Chapter 59
“…Come out.”
I said quietly toward the firmly closed door.
“If you keep staying in there, I can’t take a bath. Come out quickly.”
-Creeeak.
The faint sound of hinges turning echoed as the bathroom door slowly opened.
“…Just as I thought.”
And what emerged from inside the bathroom was….
“…A ninja?”
It was a ninja.
‘Huh…?’
No, why was a ninja suddenly coming out of there?
‘What is this supposed to be…?’
The absurd plot twist that casually shattered common sense gave me a throbbing headache. As I stood there with my eyes darting in confusion, the woman completely wrapped in black ninja garb said quietly.
“I see.”
“What do you mean?”
“Does Haru also know about ‘ninjas’?”
What was that supposed to mean?
When I stood there flustered and silent, the ‘ninja’ spoke to me again.
“Sir Calude said that the term ‘ninja’ referred to members of a covert assassin organization that existed in the East a very long time ago.”
“Sir Calude?”
Ah.
Only then did I understand.
‘He got me good.’
So this was the kind of trap he had set.
The idea of some covert assassin organization that had existed in the East long ago was utter nonsense.
If something like that had really existed, my master, who knew Eastern history inside and out, would have told me about it as an old tale at least once.
But I had never heard even the first syllable of the word ninja from my master.
In other words, this was a message Calude Lucilante was sending me.
‘You and I are the same… Is that it?’
This ninja was a kind of signal—a means for only fellow transmigrators to recognize one another as transmigrators.
‘I made a mistake.’
And just now, I had fallen neatly into the trap Calude had laid.
The problem was that, in my panic, I had let my inner thoughts slip out as words.
As a result, the servant dressed as a ninja standing before me now had realized that I knew about ninjas.
If she was Calude’s servant, there was no way she wouldn’t report to her master that I knew about ninjas, and if so, even if I met him and pretended not to be a transmigrator, it was obvious my lie would be exposed.
‘You’ve thought this through pretty well. A ninja, of all things….’
“I don’t have much time, so I’ll dispense with the preliminaries and get straight to the point.”
As I clicked my tongue inwardly, the ninja-dressed servant spoke quietly.
“Sir Calude Lucilante wishes to see you, Haru.”
=
“So.”
“….”
Calude Lucilante’s study, located in the tower on the eastern side of the estate.
“How does it feel to see something from the old world again?”
“You’re dropping the honorifics right away.”
I shot back sharply at Calude, who sat perched on the edge of the desk in his study and muttered quietly.
“Are you giving up that ridiculous pretense?”
“It isn’t pretense. This is who I really am.”
Calude shrugged and replied.
“I mean the me from the original world, not an outsider who forced his way into a corpse.”
“…A corpse?”
What did that mean?
“Yes, a corpse.”
But unlike me, who was flustered, Calude spoke calmly.
“Think about it rationally. Where would one body have room for two people’s minds? Surely you don’t believe in that absurd pseudo-science claiming humans only use ten percent of their brains.”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“Exactly what I said.”
Calude got down from the desk he had been sitting on, looked at me, and said,
“You and I were both characters who should have died in the original ‘story.’”
“….”
“Try recalling the moment you were first possessed. What was it like for you?”
The first time I was possessed?
Only then did I feel my heart jolt.
And I realized. Come to think of it, until now, I had never once remembered ‘the moment I was possessed.’”
“For reference, I had a hole the size of a fist punched clean through my side.”
“…What?”
“I only learned this later, but you know that girl, Kate? Her mother sent the assassin.”
Calude proceeded to lay out shocking information as if it were nothing.
“It was quite a shock, you know. When your student brought up that story.”
“…Then what about me?”
Without realizing it, I asked Calude.
“You may have been nothing more than an extra wastrel who didn’t even appear in the original, but I’m the protagonist’s childhood friend. There’s no way such an important character would have died.”
“….”
“You know what genre this novel is, too. The Haru in the original must have been the kind of character who clung to the protagonist, regretting everything and bawling all the while….”
“Ah.”
As I rambled on, Calude grinned and said quietly,
“You didn’t read the novel to the end.”
“….”
Oh no.
‘I walked right into it.’
For a moment, I felt as though I’d been struck in the back of the head. Calude smiled and waved his hands dismissively.
“Hey, don’t get so defensive for no reason. Aren’t we from the same world? I don’t want to be on bad terms with you, either.”
“…Are you serious?”
“Of course. What would I gain by making an enemy of you now? Better to have one more ally, if anything.”
Calude waved his hand.
“I’ll tell you everything slowly, so don’t rush me.”
“….”
I still didn’t feel inclined to trust him… but now it seemed there was no choice but to listen to what he had to say.
‘I fell completely into that bastard’s rhythm.’
We started with completely different amounts of information. Even if I tried to awkwardly seize control of the conversation now, I would only be toyed with.
“Before I begin, there’s one thing I want to apologize for in advance.”
“An apology?”
“You fought Rex, didn’t you? Because he investigated your master.”
“…How did you know?”
“I have quite a few ears.”
