SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 110

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 110: Her Way of Loving (2)

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Raviel tightened her grip. To kill the man. To infect him with an eternal wound.

-Ugh, krk, ack...!

The man twisted his body. Raviel's sword pierced deeper, into his heart. The man screamed in agony, his cries ripping through the space that only the two of them occupied.

'I don’t want to kill him.'

Raviel bit her lip.

'I don’t want to lose him.'

But contrary to her wishes, Raviel plunged the sword in even deeper. She felt every sensation in her hand vividly. The sensations. His chest being torn open. His flesh being cut. His heart being pierced, continuously spewing blood.

All of this became Raviel's wound.

'More.'

Stronger. From this moment on, to etch it as her trauma. So that someday, no matter when, the man she loves would witness this scene.

So when the man was about to spit blood, Raviel stole his lips.

-......!

A rank, blood-reeking breath flowed from his heart into her mouth. It was a red, sticky breath. This was my man's warmth. This was my man's blood. This was my man's heart.

Raviel sealed his lips so not a single drop would escape.

-.......

The man was dying.

Raviel didn't blink. She didn't miss a single moment of her beloved man dying. His face paling, his tremors weakening, his breath fading - each moment was agony for her.

'I don’t want to lose him.'

She wanted to scream her lungs out to the world.

'I don’t want to lose this man.'

What if this moment doesn't become a trauma? What if all her plans fall through? Then she would forget him, and he would lose her. Nothing would remain.

Raviel was scared.

'More.'

Being afraid of something was a disgrace for someone like her. An insult. Yet Raviel kept repeating the frightening scene. The terrible imagination. She deliberately deepened the wound.

The scene of him failing to convince the tower.

The scene of her forgetting him, living as before.

The scene of them indifferently passing by each other in the corridor.

Layering wound upon wound.

-.......!

And Raviel saw it. His death.

-.......

Raviel understood. This was a residual moment. A brief respite before the man returned. Perhaps in just a few seconds, he would return. She too would be swept up in his time, returning just the same.

Just a few seconds. Merely a few seconds.

But those few seconds felt like an eternity to Raviel.

She slowly drew her lips away.

-Gong-Ja?

No answer.

-Gong-Ja.

Ah.

At that very moment, Raviel knew. Yes. This final scene, the absence of an answer.

His directionless gaze. His lips had gone still, as though they had forgotten how to make a sound. Because of this, the present moment became an indelible trauma for Raviel.

Everything became clear.

Nothing had ever left her with a more terrible scar than this.

-.......

Raviel embraced him. She held his body in her embrace. In these last few seconds, in the final moment, she spent it holding him.

I believe in you.

[Trauma re-enactment complete.]

Just as I believe in you, you will believe in me too, Gong-Ja.

[The target’s ego has remained intact.]

So, we can wait for each other.

[Ending the penalty.]

We will.

[Your immersion rate is currently 98%.]

ㆍ

Strangely, it was hard to open my eyes.

"Butler?"

The Lady Goldencup sitting opposite me was surprised. It was strange. Her face, which always seemed to shine brightly, appeared blurry today.

"What's the matter? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden?"

"Huh?"

"You're crying. Right now."

Only then did I realize that I was crying. I was shocked. Just moments ago, Lady Goldencup and I were chatting idly.

It was just a blink of an eye.

In that instant, tears had fallen.

"Ah...?"

Even more, the tears didn't stop easily.

"Bu-Butler? I'm a bit scared. I don't get scared often, but this is a bit scary. Why are you suddenly crying while talking with me? Did I do something strange again?"

"No... It's... I don't quite understand myself."

“You're crying for no reason? Have you lost your mind? Gasp. You're really bawling.... W-what should I do? This is the first time our butler has cried like this since you got beaten by me when you were five....”

"That incident really seems to stick with you for a lifetime, My Lady. If possible, please try to forget it."

