Chapter 106 - Railroad Mysterium (3)
Serene knew the voice that ca from behind her.
A gentle voice that gave a bright and warm impression.
But one from which an undeniable grace leaked out... such a voice.
Serene slowly turned her head in the direction of the voice.
And the person there was Robelia il Enlight.
Rain Enlight's elder sister.
***
"Senior Robelia..."
"Huhu, we're outside the Academy, so please call Duchy of Enlight's daughter?"
As Robelia jested and waved her hand in the air.
"Enlight ans his sister... Hup."
Yuna, unable to contain her curiosity, looked at Robelia and spoke those words aloud.
However, Robelia did not react to Yuna's actions or words.
Without even a flicker of her eyes, as if no one else was there... she rely kept her gaze fixed on Serene.
"I heard the rumors. That you ca with our Rain?"
"Ah... yes, that's right."
"Huhu, I'm glad you get along so well with my younger brother."
Such a formal conversation did not last long. Given the setting, it ended with just an exchange of greetings.
What reason would Robelia have to remain after the conversation ended? She slowly moved her steps in another direction.
"Hmm, surprisingly... she doesn't treat him badly at all, does she? Even adding 'our' when calling him."
"Is... that so?"
"Huh?"
Contrary to Yuna's words, Serene felt a subtle sense of incongruity from Robelia's actions and words.
There was no specific basis for this incongruity. Generally speaking, Yuna's interpretation would be reasonable.
To refer to the illegitimate child of her own family familiarly in a private conversation with another noble.
It might seem like nothing, but in noble society, that was a statent that carried considerable weight.
However, Serene couldn't shake off an uneasy feeling, which stemd from Rain's withdrawn appearance during his middle school days and Robelia's appearance she had seen before.
-How... can he be so lovely?
That one remark she had whispered upon seeing the collapsed Rain during his hospital visit.
Serene felt an indescribably strange incongruity in that remark.
It was difficult to explain what exactly it felt like... but it was certain that there was a subtle sense of incongruity.
"..."
The strange and unfathomable circumstances surrounding Rain Enlight.
As long as such obstacles existed, it was almost impossible for Serene to understand Rain's life on her own.
For this reason, Serene thought.
'...Perhaps, I should ask him soon?'
About what kind of life Rain Enlight had lived, directly to him.
But Serene knew. That Rain had no reason to tell her, nor did she have the right to hear it herself.
Because when Rain was going through his most difficult period, she wasn't there. For whatever reason.
Therefore, Serene thought... an apology must co first.
That's what she thought.
***
The eting with Regina concluded without any specific sharp conclusions.
As there was still so ti until the auction, the discussion settled on it being an issue to think about slowly.
After that, well. I couldn't just stay there for a thousand years.
Regina invited to dinner, so I was heading to the dining car. That was because I had been told to go ahead.
'I can't see a solution.'
My mind was still utterly complicated. Thinking about it, there were fewer tis when I wasn't burdened with such worries.
Anyway. As I said earlier, I was moving towards the dining car.
But there was one problem.
The problem was that I encountered soone in the middle.
Click.
Since the Imperial Princess' cabin was located at the front of the train, I had to pass through a considerable length of corridor to reach the dining car, which was located relatively towards the rear.
But, as I was walking through the corridor... I ended up eting him.
"...Hah."
A man with blond hair and intense red eyes, letting out a hollow laugh as if he was dumbfounded.
I knew the man's face. That didn't just an knowledge I had gained from the ga.
I had seen the man's face countless tis.
That was the story from when I was first trapped in the cycle of death.
Yes, the man standing before now was Kirios il Enlight.
The legitimate successor and eldest son of the Duchy of Enlight.
And one of the villains of .
'...Trouble has co.'
If I were to sum up Kirios in one word, "solipsistic" would suit him perfectly.
He wouldn't tolerate anything that displeased him, and he was a person with the ability and background to back that up.
In terms of being steeped in a sense of privilege, he was like Milo Gloss, but there was a fundantal difference from Milo.
First, his very existence was a privilege.
Second, he possessed abilities that couldn't even be compared to Milo's.
"There's no goddamn coincidence like this."
On Kirios' face, as he slowly opened his mouth, was an expression of contempt filled with familiar revulsion.
Yes, I rembered that expression. Very clearly.
