Chapter 14
"Is this truly what you wanted?"
"Yes."
"This is the revenge you spoke of? This is all it amounted to?!"
A sob echoed through the ruins of the Academy.
The sob, seemingly tangled with every kind of emotion, rang through the air and reached everyone nearby.
"Where are you, Cecilia?"
"Hurry and come out! If we stay here any longer, we'll get caught in the explosion!"
The girl, who had been crying for a long while before the man stained with black blood, picked up the sword of the man who had been her only family and teacher.
As the blazing scenery around her was reflected in the sword, tears fell from her eyes.
"My revenge is over. Now take your revenge."
"You... You already knew?"
"From that day on, my sole purpose in life was to take revenge on you. But that day, I realized my blade wasn't meant to be pointed at you."
"I told you I was going to take revenge on you! Your revenge isn't over yet. So get up!"
Her lament, almost a scream, no longer reached him.
The blood flowing from his cold, lifeless body soaked her clothes and mingled with the rain pouring from the sky, forming a puddle.
And there, in the middle of that puddle, she swallowed her sobs and made a vow.
That she would have her revenge, no matter what.
Even if, in the endless cycle of repetition, she had to erase her very existence.
Just as she steeled her resolve and raised the sword to plunge it into her heart—
"Cecilia!"
"Roben..."
"Put that sword down right now. Otherwise, even if it's you, I'll have no choice but to kill you!"
"...The time I spent with all of you was happy. So I'll do anything to protect that happiness."
"What are you talking about? The Sword Demon is dead. Now we can just go back to our everyday lives!"
"I can't do that. Agnes, I'm already tainted. Someone like me can't stay by your side."
After saying that, she plunged the sword into her heart and slowly sank away, hearing the sound of her body disappearing and the screams of despair.
***
That day, I had an especially terrible dream.
It wasn't a pleasant dream, but it was one I had never had in all seven of my regressions, so I believed something would be different this time.
That I wouldn't die.
That I would finally be able to take my revenge.
But I was mistaken.
It wasn't over. I couldn't see the end. Every time I came close, the end drifted farther away.
The next regression came after I'd given up counting how many times I'd returned.
This morning, I didn't have the dream I'd been having ever since my seventh regression.
The circumstances had changed once again, but my thoughts as I looked outside were the same.
'In the end, nothing will change.'
Because I had become nothing more than a being doomed to repeat this world over and over.
Even my desire for revenge, my goal of killing that person, was slowly fading away.
-Ding, ding, ding.
The bell rang to announce the start of the Academy's entrance ceremony.
I got out of bed, got ready, took my sword, and headed for the Academy.
The moment I stepped into the street, I was greeted by a scene that hadn't changed at all.
A boy tripping as he walked by.
The sound of a small flowerpot falling from a window and shattering.
Cadets running toward the Academy.
And.
"Isn't that an Academy cadet?"
"Picking a fight with an Academy cadet? That gang's finished now."
"That's it! Give them another beating!"
"Ah, that feels so satisfying!"
They, too, were exactly as I remembered.
They'd soon finish off that gang and run to the Academy.
The entrance ceremony would begin soon, so they absolutely couldn't be late.
"Well, I suppose I'll go, too."
After entering the Academy, I paid no attention to anything until just before the entrance ceremony began.
Nothing would change anyway, and the student council president's position would fall to me.
Right. Even if I did nothing at all.
I stared into space, had my talent assessed, and returned to my seat without a thought in my head.
As I emptied my mind, the noisy sounds around me gradually faded away.
Just as I was thinking it would be nice to sleep forever like this, I heard jeering I'd never heard before.
"What's that?"
"What kind of talent is that?
"She enrolled at the Academy with a talent like that?"
"And that girl is a commoner!"
At the sudden change, I sprang to my feet and looked toward the center.
A black-haired cadet stood in the center, and above her floated a window declaring her talent to be Cleaning.
Even though I'd repeated the regression up through today, nothing at this entrance ceremony had ever changed.
Even if the slightest details had changed, the larger picture had never changed at all.
But now, not just a minor detail—the entire framework had changed drastically.
A cadet named Serena was someone I had never once seen in any of my regressions.