“But Butler, even if I forget that you got beaten when you were five, you also got beaten at six, and at seven, and kept getting beaten until you were fourteen. You even still get beaten occasionally. If I forgot all of that, I'd come down with amnesia, wouldn't I? In fact, it would be no exaggeration to call your life one continuous series of beatings at my hands.”

Amnesia.

"......."

"Yikes, your crying was just calming down, why are you crying again?! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for only hitting you! I won't hit you anymore. I'll hit you less insultingly from now on. Is that okay?!"

"I think I had a nightmare, Lady..."

"A nightmare? Was I captured by a monster and torn to death?"

"No. A woman was looking at me, crying endlessly... I wanted to wipe away her tears, but I couldn't, and it was very sad."

"I see."

Lady Goldencup looked like she deeply understood.

"That woman was me."

"It definitely wasn't you, Lady... You could never make such a melancholic and noble expression. You're inherently different in atmosphere...."

"Ah. Should I hit you, just like that?"

Lady Goldencup glared at me with narrowed eyes. Normally, I would have bowed my head and said 'I'm sorry,' and then she would reluctantly say 'I'll be generous and understand.'

But I stood up from my chair.

"Butler?"

"I need to go somewhere for a moment."

"Where are you going this late at night? I was about to tell you that I have arranged a dinner appointment with the Crown Prince tomorrow. I was so excited to brag about it. You have a duty to listen to my boasting."

I bowed.

"I'm sorry, Lady. But I must go somewhere."

"......."

Lady Goldencup squinted her eyes. She rested her hands on the back of the chair and stared intently at my face.

"Of course. You have a mind of your own, and with a mind comes thought. But don’t come back empty-handed. Stop by the kitchen and steal a muffin or something."

"Tomorrow, the Crown Prince will present you with a ring of blue coral."

Lady Goldencup blinked her eyes.

"What?"

"I shall return shortly."

I walked away.

Behind me, Lady Goldencup shouted, "Butler! Was what you just said true?!" But I ignored her.

“Wait, if you're going to leave, at least answer me first! Butler, you fucking bastard!”

Since coming to the Sormewin Academy, the Lady had become more demure, but her essence remained that of a street boss. She was the one who used to beat up the kids in her hometown.

'My master.'

I hastened my steps.

It was a path I had never tread before, yet my steps felt familiar.

'It’s as if I had walked this same path in the past.'

The gates of Lady Silver Lily's residence stood open. There were no guards. I should have found it strange, but all I thought was, ‘Somehow, I expected that.’ Without hesitation, I crossed the garden.

The corridor.

"Have you arrived?"

A single point of moonlight.

"......Were you waiting for me?"

"Yes. Today is the [second] time."

A question and answer without context. An incomprehensible conversation caressed the night air. Lady Silver Lily stood smiling with the full-length mirror behind her.

"Look into the mirror.”

"......."

“What do you see?”

■■: ■■■

■■■: ■■

■■ ■■: [Mar■], [Ro■nce], [■■], [■■]

■■ ■■: ■■

■■ ■■■: [Master], [Lover], [■■■ ■■], [■■■], [■■■], [■■ild], [■■], [■■■■■■■■■■], [■■■■ ■■■■■], [■■ ■■■■■]

“......I see the words ‘Master’ and ‘Lover.’ The word ‘child’ as well. I can also make out what seem to be tiny fragments of other text, but their meaning is hard to discern.”

“Call out to me.”

“Yo…”

I was about to call her ‘Young Duke,’ but I closed my mouth.

Even though it was the title that showed Raviel Ivansia the greatest possible respect.

『Never again call me [Young Duke] with those lips.』

『I will gouge out your heart and kill you.』

A conversation we never had before flashed in my mind. It felt like glimpsing a dream from a past life.

I was confused. I felt that no matter what happened, I must never call her ‘Young Duke.’

"......Lady."

“Much better.”

Lady Silver Lily approached me. Her red eyes watched me. She merely looked, her lips pressed firmly shut.

