Regressor, Possessor, Reincarnator - Chapter 9
Chapter 9
After he became firm in his resolution, Allen’s body relaxed.
He then moved one step forward. They said that the lower body was important. But then what about your upper body? Should you try to keep it still? It made a difference in movement.
Just like his lower body, his upper body moved in a relaxed manner.
‘No, this is…’
His weapon swayed.
Whack!
His balance wavered as his sword tore through the ground. Allen sat down and began to catch his breath.
Sigh, gasp, pant…
His body ached at the still-unfamiliar movements. But he couldn’t stop. It was a necessary preparation. No matter how one thought of it, there was nothing wrong with being too strong physically.
“You sure are training hard in the morning, aren’t you?”
He looked back to spot a person with dark red hair approaching.
‘How long had she been watching?’
Being only Rank 1 with his one ring, he wasn’t able to sense her approaching him.
“Peeking at other people while they’re training isn’t a good hobby, Miss Francisca.”
He hardened his expression. Regardless of how basic the training was…
“I want to do it too, though…”
She smiled awkwardly and pointed behind her. Looking behind them, he saw several soldiers with buckets gathered together in the distance.
“They came to gather water, but then they found you here training…”
“Oh.”
He could only understand why she had taken it upon herself to visit him after seeing the soldiers.
Watching an aristocrat train without permission could be punishable by decapitation. However, that didn’t mean that you couldn’t just wait for them to finish with their training.
“…That’s why I came to see you. Though, it was very rude of me, so it would be right for me to apologize.”
She lowered her head in perfect etiquette. Allen, stunned by her formal apology, nodded in response.
“Since I am also to blame, I accept your apology.”
She gave a strange look upon hearing his calm tone and then smiled soon after.
“Is everyone else awake yet? We’ll split up once we get through the morning.”
“Yes. My grandfather woke up at dawn. And that scoun—the young master’s maid has taken care of everything. Unlike everyone else…”
Although it was obvious who she was talking about, Allen smiled quietly.
“So then, sir, I’m a bit curious about something. Would it be alright if I asked you about it?”
“What is it?”
Allen took up his sword and turned towards the campsite, and she followed him. She twisted her waist-length hair around her fingers.
It was obvious what it was that she was curious about.
“Are you curious about how it was possible for so much mana to come from one ring?”
“Yes! In theory, expanding a ring increases the speed of the circulation of mana. And then, that quickly flowing mana collides with other rings and creates resonance through that collision, which then increases the output.”
Passionate for magic, she grew louder as she spoke. Allen listened to her without saying a word.
Until he said it.
“Did you really come to me only to ask about that?”
“Wh… What?”
Allen still couldn’t believe that her innocent expression and widened eyes were an act.
“Miss Francisca. You didn’t come here because the soldiers needed you to, did you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m here with the party…”
The campsite was noisy as the soldiers prepared to get up and move as soon as they cleared the tents.
“I’m not the only one you could’ve asked. Is there really no other reason why you came to me specifically?”
If the soldiers saw him there, they would think about going to the other side to get water even if it took longer. Despite that, he couldn’t ask her to leave just yet.
He didn’t know why she was hitting a nerve. After his nightmare, he didn’t want to worry about anything else.
“If you aren’t going to tell me now, then let’s go.”
Her steps began to slow.
Allen didn’t care much about how she reacted. It was only a short conversation.
“Well then… About your disrespect…”
Allen’s tone changed from his previously respectful tone to his ordinary one.
“I won’t tolerate it any longer.”
“…”
She stopped walking.
Allen brushed against her and continued walking past her.
“I’ll let you lie, sabotage other nobility, ask magicians their secrets—everything. So don’t cross any more lines. And also…”
He had nothing left to say.
Although the end of his speech wasn’t the cleanest, he figured that she’d gotten the gist of it.
“Well, that’s enough.”
She watched Allen’s back as he walked away. And in the same tone as she had before, she asked him another question.
“Sir, may I ask you one more question?”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you believe in prophecies?”
Prophecies… Haha.
Allen pictured the black book that had come to him. It had recorded the events of the future before his regression. Is the book a messenger of prophecy?
“No, I don’t believe in them,” he replied flatly.
Prophecies suggested that there was a predetermined future. That would mean that there would be no reason to do what he was doing. No reason to try to change the future that he had already lived.
“Miss Francisca, you’re quite naive despite your appearance.”
