Memoirs of the Returnee - Chapter 174



Only Krnovel

The Regressor’s Notepad 174

City Hunter (1)

I grabbed the ghost’s hand. At that moment, a loud noise came from it. The entire space resonated.

A small barrier surrounded the two of us.

“There is no need to be afraid.”

The vengeful spirit that has taken over my body.

I said, pulling him towards me.

“Let’s have a conversation.”

A red current of air rose from the spirit. It moved towards me. It was quite hot.

Is this a struggle to survive?

I gave a small smile.

“Listen. You know me. I’ve never met anyone like that before.”

Regression is not a secret that can be easily shared with just anyone.

The same goes for an incurable disease like cancer.

The spirit knows both of these things. He believes them more than anyone else.

I told him.

“How is it? Aren’t I as pitiful as you are?”

─… … .

The spirit has now lost its mouth.

I get my body back, and the spirit leaves my body.

However, I have no intention of letting him go.

“So… … let’s go together.”

A vengeful spirit is literally a ‘spirit filled with resentment’.

A soul that has forgotten who it was before its death and is left with only resentment, wandering the underworld.

A wandering being who was once ‘human’.

“I will find out who you are.”

I wonder.

What kind of grudge does he have, what kind of wish does he have, and how desperately does he have to die to take this form?

“I’m serious. You know that.”

I felt some kinship with the guy.

Perhaps, if I had died without returning.

Because I would have become a ghost too.

─… … .

“It’s better than just disappearing like this. No matter how much I think about it, I feel like I survived because of you.”

A sword that cuts down the spirit body.

It was way beyond my limits. My body should have been destroyed, but thanks to the guy continuing his life activities instead, I was revived.

“… … Of course, you were the one who was the culprit in the first place.”

Sigh – A smile spread across his face.

“Let’s go together. Maybe it was fate that you came to see me.”

I can understand the spirit.

As a regressor, and also as a ‘reserve spirit’ who once lived in the planarium for a long time.

─… … .

The spirit nodded quietly.

That’s it.

* * *

I opened my eyes.

“Hwaaam… … ”

I yawned and slowly got up.

It was inside a dorm room.

I was lying in bed, and Elise and Akane were sitting at the tea table facing each other.

“Are you awake?”

Elise asked, sipping her tea.

“……uh.”

My whole body, including my neck, shoulders, and arms and legs, was sore. I started by stretching.

Knock knock knock knock

If this continues, my bones will break.

“Oh. Our strides are off.”

I’m trying to walk a bit, but I can’t keep my balance. It feels like it’s been a long time since I moved.

“You. Aren’t you acting like a ghost?”

It was Akane. I looked back at her.

“You came to the main office?”

“… … .”

Akane raised her eyebrows. Then she took out a cigarette from her bosom and bit into it.

Hooooo… … He took a sip and made a pleasant expression.

“As expected. Good cigarettes should be smoked with the body.”

“Body? What does that mean?”

Elise looked back and forth between Akane and me with a look of confusion on her face. Akane ignored her.

“Zion Ascal. Do you remember what happened? When the spirit pretended to be you.”

“A little bit. I remember it a little bit, like a dream.”

“Have you dealt with the ghost?”

“No. I still have it. I made a deal.”

“What kind of deal is it?”

“Are you crazy?”

Akane asked about the details of the deal, and Elise rolled her eyes.

“I worked so hard to get it out of here. Are you kidding me?”

She shook the wad of paper she had taken out of my bag. It was a script titled [The Law of Dealing with Ghosts].

“I wrote hundreds of pages of scripts. But you didn’t even get rid of the ghost?”

“… … It’s okay. It’s no longer a threat.”

“How can you be sure of that?”

“Because we talked.”

“conversation?”

“Anyway, thanks. I’ll pay you back later.”

“… … You don’t have to pay me back. It seems like you don’t value other people’s favors anyway.”

“… … What do you want me to do?”

Elise rolled her eyes.

She let out a small sigh and waved her hand as if shooing away a fly.

“Ugh. Just go. I have something to talk to Akane-san about.”

“… … .”

I looked at Akane. Akane nodded as well.

“Okay, well. I’ll go down first.”

* * *

After Zion left.

Elise and Akane had a conversation. It was about magic, magic towers, and wizards.

“Yeah. So your future is to be a wizard?”

“sure.”

Akane is a legend of the Magic Tower. For better or for worse.

It’s not often that you get a chance to learn something from her.

“I won’t stop you, but be careful of the rooftop.”

Knock! Knock!

Akane put her various equipment into her suitcase. Elise watched her quietly.

“I’ve heard the rumors too. The Magic Tower is said to be an extremely rational group.”

