Chapter 197 : Chapter 197

Chapter 197 : Weaving the Threads of the Past (3)

The ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍reason I could maintain my sanity amid those countless repetitions of pain was thanks to my conversation with Pleta, whom I had truly encountered by chance.

-“Well, ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍what business could I have? I was nearby on a mission, heard that you were here, and decided to stop by.”

Her ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍pure goodwill in taking time out of her already busy schedule to come talk to me.

-“I ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍hear she did well in the written tests, which used to be her weakness, so her class ranking rose. Apparently, she was bouncing around with excitement. Is she not cute?”

It ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍was a feeling that had become difficult to experience after Rain Enlight became a kind of hero.

The ‍​‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‍goodwill I received after that was usually calculated to the last detail and hollow.

-“Is there anyone who dislikes a cute child? If you are human, that is a natural reaction!”

Genuine human relationships and exchanges that even the person speaking seemed to enjoy.

They had become the only refuge amid the time that revolved like a hamster wheel.

I had worried that even my emotions toward Pleta’s conversations would dull through repetition, but instead, they gave me the drive to keep moving forward.

And more than anything.

-“Junior Serene is exceptionally—”

-“Junior Khan went home after the semester ended, and—”

-“Junior Elwin is……yes, there has not been a major turning point, but—”

-“Yuna is doing well. She has made more friends, and—”

-“Arien Ortega……ah, the one who danced with you at the Exchange Meeting—”

-“Her Highness the Princess? Hmm, she seemed busy, so—”

Whenever I heard from Pleta about them—the people I could call friends in this cruel world—I felt a measure of relief.

Naturally, it seemed to prove that I was not the only one in this world fighting against hardship.

That was why I could barely hold on to my reason even as my mind grew increasingly worn down.

There was the issue that, although Pleta only came to see me once in reality, I had met her more than a hundred times from my perspective, so only my own internal familiarity with her had grown considerably.

Well. Was that even enough to call a problem?

I was being saved by an astonishing coincidence like this.

If I had not even had this, I would have long since collapsed internally, unable to find any way to relieve the pain.

A thought occurred to me.

‘Is this really nothing more than coincidence?’

It was a truly idle thought.

But what if this was not coincidence, but inevitability?

Had someone looking down on me from high above created this refuge for me while disguising it as coincidence?

It did not seem likely, but why had that thought occurred to me?

Who knows.

I felt as though I was becoming more sentimental by the day.

Though I spoke as if I had attained some kind of realization, the endless repetition of pain with no promise of an end still wore a person down.

It dulled the senses, creating doubt even when I knew in both mind and heart that I was not alone.

A bitter doubt asking what any of this meant.

People were weak.

At least, I was.

With all my reason and heart, I had resolved to confront the enemy before me, Robelia.

During the ten days that came with every Iteration of death, I honed myself like a blade.

Through my conversations with Pleta, I repeatedly carved into myself the reasons I had to keep fighting.

And yet.

-“My beloved younger brother.”

When the time of fate came again and I encountered her, my resolve melted away as though it had been an illusion like a mirage, and fear filled its place.

The helplessness of knowing I could not defeat her, or even resist her.

The self-loathing that made my existence feel so insignificant and worthless.

The exhaustion that made me think the only reason for my existence, less than dust itself, was to be loved by her.

To survive, I had to beg her for the right to exist. That thought filled my head.

It was suffocating.

It was not progress, but an endless standstill.

As though I were turning a wheel forever, there was no sign that the situation was improving, and it felt as though nothing had changed from the beginning.

‘It only feels as though everything I have done has no meaning.’

Would I eventually give up and close my eyes after being trapped in this loop and repeating the pain?

What meaning did the things I held in my hands, the things I had considered precious, even have?

But one fact had been engraved very clearly, at least into my unconscious mind.

Even if actions for the sake of something felt entirely meaningless.

Even if the conclusion I reached after exhausting ten thousand lives seemed as though it would amount to nothing but treading water.

Even if it truly had no meaning.

If I somehow kept clawing forward, gritting my teeth and crying out, then even the slightest meaning would emerge.

The time I had longed for would arrive.

It was after roughly four hundred Regressions since I had suddenly encountered Robelia.

-“After going to the trouble of making you into a weak, adorable child, you have strayed far too far from your sister’s intentions, have you not?”

Those words from Robelia.

I only vaguely remembered the context in which she had said them.

Perhaps she had mentioned my power while talking about the present situation, where Rain Enlight had transformed from the Wastrel Young Master into the Empire’s new rising star.

Like a cow catching a mouse by stepping backward, it must have been a pure coincidence.

A once-in-a-lifetime coincidence that finally revealed itself after hundreds of Regressions had piled up.

But I could draw an implication from those words.

‘She made me into a weak, adorable child. My sister’s intentions.’

Robelia’s intention had been for Rain to remain weak.

And weakness included not only emotional weakness, but physical weakness as well.

The two were not separate concepts. If the body was weak, that sense of self-loathing would affect the mind. If the mind was weak, the body would also fail to function properly.

Then Robelia had needed to make both of them weak.

‘And she said that when I mentioned becoming stronger.’

The strangeness that had been provoked.

Rain Enlight’s body had been weak to the point of being not merely strange, but grotesque.

The growth curve I had shown while reaching my current level of skill had been utterly despairing.

