Memoirs of the Returnee - Chapter 172



Only Krnovel

The Regressor’s Notepad 172

Escape (1)

A snow-covered mountain hut in [Planarium].

Elise is staying there.

No, I’m trapped.

“ha…….”

A sigh comes out on its own.

Even Elise herself doesn’t know for sure how she ended up trapped here.

I just opened the door to my dorm room and a cold wind blew in, I closed my eyes and opened them and I was right here.

What kind of trap have I fallen into?

Click- click-

She turned the radio off and on.

Click- click-

I walked around the cabin, turning the lights on and off, and then opened the door.

Wheeee …

A blizzard was coming in.

“… … .”

Elise counted the seconds as she watched the snow rapidly accumulating on the ground.

“One, two, three, four, five.”

I closed the door. I quickly measured the height of the snow that had piled up.

15cm.

Same thing. Even though this is my 30th check-in.

15 cm in 5 seconds.

It’s a very regular, consistent blizzard.

“It’s definitely a space loop.”

She walked out of the lodge five times, trying to find an exit, but escape was impossible.

No matter how much you walk, the end, the destination is this ‘mountain lodge’.

Just as the Earth is round, it will inevitably come back here.

──Knock knock.

Then, a sudden knock. A strangely loud vibration.

“!”

Elise flinched, but quickly moved towards him.

“who are you.”

─Who are you? Hey. Open it.

It’s a tone that’s too comfortable and familiar.

Who was it… … .

I racked my brain.

ah.

Zion.

It’s Zion.

Elise smiled.

─Open the door?

“okay.”

I quickly opened the door.

“… … Ah, it’s cold.”

It was Zion after all.

She pouted her lips for no reason.

“Didn’t you say you weren’t coming?

“You’re here. Get out of the way. Come in.”

He shook himself off as he entered the lodge. He looked around and sat down on a chair.

“Did you come in that condition?”

“what.”

“I don’t even have a backpack… … .”

Not only is he not carrying a backpack, he is also only wearing a windbreaker.

Zion asked calmly.

“Then should I equip something like full plate mail?”

“That’s not it, though.”

“Why couldn’t you get out of here?”

“Why? This is a space loop… … .”

Elise’s words stopped.

She looked up at Zion quietly.

“… … I want to ask you first. How did you get here?”

It’s not that it’s not, but this is a mountain lodge from which escape is impossible. But entry – that is, coming in – is possible?

This is a very questionable choice.

“I have a strong body, so I am immune to magic power or magical interference.”

Zion explained simply. Elise frowned slightly, but brushed it off as nothing serious.

It’s true that he’s a guy who doesn’t respond well to magic. I know that very well.

“… … Anyway. This place itself is trapped in a loop.”

Elise placed a teacup in front of him. It was something that had been in the lodge from the beginning.

Zion said.

“Oh. I guess so. It’s probably because of the vengeful spirit.”

“Zorur- Elise answered while pouring black tea.

“A ghost?”

“Oh. The spirit can’t escape from the planarium.”

“Are you saying that you locked me up so I can’t go out?”

“That’s correct.”

Zion pointed at himself. Elise sat down across from him.

“How do you escape? Do you think you know?”

“Not yet. I have to look for that now.”

Zion sipped his tea while looking around the cabin. Elise also sipped her teacup.

“hey.”

Suddenly he called himself.

“huh?”

“Was there anything suspicious here?”

“premier?”

“Oh. I met someone here. Or I saw someone.”

The questions were strange. In fact, they had been strange since the beginning.

From the moment I first entered the mountain lodge… … .

“Ugh.”

Elise let out a small sigh. She put down her teacup and rested her chin on her hand.

“you.”

“why.”

Zion blinked his eyes weakly.

A leisurely smile spreads across her lips as she looks at him.

“Isn’t this Zion?”

“… … .”

On the other hand, his expression hardened for a moment. Elise immediately tried to raise her magic power.

Click-

He put down his teacup.

In an instant, all of Elise’s movements stopped. And she wasn’t the only one.

The blizzard raging outside the mountain lodge window, the clicking of the radio, it all seemed as if time itself had stopped… … .

* * *

“It might be difficult.”

I shrugged. Akane, across from me, answered.

“It won’t be easy.”

“… … No, but why is the spirit angry?”

I was really annoyed. I already passed with first place.

Akane put a cigarette in her mouth.

“You killed the spirit being.”

“You were the one who started the fight first.”

Hwaruk – The filter caught fire. Akane took a sip and chuckled.

“The spirit body isn’t killed just because you kill it. Even if you kill the ‘body’, it will just flow out as a spirit again. It is trying to take revenge on you.”

“Elise as a hostage?”

“Yes. They are trying to bring you in as a hostage for Elise.”

That was ridiculous.

