muscles move at aaaall!!”
“Couldn’t it be because someone broke her heart?”
“That can’t be… That can’t be…!”
The Eres of the original had been able to smile at the starting point even after experiencing all those things. Up until then, at least.
But the current Eres looked like she was after Melina’s death. Like she had learned the truth behind her mother’s death as well.
“What do you mean it can’t be? Mother left home when we were young, Father died, and my sister was kidnapped when I was twelve. If she’s still sane after all that, then you must be sane too, Master.”
“What do you mean by ‘after’? I am perfectly sane.”
“More importantly, what are you going to do? It doesn’t look like my sister has any intention of forfeiting.”
“You persuade her to forfeit.”
“I heard Sir Gabea already tried earlier.”
“What was her answer?!”
“She said, ‘Why should I?’”
Ah… It was hopeless. I had no idea what she was thinking. Was she really planning to try even though she couldn’t win?
“I’ll stop it somehow.”
“Do you have a plan?”
“The policy remains the same. Make her forfeit.”
“She definitely won’t. If we tell her to forfeit it will probably have the opposite effect.”
“Not Eres.”
“Yes?”
But a duel required two people. If I wanted to ruin the skill evaluation, there was one other person besides Eres I needed to target.
“After school tomorrow, I’ll beat Alto half to death.”
“Wait a minute.”
“If I make sure he can’t recover in a single day, he’ll have no choice but to forfeit the evaluation.”
“Reputation! Diplomatic incident! The Ripelreus family ranks higher than Colwen!”
“If I ruin his face especially badly, he won’t be able to show up.”
“Listen to me! You are not merely a student—you are a count! Have you no consideration for Lady Layla, who is currently acting as regent?!”
“Of course I do.”
If it was Layla, she could overlook controversy of that scale. She hid a slyness that didn’t lose out even when compared to the executives of Nine’s Piece.
I could move boldly because I believed in my sister!
“Trash of the world…”
Melina’s gaze toward me grew even more rotten, but this was definitely not my fault. After all, it was Melina’s fault for being unable to trust Layla!
***
In the dormitory where the two residents had not returned, Eres was conducting a spar by herself.
Using the words “alone” and “spar” together might invite ridicule, but for Eres, who had no teacher, this imaginary training was simply part of her daily life.
The only opponent she could compare herself to was herself. The only one she could cross swords with was herself. The only one she could question was also herself.
“Um… Eres?”
“Yes?”
Only after her sword stopped in mid-air and she adjusted her stance could Gabea call out to her.
Today’s record was one win and two losses. It was astonishing that she was accumulating defeats against an imaginary version of herself, and she even had more losses than wins.
“Are your hand and stomach all right? You didn’t receive any treatment…”
“I’m fine.”
“‘Fine’… You have the skill evaluation against Alto Ripelreus soon. If you’re worried about the cost, I’ll pay for it.”
“It’s really fine.”
“But…”
“Hmm… It would be nice if I could show my skill to others.”
“Skill?”
After her younger sister was kidnapped, Eres had worked hard. At first, even swinging a sword once had been difficult. Her strength was average and the blade was too heavy for a girl to wield.
But she had done it. To cool emotions hotter than a furnace, she burned her meager muscles instead. The next day she dragged a body that could barely walk out to work. Every single day was at the limit, but she paid it no mind. Her head had been too full of chaos for her to even feel that it was difficult.
Endless Patience
- Increased maximum HP
- Increased physical recovery
- Increased pain tolerance
- Can substitute HP for stamina
She had crossed her limits without even realizing she had surpassed them.
“Unlike Luke Colwen, I probably can’t prevent bones from breaking or being severed, but even if that happens, it should heal with time.”
“Special skill…? What is that? I’ve never heard of anything like it…”
“A skill you obtain when you surpass your limits. I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t read his notes.”
When Eres had become able to read the notes, her hatred gradually cooled and questions rose in its place.
Why had this person done such things? Why had he gained strength by abusing himself? And why was he trying to teach others so they could surpass him?
To obtain a single answer she had cast ten thousand questions. Unless she asked the man himself, any answer would be nothing but delusion. But the more questions she added, the more versions of Luke Colwen grew inside her.
The evil one drunk on power. The martial artist who purely pursued strength. The savior who had come to rescue her. The prophet who sought to save the world. The greedy one who wanted strong subordinates. Even the idiot consumed by his own concept—though she thought that couldn’t be.
She didn’t know which was the correct answer. Yet she began to think that perhaps all of them were Luke Colwen.
Then what about herself?
Eres who wanted revenge. Eres who cherished her siblings. Eres who hated her father. Eres who mourned her father’s death.
Questioning Ten Thousand Times
[Locked Skill: Quite Selfless]
[Locked Skill: From the Ego]
Eres possessed no power to shake mountains and rivers. She had no speed to sweep across battlefields. She had no body trained to remain undamaged. She had no refined experience from a hundred battles.
“It would be good if my skill evaluation opponent is strong.”
“The rumors say so… You’ll judge after seeing them, right?”
“Yes.”
What she possessed was only the persistence that had surpassed limits and the questions she had repeated tens of thousands of times alone. Having lost her parents at a young age, it was the power she had gained by pondering four years longer than in the original timeline.