Ch.39After She Vanished (2)

*Thud.*

“Olivia, are you hurt anywhere?”

Kiel, who had rushed over in one breath, asked. Olivia didn’t answer. She seemed not to have heard due to the incessant thunder.

Rumble…

Who could believe that this bottomless pit was a park just an hour ago? Even Kiel, who had witnessed the scene with his own eyes, found it hard to believe.

The massive pillar of light that had just struck the ground was closer to a natural disaster than magic.

*Click.*

Lightning struck once more.

Kiel followed Olivia’s fingertips as if entranced. Each time Olivia’s hand moved slightly, a bolt of lightning fell.

Belphegor had already been annihilated. The disappearance of the demonic energy that had been disturbing the air made that clear. But Olivia seemed to want not only to eliminate Belphegor but to erase any trace of his existence.

Kiel stared blankly at the increasingly deepening pit.

‘…Isn’t that enough?’

It seemed excessive, but seeing Melina remaining quiet, it appeared the mages had different thoughts.

Since matters related to demons were the expertise of mages, Kiel decided to wait until the noise subsided.

Seeing her cast such powerful magic without pause, he felt there was no need to ask about her physical condition.

Finally, silence returned.

“Is it over now?”

Kiel approached Olivia with a relieved smile. Although their plans had been disrupted by the sudden appearance of the great demon, they still had a day to spare.

A day is enough time to do many things.

“I’ll speak to the Central Knights. You won’t have to waste your precious time on investigations.”

Olivia still didn’t answer.

Kiel, not yet noticing anything strange, continued speaking.

“There are many things we can do even at night. I’ve compiled a list of food and tourist attractions based on my vassals’ opinions over the past two years. With your spatial magic, we could even go to the eastern and western regions…”

Kiel paused and looked at Olivia. Her white hair, disheveled by the wind, covered her eyes, making it impossible to know what she was thinking.

“…Olivia?”

*Halt.*

Kiel, who was about to take a step, stopped abruptly.

A sense of déjà vu, one that absolutely should not be felt right now, washed over him.

He knew what this feeling was. It had been the same four years ago.

If he could see her face directly instead of her profile, he could confirm whether Olivia had changed. They were different in atmosphere and expression.

Knowing this made it even harder to take another step.

If he found out she was gone, then…

“Kiel.”

Kiel looked up with a brightened expression. But soon, his brow furrowed.

A smile like blooming flowers. A smile that would warm anyone’s heart just by looking at it, but at least for Kiel, that wasn’t the case.

“Thank you for worrying about me. Did you come all the way here to help me?”

The Olivia he knew would never say such artificial words.

She had changed.

Not even two days had passed, yet she had changed.

Kiel’s face went blank.

Why? How?

This had never happened before. Olivia had always known exactly how long she could maintain her self.

80 minutes meant 80 minutes.

160 minutes meant 160 minutes.

A day meant a day.

She had never been wrong.

Not once…

– …Right. As you said, there are 60 days left.

At that thought, Kiel’s mind stopped.

…Why hadn’t he noticed?

It was something he could have realized with just a little thought.

[Unless one side accepts their own demise.]

Appearing once every few years is not a concession.

– I’m at a crucial crossroads. One is…

A concession is giving up one’s last benefit for the sake of others.

His breath caught.

His hands trembled. His lips dried, and his vision blurred.

Through his blurred vision, he saw his hands stained with blood.

He had agreed to do as she wished.

He had gritted his teeth and supported her decision.

He had killed her.

With these hands, he had killed her.

He didn’t know only one day remained. He thought there were 60 days left.

So, so…

“…No.”

This kind of ending, in this way…

He couldn’t accept it.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t accept it.

“What’s wrong?”

The moment he met Olivia’s eyes, his emotions surged.

She had taken it.

This woman had taken Olivia’s life.

Kiel tightened his grip on his scabbard. If he didn’t, he felt he might cut her down right there.

At that moment.

Olivia, who had been staring into space, smiled with satisfaction. She said:

“Kiel. Your expression is too scary.”

Kiel didn’t change his expression. Not drawing his sword was the maximum courtesy he could offer.

Olivia spoke again.

“Kiel.”

“…”

Kiel didn’t answer.

He didn’t even want to look at that face…

“…!”

Emotions surged. Feelings that shouldn’t be felt pulsed through his mind.

It was something Kiel had never experienced before.

The blind hostility toward someone was slowly, increasingly rapidly, turning into goodwill.

Kiel gritted his teeth. The veins in his forearm bulged.

He was being swept away by the torrent of emotions.

