The Obsessive Regressor of The Academy

42. The Price.

Regression.

The word itself was well-known to Asel.

One of the highest echelon of temporal magic. A rebellious technique that reversed the world’s timeline, returning everything to the past. Therefore, it was forbidden, a divine miracle existing solely in theory. An area even time sorcerers of old could not reach.

Grace was saying she had directly experienced such a miracle.

Some denied the possibility of regression itself. They simply didn’t believe such an absurd thing could happen. Especially if the person claiming regression was not a transcendent being, nor a high-ranking sorcerer, but a mere swordsman—the story became even more unbelievable.

But Asel did not dismiss her words.

An impossible tale. A pointless noise, not even worth listening to. A secret that no one could understand, one that had to be held alone.

Asel already possessed such a secret himself.

‘Considering I have memories of a past life, I can’t outright deny regression.’

So, instead of dwelling on the possibility of regression, he focused on the connection between regression and Grace’s actions.

Acknowledging him at their first meeting. Spouting things about mercenaries and swordsmanship at their second. And calling Saya a ‘Kitsune,’ a fox spirit. If all these were based on experiences from a previous iteration, they could be understood. Meaning, they weren’t sudden, baseless remarks.

However, all of this required the background explanation that she was a ‘regressor.’ Anyone who didn’t know would only hear the ramblings of a madwoman.

Even Asel himself had seen her as mentally ill before she revealed the truth about being a regressor.

“…”

A secret one cannot reveal to others.

A truth known only to oneself can become a dagger, but sometimes it becomes a curse that gnaws at one’s soul. Judging by Grace’s unstable state, it was clear which way the secret of regression had affected her.

Regression and past lives were equally likely to be dismissed as insanity if blurted out. However, with past lives, it was a story from another world, not directly related to the present, so there was no need to tell others.

Perhaps as a joke. There was no reason to reveal oneself as someone with knowledge of another world, except in specific instances.

On the other hand, regression was deeply connected to the present. The past events Grace had experienced had all become current events, and she had to run around like a madwoman to prevent the same tragedies from occurring.

In that process, one could not ask for understanding from others, nor could one release the pent-up resentment within. One could only silently prepare for the coming end.

It didn’t take much thought to understand which would inflict greater damage on the mind. Asel let out a soft groan as he stared at Grace.

“Hoo… Haa…”

Grace was looking down at the floor, breathing heavily. She was trembling with anxiety, having revealed that she was a regressor, fearing Asel’s disbelief or scorn. Asel’s brief silence, as he gathered his thoughts, was the cause.

So, as soon as Asel had somewhat sorted through his thoughts, he spoke immediately.

“Grace.”

“…! Ah, yes.”

Grace snapped her head up and met Asel’s gaze.

Their reflections were caught in each other’s pupils.

Grace tried her best not to avert her eyes from Asel’s, but she couldn’t completely stop her head from turning to the side.

If he were to say something that denied her, she probably wouldn’t be able to maintain eye contact with him. And she would likely live like that for the rest of her life.

It was the worst possible outcome. But if that was Asel’s choice… she was prepared to humbly accept it.

However, the terrible words she had imagined did not come from Asel’s lips. Instead, with a slight smile, he nonchalantly uttered in a soft voice.

“You’ve suffered.”

“……Huh?”

“I don’t know how long it’s been since your Regression, but it couldn’t have been easy getting here from then. You’ve been through a lot.”

“……You believe me?”

Grace’s eyes widened as she asked. Asel smiled and nodded.

“There’s no reason not to. And… I have a similar secret myself, too.”

“That you’re a Reincarnator?”

“……How did you know?”

“You told me. In the previous iteration.”

“…….”

They were married, so I guess she told him even that. Asel scratched his head awkwardly and sat down next to Grace. Grace’s body twitched slightly, but she didn’t move away.

Anyway, the most important thing right now is Grace’s Regression. What happened in the past life is something we can talk about later, I think.

Asel thought so and opened his mouth.

“Anyway, I believe you. Don’t worry too much.”

“……Thank you. Really, thank you so much.”

Grace began to shed tears as she replied. It was a natural reaction, born from the slow melting away of the tension and anxiety she had been holding in. Asel patted her shoulder, waiting for her to calm down.

Just when he thought she had stopped, she started sobbing again, so the wait lasted quite a while. But Asel didn’t show any sign of annoyance, and instead passed the time by thinking about various things.

How long had it been? Grace, sniffling, turned her head towards Asel and said in a voice still thick with tears.

“……I, I’m okay now. I’ve calmed down. And… I’ll say it again. Thank you for believing me.”

“Yeah.”

Asel chuckled and took his hand off her shoulder. Then, Grace’s eyes twitched as if she was disappointed. It had happened before, but this time Asel could clearly understand where her reaction was coming from.

The person she had married before Regressing. In a situation where he couldn’t remember her and acting like before was impossible, it was perhaps only natural that she liked even a little skinship.

