Elise went to Edsilla National University as if nothing had happened. She noticed the gazes of the students on her. Among them were complex feelings of hostility, pity, and ridicule.
She didn’t care.
In fact, she had expected this.
She was prepared for the consequences when she committed the act.
By now, Ken Petra must be tracing the leak of information, and soon he would find out that she was the culprit.
Yael... he was probably murdered by now.
For Elise, it was a decision to throw away everything she had.
Of course, she wasn't without a plan for what comes next
[Admission Permit to the Tower of Magic]
Having already received an invitation from the Tower, she planned to study abroad there.
She had enough funds. She had sold all her luxury items.
The Tower of Magic was known to be a money pit so she might have to live a bit frugally, but that was a sacrifice she was willing to make.
.Sigh."
The rooftop of the magic department building was filled with fresh air.
Elise leaned against the railing, fixing her fluttering hair, looking out over the wide green park under the blue sky.
The contrast of colors was sharp.
She hadn’t expected to leave the university so soon.
She had thought maybe in a year, but to not even finish her final exams—
Tap— Tap—
The sound of steps arose faintly.
Elise quietly turned around.
There he was.
‘...Ah.’
The very person who had driven her to make this decision.
More than anyone else Ken Petra had harmed, this paradoxical person tormented my heart
The one who made it clear to me more than anyone else that I was selfish.
Shion Ascal.
I looked at Elise. Elise looked at me. Our entangled gazes were awkward.
“...Hello."
I was the first to raise my hand.
Elise slightly furrowed her brow. Her lips pouted.
“...What's that?”
“What do you mean.”
I took a step closer to her.
“It seems like we have things to say to each other, so I came looking for you.”
We were somehow entangled.
I couldn’t unravel everything, but just.
If I let her go without saying anything, it felt like I wouldn’t see her for a longtime.
Elise let out a thin sigh.
“...Why. Didn’t you say anything?”
It was a light question at first.
I smiled slightly, shrugging as if it was obvious.
"The guilt by association law has been abolished.”
The sins of the family do not pass down to the children.
It seems somewhat unfair. All the positive assets accumulated are inherited by the descendants, but they are free from the sins.
But well., if you start to argue, there's no end to it
You need the wisdom to know when to cut things off.
"The re-election might not be a failure. The chances of winning are still high.”
Elise continued with a subdued voice.
"That's how politics works. There’s nothing to be done about it.”
“...I guess so."
Politics has always been like that
It’s not about truth or falsehood, but a ‘mechanism’ formed by some power dynamics.
“Still, he won’t be able to set foot at the Round Table. Not in your father’s generation, at least"
"Then it’s over? I have no intention of becoming a member of parliament.”
Now, Petra’s ambition will end with Ken’s generation.
The family that Ken built before my regression will change, and the monster he raised will disappear.
“Yeah.”
Elise looked at me and exhaled a faint breath.
“I’ve paid it back.”
The words ‘paid it back’.
I didn’t come here just to hear that.
“...Don’t you have anything else to say to me?”
I asked, scratching the back of my neck.
“Huh?”
Elise looked at me for a moment, blinking as if asking what more I wanted.
I wanted to ask about her feelings.
Why, specifically for me, she had exposed Petra’s crimes.
‘...Ah.’
Suddenly, her brows furrowed. She bit her lip slightly as if a fever had come on, glaring at me with her eyebrows deeply furrowed.
“It was about the new drug."
“...What?”
An unexpected statement popped out.
"That time. It means it wasn't a kickback.”
Kickback.
I was taken back to the past for a moment.
To the distant past, when I was a patient with demonic leukemia at Petra University Hospital.
“It was legitimately developed by a foreign biotech company, and the clinical trial results were perfect I found it myself while studying.”
I listened quietly to her words.
A strange, hollow laugh spread across my lips.
“I strongly recommended it to the professor. The professor, who had thought highly of me, accepted it with good intentions.”
Elise rattled off her words like a machine gun.
“Butthen the article came out as a kickback? Right during the election season. So..."
She trembled as she pulled out her smartphone. Tap tap tap— her fingers drummed on the screen.
“...Take a look for yourself.”
She threw the smartphone at me.
I looked at the content.
The anticancer drug that Petra had once tried to prescribe to me, though now under a different name, was being used as the most popular treatment for acute leukemia outside of Edsilla, according to the paper.
A slight tingling sensation hit the back of my head.
Elise’s voice pierced sharply.
“When I was young, I resented you for it. You probably resented me too.”
I was dumbfounded.
This girl, she really wanted to heal patients for a better prognosis.
Meanwhile, Yael and I were used by adults and discarded.
Because of those misunderstandings.
“But stilb.."
She let out a sigh filled with heat.
'So...'
Her lips quivered as if she was pressing down on something.
“Now, it’s just jealousy."
Those were the words Elise barely managed to say, simply jealousy.
My eyes slowly tilted.
“Hmm...”
Jealousy.
Then, had Elise been harboring some kind of negative feelings all this time? What had she been contemplating?
I took a bold step toward her. As she flinched in surprise, I placed my hand on her shoulder.
I met her eyes and smiled.
“Then, you're right Plus minus zero.”
The corners of Elise’s mouth wavered.
She tried not to smile, but it leaked out like steam from a rice cooker.
“We're just back to the starting point now.”
Elise pursed her lips deliberately. Then, she changed her expression back to a serious one and pushed me away.
“Move.”
I added one more thing as she was about to leave immediately.
“...I heard you’re going to the Tower of Magic.”
The Tower of Magic.
In fact, before the regression, Elise hadn’t stayed long at the Tower of Magic. She only trained for a mere year to manage her family.
