Memoirs of the Returnee - Chapter 299



Only Krnovel

The Regressor’s Notepad 299

Memory (2)

The sunset on the mountaintop spreads out in a blur. The sky is dyed in mysterious colors.

I looked at Solliet there, enveloped in the aurora.

Soliet’s exterior remained the same, but…

No, even the exterior appearance was different.

The soul calls forth very simple habits, and these habits form an expression that is both strange and familiar, and makes her look like someone else.

“……you.”

I called out to Soliet. Soliet looked at me and nodded.

“What?”

The short answer was confusing. My mouth was frozen solid.

Is this really an oxygen problem?

Am I already passed out and dreaming?

“It wasn’t a dream.”

Even the dream story was first told by Solliet. I pressed my throbbing temples.

I relaxed my body because I felt like I needed to maintain some consciousness.

He just collapsed on the ground.

Soliet looked down at me and asked.

“Does it still hurt?”

I laughed in vain.

“… … Then it doesn’t hurt, right? Even my mind hurts right now.”

“Yeah. Something seems off, like X.”

“How… How did it happen?”

Soliet looked back at the horizon. Between the ridges, there were halos of light spreading out like fountains.

“I don’t know the details. But at this altitude, the magic power itself becomes unique. Anything can happen.”

“You can explain it by just saying it’s unique?”

Soliet frowned.

“Yes. Isn’t it unusual? Zion too, me too.”

“… … .”

I ran a hand through my hair. Solliet continued speaking softly.

“I thought I was dreaming.”

“dream.”

“Yes. In that dream, it was me, not me, but the Zion I know, with me.”

At this point it’s certain.

She is Soliet before she regressed. However, she does not know why she is here or why she ‘came’ here.

The most likely hypothesis is that hallucinations are caused by lack of oxygen.

A fantasy brought about by my unconscious longing.

“Zion was with me, not by myself, in the things I had already been through.”

“……okay?”

“Yes. Honestly, it still feels like a dream. I think I’ll go back when I wake up.”

I got up.

If she is the old Soliet, then whatever the principle or reason, if she is the Soliet before the regression.

“Then. Do you know your future?”

I felt like I couldn’t let her die.

“Spoilers kill.”

Soliet narrowed her eyes sharply.

“… … .”

It’s so bloody. It’s not even a joke. This Soliette doesn’t joke in the first place.

I stood beside her.

“Then guess, Inma. Why are you here?”

“It could be because of the frugality.”

Absolute sword… … .

Actually, the name of Jeolgeom itself is suspicious.

What if that ‘cutting sword’ cuts through the knots before and after the return?

“I don’t know the specifics, but one thing is certain.”

Soliet looked out at the wide open landscape. The mysterious colors had now become nothing more than an afterimage, and a deep blue began to fill the empty space.

“Something is driving me.”

“What is something?”

“If I knew, I would be a god.”

“… … Right now, you seem like a god to me.”

As a simple regressor, I am the first to have overcome regression.

“Don’t bother me.”

“… … Ah, yes.”

Soliet shrugged.

“More than that, is Zion okay?”

“… … It’s the same thing. It’s just repeating the same thing from the beginning.”

“Is that so? Then, is revenge going well?”

Soliet seemed curious about me. She seemed to care about my illness and my revenge.

“It’s going well.”

She nodded silently.

Now the world was completely dark, and Solliet quietly closed her eyes as if she had sensed something.

“You might see it often.”

“……what?”

Slurp─

She fell down quietly. I caught her.

This kid keeps threatening to fall dangerously off the cliff.

“……eww.”

Solliet opened her eyes again. I scanned her face.

“Solid. Are you okay?”

“Um… … yes.”

This innocent frog-like expression was not the same as Soliet just now.

It was the current Soliet, not before the regression.

“It looks like I fainted for a moment… … .”

Soliet flinched slightly, as if I was practically hugging her.

“Oh, sorry.”

I quickly let go. Soliet took a couple of steps back and coughed.

“Okay. Shall we go up to the top now?”

