The Regressor and the Blind Saintess - Chapter 52

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

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◈ The Regressor and the Blind Saintess ◈

Chapter 52: The Eve - 2

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Rene straightened at the presence of Vera approaching from afar as she ate.

“Vera?”

“Yes, it's Vera.”

“How was the reconnaissance?”

“There were some Noier near the entrance, so I dealt with them.”

That was not what she meant to ask.

Her lips kept twitching. There was something she wanted to ask, but Rene could not bring herself to say it.

‘Did the two of you introduce yourselves?’

Wouldn't that be far too sudden to ask in this situation?

If she asked whether they had called each other by name, grown closer, and experienced changes in their feelings while facing the approaching enemies, Vera might become conscious of her words and try to get closer to Freide.

That could not happen.

Swallowing nervously, Rene spoke.

“I see. You worked hard.”

“It was my duty. Has anything happened to the Saintess?”

“No, as for me…”

She had treated the elves as usual, then eaten the food Mari made.

As Rene continued that thought, Freide, who had approached without her noticing, spoke.

“Hmm? Were you eating?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Oh, Mari, could you make some for me too?”

“Of course.”

As Rene felt Freide settle beside her, her tension only grew.

“Ah, guard. You worked hard too. You looked quite impressive.”

Jolt. Rene's body jerked at Freide's words.

‘Impressive….’

Had something happened between them? What trials and hardships, what emotions blooming amid them, had led Freide to say such a thing?

“Don't talk nonsense.”

“Ha ha. It seems you're quite shy after all. You spoke so well when we were alone.”

“Shut…”

At those words, Rene's face crumpled miserably.

Her restless heart showed on the surface, and her fingertips kept twitching.

Rene felt uncomfortable as the conversation continued without her.

All she could think about was ending this conversation somehow.

Holding out the soup in her hands to Vera, Rene spoke.

“Ah! Vera, have some food too! You must have gone hungry all day!”

“…I'm fine.”

Thump. Rene felt as though her heart had dropped.

There had been hesitation in Vera's voice.

‘As I thought!’

Something must have happened.

In truth, Vera was refusing solely because of the soup's taste. But Rene, who did not know that, thought Vera did not want the soup she offered because he was distracted by Freide.

“I see….”

The miserable look on Rene's face became even more dejected.

Vera looked flustered at Rene, whose expression had suddenly darkened.

Freide watched the scene while spooning up soup, then let out a quiet laugh.

“You two are quite close.”

Rene flinched at Freide's words.

‘…Is she testing me?’

Perhaps they were. Perhaps cunning Freide, who was after Vera, was jealous of the relationship between Vera and herself.

…Or so Rene thought.

The situation was on the verge of becoming another embarrassing memory.

If Freide poked at her a little more, Rene might truly lose her temper, but...

Fortunately, Freide's next words cooled Rene's heated thoughts at once.

“When I look at you two… you remind me of a married couple who came to the Great Forest as guests around three hundred years ago.”

…No, they only heated her thoughts in another direction.

At the words “married couple,” Rene stammered and stiffened.

Her face turned so red one could have cooked meat on it.

“R-r-really…!”

“Hmm, they were a very loving couple.”

A married couple.

What a sweet sound.

Rene's imagination, always so vigorous, began carefully drawing a picture across the canvas of her mind with that one word.

The setting was Lemeo, her hometown. A loving married couple lived in a cottage on a low hill. They had a son and a daughter.

As the day drew to a close, Rene set a lovingly prepared meal on the table. Vera and the children ate it, smiling happily.

“It is delicious.”

It was a scene overflowing with sweetness. As Rene's lips began to curl upward again and again...

“It was troublesome, though. When it was time to leave, the wife proposed to me.”

Stop. Rene's smile vanished at Freide's words.

“…Pardon?”

“She said she was sick of people like that and asked me to stay with her forever.”

Rene's lips moved soundlessly. She could not find anything to say.

After moving her lips for some time in her mounting confusion, the question she finally managed was this.

“…What happened then?”

“What else? I said yes. There was no particular reason to refuse, was there? A human life is only a hundred years at most… and that human was already old, so she passed away before even thirty years had gone by.”

Rene tightly shut her mouth.

She did not know what one was meant to say in a situation like this.

Even so, her body gradually shifted closer to where Vera was.

Rene grew even tenser at the thought that Freide might seduce Vera just to pass the time.

* * *

About three days had passed since Vera had begun taking part in reconnaissance in earnest.

‘There are fewer enemies.’

For nearly three days, Vera had noticed that the Noier invading the Great Forest were decreasing by the day.

His gaze fell on the Noier he had just cut down.

They lay collapsed with parts of their bodies missing. Vera's eyes narrowed as he looked at them.

‘What are they planning…?’

Unlike when they had first fought, the Noier did not charge at him aggressively.

…No, even when they did attack, they showed little intent to kill him.

As though...

‘…They are coming here to die.’

As though they were charging in to kill themselves, the Noier came at him.

It was an utterly incomprehensible situation. Vera stared grimly at the corpses, then turned his gaze to Freide.

“Hmm? What is it?”

Freide met his gaze with their usual faint smile.