“You, now, what…”

This woman is the one who stole Olivia’s life.

Now that memory is becoming blurry.

It’s changing from theft to rightful acquisition.

“…!”

Kiel desperately clung to the memory that was fading away.

He must not forget.

He absolutely must not forget.

If nothing else, he couldn’t forget this one thing.

This woman is…

This woman is…

No.

Olivia is…

“You don’t need to worry about anything now, Kiel.”

Olivia smiled.

Kiel, too, smiled.

*****

“KWEEEEEEEEK!”

Olivia collapsed on the ground, vomiting blood. So much blood flowed from her small body that the snow around her turned red.

“Huk, huek, huuu…”

They say when a person is in too much pain, they can’t even scream? Olivia was exactly like that.

The strongest pain Olivia had ever felt before was having a wisdom tooth extracted without anesthesia.

But now was incomparable to that time.

Her brain went blank, to the point where she couldn’t even curse in her mind.

*Thud.*

I’m dying. I’m dying. I’m dying. I’m dying…

Her body curled up involuntarily. Though she shouldn’t feel cold, her body grew colder.

After some time passed like that, Olivia’s sprawled fingers began to twitch.

[The aftereffects have ended.]

Her vision was red. She couldn’t tell if this was a snowy field or hell.

“F-fuuuck…”

With trembling hands, Olivia somehow managed to open her spatial storage and took out a potion she had used hundreds of times.

‘Open, open, damn it!’

*Pop!*

With a clear sound, the cork popped off. Some of the contents spilled out from the impact, but that wasn’t important.

Olivia barely managed to bring the potion to her lips.

*Gulp.*

Her twisted internal organs returned to their original form. Olivia remained motionless, not daring to move until the pain subsided.

“Huu, huu, huu…”

Olivia, now conscious, wiped the bloody water from her mouth. Her scattered vision slowly returned to normal.

Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

‘If I ever do this again, I’m not human. Not human! No! Forget about affection points, I’m just not doing it!’

Olivia cursed as she struggled to get up.

She really thought she was going to die just now. Not an exaggeration, but for real.

‘I saw my deceased grandfather.’

She had forgotten that the result of a one-minute aftereffect was coughing blood. A day’s worth of aftereffects would be 1440 times that by simple calculation.

A person doesn’t die from being pricked by a needle once, but after about 1440 pricks, the finger would no longer be recognizable as a finger.

So with this much pain, the affection points should have been applied properly in good conscience.

‘Did it work?’

Olivia swallowed hard and checked Kiel’s status window.

[Kiel Rothschild]

– Level: 83

– Job: Sword Master

– Affection: -100(+68)

– Titles: Duke, Wandering Swordsman,

It worked.

The affection points hadn’t changed from before. This meant that the 20 affection points reward for defeating Belphegor had been properly applied to the massacre timeline, not this one.

The gamble had succeeded.

There was no possibility that the Olivia from the massacre timeline couldn’t defeat Belphegor. The Melina she knew would force a potion down her throat if necessary.

Olivia stared at Kiel, who was buried in ice.

‘…Is Kiel finished now?’

Kiel’s memory had clearly changed. He would now remember that Olivia had two selves. One that appeared once every few years, and another that had betrayed him.

Still, she couldn’t jump to conclusions. Until she woke Kiel up and confirmed directly, she wouldn’t know what had happened.

‘Now I need to talk to him.’

A message window appeared in the empty air.

[Calculating the results of Clue #1…]

– You have gained a total of 68 affection points!

– (+32) affection points will be applied in 992!

– (+24) affection points will be applied in 993!

– (+12) affection points will be applied in 994!

There was nothing special. It just explained, ‘This much affection will be applied when it becomes this year and month.’

But the message window that appeared wasn’t finished.

[Your intervention has altered past memories!]

– The past remembered by key NPC, ‘Kiel Rothschild’, will change significantly!

Olivia’s eyes narrowed.

She couldn’t predict just how “significantly” it had changed.

She also couldn’t predict whether it was a negative or positive change.

After a brief pause, another message window appeared.

[15 days have passed.]

[The cooldown of the trait, ‘Regressor’s Privilege’, has been reset.]

[Main NPC, ‘Kiel Rothschild’s’ level will temporarily increase significantly.]

…Huh?

A sharp sound escaped Olivia’s lips.

*Crack!*

Immediately, the sound of breaking ice was heard.

*Shing.*

There wasn’t even time to turn around. Olivia swallowed as she saw the sword hovering near her neck.

“Answer me.”

Kiel spoke in an icily low voice.

“Which… one are you?”