Regressor, Possessor, Reincarnator

Maria immediately bowed her head after greeting Allen.

Feigning an air of indifference, Allen looked at her with a quizzical eye.

‘What is she doing here?’

Was she just going for a walk? Or did she have another purpose?

The same cat was still poking out of the alley.

It couldn't be…

Allen lowered his hand without a word.

Meow.

The cat clung to Allen's approaching figure without warning. It was one of the small changes he’d experienced after receiving a higher level of sensitivity from the god.

Maria's eyes flicked to the cat clinging to Allen's side, as if envious for a moment.

Seeing that, Allen began, "…Do you want to pet it?"

"…Mhm."

Since his first interaction with her, he’d only heard her give short responses, from her remarks toward Elnix’s followers to Heisel and Benjamin.

'I'm sure she's been taught manners…’

Allen stopped thinking about her, though he could feel her from this short distance.

Her eyes stayed glued to the cat. But as soon as she got closer, it bared its fangs, its fur standing on end.

Hiiiissss.

"…Ah."

Her hand paused, hovering in the air. Maria looked at Allen and back at the cat, alternating between the two with a sad face.

Allen calmed the cat down and thought to himself after seeing her pathetic figure, ‘Does she like animals? But…'

She was so fervently and objectively incompatible with them.

Some people were said to be born out of sync with animals, and she seemed to be one of those cases.

'I didn't know about this.'

He sensed that it was a natural opportunity to make friends with her.

Allen lifted up the cat with both hands.

The cat buried its head in his arms, as if they had some form of genuine connection already. Allen briefly adjusted the position of his hand around the small creature.

"Here, now try. It should be fine now."

Did she not expect this at all from him? Her eyes widened slightly.

"I…"

She paused, seeming troubled. Allen softly cautioned, "If you don’t do it now, you might not have a chance later…”

She gave a determined look, almost as if saying ‘thank you’.

Her hand slowly approached. It was an even slower motion than before, but her hand glided through the space between them without hesitation.

Meow.

The little guy, who’d previously been hissing at her approach, relaxed as Allen pet him.

Maria lowered her hand, drifting in the air, as if she were encouraged by the sight.

Pat.

Pat, pat.

She patted his head, many times over.

"Okay, now."

"Ah…"

Fearing that the animal was experiencing too much stress, Allen let go of the cat, and she let out a sigh of regret.

The cat quickly kicked off the ground with its back legs, jumped over the wall, and disappeared.

As if their ordeal had been no calamity at all, he said, "There’ll be another chance some other time, so you don't have to be so disappointed."

"…Another chance?"

"Yes, if that’s what you want."

Allen shrugged his shoulders a bit, and she replied involuntarily.

"…Then tomorrow?"

"What?"

"Help me tomorrow, too?”

He couldn’t believe things were going so well… There was a resolute emotion set in her normally blank eyes.

‘Was there something like this in the black book…? Wait, no.'

Allen caught himself, suddenly coming to the realization that he was relying solely on the black book and its contents.

When he’d first discovered the book's ability, he was attentive to the information that gave it away. But now, having come to his senses, he realized that he was on the verge of valuing the contents of the book more than his very own memories and experiences.

'…I've been over-reliant on it lately.’

He naturally relied on the book for information to help him deal with new places and experiences he’d yet to experience. His attitude of questioning and looking into what he saw had begun to get in his own way.

"…Really?"

Couldn’t the reason why he hadn’t been getting results be because he wasn’t trying hard enough to elicit them on his own?

Allen looked at Maria. Her expression was so vague that it was difficult to read. He redirected his thoughts entirely on his own judgment.

"Sure, I'll help you as much as you want."

"Really?"

Bit by bit.

He had no choice but to attract Heisel with a checkable hand.

Maybe he hadn’t done anything as of now, but before his return, Heisel had worked together with Julius as his colleague.

"Yes, I am also interested in you. You’re known as a descendant of the First Warrior."

So he had to be prepared.

There was no shortage of people with heritage tracing back to the First Warrior to keep Heisel, the Demon King, in check.

'Of course, it depends on what choices Heisel makes.’

There was still time left.

There was also time to think about who gave him that all-knowing book.

There was time to get acquainted with her.

And there was time to watch Heisel, too.

"Maria."

"What?"

"Call me Maria."

So.

"…Okay, Miss Maria."

"Drop the ‘Miss’.”

"…Okay, Maria."

"Mhm.”