“Extremely rational? No. They have ‘nothing but’ reason. A human who is only rational is a monster. If the Magic Tower says they will do something for you, be suspicious. If the Magic Tower says they will give you something, be suspicious. If you enter the Magic Tower, always live while being suspicious of their true intentions.”

“… … Even if I become a magic professor?”

“Professors are a little less. They do independent research and employ independent personnel. You can add your own color to your workshop. Until then, it will be very harsh.”

It’s harsh.

That’s bearable enough.

Honestly, even now, whenever I see Zion, and whenever I think of my family Petra, whenever those two things collide, the storm that rises in my heart is so fierce that it is cruel.

“But.”

Akane asked, picking up the suitcase.

“Why did you lie?”

“… … .”

Elise quietly tilted her gaze. She asked in a low voice.

“What kind of lie is that?”

“You said something different about the witness.”

Elise said the witness was ‘Kiely’.

It was a lie.

The real witness is… … .

It was a soliette.

Soliet looked at Zion even as her whole body was burning and she caught the vengeful spirit flowing into his body.

Only she tried to protect him.

The others just ran away and came back.

“……well.”

It was he who first proposed the hypothesis that Zion was a vengeful spirit, and who also discovered the picture of Zion’s soul trapped in it.

Actually, it was Soliette.

But she was excluded from the operation because she was not used to acting—she was a truly crazy smoker.

“I don’t know.”

Elise answered only like that.

“I think I’ve become narrow-minded.”

Akane twisted the corner of her mouth.

“Not knowing yourself is also a privilege of youth.”

“… … Aren’t you still young, Akane? We’re only ten years apart.”

“Why do you keep bringing up the ten-year-old thing? It makes people uncomfortable.”

Mr. Shuk. Akane raised her middle finger.

“I’m serious. Professor Jeong of Matap at twenty-five. That’s ridiculously young. You’re already a legend, Akane-san.”

“You can be more than that.”

It was Akane’s sudden words. Elise was startled.

“… … Really?”

You don’t seem like the type of person who pays lip service.

“Magnetism, psychokinesis, and the ‘magnetism’ that encompasses them all.”

Akane recited Elise’s “Spectrum”.

“‘Magnetism’ is one of the principles that is responsible for the origin of this world. All matter, big or small, possesses ‘magnetism.’ In that sense, your ‘spectrum’ is much larger than you think.”

Elise looked at her. Her lips were moving like a caterpillar’s.

Because I feel good.

“So be careful.”

“What?”

“thee.”

Akane picked up the suitcase. She slung it over her shoulder.

“As magicians become greater, they seek miracles outside themselves, not within themselves. That’s why they tend to lose themselves.”

It’s the wizard’s dilemma.

There are monsters in this world who are so absorbed in the magic they pursue that they become magic itself.

“Create your own center… … . Some call it a ‘totem’, others call it an ‘anchor’. It is the most important thing to a magician.”

“… … .”

Elise nodded after thinking carefully.

It seems like I already have that kind of ‘anchor’.

* * *

Same time.

Raye is walking down the mountain path with a cheerful gait.

The third test is ‘Escape’.

She was trapped in a maze all by herself. The other seniors were probably trapped in different places too?

But Raye escaped very quickly.

“Oh oh!”

Suddenly, Raye’s eyes opened wide. She saw a ‘stone statue’ at the bottom of the mountain path. There was no one beside it.

“Yay! I guess I’m number one!”

She quickly moved her legs. She ran, waving her hands happily.

“Your Majesty the Stone!! Your Majesty the Stone!!”

The stone statue and herself, who had been repeating the cycle of quarreling, reconciliation, and understanding, quarreling, reconciliation, and understanding, quarreling, reconciliation, and understanding─all by herself─could now be said to be somewhat intimate.

When I hear that we’re breaking up, I feel both bittersweet and sad.

“Stone statue!! I’m number one, right?!”

Raye asked right in front of the statue.

Drumroll- The stone statue turned its head and looked at her.

──99th place.

“Assa… … Huh?! What did you say?!”

Kwakwakwang─! Lightning struck Raye’s head. She froze like a stone, as if shocked.

The stone statue spoke dryly.

──Go down.

“… … crazy statue.”

──Why are you taking your anger out on me when you came so late?

“Noisy dog ​​statue.”

──Idiot.

“Stone statue! You’re the stone head!”

Raye pointed at the statue. The statue ignored her.

I feel like pulling out my hair.

“99th place… … .”

I was secretly looking forward to it.

She went down the mountain path, pouting.

Thump thump-

There were already quite a few seniors gathered on the ground.

“Oh, there it is.”

Kane and Asher looked over and laughed. Raye narrowed her eyes for no reason.

“What are you laughing at? What rank are you in?”

“I’m 13th.”

“I’m 15th.”

Kane 13th, Escher 15th, Laye 99th.

“Wow. Really.”

This doesn’t make sense.