If you’re going to take a hostage, take Soliet instead. Why Elise?

“There isn’t much time to complain. The closer a spirit gets to a person, the more it forgets that it is a spirit.”

The vengeful spirit that takes on human form and tries to take over a human body eventually forgets that it is a vengeful spirit.

I glanced at the cigarette Akane was smoking.

“Why do you keep burning it? It’s not good for your health.”

“It’s a doll anyway.”

“Is this the main body?”

“… … .”

Then Akane flinched. She looked at me and chewed her lips.

“If you tease me, my hand will fly off.”

I averted my eyes. I looked at the picture hanging on the wall.

“… … A snowy mountain lodge. Something feels eerie.”

“Is it a doll or a real thing?”

Akane just asked that.

I laughed softly.

“Of course it’s a doll. Your instincts are still right.”

“… … .”

She immediately started smoking again.

“Anyway. Are you sure that only Elise is trapped?”

“Yes. We must find it before we are completely bewitched.”

“Well… I don’t think a monopoly like Elise would be tempted.”

I got up.

“Let’s take a break and go find it.”

* * *

… … A mountain lodge where time has stopped. A snowstorm frozen like a scene from a painting.

Zion waved his hand as he looked out the window.

“You. Aren’t you Zion?”

Elise’s time, as she had just said, was rewound.

To the moment when we sat on chairs facing each other and the conversation first began.

“… … This place, the space itself is trapped in a loop.”

Elise explained the space again, and Zion answered with a small smile.

“Oh. I guess so. It’s probably because of the vengeful spirit.”

“Chorus,” she answered, pouring the tea.

“A ghost?”

“Oh. The spirit can’t escape from the planarium.”

“So you’re saying that you locked me in so I can’t go out?”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

Zion nodded.

“Then what about us? How do we escape?”

“I don’t know yet. I have to find out. From now on.”

Zion stood up, holding his teacup in his hand. He looked around the interior of the lodge carefully.

A refrigerator. A coffee pot. A cup of black tea on a shelf. A radio. A walkie-talkie. A picture. A picture of a snowy mountain hut. And five more doors.

“… …What are you looking at? As if you’re searching.”

Elise asked. Zion answered, sipping his tea.

“Just. It’s interesting here.”

Zion opened the door to the mountain lodge. Then Elise narrowed her brows suspiciously.

“I searched everything inside the mountain lodge. There wasn’t much to see.”

“Is that so? … … Hey. But you know what?”

Zion looked back at Elise again.

“Were you really the only one here?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t you have anyone with you? Or not.”

Zion pointed to the radio. Elise looked in that direction too.

“I wonder who you called with that.”

“what…….”

In an instant, Elise calmed down. She looked back at Zion with calm eyes.

Zion opened another door to the lodge.

Squeak-

Zion glances around the interior as if he is exploring something. Staring at him, Elise gathers her magic power in her hand.

The moment I was about to eject it─

“……after.”

Bam! He sighed and snapped his fingers.

Again, time stopped.

In that state, he looked back at Elise. She was frozen in place, ready to shoot out her magic power.

“It’s really difficult.”

He put his fingers on his temples as if he had a headache.

“… … This crazy bitch.”

He sighed and nodded.

* * *

“Is it over already?”

Akane asked. I answered, panting for breath.

“This surprisingly takes a lot of stamina. I’m already low on stamina, so I’m getting impatient.”

“Then get some rest. You’re not without time left.”

I sat down on the floor. Akane opened the newspaper.

“… … But you know. Did you cause trouble in Trick City?”

“Why Trick City all of a sudden?”

“Look. This fencing mask.”

Akane showed me the front page of the newspaper. There was an article in the headline.

[Daycare director Belida Len Cassano dies.]

[Fencing Mask turns off the lights in Area C… … Trick City, covered in waves of mourning and anger… … .]

‘The Murder of Velida Len Cassano’.

It was a murder I handled while I was out.

“hmm…….”

The repercussions of killing that guy who wore a very hypocritical mask seem to be quite large in Trick City right now.

It’s not like I completely unexpected it.

“Is this you?”

“Is this a fencing mask?”

“The exact villain name is ‘Avenger’.”

“… … Villain?”

I frowned. The villain label bothered me a little.

“okay.”

Akane raised her eyebrows.

“This villain called ‘Avenger’ killed ‘C-Sector Light’, who sponsored and operated the orphanage.”

Lights in Zone C.

It’s a really incongruous name.

“… … Have you ever thought that it’s not actually a light, but X water?”

“Keep going- ahem ahem.”

Akane burst into laughter for a moment, but tried to pretend not to. She belatedly cleared her throat and caught her weight.

I was dumbfounded.

“If it’s funny, laugh.”

“What are you talking about?”

“No, I wouldn’t know if I laughed without showing it. Anyone could tell I burst out laughing.”