The distance between them grew.
“The church fell along with the ancient empire. There’s nobody left to believe in their old prophecies.”
If there was a god, they wouldn’t let him go against the destiny they had designed for him.
He didn’t hear her answer and left her there while making his way back to the campsite.
Did she hear what I said?
‘I’m sure she heard.’
He could smell the preparations for breakfast nearing completion, and the aroma, even from afar, excited his stomach.
Francisca, still standing where Allen had left her, was still smiling.
Francisca.
To describe her in one word is an easy task.
‘She was an insidious woman.’
In her speech, in her behavior, and in her expressions; it was obvious that she was a woman who calculated and schemed.
Apart from the times in which she met jerks like Julius, she never showed her true feelings.
It wasn’t clear when she became like that. However, it was speculated that there was a scoundrel responsible for her trauma in the past.
The only reason why Allen knew relatively so much about her was simple.
‘She’s the granddaughter of our contracted sorcerer, Prindal. But…’
Due to her future endeavors, she got lots of attention—more so than she really deserved for her abilities.
And thanks to that, the circumstances of her past became widely known; that she’d had trauma in the past related to a scoundrel.
If it wasn’t because of that, then there would be no reason for her—who had already gathered four rings at such a young age—to side with the increasingly less powerful duke rather than the free city of Perta which housed many magic towers.
The same thing goes for hiding her skills.
Because of it, she was able to grow her skills and become such a freak.
She hated scoundrels. That was why she came to try to kill them. No matter what circumstances she met them in, she killed them without reason.
If she was in a good mood, she would kill them with magic. And if she was in a bad mood, she would use a club.
Regardless of age, gender, position, or ethnicity…
It all culminated when she finally beat to death the son of a Master of a magic tower who had caused her trauma.
While on the run, she met Julius who was able to get her away from the Master’s pursuit and then became his companion and traveled with him across the world.
That was all Allen knew about her.
He didn’t know whether there was a single event or some series of circumstances that caused it.
He wouldn’t have even cared at all if the rumor hadn’t involved Julius.
Riding comfortably on his horse, Allen glanced behind him.
Francisca was acting normally, as though they had never had their conversation. Yet every once in a while, she would just quietly stare at him.
After she went silent, the party continued on without any problems to Hibelle, a northern city under the jurisdiction of the Reinharts.
Before noon, Julius and Prindal had made their way northwest to Gabia.
One thing that had changed was that, rather than Prindal, Francisca was accompanying Allen.
‘Isn’t it obvious?’
Before the regression, Julius and Francisca weren’t on good terms. Since she would often quarrel with Julius, he also—at some point—stopped tolerating her.
So naturally, the situation was bound to be chaotic.
It was amazing how the two, who’d had such a terrible relationship in the past, were able to improve their relationship to the extent where they were able to evade the Master of the magic tower later on.
This time, however, Prindal requested Allen to accompany Francisca, and Allen readily accepted.
So then the party continued on without interruption. After another week of travel, they reached the foot of the Michellant Mountains.
“Is that Hibelle?”
A large, gray wall began to come into their line of vision.
It had been about ten days since they had set off on their journey.
They had arrived in Hibelle, the final city on the outskirts of the Michellant Mountains in the northern region of their territory.
As Allen approached the city, he was greeted by the scenery that he’d already experienced once in his past life.
“This is…”
One soldier from the group’s jaw dropped. Masses of refugees had gathered by the wall, creating a commotion.
Soldiers loaded wagons as if in normal marketplaces while growing more anxious in the disturbing, warlike situation.
Francisca’s expression, upon seeing the serious situation, stiffened slightly.
Allen maintained his calm face.
‘I wonder if it’ll end well this time.’
When they arrived at the castle gates, the guards allowed them to pass through right away without inspection. Allen and the rest of the party were able to meet with Baron Bellourne of Hibelle immediately after sending the soldiers to the barracks.
“Oh, you’ve finally arrived!”
The middle-aged man with prematurely gray hair left a gentle impression.
He smiled, as if ecstatic that the party had come to greet him immediately after arriving at the city.
“Thank you for your enthusiastic welcome, Baron Bellourne.”
“Sir Allen, have you become even more accomplished in magic? It appears even more extraordinary than before.”
“Oh, this is nothing.”
“Well now, who is this person?”
After his greeting, Allen began introducing the rest of his party.