He didn’t mind concentrating on his conversation with her for a while now.

Maria looked in the direction where the cat had disappeared and turned around. Allen's bitter smile captured his lips only after he’d said what he wanted and turned around.

"Then, how about same time tomorrow… I'll meet you in front of the main building."

"Mhm."

Allen stared back at her, recalling her demise in their previous life that he’d heard about through rumors.

A pure, yet poor and pitiful woman who claimed to be a descendant of the First Warrior.

"Ah."

She died five years later.

"What's wrong?"

"Name."

"Do you mean my name?"

"Mhm."

An untimely death—necrosis of brain tissue caused by oxygen deprivation resultant from sustained compression of the carotid arteries.

"Allen Reinhart. I am one of the Reinhart family of the Kingdom of Liberé in the west."

"Maria Caritas."

"Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you."

In other words, it was suicide.

* * *

* * *

Elijah Habueron.

The second heir to the Aldenian Empire, the empire that unified the eastern half of the continent, while the western half housed an assortment of countless small, scattered countries and kingdoms.

But his role was a little more interesting than just that.

In fact, the heir presumptive lacked legitimacy in their pedigree.

It was Elijah who was born unto the Empress, while his brother was a child born by mistake when the Emperor was still the Crown Prince.

If the Crown Prince lacked the ability to rule, or if his maternal relatives dared to be ambitious and cause a disturbance. If the customs of the empire did not advocate for meritocracy.

Elijah may have been able to aim for the Crown Prince’s seat.

Birthright turned out to be less of a stumbling block than he’d thought.

Because the Emperor did not think it a stumbling block.

Even an illegitimate child could prove their ability, so they passed onto him the status of the Crown Prince. And nobody, not even the officials of the empire, opposed the decision to do so.

The founding emperor had set forth this custom in order to mitigate restrictions on his status, and also as an attempt to better the relationship between the empresses.

So, he settled.

Elijah obeyed the Emperor's command and didn’t make trouble. He was on good terms with the Crown Prince, so he was allowed to come to the Academy, even though doing so would put him in danger since he was gaining power.

If nothing had happened, he would have returned to the empire and become Lord of some fairly large area of land somewhere, eating well and living comfortably.

‘If it wasn't for Julius.’

That was how Allen really came to hate Julius. How he came to meddle with Elijah’s relation with the throne.

At that time, he really tried to understand Julius as he was now.

‘He didn't really try to take my brother's body.’

Maybe it was just a coincidence.

Maybe then it wouldn’t be his fault?

If it weren't for that incident, Allen would probably have given up on revenge entirely.

Maybe they could compromise a little bit because they knew that revenge wasn’t possible.

Like his father.

Like everyone except for him.

However, after realizing the full context of the incident, Allen felt a deep disgust as an aristocrat and as a person.

Five months later around the start of the new semester, a new student would enter into the Academy.

Maya Habueron.

The emperor’s youngest daughter, and a woman of great talent.

Rumor had it that it was there that she met her fate.

‘People say she fell in love at first sight, but…’

Nobody could really know for certain.

Maybe Julius, who recognized her talent, set off to approach her first.

Knowing Julius's abilities, Allen was able to guess at the meaning behind their meeting from a different perspective.

In any case, their unlikely encounter resulted in the worst case scenario, one nobody could have predicted back then.

A year later, the Crown Prince suddenly died.

It was from an unidentified curse.

Another year later, the third in line to be Emperor of the Aldenian Empire died during an expedition while searching for someone suitable to fill the Crown Prince’s vacant seat.

That had been a monster mob ambush.

Having been in the process of investigating the two deaths, Elijah immediately amassed an army and attacked Maya, but was ultimately defeated.

Committing suicide on the battle field.

No one knew why he’d targeted her.

However, the circulating rumors claimed it was because he was beginning to feel anxious about her. After all, she was primed to become a new rival in becoming the next Emperor. The rumor soon became widespread enough that it was accepted as the truth throughout the continent.

The old emperor, who had lost three children in a short period of time, suffered a significant decline in his health in the ensuing months.

The other surviving members of the imperial family were all scared off by the siblings’ deaths and took one step back from the battle of succession. And in that time, Maya overtook her other siblings to assume the position of the heir presumptive to the throne.

It was only through a certain coincidence that Allen came to learn the full context of the situation.

While searching for any form of weaknesses in his opponents, as always, he ‘coincidentally’ had the opportunity to explore his inventory.