“… … Huh. It’s just low-quality.”

“It means John’s water, what’s so low-quality about it?”

I pouted my lips slyly.

“Well, you like these kinds of jokes, huh?”

“Shut your mouth.”

“… … .”

Akane quickly changed the subject.

“More than that. Things are going strangely wrong in Trick City.”

“Strangely?”

“Yes. There is a strong public opinion that we should create something like Herorona.”

Hero.

I blinked at that word.

“A hero?”

“Yeah. You know? Those kinds of comics were pretty popular back in my day. Jetman, Ionicman… .”

“I know. You and I are only ten years apart in age.”

“… … Only 10 years old? Who are you kidding?”

I lay on the floor for a while and thought.

“That’s amazing.”

Trick City’s hero laws are enacted.

It would be at least three more years before the return.

That was brought forward.

Of course, it’s much better.

Because heroes like Mila will receive more support, and more talent will be trained faster to deal with the underworld.

“So. Are you saying that this fencing mask is you or not?”

Akane asked. I looked back at her.

“That’s right.”

There’s no need to lie to her.

“That little girl, Bellida, is a hypocrite. She sells Trick City information to the underworld.”

I have no regrets.

Rather, we will continue to kill more such guys in the future.

If you think about it, ‘Avenger’ is right.

I asked Akane back.

“What do you think? Is it weird?”

“No way.”

She smiled and asked about the beginning of the year.

“The world needs villains too. Villains who will burn down everything by any means necessary. Phew. Hmm.”

“… … .”

I looked at her in silence.

It’s honestly not that cool to laugh at your own jokes. That’s why the joker must always keep his composure.

If the person who made the joke laughs, it becomes obvious that he was just saying it to be funny.

Then even funny humor becomes unfunny.

“… … Your taste in humor is a bit crude.”

At my words, Akane frowns slightly.

“You did it first, you piece of shit.”

“I was just joking. You just did it because you wanted to.”

“… … .”

Akane scratched her arm for no reason, as if feeling embarrassed.

I got up.

“… …Shall we start going again soon?”

By the way, this is a dormitory where we are.

Planarium dormitory.

In the hallway that has become empty after most of the seniors escaped, a painting hangs.

This is a landscape painting depicting a [snow-covered mountain hut].

“Please send it now.”

I put my hand on the picture.

Inside, Elise is trapped.

It’s not that there’s an Elise pretending to be Elise, but that the ‘real Elise’ is hidden somewhere.

“You ungrateful bastard.”

Akane seemed to be upset that her humor was being criticized, but she soon activated her magic.

I was ‘transported’ into the picture.

* * *

Snow-covered mountain lodge.

“… … .”

Zion looked at Elise in silence.

Elise still stood in the same spot.

“after.”

As he sighs softly and waves his hand, time rewinds for Elise inside the mountain lodge.

At the same time, her frozen state is released.

“… … This place, the space itself is trapped in a loop.”

Then Elise explains the space again, and Zion looks around while giving a proper nod.

To find the ‘real thing’.

But, soon after, again.

“You. You’re not Zion.”

Elise is suspicious of Zion.

At that moment, Sion snaps his fingers. It is a signal to Akane, who is waiting outside the painting.

By doing this, Akane stops and rewinds time in the picture.

“… … This place, the space itself is trapped in a loop.”

A conversation that goes back to the beginning again and again.

But only for a moment.

This Elise is really quick-witted, and soon suspects Zion again.

“You. You’re not Zion.”

Exactly-!

Sion snaps his fingers, and Akane rewinds time again.

“You. You’re not Zion.”

Exactly-!

Sion snaps his fingers, and Akane rewinds again… … .

“You. You are not Zion.”

After repeating that about thirty times, I started getting annoyed.

If you get stuck in a picture and get rewinded, your head will hurt and your stamina will be drained too much.

“You. Aren’t you Zion?”

Elise twisted her lips as she looked at Zion.

“ha…….”

Zion let out a deep sigh. Crack── he bit his teeth.

Just now, my anger reached its limit.

“You… … always ask ‘Aren’t you Zion?’ Do you have any other lines?”

Zion took a step towards her. She took a step back.

“Don’t come!”

He shouted and stretched out his mind, but Zion’s body did not move at all. It was like a lump of steel.

“Why… … .”

“Will it work?”

“Ugh!”

Zion ran towards her, grabbing her thin neck with both his large hands.

“Ugh… … !”

“say.”

He urges her in a harsh voice, strangling her suffering neck.

“Speak!”

“What… … Let go!”

She had a look on her face that said she had no idea. Instead, she glared at Zion with a spiteful look on her face, as if she felt wronged.

He had a hideous appearance.

The very act of thinking that you are the ‘real’ one…

“Tell me where you hid Elise, you crazy bitch──!”