Memoirs of the Returnee - Chapter 260



Only Krnovel

The Regressor’s Notepad 260

Betrayal, Betrayal, Betrayal (3)

An empty space, a fortress all to myself.

There, Jahanna is analyzing her own mind. She is weighing the value of her emotions.

However, it doesn’t work out well.

I just sit there blankly, listening to the bastard’s recording over and over again.

─… … I guess it might be like you said.

It’s really strange.

He has known me for only a short time.

Infinitely few.

Probably less than 3% of the life I’ve lived.

─Beckman. You must not be near Princess Jahanna.

However, he risked his life to save me.

He accepted the mission to monitor Beckman, knowing the risks involved.

─For the sake of Princess Jahanna… … .

For me, it exposed Beckmann’s corruption.

“… … .”

Jahanna looked up at the ceiling quietly.

Is the guy dead?

Probably, it was meant to be that way.

But it was something you shouldn’t believe before you see it.

Because he has a history of being resurrected ‘back then’.

This isn’t the first time you’ve saved someone’s life.

“… … Were you foolish?”

He muttered as if he was laughing in vain.

Yeah, it’s not the first time.

Even though it’s not the first time,

I suspected the guy.

My doubts made things like this.

My doubts are… … .

I ended up killing that guy.

She put magic into her fingers.

Knock, knock, knock on the air.

Sent a signal to Libra’s powers.

“This is a summons.”

* * *

Beckmann saw ‘the guy’ from the trench he had prepared for himself.

A corpse that is almost cut in half, a sight to behold. I would like to destroy it all if possible, but I plan to leave it as is in order to maintain the most gentle attitude possible.

This guy’s going to be covered in filth soon anyway.

“If possible, act like you just fought. Turn on your machete now.”

Ben, the glasses-wearing guy, said.

“Okay.”

“And I… … tracked down Team Leader 3 and located him at the request of Sir Beckman?”

“Of course.”

“phew!”

Ben pushed up his glasses with satisfaction.

Beckman opened a large duffel bag and asked, shoving the bastard’s body inside.

“What about the other three team members?”

“They’re just doing their own missions. Anyway, all the information is transmitted to my glasses.”

“Just find out the location, so I can send someone to kill him later.”

“yep!”

Positions that manage information have great power when it comes to manipulating and controlling information.

The subject under control becomes blind and deaf.

It was so fatal that even the meticulous rookie named Sion Askar, who as Beckman hates to admit, had the potential to be a balancer, was sent to the goal in an instant.

“You can expect a reward.”

Ben smiled happily.

“It is an honor to serve you. I hope the rest of your work goes well.”

“… … The rest. It’ll be okay. I’m sure.”

Hahahahaha.

Beckman made a big noise.

Cook cook cook cook.

Ben also featured in it.

Hahahahahahahaha── kuk kuk kuk──

The two people’s smiles echoed throughout the trench, like frogs croaking together on a rainy day.

* * *

“We have confirmed the identity of Team Leader 3.”

Beckman arrived with those words, imbued with a strange magical ambience and carrying a duffel bag on his shoulder.

The moment she saw it, a strange tremble arose inside Jahanna. It was a swaying ash like incense.

“… …Put it down.”

“yes.”

Beckman placed his duffel bag on the conference table.

Ding, the zipper was ripped off.

Jahanna saw the bastard inside.

Zion Ascal.

“Team Leader 3. I am Sion Ascal, who dared to betray my lord.”

Beckman said.

Jahanna nodded quietly.

For a long time, I just stared at the guy.

“… … .”

He quickly reached out and placed his hand on the boy’s cheek.

It was cold. The chill dug into my fingertips.

“… … It’s cold.”

Now, she feels strange in her own mind.

I’ve seen human corpses so many times. I’ve felt their texture countless times.

Rather, it was he who enjoyed the process of humans turning into corpses.

Cutting off arms, cutting off legs, cutting off waists, cutting off necks… … I was enjoying the sight of warm skin turning blue.

“This time… …you came back dead.”

different.

It’s so different.

This guy’s death is so different from other guys’ deaths.

So much so that I don’t even want to accept the fact that it’s a corpse…

Jahanna looked at her own trembling hands. She found herself caressing the boy without realizing it.