She must be suppressing her desires and urges somehow on a daily basis.

The kiss on the neck when she was drunk must have been the result of suppressing those desires until they overflowed.

He could understand. Even Asel would feel his heart ache if Ena didn’t remember him and just acted hostile or like she was looking at a stranger. Grace was experiencing that imagination in reality.

He could easily imagine how painful it must be, without having to guess.

However, regardless of understanding, he couldn’t act the way she wanted him to.

‘Anyway, I’m not the me she knew.’

It was a pity, but that was the reality. It would be different if they had Regressed together with their memories. The current Asel had to live his own life. He refused to be stuck as something in between, bound by the memories of a Regressor.

“How did you end up Regressing?”

Acel asked. Grace paused, then answered.

“I don’t know. I fought demons, you died first, and I was left thrashing around until my head was cut off. When I came to, I was home. In the ravaged Bydel mansion of the Empire, no less.”

“Hold on a minute.”

Acel’s eyes snapped open, startled by the preposterous tale. He stared at Grace, his expression hardening.

“The Empire… is ravaged? It falls?”

“…Yeah. A plague demon descends, and four-tenths of the Empire’s population dies from disease. It’s not just the Empire, either. The entire continent suffers, the population drastically shrinks. The land rots, too.”

“…Ha.”

Acel let out a hollow laugh.

This era was one of peace, the first in a long time after the Race Wars and the Holy Anti-Demon War. Decades had passed since the last national conflict, and the different races lived in harmony, respecting each other’s territories.

The cult Virsia, with their demon worship and criminals, occasionally caused trouble, but their voice was nothing compared to the past. There were no signs of a cataclysm large enough to swallow the entire continent.

And now, suddenly, a plague demon descends and flips the continent upside down? The mighty Empire collapses in an instant, the entire continent becomes a festering wasteland, and the population is halved.

Could this even be possible?

“Is this… solid information?”

“It’s not information. It’s what I lived through.”

“…”

“Normally, it happens after graduating from the Academy, but in this… iteration, the demon worshippers started acting sooner. Maybe… before we even graduate, everything will fall apart.”

“Damn it.”

Acel already knew that the demon worshippers had started moving. Even Ena had been called back by the Alliance because they were causing a stir near Weiheim.

He hadn’t paid much attention to it then, but hearing Grace’s words, various possibilities began to flood his mind. Acel scowled, his brow furrowing with worry for Ena’s safety.

“…Can we stop it?”

“…There are warning signs. If livestock in a village suddenly die from disease, or an entire village succumbs to plague, that means it has at least partially descended.”

“We have to strike then?”

“Yeah. We can’t stop the descent itself, so we have to kill it when it manifests imperfectly.”

“The Holy Kingdom will have to help.”

Acel said.

Since the beginning, demon subjugation had been led by the Holy Kingdom. Their unique Holy Power was effective against demons. But conversely, demonic energy was also a lethal poison to priests, so they needed external forces to weaken the demons first.

“What about demons other than the plague one?”

“The plague breaks the seal and they keep pouring in. The last two that appear…”

“…”

“Benevolence, and Possibility.”

Possibility.

The moment Acel heard the word, he felt his heart lurch once. The sensation of hearing something he shouldn’t have. A feeling that his instincts screamed he shouldn’t be entangled with. He scrunched up his face and covered his heart with his hand.

“Unlike Benevolence, who slaughtered almost all the remaining survivors, Possibility didn’t go around massacring people. Instead, it seems to be wandering around the continent doing… something. Acel? Are you alright?!”

Grace was continuing her story when she noticed Acel clutching his heart and hastily asked. Acel nodded immediately.

“I’m fine. It doesn’t hurt. It’s just… something feels off.”

“What feels off?”

“…I don’t know.”

It wasn’t a lie.

Unlike his frantically agitated instincts, his reason was completely calm. There were no abnormal phenomena occurring in his body or mind, and the flow of mana was all normal.

Then, what on earth was it?

“…”

He pondered it, but no answer came. To simply dismiss it as a vague fear of demons seemed wrong, as his body only reacted to the word ‘Possibility’. He felt nothing towards other demons.

Even when he thought about the demon of Possibility, his body, which had already reacted once, no longer felt any sensation from the word. It was as if he had woken up from a nightmare.

‘…I need to investigate this.’

Acel thought so, and removed his hand.

He shook off the distracting thoughts for now. It was right to focus on the conversation with Grace for the time being.

“To change the subject, anyway, that means the Plague Demon is the beginning of everything.”

“…That’s right. But there’s not much we can specifically do. Other than subjugating demon worshippers or ruining rituals.”

“So, we have to wait for the warning signs to appear.”

“Yeah. But, the regression I experienced and the current cycle have many differences, so maybe the Plague Demon won’t appear. The terror attack that should have happened at the entrance ceremony didn’t happen either.”