“I’m speechless.”

It was clearly the stone statue’s trick. I should have really hit the stone statue once.

Raye stomped her feet rudely, but then opened her eyes wide when she saw the smartphone in Escher’s hand.

“Huh? Your cell phone, oh right! It’s a cell phone now!!!”

“uh.”

Raye quickly took out her smartphone from her bag.

Tiring-

Tiring-

Tiring-

“Oh. I got the signal. Oh.”

I turned on Messenger like a caveman who discovered fire. Tadadadadada – I replied to almost all the messages with a typing speed that was almost magical, and then I turned on the Internet.

I’m quickly looking into several issues that I hadn’t checked during the second quarter──.

suddenness.

“… … ?”

Her fingers were stiff.

Both eyes sank coldly.

Now, it was because of some article on Trick City Main.

[Daycare director Belida Len Cassano dies.]

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

“… … .”

Belida Len Cassano.

He is the founder of the Ren Orphanage. He is a famous philanthropist.

[Milla] is a good person who often writes columns supporting her and transparently runs various volunteer activities.

As Mila, she has visited his orphanage and played with the children.

[Burnt Frame: Outlaw ‘Milla’ and the children of the orphanage.]

[The Death of a Philanthropist… … Is ‘Milla’ Really an Outlaw? What Does Trick City Need?]

The photo I took then was in an internet article. The edges were burnt red.

“uh…….”

A strange feeling rose in Raye’s chest. It was boiling as if it was going to burn her.

It’s hard to explain clearly, but it’s something that hovers between anger and sadness…

“What? Hey Raye. Are you crying?”

Kane blinked at Raye.

Raye raised her head hurriedly.

“What! I, I’ll go first! Something urgent came up!”

She put her smartphone away and ran to the train station.

* * *

The next day. Trick City’s [Mua-Kwan].

By the way, the College Board 2nd quarter is still ongoing. There are still 300 guys who haven’t escaped.

I’m enjoying my free time thanks to the spirit that made me number one.

“……hmm.”

Sagrak-

I’m reading a document file.

[Lexadan Relton]

:222cm. Male

: Many crimes including murder, armed robbery, and arson.

: He appears to be currently working as a mercenary for the Master Cartel.

“222cm? That’s really tall.”

This is a list of assassination attempts I received from Kanya. It’s also a side job like ‘bounty hunting’.

“Okay.”

At that moment, Akane, who was inside the workshop, spoke. I looked over at her.

“Is it okay?”

“okay.”

She made a tank out of the planarium. It was a vessel to contain the vengeful spirit, or rather the ‘soul’, that had been coiled around my body.

The soul cannot exist outside the planarium, so an environment was created.

“Yes. Now, as you said, it is not a ghost but a spirit.”

I saw the tank. There was a clear soul in it.

“Can’t this guy talk?”

“Not yet. It will become possible as it grows. But, what is that file?”

Akane nodded at the file. I waved it around and said.

“I’m the one who has to deal with this.”

“Hmm. Let’s handle it.”

Akane turned on the TV with the remote control.

──… … Twenty lower-level council members from Trick City’s Districts D and C have submitted a “Hero-Related Law” to the upper council. Even if this legislation, which was triggered by the villain “Rakel Dra”’s “Velida Len Cassano Murder Case,” is passed by the upper council, it is expected to take at least 2-3 years to become law.

“I guess you want to be on the news again.”

“… … It’s not like I’m going to Zion Ascal anyway.”

The Avengers, Raquel Draco.

This is an officially established villain name.

──The most active outlaw, ‘Milla’, who claimed to be a hero, is currently not responding at all. However, public opinion toward her is not as cold as before.

“Milla. Is that woman your enemy?”

Akane asked indifferently.

“no.”

I shook my head.

“I am Mila’s enemy. My enemy is not Mila. I respect Mila.”

In fact, it’s closer to respect.

Her unbreakable spirit has always inspired and given me hope.

“For that guy, I’d gladly become a villain.”

I know her before her regression, when she was shunned as an ‘outlaw’ for years and suffered many injuries and wounds.

So now, Mila might really need an enemy. A perfect villain who will cast Mila as perfect good.

“Raquel Dra… … I think that would be enough of an enemy.”

I looked back at Akane. She calmly pointed to the [Muagwan] stand.

“Then take a look around. You’ll need equipment for the activity.”

“… …Can you give me a discount?”

Akane raised her middle finger.

“The bounty on your file is 150,000 rende. Installments are possible.”

“… … When did you see me?”

Well, no matter the price, Akane’s items are all top-notch. They are luxury items that money can’t buy. They’re not even properly ‘registered’, so they’re impossible to track.

“I’ll just take a look for now. Is that okay?”

“As much as you want.”

Akane quickly became accustomed to serving guests.