“… … My lord.”

Suddenly, Beckman called out to him.

I hated the title of lord.

“My lord.”

The bastard called himself again.

“Your Majesty… … .”

Jahanna looked back at the bastard, staring into that damned, hideous face.

“More than me. Was this guy precious to you?”

“… … Precious?”

Suddenly, her brow furrowed. She responded as if she was in awe.

“No. Nothing is precious to me.”

There wasn’t any.

I didn’t know what that meant.

The only standard for her was ‘value’.

Only those of great value or little value.

Things of great value are respected by everyone without necessarily having to be treated as precious, and things of little value do not necessarily have to be treated as precious.

“You too. You just asked, ‘Are you more valuable than me?’ But don’t get me wrong. I’ve never considered you valuable.”

“… … .”

Then Beckman stopped.

As if all life had stopped, as if he was frozen in place, not breathing, not blinking, not making a sound──

“You didn’t know that. No one is special to me.”

Jahanna bit her lip.

“This guy knew it.”

While being for me, without expecting anything in return, while staying by my side, without preaching about my own worth, and without expecting me to cherish myself.

Just because you felt a kinship with me, you became the person I needed… … .

Zion Ascal.

Ironically, he became special because he knew that Jahanna couldn’t treat anyone special.

“This guy risked his life to accuse you of your crimes.

She took the coal out of her pocket and set it down next to her duffel bag, leaving the switch on.

─Mr. Beckman. Spying on or stealing the intimate details of one’s immediate family is a felony punishable by summary conviction.

─Shut your mouth. You can’t survive here anyway.

A twisted smile appeared on Beckman’s lips.

“You have made me aware of your corruption, of your infinitely low worth.”

Jahanna looked down again at Zion.

This guy saved my life twice.

“… … This guy was right.”

She opened the door with a slight gesture.

Beckman looked back at him.

“Beckman. You are a piece of shit who should not be around me.”

Vitro, Sekenta, Jellia… … The balancers that Jahanna had ordered to be summoned come in.

Beckman’s face, facing them, was soon soaked in sadness.

“… … Take him and kill him.”

Jahanna ordered the balancers. They immediately activated the magic body, but in an instant.

Beckman’s body flashed brilliantly.

“My lord!”

Kwaaaa …

The bastard exploded first. Blue light flooded everyone’s retinas.

A surge of magical power surged forward like a tsunami, engulfing Beckman and Jahanna.

* * *

“… … !”

Jahanna opened her eyes abruptly.

“Oh. Are you awake?”

My body trembled with a start.

“Are you okay?”

It was a familiar voice.

The voice of a man who should not be heard, the voice of a man who, in Jahanna’s opinion, was already dead.

She looked back at it

“… … What.”

Zion Ascal was beside the bed. He looked at himself and smiled slightly.

“Nice to meet you. It’s been a while.”

“… … .”

Jahanna was momentarily dazed.

Why on earth is this guy here, alive?

“Oh, Beckman is dead. Looks like he was trying to commit suicide bombing or something-”

“……no.”

Beep beep───

A ringing in her ears occurred. She quickly put her fingers to her temples.

“Are you okay?”

“… … .”

Jahanna looked at Zion again, despite her headache.

“Are you… … still alive?”

“Yes. I was hiding. I was under threat from Beckman.”

“What about the body?”

“I made it. It was exquisite, wasn’t it?”

The guy smiled. Jahanna frowned slightly.

“……doggish.”

Suddenly I got a headache.

I’m angry too.

If you’re alive, you’re alive. If it’s a plan, you’re an operation. I’ll tell you first.

“More importantly, are you feeling okay? That’s important.”

The bastard suddenly reached out and placed his hand on his forehead.

“… … .”

Jahanna’s operation stopped for a moment.

“There’s no fever.”

While the guy who had been swept away once as if caressing her shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal.

Jahanna asked with a rather stiff tone.

“Where is this…?”

“This is the Libra Mansion. You have been taken out of the magical space for a while to receive treatment.”

“……you?”

“I told you, I was just hiding. Haha.”

He smiled.

Jahanna still seems to have a bit of a hard time understanding the situation, but anyway, this guy is alive.