『What dream did you have?』

Even so, I felt as though Lady Silver Lily were speaking to me, as though her closed lips were moving. It was too powerful to be an illusion and too distinct to be an auditory hallucination.

“The Lady... was shedding tears.”

『And?』

“You kept calling out to someone. A man was bound in front of the Lady... I think you were calling him. But I can’t remember the man’s name.”

『And?』

“The Lady was stabbing the man with a knife, in agony.”

It was strange.

Why was I talking without end to someone who remained silent? Why was Lady Silver Lily listening to me without a word?

It was truly strange.

The strangest part was that my heart didn’t find this situation awkward at all.

“You are commendable.”

Lady Silver Lily stroked my head. ‘How commendable.’ The resonance of those words sank deep into my heart. ‘How commendable.’ It felt as though I had heard them somewhere long ago, before I was even born.

I thought I smelled a blue fragrance.

"Look here."

Lady Silver Lily took something from inside her clothes.

It was a card.

"......What is this?"

"It’s proof of your efforts for me. Be proud."

The golden card was densely inscribed with words.

[A Certain Returner's Love]

Rank: EX

Effect: For a returner, love is like poison. No matter how desperately they struggle, they cannot share time with the one they love. And so, one returner made a wish: ‘Please preserve my lover's memories.’ That wish reached the Tower and was granted.

You share a timeline with your beloved. If your lover goes back a day, you go back a day. If you go back a day, so does your lover. This is the vow of a ring. This is a marriage of time.

May fortune be with both of you.

*However, it only activates when you and your lover mutually love each other.

"......."

I was inexplicably speechless.

“To think the request was, ‘Please preserve my lover's time.’”

Lady Silver Lily smiled faintly.

"Receiving a proposal in this manner would be troubling. I like your voice. Understand this. If it’s not directly from you, I won’t listen. So, come back soon."

A stirring in my heart.

"I will kill you. Again and again. As long as showing you my wounds can bring you back, I will show them to you forever."

“Lady......"

“So, witness my agony. Look at the scars you left on me. Look again and again. Your traces are there.”

Lady Silver Lily reached out with both hands and took hold of my neck.

“Know that the only person in this world who can kill me is you.”

Gently.

“And that the only person who can kill you is me.”

And then I saw.

[You have died.]

[Re-enacting the trauma of your killer.]

I saw, and saw again.

[Your immersion rate is currently 97%.]

I saw Lady Silver Lily shedding tears.

I saw her killing a man, again and again.

Every time I returned a day, I lived in her dreams.

[You have died.]

[Your immersion rate is currently 96%.]

We loved each other in a past life.

[You have died.]

[Your immersion rate is currently 95%.]

And we will love each other in this life.

Perhaps even in the next.

[Your immersion rate is currently 94%.]

[Your immersion rate is currently 93%.]

[Your immersion rate is currently 92%.]

That I hurt you. That in places I didn’t see, in times I couldn’t be with you, you shed tears. You cried silently.

If I do not forget those.

If I remember and keep them in my heart.

[Your immersion rate is currently 91%.]

We can love each other forever.

[Your immersion rate is currently 90%.]

And.

I am returning to you.

Opening the door. Crossing the garden. Running down the corridor.

You were born the legitimate daughter of the Ivansia ducal family. With a sorrowful mother, you came to live a sorrowful life. Your betrothed was chosen before you were born, and from the moment you were born, you devoted your life solely to him.

You were a white flower.

You were called the Moon of Ivansia, the Young Duke, and, more briefly, the Lady.

"Have you arrived?"

"......."

You stand in the corridor. In the dark night corridor, you were like an island alone in the middle of the ocean. The endless sea surrounded you. I listened to its waves.

Not the Young Duke of Ivansia, not a duke's daughter, not even, more briefly, a lady.

“Raviel.”

The white flower smiles.

“I was waiting for you, Gong-Ja.”

I am…

In love with you.

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