“No. Let’s just plant a flag. Whether it’s here or at the top, it’s going to be top tier anyway.”

“……yes.”

Knock! Knock!

We planted the flag.

And then they sat side by side on the floor.

“It’s hard to breathe.”

“Oh, okay.”

The sudden meeting ended just as suddenly.

Still, I waited for ‘her’ to come out again, haaaaaam──

Solliet yawned loudly and fell asleep leaning on my shoulder.

After about three more hours, the first test was over.

The order to disembark has been given.

* * *

The descent was as difficult as the ascent. We came down the mountain in a jumbled manner, and the soloette before the return never came back.

But she clearly said she would see him often.

He’s a guy who never breaks his promises, so I’m sure he’ll come back someday…

……return.

I suddenly became very worried. It was because of that guy who suddenly appeared.

Come to think of it, why did I regress?

No, what exactly is the meaning of regression?

All linear events go back to the past at some point and start over again from that point.

I thought it was a regression.

However, if that is the case, the soliette before the return should not exist. The current soliette and the soliette before the return should not be connected.

Because regression is an event that erases all past events and starts over again.

“Zion. What makes you think that way?”

“Uh, uh? Ah… … . Nothing.”

anyway.

We got off safely.

There was no need to come down the mountain we had climbed, and there was a proper base camp halfway up the mountain where only those who passed the exam gathered.

There were already quite a few successful candidates and instructors gathered there.

“Good job!”

The instructor shouted loudly.

“There are a total of 300 people who passed the first test, starting with the top scorers! The list of successful candidates is as follows in order!”

The instructor called out the names of the successful candidates himself. The only first-year students were Gerken, me, and Solliet.

“Zion. Look over there.”

Soliet pointed somewhere.

Geton, whose face was still the size of a steamed bun. He, who had been beaten up by us, was smiling brightly and enjoying his passing.

“The second test is next week. Go home, recover from the hangover, and come back in top condition!”

Yes──!

The aspiring journalists answered loudly.

“Now, take your cell phone!”

The instructors handed out the cell phones they had collected before the test. I pressed the message box as soon as I received them.

There were quite a few messages coming from the information agency.

Anyway, it seemed like I would have to start working right away, let alone recover.

* * *

The next morning.

I took a quick nap and then went straight to work.

However, the place of work was not the information center. It was a ‘car’.

The back seat of the car, to be exact. It’s stuck to the floor mat, waiting for someone to get into the car soon.

Beep─

The sound of a lock being unlocked.

Then the door opens and ‘he’ sits in the driver’s seat.

At that moment, I jumped up.

“Director Gedler.”

“──!”

Gedler’s whole body fluttered. I put my hand on his shoulder.

“Calm down.”

“……you.”

Gedler looked at me with wavering eyes.

“You’re not very careful. I guess you don’t have much free time these days.”

There is no escort, no secretary. This means that Geedler’s situation is very dire right now.

“… … .”

He bit his lip. The ‘Chaser Assassination Incident’ was probably flashing through his mind right now.

It’s like he’s imagining himself as one of them.

“Do you think you’ll be okay like this?”

Gedler asked.

“Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t come here to hurt you, Director.”

I patted his shoulder and calmed him down.

“In this situation? You want me to believe something like that?”

“Please forgive my rudeness. There is no other place where we can have a conversation.”

“I don’t want to talk to you guys-”

“I know you’re not Director Gedler.”

“……what?”

Gedler frowned.

“I don’t think the director was after Team Leader Bell.”

I raised the corners of my mouth as I looked at Gedler. Gedler slapped my hand away.

“That’s obvious. Knowing that, you still commit such a rude act?”

“That’s why I came here, Director.”

From now on, it’s discord.

I’m not 100% sure that Belmore will become the director just because Gedler is gone. With the rest of the team leaders still intact, Jedrick could suddenly parachute in his own balancer.

“We are suspicious of the Director’s subordinates.”

“… … .”

Gedler listened to my story in silence.

“They attacked us and put the blame on Director Gedler.”