It was the sort of space that Allen generally wouldn't have been able to breach, but there was a gap somewhere in the boundary through which he was able to infiltrate.

‘If I were to try again now, I doubt I could find such an easy in.’

At that time, Allen was blinded by his impatience.

That’s where he found the diary.

「/////// Diary」

The diary contained the full picture of all the events that had all seemed like coincidences at first glance, from the death of the Crown Prince to Elijah’s civil war.

Judging by the point of view showcased in the writing, the diary’s author was clearly Elijah. And in it, he clearly pointed back to Julius as the one behind it all.

‘…He’s fully overstepped his bounds.' 

Allen was furious.

That bastard, Julius, had betrayed the duties of an aristocrat.

He was the one behind the assassination of the members of the imperial family as well as its largest internal rebellion, resulting in countless casualties—all for his own gain.

Doing anything for his own gain without reservation.

Allen even realized the exact moment he’d broken his ancestral oath.

The two of them, Allen and Julius, simply could not coexist.

In that very moment, the idea of trying to understand him died.

Finally, when he heard the news that Julius had shed tears in front of the Empress to comfort her at the funeral of the late Emperor, Allen finally learned what that creature’s true nature was.

He was a piece of shit.

A disgrace of a brother.

Trash, throwing away his aristocratic duties.

Thinking about it now, he could guess that his behavior had been pretty heavily influenced by the System or Quests…

‘But it doesn't matter. He still chose to do it.’

He would have tried to do something about it if the journal hadn't disappeared suddenly after finding it.

Even now, it was painful thinking about the whereabouts of the disappeared journal. He’d only taken his eyes off of it for a moment.

Because of that journal, Allen did not stop Benjamin and Julius from sparring.

No, he could not stop them.

Because of the incident, Elijah would form a hostile relationship with Julius.

Without Benjamin's sacrifice, Elijah would’ve easily forgiven Julius.

And Allen needed him.

His power. His name. His position. His help.

He needed the cooperation and power of the Crown Prince in order to deal with the forces that would eventually fight for Julius in the future.

Even if it crippled Benjamin.

Allen would make the same choice over and over again, even if he were to go back to the past again. Both for the future and for his brother.

‘So.’

He had to take responsibility.

He wouldn’t avoid it, and he wouldn't turn a blind eye, either.

Instead, he would humbly accept the consequences of his actions.

Allen looked up. The hot desert wind drifted through the valley surrounding the entire city and transformed into a passing spring breeze.

From his window on the fourth floor, he could see the view of the square where the Holy Sword was embedded.

Although he was sad to not see a panoramic view of Elpis, he was satisfied.

"Sir, I have collected all the things that you requested of the alchemists."

The now familiar scent of lilac had arrived. It marked the entry of a special being with a refreshing voice and countless powers unique to the fairy race.

"You’ve done a great job, Inellia."

As Allen turned his head, Inellia bowed in a practiced gesture. "It was nothing. But sir, what are you going to use them for…?”

There were a variety of things gathered in her arms.

The red tail of a nightingale. Siren tears. The echoing voices of the condemned, and the young stamens of morning glories that had bloomed in the early morning.

Even the life stone Allen had gotten from the witch.

Dozens of objects poured out from her small pockets.

It was a magical sight.

Allen spoke in a rather calm tone, much unlike the first time he’d witnessed her fairy-derived abilities that he’d only read about in books. "Your abilities are amazing as always.”

"…But it doesn't always seem like it.”

Perhaps hearing the disappointment in her voice, Allen smiled and placed the ingredients she had gathered in his own inventory.

"I've seen it many times, yet it still never fails to surprise me."

As a sorcerer who’d practiced the spatial system, it would be strange to not use the space granted to him by use of magic.

"I think I’m ready now… Let's go meet them."

It took quite a while to inquire after the dozens of alchemists required to gather all the materials.

'If I had an alchemist working under me, it would’ve surely only taken half the time.’

For security purposes, it was necessary to bring an alchemist onto his side.

Or maybe…

Allen looked at Inellia for a moment.

Although she was a chimera, the blood of fairy royalty ran through her veins. She was resourceful, too.

‘Since ancient times, things crafted by fairies have worked pretty well.’

Allen brushed past Inellia, planning to discuss this with her later.

After his proposal, Inellia asked carefully, "Who would you like to meet?"

"There's only one person I have in mind."

Allen remembered what was waiting for him.

"Elijah, the second heir."

It was time to meet him.