Conscious of the eyes around me, I calmly sat back down, but my mind was still in chaos.
I decided to find out who she was and waited for the freshman sparring matches to begin.
At last, the first match of the freshman sparring event began. When the cadet from a moment ago and Herman stepped out, the future I knew was completely derailed.
On top of that, I couldn't take my eyes off her as she fought on equal footing with Herman, heir to one of the Four Great Families, despite having a talent called Cleaning, and ultimately claimed victory.
It was only natural, since the future I'd thought would never change was being completely thrown off course.
Knowing Herman would attack from behind, I immediately went down into the arena and held my sword to his neck.
I couldn't predict what consequences an action I'd never taken in any previous regression might bring.
But it was certain that this decision was more important to me than anything else.
"Can you stand?"
"I'm not hurt."
"Then that's good."
We exchanged a few brief words, but I didn't know how to continue the conversation beyond that.
I had hardly spoken to anyone during my regressions.
I'll deal with this guy first, then think about it.
"Move again, and I'll cut your head off."
"Grr..."
"Answer me."
"I... I understand!"
Once the medical team carried off Herman, bleeding from his sword wound, only she and I remained in the arena.
"Um, may I ask your name?"
"I'm Cecilia."
"Thank you for helping me."
"Think nothing of it."
"I should repay you... but this is all I have."
"Candy?"
"I'll give you a proper reward next time. Well, goodbye."
She pressed a single piece of candy into my hand and then slipped away.
But when I opened my hand and looked closely, I saw that I wasn't holding only candy. There was also a piece of paper folded several times.
"Cadet Cecilia?"
"Professor Rayren?
"The next match is about to begin. Would you mind stepping down? I'll take care of this incident."
"Oh, all right."
I'll look at this paper later.
There was no way it was a coincidence that someone I'd never met had given me a note like this.
***
The situation after Cecilia's interruption was quickly brought under control.
Rayren stepped in and dealt with the incident, then returned Cecilia to her place. I also passed on what I needed to tell her, so I returned to my seat.
All I could do was hope the note I'd given her would have the desired effect.
I had to catch her interest so I could intervene directly, and so I could cross paths with the protagonist and the other supporting characters.
My existence as the first variable to appear at the end of my regressions had already attracted plenty of attention, but merely catching her eye wasn't enough.
Whether for good or ill, I had to make sure she remembered me.
"Next match: Cadet Roben versus Cadet Rael!"
Looks like I was first, and those two are up second.
Maybe I'll just watch now.
The protagonist's first meeting and first match with the minor antagonist.
As Roben and Rael stepped into the arena, the excited atmosphere grew heavy.
I'd never seen the Martial God's son—the man I wanted to kill—in action myself.
But he was strong enough to fight the protagonist as an equal, so he was surely stronger than me.
Well, this contract won't let me kill him anyway.
"I'll let you have the first strike."
"There's no need. Let's fight fair and square, Rael."
"You arrogant fool. Don't regret this!"
The match that followed was a battle between people who had gone far beyond the limits of ordinary humans.
Rael's weapon was a spear.
He used its long reach to drive the protagonist back, but Roben was blocking every attack.
Both of their talents were passive abilities.
Talents related to the elements, or talents that required activation, all came with a drawback called 'Lost.'
If they used their talents too much, they would lose the ability to use them. And if they forced themselves to keep using them, their bodies would be damaged.
But talents like the Spear God's Blessing and the World's Grace had no such thing as Lost.
Most talents that enhanced the body were useless compared to elemental or other talents.
There was no point in getting close if your opponent could simply burn or freeze you first.
But those two's talents were on another level.
"What do you think you're going to accomplish by just blocking?!"
"All right. Then I suppose I'll show a little of what I can do."
"Bring it!"
When their attacks collided, a thunderous crash rang out and the arena floor began to crumble.
As the dust that had obscured them slowly cleared, only one figure remained standing in the arena.
"Is that the commoner?"
"Could Lord Rael really have lost?!"
"This is impossible!"
As expected, the match ended in the protagonist's victory.
While everyone was stunned by Rael's utterly unexpected defeat, I was the only one smiling.
To me, seeing Rael rolling around on the floor felt like the most satisfying revenge.