Calude replied calmly.
“Don’t look at me like that. What else would a transmigrator who had mastered the original story from beginning to end and ended up in a prestigious noble family overflowing with wealth and power do?”
“…I understand, so continue what you were saying.”
“Anyway. I won’t say I orchestrated everything, but I was the one who provided Rex with some information about your master.”
“Does my master appear in the original story, too?”
“Of course. And in a very important role at that.”
Calude nodded.
“Just to make sure, your master’s name is Gaul, right?”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
“He uses blood magic, and his blood blade takes the form of a broad-bladed sword about 1.3 meters long.”
“That’s right, too.”
“Black hair, a giant over two meters tall….”
He said he would tell me everything, but Calude kept bombarding me with questions. I could no longer contain myself and shouted,
“Yes, that’s right, too! Enough already, so just get to the point…!”
“I was only being cautious.”
Calude cut me off in a low but forceful voice.
“What I’m about to tell you may not be a light matter to you, even if it is to me.”
“….”
“Listen carefully. Gaul in the original story is… a villain.”
Calude said quietly.
“And he controls your corpse, dug out of its grave, to block Rex’s path.”
“……What?”
“I know, I know! I understand it’s hard to believe.”
Calude quickly added,
“But your blood! You know your blood is cursed, don’t you? You were born with that kind of constitution.”
“….”
“That comes up in the original story, too. When explaining why you… no, why the original Haru died, it’s mentioned along with it. Even after you died and were buried, your blood continued to live on, and Gaul, a blood mage, could control that blood. To deal with Rex, his greatest obstacle, he used his most painful memory—”
“Shut your damn mouth.”
I drew my sword, baring my teeth.
“I’ve heard enough. I can’t listen to any more of this.”
“…Hey.”
Calude opened his mouth, sweat breaking out on his brow. But I had no intention of waiting for him to speak. I immediately held a blood blade beneath his chin and growled,
“Tell me. What are you trying to get from me, after spouting that nonsense about not wanting to be on bad terms?”
“…This is why I didn’t want to tell you.”
Calude clicked his tongue and muttered.
“Whether you believe me or not, that’s your choice. And….”
It wasn’t worth hearing more. I swung my sword immediately, intending to cut his throat.
-Clang!!
“…Listen to what someone has to say until the end. I didn’t take you for someone with such a short fuse.”
And in that brief instant, Calude raised his staff and blocked my sword.
“I asked what your purpose was.”
“My purpose?”
Calude echoed as though genuinely asking whether I was serious.
“You’re asking because you don’t know? Obviously, to return to the original world!”
“…To the original world?”
Once again, incomprehensible words.
Return to the original world?
How?
The original ‘me’ should have been dead?
“…..Ah. I see.”
The instant the thought that I had made a mistake crossed my mind,
Calude muttered quietly,
“Your circumstances are different from mine.”
“…Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue and pushed the blade harder. When the blood blade touched his neck, I felt it lightly cut into his flesh. Calude said urgently,
“Fine. Whether you believe me or not is your choice, but my goal is to return to the original world. And I already know a method with a substantial chance of success.”
At the instant my attention wavered at his words, Calude twisted his staff hard and knocked my sword downward.
-Kak…!
“So… please, could you put away this threatening thing? I’m starting to run out of strength.”
At Calude’s words, I silently withdrew the blade. It wasn’t because I was complying with him; I needed time to organize my confused thoughts.
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t find a reason for him to lie to me.
Judging from his reaction, unlike me, he seemed not to have died in the original world, either.
Therefore, he still held on to the hope of returning to the original world, and because he thought I was in the same situation as him… it seemed likely that he had simply wanted to show me kindness because we were in the same boat.
No matter how much I tried to deny it, my limited mind couldn’t come up with any other possibility.
It was then, while I was lost in thought. Calude withdrew his staff, then suddenly bowed his head.
“First, I sincerely apologize. For suspecting you and sounding you out, and for inflating a small issue to submit a mission request to draw you in. I apologize for bringing up unsettling things for no reason as well.”
“…What’s your angle?”
I repeated only that, like a parrot. There was nothing else I could do.
Calude shook his head and continued.
“I’m truly sorry for confusing you as well. It’s a meager recompense, but while you stay in Lucilante territory, I’ll make sure you enjoy every convenience possible. Naturally, that goes not only for you, but all your students as well.”
“….”
“And if you want, you don’t even have to complete the mission. Of course, there is a minor problem, but it’s well within what I can handle on my own.”
“…I have just one question.”
I asked as I secured the sword at my waist.
“What is this method for returning to the original world?”
“…I’m sorry, but that is the one thing I absolutely cannot tell you.”
Calude shook his head.
“Even if you glare at me like that, I can’t. I mean it. It isn’t what I want, but even if it means ending up completely at odds with you here, I can’t tell you.”
Calude’s reaction was stubborn. I glared at him for a long while, then turned my back on him.
I no longer had the energy to argue, and above all, my head hurt badly.
Right now, all I wanted was to lie down somewhere and rest.