It was a waste of her magical talent
Therefore, no one really knows the full potential of Elise as a magician.
She might become an even more overwhelming ‘Archmage’ than the monster she had become under Petra, and she might raise Petra again.
An Archmage family would be much more prestigious than a family of parliament members.
However...
I felt a bit regretful.
“I guess I won’t see you much now."
Elise’s shoulders twitched. She looked back at me with a complex expression.
“You’re busy, aren’t you? With all the things you're trying to do."
She must know what I’m involved in.
A Libra Chaser lives a life committing crimes far worse than anyone else.
“Sure. It’s better not to be close, to avoid getting blood on you.”
It was meant to be a dark joke, but Elise shook her head too seriously.
“It doesn't matter. I don’t mind getting that on me.”
Her saying that made me a bit afraid.
It seemed like something might remain inside me, which has lived only with resentment and hatred.
“...Oh right.”
I looked at Elise. She tilted her head in confusion.
There was something I had almost forgotten to say.
“Yael is dead.”
Suddenly, Elise's expression turned bitterly somber.
“It’s okay. I expected-"
“Officially."
“Officially?”
I handed her the phone. It was a satellite phone connected to Yael.
It was absolutely untraceable.
“How...?”
Elise looked up at me and asked. Her expression was as innocent as a deer, which was endearing.
“Don’t ask how. I’m a Chaser, remember?”
I received a bit of help from Akane. Her dolls are almost indistinguishable from real humans.
She took the phone without a word.
“Don’t contact too often. Resolve any lingering feelings first From my perspective, you're both good people.”
Both good people.
Perhaps Elise didn’t like the sound of‘both.’ Maybe she wanted to be considered the better person.
“Well., thanks. I’ll be going.”
She turned around briskly, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Take care. Keep in touch.”
I called out to her back. Elise trudged down the stairs.
“...Hoo”
Leaning against the railing, I looked down.
Tap, tap, tap—Elise was walking out.
“—Thanks?"
Suddenly, a voice expressing gratitude to me.
This time it was Yael.
He came up to the rooftop, taking turns with Elise. However, his face was completely different from before.
An Infimian. Just by having a magic core on me, I can impose an Infimian disguise on someone else.
“If you're grateful, then live a normal life.”
I told him.
“Far away from here."
The person who died to save me before the regression.
My very first friend.
My oldest friend.
“Try to live happily, please. It's a favor I'm asking."
Yael leaned against the railing next to me, looking up at the blue sky with a deep smile.
“I’ll give it a shot.”
...Soliette’s adventure continues.
She crossed deserts, navigated jungles, and conquered uninhabited islands, all with her party members, including [Kal] and Denny].
Together they cried, laughed, fought, got annoyed, reconciled, and enjoyed.
“So, you know what I said back then?”
“What did you say? Stop with the nonsense.”
“It’s not nonsense, really!”
Late at night, the sound of chatter echoed around the campfire.
Soliette wore a serene smile.
She liked this atmosphere.
Being together with everyone, sharing stories, and most of all, being with her brother...
“Hmm...”
She cautiously glanced at Jared. He was occasionally smiling at something [Kal] was saying.
“Dinner’s ready.”
Just then, [Hans] spoke up. He set down a pot full of meat soup.
[Jenny], who grabbed the ladle first, served everyone evenly.
“Let's eat.”
“Alright"
Soliette took a sip. Her eyes widened.
“It’s delicious, Mr. Hans."
“Of course, it is. It's me, after all.”
[Hans] rolled up his sleeves and laughed heartily.
Even the always stoic [Hans] now had a natural expression.
It meant they had all become closer.
“How is it, Mr. Jared?”
Soliette asked Jared. Jared smiled faintly and nodded.
“It’s delicious. But,"
He looked at [Hans].
“Have you been in charge of the meals from the beginning?
“Of course. Ever since we formed the party, I’ve been handling it all. These guys can’t cook anything to save their lives."
“What do you mean we can't cook?”
[Kal] furrowed his brow.
“I would try to make something, but you’d criticize it, so I got annoyed and let you handle it. You’re quite the cooking enthusiast... which is good, though."
Chuckling, [Kal] gulped down a bowl of soup.
Soliette watched them with contentment, then took a big sip of her soup...
Suddenly.
A strange suspicion crossed her mind.
A chilling sensation ran down her spine.
She silently mulled over [Hans]’s words.
—Of course. Ever since we formed the party, I’ve been handling it all. These guys can't cook anything to save their lives.
Ever since the party was formed.
From the very beginning of [Bethune].
Soliette belatedly recalled the early days of her own [Bethune] experience.
She rewound to the day she first encountered [Kal]’s party.
She quietly looked around.
Crackle, crackle—the burning campfire.
Still, the party laughed and chatted, oblivious as they ate.
But Soliette’s thoughts continued coldly.
Upon reflection, they had never eaten anything from the beginning.
Since [Bethune]’s food provided no actual nutritional value, and they had to eat after logging out no matter how much they ate in [Bethune] from that time on.
This party had subsisted solely on the food within [Bethune] from the very start
Moreover, Soliette had never once seen any of them log out.
The party members said 'even logging out time was too precious to waste,’ and Soliette thought they would manage their logout times sensibly, but...
It was a premise impossible for humans from the start.
There was only one possible premise.
Thump—
Soliette set her soup on the ground.
Hiding her trembling heart as best as she could, she looked around at [Kal], [Hans], [Jenny], [Chris].
The four party members she had been with in [Bethune].
Alone, yet together, the space suddenly felt empty.
Still beside the burning embers of the campfire,
Soliette sat like a soulless person, questioning herself.
...What if, these people aren't human?
What if they’re NPCs, not human?