Yes. That question had always remained a mystery.

But if Robelia had used some kind of method on Rain Enlight’s body, then this……could be clearly explained.

‘But she might only be talking about the mind.’

This might be a simple metaphor, and my earlier judgment might be nothing more than overinterpretation.

But what if it was?

I had thousands of opportunities to determine the truth.

My mind, which had been suffocating amid dark fog and smoke, found a single thread of a clue and gradually cleared it away with faint light.

Then, barely holding on to my mind as it fell into confusion, I wrung out the words and opened my mouth.

“One……question.”

“Hmm—?”

Robelia looked puzzled and interested at the unexpected sight of me speaking.

“……Why was it necessary?”

It was bait. Bait meant to draw a response from Robelia.

“Not only my mind……did you have to mercilessly grind down even my body?”

It was a question that would only receive a natural answer if the premise was true: that Robelia had done something to Rain Enlight’s body.

“Did it truly have to be that way?”

There was a reason I had forced myself to open my mouth amid the dizziness that made me feel as though I might lose my mind, the fear, and the temptation.

If my conjecture was wrong, Robelia would react as though asking what I was talking about.

“Aha.”

A laugh tinged with pity, followed by—

“So you had noticed?”

And then, confirmation.

“……!”

“Hmm, but that is strange. I fed you poison after dulling your senses, and your magical aptitude was not exceptional enough for you to sense the curse……so how did you find out?”

At last, I understood the truth behind Rain Enlight’s terrible physical ability, stamina, and Mana.

‘Deadly poison and curses……!’

Even in the system of , both of those permanently reduced abilities and left Debuffs that could not be removed.

Because of their permanent nature, the amount of reduction was slight, but with long-term exposure to high-level curse magic and poison……

‘Theoretically, it is not impossible for someone to end up with that dreadful physical condition.’

It now made sense why no abnormality had appeared in my Status Conditions, and why they had not been lifted even by 『Overcoming Ten Thousand Deaths』.

Since they were permanent losses to abilities and permanent Debuffs, it would have been stranger if they had been removed.

It was not as though I had never considered that possibility.

I had merely set it aside because, from a common-sense perspective, there had been no reason for it.

‘There is no reason to invest that many resources simply to turn one illegitimate son into a ruined person.’

Even for a character with low abilities, lowering those abilities by a meaningful amount required terrifying quantities of resources and wealth.

Ultimately, it was a game meant to entertain people, and that kind of inefficiency remained the same even in this world, where it had become reality.

‘It must have required an enormous fortune. Even for the eldest daughter of a prestigious family, it would be something normally impossible to imagine…….’

There should have been no option that would accept such inefficiency.

It could not have existed.

But this was reality.

Why had she gone that far?

‘She is not sane.’

The black, thick, clinging madness that Robelia herself called ‘love’.

That was what had brought into this world an act that could not be explained through efficiency, reason, or logic.

In truth, this might not have been a particularly important question.

It concerned something entirely unrelated to Ad Astra, the state of the world, or even Robelia’s power and secrets.

However, that exchange caused a certain emotion to engulf me deeply.

What expression was I wearing now?

I did not know.

But one thing I could consciously recognize was that I was glaring at the hateful opponent before me with flashing eyes.

Despite all the fear and helplessness.

And.

-GRIND.

I was gritting my teeth tightly to barely control some emotion.

When I clenched my teeth with excessive force, the muscles in my jaw tore, my teeth splintered and cut me, and I could taste blood.

But that was not important now.

“……Robelia il Enlight……!”

It was anger.

Anger that spreads uncontrollably like a blazing fire.

The greatest cause of me—of Rain Enlight—falling into the abyss stood right before me.

Before Rain Enlight became ‘me,’ he had suffered countless poisons and curses at her hands, and he had been forced to experience nothing but failure.

After Rain Enlight was remade as ‘me,’ the body devastated by those curses led me to hundreds, thousands of deaths that I had never originally needed to experience.

‘The root cause that made my life, and Rain Enlight’s life, into this…….’

That might have been an expression close to exaggeration, but it was not one that strayed from the essence.

At the same time.

“……Hm?”

In that instant, Robelia’s smile vanished, leaving only her wide-open eyes and a horrifying blank expression.

It was a puzzled reaction, as though she could not understand why I was behaving that way.

Even that was hateful.

Thus.

“……Ha, haa……!”

Breathing raggedly, I placed my hand on the hilt of my sword.

-CREAK—!

As I tightly gripped the hilt while controlling the fear, revulsion, and anger that still seemed ready to burst out, a grinding sound rang out.

Had I used so much force that either the hilt or my hand could no longer endure it?

It did not matter.

I felt no pain. Only blind obsession dominated my mind.

An emotion that had overtaken even fear and helplessness.

Using it as my driving force.

“Uaaaaah……!”

A heated shout I could never have imagined letting out normally.

It was awkward. It was clumsy.

That was because I had never even properly learned how to shout.

But.

“……!”

Clutching my sword tightly, I charged toward Robelia, whose expression still looked stunned.

And

-SHING—!

I drew my sword and swung it precisely at her.

It was a mess of a movement, driven by emotion, something I could never have imagined doing normally.

But it was undeniably the first rejection Rain Enlight had ever shown Robelia il Enlight in this world.