The only guy he can trust is alive and moving.

Not a bad result.

“… … That’s why I said.”

Suddenly he looked serious.

“What? Again.”

“this.”

He took something out of his bosom, rustling around. It was a document with Libra’s seal.

“Miss Zia has given permission.”

“… … .”

Jahanna saw it.

A certificate stating that Sion Ascal has been reassigned from Zia’s command to Jahanna’s knighthood.

A handwritten signature from Zia, who approves of the matter and acknowledges it himself, Zion Askar.

“This is the document that allows me to be under your command.”

“… …Why are you doing this?”

“Because this incident made me realize that I must stay by your side, my lord.”

Jahanna was momentarily embarrassed, but she didn’t feel bad.

In the first place, I had thought about saying something similar to Jia once this was over.

“Ahem. Go back first.”

“Yes. Please rest comfortably.”

“Just go out. Hurry up.”

Zion went out.

Jahanna blinked for a moment, assessing the situation.

Zion Ascal pretended to be dead, convinced of Beckman’s corruption, and returned alive once the mission was completed.

That would be about it.

She placed her hand on her forehead.

“It’s hot.”

The water level is hot.

This feels weird.

There’s something strange about facing a living, breathing being. I can’t get used to the discomfort in my heart.

Is it the aftereffects of the explosion, or is it-

──Kikigikik.

A strange noise echoed from the glass window. It was a jarring vibration, like fingernails scraping against a blackboard. Jahanna frowned and turned to look.

“… … ?”

There was some writing there.

[Princess Jahanna.]

Ki-ki-ki-ki… … .

It is as if these letters are engraved to speak to you.

[Think carefully.]

The sentences on the window. Jahanna’s eyes, who had been watching this completely incomprehensible phenomenon, suddenly opened.

It was called out.

[Zion Ascal does not call you lord.]

She just remembered what Zion had said to her.

─This is the document that allows me to be under the ‘Master’.

─Because I realized that I must stay by my ‘lord’s side.

My lord.

The guy is not under his command yet.

Therefore, given the nature of Sion Ascal, there is no way he would call himself his lord.

He is such a thorough and unique guy.

“… … But.

If so.

“That guy… … .”

Who the hell are you?

* * *

… … 6 hours ago.

I tapped my forehead as I looked at the CCTV installed inside the trench, which was connected to Jahanna’s conference room.

“Ah. I didn’t expect this.”

Beckman. That son of a bitch made a bomb. It was a ‘barrier bomb’ that was only possible in magic space.

“Was this the kidnapping?”

─That’s right!

The Magic Space where we are now is a world made up entirely of magic. Therefore, it is much easier for magic to interfere with it than on the continent.

By utilizing such properties, one can create a ‘barrier’ in an instant by informationizing magical power and then exploding it like a bomb, and Beckman used that technique.

─I’ve never seen this kind of implementation before! It’s amazing! You’re more capable than you look, Beckman!

“But it’s a balancer.”

I knew that Beckman would kidnap Jahanna in the future, but I never thought he would kidnap her through a barrier.

“… … More than that. Is interference possible?”

─I’m trying my best to do it now!

Growl answered, tapping away at his laptop.

First, Beckman kidnapped Jahanna through the barrier.

However, it is difficult to know exactly which vector she is on, and it is even more difficult to break into that barrier.

So Growl is simply looking for a way to ‘interfere’ with that barrier… … .

─Oh! Okay!”

“it’s okay?”

─Yes! Look at this!

Growl took out his laptop. One of the many CCTVs I had installed caught an unusual wave.

─It’s a barrier wave! If I catch this, I think I’ll be able to monitor it!

“You can’t go inside?”

─Yes. I think I could just… …touch the glass window.”

“……sash?”

─Yes!

“It’s a glass window… … Can I write on it or something?”

─Maybe? But I won’t pass on too much information! If there’s an error, Beckman will be the first to notice! After all, Beckman is the master of that barrier world!

I nodded and looked at Growl’s laptop screen. A video of the inside of the barrier where Jahanna was trapped was being broadcast.

Beckmann in it is… … .

“What is this? Is this me?”

─That’s right! Beckman, this guy is a total pervert!

It looked exactly like me.