“The way these bastards fight is suspicious.”

“Hmm, I have noticed. It seems they are preparing something big.”

Freide's gaze turned beyond the Great Forest.

Vera watched Freide look into the distance, frowned, and sheathed his sword.

“Let's return.”

“Hmm, very well.”

Rustle. Dead leaves crunched beneath their feet.

Vera still found Freide's intentions suspicious.

* * *

In a dark cave, before a campfire.

A figure with long ash-gray hair stared blankly into the flames.

“Chief.”

At the voice, the figure raised their head slightly, revealing black pupils between strands of hair.

The figure called chief stared blankly at the one who had called them, then nodded and spoke.

“Yes. The time has come.”

It was time to see the end of their long, long plan.

The chief raised the carving knife in their hand and began cutting across their chest.

For the long-cherished wish they would finally achieve, for the comrades who had sacrificed themselves until now, they began carving their names, one by one, around their heart.

Crunch.

An unpleasant sound rang out as flesh was torn apart.

A sharp pain. Blood flowing down.

Breathing in the smell of blood, the chief continued moving their hand.

Aria, Manson, Lira, Foro, Hail, Benen, Fresia, Aili…

Lines sliced across their body. Names were etched over them in red.

Grinding their teeth through the pain, the chief carved those names across their entire body before finally carving their own name.

Gilly.

A name that would achieve the greatest freedom. The name of a liberator that would be remembered forever.

Giving their own name such weight, Gilly marked the end and lifted their head toward the ceiling.

The part of their ear visible beneath their hair had been cut away.

* * *

The Noier had stopped their invasion.

For two days now, Vera had searched every part of the Great Forest's entrance for Noier, but all he found were withered plants.

Returning empty-handed once again, Vera walked down a forest path with Rene as he continued thinking.

‘It's suspicious.’

Blatantly suspicious.

The Noier's behavior, which had gradually changed since he began reconnaissance, and the reason they had stopped attacking like this.

He did not know exactly why, but it was clear there was some hidden intention behind it.

Vera sensed it.

Danger would come soon.

Remaining here any longer was no different from throwing themselves into danger.

His gaze turned to Rene.

‘We need to withdraw.’

He had to send her somewhere safe.

There was nothing more they could do here. They could not prevent Aidrin's death, and if the Noier began their assault again, it would take a different form from before.

Having finished his thoughts, Vera spoke.

“Saintess.”

“Ah, yes?”

“I think it would be best to withdraw soon.”

Stop. Rene halted. Vera stopped with her.

Tilting her head at his words, Rene spoke with a slightly awkward smile.

“Ah, have we walked too long?”

Had she become too absorbed in the rare time they had alone together? That was why she asked, and Vera gave a fuller explanation.

“I meant withdrawing from the Great Forest. Something feels amiss. I believe something may happen soon, and for your safety, I think it would be best for us to leave now.”

Rene looked flustered by Vera's words and continued.

“But… we haven't healed Aidrin yet, have we? And if the situation worsens, shouldn't we stay and help?”

“There is no hope of healing Aidrin. Moreover, staying simply to help would be inviting danger.”

The answer that came back was the same.

Danger. He surely meant that she was in danger.

Did he truly find her so unreliable?

Feeling hurt, Rene clasped her hands more tightly and hardened her expression.

“…If it's because of me, then it's all right.”

Her voice was somewhat subdued. There was still work to do, and all she had managed was healing the wounded. Did it make sense to retreat like this?

At Rene's refusal, Vera bit his lip and continued thinking.

He had to persuade her. With that thought, Vera decided to reveal the doubts he had long held inside.

“Saintess… this is not merely danger. There are suspicious matters within the Great Forest.”

“Within it?”

“Freide. They are suspicious.”

Freide's name came up suddenly.

Rene's face twisted strangely at those words.

“Why Freide?”

“I have realized something while scouting with Freide these past few days. Freide does not stop the Noier.”

To Vera, it was the conclusion drawn from all the clues he had gathered.

From the day they first met, when Freide stopped him from examining the Noier corpse and naturally moved them elsewhere, to Freide's somewhat indifferent behavior after they entered the Great Forest. On top of that, Freide had shown no intention whatsoever of advancing toward the Noier's base.

Was that not suspicious no matter how one looked at it?

Vera clearly remembered that Freide always looked in the same direction after he dealt with the Noier.

“Freide definitely knows where the Noier's base is. They know, yet they do nothing about it. There is a possibility that they are collaborating with them. If the invasion begins again, Freide may join the Noier. If that happens, even I may struggle to protect you.”

There was something he had realized too late, his sight clouded by the future of his previous life.

The only thing Vera knew was that Freide had survived.

What if Freide had been collaborating with the Noier from the beginning?

What if the reason Freide had survived in his previous life was not Rene, but Aidrin's essence?

What if Rene in his previous life had been unable to heal Aidrin and withdrawn early?

If he excluded the memories of his previous life as much as possible and considered only what he could see, those assumptions clearly came into view.

When he thought of it this way, did not every part of it fit perfectly?

Vera waited for Rene's answer.

He waited, hoping she would understand.

At the end of that wait, Rene's answer was...

“…Is that all?”

A question in return.