“Those things always come back in a worse form.”

“…”

Her attempt to reassure him was met with a direct hit. Grace pouted her lips and hunched over.

Acel chuckled softly as he watched her.

Even though they had been having a serious conversation until just now, the conclusion was that there was nothing special to do but wait.

If something different from Grace’s memories appeared as time passed, they could try to act, but not yet. It was right to live as usual until the warning signs appeared on the continent.

Of course, they couldn’t completely forgo preparations. They had to live their daily lives while making at least some preparations.

However, one way or another, there was nothing they could do right now, so Acel opened his mouth in a slightly brighter voice to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

“Well, anyway, there’s no point in worrying about it right now, it’ll only give us a headache. I think it’s better to focus on academy life while preparing.”

“…Is that so?”

“Becoming stronger is the priority. Archmage. I need to reach that rank quickly.”

Asel spoke, then smiled, tilting his head slightly as a thought struck him.

“Come to think of it, Grace. You said I used a sword in the previous iteration?”

“Yeah. Just like me. And not only could you almost perfectly mimic sword techniques after seeing them just once, you were also famous as a mage hunter for cutting or twisting mages’ mana.”

“Hmm… do you have a sword?”

“It’s in my dorm. Should I get it?”

Grace asked, a faint smile playing on her lips. Asel chuckled and nodded.

A short while later, Grace returned with a sword from the dorm. Asel immediately drew it and began to swing, concentrating as much as possible.

A downward slash from above, then a diagonal upward cut.

Even that much made Asel’s muscles twitch. Stealing a glance at Grace, Asel secretly activated a muscle-strengthening spell. Then, he continued to swing the sword.

As time passed, Grace’s face, initially filled with anticipation, began to contort.

The sword path was a mess. The blade wavered unsteadily, the tip vibrating subtly. It meant his grip wasn’t correct.

The swings were clumsy to boot, and it seemed he was imitating something, but she couldn’t even guess what it was.

Eventually, unable to watch any longer, Grace directly demonstrated basic swordsmanship and instructed him to follow, but Asel couldn’t even manage that. If the room were smaller, the walls or bed would have been sliced apart long ago.

“…Asel.”

Finally, Grace spoke first. She gazed at Asel, who was wiping away sweat, and closed her eyes tightly.

“Let’s not learn swordsmanship. You have no talent.”

“No, but you said I used a sword in the previous iteration. Isn’t this… going well?”

“Not at all. Let’s just keep using magic.”

Grace’s voice was so firm that Asel could only nod with a wry expression. He sheathed the sword and handed it back to Grace.

“I should have known from the moment you, who couldn’t use magic at all, became a mage.”

“I couldn’t use magic at all?”

Asel asked, sitting down next to Grace.

He couldn’t even begin to imagine himself unable to use magic.

“You were good at catching and severing mana, but you couldn’t actually cast spells. You tried to learn, but quickly gave up.”

“That Asel fellow. Is that really me? Doesn’t seem like it at all.”

“It’s the same person. I’m sure of it.”

Grace said, then, with a playful expression, she added,

“Or should I tell you our pet name? Then you’ll know for sure, right?”

“…Glen?”

“Ugh…! …Ahem, ahem. Not that. The name I used to call you.”

“Even if you tell me, I wouldn’t know.”

“No, you will. It’s your name from your past life.”

“…What?”

The moment Asel’s eyes widened as he repeated the question, Grace spoke first.

“Si-hyeok.”

“…….”

“Right? Lee Si-hyeok Oppa? You’re the one who told me.”

Grace said so with a bright smile, but Asel’s mind wasn’t focused on her.

A past life’s name.

Asel didn’t know it.

The lost details of his past life’s memories included his name and age. Thanks to that, hearing his past life’s name was a first for Asel today.

So then, why, before the regression, did he know his past life’s name, whereas now he doesn’t? Seeing as Grace called him ‘Oppa,’ that means he knew his age too, so why doesn’t he even know that now?

What’s the difference? What turning point caused this?

“…….”

Doubt chased after doubt. His head throbbed, his chest felt constricted. But he didn’t stop thinking. He thrashed about, asking himself questions, answering himself, determined not to lose hold of any emerging suspicion.

Until he reached a single conclusion.

“…Ha.”

Grace’s regression. Or something akin to it.

And the mostly lost memories of his past life.

What these pointed to was one thing.

‘A price.’

A price for sending Grace to the past, or somewhere else. And that was the memory of the being known as ‘Si-hyeok.’

The moment Asel realized this.

Crack! Crack!

The sound of tree roots growing rapidly inside his head echoed, and at the same time, he felt someone’s gaze.

But it vanished quickly. There wasn’t even time to confirm it.

He hurriedly turned his head, but all he saw was the empty corner of the room.

“…….”

Asel’s eyes grew cold and heavy.