Because it was a face I had encountered daily, dying over and over again for two hundred tis.
"Did that dirty half-breed not properly understand 'stay like a dead mouse at the Academy'?"
Kirios continued to speak in an overbearing tone.
Ah. Damn it. How could I run into him head-on like this?
'What should I do?'
Pretending not to see him and walking past wouldn't make sense.
As I was lost in thought, Kirios' expression beca even more displeased.
"That disgusting silence is still there. You haven't changed at all... but."
Kirios cut himself off and slowly approached . He was about half a span taller than .
"Recently, there have been so strange rumors circulating about you."
I inwardly prayed that the words I was thinking wouldn't co out of Kirios' mouth.
"That a half-breed like you caught an A-grade bounty, that you repelled an intruder at the Academy, that you subjugated a Gargoyle..."
Ah. Damn it.
The most worrying situation had unfolded.
'I hoped this story wouldn't co up.'
The disparity in martial power between when I left the mansion and when I entered the Academy. That topic being brought up was utterly problematic.
'Think, think...'
And in that fleeting mont, the conclusion I reached in my mind was... only one.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
No, perhaps it was a conclusion drawn from my heart.
***
The first emotion I felt when encountering Kirios was, shafully, fear.
It was probably a fear etched into my body, acquired from the original Rain Enlight.
However, that fear didn't last long.
-Did that dirty half-breed not properly understand 'stay like a dead mouse at the Academy'?
-That disgusting silence is still there. You haven't changed at all... but.
Kirios' words, full of disdain.
And the deep-seated contempt from within him.
I felt one emotion from it.
'It's a bit hard to bear... I'm pissed off.'
It would be an emotion close to anger, if I had to describe it.
I still rember. Kirios, who snapped my neck when I was crying and begging for my life during my second regression.
That was not an act based on any calculation. It was an act done for extrely impulsive and personal reasons.
How could I know that?
It was simple. Because I rembered his expression.
'It was the face of soone with a bug clinging to their body.'
He simply couldn't tolerate a disgusting presence approaching him.
So he killed.
It was truly a simple logic, so much so that it was hard to suppress a burst of laughter.
To him, the existence of Rain Enlight was like that.
A bug that he wouldn't feel the slightest bit of conscience about crushing if it clung to him.
However.
-A dirty mixed-blood, yet you bask in the glory of Enlight. You enjoy a luxury beyond your station.
-I'll give you a piece of advice. Live like a dead rat at the Academy. You'd best not even think of disgracing the Enlight na.
-How disgusting.
In the Duchy of Enlight, I heard such words directly to my face exactly two hundred tis. There was no other way.
At that ti, I couldn't retort.
I couldn't say it wasn't due to the helplessness remaining in my body, but the main reason was that I wasn't allowed to 'talk back' in that situation.
But now, it was different.
"What...?"
"...I told you I don't quite understand what you're saying."
A slight tremor still remained in my voice.
However.
I raised my voice and continued speaking.
"I have no reason to be interrogated. I went to the Academy through proper procedures and am living a life free from reproach."
As I continued to speak, Kirios' face twisted further.
And.
"...And, there's no obligation between us to discuss my affairs, is there?"
The more I spoke, the more I realized. My voice was slowly stabilizing.
In a calm tone, as usual.
It could be inferred that, unlike when I encountered Robelia before, the trauma associated with Kirios was less severe.
"You bastard...!"
At first, he seed surprised by my unexpected defiance, but then his bewildernt seed to turn into anger, and Kirios raised his voice.
"A half-breed like you, crawling into a place you shouldn't be, without any sha, and now even daring to climb up..."
Thud.
Thud.
Kirios was slowly approaching .
'...Wait, this is unexpected.'
Ah.
This was not good. Seeing his clenched fist, it looked like he intended to harm .
And if it ca to a physical fight, I was at a disadvantage in many ways.
If I retaliated, I would beco an impudent person who struck a noble, and in any case, I couldn't win. Kirios, being a late-ga boss, possessed Master Knight-level abilities.
'Damn it...'
Thud.
Thud.
Kirios was already right next to .
I was deliberating whether I had no choice but to retaliate, even using Scroll - 『Mont of Decisive Battle[A]』, when.
Click-
The door opened.
"My, how fierce."
And what appeared there was Imperial Princess Regina Eliade Abellon.
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