“Huh. That’s just nonsense with no evidence.”

I took out my portable cassette player from my bosom and played the recorded tape on it.

─No. It’s the opposite. In the first place, why on earth would we assassinate Belmore? There’s no reason to do so.

─… … What?

─Everyone knows this but they keep quiet. Let’s be frank. It’s obvious that Director Geadler did it. He lost almost all of his assets.

─Jensen. That’s too speculative-

─And yet the director is trying to pass the buck to us. He’s investigating and determining that one of the team leaders is the culprit. He even drained my and my subordinates’ accounts. Are you making assumptions now?

A recording of a secret meeting between team leaders.

Gedler’s expression changes from moment to moment as he listens to it.

“… … It could be manipulation.”

Gedler answered, biting his lip. I smiled slightly.

“You trust your subordinates very much. When you die, you should die like that too.”

“This birage-like baby-”

I threw the tape on the passenger seat.

“If you think it’s manipulation, listen to the whole thing, not just the context, and think about it.”

“… … Hey. Is this also Bellmore’s doing?”

Gedler stopped me as I was getting out of the car. I looked back at Gedler and thought about my lines.

“It’s not an ‘act’, it’s an ‘opportunity’ that Team Leader Bell is giving us.”

“under…….”

Then, a hollow smile spread across Gedler’s face. Was it self-mockery about his current situation, or extreme anger?

“Think carefully and reply, Director Gedler.”

I smiled and left the parking lot.

“……hmm.”

It is obvious how Geedler will move in the future.

He has already lost Jedrick’s trust, and it is obvious that the team leaders will betray him, so the opportunist Gedler will definitely try to extend his life by sticking with Belmore, or rather, me.

Then, Belmore was quite naturally recommended by the former director as the next director… … .

Tiring ringing──

The smartphone rang.

They say even a tiger will come if you call it.

It was a call from Belmore.

“hello.”

─Hey! Hey!

Belmore screamed as soon as he received it.

“why.”

─Where the hell are you? We’re screwed.

He starts cursing in a hurry. Did this idiot get into some kind of trouble?

I sighed.

“What’s going on now?”

─Come to the team leader’s office right away! We’ve been assigned a fucking mission.

“… … Mission?”

Fortunately, it seems like no accident occurred.

─Hey! Come quickly! I’ll wait!

Click-

“… … .”

Belmore immediately hung up the phone.

“This is the team leader, you little brat… … .”

I muttered and hailed a nearby taxi.

* * *

“Take this. This is the setup mission assigned to us.”

The team leader’s office at Belmore.

He handed me the documents, biting his fingernails. I skimmed through them.

“… … Certainly. This is a big deal.”

I knew right away why Belmore was acting like such a shit-eating dog.

I held up the photo of [Operation Target] contained in the file.

Hair as dark and thick as obsidian. Pupils of darkness of unknown depth.

A woman who looks good with short hair, Teia Isil.

“Yeah. I told you I came straight from above to pickle this woman? Straight!”

Direct means Jedrick.

“How do you do it?”

“What is the deadline for the mission?”

“… … I haven’t given my consent yet.”

I saw Belmore.

“Why don’t you agree?”

“Hey. Can you handle Teia Ishil? This woman is really crazy.”

“If you don’t consent, Lord Jedric will be disappointed.”

“… … .”

“It’s not the kind of operation that can be approved in the first place.”

“Hey, Mr. Erai─”

Then Bellmore hurled the file into the air, like a child throwing a tantrum over a side dish.

If this continues, even my feet will start to tremble.

“Oh, then what? You want me to fight this woman? How? Even if I bring 100 Chasers, they’ll all be torn to pieces. You’ve never seen Teia Isil fight, have you?”

“You don’t have to fight.”

I put the report down.

“… … You’re not fighting?”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

I know about the scandal of Teia Isil. To be honest, it’s not really a scandal, but I can easily weave it in.

It was like that before the regression too.

“It’ll take some time, but… … I think we’ll be able to send you to prison.”

Imprisonment would certainly be a better ending than death.